sippy cups

When Catherine was a baby we had a terrible time with her being constipated.  I blamed it on using formula and starting solids too early - mommy guilt.  I didn't have this trouble with any other child (since I waited to start solids and was able to nurse them for much longer, of course) until now.  Michaela gets constipated.  If she continues like Catherine, there is a long road ahead of us.

So, what does this have to do with sippy cups?  Well, the doctor prescribed Miralax for Catherine (It's OTC, now) and we were able to add it to juice in a bottle.  She was used to drinking from bottles.  Michaela is not.  We had a Playtex sippy cup that we tried to use until a 3yo boy chewed up the valve, rendering the cup useless for a baby.  We have 5 Playtex sippy cups and every single valve has met the same fate.  I went to buy replacement valves but, knowing they wouldn't last long, decided to try a different brand.

We've tried the Gerber NUK brand, but the spout inevitably gets chewed up.  I thought the Munchkin brand that did not have a stopper looked promising, but it was a disaster.  Even I could not get any liquid out of it.  It is designed so that you have to bite down and suck...and that is not something ANY nursing mother wants to encourage.  I took my Toys R Us gift card and had the Playtex sippy cups and a package of replacement stoppers in my hand and then I noticed a sale on the Tommee Tippee training cups.  They cost more, but the sale made them the same price and I decided to give them a try.  I am SO glad I did.

These sippy cups are awesome!  It took me to baby #5 to discover them, but now that I have, I will not buy any other brand.  I LOVE these sippy cups and so does Michaela.  She puts it up to her mouth to drink and giggles with delight when she takes a drink and it works!  I gave it a try, myself, and while they are completely leak free, it takes hardly any effort to get the liquid flowing.  The spout is the perfect balance between soft and hard so she does not want - or need - to chew on it.  I'm not getting anything free for this shameless advertisement - I'm just completely enamored by this product.  If you have had sippy cup woes, look no further!

nephew

I quickly wanted to note that we have another new baby in the family - Lennox was born today, 2/10/10. 8lbs 2oz and 21.5 inches long. Hopefully we'll get a picture soon. Please pray for my sister-in-law, Robyn's, complete recovery.

2/20/10 ETA:

Robyn is doing much better. She had a severe allergic reaction after the baby was born via C-section and was in the ICU when I originally posted this. Her co-worker, friend, and anesthesiologist Ms. Miller was instrumental in saving her life, so they decided to name Lennox after her: Lennox Miller.

a Christmas to remember...

Yesterday David and Andrea got a call from their adoption agency. They drove to the hospital to meet the birth mother of their new baby girl who was born today! I can't even imagine how thrilled, excited, happy and perhaps a little scared they must be feeling. Yesterday they found out they'd been chosen as the parents of this baby...and today they are holding her!!!


(I stole this picture from their blog...isn't she beautiful?!)

While we were waiting for news of the birth of this baby, we remembered that on the Feast of the Annunciation we spiritually adopted unborn babies who were in danger of abortion. We have been praying for them (and their birth mothers) for the last nine months so when we heard that the mother had considered abortion we were so thankful that, perhaps partly because of our prayers, she was open to the grace she needed to bear and deliver this baby; and now that baby we were praying for is (almost*) a part of our family! Merry Christmas, David and Andrea!!!

*There is a short waiting period before the final paperwork is signed, so please pray that everything goes through so that David and Andrea can keep Eliza, for whom they've been praying since they were married four years ago.

introducing...

Michaela Jean.
Born: 12/4/09 Weighing: 7lb 5oz Measuring: 19"

We arrived at the hospital at 8:30AM and none of the nurses really believed I was in labor...Adam took a picture before I got ready. I guess it doesn't look like I'm in labor here, does it?

I was 9cm and my room was full of nurses before I knew it. My doctor showed up around 9:15 and after he got ready and broke my water, it finally hurt - and we had Michaela Jean 4minutes later...at 9:28AM.

I've been reading posts like Lindsay's and Aubrey's and wondering what was wrong with me for not feeling this way...but as soon as I held my baby, I fell in love and have been lost in wonder at this beautiful miracle:

She's so adorable - I couldn't pick just one picture to share...


Michaela says, "Happy Birthday to me!"

Seven Quick Takes (Vol.5)

ONE
Catherine: I really like Word Girl.
Dad: What do you learn about?
Catherine: Words...I think.

Catherine: I love rock and roll!
Mom: That's the loud music that you always tell me to turn off.
Catherine: Well, I love rock and roll girls. See this picture? (Showing me a Hannah Montana sticker). She's so pretty.

Catherine: I'm going to be a beauty shop girl when I grow up. I can still have kids and they can play there while I make people beautiful.

I never thought of this before - but it fits her personality so well!
I don't want to jump the gun; but if this interest continues this is one no-make-up, bites-her-nails, never-had-her-ears-pierced, pony-tail sporting mom who needs to learn a few things...I don't even know how to do a french braid for cryin' out loud!

TWO
Thinking about television and PBS shows, what are your favorites? (Keep in mind that we might watch TV once or twice a week). Of the newer shows, we still really like Word World. The kids really like Super Why! (although the way they change the fairy tales bothers me) and Word Girl has become a new hit. Although I like the concept, I can't say I like the show Sid the Science Kid on PBS. However, we're enjoying the new 'science' show: Dinosaur Train.

THREE
My brother flew into Omaha with Robyn and Grayson on Thursday, so we drove out to see them for a little while. We met up at Kenefick Park and spent some time talking and hanging out around the trains


until Grayson was ready for his nap and they hit the road.


I decided to grab lunch at Burger King (which I only mention because Catherine is wearing her crown in every picture...) and take the kids to the zoo for a little while. We had a good time visiting the Giraffe Complex


the Insect and Butterfly Pavillion


and the Lied Jungle before we had to head home...


after playing on the lions, of course.


