All Things Supercinski

Time seems to be flying with Little Man. He has grown so much this past month. He weighs 16.5 pounds and he has outgrown all his 3-6 month size sleepers and most of his shirts.

Speedy is a very busy baby. His little legs are almost always kicking while he is being held. They kick faster when he sees something he likes, like his big brother. He is very proficient at rolling from his back to his tummy. He can roll from his tummy to back, but why would he need to do that? He loves being on his tummy, kicking his legs and pushing up on his arms. He scoots backward across the floor while playing on his tummy and can turn around in a circle, reaching for toys. He desperately wants to move around, but all in good time. He likes being in the exersaucer, but any other baby containment device elicits fussing within minutes.

Speedy was sleeping fairly well, but has been waking up a lot more at night. I’m not sure what is going on. There were a few nights of excessive (like every hour or hour and half) night wakings, but he is going a little longer these days. At the beginning of the month, his naps lasted 45 minutes, max. Now, he is napping anywhere from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours. He stays awake for 1.5-2 hours before needing to go back to sleep. Our days have a bit more flow with the longer naps.

His hands are working more purposefully, grabbing whatever is in sight with razor sharp nails (no matter how often I clip them!). He grabs burp cloths, faces, shirts, hair, toys, cups, his own feet, etc. with abandon. He laughs very easily and often, little giggles to great big belly laughs. He will laugh while being tickled, tossed around the air, while big brother makes a face at him (he laughed this way the whole way through HEB last week, all Bud had to do was raise his eyebrows and Speedy was busting a gut laughing), if Sugar does a dance for him, he laughs and laughs. He has been laughing since he was two months old, but then it was mostly in his sleep. He is such a smiley, squealing, giggling cutie! We sure love him.

As I mentioned in the last post, I had been working out regularly before getting pregnant. While working out at my gym, one of my friends/gym-mates was pregnant, and I got to see this amazing athlete work out through her whole pregnancy. (Seriously, I couldn’t keep up with her on sprints and she was 34 weeks pregnant! I know I’m slow, but it was a bit demoralizing.) I was inspired by her speed, strength and that she kept with it all the way through.

Watching her made me start thinking about and researching the benefits of exercise during pregnancy, and it made me resolve not to turn into a lump the day I found out I was pregnant. As I mentioned before, my pregnancy with Sugar was not the healthiest. I walked some during the pregnancy, but that was it, and my walking as more like strolling without getting sweaty, so is that really working out? Even people on the Biggest Loser do more than that! Read more »

This is a continuation on the healthy pregnancy posts I wrote during my last weeks of pregnancy with Speedy.

During my pregnancy with Sugar, I was training to be a Bradley instructor. I followed the Brewer Pregnancy Diet completely, often manipulating it to fit my tastes. For instance, I needed to consume four servings of milk/dairy products a day. Since I didn’t always feel like drinking a glass of milk, how about I bake some chocolate chip cookies to go with that milk? Never mind that I would eat several balls of dough and three chocolate chip cookies later to go with that milk. Craving fettucine alfredo? It works! Dairy, protein, fats and whole wheat pasta (not to mention a whole stick of butter). I would eat whatever I felt like and however much I wanted. I baked cookies, muffins, and bread galore. It was wonderful. I swelled up like a balloon, broke out in a horrible pregnancy rash the last few weeks, and my rear end couldn’t fit into any of my maternity pants by the end of my pregnancy. I carried an extra 20 pounds around for over 6 months after she was born until I began working out gradually and I lost it over the next six months or so. Read more »

I finally got the go-ahead to cut off little man’s mullet. It was surprisingly long when I got it all off!

This is what it looked like before the big chop:

And the remnants:

And a most-recent picture of Mr. Wiggle Worm (taken by Bud.)

I was going through some old posts that I drafted a couple weeks before Speedy was born. They did not get posted since we spent that final week in Austin in the hospital and hotel with Sugar, not resting and waiting for a baby at home and posting on the blog.

I wrote this short series of posts out of the amazement that I had in having such a great pregnancy (and now amazing postpartum period, too). My pregnancy with Bud was fairly typical–nausea and vomiting through the first 15ish weeks, aches and pains, etc. With Sugar, I was sick multiple times a day until at least 16 weeks, had terrible aches and pains, gained a ton of weight that took over a year to lose, got a pregnancy rash, and had postpartum depression for five months after she was born. All this as I was doing everything “right” and training as a childbirth educator. You can imagine that the thought of another pregnancy filled me with terror. Thankfully, the Lord had other plans for me, and led me to some great resources that made this experience completely different from the last.

Aug. 2011 – Since I am a full-term pregnant woman, waiting for her baby, I spend a lot of time thinking about pregnancy and birth. Some of you understand completely. I know that each pregnancy is different, but this pregnancy has been so much better than the last, and I want to share some of the things I have learned the hard way with others. Keep in mind that I am not a medical professional, and nothing I say here should be construed as medical advice. Your particular situation should be discussed with your care provider.

