Enter your email address:

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Pregnancy, Weight Gain, the Nursery, etc.

34 week selfie - my 6am no make up face cropped out for your viewing pleasure

This fourth pregnancy and just doing life around here has been all-consuming for me these days.

Getting up earlyish (which is the only time I steal for blogging) is still happening, but I find my mind waking up very slowly and I kind of sit in a stupor with my coffee and my Bible and wait for inspiration/encouragement to hit me. By the time I've read a few verses and mumbled out a, "God help me," the kids are generally awake and the day doesn't slow down until 8pm. One night this week B Daddy and I were both in bed by 9pm. Life feels very full right now.

I'm taking a nap absolutely every day now. Without one I am falling apart - literally FALLING APART- by 5pm. This week I've had a sweet sitter coming by almost everyday to help me, which means I've gotten some freezer meals made, my driver's license renewed, my toenails painted (yes, that's a big deal nowadays) and have been able to nap while the kids are up playing, so I can use their nap time to get things done at a very slow pace. Having this sitter has made me a better person to my kids and my hubs for sure. I highly recommend it towards the end when everything just feels like so. much. effort.

I have three outfits that alternate in my weekly rotation now. The above outfit (for the gym), a tank top + maternity cut offs (for the house) or tank top + maxi skirt (for when I'm fancy). I am so tired of it all. I can't wait to have a postpartum maternity clothing giveaway forever and ever and ever celebration. I can't wait to see my toes again.

This week was the first time I've ever felt light-headed in a class at the gym, so I've decided to stop my hour-long cardio/strength intensive work-outs and just do a Barre class and the elliptical plus lifting weights at the gym. This has been hard for me; the gym is an ingrained part of our routine, it's my social circle and is definitely a favorite part of my day. Up to this point I've gained 32 lbs, which means I'll likely come in right around a 39-40lb weight gain by the time #4 makes his appearance.

The nursery is getting there! I'm excited to post some pictures if we ever get it fully completed. (We're really good at doing things about 90% of the way.) I'm waiting on the arrival of some artwork from Etsy and I have one little DIY project I want to complete. My grandmother sent me a beautiful handworked quilt this week which looks so sweet hanging over the edge of the crib I just want to cry.

Next week we are taking our annual trip to the beach with our high schoolers, and once we're back I'd be totally happy for this little dude to make his appearance.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Talking Bout a Revolution

There's a quiet revolution going on at the Leipprandt house. We've all but stopped watching TV during the day.

This may strike you as less than "revolutionary" but my littles and I might as well be throwing tea into Boston Harbor.

When Sweet B was born 3 years ago, I found myself dragging in the mornings after a broken night's sleep. Unfortunately my 19 month old toddler was unsympathetic to his mama's pleas to stay in bed until 10am. To deal, I got in the habit of turning on morning cartoons. I would curl up on the couch and fall asleep next to the Squirt and Mickey would keep watch for 30 minutes...or maybe more. Old habits die hard and this was still our routine when I had Blue Eyes just a little over a year after Sweet B.

Eventually all the kids started sleeping through the night and I resumed my early riser routine, but instead of dying off, the TV habit evolved. I'd get up before the kids to have quiet time and when they got up they'd settle in expectantly on the the couch and wait for me to turn on cartoons. Then I got a bonus round of time to blog or catch up on blogs or read the news or Pin cute outfits. Important stuff.

I suspected that 30 minutes of mindless TV wasn't the best way to start my kids' day, but it seemed to be working for everyone. A few months ago I started to notice some ugly behavior in the kids that seemed to be absent on days we had to get going early and didn't stick to the usual cartoon routine. Nothing major - your typical sibling bickering and some attitude in my 5 year old - but there seemed to be a correlation.

So one morning I didn't turn it on. I had a puzzle out on the kitchen table and when Sweet B came wandering out of bed I was ready to engage with her and we did the puzzle together. Things seemed to go more smoothly that morning. The next day it was stickers. Just some stickers and computer paper instead of Jake and the Neverland Pirates but the kids seemed to interact more like actual human beings are supposed to that day as well.

Something about not turning the TV on first thing has made it easier to keep it off all day long too. It's probably been two months now that we haven't turned the TV on until I'm making dinner or
-gasp- not at all. The change has been incredible. Yes, the monsters still bicker and fight and drive me insane at various parts of each and every day, but their overall level of cooperativeness has drastically improved. Amazingly (and at the same time completely predictably right?) their creativity has skyrocketed. I used to shout at them to JUST GO PLAY! at some point each day and bemoan the fact that always seemed to need me to suggest play activities. Now it's pretty common for me to find the three of them (ages 2, 3.5 and 5) engaged in make believe play together. Some times they wake up and go straight to the playroom (WHAT!??!) There have been days when I get entire tasks (laundry/dinner/shower) accomplished while they are happily playing together.

I don't know how long it's going to last with Baby #4 coming in a few weeks, but for now I am loving the change.

I'm curious - what are your TV habits? Do you watch first thing in the morning? Not at all? Do you notice any behavior changes in your kids when you watch more or less?

site design by designer blogs