FOUR
We slaughtered some roosters and ducks early Saturday morning. Click here if you're interested in how that went and what we've learned...

FIVE
We went to CSS late Saturday morning and picked out some furniture for our new living room. (The couch, chair, and glider rocker are the new pieces if you haven't been to / remember our house). We're pretty happy with how it turned out. I finally have a glider rocker and am anticipating spending many hours in it with our next baby. The colors probably aren't what we'd have picked out "new" but the furniture is comfortable, in very good shape, and the pinks and greens work reasonably well with the colors already in the room.




SIX
With baby number 5 on the way, I've realized just how sorely I've neglected putting together scrapbooks, photo albums, etc. I logged back into our Shutterfly account and am starting to get my photos organized. The advantage to this is that I'm not quite so attached to every little picture, so I can more easily pick out the best memories.

SEVEN
Adam and I have agreed to "give up" our hobbies for the month of October so that we can focus on getting our house in order before Michaela is born. For him, that means no more new batches of beer or wine. For me, no blogging and that means no reading blogs, either - so if something really important happens like a new baby is born (Robyn) please call or e-mail me! See you in November.

A PICTURE THOUGHT I AM SHARING:

garage sale...

I pulled out all my little girl "winter" clothing and found...not much. So, when we were in town on Friday I decided to look at a few garage sales. I picked up a few really nice 12-18 month clothes at one for next winter and found about half a dozen "Newborn" sleepers to bring my total up to 8. I saved plenty of clothes in every other size (including 0-3 month, which are bigger than the 'newborn' size I needed) but realized that I didn't have much in the way of newborn sized warm sleepers because my girls were both born in the summer and pretty much wore onesies (of which I saved the best 1/2 dozen + 2 preemie sized ones) So...I have 8 onesies, 8 sleepers and 8 blankets, which is just a little more than I think I need. I even have a 0-3 month Baby GAP coat, but these are so much easier - and warmer overall. Now I just need to find something pretty, warm, and comfortable for her to wear to Mass.

While I was looking through clothes, the kids spotted a bin of Beanie Babies for $0.50 each. I told them they could each pick one out and if they behaved I'd buy it for them. Here are the toys they picked out: Can you guess which one belongs to which child? The answers are in the comments.



I picked up a few "toys" for myself, too. I found a hardback collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, illustrated by him and two paperback books: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, and Five Little Peppers Midway. I know there's a whole series of books about the Five Little Peppers, but that's all she had.

Aunt x 2

Well, when I called my brother to tell him we were expecting our fifth baby, he lied through his teeth about the fact that their son, Grayson, is going to be a big brother. Looks like it's going to be another boy - in February!

One more mom to add to my growing list of expectant mothers over in the sidebar. Say a prayer for all of us, will you?

It's going to be a girl!

I was not terribly surprised. The higher heart rate (158-161bpm) indicated that it would be a girl for me. Also, after I got sick during my first trimester and didn't eat for a week, my "cravings" shifted from salty-spicy to salty-sweet. The dead giveaway was this morning when the baby wouldn't cooperate with the ultrasound technician. Yeah - that's a girl.

The girls are happy - Anthony keeps asking if we're sure it's not a boy. Stephen, surprisingly, has said that he wanted a baby "sister" since we started talking about the baby in my belly. However, he is relatively indifferent about the news. "Of course it's a girl. I've been telling you all that I'm going to have a sister."

I'm happy that I don't have to get rid of all my baby girl clothes... BUT ...I'm a little disappointed that I don't have an excuse to give away all our baby girl clothes...so I'll be going through and reducing the number of baby boy clothes we have. If we have another boy someday they will have been in storage for at least four years.

Now, please notice the POLL I have created to the left. Ever since we were expecting Anthony, we have agreed on our next baby girls' name: the feminine form of Michael, pronounced mi-KAY-la. Unfortunately, we recently realized that we never talked about how to spell it...and we don't agree. Neither of us really like the last option, but Adam does want a "phonetic" spelling. Please vote for the one you like the best or leave a comment if you have a "better" way to spell it. ;)

two and a half

Stephen's half birthday was yesterday. He was born almost exactly 4 and a half years after Catherine. He is all about reading board books over and over and over... He likes the Byron Barton books, many of our Eric Carle (and/or Bill Martin Jr.) books, and song & nursery rhyme books. I am thankful that Catherine and Teresa are willing to read & sing these to him because after 4 or 5 times in a row, I am ready to go clean the toilets.

We celebrated with ice cream sundaes at the Zesto where Grandma used to work. We also visited the Sunken Gardens in spite of a few rain showers...







...then headed across the street to see the BIG "waterfall" outside the Lincoln Children's Zoo.



Finally, we visited with some of Adam's extended family because his grandparents were in town for Father's Day. Adam has some older cousins and one was there with his twins and another with his triplets. Another cousin, who also has twins was not there. I have a friend who is expecting twins, our neighbors across the road have triplets and there is also a set of twins in Catherine's class. With all this exposure to multiple babies, Catherine is a little jealous - "Why don't you have two babies in your tummy, mom?"



Sorry, honey. God only put one in my tummy - like this water lily in one of the Sunken Garden fish ponds - the only one in bloom.

a loaf of bread

It is said that every baby comes with a loaf of bread under his arm. The "loaf of bread" that came with the news that we were expecting our fifth child* was a promotion for Adam at work. We feel particularly blessed that this promotion has come during these times of high unemployment, layoffs, downsizing, pay cuts, etc. Adam is now a Tech III and we were recently reflecting that he couldn't find a better job. Deo Gratias.

*At 11 weeks, our baby has a strong, 161 bpm heartbeat.