Merry Christmas! We had a good snowstorm last night so we have all fresh new snow for Christmas. Zander and Zoe played outside and brought a bunch of it in with them. Vienna has a runny nose so she had to stay in. She has a hard time breathing in cold air anyway.
John had to work today but we're hoping he gets home in time to go to church tonight. Someone is making incredible soups including oyster stew. Oyster stew is a once a year kind of thing but it's so tasty.
Tomorrow, we're having the big family Christmas. My parents are coming down, my sister's family is coming over. We're having sloppy joes for lunch and Chinese takeout for dinner. And we're making crab rangoons. Oh, it'll be a good eating day. I made some of those tasty peanut butter with hershey kiss cookies the other day. I'm amazed there are any left. I'm thinking about making more chocolate dipped ritz crackers with peanut butter. Those are my favorite!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Vienna's hair
Vienna is getting some hair! I have been slowly buying hair products over the months, saying to myself, "This is for Vienna. When she gets some hair....." It's not very thick hair but it's growing longer. I can put some tiny snaps in it. Barrettes still slip out. The other day, I had 4 little pony tails in the top. It was very cute.
I'm almost afraid to try to start braiding. I need to find an expert! Or maybe I can borrow an older child to practice on. It's not really the kind of thing that I'm brave enough to approach a stranger about. You know, borrowing their kid.
I have been brave enough to approach a few women and ask them what they use in their hair or their kids' hair. They all take pity on the poor white girl and spill all their beauty secrets! I love them for it! A woman even offered to go to a store in a different neighborhood to buy something for me. She works at Costco. I told her that I wasn't intimidated by going anywhere and I thanked her for the information. I went to the store and I felt like I needed at least 3 hours there so I could read all the labels! I did find the jar of stuff she was talking about and I bought it.
Some of the information I get about hair and skin is from two different yahoo groups I read. Some of those moms have gone off their rockers with the products they recommend. I have a hard time paying $30 for shampoo for a baby who barely has any hair! I met a woman in an elevator and asked her how her baby's hair looked so nice. She told me it was from Vaseline. I mentioned it to someone on the list and I nearly had my cyber head bitten off for suggesting it. I think that there's got to be some middle ground somewhere. I want my daughter to look nice but I don't think it needs to cost a fortune.
My white daughter has long blonde hair. I trim it, brush it and wash her hair with the cheapest shampoo on the shelf. And it looks great! I don't spend a lot of time braiding it or putting it up in bows. My black daughter is not even a year old yet and I've probably spent about $100 or more on shampoos and lotions and hair stuff. (Don't tell John that).
Is black hair destined to be expensive hair? I completely think that her self esteem as a black woman is worth every penny I need to spend to make her feel good about herself. But what do I really NEED to spend? That's the real question. I absolutely believe that her skin and hair need special care and I spend a lot of time putting lotion on her skin and rubbing oil on her head. I believe I'm doing my best for her and I hope that's good enough for everyone else, too.
I'm almost afraid to try to start braiding. I need to find an expert! Or maybe I can borrow an older child to practice on. It's not really the kind of thing that I'm brave enough to approach a stranger about. You know, borrowing their kid.
I have been brave enough to approach a few women and ask them what they use in their hair or their kids' hair. They all take pity on the poor white girl and spill all their beauty secrets! I love them for it! A woman even offered to go to a store in a different neighborhood to buy something for me. She works at Costco. I told her that I wasn't intimidated by going anywhere and I thanked her for the information. I went to the store and I felt like I needed at least 3 hours there so I could read all the labels! I did find the jar of stuff she was talking about and I bought it.
Some of the information I get about hair and skin is from two different yahoo groups I read. Some of those moms have gone off their rockers with the products they recommend. I have a hard time paying $30 for shampoo for a baby who barely has any hair! I met a woman in an elevator and asked her how her baby's hair looked so nice. She told me it was from Vaseline. I mentioned it to someone on the list and I nearly had my cyber head bitten off for suggesting it. I think that there's got to be some middle ground somewhere. I want my daughter to look nice but I don't think it needs to cost a fortune.
My white daughter has long blonde hair. I trim it, brush it and wash her hair with the cheapest shampoo on the shelf. And it looks great! I don't spend a lot of time braiding it or putting it up in bows. My black daughter is not even a year old yet and I've probably spent about $100 or more on shampoos and lotions and hair stuff. (Don't tell John that).
