It's Been a While

It's been 6 weeks since Peanut was born. In those 6 weeks, she has gained about 4 pounds, drinks 5 ounces in one feeding and slept 7 hours in one stretch. She has been a pretty easy baby for the most part. Not as easy as Boogs was, but I'm not complaining. To be honest, in these past 6 weeks I have been getting a little cabin fever and squeamish. I can only imagine how Boogs must feel, but she is very patient, loving and helpful with the new addition around the house. I am so thankful for her and the little things she says and does throughout the day that makes me love being home with my girls.

My list of loves:

- When Peanut is crying and Boogs says, "It's okay, unnie here."

- When Boogs calls Peanut "Teanut"

- When Peanut shoots me a little smile after she was just fed letting me know she's satisfied

- When I put Boogs down for a nap and I hear through her monitor, "Mommy, Nahl Salang? (Jesus Loves Me in Korean) No, sing Nahl Salang already. Can sing to your baby. Mommy, Jesus Love Me? No, sing Jesus Love Me already. You can sing to your baby..." (she is having the conversation we have together before I leave her room, but she is saying both hers and my side of the conversation)

- Boogs feeding her little sister, getting comfortable in her corner with the boppy and always telling me, "Mommy, take a picture."

- A whole mess of other things that I can't possibly write in this limited space

My list of hates:

- No matter how much or how long I do laundry, it never seems to go away

- After one meal, I feel like I have to clean the whole kitchen, not just a sinkful of dishes

- I have less than a month before I start going back to work (although not fulltime in the beginning)

I have about 5 pounds left to lose and those seem to not want to go away. I've had about 5 pounds left to lose for the past 3 week

She's Here!

Emily Hayoung Tadema

August 28, 2010

9:44pm

7 lbs, 3 oz

...continuation of the birth story...

I sat there waiting for the petocin to kick in. It took about 4 extra doses before the contractions finally came full force. They tried to get the epidural going right away, but that too didn't work right away. Normally you can feel the relief from the epidural within about 10 minutes, but after 30 minutes, I was still feeling the contractions FULL ON. The anethesiologist came in 3 more times to up my dosage before the epidural finally starting working. An hour and a half later, I was laughing again, content from not feeling any more pain. (I don't know HOW I managed to make it through contractions for 17 hours before getting an epidural with Boogs last time...crazy, I tell ya!)

By now, we had several visitors. Yobo's brother's family, cousins, my sister, BIL, dad and Boogs were all there. The doctor came in about 1.5 hours later to check my progress before he stepped into his emergency C-section. We kicked everyone out and after he checked, he said, "Okay, you're up!"

Since I had received so many doses of the epidural, I had NO sense of feeling. The doctor asked if I could feel when I'm having contractions. Nada. He said he'd coach me through the pushing. (*warning: might not be something you expect to hear coming from a girl, but hey, this is a birth story, not a fairytale) He asked if I remembered how it felt to be pushing when I needed to poop. I remembered, but again, couldn't feel, so I tried. After about 3 minutes of pushing, our little Peanut was born.

There are lots of other little details, but really - I don't think anyone cares to read about them. And if you really do wanna know, just ask - I have no problem disclosing all the not-so-glamorous details of being prego/labor that other people just *happen* to leave out because they "forget." (Let's just be clear. You don't "forget." You just suppress them from your memory and focus on the beautiful little being that you created. But by no means did I "forget" about all the not-so-glamorous parts of being prego/labor!)

The Birth Story

I started having contractions a few days ago, but they only felt like Braxton Hicks contractions. In any case, when we started timing them, they only got to be about 30 - 45 minutes apart...not close enough to be concerned or considered in active labor. Last night, they were getting as close as 6 - 10 minutes apart and were starting to get a little more painful. But while watching a movie, (as many of you know who know me well) I fell asleep. I slept like normal last night, not waking up from any contractions and when I woke up this morning at 6:30am, I didn't feel any more contractions...or movement from the baby. I called the doctor on call around 9:30am this morning to tell him what was going on and he told us to get to the hospital right away. "If you've had something to eat and drink and haven't felt at least 10 kicks/movement in 1 hour, you should come in. If you're concerned enough to call me because you're worried about lack of movement, it's like a patient calling a heart surgeon to tell them they have chest pains." This immediately made me quite anxious (okay, hysterical). We dropped Boogs off at my mom's and rushed to the hospital.

When we got there, the nurse put me on a monitor and we heard the heartbeat which immediately made me start crying again, but because I was so relieved. She had me drink ice water and chomp on some ice - I FINALLY felt baby girl move. Thank GOD! After having such an easy pregnancy, it's amazing how my emotions can change so quickly with one little scare.

