Confessions of a Second Time Mom

I hold Molly all the time when she is sleeping. I also hold/bounce/sway her to sleep regularly. I know this will make it harder for her to learn to fall asleep on her own, but I also remember how quickly they grow out of the phase where they can sleep while being held.

I confess that I don't rush to Molly every time she begins to cry. Sometimes she is just fussing, sometimes she is frustrated, and sometimes if I wait like five seconds she will stop on her own and fall asleep. This would have never happened with Isabelle. I felt horrible for letting her cry even for one second. This probably explains why I am able to get more done around the house, take more showers and in general be a happier mom this time around.


If Molly spits up a little on the blanket she is laying on, instead of getting a new blanket, I just move her to a clean spot. After all, she usually spits up again and how many blankets can a person wash in one day?


I confess that if her pacifier falls on the floor, I now do what I would have considered absolutely disgusting before and pop it in my mouth and then give it back to her rather than cleaning it in boiling water first.


Molly sleeps on her tummy. I know this is a major no-no according to most of the population, but she sleeps better, sleeps longer and doesn't have a flat head.


I confess that I don't always call the doctor when Molly seems to have a little cold. I did this with Isabelle and spent a bazillion dollars on co pays to be told repeatedly that there was nothing they could do to help. Now I just do what I did with Isabelle, like use saline drops in the nose for congestion, put a humidifier in the room, and suction out her nose. I have a fancy tool to look in her ears for infection rather than rushing to the doctor every time she has a rough night, and because of that, I have saved hundreds. Babies can't take medicine for congestion so unless there is a fever, there is no real reason to go to the doctor. The first time I realized I hadn't called the doctor for something I would have for Isabelle, I felt guilty. Now I just feel smart.


Lastly, I confess to be one of those know-it-all moms. I don't mean to be, and I am working on correcting my problem! I think that after you have one baby and figure out how you and your family work and then you have another baby and you do even better (not perfect mind you, just better), you assume that what works for you will work for everyone. This is NOT the case and so as much as I want to offer my words of wisdom to other moms, I am trying to stop assuming there is a one-size fits all model for raising kids.


Those are my confessions, what are yours?

10 things continued...

10 things about Molly:

1. Molly sleeps...A LOT. I am not complaining (or bragging), I am just stating a fact. She has been sleeping through the night since about two months. She also takes around 4-5 naps a day. I know there will come a day when this will end, but for now, I am loving it.

2. She has one dimple. Actually, she does have two, but only one really shows when she smiles. It is precious (or presh if you are related to me).

3. For the time being, Molly is a momma's girl. I am positive this is because I am the food source. I am enjoying this time now because I know it too, like the naps, will end. It is inevitable, Jason is nicer.

4. Molly can roll over from tummy to back. She mastered this over a month ago. Jason and I missed the first one. We were shopping while in KC visiting my Dad and Terry. They saw it!

5. The only food that I eat that seems to bother Molly is tacos. This is tragic. I love tacos. We eat a lot of tacos.

6. Without a doubt, Molly will be crawling sooner than Isabelle did. She is already moving around by pulling her legs up and pushing herself forward. I have to move her back down in her crib at night because she pushes herself all the way to the top.

7. Molly can laugh, she just chooses not to. She laughed the other day when I was moving her arms around making her dance, but won't do it again. It was so cute and I can't wait to hear it more!

8. Crying is not common at our house. Of course I write this after yesterday where Molly had her worst crying episode EVER at my mom's house. But really, she doesn't cry very much at all. I made the mistake with Isabelle of thinking that meant she was an easygoing child.....I won't make that same mistake twice.

9. Despite doctors worrying Molly would not gain weight fast enough, she is a champion eater. In fact, she is getting downright chubby. I think Dr. Doom would be proud.

10. Molly loves her sister. Whenever I am holding Molly and Isabelle, Molly is all smiles. I hope they continue to be bff's forever. Having a sister is so much fun!

10 Things

Ten Things about Isabelle

1. She knows sign language. Some people know this, some do not. She knows milk, cheese, cracker, cookie, please, more, thank you, fish, frog, diaper (as in she needs a new one), juice, toothbrush, bath and book just to name a few.

2. Isabelle LOVES the show, Yo Gabba Gabba. If you know Isabelle and you don't know that, you have obviously not been paying attention.

3. Her baby doll's name is Hissssss. That's right. Think of the sound a snake makes and that is what Isabelle will tell you is her doll's name. It is so funny to me.

4. Swimming and dancing are her two favorite activities. Coloring comes in a close third.

5. This past month, her favorite food has been green beans. Whole green beans, not cut green beans. She will eat a whole can if I let her. I am also certain that next month (or sooner) she will decide she does not like green beans any longer and I will have to begin the process of finding her new favorite food.

