Sleep Training

I am in the middle of sleep training Kayden. Like literally, right now, it is 2:23am and Kayden has been crying for over 2 hours because I won't feed her back to sleep. This is, by far, the most difficult part of parenting for me: The lack of sleep from getting up with kids who don't sleep through the night..the sleep training and not knowing if I just need to tough it out and let my kid cry or if they are crying because they actually NEED something and I'm being a bad mom by not meeting their needs. Having a three year old who doesn't always understand why he needs to listen is hard. Having a baby whose naps dictate my schedule is sometimes inconvenient. But being exhausted from not sleeping...that is the hardest. 

So what does sleep training look like?  Well this time around I'm doing it a little differently than with Levi because...

a) Kayden is a different kid than Levi was

b) Kayden and Levi share a room

c) we sleep trained Levi and he seemed traumatized by it and wasn't a good sleeper until he was almost 3 so...don't want that again!

Sleep training this time around is more like weaning Kayden off of night feeds. She's been up more during the night in the last couple months than she was in the first few months of life so I'm quite certain we have a case of her just wanting to be nursed back to sleep whenever she wakes up. To wean her, I'm trying to be very hands-on. With Levi, we eventually just let him cry for hours in his crib because going in to him just made him more and more upset each time. I'm convinced that's part of the reason he hated his crib so much and cried himself to sleep for every naptime and bedtime until he was almost two years old. With Kayden, I go to her often and stay with her until she's calmed down. I'll pick her up if she's just not calming down. I'll change her pj's if they're wet (apparently you get really hot and sweaty when you cry for hours on end!). I do not want her to feel like I've left her to just cry. The goal is to wean her of feeds, not to get herself to self-soothe when she's screaming her lungs out. 

Being awake for hours in the middle of the night is not my most favourite activity (though I do come up with some clever Facebook statuses in the wee hours of the morning! I did say clever and not cynical, right?  Oh good... None of these get posted, just in case you're wondering how you missed these entertaining tidbits). But if it means that I can maybe, just maybe, start sleeping through the night again in the near future...it's worth a few sleepless nights. I never thought I'd be able to handle the lack of sleep that comes with parenthood. I've always been someone who needs more sleep than most. I'm miserable when I'm tired. By the time Levi was born, I'd already been through a few months of waking in the night but naively thought that I would have a good sleeper and that surely by 8 weeks old my boy would be sleeping through the night. 8 weeks came and went. 4 months came and went. 6 months...8 months...a year...two years. Still my boy wasn't sleeping through the night and baby number 2 was getting close!  By the time Nathan started getting up with Levi, I was up due to pregnancy again. It's been a long haul with the no sleeping thing but I must say...the body adjusts!  It's hard. Every once in a while, it all catches up and I feel desperate for sleep. But then that feeling passes and I'm good to go again for another few weeks. God really does give you what you need. It's quite amazing, really. So, while I'd love to be sleeping through the night before Christmas, I know that whatever happens, I'll make it through. 

Well, the girl seems to finally be asleep. Three hours after waking. It's 3am and I think I'll try to catch some zzzz's before she wakes and we start this whole crazy thing over again! 

Goodnight, all!  

The move...thoughts.

Well, it's official. The conditions have been removed on the sale of our house and we are moving. In just under two weeks. Bring on the packing! (With two little ones...gulp!)

I'm actually feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, there have been moments of "what are we doing???" and "are we sure we want to do this?" but now that the house is sold and the moving date is set, the excitement is just building and I'm getting ready to spend our first winter on the farm!  Well...acreage...

I have a few thoughts about this move:

First, moving in October isn't ideal.  I didn't think much of the fact that we might be moving in fall as this whole deal was coming together but now that I'm packing up, I feel like it's going against the grain of what my body is naturally wanting to do. Fall, for me, is a time of settling into routine, of making sure everything is ready for winter, of putting down roots and buckling down for the cold winter months ahead. I am very much a squirrel in that sense. And I never realized this about myself until this year, when I'm very much doing the opposite. For me to be putting everything into boxes and taking them to a new house in October...my body/mind doesn't know what to do with itself! I'm excited about the move yet I feel myself hanging back and wondering if I even really want to move. This concerned me a bit (um, not wanting to move when you are, in fact, moving is a terrifying feeling!) until I realized the squirrel thing, and then it made complete sense to me why I might be feeling more apprehension than expected. My subconscious is wanting me to stay and buckle down while my body is physically putting everything into boxes and getting ready to move.  Weird feeling, people. But it's all good. I find that often once I have words for how I'm feeling, once I can understand why I'm feeling the way I am, I can deal with it and let myself feel it.

