October Tidbits

tid·bit (noun) \ˈtid-ˌbit\

1. a choice morsel of food

2. a choice or pleasing bit (as of information)

Today is Saturday. One of those gorgeous Florida-fall Saturdays, decorated with windows open, 72 degrees of sunshine blowing in, festivals and green markets and picnics galore. Saturday for me usually means the kiddos watching Saturday morning cartoons on the one channel that comes in with them- Micah adores them because it's Sonic the Hedgehog followed by Power Rangers, followed by the classy WWE "wrestling." It means baking, Jose at work, and one more day until seeing my church family. Today, it also means giving you the tidbits of my last few weeks. Life being changed by birth of Jordi means everyone has had to shift and accommodate to accept our newest family member. Here are a few of the tidbits of the last few weeks- enjoy the choice bits!

Micah and Levi participated in Halloween. We are not a huge Halloween family. As a child, my family didn't do a ton with Halloween, but Jose really enjoys it, so we let the kids participate. We have talked to Micah about the origins of Halloween and how it differs from the way people treat it today.  Not that I am going to get into a huge pro- or con- dissertation here, but we do allow our kids to take part. Micah was the red Power Ranger Samurai, which he hinted for months that he wanted to be and Jose and I saved up and the put it up to surprise him. He was so beyond excited! I love little moments like that. Levi was a soccer player for the Spain national squad, and Jordi was the token pumpkin that stayed in my Moby wrap the whole time- gotta love that thing!  We took them to a Trunk-or-Treat event at our old church the Sunday prior, and it was great to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in a while, as well as show Jordi off. Jordi was circumcised the afternoon of actual Halloween, so their Aunt Tata and Uncle Dru took them trick or treating in a friend's neighborhood for a little while. She sent me this picture that had me tearing up- I love seeing Micah and Levi grow up together. 

On that note, we carved awesome pumpkins... Micah, with the help of Jose, carved a batman pumpkin and I did a Despicable Me rendition. Micah's pumpkin turned out to be a giant gourd that had to be carved with hammers, chisels, Dremmel tools, a saw, and of course, Jose's brut force. We toasted the seeds from 5 pumpkins (cajun, cinnamon spice, and sea salt), and I will be roasting and making pies from the last 2 later this week. 

 

Micah got his first report card of the first grade- and it was great! He only has actual letter grades in two subjects- spelling and math- and he had a high B and a low A, respectively. The remarks from his teacher were so positive, telling us that Micah "generally does very nice work in all subjects." We were SO proud of our oldest boy!

Levi and Micah are now sharing a room. This has happened over the last 2 weeks, and the first week was total insanity. Now we are down to maybe 3-4 minutes of crying at night by Levi. He absolutely hates the idea of bunk beds, preferring instead to stay in his crib. So Micah sleeps on the top or bottom bunk, depending on the night, and Levi lays in his bed, yelling, "Micah! Miiiiicah! MICAH!," until he gets some sort of response. Levi's pacifier was also taken away two days ago. He thinks it has just disappeared, and I am waiting for the day that he quits asking for it. 

Speaking of quitting asking for it, no, Levi has not weaned yet. I am asked almost daily by a friend, someone from church, or a family member if Levi has given up breastfeeding, if I have weaned him (which to answer that, I am not weaning him, he is weaning himself slowly), or the best one lately, "Have you taken his boob away yet?". The answer, though it's not anyone's business, is no! It's so crazy that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, and the Center for Disease Control, and many other organizations recommend breastfeeding until at least two years of age, and then as long as mom and child are mutually okay with the breastfeeding relationship. Please don't think that is Levi's sole source of food or drink (any one around him knows he eats almost anything in sight), or that I just give in to him at his constant beck and call. We have established nursing manners (he has to ask please and say thank you), and he knows he has to wait sometimes for Jordi. It's not like I had a toddler dumped in my lap who strangely wants to nurse out of nowhere; he has been doing it every day of his 21-month life. There is nothing strange about it! The only thing strange, at times, is figuring out positions to tandem nurse in. To answer every one else's questions about if Jose cares: no, he doesn't. If he did, he probably wouldn't have taken this picture while I was nursing! 

