Song – Jack Johnson “Better Together”

At our neighborhood Christmas breakfast, this guy walked straight up to Santa at the mere mention of his name before Dan could get the camera and before I got Emily over there (only breaking in front of a couple of very understanding people in line). He was very comfortable in his lap, but not a word was spoken.

Anyways, in true Louche fashion, all the money and time (and stress)devoted to ensuring my kids the “perfect Christmas” has sent Dan and I into a tizzy questioning what we really want Christmas to be about for our family.  It just seems in terms of STUFF, everyday is Christmas around here.  After all was said and done, it wasn’t the gifts that made us happy, and we wonder if our time and money could be better spent with equal, if not even better results.  I’d sum up what we’re thinking with LESS STUFF and MORE EXPERIENCES.  It’s an idea that’s just taking shape in our heads that we really hope to expound on in the next year or two since we figure we only have one (maybe two?) years before Aiden gets a serious case of the wants.  We’ll see what happens.  (And please don’t get me wrong.  My kids got some fantastic gifts that are already used daily around our house.  We are extremely thankful for all the thoughtfulness and generosity that went into those.)

The Guthrie Family.  Aiden with his arm around Tyler (above) as we pose for the camera = priceless.

The morning after Christmas, Aiden was still singing “Jingle Bells”, and even now he still talks about Santa and the Snowmen from time-to-time (a lot to do with our awesome neighbors that still have their Christmas lights up for our enjoyment).  He doesn’t know that it’s over.  He’s keeping it alive in our house even into the new year.  It’s magical.

G-ma and sibling love.

And Emily?  Well she got the most wonderful gift of all over Christmas break.  Rice cereal. 

And she really likes it.  A LOT.

Along with peas so far.  For anyone wondering, this does not equate to sleeping through the night yet :\ 

Now to tackle my year in pictures.  It’s the only time of year I hate how many pictures we take.  Here’s 2009 and 2010.  Can I make it before the middle of January?  Chugging away at it nightly, but doubtful.  Stay tuned.

Two things have led up to us figuring it’s a done deal. 1) He tells us now when he has to go (even poop) and 2) he’s used the bathroom in the night…without our help.

Everyone keeps telling me that I’m pretty lucky to have a 29 month old BOY that’s doing so well at this and when they ask me how we went about it, only one word comes to mind:  SHAME.

That’s right, we (and by we I mostly mean Dan who very impressively took the lead on this endeavor and made us stick to it) shamed him every time he peed or pooped in his pants.  Some of the more commonly used phrases in the face of an accident: "Why wouldn’t you tell us you have to go?",  "What were you thinking?", "I can’t believe you peed on Super Why/Pig.", "Only babies pee their pants.", "We’re so disappointed in you.", "Sit on the potty or you’re going to time out.  Better yet, we’re taking the potty to time out and you’ll sit on it there."

I’m exaggerating only a tiny bit on that last one, but you get the idea.  We didn’t rub his nose in it a-la dog-training style, but we let him know we weren’t okay with it either.  I’ll admit that I was not always super comfortable with this method because I didn’t want to give him a complex and they say they’ll train when they’re ready, yadda-yadda.  But Dan stuck to it saying that there is very little that the boy will not do without a fight (which was always the argument that got me), and I’ll be damned if it didn’t seem to work with little consequence (at least that we know of at this point).

Seriously though, way more than there was shame, there was positive reinforcement.  A lot of "good job Aiden" (to the point that he now tells us good job when we go which is great encouragement) and "we’re so proud of you Aiden" and "pee-pee in the potty” dances and high-fives and fruit snacks.  There were also a few weeks of a lot of really disgusting laundry that thankfully cloth diapers prepared me for a bit.  But it didn’t work at all until we made the commitment to throw away the diapers and the pull-ups even at sleep times.  After a naked weekend or two demonstrated to us that he knew when he was doing and could hold it for the most part until he got to the potty, we decided it was time to go all in even despite some hesitation from the school on his readiness.  It took just shy of two months to get here and hopefully we’re here for good.  Good job Aiden!