Second, I'm a person who likes to know details and how everything is going to work out. Well, actually now that I write that, that doesn't feel quite right. I don't actually care about the details. There is a sense of adventure in not knowing the details and I'm good with adventure and spontaneity. I feel a bit suffocated if there's pressure on me to figure out all the details ahead of time. I honestly don't care much about the HOW. What I want to know is that it will, indeed, work out! If I know that, I have no problem letting the rest fall to whatever happens, happens.  My biggest worry is that somehow we'll just have so many unexpected expenses that we just simply won't be able to make it work. Cause really, we've never owned an acreage before so there could easily be expenses that we just didn't expect or plan for. We've done our research, but there's always SOMETHING that comes up and when you pay for your own water and sewer...there's alot more to go wrong to add unexpected expenses! The way this whole move has come together, though, has had God written all over it and I doubt He would lead us into financial ruin, so I guess I just need to trust that it will work out.  God has always provided in the past. ie: Hello, having an unexpected (prayed for and hoped for but unexpected nonetheless) baby right in the middle of two years of zero income while Nathan was a student. It worked out and I wouldn't change a thing!  It was an adventure! We just learned to trust that we would have what we needed, to be generous with what we were given, and to live on absolutely nothing. And it was quite an amazing time in our marriage! So I'm sure this will be good too ;)

I started packing today. I'd rather not rush so I'm giving myself two weeks to get everything moved. Yeah, sounds nuts and maybe it is. I've never packed a house with two kids but I've packed a house with zero kids in two days and one kid in under a week, though, so two weeks with two kids should be perfect!  Here's hoping!  And I've never had a helpful three year old packing with me so I'm sure that will speed up the process all the more!  Right? ;)

Town House Tour!

When we first moved to this house, I posted pictures and promised that I would continue to post pictures once I completed each room so you could see how we were making it ours.  Well...I'm pretty sure I haven't posted any house pictures since then, probably because I haven't felt like any room has been ready to be labelled "done!"  But we have made some changes in the two years we've lived here so I figured I'd share pictures of the house as it was when we listed it!

Dining Area - beautiful south facing windows in dining room and living room, possibly my favourite part of our house!  They let in the most beautiful light!

Kitchen - new white cabinets - love it!

More of the kitchen

Living room - this is only half of it!  But there's not much on the other half.  It's just a long, rectangular room...so hard to put furniture in but nice to have extra space for toys!

Main floor bathroom - teeny tiny...but it works :)

Main floor laundry...I will miss this! :)  We also painted these cabinets when we were doing the kitchen.

Master bedroom - we did the least to this room, I think.  We finally printed some pictures this summer to hang, but realized as soon as we hung them that it still needed something to make it look "finished."

Master bedroom

Kids' Room

I decided to do Dick and Jane pictures on their walls.  Kayden's walls have pictures of little sister Sally.

Levi's walls have pictures of big brother Dick.

Love the rocking horse my dad built for Levi's second birthday!

Screened deck off main floor

Back yard

Perennial Garden I dug and planted this summer

Basement guest bedroom - we did the least with this room, though after 8 years of having guests, we've FINALLY gotten an actual box spring for our mattress!  Next up?  Maybe a bed frame??

Basement Pantry/Storage room OR potential bedroom

Basement

Other side of basement

Basement hallway (bedrooms at end, stairs to right of this picture, bathroom through door to left)

Basement Bathroom

And that's our house!  Lovely isn't it?  We're sad to leave it but SO excited about the next place we're going that it's a small price to pay for 10 beautiful acres of Saskatchewan back country! :D  I'll be sure to introduce you to the next house just as soon as it's officially ours...

Eight Months Old

Eight months might be my favourite age.  Well, one of them.  Newborn is my favourite.  Eight months is my favourite.  Two is my favourite.  You get the idea.  I enjoy every stage, but eight months feels like a sweet spot.  Personality is blossoming every day.  Communication is really starting to come.  I feel like I'm really getting to know who Kayden is these days, beyond just a baby who has certain likes and dislikes.  It's hard to describe.  But I'm loving this age!

Kayden is such a content, easy-going girl.  I traveled out to Ontario this month with her to visit my sister(s) and she was so busy taking everything in that I don't think we heard a peep out of her for at least 18 hours into the visit.  And there wasn't any crying until a couple days in.  When she's in a new situation, she just zips her lip and watches.  She takes it all in before starting to really interact with her new surroundings. (remind you of someone else you know??)