Extreme multi-tasking: Breastfeeding two while reading The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar 

Jose and I are laughing almost every day about the "gross" factor that comes with having an all boy household... in the past week, we have witnessed (and this is just the highlights):

• Levi throwing dog poop at Micah in the backyard
• Levi licking Jordi's face after he spit up
• Levi "washed" his hands in the toilet
• Levi pooped in his potty (yay for potty training early!), and then took his potty to the dog...and, yeah... you can imagine...

Wait, there is a common theme here... LEVI! We joke that one child got all the gross-boy-genes for him and Micah, because Micah hates being dirty. He is such a little booger, my little worm, but he is such a lover, too. 

We had our first cold days of the year, and the boys are loving it. The only hard part about having one car, though, is that it has no heat- so that means bundling up for school in the morning!

Things are moving at warp speed over here in the Moli house. Being a mom of three is certainly crazy most of the time, but I am learning to steal those moments where I can catch a snooze in or throw a load of clothes in, and not get too worked up about the chaos the rest of the time. It's all a balancing act, and I thank God every day for Jose helping me balance it all- he is the only way I am making it through all this sanely! 

Last Week of the Second Trimester!

How Far Am I: 27 weeks pregnant today! Our baby is roughly the size of a cauliflower. I, on the other hand, am not.

Baby's Gender: Most likely a boy, but surprises have happened before :) We are anticipating a boy based on the last ultrasound, not looking again because we don't want to expose our little one to too much radiation unnecessarily, and if we have a surprise...wahoo for that too!

How Much Weight Have I Gained: +7 lbs total. I gained 2 lbs in the last 4 weeks. So far, my weight gain has been on target. My previous pregnancies I gained a total of 12 and 15 lbs respectively, and I am being extra careful not to go overboard this time around either.

Cravings: None whatsoever. Other than a piece of chocolate now and then...but isn't that most women, regardless of their womb status?! That, and fresh fruits/veggies. It's summer, so snap peas, cherries, and peaches are on the counter frequently to snack on.

Baby Movement: This baby is not as active in an, "I emulate a ninja" sort of way. Micah and Levi were both killer to my bladder and rib cage. Maybe I am just not far enough for this baby to be really wreaking havoc, but he (possibly she) seems much more mellow. Plenty of movement, just not so, how should I say, rambunctious.

Body Changes: My belly is starting to itch once in a while from the skin stretching, but I am combating that with coconut oil and lotion pretty often. I use face and eye cream, so after my shower at night, the rest of me just gets slathered up. I am having less round ligament pain, but am having to shift more at night while sleeping. I have had one or two little twinges of sciatic pain, which happened in the latter segments with both of our other kiddos, but both times it was from lifting things. Other than that, the only real complaint that I have is I am HOT! I have never been in the tail end of my pregnancy when it has been so hot (December and January kiddos), and I swear- I have never sweat so much in my life. By the way- I passed my OGTT with flying colors (my glucose was 87 at the one hour mark), and my hemoglobin was great- not anemic- so things are going well! My endocrinologist is monitoring my synthetic thyroid medication well, and I am currently taking prenatal vitamins, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, probiotics, and occasional iron supplements. Hopefully my nutritional work will pay off and keep any harm from coming our way.

26 1/2 week bump

Sleep Habits: I am tired quite a bit lately. Keeping up with everything at home, two rugrats, being pregnant, and breastfeeding still definitely wears me out. I am mentally ready to hit the sack around 10 or earlier, but my body being so hot...tossing and turning...it seems I can't fall asleep until close to midnight. Jose is moving to day shift starting the week of July 24th, so hopefully having him home consistently at night will help me sleep a little deeper.

What Micah (5) /Levi (16 mos) Think of the Baby: Micah has been given the job (if he is present during the birth) of announcing the sex of the baby, and telling me what color the baby's hair is when they are descending. I figured that giving him a job to do would help take any "scariness" out of it, and make him feel important and included in the event if he is here. He is quite excited about that.

The bump is definitely more pronounced with Levi perched on top!