Preparing for Pregnancy
After all of the nausea of profuse vomiting I experienced with Sugar, the idea of another pregnancy filled me with dread and terror. I remember crying just thinking about the dark days of throwing up everything I had worked so hard to consume. My midwife suggested that I try a liver cleanse in preparation for pregnancy, and that caused some bells to ring in my mind. I remembered reading somewhere that hyperemesis can be a result of poor liver function, as well as the pregnancy rash PUPPS (which I had around 38 weeks with Sugar). I figured a liver cleanse couldn’t hurt anything, so I picked one up at HEB that was a two-week, gentle cleanse, and I followed it with several weeks of taking milk thistle extract (which contains silymarin, which has been shown to help improve liver function in those with liver issues.)

After I found out I was pregnant, I stopped taking the milk thistle since its effects in pregnancy are not known. I was pleased that this was my easiest pregnancy as far as nausea and vomiting are concerned, and I only actually threw up food a few times, but still experienced mild sickness upon waking until about 20 weeks, compared to all the way until Sugar was born. Will I do a liver cleanse again someday if/when the Lord leads us to add more children to our family? You bet! There were no side effects other than feeling better during the first trimester, and no pregnancy rash either!

This will be a short series, with a few other topics to come, so stay tuned!

It has been ages since I posted a recipe on this blog, but this one is just too good to not share! As you may have gathered, Thomas and I have been following a mostly primal foods diet, while slowly trying to change the kids’ eating, too. For us, this means that we eat as much meat and veggies that we want, some fruit, nuts and seeds. Since Speedy has reflux, I do not eat any dairy as I have read that it can do a lot to help, though the jury is still out on that one. I attribute eating this way to my controlled weight gain during my last pregnancy and the quick return to normal weight shortly after his birth. (At this point after having Sugar I was 20 pounds over, now I am only 4-5 pounds over.)

Anyway, we have been eating so many more veggies since eating this way, and I try to eat about 2 cups of veggies with each meal (though it only happens at breakfast about half the time). I came up with this recipe after combining two different recipes. It is so good that I will eat it with breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Butternut Squash and Kale Goodness
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and diced
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-6 pieces of bacon, cut into bits (I use kitchen shears)
1 apple, chopped (I don’t bother peeling it)
6 large leaves of kale, cut into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:
Peel, chop into bite-sized cubes and de-seed your butternut squash. I find this to be the easiest if I microwave it for 2 minutes first. Otherwise, I almost cut my hand off or want to throw the squash out the window because peeling it is so difficult. You can either steam or boil your squash cubes until fork tender, but do not let them get mushy, though I have had that happen and it still tastes great.

While the squash is cooking, start the rest of the dish. In a large skillet, begin cooking your bacon pieces over medium high heat. When your bacon starts rendering some of its fat, add your onion and continue cooking, stirring every minute or so until the onion is very soft. Add in your chopped apple. After a few minutes, add in your cooked squash cubes. Stir everything well, and then stir in your kale. Continue stirring for a few minutes until your kale is softened and wilted. Serve immediately.

Sugar has been cracking us up lately. I had to post some of her funny sayings before I rogot (her way of saying forget and forgot).

During Advent, the kids memorized a lot of the Christmas story though Noel Piper’s children’s advent readings each night. One evening, Sugar recited part of it this way, “the emperor manded (commanded) them to go to their own towns (hometowns) to sign up for paying taxis (taxes).”

I overheard her talking to Josiah about who-knows-what at lunch and saying, “that is dis-sick-able and yuckable!”

Thomas took Sugar on a lunch date this week while he was off of work. As they sat down with their food at her restaurant of choice (Rosa’s), he asked her what she would like to talk about. She replied, “It is not polite to talk with our mouths full. We can talk in the car after we eat.” Nice date!

Last year, I did not have a goal set for the number of books to read in 2011. This is because I found out that I was pregnant right before Christmas and had no idea what that would do to my desire or ability to read. I did read 47 books (17 nonfiction and 30 fiction) during a year of a pregnancy and the first four months of having a newborn and three kids. Not too bad! I did not read some of the longer nonfiction books on my list to read, but I am glad I managed to read much considering how tired I was all year.

Best Nonfiction – Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof

Best Memoir – Little Princes by Conor Grenan

Best Mothering – Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic (one of the best books I have ever read. So full of wisdom. Short and to the point. I like it so much that I bought 8 copies to give away this year.)

Best Christian Living – Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow

Best Biography – Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Best Fiction – I don’t think I read anything that I just loved, but I am going to say re-reading the Hunger Games series was my favorite. The first time I read them, I read them so quickly just to see what happened that I missed a lot of details and humor.

Most Hilarious – Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz

My goals for reading in 2012 include: finishing the three half-read books on my night stand (maybe, they have been chores to read all year) and continuing to read and post reviews. I really appreciate book recommendations from others, and I hope some of you have enjoyed some from me, too.