After being monitored for about an hour or so, the nurse wanted to check my progress. She said if I was 6 cm dilated, they'd keep me here and we'd be having a baby today! When she checked, she said, "You're at about...5.5cm" "Do you round up?" I asked. She laughed and said she thought I was actually closer to a 6. So she called the doctor to check and he said, "Yup, admit her."

I got hooked up to get antibiotics because I tested positive for Group B Strep. After the antibiotics, I got Petocin to help my contractions. And here I am, sitting in my hospital bed, waiting for the contractions to get "worse." I never thought I'd be waiting and happy for my contractions to get worse, but I REALLY want to meet this little one and she is being such a tease! Already being a pain in her mama's butt...and she's not even born yet!

This Baby is Coming!

Today I had my 38.5 week appointment and got some good news! As of last week, I was only 1 cm dilated and about 75% effaced. When I went in today, my dr. checked me and I'm at 3.5, maybe 4 cm and she said my water could break any day. She said she highly doubts that I'll need my next appointment which is scheduled for next Wednesday, 9/1. So this baby is coming sooner rather than later! (Good thing so she can get on her Beppe & Halabujee's good sides - both of whom are going out of town next week)

We are SO excited! Better go get the rest of her clothes and bassinet set up!

An Update

I know, I've been MIA lately, but have been busy with work and not diligent with the blog. I'll try to give a quick update.

It's been about a month since we've started potty training Boogs. For the most part, I would say she is potty trained. She still has an accident once in a while, but she has been sleeping through the night without an accident for about the past 2 weeks! (YAY!)

We took maternity pictures last week with Joey from jkhphoto and can't wait to see pics from the shoot!

I'm at 38 weeks with Baby #2 and SO ready for this baby to get here already! My doctor thinks she'll be early, so we're all hoping for sometime this week...we'll see.

Over the weekend, we were in Lynden celebrating our Pake & Beppe (Grandpa & Grandma in Dutch)'s 60th wedding anniversary. It was a great time for family and sharing in the legacy Pake & Beppe created. Here's a pic of all of the great grandchildren...I think there are still some missing if you can believe that!

Family Vacation

July 29 - August 2 was our annual family vacation with Yobes' family. I was a little (okay, a LOT) worried since we had just started Boogs on potty training and I wasn't sure how she would be in a different environment (as well as doing things during the day she's not used to doing, not getting her normal naps and going to bed late because of having too much fun with her cousins).

I was pleasantly surprised when she did so well! I think it was the combo of her best buddy, Noah, potty training at the same time (and giving each other high-five's when the other went on the toilet) and her sleeping in her pack & play that made the vacation/potty training easy. In the 5 days, she only had 1 accident during the night and 2 accidents during the day. I hope it lasts!

The vacation was just what we all needed. Some time away with family, enjoying the WA coast. It was chilly, but nice and relaxing. The one day we finally took her out to the beach, she started charging towards (and into) the water! She LOVED it even though it was freezing cold and did not want to leave.

Boogs cheesin' it up!

The 3 kids...soon to be 5!

Yobes chasing Boogs as she runs fearlessly into the ocean!

Two Dry Nights!

Since Boogs was waking up twice a night for the past several nights, I decided to try to wake her up to go potty during the night. The first night, I woke her up when I was headed to bed (about 3 hours after she goes down for the night). I snuggled her and asked her if she needed to go potty. In her groggy, still sleeping little voice, she said, "yeah, mommy." #1, success! Around 4:30am, I heard her through her monitor rustling around, so i woke her up and took her again...#2, success! Both times she went back down without a fuss. Wow, our first dry night since potty training!

The next night, I tried to wake her up when I was headed to bed and when I took her to the bathroom, she said, "no potty, mommy." So I put her back down, keeping my fingers crossed that she wouldn't wet her underwear. Then Yobes tried waking her up around 2am, but she again said no. I think I was only half-sleeping the whole night because I was expecting her to wake up wet, but she woke up dry again! I was so happy and proud! I hope this streak continues!