6. She cannot go to sleep without the following items in her bed: Bear-Bear, Hiss, Minnie, Glo-worm, two blankets, little stuffed buffalo, and her pillow. Every couple of weeks she finds another animal or toy to take to bed and the list grows.

7. If she could have it her way, she would brush her teeth 20 times a day. That girl loves to brush her teeth. It started out with her brushing with us in the morning and then after her bath at night. Apparently the toothpaste for kids is delicious, because now she asks all day long to brush her teeth. Now she brushes at least 4 times a day, sometimes more.

8. Isabelle prefers to have water dumped over her head in the bath. She will throw a fit if you try to rinse her hair the way most normal children prefer. And by throw a fit, I mean she will refuse to lay back so that you have no choice but to dump the water straight over her face.

9. The car is not a happy place. Isabelle hates car rides. Sometimes the Gabba CD will work to keep her happy, but not always.

10. She loves baby La-La. Okay, so sometimes she steps on her, or smacks her, or yanks the paci out, but she really does love Molly. I know for sure because at random times throughout the day she will kiss Molly on the head for no reason. Or lay down on the blanket with Molly and just smile at her. I am pretty sure they are going to be best buds.

reason #482,645 why i need a pool

i think i may have mentioned before that we need a pool. notice i said need, not want. i am way beyond wanting a pool. and before you think it is just for me, let me inform you that i believe we need a pool for isabelle. after all, how is she ever going to become the olympic swimmer i imagine without a pool? that girl LOVES to swim. last week we took her swimming at my mom's neighborhood pool. it was a bad day to go as she hadn't had a nap and was quite cranky, but she still had a good time. problem was, she didn't want to be held on to, or sit in a raft, or stand on the stairs. she wanted to swim by herself. except she doesn't know how. so this week, jason and i decided water wings were the answer. on the package of water wings it clearly states they are for children ages 3 and up, which she is not, but still, we thought they were the answer. WRONG. she wants to swim, not float. so since she obviously cannot swim by herself, we tossed her back and forth and let her splash and carry on until jason got the bright idea to toss her to her aunt carri with no warning and let her go under all the way. we all gasped and started freaking out until we realized that isabelle was smiling. yes, she was a little shocked at first, but shock turned into excitement. isabelle started cheering and clapping and saying, "more, more." so we kept tossing her up in the air and letting her go under and she loved it. she went crazy. she clapped and cheered every time she came up. she did it so much that my arms got tired, and then jason got tired. and finally isabelle got tired! she had a great time. i think that this is further evidence that we need a pool. jason doesn't think so. it is probably good that he is rational about the pool otherwise i might be calling the pool company today. this picture was taken on father's day. it was the only time she got in the raft and we were lucky to get a picture considering that five seconds later she started screaming to get out.

scrapbooks, books, singing and other tidbits

i am feeling pretty accomplished today. i not only managed to finish reading a book, and yes it was a grown-up book, but i also finished isabelle's first year scrapbook. and while the scrapbook is probably my least detailed, least embellished, least elaborate scrapbook ever, it is DONE. i don't know what possessed me to do isabelle's scrapbook the way i did, but it is mostly just patterned paper with a few stickers here and there, and i did all of the journaling by hand. but like i said, it is done and i like it in all its simplicity. did i mention i finished reading a book? the book is "When did I get like this?" by Amy Wilson and it was so funny and so true and i loved it. it is all about motherhood and how as moms we spend a large chunk of our time trying not to fail our kids. most of the book i was nodding along totally getting what she said and completely relating. i also laughed out loud multiple times including during the story of her daughter puking repeatedly on an airplane and later figuring out she had rotovirus. if you are bothered by profanity, i will warn you that there are a few uses of bad language, that in my opinion added nothing to the book. but other than the occasional bad word, the book is hysterical.

now on to the singing. isabelle has started singing and it is adorable. granted she only sings one song and that song only has one real word and that word is repeated over and over during the song, but still. it is a song from yo gabba gabba (her favorite show) and the song says goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. and that is basically it. i realize that probably no one else will be impressed by her singing, but i think it is the cutest thing on the face of the earth. i drove around extra in the car today in order to take a video of her on my cell phone to show jason.

she has also started putting words together when she talks, which i think is a big deal. she says things like, "more please," or "more milk," or "baby la-la" (la-la is molly). i know this sounds silly but each time she does something new i get a little sad about her growing up. yes, it is exciting to see her do new things, but it is also one step closer to her being grown up and that makes me sad. next thing you know it will be kindergarten and then high school and then college and just typing it is making me a little sad.

