Good Behavior, Good Fun

Ella Grace had been having a hard time at preschool the couple weeks before her baby brother's arrival. I think the stress of mommy being on partial bed rest was effecting her behavior. It seemed like everyday we were getting bad reports from the teacher. We tried everything from talking to her, taking away privileges, timeouts at school, etc. Nothing was working. Then, thanks to the suggestion from my mom, I started a Behavior Board. I made the Behavior Board with a magnetic dry erase board and laminated clip art printed at home. I glued magnets to the clip art, so that we can move them around or replace them as we find issues that are in need of focus. After making the board, I explained to Ella how it would work. For every day of the week she has certain "chores" or responsibilities. I explained to her that these were her jobs. That mommy and daddy have jobs and things they have to do everyday in order to have the things we have. Ella has to do her job as well. Right now, those are getting dressed for school in the morning, playing nicely at school, listening, eating dinner, and getting ready for bed. If she completes her "chores", then at the end of each day she receives a smiley face for each one. If she does not complete her chores, then she receives a frowny face. It seems to be working. We have had 3 weeks of good behavior at school. And as far as the other behaviors, there has been a dramatic improvement. The idea of a frowny face on display does not sit well with Ella. Just the mention of it and she changes her attitude immediately. As a reward for her 3 good weeks, Ella received a brand new Swing Set. And when she asks for something new at the store, we let her know that she needs to have a good week with lots of smiley faces and we will get her the new toy. This has also helped eliminate the "I want, I want, I want". Eventually, I imagine the board will change into an actual chore board, where it will show feeding the dogs, cleaning her room, etc. At that point we will discuss an allowance. But for now, the smiley face and frowny face idea is working very well for her 3 year old mind. Ella loves her new swing set. She also got a new "sprinkley" for being a good girl. And as Ella would say, I am so "prouded" of her.

My Sugarbear

Monday night when we were getting ready for bed Ella asked me, "Mommy, what do I like". I started naming all of the things I could think of that she likes. She just smiled and giggled at me, and then told me "Momma, I love you with all my heart." I have to list the things that we talked about, just as record of who she is at 3 and 1/2. My friend Ivy blogs about her kiddos and has recorded her kids favorites. I thought I would borrow that great idea. Ella's favorite thing to wear is any dress. Ella's favorite things to do are going down slides, riding her bike, swimming, playing with our neighbors Jaila and Destiny, playing in the kitchen (mine or hers), and giving her friends and family lots of hugs and kisses. Ella's favorite foods are pancakes, strawberries, spaghetti and meatballs, mac and cheese, orange juice, and powdered donuts. Ella loves her two imaginary friends, Jaken and Baken. Jaken is a boy, Baken is a girl. Ella's favorite songs are (this is a long list she loves music) ABCBs, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, Hannah Montana Best of Both Worlds, Beyonce Single Ladies, Leona Lewis Bleeding Love, and Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen. Ella's favorite TV shows are Dora, Diego, and Little Bear. Ella's favorite movies are Annie and Mary Poppins. Ella's favorite toys stuffed animal is Ducky, followed closely by Sunshine Bear and several baby dolls. Ella's favorite color is blue, and yellow because yellow is mommy's favorite color.

