Hittin' the books.

We're about to be schooled. Or at least, enlightened. Hopefully.

We've been having a few struggles in the Tbaugh household lately. Nothing out of the ordinary for a family with two very spirited, stubborn and sassy (not to mention stylish!) children. Typical power struggles, tantrums, screaming matches, etc between the girls and with us. And some major sleep issues with the little one. We're all a bit worn out and grumpy. So we figured it wouldn't hurt to call in the experts.

No, not Mary Poppins. Although I wish I had her on speed dial. Then I could call her in the midst of the crazy and yell: "Mary Poppins! Spoonful of sugar, STAT!". And she would float down with her kind of creepy parrot umbrella and shabby chic carpet bag, sing and dance while shoveling sugar into our mouths. It would be wonderful.

Alas, Mary Poppins is not at my disposal. But Amazon is. A perusal of parenting and toddler sleep issue books lead me to these two choices:

Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids. How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers

After I've had a chance to read the books, I'll come back with my thoughts on both. We're not looking for any magic answers, but for some ideas and suggestions that we may not have already heard and/or tried. Chris and I both have quick tempers and we really hate that we've reached a point in our parenting where we seem to be yelling more than listening and talking. It's waaaay too early in our parenting careers for that. Let's save that for the teenage years.

And regarding Pen's sleep (or non sleep, as it is), there may not be an answer. She may just be a crappy sleeper that wakes and screams and cries and thrashes and crashes every hour. If that is the case, I will just start counting the multiple (multiple, multiple!) times I get up and adjust covers, put her back in bed, comfort her during a bad dream/night terror/after she bangs her head against the wall as my daily exercise. And stock up on coffee.

Oh and p.s. Jake has been feeling neglected. Please admire his cute face.

Have you read either of these books? What are your thoughts?
 

Recycled Crayon Valentines.

Good morning, readers! Happy Sunday to you and yours. I am currently sipping coffee (with coconut oil (my latest obsession) mixed in. So good!) while listening to the rain pitter patter against the window. My favorite kind of morning. Well, besides the rain part. Rain in the spring, summer and fall? Love it. Rain in the middle of the winter? Yuck.

I have some rather shocking news to share. Are you ready?

The other day I was feeling crafty.

As in, I wanted to spend my time working on a craft project with a particular end result in mind. And if you know me, you know this is not normal.

Olive wanted to make something for Valentine's Day, so I went with it. I got my craft on.

We decided on recycled crayons. You've probably seen them floating around Pinterest, Etsy, Target, everywhere over the last several years. Obviously we're a little behind in all things crafty.

With it being a Valentine's Day project, we really wanted to make rainbow heart crayons. So we went off in search of a heart shaped muffin tin, silicon mold, something. I was hoping to find this. And we struck out. We found a silicone mold at Michaels but the hearts were too big for our needs. But I bought it anyway because too big for heart crayons means just the right size for heart brownies. Woot! In the end, we decided to just use a mini muffin pan. And since we already had one at home, we didn't need to purchase one. Score.

Olive and Penny grabbed our crayon box and started going to town taking off all the wrappers. I am pretty sure this was the best day of Penny's life. She was given the ok to pick the wrappers off. She kept asking "I rip the paper? It okay to rip the paper, mama??" In her world, just for that day, I was the coolest mom EVER. I preferred to use a knife and slit the wrapper end to end. But to each their own.

Our crayons were an assortment of old, broken and well loved Crayolas, restaurant crayons rescued from the bottom of the rarely used diaper bag and other misfits. Regular size and the bigger toddler size. It was a motley crew (totally just wrote motley crue. rock on!) and perfect for the task at hand. We made quick work of the wrappers and I started chopping them into small (~1/4") pieces.

When I had about 2 cups of chopped crayons, we filled the (sprayed) muffin tin. Two cups was the perfect amount for a 12 count mini muffin pan. I tried to make sure every cavity had a nice assortment of colors. You could also sort them by color or color families. But we wanted rainbow.

Then we popped them in the oven at 275* for about 9 minutes. I am sure this varies by the size of your muffin tin/mold and the size of your crayon pieces. You want all the pieces to be melted.

After they were all melted, I pulled them out and let them sit on the counter for about 10 minutes. Then I put them in the freezer for another 20 minutes or so to make sure they were cool all the way through and they popped right out.

Now, I'll be honest. They are not the prettiest or most rainbow-y crayons out there. But my two helpers were more than pleased, so I consider it a success! If I were to do it again, I would make sure to use all Crayolas. The cheaper crayons seems to create a film of sorts. Or maybe some were washable? I was able to flake most of it off, so it wasn't a big deal.

And here is the finished product!

No, I did not design the card. But this lovely blogger did and has kindly offered them up for free. Three years ago. See, I told you I am behind the times! They would have been much cuter with heart shaped crayons, but c'est la vie.