Kayden is definitely starting to thin out and lose some of her baby fat.  Though she's still got rolls and folds and the most kissable cheeks!  She hasn't been weighed officially since August but home scale says she's around  16-17 lbs.  She's definitely getting taller too as she's almost outgrown her 6 month pants.  She's wearing mostly 6-12 month and 9 month clothes.  She still has a bald spot on the back of her head but it seems like the rest of her hair is finally starting to grow :)

Interesting random 8 month fact...we bought this house when Levi was 8 months old and sold it when Kayden is 8 months old.  Cool, no?

As I mentioned earlier, Kayden had her first trip to Ontario this month.  She had her first four flights.  She met her great grandma Irish for the first time (while in Ontario).  Kayden got her first pet kitties this month (family pets) and she LOVES them!  She just sits there and flails her arms and squeals.  Or she'll just have this quiet little "heh heh heh" laugh.  She's not very gentle, obviously.  The kittens have lost some fur to her grabby little hands.  But just now I turned around and she was mauling one but it didn't seem to mind! She has also started to raise her arms to be picked up this month...that's always a milestone I'm excited to reach.  I love those little chubby arms reaching up to be picked up!

Kayden enjoys playing in/with her Jolly Jumper, exersaucer, floor gym (sitting in front of it), books, brother, and Levi's toys.  She decided that she loves to eat solid foods this month.  I made the mistake of not packing snacks for our trip when we flew to Ontario because, frankly, she's never wanted snacks before.  But on the plane, she chewed on some of my in-flight cookie and when it was gone, she flipped.  She was so upset that there was none left for her.  Oops!  We quickly went out and bought her some Cheerios and baby cookies when we got to Ontario and she has LOVED eating ever since.  She kinda skipped the pureed food stage and just wants whatever we're having.  Too bad I made all that babyfood... :P  I must say, though, it is alot easier to just put whatever we're eating in front of her, rather than having to feed her separately.  She also knows how to use a straw sippy cup, though I'm pretty sure she figured that out before this month...in August I think.

Kayden is STILL not rolling over, nor moving around at all.  She can now pivot around a bit while she lays on her back but for the most part, we know that we'll find her exactly where we leave her.  I think she's just too content to explore the moving around thing.  Why move when she can watch what's happening from where she is and has a brother to bring her toys when she cries?  She sits like a pro, still. :)  She hates tummy time so we don't force it (never have with either of our kids).  Her little legs are getting strong and she can easily support her own weight when we stand her up but she has no concept of balance or pulling/holding herself up yet.

Kayden still has no teeth.  She doesn't talk/babble much at all.  Every once in a while she'll get going, but she's got such a soft voice and is mostly just content to observe and listen to everyone else.  With a brother who talks SO much, it'll be hard for her to get a word in edgewise!  Her eyes are still blue-ish, though are taking a turn for grey-ish hazel.  I noticed the other day that they are exactly like her daddy's!  All those months of wondering whose eyes she got and the answer was right beside me!  They are more like Nathan's than anyone else's.  I can't believe it took me 7-8 months to realize that she has her daddy's eyes.  Sheesh.

Kayden goes to bed perfectly every night (SUCH a nice treat after tears at bedtime for Levi's first two years of life) and does pretty well with naps.  She does cry a bit before falling asleep for most naps but if she's insistent, it's usually because something is wrong.  Kayden has a morning nap (45min-1 hour) and an afternoon nap (1-2.5 hours) every day.  If she has a short afternoon nap, she will still sometimes nap in the late afternoon to tide her over to her 7-8pm bedtime.  She isn't sleeping through the night yet, though she does occasionally go 8-9 hours between feeds which I guess technically is "through the night" even though it means a 4am feed for me.  Most nights, though, she's up 2-3 times to eat and then goes straight back to sleep.  She still wakes up with a smile every time :)

Kayden is such a blessing in our family.  She's a perfect fit and so much fun to have around!  We love you Kayden Grace!  Happy 8 months, Girlie!

What's new?

There have been interesting things happening for the McCorkindale family lately and I figured I should probably share before the rumours get out of control.  ; )

Nathan and I have always dreamed of living on an acreage one day.  We weren't sure if it would ever be possible because being a pastor often means that you don't stay in one place long-term, not to mention the simple fact that living in the town where the church is often just makes sense.  People can drop in, you can easily make it to church-related events, etc.  It's easier to be a pastor when you live right there.  So, after having been pastors/students for our entire married life thus far, we had pretty much put the thought of an acreage out of our minds.  Retirement, maybe, but not now.

Jump to this summer. We've lived here for two years now and haven't really felt like living IN town was a huge advantage in the pastoring game (the church is about 15 minutes from town).  That said, we weren't looking for a new place when we happened to hear about an acreage that was for sale. We went to look at it but mostly just put it out of our minds because it was a big chunk of change and the house didn't seem workable for our family.  But a month later we started thinking about it again and couldn't get it out of our minds.  We went to see the house again and, with fresh eyes, it seemed very workable indeed!  We fell in love with the yard and location all over again (between town and the country-church where Nathan pastors - perfect!) and really started looking into how we could make it work.