Simply put, I blame work.  In the first few months after Emily’s arrival, we were able to forge ahead and pretend like nothing was different (with the exception of that baby strapped to my chest everywhere we went), and we somewhat successfully went about our busy lives.  But I’ve since gone back to work part-time (save the pity looks…I’m not all that sad about it), and we’ve just discovered things are a whole lot easier if we never leave the house unless it’s absolutely necessary…like our house is on fire.  It’s just easier to stay home when you’re juggling two nap schedules and a baby that eats constantly and when you yourself are starving for 5 minutes of free time that doesn’t involve  laundry or dishes (although we do find ourselves fighting over who gets to do the dishes lately because while it’s not free time per se, there’s no repeating yourself a million times or counting to three or time outs or crying for no apparent reason…there’s no talking at all actually…so yeah, we’re calling shot gun on the dishes around here).

The current state of affairs has also had a negative effect on our picture taking too unfortunately.   We’ve been reduced to relying on our phones to capture the memories, and sadly, this makes for very blurry memories.  It’s so true what they say about baby number 2 and how they get shafted…at least initially.  She’s starting to giggle and we’ve not successfully captured it yet.  Awe well, I’m hoping this is just a short phase.

Our Thanksgiving was great.  My mom cooked (for four days), and we ate over at their house.  Everything was delicious.  Not a single picture was taken so you’ll just have to believe me when I say there was not a lack of things to be thankful for.

So yeah, that’s the last month or so.  Tomorrow’s Saturday so I imagine they’ll be a whole lot of this.

Life could be way worse.

Bonus sweetness.  Because I can…

…and you know you want it.

I knew I wanted Aiden to be Bamm Bamm because of the striking resemblance in both looks and personality, but this just wasn’t the costume I had in mind.  To me that kid looks ridiculous (albeit a lot warmer than Aiden is about to look).  Plus Aiden doesn’t need fake white hair. 

After I decided to make Aiden’s costume, I knew a Pebbles costume for Emily would be a requirement.  And then we got invited to a costume party, and while we could of just settled for store-bought, unrelated costumes, I let my imagination run wild.  So without further ado, I give you the Flintstones (with Bamm Bamm Rubble)…

Pebbles and Bamm Bamm

Taking his character seriously.

A real club.

And then it got cold.  But that didn’t stop us.  We partied at the neighborhood party with smores and cider and then trick-or-treated for an hour or so.

Happy Halloween!!

Same thing goes for carrots, only carrots generally don’t make it past his lips. 

Anyhow, since he’s been eating what we eat, we regularly make this vegetable stew.  As written here, it is actually the Weight Watchers one-point chili recipe first introduced to us by our dear friend Paula, but we think of it as more of a stew than chili. Regardless Aiden devours it EVERY time it’s served.  And get this.  One of the main ingredients of the stew is tomatoes.

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Recipe:

10 ounces extra-lean ground turkey breast
1 medium onion, diced
2 (28-oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 medium yellow squash diced
1 (15-oz) can black beans
2 (15-oz) cans fat-free, reduced-sodium
beef broth
4 celery stalks, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 (1 1/4-oz) package dry chili seasonings.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and onion and saute’ until browned, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the browned turkey and onion mixture to a large soup pot and add the tomatoes, zucchini, squash, beans, broth, celery, bell peppers, and chili seasoning. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

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We have never actually used packaged chili seasoning.  We’ll just season with what we like including garlic salt, crushed red pepper, chili powder, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, basil, bay leaf and paprika.  The best part of the recipe is that you can add or subtract ingredients and season to suit your toddler and/or whatever vegetables/spices you have on hand.  We like it because we always feel so healthy when we eat it and it’s really very pretty.

This last time I made it, I added sliced up carrots.  Tricky, I know.  He ate the first bowl so I know he had a least a couple carrots, but by the second bowl  (yes, he asked for seconds!) he was on to me. 

Disclaimer:  Generally my boy is a good eater so results may vary.

Smiling and cooing?: Yes, for 5 minutes a day if I’m being generous

Sleeping through the night?: Not even close

Crying?: A plenty

Kicking a soccer ball?: Like a pro

What? What the hell else do you do with a baby?

You’re creeping your way into our hearts you beautiful baby girl.