So there you go. I was crafty and a) didn't hurt myself, b) was successful and c) am already thinking about our next batch. I am thinking glitter crayons. Or possibly neon. Maybe I'll go all crazy and do both!

Here is the "recipe":

Crayons
Cooking spray
Muffin tin/silicone molds/cookie cutters (place a cookie cutter on a baking sheet, fill and bake)

Take wrappers off crayons
Chop crayons into small pieces (2c. was perfect for our mini muffin tin)
Spray muffin tin/molds
Fill muffin tin with broken crayons
Bake @ 275* for 8-10minutes until crayons are melted
Let cool completely and remove
Eat a cookie to celebrate a successful crafting adventure
The End. 

Wow.

Long time no blog! Blogger was being beastly and then life just kind of got in the way. Sorry about that.

Big doings going on in this part of the internet. 

Olive celebrated birthday number 3. 

 (Favorite gift? A nightgown. Clearly she is not my child.)

We had several small celebrations with different family groups. Fun was had and cake was eaten. Good times.

My dad got a new lung. Wait, let me say that again. MY DAD GOT A NEW LUNG!! How freaking cool is that?! We are beyond happy and so excited at what this means for him (and us).  Sorry no pictures. Everything went well and he feels great though!

Penny sprouted a tooth.

And then another. And is working on another. She likes to bite me with said teeth. It's tons of fun. She also hit 9 and 10 months. Which means she will be one in less than two months. *sob*

Let's see what else. Golf season is in full swing which means we see less of Chris. But that also means summer is upon us and we can be outside all day long! Yay! 

What was that? 

Hasn't it been cold and rainy here? High in the 40s? Gale force winds? Torrential down pours?

Oh yes, that's right. I must have blocked the last few weeks from my memory. It's always sunny and 70 in my mind. Or maybe that's San Diego...

Let's just say we've been playing a lot of Candy Land lately. A LOT. 

 

(Notice the nightgown. She wears it 24/7.)

Which I am ok with. Actually, I kind of like it. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to the Candy Castle? King Kandy is kind of kute.

Clearly the recent bout of being stuck inside has left me delusional.

I think that's about it. So really, even though I haven't posted in over a month, I still don't have much to say. Huh.  Clearly, I need a life.

OH! I ran a 5k! 

I know! I am as surprised as you are.

It was a midnight 5k and although I was slower than molasses in January (or June with the weather we've had) it was a blast. It was a beautiful night (we were actually hot!) and there was a sprinkling of spectators along the way. I ran it with one of my BFF's and she didn't complain one bit when I slowed her down.

She was great at keeping me motivated.  Heck at one point she even smacked me in the butt to get me moving. I liked it. We're planning on doing it again next year. And looking into other 5k's to do this summer. 

I am still rocking my FitBit everyday. I love this little gadget more than I care to admit. I forgot to wear it a few weeks ago when I went out of town and I was heartbroken over the lost steps. Ok, not heartbroken but I was pretty bummed. If you like stats and/or need a motivator to get moving, FitBit is for you. So go get one and then we can be FitBit friends and compete against each other. Nothing like a little friendly competition to get your ass off the couch! (And no, I am in no way shape or form associated with FitBit. I just really like it!)

Well, I think that's it for now. What have you been up to my dear readers? Fill me in!

Hope all is well! 

Break out the cake!

 Six months ago my day started like this:

Four and a half hours later it had progressed to this:

And this is where we're at today:

Crazy, I know. In a lot of ways it seems like Penny was just born (and it seems like just yesterday Olive was born!). But at the same time we can't really remember what life was like without her.

At 6 months she is:

• 18lbs 4oz
• 27 3/4" long
• a master sitter
• a drooling machine
• learning to sleep unswaddled 
• sleeping through the night (for the most part. see above.)
• cooing, shrieking and starting to "talk"
• an occasional roller
• enamored with her sister
• not so enamored with the dog
• a Sophie addict
• adorable

Happy 1/2 birthday Pen Pen! Now, please stop growing up so fast. Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday. Er, Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday

Molars. Bite me.

Olive is sprouting some major chompers right now. Poor girl has a molar that can't decide if it's coming or going. Makes for a very "ouchie mouth".  Too bad we're fresh out of brandy...

In other news, Penelope was *thisclose* to rolling over! She rocked herself up onto her left side and then decided being an over achiever did not suit her personality so back to her tummy she went. 

Big doings in this house, big doings.

 

Milk. It does a body good.

Breast milk that is!

Penny went in for her 2 month check up today. She weighed in at 12lbs 8oz and is 24" long! As Olive says, "She's growing, growing, GROWING!" 

Break out the baby book! Penelope's first...

cold. boo.