Baby Prep So Far: I started today on sewing more baby wipes (I got a good deal on flannel at Target). It's the first step of MANY that need to take place. I don't think it's quite set in that in 10-14 weeks or so we will be adding a family member. We also need to order new car seats that will fit in to the back seat of our Escort. The SUV is in the process of being sold (please pray it sells!), and if we don't have a bigger vehicle by the time baby comes, we will all be cramming in the little blue car. We were able to find great steel-framed car seats (VERY durable) that are much skinnier than average car seats, so our back seat will accommodate them. It's just a matter of deciding if we want to do the whole infant seat thing again, or just go with the one that is rear or forward facing for long term use. Decisions, decisions.

Birth Prep: More reading, more praying, more stocking my head full of positive birth stories/ scriptures/ affirmations to remember during labor. I have the exercise ball blown up and I am sitting on it and stretching every day. I ordered a new pregnancy Pilates video that will be here next week- I am SO excited about it. I really want my core, back, and pelvis to be in the best shape possible to aid in natural delivery. I have yet to clean our room out and rearrange things, but I am sure that will come in time. We are almost half way on paying down our home birth sum, which is exciting for us. We are having to cut a lot of expenses in order to come up with the money for our birth choice, but we really feel it's worth it. You put your money, time, and efforts towards things that are important to you. And this is something truly important to me.

Name Ideas: We are flip flopping. I have a friend who delivered her baby today, and he is still not named. I have a feeling that will be our situation in the near future. Jose and I are currently on the following trend, and it's likely to change by tomorrow:

• Jordi David- Jordi is a Spanish variation of Jordan. The name means "descending," and is significant in the Bible as being the place that Jesus was baptized...that John baptized...that feeds the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea...where Joshua crossed to Jericho... and so much more. It is an cherished resource for those living near it. We also thought it was fitting because our midwife Jyl's practice is Descending Dove Midwifery Services. We thought we could honor our first home birth with her, as well as pray for a baby that descends supernaturally, quickly, and with relative ease. (Jose's input- Jordi Alba was instrumental in Spain's winning the Euro Cup last month too). David traditionally means "beloved" in Hebrew. It would be a nod to King David, a man with faults, but still a man after God's own heart, as well as after a dear friend of ours- we cherish his friendship like he is a brother, and look up to his walk with the Lord.
• Jordi Iker: Again, Jordi for the above reasons, and Iker (pronounced "eeek-air" in Spanish)... well, because Jose has always loved the name, and because Iker Casillas is Spain's one-of-a-kind keeper.
• Luka Cristiano- Luka means "bringer of light," and Cristiano means "bearer of Christ". Enough said- we want our child to emulate both of those things
• Noah Declan- Noah means "peaceful; restful one," (who WOULDN'T want that in a child?!) and Declan is an Irish name meaning "man of prayer." Again, pretty self-explanatory.

We have a girl name picked out just as a back up: Nora Celeste Molinuevo. My dad made fun of Celeste because it rhymes with incest and molest, but Mom and Dad had the chance to name us weird names, and now we have ours. I mean, the only other Janece's I have ever met are black. I give the other Janece's props, because they are the only people who ever say my name right on the first time without me pronouncing it.


Plus Sized, Nursing, and Pregnant:  I have never been one to wear dresses. Or shave my legs very often because of the above reason. But because it's SO darn hot (like over 90 every day), and I have only 2 pairs of shorts that I can wear, I am wearing dresses more. The shorts are too hideous to really wear anywhere other than the grocery store, so when I put on the dresses, Jose is always telling me how cute I look with the belly, and that he feels bad that he's not dressed up. I don't want to be dressed up, and I don't feel like I look cute- I feel like an overheating walrus- but it's so nice to hear from him. As for nursing, Levi is pretty much weaning him self. He nurses anywhere from 0-3 times a day, and not always for nap or bed time. For the most part, he lets me know when he needs it, and it's not ever for more than a few minutes (sometimes 30 seconds or less) and he is done. I think at this point it's more for security and checking in with me than anything. He just wants reassured that if he wants to he can, and that mommy is not going to leave him. I have a feeling that when the new baby brings him the gift of milk again, he will pick right back up. But again, I am letting him go at his own pace, and not pushing him to wean or to nurse more frequently. One day at a time, friends.

