I
Kit was baptized on Sunday! She was very good and quiet, sleeping through pretty much the whole Mass. Little Bear got to sit with Grandma and Papa, so he was happy and well-behaved too. All of my siblings were able to be here for her baptism, which was wonderful! And I still haven't managed to get photos from my mom, but hopefully we got one showing our parish's baptismal font; it is beautiful, and had not been used in baptisms for many years, but a family friend just finished restoring it and Kit was the first baby to be baptized in it after the restoration!
"Time" has been a slightly fuzzy concept for me since she was born, and the baptism date definitely snuck up on me; I was very grateful to have the baptismal gown I'd found when I was pregnant with Alex already hanging in the back of the closet.
II
Our girl is one month old today! She's obviously still very small compared to her 3yo brother, but my default adjective for her is quickly becoming "big" instead of "little." Kit has gained three pounds in the past four weeks; she's over ten pounds now. She certainly doesn't look like a tiny newborn to me anymore.
III
We thought we were done with car excitement for a while, after last week's replacement of axles and ball joints and tires and brake pads and I don't know what all. We... were wrong.
Tuesday morning, the kids and I were all in the car with Matt, on our way to drop him off at work before an errand-filled day, when the car just stopped. No lights on the dash were on, the gas gauge still said we had gas, the battery was working fine (although it too died after we tried unsuccessfully to start the car a couple of times). We live way out of town, so there was no other traffic and it wasn't a problem to just drift the car over and onto the shoulder, and my parents came out to rescue us; Mom brought me and the kids back to their house while Dad and Matt looked at the engine and pulled out the jumper cables.
They couldn't get it going, so Matt called our mechanic who said he'd send their tow truck and he would look at it that day, but probably wouldn't be able to fix it until the next morning. Then he caught a ride to work while I figured out a rental car for the next day or two. Late that afternoon we got a call from the mechanic: they put five gallons of gas in it, charged up the battery, and it started just fine. The floater in our fuel tank had gotten stuck, throwing off the gauge, and we'd run out of gas. "Don't trust that gauge anymore!" the mechanic reminded me twice in the three minutes I was in the office paying the bill. Yes, we feel ridiculous, having the car towed all the way into town for that! Dare I say that hopefully now we're done with car shenanigans for a while?
IV
Public Service Announcement: diaper rash that isn't caused by an infection but is not responding to zinc oxide ointments (Desitin, etc), sometimes responds well to Bag Balm, of all things. I grew up using it on chapped and dry skin, but never would have thought of it for diaper rash if the midwife hadn't suggested it.
V
Today was by far the most productive AND least frustrating day I've had all week. It was also the only day I didn't have the car (i.e. bring Matt to/from work and run errands). Coincidence? Maybe... Every day previous, I was staring at the clock willing it to be time to go pick Matt up by 3 o'clock, and today hearing the garage door open when he got home took me by surprise. Kit napped on the couch for a good chunk of the morning, which definitely helped: Little Bear and I made chocolate zucchini bread and muffins, as well as a loaf of sandwich bread, while she slept. We dusted and vacuumed, paid bills, wiped down the bathroom, cut both kids' nails, packed up an Amazon return, spent time with Little Bear doing school, and made lists of errands to run and groceries to pick up tomorrow.
Tuesday morning, the kids and I were all in the car with Matt, on our way to drop him off at work before an errand-filled day, when the car just stopped. No lights on the dash were on, the gas gauge still said we had gas, the battery was working fine (although it too died after we tried unsuccessfully to start the car a couple of times). We live way out of town, so there was no other traffic and it wasn't a problem to just drift the car over and onto the shoulder, and my parents came out to rescue us; Mom brought me and the kids back to their house while Dad and Matt looked at the engine and pulled out the jumper cables.
They couldn't get it going, so Matt called our mechanic who said he'd send their tow truck and he would look at it that day, but probably wouldn't be able to fix it until the next morning. Then he caught a ride to work while I figured out a rental car for the next day or two. Late that afternoon we got a call from the mechanic: they put five gallons of gas in it, charged up the battery, and it started just fine. The floater in our fuel tank had gotten stuck, throwing off the gauge, and we'd run out of gas. "Don't trust that gauge anymore!" the mechanic reminded me twice in the three minutes I was in the office paying the bill. Yes, we feel ridiculous, having the car towed all the way into town for that! Dare I say that hopefully now we're done with car shenanigans for a while?
IV
Public Service Announcement: diaper rash that isn't caused by an infection but is not responding to zinc oxide ointments (Desitin, etc), sometimes responds well to Bag Balm, of all things. I grew up using it on chapped and dry skin, but never would have thought of it for diaper rash if the midwife hadn't suggested it.
V
Today was by far the most productive AND least frustrating day I've had all week. It was also the only day I didn't have the car (i.e. bring Matt to/from work and run errands). Coincidence? Maybe... Every day previous, I was staring at the clock willing it to be time to go pick Matt up by 3 o'clock, and today hearing the garage door open when he got home took me by surprise. Kit napped on the couch for a good chunk of the morning, which definitely helped: Little Bear and I made chocolate zucchini bread and muffins, as well as a loaf of sandwich bread, while she slept. We dusted and vacuumed, paid bills, wiped down the bathroom, cut both kids' nails, packed up an Amazon return, spent time with Little Bear doing school, and made lists of errands to run and groceries to pick up tomorrow.
It seems like, from the super limited evidence of this one day that went well, so don't hold me to this, but it seems like my being both mentally prepared to do a lot of things today and being physically able to start working on my list right away made the difference. I am so much less stressed tonight than I have been, and part of that is certainly that it's the weekend and Matt will be home to help with kids, but it's also the having a clean house and knowing that I got a slew of things knocked off my list.
VI
Anyone have experience using Amazon Subscribe & Save? What kind of things do you use it for? Is it worth it? I've heard of people using it for diapers, and now that we have two kids in diapers, if it actually is a good deal I want to start using it, but you have to order at least five things to get the discount, right? Help me out here. :-)
VII
Because I can't think of anything else, another question: what are some good books or quiet religious toys that would be good for helping toddlers through preschoolers be still and quiet during Mass, ideally helping older ones to pay attention or follow along? A friend and I are looking into the possibility of making bags of quiet things for our parish that would be available for families with little ones to borrow during Mass, and I'd love more ideas of what we could include in them.
Bedtime for Mama and Kit... Have a good weekend! You can find more quick takes at This Ain't The Lyceum.
We bought Peter some saint finger puppets that he loves. We also got the Busy Bible. Little bear would he a great age for it. You can make your own or buy one.
ReplyDeleteOh, I think we have some of those finger puppets! I'd forgotten about them; thanks! Where did you find them? I think ours came from etsy, but I can't remember the shop name.
DeleteJoey's sister uses amazon subscribe and save for diapers. She had two in diapers or a while but now only one. I think she still uses it, so I'd guess it's a good deal. Not sure what else she might use it for. I have one other friend who uses it all the time for dog food, cat food, and random other stuff. She swears by it!
ReplyDeleteLooking into it last night, it seems like diapers are a particularly good deal; if you have Amazon Prime and Amazon Mom (free with Prime), diapers and wipes are 20% off through Subscribe & Save!
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