We had the dreaded meeting with the bank and they gave us the go-ahead to pursue this property.  All we needed was to sell our house.  The market in town seemed to be at a stand-still with around 80 properties for sale in a 10km radius of town and few of them moving.  But everything so far had been falling into place so we decided to list our house and see what happened.  We met with an agent a week ago today, Friday.  Our house was listed the next day, Saturday, with one showing that day and another one the next.  Low and behold, Monday afternoon came and we had an offer.  Now, if all goes well, conditions will be removed in a few days and we will be moving to the country at the end of the month!

So that's what's happening.  If you've noticed that our house is on the realty site, no, we're not leaving town...well, we ARE...but not really. : ) No, we're not building.  We're just living the dream!

This just seems to be such a God-thing.  We had a dream; God knew that dream.  He brought the perfect property at the perfect time.  Our house sold in record time for more than we'd been hoping for.  And now we'll be spending Christmas in our new home.  What a blessing!*

Today I took Levi and we picked out kittens that will become farm cats once we move.  But they were available now and my inner child came forth and claimed two of the cutest little 8 week old kittens for my very own.  I had been hoping that Levi would just be naturally gentle and nurturing with them.  He loves animals so much so I'd love to see him be good with animals...a born animal-whisperer if you will...but alas, it has been a day of explaining time and again how kittens don't like to be fenced in, how they don't like to be picked up by the tummy all the time, how they don't want to be forced to eat or forced to sleep or forced to do anything.  He'll learn.  Maybe.  Hopefully before we move out to the farm cause otherwise it'll be a long month!

*Yes, I realize that there are some questions that come up when God makes some people's dreams come true while others are praying for more "serious" things with (seemingly) no answers.  I've got nothing except that I can't NOT thank God for this blessing when it seems so much like He's making it all come together. 

Oils of the Day - Peppermint, Frankinsense

I just went away for five days.  It was lovely.  LOVELY!  But I didn't take my oils.  I debated.  But I figured that I'm not too attached to them and therefore wouldn't miss them.  I was right.  Though two nights while I was away I woke up feeling sick to my stomach and boy would I have given peppermint a run for it's money!  But tonight I was walking with the kids and my stomach felt a little funky.  Yay!  Another chance to put my oils to the test! (just kidding...yay is never my gut reaction to funky tummy...no pun intended)  Nevertheless, as soon as I got home, I pulled out my peppermint oil and rolled it on my lower abdomen (with my new roller top, thanks to a friend who had some extras after my lid decided to take a trip down the bathroom drain this morning!).  Peppermint oil is supposed to calm the rumbles in your tummy and help digestion, I believe.  There are a few oils that are supposed to do that, but peppermint is the one I have so I gave it a shot!  Did it work?  Well, yes and no.  Or maybe yes and I don't know.  The neat thing about oils, the thing I love, is that you can actually feel them working.  It's hard to describe.  When I put the peppermint oil on my stomach, I could actually feel it being absorbed, if that is possible.  It was like a relaxing, calming, warm hand pressing on my stomach.  Now, did it take the tummy rumbles away?  Not completely.  But I feel better now, a few hours later, and with no sudden runs to el bano this evening! (sorry if TMI) The thing I'm still questioning is whether I would have felt better by now without the oils.  Part of me thinks that I would have felt the same this evening, regardless of the oils.  Sometimes tummy rumbles just pass on their own.  But the feeling I had right after I applied the peppermint oil, the sinking in of the oil...that was worth feeling.  So maybe if I'd applied it again, an hour later, that would have done the trick?  Or maybe if I'd applied it in a slightly different place? Or added another oil? Who knows.  But there's my oil of the day story :)  The verdict?  It's worth a shot!  I'd rather rub (or roll!) on some peppermint than take some Pepto if those are my options!

I'm also conducting an experiment with Frankincense and my c-section scar(s).  I'm guessing it will take a while to tell if it's doing anything but I'm curious to see if it will fade my scar faster than regular old "time."  I'll let you know.

Oh, and something that I was going to rant about, while I'm blogging about oils anyway, is how much of a nuisance they are to apply.  I'm all for natural healing and all that jazz...but we are a socks wearing family (at least myself and the kids are) and often you have to apply the oils far more often than just once or twice a day.  Seriously, to have to take socks off every hour or two all day to apply oils?  Not fun people.  I do wish that I could just apply the oils in the morning and evening, when my socks (and the kids' socks) are off anyway, and have them actually work their magic.  We just don't love being barefoot so it's not convenient at all to just stop what we're doing, take off our socks, use our oils, then don our socks again.  Just saying.  I realize there are other places to put oils, but we are also long pants and sweater wearing people. There's not alot of bare skin in this house to use oils on without undressing to some degree.  I guess I might just get used to it...