3-Day Potty Training

With all the changes and transitions we've been putting Boogs through the past couple of weeks, we thought why don't we try potty training as well? I really wanted her to be potty trained by the time the 2nd baby came, but thought it would be really nice to have her trained before our family vacation at the end of this month. I've asked my cousins/sister-in-law about what they did, they all referred me to 3-Day Potty Training. I was skeptical at first, but thought, "what do I have to lose?" Here's how our experience went:

Day 1

Yobes and I took the day off on Friday to commit to the 3-day potty training. The book recommends that we don't leave the house for the full 3-days and have an eye on your child (pretty much 24/7) at all times. I'm not gonna lie - by the middle of the first day, there were many accidents, lots of frustration and a kid that had no intention of telling mommy & daddy if she needed to potty. At one point, Boogs straight up squat right in front of us and proceeded to pee in her underwear. That's when I lost it. I felt like a complete failure and took my frustration out on Yobes. After my little meltdown, I remembered the book saying whatever you do, keep it up - that all of the sudden, something will just click and they'll just "get it." Before we knew it, we were playing together, stuffed inside her Dora tent when she looked up and said, "potty please." Yobes and I looked at each other, looked back at Boogs and asked, "potty?" "Yesh." So we rushed her to the toilet and sure enough, she peed! It was such a reassuring, proud moment! The rest of the night went well and I just hoped that Day 2 would go much better.

Day 2

Last night was tough. Boogs woke up a couple times having already wet her underwear. It was so easy when she was in a diaper - she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night even if it soaked through to her clothes, but for some reason, with only underwear on, she wakes up from just a litle bit of pee. During the day went MUCH better for Boogs. She went in the toilet several times and the only time she had an accident was when she went poopoo.

Day 3

Boogs woke up twice again last night. Even though this has only been going on a couple days, it's been discouraging. For some reason, potty training in my mind was going to be a perfect 3-day program and Boogs was going to get it right away. I never considered poop and nighttime being any different. Umm...WAKE UP! Of course in a perfect world (AKA: my mind) Boogs is using full-on sentences saying, "Mommy, I need to go to the potty, please," but I also know that I oftentimes set my expectations too high (I'm working on this). I can't say that by the end of Day 3, Boogs was fully potty trained. So I'll leave this post somewhat hanging and give an update as we try to fine-tune her habits.

Bean Dip

I thought it would be fun to add a Food section to the blog. Not that I'm a great cook, but I try to find some quick and easy recipes that require little to no work on my part, but taste delicious (at least that's what Yobes tells me and he better not be lying!). So first up, we have Bean Dip. I've used this recipe many times for potlucks, game nights, BBQ's, etc and it's always a hit. So next time the Superbowl is on or if you have a BBQ to go to (now that summer has FINALLY decided to arrive here in Seattle), try this out and see what your critics think!

Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground meat (beef or turkey)

1 can refried beans

1 onion - diced

1 can corn - drained

1 - 2 cups salsa (to taste)

Shredded cheddar cheese (lots...to taste)

Directions:

Cook meat and drain fat. Add onions and saute 2 - 3 minutes. Add refried beans and combine (I like to mash the beans down so it's more of a creamy consistency). Add salsa (as much/little as you want. I use the salsa to determine the thickness of the dip, so I tend to use about 2 cups because I don't like it as thick) until well incorporated. Add corn and combine. Add shredded cheese on top and stir in until melted (I use a lot because like himself, Yobes likes things cheesey).

Enjoy! :)

4th of July

For our 4th of July festivities, we went over to our friends Rich & Kim's place for a potluck and had a GREAT time! The uncles didn't disappoint with their fireworks show and surprisingly, Boogs did really well with all the loud booms and cracks!

All wrapped up...it was COLD out!

Her mischeivious little grin...up to no good! (what's up with her hair?!)

The ladies and babes

Our family...with 1 more on the way!

Too Good To Be True

It's true...some things are too good to be true. Boog's near perfect sleep habits took a turn today. Just as I was bragging about how she stayed in bed while falling asleep as well as stayed in bed talking to herself while waking up, she figured it out...she can get out of bed and open her door. I was hoping this day would never come, but I guess I was only kidding myself. So tonight, I laid her down and listened to the monitor. She was talking and singing to herself for the first 5 minutes or so. After that, I hear silence followed by a, "Hah (hi) mommy!" Except this sounded much closer than what I can normally hear through her monitor when she's STILL IN BED. I walked towards the stairs to make my way to her room and saw my poor little girl clinging onto the gate we set up in front of her door. It was the cutest, saddest, sweetest thing ever. However, trying to put her down after that was NOT fun. It took her about an hour to get really tired (normally she's out like a light after I put her down). Needless to say, this mama was TI-RED and now have a much greater appreciation for mom's that struggle with fussy babies at night. Hopefully she gets over the whole "freedom" feeling and starts sleeping better cuz' I don't know how much more I can handle once Baby #2 arrives!

Oh No!!! Too Much!

It has been a couple days since we took Boog's papi away and although each night she has gone down fussing, the time she fusses is getting shorter and shorter. Last night it was only 5 minutes. Hopefully she'll completely forget about it soon.