Oh, The Little Things

This week has been full of "little things" that have greatly swung our course in one direction or the other.  

"Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day." - Benjamin Frankin

Levi and I have started, very gently, to wean. I made it a year of breastfeeding exclusively and have since introduced cows milk. It was a HUGE milestone for us! I can't imagine any better way to have cemented a bond with my child- his name means "Attached; Joined in Harmony" in Hebrew. I couldn't have picked it better. I don't plan on weaning on any kind of time frame- baby led weaning allows for the child to do it at their own pace, when they are comfortable with it. He is nursing between 4-6 times during the day and 1 time at night, which is a huge improvement from before. We introduced cow's milk, and he loves it! We may keep going for another year, he may be done in 2 weeks, I have no idea- but I know I will let him stop when he is ready.

We are inching towards our "down with the debt" resolution. Our goals at the beginning of the year included no credit card debt, no car debt, and knocking down my student loan by 25%. Yesterday, we paid off our car and one credit card. One hefty card, one pretty slim card, and we are done. As a family, though, we are going to be pulling off some pretty "big ticket" things this year: a trip to Spain for a month, possibly a new vehicle (something that can seat 7, our little Santa Fe is just getting too cramped), and a few other things to be mentioned in future posts.

Jose and I got a new bed. This has been SUCH a long time coming. We joked before that we slept in a hammock because it sagged so much. Flipping your mattress every 5 days because your back needs a break is really just TOO much. So we too a little left over tax return money (thanks, Uncle Sam!) and headed to our favorite home goods store, no I say mecca: IKEA. It is our serendipity. We stumbled in with our friends Jess and Tommy on a weekend with friends at their house, and have never been the same.  Anywho, we went with a memory foam core mattress. We can trade it for something else in the next 90 days if we don't like it, and it has a 25 year warranty. I don't think you can go wrong there...

Unless you spend $600 over budget and have to take it all back. Every stinkin' time! It's like grocery shopping when you haven't eaten for 4 days and are drooling over every thing you see. We went for a mattress, and ended up getting a new bed (with the under bed slats that are able to customize how firm it feels, don't you know), a mattress cover, a blanket, a duvet cover set, a sheet set, and "OOOOO! Shiny! Let's get two of those"... "Oh wait, I haven't seen these in forever, I HAVE to have them"..."I hate that we don't have any dishes that match. We are down to 5 plates, and Levi broke another cup today. What do you think of these?"

Originally, we thought we were absolutely fine picking up extras. But when we got home, we discovered that two big checks we thought had cleared were actually floating around in bank space somewhere...so that meant loading every single box back into the Santa Fe - actually inside, because it was raining today- loading the kids in, and driving 2 hours to Orlando to take everything back. The boxes were so large on the bed we bought that I was driving, and could not see anything on the right side of the car. Jose joked that we were on that show "Blind Date" from the 90's because we couldn't see each other. In order for me to change lanes, Jose had to verbally guide me and I had to totally trust him because I had no way to look out a window or a mirror other than the windshield. Awesome, but crazy experience.

This week has been one of new discoveries, tears, worries, wondering how we will do it all, how we will make it, good news, bad news, and everything in between.... But I rest in this: 

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. "Matthew 6: 25-26, 30-34, The Message

Tidbits

There have been many a change in the Molinuevo household over the last two weeks since I blogged; hence, there have been no posts! Here are a few tidbits to get you through until I get to the nitty gritty later in the week.