Oils of the day

I haven't been posting much the last couple days, but not because I haven't been using the oils!  I just haven't been using them for anything new, nor have I been noticing much different from what I've already posted.  BUT...I think I'm making progress in my experiment!

PanAway and Valor for aches and pains - I am convinced here.  The other day I was walking and my knee was bothering me.  It only hurts occasionally so I can't speak to chronic pain relief BUT, I got back from my walk and it was still hurting so I rubbed some PanAway on it and as I walked back to the kitchen, the pain was gone.  Then today, my back was hurting (hello, hauling two kids around all day and night!) so I rubbed two drops of Valor on my lower back then rubbed two drops of PanAway on top of that.  I must say, my back is feeling pretty good now!  So for minor aches and pains, I would definitely recommend these two oils!  My guess would be that if you have more intense pain or pain that is constant, it might not respond as well OR you might need to reapply oils more often.  But I'd say it's worth a try.  I feel better about rubbing some essential oil on my back or knee or jaw (which is also helped incredibly by Valor) than popping a Tylenol.

Lemon in water - I've said it before and I'll say it again: Yum!  We are loving the switch to drinking lemon water.  And I'm not sure if it's the lemon water that's to thank but I think I'm starting to crave more fruits/vegetables for snacks than sugary cookies and chocolate.  All it takes is 1-2 drops of lemon oil in 1 litre of water (in a GLASS or STAINLESS container), give it a little stir and voila.  So good.

Lavender and Peace & Calming - I put a drop or two of each of these oils in a warm bath last night for Kayden about an hour before bed.  I don't know if it's the oils or if she's just settling into a bit more of a routine (finally?), but she went to bed at 7:45-8pm and was only up ONCE between bedtime and 7:45-8am!!  Maybe the oils calmed her so she could rest well.  Or maybe they worked on me and I just slept through all the less insistent cries last night...

As far as the smells of the oils go, some of the smells are growing on me.  I love the smells of Valor, Lemon, Peppermint, and Peace & Calming. I still hate the smells of Thieves and Purification.  The other ones I'm kinda indifferent about.

Oils of the day

Kayden woke up last night around 10:30pm and just wouldn't settle again (usually I just need to go in and pat her side a few times and she's back to sleep). She was just getting more and more worked up as time passed. I noticed that she'd spit up more that day and had an unusually large baby cereal snack right before bed so I thought her tummy might be bothering her. It also seemed like a pain/discomfort thing as she would calm right down then her face would scrunch up and she would arch her back and be wailing again. SO, I pulled out my oils, hopeful that she would settle quickly once I used them on her. Because I suspected tummy troubles, I put peppermint on her tummy. I used lavender on top of that hoping it would settle her and help her sleep. And then, because she was so worked up by this time, I put a drop of peace and calming oil on her feet. I used all of these with a carrier oil (coconut oil). So, the moment of truth...drumroll please!  Did it work?  Not at all. Nothing. She just kept crying and arching her back. Finally I nursed her, even though I KNEW she wasn't hungry, and that calmed her down and she settled into a deep sleep for the next almost 5 hours. I was disappointed that the oils didn't help more. Maybe I used the wrong ones or in the wrong places?  I'm still learning so that could be it. But I know from experience that feeding her when I did would have produced the same reaction, whether or not I'd used the oils. So...the oils were a fail last night. Anyone who is into oils have any suggestions for next time?  Gentle baby?  Or a different oil/placement?  Let me know!

Seven Months Old

Wow, I just sat down and typed "Four Months Old."  Umm...no.  SEVEN months old.  Yikes.  I'm really slipping.  Some days I wonder if I'm going crazy.  The other day I sat down with my journal and went to wrote the date and I almost wrote October.  Yeah.  Moving on...

Kayden is 7 months old today!  She is growing up in every sense of the word.  According to the measurement at her last immunization appointment, she has hit a growth spurt!  Though I'm fairly certain that the measurement at her last appointment was off so it's probably just a steady growth.  She's getting closer to 50th percentile though has always been under.  In the weight vs height ratio, though, she's right near the top!  That's the technical way of saying I have a chubby little girl on my hands.  And it's lovely!  She's so cute :)  Kayden weighed 14.8lbs at her last appointment.  She could easily be 15lbs by now.  She's wearing 6-12 month clothes. 