December was a busy month of creating and crafting, enjoying one another and extended family, and celebrating Advent. For some reason (Pinterest), I decided to make many of the gifts I gave for Christmas this year. It was probably a bit much with having a fussy three month old who takes short naps, but it was very satisfying to make so many gifts. The garden took a hit after a big freeze and we lost our green beans just as they were starting to produce. The lettuce, spinach, kale, and broccoli have been very productive, while the cauliflower and brussels sprouts are still going slowly.

(I cannot take credit for the gingerbread house. A friend made those and had invited us to come decorate them, however, Sugar ran a fever the day before so we had to stay home. She let us take them home along with some candy and decorate. The kids had a blast! Thank you again, Friend!) We wrapped up our first half of the year of homeschooling. Bud is halfway through with our first grade math curriculum and reading much faster these days. His favorite book right now is, “Are You My Mother?” which he laughs out loud reading. Sugar is working on learning her letters, and I will post about some of our fun activities soon.

December marked the first ever Bryan-College Station marathon. While neither of us were up to running this year, we wanted to do our part to support it, so we made some signs and loaded the kids up in the freezing morning to go out and cheer on some runners. Our signs said, “Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much butt” and “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon.” It was fun, but cold, so we only lasted a short while. This is how Speedy and I looked in the baby wearing poncho–floating baby head!

We spent a long weekend celebrating Christmas at my mom’s house with my siblings and their families, along with my grandparents in from Arizona. It was a special treat to get to see them, and I am so glad they got to spend time with my kids. Thomas and I organized some “Minute to Win It” Christmas games that I saw on Pinterest. It was fun and I think I will make us all do it again next year. Here is my baby brother holding my baby:

I sold our elliptical machine this month and used the money I made to buy some other exercise equipment for working out in the garage. Getting back to the gym seems a long way off with night wakings and nursing, so I am starting to do some stuff on my own. My dad welded me my own box for Christmas and gave me a bunch of weight plates to help me get started. It has been fun so far.

Advent was a good season of reflection for me personally as I was confronted with a lot of grief and sorrow around me as two friends lost children this month. At first, I felt terrible going about the fun preparations for Christmas while I knew these dear women were grieving deeply. In reflecting on Jesus coming as a baby, being God With Us, I could taste even greater what that meant through these sad times. It was a sweet time of rejoicing in His coming and though we have grief and suffering now, we have hope because He came and conquered death. I love the words to one of my favorite Andrew Peterson songs, “the man of all sorrows/never forgot/what sorrow is carried/by the hearts that he bought…”

We wrapped up the month with our yearly decluttering and reorganizing of cabinets, closets, and such. It has been a nice, relaxing end to a busy season.

Speedy seems to be a much happier baby this month. He still has lots of reflux symptoms (spitting up a ton, choking if on his back within 30 minutes of a feeding, coughing and choking if he hasn’t had his medicine in a while), but he is much happier. He weighs 15.5 pounds and wears 3-6 month clothes.

This month brought a lot of changes for little man. He started rolling over from his back to tummy during the middle of the month and he is very fast with it now. He has rolled over from tummy to back just a handful of times. While on his tummy, he “airplanes” with his chest and legs of the ground while kicking his feet as fast as he can. He gets really frustrated by his lack of mobility. He has a white spot under his lower gums, but it has not broken through. I keep thinking it will any day, but it still eludes us.

Sleep with Little Man became quite difficult this month. I had blamed most of his awful sleep issues on reflux, which I think was legitimate, but he had become so dependent on nursing to fall asleep, that combined with reflux and my oversupply issue, he was not sleeping well at all. He was having trouble staying asleep. After several nights of his night wakings that were normally 15 minute nursing sessions followed by 15 minutes being held upright asleep on my chest turning into hour or longer bouncing in the sling sessions (every hour and a half!), I was about to lose my mind. I read some of the sleep book, and we moved Speedy out of our room and our bed to the crib in the nursery, stopped swaddling (since he was rolling to his tummy in his swaddle), along with being more rigid about not letting him get overtired, he has started sleeping much better. He still wakes up 1-3 times a night, but those are quick feedings and he is right back to sleep. He takes 3-4 naps a day, and most naps are 45 minutes to one hour long. Occasionally, he will have a nice long, 2+ hour nap. Ideally, he needs to be put down after 1.5 hours of wakefulness, but this can be difficult sometimes. He can also go to sleep without nursing sometimes, which is helpful.

He is working so hard at using his hands to grab toys and other objects. He likes watching his feet and grabbing at toys and putting them in his mouth a bit. He loves his big brother and smiles at him all the time. He laughs really hard at his sister, and is not as afraid of her as he used to be (though he still has every right to be afraid of her!)

We sure love our sweet little baby. If you see him, tell him not to be in such a hurry to be mobile, k?