—

2 month stats:

Height: 22.5 in (50%)

Weight: 9 lbs 12 oz (10-25%)

Head: 38 cm (50%)

It’s official.  I’m a Louche.

The day is August 16th – Emily’s due date.

11 AM: We arrived at the hospital.  We had never been to North Fulton because we didn’t anticipate delivering there (an induced VBAC prompted the last minute switch).

11:15: In the delivery room Dan shows me what to expect before I get changed into my robe (and these will be the last of the pictures to preserve what little modesty I have left)

.

Between here and when the doctor comes in, the nurse gives me an IV and gets me all hooked up to the monitor.  She asks me if I intend to partake in the nectar of the gods to which I respond “no”.  She says that she likes to go ahead and order it anyways just in case the patient decides to change their mind just so they don’t have to wait.  I agree that’s probably for the best since my desire to not partake was purely out of curiosity (masochistic much?).  I had not prepared mentally on any level to give birth naturally.

12:30 – The doctor breaks my water.  At this point I was 2-3cm dilated.

2:30 – Contractions start coming pretty consistently so Dan, my mom and myself take a walk around the hospital to help things progress.  About 5 minutes into the walk, I feel like I’m going to throw up.  I run to the nearest bathroom while Dan scrambles for something for me to use as a barf bag.  I make it to the bathroom but don’t throw up.  We head back to the room.

4:00 – My sister shows up with Aiden – a plan that was made when we were sure that the baby would certainly have been there by the time she got off work.  But Emily hadn’t arrived yet and I was in a LOT of pain.  Contractions were coming every couple minutes and I wasn’t handling it well.  Oh sure, I was breathing through them but I was not in a good place.  Super glad that Aiden got to see a little bit of me writhing in pain.  They left shortly after because it turns out a 2 year old is the exact opposite of what you want around in that condition.

5:00 – Midwife stops Dan in the hall and tells him to take me for a walk…for an HOUR or so (a detail that he fails to mention until we’re half way down the hall).  I stop not 100 feet from the delivery room and talk it out with Dan and ultimately decide I want to suckle from the teat of the gods.

6:00 – Nectar arrives.  Doctor checks my progress at this point. This was a pivotal moment for me because if they’d said I was 7cm, I would have been disappointed I had made it so far only to back out now.  But they didn’t.  I was only 4cm!?!  To which I said bring on the drugs.

7:30 – The last hour and a half were significantly better than the previous 3-4, but the nurse was concerned that I was still aware of and having to breath through the contractions.  She calls the anesthesiologist back.

7:45 – The doctor decides to redo the epidural which while not something I would wish for twice in one day, I’m deeming totally worth it.  I didn’t feel anything once he got that thing in there right.  I spent the remaining time questioning why anyone would choose to have a baby naturally when we have modern medicine.

9:30 – The midwife comes in for a random progress check and wouldn’t you know it – 10cm!!  She wants me to start pushing right then, so she dimmed the lights and that’s just what we did.  She determines I have enough control over my pushing muscles to keep the drip going (if ever there was a reason to get your muscles in check) and we do the thing – mom holding one leg, midwife holding the other.

A brief word on my midwife.  Her name is Diane Tandy and she is amazing!  I knew I’d have to find a midwife after having a c-section with Aiden to even have the option of a VBAC and I was lucky to have found her. She was just so encouraging and knowledgeable and fun through the whole process and I genuinely credit her for the positive feelings I took away from the delivery.  Her practice is Gifts From Grace so if you’re in the Johns Creek/Alpharetta/Roswell area, everyone there is wonderful.

9:45 – Nurse comes in, completely shocked that we’ve started…without her…which I thought was funny.

10:00 – Sometime around here they wheeled in a mirror so I could see how I was doing.  I didn’t want it at first (and I’m pretty sure Dan who was standing safely by my head could have done without), but then I couldn’t look away and was really encouraged by seeing the fruits of my pushes.

I pushed for an hour.  Emily finally decided to show at 10:29PM.  They plopped her down right on my belly and Dan cut the cord.

And then I got to hold her.

Very different from the c-section experience.  In the moment, it went quick and I honestly didn’t feel a thing.  The next day though I ached like I had the workout of my life…which I guess I had.