Kayden is sitting with ease, not really tipping much at all anymore.  She started sitting in the wagon for walks this month, without having to be tied to the corner with a scarf  :D  She's an old pro.  She stood for a couple seconds at the couch yesterday but she's not really there yet.  She doesn't really understand the concept of hanging on to help balance.  If she starts tipping, she just falls straight over.  (oops) 

 Kayden loves baths.  She's a little water-baby.  She and Levi are having baths together these days and they both enjoy playing with each other.  Levi was getting a bit too brave in the splashing and pouring of water, though, so the rule quickly became that whatever he does to Kayden in the bath happens to him next.  So if he pours a container of water on her face, guess what buddy?  You get water in your face too.  He's not as comfortable in the water as Kayden is so he's gotten much better about not water-boarding his baby sister all the time.

Kayden doesn't love solid foods, but she doesn't hate them either.  Her favourite is slightly warm baby cereal.  It doesn't seem to matter what kind.  Mix in some raspberries, and that's ok too.  She doesn't really enjoy anything with much flavour yet though.  Health nurse says I need to be feeding her foods with iron and skip the baby cereal completely.  Well, if my baby ate absolutely anything, then great!  Bring on the beef/eggs/green veggies.  But if she's not going to eat them, I'd rather she fill her little tummy with SOMETHING and perhaps sleep a bit longer at night?  She's eaten a couple Aeroroot crackers and animal crackers too, which are a complete and total mess, but she seems to enjoy having something to suck on.

Speaking of sleeping...this month has been a gong show in that department.  She had been pretty steady for the first 6 months.  And then I decided to push my luck and see if I could eliminate the night-time feeds.  I had a couple glorious nights of 10 hours between feeds but since then she's gone to wanting to eat every 3.5-4 hours all night long, which is worse than before.  Ugh!  Some nights are good, some are bad.  I think I'd rather just have a predictable routine if I'm going to be getting up at night.  Not knowing if I have an hour or 3 or 6 from the time I go to bed is hard on the body!  Naps have been shifting too.  We were in a good routine with her longest nap being at the same time as Levi's.  Now she's wanting to take her long naps morning and evening and hardly sleeps an hour at the same time as Levi.  So I guess we're in a transition time with her and sleep.  Makes for a VERY tired Mommy!

We moved Kayden into Levi's room this month!  We were at my parents' place visiting and decided to put them in the same room and it worked really well so we figured we'd just continue to have them share a room when we got home.  It has been an adjustment, let me tell you!  Trying to figure out how much noise needs to happen before we respond (finding a balance between letting them adjust to each other's noise and not wanting everyone in the house awake all night).  There have been many a silent curse in the middle of the night of our decision to buy a 2 bedroom house instead of a 3 bedroom.  GAH!  But it seems like we're making progress and it is nice to have our master bedroom back.

Kayden remains a content baby.  She's been sick the past week or so and even in the midst of a runny nose and sore throat (if it's what Levi and I had), she's always ready with a smile for her family!  She is a bit more shy with others but so far no full-blown stranger anxiety.  Kayden will happily sit in the grass outside for a long time while I garden, just looking around and feeling the grass under her.  The same goes for in the house.  She's often happy to just hang out in the jolly jumper, exersaucer or on the floor, watching what's going on around her - and with a busy, two year old brother, there's always something happening!  Levi loves to make her laugh.  His favourite game with her seems to be peek-a-boo which is fairly loud and involves lots of yelling, but fortunately there's a lot of laughter from her too so I just leave them to have fun, despite the decibel being a bit high for my ears.  Levi also loves to get her toys and play with her by rolling her over for tummy time and "blowing" on her belly.  She takes a lot but there always comes a point when she's just done.

Kayden has started reaching for absolutely everything.  And everything she grabs goes straight to her mouth.  When she notices that something makes noise, though, she'll wave her arm up and down to see if she can make the noise again.  She has no teeth yet, though I think she must be teething.  We'll enjoy her gummy smile for a bit longer.  Kayden has yet to roll over.  She still has blue eyes, though some days I think I might be seeing a bit of hazel(?) coming in from the middle.  I do hope that they stay the dark blue that they are right now but I'm sure they'll be beautiful, whatever colour they are.  Kayden is starting to babble more.  "dadada...aaaaa..."  She laughs most when Levi plays with her or when you tickle her ribs.  Kayden always wakes up with a smile; going to get her after a nap or in the morning is always so rewarding.  (I'm sure it would be rewarding in the middle of the night too, if I could see anything through the groggy blur...)