Micah started kindergarten. This was a major leap of faith on our part as parents. Micah does not turn 5 until December, and we had him signed up for VPK this fall. However, we looked at the curriculum and Micah already knew it, in its entirety, for the entire year. I know my child, and if he is not being challenged, he acts out. We decided to start him privately with a good friend of the family who does homeschool-tutoring in a group atmosphere- almost like a schoolhouse setting from way back when. While Micah seems to be doing well (he memorizes everything, spits out his vowels and consonants, Bible verses, and so on, it is raising new battles in the parenting arena. My child is a very social child, who loves to be with other kids, and apparently thinks that is the only reason for school. So while the other children are busy doing there seat work like good little children do, my child is dawdling through everything. One coloring sheet took him 25 minutes, and he had to take it outside and finish while everyone else had recess. You would have thought the world was ending. He just cannot seem to make him self concentrate on the task at hand. And it's carrying over into everything at home. An hour to eat dinner. Brushing his teeth is suddenly a daunting task. He can't seem to get motivated to do anything, because he cannot focus. To write his name 6 times took him almost an hour, because he writes it once...and looks at his pencil...and looks at the dog...and then the ceiling...and asks me a question...and... and... and... He says he gets to distracted with the other students and wanting to play. "All I can think about is playing, Mom." He knows everything they are doing so far. It's not that it's too hard, it's that he just doesn't want to.  Oi vey, it's going to be a long year. I know we were doing the right thing by challenging him intellectually, and getting him socialized with other kids, but it's just going to be a lot of dragging of feet along the way.

Jose has started working as a charge nurse. This has been scary but exciting for him. He has been a nurse at LRMC for a little over a year, and was injured by a patient back in March, so he has been on light duty and hasn't been allowed to do regular RN duties since because he had to have surgery. Surgery was August 8th, and since then he has been charge nurse a few times, but it's becoming more and more frequent. He said a few months ago he wanted to see how far he can go, and now it's time!

Levi is hitting milestones. He is doing a modified crawl like an inchworm: stretch out, get on all fours, stretch out, get on all fours. He is starting to pull up on things on a regular basis. He pulled up on Micah's school desk leg, slipped, and bashed his head into it. Poor baby! He is also eating like a champ. We are doing Baby Led Weaning (BLW)- very common with breastfed babies. It really is amazing. He is 7 1/2 months old, and eating whole steamed veggies, cheerios, maria cookies, cut up fruits, avocados, whole beans, pancakes, small pieces of chicken or fish...all with NO TEETH. He has completely bypassed purees and cereals (which for the most part, have NO nutritional value). BLW allows for parents to be responsible for providing nutritious food for the baby to eat, and allows the baby to be independent in deciding how much to eat and independent in feeding themselves. Levi hates utensils, and for the most part, we don't push it. He eats with his hands until his belly is full, eats what he likes, and meal times are enjoyable- not a fight to get a spoon in a baby's mouth. Breastfed babies use different muscles in their jaw to nurse than a bottle fed baby does. It is easier for them to learn to mash with their jaws and eat whole foods than purees; whereas the opposite is true for bottle fed babies. The have to learn to use their jaws to chew since bottle feeding is no real work; they do better with purees at first. The whole process is truly amazing. I highly recommend learning more here at the BLW website.

Micah told one of his first public, real lies. And boy, was I livid. I had been up SUPER early with Levi, about 5, to nurse/let the dog out. He fell back asleep as the sun was rising, and Jose knew I was really tired, so he was kind enough to let me sleep in a while and offered to take Micah to school. Levi slept until 8:15, shortly after Jose left with Micah for school, and we got up and got the day started. I was so grateful...until I picked Micah up from school. I arrived, Micah said hi, and another student promptly asked me what time I get up in the morning. Not thinking anything of it, I answered "usually before 7, why?" I was then told by 3 students that "Micah said all you do is sleep all day."  Oh really... Is that what he said... Later in the car, I confronted him about it. He said that he knew I didn't sleep all day, he didn't know why he said it, and on and on as kids do. The next morning, he told his teacher and classmates the truth and all was fine. A little sliver of me wishes there was a shred of truth to that. One day to sleep, ALL DAY, would be amazing. But who would cook? clean? take care of Levi? be home work help? take the dog out?..... in my dreams.

 As you can see, life is busy. A few friends of mine have asked me how the cloth diapering and breastfeeding are going, if I am still doing it, etc, and there will be a long and short answer. The short: Yes, still doing both! Yes, still loving both! I will do a post dedicated to each later in the week.

And now, for a hot bath and sleep. My pillow calls...