Those Crazy Germans

http://www.divshare.com/image/1221376-efc

A childrens book that I'll not be buying. I've been told the text is pretty funny too, maybe Emmet can translate?

Baby Blogging

Hello everyone!

Things are up and down here. We seem to have the screaming baby stuff a little more under control thanks to swaddling and bum smacking. Yesterday Frances was up for several hours in the morning and again in the afternoon, and she didn't cry at all, yay! Of course she was also up every 2 hours like clockwork through the night, boo. Today she rolled over from her back to her belly. It's awfully early for that sort of thing, so I think it was just a fluke, maybe the couch cushion she was on was slanted somewhat. I'll believe it when it happens again.

Anyways, here are some pictures of our summer:


Grandma and Grandpa put Mary to work in the back yard.



Cooling off in the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's place.



Look! Her eyes are open and she's not screaming!



It's hard work being kids.



We got Mary this doll shortly after Frances was born, and she loves it. The other day she accidentally pulled off one of the dolls arms, and let me tell you, it was pretty tragic around here for quite a while.



Me feeding Frances, I didn't even realize this picture was taken.



Again at Grandma and Grandpa's place, I think those are Grandpa's shoes.

Date Night

Saturday night Ian and I got out all by ourselves. No children at all! From 2 in the afternoon till around 9 that night we were childless and happy. We went to a movie, The Transformers (awesome!) and then we spent far too much money for our supper at the Keg. It was a fantastic evening. Mary spent the night at Dad's place, and we took Frances home. It was an okay night, she woke us up twice, but went right back to sleep after being fed. Then Sunday morning we went to church and met up with my dad and Mary. Church was nice too, I've known most of the people there since I was Marys age, so we hardly saw either of the girls for the entire service.

Dealing with Frances has been challenging, but we are doing all right. I've found a few things that seem to work to calm her down when she's being really miserable. It's still hard, but thankfully she saves the most awful times for when we are awake anyways. Swaddling is an amazing thing, when Frances gets really bad I just wrap her up as tight as I can, and it's like I pushed an "off" button. The screaming stops, and within 15 minutes usually she's asleep. My only problem with swaddling her is that it is SO stinking hot here that I feel bad for her. She doesn't seem to mind though, so I guess I'll just stop worrying.

Shaking Babies

I take it back. If I ever said that Frances was a good baby, an easy baby, I was wrong. So deeply, horribly wrong. Frances screams. Constantly, loudly, miserably, no matter what I do. She screams and screams and screams. I can't eat, I can't play with Mary, I can't go out, because by baby screams inconsolably. She eats a tonne, and then eats more, and then eats. Sometimes she will act like she is starving, but when I try to feed her she sputters and screams and chokes. Her soother calms her down sometimes, but she spits it out and then gets filled with rage. I feel like duct taping it onto her face. I feel like doing a whole lot of things that I shouldn't, like shaking her till she shuts up (I won't, you don't need to worry, when I start feeling out of control I just go to another room).

You may be saying, "Jennifer, if she screams all the time, how is it that you are able to blog?" Well, I'll tell you. Frances has been screaming since 9 this morning, it's just about noon now. She finally fell asleep about 5 minutes ago. She drank 9 oz of breast milk, spit up about 4 of those ounces, screamed while I rocked her, screamed around her soother, screamed in her swing, screamed while I finally fed Mary her breakfast, screamed while I finally ate my breakfast, screamed while I took a quick shower, screamed while I cried, screamed while I changed her diaper, screamed in her bassinet, screamed in her swing, screamed in her bouncy chair....It was much the same last night from 6 till about 11. She screamed no matter what we did. Once she fell asleep, she slept for 6 hours, but oh my god, did we pay for those uninterrupted hours of sleep and the only way to get her to sleep was to bring her to bed with us.

It's frustrating for me when Ian comes home too. I deal with the screaming misery for 11 hours while he is at work, and I manage to keep my temper most of the time. Ian comes home, and within an hour of the screaming he's furious and throwing things and swearing. I know it's hard to deal with, good Christ I know it's hard, but it'd be nice to be able to get a break for an hour or two without worrying about him too.

I feel the worst for Mary. She is such a sweet girl, and so patient. All of a sudden I can't give her the love and attention she's used too, and she deals with it so well. She has the occasional moment of tears, but she's mostly happy and sweet, and she loves Frances. She gets upset when the baby cries, and is always giving her hugs and kisses. I feel bad that she's trapped in this apartment with Frances and me, but I can't take them out by myself. Frances screams and I'm unwilling to subject the general public to that horrible noise while Mary is charging around like an uncaged monkey. I just can't control Mary and deal with Frances at the same time. I feel bad for Frances too. I really can't stand her most of the time, and I hope that will change some time. I hate feeling this way about my baby, it feels so wrong. I should love her unconditionally, right? But all I want to do is get away from her, to get a break, to give her back, to take back that moment 10 months ago that I got pregnant. I want things to go back to the way they used to be, when it was just the three of us, and we were happy.