Today, I went for a walk during work and as always, called my mom to see how Boogs was doing. I asked how long she slept and if she's been eating well (the two things I always ask). My mom said she ate VERY well and that Boogs said the funniest thing today. She said after she ate, she went poop (these are the things that get you excited once you become a parent. All you moms out there - you know you took a picture of the poop the first time your little one went on the toilet, don't lie!). Apparently, she went a LOT. So my mom cleaned her up and was hanging out with her in the living room when she noticed she was standing there with a strained look on her face. She thought Boogs might be trying to go poop again, so she knelt down beside her and made the straining face/noise to which Boogs mimicked - turning redfaced and all. After a couple minutes, she stopped, patted her butt and said, "Oh no!!! Too much!" When my mom checked her diaper, sure enough she had gone poop again and apparently Boogs thought it was "too much!" haha! My mom was rolling on the ground laughing and all Boog did was have a proud smirk on her face knowing she'd done herself proud!

What a little rascal - I love that girl!

Big Girls Don't Need Papis

With all the changes Boogs has been going through, we decided to also take her papi (pacifier) away. This is something I've wanted her to kick around 12 months, but just couldn't get myself to do it when it helped her go to sleep in .2 seconds. At least she's attached to a papi and not her thumb...you can take a papi away, but you can't take a thumb away.

So tonight, I put her down saying, "Big girls don't need papis. Boogs go ni-ni, okay? Mommy loves you" I shut the door behind me and left, listening intently through the monitor. At first she was fine. Talking to herself and singing, but after a couple minutes...BLOODY MURDER. I listened through the monitor as my heart ached from cries that I hadn't heard in a LONG time. I remember when we first started to sleep train Boogs. Yobes asked me if we should get her after a couple minutes and as much as my heart broke to hear the shrilling cries coming out of such a little thing, I told him, "unless your boobs are making milk and you're gonna get up to feed her in the middle of the night, we're doing it my way." He shut up real quick and before we knew it, we had a 7 week old that had slept her first stretch of 7 hours during the night (and it only got longer from there). I remembered those days and thought if I just let her cry it out for 15 minutes, she'll be okay. I went to check on her 15 minutes later. Mid-cry, Boogs looked up, "Mommy," and laid back down as I rubbed her back. Now that she was in her big girl bed, I laid down next to her and within 10 seconds, she was out. I think the crying wore her out so when she saw me, she was comforted - forgetting the comfort she used to get from her papi.

So first night without a papi, not so easy but not too bad either. I think it'll still take a little bit for her to get used to going down without one, but 15 minutes isn't all that bad all things considered.

No More Baba

With the sleep transition going so well, Yobes and I thought it was time we took the bottle away from Boogs. We tried this once before and it went really well, except she got sick. Sick to the point where she wasn't eating for several days and since she was off the bottle, wasn't even getting milk. When we took her to the pediatrician, they said not to worry about the not eating part but if she isn't getting milk, as much as they hate to advise this, to try to give her milk from a bottle again. So at 16 months, we gave her the bottle again and just haven't taken it away again ever since. She has never really been a fan of the sippy cup, so I was concerned that she wasn't going to get enough milk, but the ped told us that her milk intake will decrease while she's getting used to not having a bottle around. Soon enough she'll realize that she's not getting it and will get more used to drinking out of a sippy. So today, we took it away cold turkey and she's been okay. The main thing I was worried about was Boogs not getting her bottle before bedtime. This is her normal routine, but she didn't get it tonight. She went down fine, so I hope she doesn't remember and ask for it later!

Day 2: New Big Girl Bed

Whenever Boogs is super tired and is in her room but doesn't want to go to bed, she pulls out all the stops. Everything cute that she can think of, she brings it. "Mommy, nose? Nose? Ear? Mount? Mommy eyes? Eyes? Hair?" Point to each attribute with the most delicate touch of her little finger. "Mommy, (LEEEAAANING over to look me straight in the face) i lub you!" "(singing) Jesus love me, dis I NO! For da bahble tells me TOE! Little one to Him beLONG! Dey are weak but He is STROOONG!" (growling and flexing while saying "strong") As darn cute as it is when she's like that, we wanted to really get her used to sleeping in her big girl bed, so tonight we put her down with her blankie, seahorse and papi and left right away closing the door behind us. Not a peep. I don't know what I did to be blessed with such a good girl, but I must be doing *something* right!