Making Daddy's Father's Day Gift

3 Weeks Old

Gage is 3 weeks old today. Funny how 3 weeks flies by when you don't want it to. At 37 weeks pregnant, 3 weeks seemed like forever. Today, 3 weeks seems like a blink. He has changed so much already. He has really "woken up" in the last week. The first two weeks, it seemed like Gage was asleep the whole time. I started to get worried about it, and even asked my mother in law if she thought he was sleeping too much. I guess I didn't remember that they are so sleepy at first. He was only spending about an hour and a half a day in the alert awake stage. But, in the last week he has been spending about 4 hrs a day in the alert stage. Yesterday he spent even more, about 5 hours. That seemed like a super long time for such a little baby. Again, the irony. A week ago I was worried he was sleeping too much and yesterday I was worried he may have been awake too much. I am worrying a lot less with Gage than I did with Ella though. Gage is nursing about 8 times a day, which is right on track for his age. I assume he is gaining weight based upon his clothes getting tighter and his cheeks getting chubbier. His next Dr's appointment is next week so we will have an accurate update on weight gain and growth at that time. He loves to be held, and I love to spoil my children, so I am holding him a lot. Ella Grace loves to hold him too. She gets very upset if she is told not to. She tells him she loves him and wants to give him a hundred kisses and hugs every day. I am glad we taught her to be so affectionate. I want to kiss and hug her and Gage a hundred times a day, so its hard to tell her no when she wants to do the same with her brother. It sure is sweet. Gage is sleeping pretty well at night. He eats sometime between 9 and 10, and then sleeps about 4 hrs. Eats again around 1 to 2, and sleeps again for 3 to 4 hours. He is awake for about an hour after the early morning feeding and then sleeps again for a couple hours. Ryan has been great, waking up at feeding times just to change Gage's diaper. He can't feed Gage so he feels like he should at least do the diaper and save me 5 minutes of sleep. I of course have to kick him to wake him up, because he just doesn't have that supermom hearing. I wake up 10 minutes before Gage even is really awake. He starts making funny snorting and squeaking noises. And of course has a couple of "poppies". I try to get Ryan awake at that time, before Gage starts crying and rooting. Sometimes this works, and other times not. That is where the kicking comes in . During the afternoon between 11 and 2 is when Gage is the most alert. He is usually awake the entire time. Its hard to fit in lunch, or get anything done. Our baby swing broke, and we are awaiting a new one ordered online. Maybe once that arrives, he'll be happier being put down so Mommy can at least eat when he is awake during lunch time. We'll see.

Posted some photos below of the growth from 1 week to 3 weeks. Notice the chubbier cheeks and legs. Gotta love 'em.

1 week old, sleepy head

2 weeks old, I'm awake

3 weeks old, bigger everyday

One Week

Today we have been home with our little man for one week. He is 9 days old. Gage Michael is a good baby. He is not a fusser, he loves to be held but is content to sleep on his own. He is healthy and doing very well. He becomes more alert every day, and spends more and more time awake and staring at all of our faces. Ella Bella is adjusting to her new life. She loves her baby brother. She refers to him as Gage Michael Jackson. I have to assume she got this from her Aunt Robin, or Papa Bob, because otherwise I'm not sure how she would know that there was such a thing as Michael Jackson. It cracks me up when she says it, because she thinks she is so funny. Whenever she wants to visit with him, she says hi "Hi baby brother I'm your sissy". She wants to kiss him and hug him and hold him all the time. Our doctor says this is the toy stage, I guess next is the I want nothing to do with you stage. All of the anxiety I had about having two children to love seems like a distant memory. Everything I read about loving two or more children while I was pregnant said that you love all of your children as much as the others, but that you love them differently. I didn't understand that, just as I didn't understand how much I would love Ella before I had her. Now that I have Ella and Gage to love, I understand that I love them equally but differently. Because they are different. One of the things that changed instantly, upon Gage's arrival, was going from being a "new mom" to just being a mom. Everything comes a lot more natural with Gage than with Ella. Its so cool to know what you are doing, instead of being scared that you are doing the wrong thing. I still learn new things everyday about Ella Grace. And I learn new things about Gage Michael too. But things seem a lot more relaxed with your second child. I feel like I got a promotion to manager, or that I moved from amateur to professional. I am so blessed to have these beautiful children, and I am so thankful every moment for them. Even during the sleepless nights, or the three year old tantrum moments, I am thankful for my children and thankful for absolute most amazing gift I have ever been given. The gift of being their mom.

Enjoy the photos.

My Little Man

Just a quick post and some photos. I couldn't be more in love. Gage Michael Bates is beautiful.