molly is doing well. astonishingly well. she sleeps 8 hours a night. sometimes longer. i try not to brag, but it is pretty awesome. she is growing also. she no longer really fits in newborn clothes and has gone on to the 3 months clothes which makes sense considering she is 2 1/2 months! she is smiling and cooing and being overall totally precious. i asked jason if we were tempting fate if we had another baby. after all, isabelle and molly are so great. both were/are great sleepers, both have been pretty easy babies, what if the third baby was a nightmare? should you just stop while you are ahead? i don't know.....a baby boy would be pretty awesome.

anyway, that is all that is going on around here. jason and i celebrated our nine year anniversary this year. hard to believe we have been married that long. it has gone by so fast. he is staying busy at work and i am staying busy at home. we are so blessed!

Summer time is here!

Well, another summer has arrived and while I love things like getting a tan, going swimming, having fresh berries in the yard and summer nights, I can't believe how fast 2010 is going by. Molly is two months old now. She is finally awake a little more during the day (most of the time she would rather be sleeping, I just force her to stay awake). She is also making some precious little baby noises and smiling. Best of all, she continues to be a great sleeper. She slept 7 hours last night, making for one happy momma this morning. Isabelle, I think, has finally adjusted to Molly. Sure, she still tries to step on her and likes to help burp her a.k.a. smack her on the back over and over and still takes her blanket and paci away, but I think deep down she loves her! After all, she does give her kisses and hugs and always wants to know where 'baby' is.

Isabelle is also excited about summer. It means pool time for her and boy oh boy does that girl love the pool. I try on a daily basis to use this information to bribe Jason into getting a pool, but so far it hasn't worked. Isabelle has a pool in the backyard that she swims in and taking her out when it is time to go inside to go to bed or eat is somewhat challenging. I think she would give up food and sleep in order to swim 24-7 if she could. Again, I have tried without luck to use this to justify a pool.

We are not really planning on taking any vacations this summer. I tried last year to travel with Isabelle at Thanksgiving and learned my lesson then. Traveling with small children is NOT FUN. No one has fun. Not us, not Isabelle, not the poor people on the plane with us, not the people whose house we literally move into for our stay, no one. And of course when we get home we are so exhausted we need a vacation to recuperate...so needless to say we are staying home this summer. We will go visit my dad for a weekend but only for a weekend and then maybe this fall when Molly is a little older, but not yet walking, we will try camping. I am itching for a camping trip, though I imagine that my idea of camping may change after taking two kids...but who knows. One thing I am super looking forward to is our friends from Dallas coming to visit. Michael and Rochelle are coming in July and bringing their baby boy, Max!!! We have not met Max yet, but man am I excited. It will be great to see them all.

I hope everyone has a great summer. Try to stay cool. And...if you have a pool....well, we would love to stop by!!!

Big Girl Bed!

I can't believe it.....Isabelle has been sleeping in her big girl bed now for one whole week. I was hesitant to say anything to anyone about the transition, knowing that somehow once I said, "Isabelle moved to her big bed," that it would all come crashing down. I just knew that saying it out loud would result in a revolt against the big girl bed and the peaceful, easygoing, sleeper I have in Isabelle would disappear. But it hasn't. She is doing wonderfully. She is sleeping in that bed like it has always belonged to her. It's no toddler bed either. It is a regular twin size bed. A daybed to be specific. We have a trundle bed underneath that we have pulled out so that if she should roll off (which has happened once and she didn't even wake up!) she will land on the other bed, not the floor, plus she has a lot less distance to fall. And the miracle of the whole thing is that she doesn't get out of the bed....despite a room full of toys that she LOVES to play with. At bedtime and for naps, we lay her down, tell her goodnight (prayers at bedtime) and then walk out. The door stays shut and she stays put until we come in the door again in the morning or after the nap is over. It is crazy. She will wake up from a nap and STAY IN BED until I come get her. It is an amazing thing to me. I thought for sure once she wasn't confined to a crib that my highly active, always moving, always playing daughter would take full advantage of being able to get OUT of bed and play...but no. So now it is time to move Molly. She is headed out of our room and into the crib. When Isabelle moved out of our room it was rather traumatic for me....not so much for Molly. Funny how things change with baby #2. Since Molly is now sleeping for six hour stretches at night, it is time for mom to get some sleep also! So both my girls seem to be growing up at an amazing rate and while I realize it's not like they are headed off to kindergarten or anything, I can't help but think that when that time arrives, it will also catch me off guard and feel too fast. Like I have said before, my grandma would remind me right about now, "these are the best days of my life."