4 Weeks...But Not Yet A Month

Rosebud is four weeks old today, but will be a month old on Friday. That sounds funny, huh? Excuse the lovely red marks on her thighs, she was squished in her car seat for longer than any of us wanted today.

So far cloth diapering her has been a bit of a challenge because we only have enough cloth for a day at at time (if that), and laundry adds up quickly at this house. I am trying to do a day of cloth, a day of sposies. Other than that, cloth diapering is not hard with a newborn. (When is she not considered a newborn?) She has less leaks and blowouts when she is in cloth than disposables. It just isn't financially right for us to buy tons of tiny cloth diapers that she will grow out of and not be able to grow with (like one size diapers). So far we haven't bought any newborn disposables because we had some left from Little Monkey Man (LMM) and the hospital sent us home with tons.

Both Rosebud and LMM had a doctor's appointment today. She weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz and is 20 inches long. I wasn't surprised she was over 8 lbs, she eats all the time! Because of LMM's wheat-gluten intolerance they are going to keep a close eye on her weight gain-she could also easily have the same intolerance and then I would need to go off of wheat/gluten in order for her to be able to continue breastfeeding. So far so good, but LMM didn't show any signs of the problem until he was between 4 and 5 months.

I am trying to remember to put Rosebud on her tummy as much as possible. It isn't easy with two big brothers running around the house, but I try to get in a few minutes everyday.

Keep up the good growth little Rosebud!

LMM had his appointment today too and is starting his modified vaccination schedule. He wasn't thrilled to get a shot. In fact he wasn't thrilled to be there at all. We are working on transitions and putting him in new situations. When he isn't in control, he has a hard time functioning. This happens with lots of toddlers, but he (and other SPD* kids) have a particularly hard time in new situations if they haven't been prepped properly. I'm sure the next time he goes he will be even happier to be at the doctor now that he knows what might happen! After his appointment, he had his first center based session with his therapists. For the first time he met with them not at home. Although we had a few hiccups, he did rather well and will meet there once a month along with his home based activities.

Here's where I get controversial, so if you don't want to read controversial, don't read on :o) I don't want to step on toes, so please just know this is what our family is doing, and we don't push it on anyone else.

Although doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics are adamant that there is no link between autism and vaccinations, many many parents believe something happens.

I strongly believe that it is a good thing diseases like polio have been eradicated in the United States due to vaccinations. However, we do not think that the regimen that babies go through is safe or necessary. We have voiced our concerns with our family doctor (the pediatrician wouldn't even give us the time of day back when we had one) and today had a really good conversation about our feelings. Our family doctor is on board with us delaying and spreading out the children's vaccinations. This means extra visits for us to the doctor, but no extra co-pays.

LMM's EIS* and therapists are also very much for his vaccines to be given slowly. He hasn't had any since he was six months old, but started again today. Although these people are not doctors, and they have to (legally) promote all children getting vaccinated...they also told us to proceed with caution. They work with SPD kids and kids on the autism spectrum daily. They do not take lightly the timing they have seen. Do vaccines cause these problems? In my opinion, probably not but I really don't know. Could they trigger them in some kids who are prone to these disorders? Who knows! Why not be extra careful and not give young children an onslaught of chemicals?

I think that each parent should do what they feel is right for their child when it comes to vaccinations. I also think that if a parent has a strong feeling about them they shouldn't be criticized. "Mother's Intuition" I do believe is a God given thing.

A great book to read if you want to know more is "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert W. Sears. He tells what the vaccine is, when it is usually given, how the vaccine is made, and what possible side effects are. He gives his opinion on each vaccine, but gives pros and cons for each. He is not anti-vaccinations and he is not pro-vaccinations. He is just getting the information out there as far as I can tell.

Well enough of all that, Rosebud would like to eat and I have laundry to do!

*Sensory Processing Disorder

*Early Intervention Specialist

Baby Dedication/Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day, and on Mother's Day at our church, we have baby dedication.

Our church does not do baby baptism. We do not see it being practiced anywhere in the scripture, and we also believe it is a decision that older children/adults make after they have come to know the Lord personally and want to profess to the world their love for Him and their commitment to live for Him.

However, our church (and our family) does take very seriously the responsibility of raising children in the Lord and through baby dedication we are professing to the world that we are taking on that responsibility.

Our old church had a very similar ceremony that we did with the boys. Part of today's ceremony was a response and affirmation similar to wedding vows. Pastor Jon asked us if we were committed to raising our children in the Lord and asked various questions, to which we said "we do".

I know so many of you would have loved to have been at Rosebud's dedication, so I took lots of pictures/had a friend take pictures during church. On the left is the dress that I was dedicated in, nearly 30 years ago.