I'm looking forward to month number 8!  I can't believe we're getting well into the second half of Kayden's first year!  And yet, it feels like she's been here so long already.  Being a mom of 2 is completely routine by now.  There are very few moments when I feel pulled in half because both kids need me at once.  We've gotten into a wonderful groove and I'm loving it!

Oils of the day

Peppermint - Nathan used peppermint on the back of his neck for a headache (he's going off coffee)...he said it really seemed to help.  He didn't take anything else for the headache.

PanAway - I hold alot of tension in my jaw and it often clicks when I open it - which hurts!  I put PanAway on it and, while it didn't make the clicking completely go away, I did notice it relax and stop hurting enough to chew.  Was it the oils?  Or was it the massaging of my jaw?  I'm not sure.  I do know that the area where I rubbed the oil felt strangely...good?  Haha.  How's that for a description?  My jaw did feel more relaxed after I used the oil.  Was it all in my head?  Did my jaw relax because I was thinking about it?  Who knows. I do plan to use this more often as my jaw bothers me and maybe time will tell if it was actually the oil that made the difference.

Lemon - day 2 of drinking lemon oil in our water.  SO GOOD! (*oils should always be used with glass or stainless steel containers)

Levi loves smelling the oils whenever I have them out.  I'm hesitant to let him sniff them all at once because they really are quite potent.  But tonight I let him take a good whiff of the Valor oil, in hopes that he would have a really good night's sleep.  He did settle pretty well, though he often does these days.  It's so hard to tell with oils!  Are they working?  Are they making a difference?  Or is it all in the mind?  So far I'm not convinced, BUT I'm certainly having fun experimenting with them and I'm open to having my mind blown.  :)

*correction...I put Valor on my clicking jaw, not PanAway.  When I used PanAway this morning, it really didn't seem to make much difference, but then I used Valor and that was the feeling I was talking about.  It feels like relaxation just starts on the skin and soaks on down.  Still a little tense, but not clicking or hurting nearly as bad!

Home-making

I was bitten by the domestic bug pretty early on (and no, not the bed bug variety of domestic bug).  I've always wanted to be homemaker.  Dream job. I love it. And I take it pretty seriously too. (I'm really gunning for that promotion..oh wait) To me, being a homemaker is about so much more than cooking and cleaning and taking care of the kids. There is so much more to a home than just errands and chores and schedules. Homes are living, breathing organisms. How do I want our home to feel to the people who live here, not to mention every person who walks through the door? What values do we have?  If I don't want bitterness to eat away at my family, I'd better watch my attitude. If I want a joyful house full of laughter, I'd better be willing to do what I can to create that atmosphere. (Though there are certainly things out of our control that can change the way we "homemake"...I'm not saying that its as simple as just smiling all the time if we want a happy family life.) Anyway, I digress. 

These days, my homemaking is consisting of putting away food for winter so we can eat home-grown food long after earth freezes over. Yay!  I've never really canned anything before. I tried pickles last year and they were sorely disappointing. But!  I am not beyond trying again!  This year I have expanded my horizons and so far I have canned strawberry and raspberry jams, pickles (gotta get this one right!), apple sauce and juice, and apple pie filling!  It feels so so good to see all those empty jars downstairs slowly being filled with colourful and tasty treats for winter! 

I've also developed a love for gardening this summer that was never there to this degree before. As a kid, I hated gardening because it was always a chore. Pull that acre of wild mustard, please. Weed the rows of peas, please.  Time to plant/hill/dig potatoes!  Here are some peas that need shelling. (Ok, I always enjoyed that one because my sister and I discovered that we could do it in front of the tv) Anyway, my mom always said that we would enjoy it when the gardens were our own and I never believed her. But it is so true!  I've been loving my gardens. Though interestingly, the weeds are no more fun to pull, whether or not the garden belongs to you...

Random sidenote on oils: we started drinking lemon oil in our water today. AMAZING!  I don't know about any benefits other than taste at this point but wow. It is so fresh and clean tasting. And because its oil, it kinda coats the inside I your mouth and leaves your mouth feeling wonderfully fresh (mouth-coating is not as gross as it sounds...unless you're drinking something like Thieves, then it's grosser than it sounds). 

Oils - an introduction to my introduction to oils

So, you all know me. I'm a fad-follower. I dive into the deep end as soon as each new fad makes its appearance.  I was the first one with a cell phone.  I was the first one wearing skinny jeans when they made their comeback. I was the first one dying their hair when it became popular back in junior high. I was first in line to buy a CD player, MP3 player and then iPod when tapes started going out of style.