And with that, sleeping time ends, and the screaming begins.

One Month

Can you believe it? It's been a whole month since Frances was born. It seems like yesterday, and it seems like she's been part of our family forever. It's amazing how much she's changed in the last month. She's gained over 2 pounds, she's much longer and bigger. She spends more time awake than she did when she first came home too. I don't mind it during the day, and when she isn't yelling at me, but she seems to have a scheduled alert time at around 4 am every day. Ugh. She is still a remarkably good baby, even though she does have her moments. She only wakes once or twice during the night, she's relatively cheerful and easy to look after. She had a hard time over the weekend when the weather was so ridiculously hot, but 38 degree heat will make even the best of us miserable. I know that people say that you shouldn't wish for your children to grow up because they do it so quickly, but I really can't wait till she is a bit older. I really quite dislike the newborn phase of life, and I'm looking forward to when Frances is a bit more interactive and fun to be around.

The mortgage issue finally resolved, and in our favour. We have a mortgage, although the intrest rate is absolutely ridiculous. We'll keep with this company for a few years, and eventually our credit will be better and Ian will be getting paid a bit more, and we can shop around again. I can't wait to get into our home, less than a month left till we get the keys! The month of August will be spend moving and fixing things up so that everything is close to perfect when we move in. Have I mentioned that I'm giddy with excitement about getting our house?

Mary is doing well. She really is a fantastic little creature, in spite of the occasional (regular) temper tantrums. She loves Frances deeply, and gets very concerned about her. She likes to help us burp her now, she pats the babys back very gently and shouts "I did it!" if Frances burps. She gives her kisses every night when she goes to bed, and loves to give her hugs. The only time she's really shown that she'd rather not have Frances around is when we leave my Dads place. She always says "Bye Grandpa, bye Grandma, bye Baby Frances!" but she never seems disappointed when Frances comes home with us instead of staying behind.

Happy Dominion Day

In Days of yore,
From Britain's shore
Wolfe the dauntless hero came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.
Here may it wave,
Our boast, our pride
And joined in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwined,
The Maple Leaf Forever.

The Maple Leaf
Our Emblem Dear,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
God save our Queen and heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf Forever.

At Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane
Our brave fathers side by side
For freedom's home and loved ones dear,
Firmly stood and nobly died.
And so their rights which they maintained,
We swear to yeild them never.
Our watchword ever more shall be
The Maple Leaf Forever

The Maple Leaf
Our Emblem Dear,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
God save our Queen and heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf Forever.

Our fair Dominion now extends
From Cape Race to Nootka Sound
May peace forever be our lot
And plenty a store abound
And may those ties of love be ours
Which discord cannot sever
And flourish green for freedom's home
The Maple Leaf Forever

I've always thought that the Maple Leaf Forever was a much more stirring and patriotic song than Oh Canada which is kind of a sissy song if you ask me.

I keep thinking about what a wonderful country we live in, and what a beautiful and diverse country. I'm awfully proud to live here, and I count myself lucky that I have seen so much of this country. I've walked in the rain forest at Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I've touched a glacier in the rockies, I've been to the deserts around Osoyoos in the Okanogan valley. I've visited a town called Kyuquot that has no roads in or out, the residents all own boats instead of cars. And that's only one province! I have visited the flat prairie of southern Saskatchewan, and I've seen the beauty of northern Saskatchewan's lakes and forests. I've seen the red sands of PEI, and I've driven through the never ending rocks, trees and water of north western Ontario. One day I hope that I can visit the Territories and Newfoundland, I'd love to see ever bit of this country.

Anyways, in other news, things are going poorly here. We still haven't heard anything about a mortgage. We have a mortgage broker looking into some solutions for us, but we won't hear from him till Tuesday because of the long weekend. Our conditions on the sale of the house have to be removed by Wednesday, so things are pretty tight. If we can't get a mortgage, we are all going to be very unhappy people.

On top of the stress of the house stuff, I've managed to pick up a raging case of mastitis. Not pleasant. I've been feverish and achy, and my boob feels like someone has been using it as a punching bag. I finally gave in and went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me heck for not going in sooner. He mentioned that women used to die, die of mastitis. So now I am on heavy duty antibiotics, and I still feel icky. I was going to go to the park today with Ian and the girls, but I'm not sure I'm feeling quite up to the heat and the crowds.

Well, I'll end this post of with more lyrics of another song about how great Canada is. Hope everyone has a good long weekend!

I hate Newfoundland 'cause they talk so weird
And Prince Edward Island is too small
Nova Scotia's dumb 'cause its the name of a bank
New Brunswick doesn't have a good mall
Quebec is revolting and it makes me mad
Ontario sucks, Ontario sucks,

"Manitoba's population density is 1.9 people per square kilometer. Now isn't that stupid!?"

Saskatchewan is boring and the people are old
And as for the territories, they're too cold!

And the only really good thing about the province of British Columbia is that its right next to us!"

'Cause Alberta doesn't suck
But Calgary does