G Day Tomorrow

My closest friend, Allison, has been lovingly referring to Gage’s arrival day as G Day for weeks now. We’ve wondered if G Day would happen spontaneously or not. It doesn’t seem to be working out that way. G Day is approaching instead, in the way of a 7 am induction appointment tomorrow. It is finally here. The induction has been scheduled for a week now, and the week has flown by. Friday was my last day at work. Saturday we enjoyed Hudson and Nolan’s birthday party at Trinity Park, where Ella got to take the train ride she has been anxiously awaiting for weeks. Sunday was not a day of rest, as God intended. Instead it was a day of nest, as Mother Nature intended. I cleaned the kitchen, the freezer, the refrigerator, the pantry, my closet and my underwear drawer (goodbye maternity panties). Oh, and finished every single last piece of laundry in my house, and I am determined to leave the house at 6:30 am tomorrow with every piece of laundry still clean. Ryan cleaned the bathrooms and the floors, and finished up a project for Longhorn HOG. We didn’t even start thinking about dinner until 8:30 pm, and didn’t hit the sheets until nearly midnight.

Yesterday was Momma and Ella day. We spent the whole day together and did things that she likes, and I can’t figure out why (wink, wink). First we ate mommy made Mickey Mouse Pancakes and Raspberry Banana Smoothies. Then we watched Fraggle Rock. Then we played kitchen, and I let Ella use real oatmeal (dry) to “cook” and feed her babies. Then we cleaned ALL of her dishes, because the cooking required the use of each and every one of them. We followed house play with McDonald’s play and “yummy” mustard. We went shopping and Ella got to pick out some play clothes for the summer. Ella got a haircut, which makes her feel like a big girl. And finished it all up with a trip to the grocery store where we stocked up on the groceries that we will need over the next few weeks. Ella got to push her own cart! She’ll probably never remember that it was Ella Day. But I always will. I wanted to make sure to shower her with attention and let her have her day, before her baby brother arrived.
Today is…emotional. I dropped Ella off at school this morning, and won’t see her until tomorrow afternoon. She is going to stay at Grammy and Papa’s tonight so we don’t have to interrupt her sleep and schedule early tomorrow morning. Right before we got to her school, I started getting teary eyed. I pulled it together until after I dropped her off, but as soon as my cheeks hit that seat the waterfall started. I felt like I was saying goodbye, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was saying goodbye to. Wasn’t I really saying hello? Hello to a new baby boy tomorrow. Hello to a new child to love. Hello to a growing family. It dawned on me that part of my angst was that with Gage’s arrival, Ella is going to be the BIG sister. She has been my baby for 3 ½ years, and now she is going to be the BIG girl in the house. This is good, because you want your children to grow. This is bad, because you want your children to stay your babies. Which leads me to another of my issues today. My sweet baby boy has been growing inside my tummy for 9 months now. I have loved him from the moment I knew that he was. I have felt him kick, and squirm, and hiccup. Tomorrow, he will no longer be inside my womb. His kicks and squirms and hiccups will be seen and felt by all the others who have loved him since the moment they knew. And praise God that as far as we know he is a healthy baby boy. But there is a part of me that doesn’t want to share him. I felt that with Ella too. I remember after she was born I wanted to lock myself in the room with her and not let anyone else in. Of course, I didn’t, and I won’t with Gage either. But, it does give me a bit of a heartache to let go of being his sole provider. Knowing that sometime tomorrow I will be allowing someone else to hold him and take care of him. Then to top it off, there is the impending labor to worry with. How long will it take? How long will I have to push? Will the epidural work? Should I wait to have one so I can experience some of the labor? All of these thoughts can really put you in a tail spin.

I told myself to snap out of it, but that didn’t work. So, I went and had a pedicure (see last post), and that worked. Now I am home and all the emotions are still circling in my head, but the one emotion that is at the top, is pure joy. Joy to be blessed with another child. Joy to know that my friends and family will be there to meet him. Joy that his sissy already loves him and cannot wait to see his face. Joy that I have a loving, amazing husband who is a wonderful father. Joy to be alive, and to be me. Joy that my mother and father taught me to love and to have emotion. Joy to know that I am in turn teaching my children the same. Joy that tomorrow is finally G Day!!!

Mani Pedi

I just had a manicure and pedicure to enjoy my last moments before Gage's arrival. I got the giggles sitting in the pedi chair thinking about this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o

Hope you enjoy.