Is black hair destined to be expensive hair? I completely think that her self esteem as a black woman is worth every penny I need to spend to make her feel good about herself. But what do I really NEED to spend? That's the real question. I absolutely believe that her skin and hair need special care and I spend a lot of time putting lotion on her skin and rubbing oil on her head. I believe I'm doing my best for her and I hope that's good enough for everyone else, too.
Time for One More
In a few days or weeks, I'm going to call our adoption agency to see about renewing our home study. We're getting our stuff in order and hoping that we'll be chosen for a baby much sooner than it took to bring Vienna home.
John is turning the big 4 - 0 this year and his biological clock is ticking. He doesn't want to be mistaken for his child's grandfather. I'm sure that would be very traumatic for him. It seems that people of all different ages are having kids so it's not really something I worry about. Oh, but I'm 6 1/2 years younger so I just don't think about those things!
Now that we're getting some sleep, we can start looking at how having another baby around is going to affect our lives. I visited a friend who had a tiny baby and Vienna wasn't too sure about seeing me hold another baby.
We're hoping to get into the profile pool after February.
John is turning the big 4 - 0 this year and his biological clock is ticking. He doesn't want to be mistaken for his child's grandfather. I'm sure that would be very traumatic for him. It seems that people of all different ages are having kids so it's not really something I worry about. Oh, but I'm 6 1/2 years younger so I just don't think about those things!
Now that we're getting some sleep, we can start looking at how having another baby around is going to affect our lives. I visited a friend who had a tiny baby and Vienna wasn't too sure about seeing me hold another baby.
We're hoping to get into the profile pool after February.
Sleeping Through The Night!!
After many moons of waking up a billion times each night, I got desparate and got on the library's website. I searched for "baby" and "sleep." I reserved a book called The Sleepeasy Solution. I believe it was written by geniuses! Baby sleep geniuses!
We started last Tuesday. Zander and Zoe didn't have school so our schedule was completely off. Vienna didn't have a nap at all. The book said to put the baby to sleep no later than 8:30. She was tired a little before 8 so I took her to her room, put her pajamas on, read Good Night Gorilla a few times. She loves that book. I finally put her in her crib. She cried for less than 15 minutes and then slept. All night! I got her up after 11 1/2 hours of sleep.
For naps, the book said Vienna still needs two naps and the first one should be about 3 hours after she wakes up. I put her down for a nap around 10 and she went right to sleep! What? I know! I started to think that maybe it was just beginners luck. But it has worked every time.
I, for one, am having the best week ever. Happy happy baby, happy happy family. What we were doing wrong was putting her to bed too late and bringing her to our bed every time she cried. I am a person who requires a lot of sleep and when I wasn't getting enough sleep, it was just hard to function.
Yesterday, we all went to the grocery store and the library. Her nap time was scheduled for 2:00. We were driving home as fast as we could. Zoe was trying to keep her awake so she didn't fall asleep in the car. John raced up the steps with her and did her nap routine and she slept blissfully for about two hours.
We started last Tuesday. Zander and Zoe didn't have school so our schedule was completely off. Vienna didn't have a nap at all. The book said to put the baby to sleep no later than 8:30. She was tired a little before 8 so I took her to her room, put her pajamas on, read Good Night Gorilla a few times. She loves that book. I finally put her in her crib. She cried for less than 15 minutes and then slept. All night! I got her up after 11 1/2 hours of sleep.
For naps, the book said Vienna still needs two naps and the first one should be about 3 hours after she wakes up. I put her down for a nap around 10 and she went right to sleep! What? I know! I started to think that maybe it was just beginners luck. But it has worked every time.
I, for one, am having the best week ever. Happy happy baby, happy happy family. What we were doing wrong was putting her to bed too late and bringing her to our bed every time she cried. I am a person who requires a lot of sleep and when I wasn't getting enough sleep, it was just hard to function.
Yesterday, we all went to the grocery store and the library. Her nap time was scheduled for 2:00. We were driving home as fast as we could. Zoe was trying to keep her awake so she didn't fall asleep in the car. John raced up the steps with her and did her nap routine and she slept blissfully for about two hours.
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