Poor Penny is a coughing, sneezing, sniffling mess today. Lots of mama milk, cuddles and love are on the agenda. I wonder, if I have chicken noodle soup for lunch, will she reap any of the cold fighting benefits? Hmmm.....well, if nothing else, it will help with my sore throat and stuffy nose.

Lesson of the week? When you have a sick toddler in the house, pretty soon everyone will be sick. But can I just say that Olive is an awesome nose blower? Quite impressive.

Off to love on my baby Snort*.

And speaking of baby books, we should probably get one for Penelope! Not that we really filled Olive's out. . .it's the thought that counts right?! 

*Kudos to you if you picked up on the Are You My Mother? reference.   ("You are not my mother. You are a scary Snort!" Love it!)

Introducing....

Penelope Jane! 

Penelope Jane was born Friday August 20, 2010 at 1:01pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 15oz (same as Big Sister Olive!) and 20.2 inches long. Full head of dark hair just like her sister, although not as thick.

Our labor and delivery experience was incredibly fast and intense. Contractions started at 2am Friday morning (thanks Mother Nature for the amazing storm!), they were intense and purposeful from the start. 5 minutes apart, lasting 60-75 seconds long. All in my back. Not what I hoping for!  By 4 am I couldn't relax through them while lying in bed so I got up and sat on my exercise ball, rocking and swaying through the contractions. The lighting and thunder show outside was incredible! It seemed as the storm grew in intensity so did my contractions. Chris got up around 5 and got ready for work completely oblivious to the fact that I was not in bed with him (he is a DEEP sleeper). When he came downstairs and saw me sitting on the ball in front of my computer (I was timing the contractions online) he was a bit confused. I was in the middle of a contraction and couldn't talk to him so he glanced at the screen and saw an ad for an iPhone on the page-he thought I couldn't sleep so I came downstairs and was looking at new phones, lol.

He had to go into work for awhile, but was home by 7am. Olive woke shortly after that and started pacing around the house with me. The only way that I was finding any relief through contractions was by swaying back and forth or leaning against something and rocking my hips while singing "I am a Hollow Bamboo" (blessingway song from yoga) in my head. So she was following me around doing the same thing. But instead of singing in her head, she was chatting away about going to grandma's house because Mama's baby was coming out today and she was going to be a big sister TODAY. She was so excited and oblivious to my discomfort, it was perfect. By the time my mom came to get her it was 8:30 and contractions were starting to get closer and closer together (3-4 minutes) and were making me nauseous. But given my labor experience with Olive (~60 hours of labor with 2.5 hours of pushing), I didn't want to go to the hospital and sit around or be told to come back later. Around 10:30am, I started to think I couldn't do this anymore and was really starting to doubt myself and my body. I knew that things were getting serious, so we headed to the hospital.

Checked in around 11:15 am and I was at 6cm! I was starting to think I wanted an epidural (HATED it with Olive, but the back labor was starting to get the best of me) and told myself to wait until they checked me again and then I would decide. Well they checked about 45 minutes later and I was 9cm! Even if I had wanted it, there was no time for an epidural at that point. By 12:30 I was ready to push. I started out pushing on my side with Chris holding my leg up for me. The pain in my back was fierce, but I kept telling myself it was pain with a purpose. I tried to focus on staying relaxed and in control of my breath. With every contraction I visualized being in nice, cold Lake Superior floating through the pain and pressure. I also pictured the baby coming out and being placed on my chest and how amazing that moment would be. 29 minutes later, there SHE was! (Chris and I were both shocked that it was a girl!) They placed her on my chest and I was immediately in love. And shocked at how clean she was! 

We cuddled and loved on each other and after a little while (I had no sense of time by this point) they asked "Dad, do you want to cut the cord?" Which Chris responded to "No, Dad does NOT want to cut the cord!" He does not do well with blood or medical situations and was feeling a bit overwhelmed by this point. So I cut the cord! Very cool. Then they took Penelope over to the warmer for few minutes to clean her up and do vitals, etc. They were so great about being quick and getting her back to me to breastfeed. She latched on immediately and happily sucked away for a good hour or so. She was very alert, taking everything in. While she was nursing, I delivered the placenta with a few good breastfeeding uterine contractions. It was in great shape and all in one piece. With Olive it would not come out, needed MORE pitocin and lost a lot of blood, so I was happy that that part of delivery was different too.

I was up walking around, peeing and showered about 2 hours after Penelope was born. I felt great and was actually worried that something was wrong because I was feeling so well! We had a little more downtime before both of our families showed up to shower us with love. It was long, exhausting day but a truly amazing experience that I am so grateful to have had.

It is hard to believe she is already a week old. We are adjusting well to life as a family of four and life is good. Who knew I could love another little being as much as I love my first little being. I am so blessed!