Ok, if anyone is fooled, let me tell you, this is so far from who I am. I'm usually the one who sits back and watches to see if the latest craze is sticking around long enough for me to buy into it. I didn't have a cell phone until two years ago. I didn't dye my hair until grade 9 (everyone else started in grade 7!). And I didn't buy a pair of skinny jeans until a few years in, once I made sure I wouldn't look like a geek the next time I stepped out the door, lest the style change while I was sleeping. 

The latest "thing" in our area is essential oils. These are therapeutic grade oils that one uses for an endless number of things. (Young Living is the company everyone uses around here.) These oils are used for everything from the common cold to headaches to cleaning the kitchen sink to brushing your teeth to emotional healing to mosquito repellant. Seriously, people use them for everything. After hearing people talk about them and rave about the difference they have made in their families' health (and after talking with a friend who encouraged me to give them a try), I broke down and bought a basic "starter kit". It contains all the most basic, often-used oils to get you started. To convince you. To lure you into their depths. 

I will admit, I am quite skeptical. But they promise the world (well not quite, but close!) so I figure I'll share a bit of my experience with them here. I've had a number of people interested in hearing about them so if you're one of those people, this is the place to follow along while I experiment with Young Living essential oils!

First off, you're all probably wonder how they smell. Well...one of my greatest fears in starting down this essential oil road is that my house will begin to smell like the oils. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of most of the oils I've smelled. Lemon smells amazing.  Peppermint is pretty good.  But some of the other ones...I'm just not loving it.  I hear that they grow on you...or don't.  We shall see.  I also fear that my kids will smell like them when they go to school and will be made fun of because of it.  (I remember a boy in my class in grade 3 who was basically shunned because he smelled different...kids can be so cruel!)  Aside from those two things, I have nothing to lose!

You're probably also wondering what I've used them for so far.  Well, I only got them 3 days ago but so far I've used:

- Peppermint for a headache - I rubbed a drop of peppermint oil into some coconut oil (aka carrier oil) and applied it to my temples and back of my neck.  Those are the spots where the headache was.  Did it work?  Well, I'd say the pain in my head indeed felt less almost immediately.  Unfortunately I think it was due to the burning of my eyes from having the oil so close to them (temples).  I'm going to double-check whether or not that was the correct way to apply the oil in this situation.

- Peace and Calming for putting kids to bed - I've used a drop of this oil on the bottoms of Levi's feet for two nights so far.  He usually goes to bed pretty well so I wouldn't say I've seen a huge difference.  He was pretty hyper one night before bed and settled really well but he might have done that anyway.  It's hard to tell.  This morning, Kayden was wide awake at 5am (three hours early according to our routine) so I used a drop of this oil on her feet.  I was really hoping that she would calm right down and go back to sleep but she just kept crying like nothing had happened.  *sigh*  So much for a miracle-worker.

- Peace and Calming AND Valor for having house-guests - I'm usually pretty laid-back when we have people over but every once in a while the lack of sleep from having two young kids mixes with people coming over mixes with LIFE and I feel a bit on edge when we're supposed to have people in our home.  I started the day with a drop of Valor on the bottom of each of my feet.  Throughout the day, if I ever felt myself getting anxious, I would just go into the bathroom and take a deep whif of one of those oils.  I've gotta say, it was quite a relaxing day!  Completely not what I expected, to be honest with you.  I'm still not convinced that it was due to the oils alone, but hey, I'll give them another chance :)

- PanAway for hubby's sore knee - Nathan has a knee that bothers him from time to time.  So, when he mentioned that his knee was bothering him, I pretty much tackled him with oil in my hand, ready to rub it into his aching knee.  haha.  I asked him a couple hours later if his knee still hurt.  It didn't.  Was it the oils?  Could be.  I'll need more to convince me that it was!

- Thieves for sore throat - they suggest putting one drop of Thieves oil into four cups of water, then drinking it if you have a sore throat.  I am game to try anything so I mixed it up and took a big swig.  You know how something can be so bad that you involuntarily shudder after ingesting it?  Like Buckley's?  That was me and Thieves.  Gross.  And the worst part is, because you're drinking water mixed with oil, the oil coats your mouth and throat so you can't get rid of the taste.  It's just...there.  Ick.  NOT doing that again.

I look forward to learning more about these oils and sharing what I find.  I think they have potential to be better for some things than for others, but we'll see.  I'll try to post regularly about what I'm learning and finding.  Follow along!

Comparisons

I always find it fun to play the "who does Baby look like?" game.  I can't be the only one who enjoys this game.  So let's take a look at who Kayden looks like, shall we?

Here is Kayden:

Here is Daddy:

Here is Mommy:

Here is Levi:

And here are her twin cousins at a similar age (who I've heard her compared to over and over and over again):

So what do you think?  Who does Kayden look like?  Thoughts?