Here she is all ready to go to church. Her sweater and bonnet were also mine when I was a baby.

Waiting at church to go up front.

This one is a little fuzzy, but here were are. We could have had the boys with us, but opted not to have them up front. We felt it was too much for them to handle, and being that it was a serious thing, didn't want them to "entertain" anyone.

Taking a family picture afterwards.

So this was a very special Mother's Day! We had both of our parents here and one of #1's grandmas was also here. It was very nice to share the day with all of them.

Three Weeks Old

Rosebud is now three weeks old. Every day she is awake a little more, and makes herself known a little more. She can really let you know when something is NOT going her way...but most of the time she is pretty laid back. She now weighs 7 lbs 5 oz, about a pound more than when we brought her home from the hospital!

I've been wanting to start doing some memes again, but really haven't even been too great about blogging or reading other people's blogs. But today I AM going to do Wednesday's Walk (down memory lane) from Jenilee's blog. Today we are supposed to write about our first Mother's Day.

I don't think this picture is from my actual first Mother's Day, but it would have been pretty close. This picture of Snug was taken at church here, so it counts, right? He was dedicated on Mother's Day 2007. Rosebud will be dedicated on Mother's Day this year. I think that is a neat thing to have on Mother's Day at church, baby dedication. What a great way to be reminded of the responsibility we have as moms (and dads) to be bringing our children up in the Lord.

Homemade Haircuts

To save money I cut #1 and Snug's hair. Our new house has an outlet on the deck so the whole mess can be outside! What a blessing!

Since summer and warm weather is quickly approaching, I went to summer cuts for them. Snug decided he wanted his spike back this year, but I am going to try to keep it a bit more subtle...he is getting older.

Here's his finished product. I'm not beautician, but I can live with the results.

Everyone's favorite part about hair cutting day (about every 6-8 weeks) is that they get a sucker or a piece of candy. Candy is not part of our kid's diets, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get them to sit for a haircut.

Little Monkey was THRILLED to get candy. And then he acted pretty crazy for about an hour. I tried to cut his bangs a bit, but I made him look awful. He's going to have to go to the hairdresser I'm afraid.

After haircuts the boys enjoyed some basketball time. At least two hours a day are dedicated to shooting hoops if it is nice weather.

I keep trying to get a good jumping picture of Snug. He loves to jump and slam dunk. I will have to post some video too. LMM has quite the accuracy.

Do you cut your kids/spouse's hair? Have you ever tried?

A Day For Daddy

As I type this, I am nearing the end of 30 hours by myself with the kids. I also took the opportunity to take the three of them out by myself. I can't believe I survived! I know so many moms who have three + children...they do this so gracefully. I'm afraid I don't!!!!

To drum up more support of their operational levy, the police and fire people had open houses yesterday for the community. Most of the guys/girls families were there, so I braved the elements (80 and cloudy with a breeze) and took the kids. Here is #1 repelling off the side of the city building.

He was representing the SWAT team. Snug was very proud. They had all their SWAT gear out on a table for people to look at, and I debated taking Snug's picture holding an AR (big old gun) but decided against it. We don't' encourage him to do anything with guns.

So he was pretty proud to have his boys there, and they like to see where daddy works. This event was the beginning of his 30 hours away. Then he worked a regular shift, then they switched to 12 hour shifts which his almost ran into each other...so he caught a couple of zzz and went right back to work!

Daddy was really proud to show off all his kiddos, but I think he was pretty happy to have Rosebud there.

Our first family photo of 5 where I am DRESSED :o)

Seeing "woos" never gets old for this boy.

I love this picture. You can tell what a great dad he is to carry all that gear AND two boys who were tired of walking.

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So I came up with some ways to get through the time when I am alone with the kiddos. It has been not the nicest weather, lots of rain, so outside time didn't happen. I kinda rotate where in the house we are. And I have a box of toys the boys can only play with when I am nursing (thanks A. Beth for the new goodies for the box). And I put Snug to work a lot. He likes to have "jobs" and I even sometimes pay him in pennies.

While I made lunch it was his job to read to Rosebud and keep her happy in the swing. She is generally very mild in disposition, but wanted to be held...and I only have so many hands. This made her very happy having her biggest brother right in front of her and her swing moving.

I just can't stop taking pictures of her. They say your second and third children don't get as many pictures taken as your first. I don't think that is going to be a problem.

However, I am quite sure that Rosebud and Little Monkey Man will not have the same baby book as Snug. Because I kept up with his monthly and poor LMM's hasn't even made it to his first birthday and he is nearly two! At least we HAVE the pictures :o)

Four and a half more hours to go. I can do this! (Especially since everyone is currently napping or resting and a friend is bringing dinner!)