Day 1: New Big Girl Bed

We got the bed rail set up and today was Day 1 of sleeping Boogs in her new big girl bed. We were prepared for a tough journey...one that consisted of several tries and several nights (weeks, maybe) before she got used to sleeping in her new bed in her new room with her new surroundings. But she really surprised us. We laid her down with her seahorse, blankie, and papi and said "Ni-ni. Boogs go to sleep in your new big girls bed, okay?" To which we got this response: "Ohk-kayee. *stand up* Blankie...right there! *grab seahorse and move it to the other end of bed* Horsie...right there! *grab giraffe and move it to other side* Giraffe...right there! *grab pillow* Pillow...right there! Oh no! *moves it 2 inches* Right there!" This went on for a few minutes while Yobes and I tried to put on our serious faces to tell her it really was time for bed. So after a hidden chuckle, we laid her back down, said, "time for ni-ni," shut her door and waited. She sang her ABC's, Jesus Loves Me and talked to herself for about 5 minutes and then...silence. We waited about 5 more minutes and then I went up to check on her. I opened her door, half expecting her to pop her head up and say, "Hi, mommy!" but nothing. She was OUT. Really? That's it? Okay, maybe beginner's luck. We'll see how tomorrow goes but I'm okay with a ridiculously easy transition.

What a Hoot!

Washed the bedding and put up (some of) the wall decals today! I LOVE the way it turned out so far and can't wait to finish it! Call me anal, but I don't care...I cut out each decal so that none of the clear border showed. I've seen pictures of decals with the clear around the actual picture and didn't like the way it looked. The cutting too a lot (okay, a TON) of time, but well worth it. I am loving the owl theme and can't get enough. We got this little shelving system and this matching lamp, both from Target.

9-cube organizer

Love & Nature Lamp

How cute is that lampswitch pully-thingy?! (No idea what it's called, but look, it's a mushroom!) Boog's room is finished for the most part, but we don't want to start sleeping her in it until we get the bed rail. Don't want her to fall out of bed on the first night and freak out because she's not used to her surroundings!

Some Things are Implied

After contemplating between finally giving our little princess a pink girly room, going light green so that it could potentially be used as a unisex room in the future, to blue to be the sky amongst the Love & Nature decorations, to yellow to match her old room, to a light tan to keep it neutral, and literally changing my mind 94 times in the process, I finally decided on a light lavendar color - Spangle from Sherwin-Williams https://www.sherwin-williams.com/visualizer/index.html#d=f;c=2521 to be exact. So we (and by we, I mean Yobes) painted the new room. It turned out just the way I wanted! So excited to get the rest of the decorations up and the bed in place! Here's what it looked like before and after.

Before

After

Note #1: the before is not the actual room as we forgot to take a before picture, but this is another room in our house w/ the same blank walls we started with. Note #2: I asked Yobes to take a pic of the room after I started with the first decoration - that's why there is a random line on the wall. Note #3: When I asked him to take a picture of the wall, I didn't think I had to specifically tell him to get some of the ground/ceiling as well so one can actually denote that it IS in fact a WALL...lesson learned...be overly explicit when giving Yobes directions as he will take it for exactly what is started and cannot read between the lines (yeah, like the line between my pointer and ring finger!) :) Anyway, you get the idea!

The Girl Next Door

We finally made the decision to move Boogs into a new room and keep her current room as the nursery for when Baby #2 arrives. I was very hesitant on doing this since she was already used to her room and its surroundings. The last thing i wanted to do was move her and have her revert on her sleep habits and start waking up in the middle of the night. At 28 weeks prego, a mama needs her sleep! Plus, I REALLY did NOT want to buy another crib. I've heard both pluses and minuses of moving a baby to a big kid bed and many have told me to wait as long as possible, but really? Two cribs? Is that really necessary? Didn't think so. Plus, I wanted to give Boogs the opportunity to sleep on the SAME twin bed I slept on growing up K - 12 and the SAME twin bed that Yobes and I slept on once we got married and the SAME twin bed we slept on while I was pregnant with Boogs. (We PO! ...but not we have our king bed and I am SO grateful for that!) Once the decision was made, my mind started thinking of all of the decorating ideas I had. Since she's still a little too young to have her own preferences, I figure this might be the last time I can decorate her room the way *I* want to (because, you know, that's what really matters!). After perusing a bunch of websites for toddler bedding, I decided on this theme from Target

Love it and can't wait to get started!

Let's Get it Started!

I finally decided to start a blog again, so here goes! The main reason I got motivated again was because there have been so many updates and changes with Boogs that I wanted to remember and keep track of. With the number of kids the Yobes wants, it'll be much easier to document milestones rather than trying to remember when each kid crossed which milestone! I'm sure the direction of this blog will change a million times, but it'll probably just be about what I'm feeling/going through/making at the moment, so here's to a new blog...enjoy!