Best Friends…For the Moment

From the beginning, Blake has been an amazing big brother. I haven’t had to deal with any jealousy issues or hurt feelings of neglect (which I feared when I was pregnant with Isabella) and it has been a lot easier than I had anticipated. Blake watches out for Isabella, brings her the pacifier or toys and understands when I have to take care of her or put her to bed. I am not saying all this in efforts to brag about what a good boy I have (even though I do think he is pretty fantastic 🙂 ) but I say it because I am truly amazed at the sibling bond that has already clearly formed. My heart actually flutters with joy when I watch them make each other laugh or when I hear Blake whisper “I love you sister, I hope you have good dreams,” when he thinks no one is listening. I didn’t know a connection would be made so early on!

I think this bond hits closer to home because I have that bond with my two older brothers, especially the one that is only two years older than I am. We were close as kids and even closer as teenagers, sharing the same group of friends and now we remain close as ever. I want nothing more than for my kids to be close. I know most parents do, but getting a glimpse of their relationship now gives me great hope for the future :). I love the bond I share with my brother! We understand each other and are wonderful friends.

Now, I know all this sweet stuff is going to go sour for a while, I see it coming already. I keep telling everyone that Blake loves his sister now but wait until she starts crawling and steals his toys; I don’t think he is going to take that very well haha! I know from experience that there will be good times and bad times when it comes to siblings, but if deep down my kids have that connection (which is what I think I am seeing), they will get through those times as friends and not enemies.

As for now, I will enjoy agreeing with Blake that “Mommy, Daddy, Blake and Isabella are all, best friends!”

–          Carissa

Beautiful helmets for beautiful babies

I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted. My life with three babies has been a whirlwind to say the least. I wanted to put up the contact info of an AMAZING artist who paints helmets for our plagio or brachy babies:

lazardo’s Photos

http://www.lazardo.smugmug.com/

I used this company for GG’s helmet and his was amazing. The helmet had the Dinosaur Train theme.

We had so much fun with him in the helmet. It made a clinical, depressing time fun and happy for our whole family.

This time, I had Paula, the painter, do a personalized work of art for Kenady. She put each of our family’s birth signs and also painted Sophie the Giraffe and Koi for good luck (which Kenady is) on the helmet. My dream that I had of my KK a year before she was even conceived is now painted out. So seriously if anyone has to helmet….GET PAULA!

–       Kerry

Big boy undies, accidents & rewards, welcome to potty training!

Working and being a mom is challenging, but I thought this part of parenting was going to be more much trying, which is why I put it off for so long. What I learned is that you can’t rush this one! After Blake took his first steps all a heard for about a year was “when are you going to cut the bottle,” or “when is he going to stop using a pacifier,” and last but not least, “when are you going to potty train?”

Well, I got the first two done pretty quickly but I could not even wrap my brain around the potty training, just the thought if it exhausted me and grossed me out! Once I got pregnant, I let the months go by and then got recommendations from my daycare people to hold off on the potty training until the new baby came. Too much change would be too much for Blake and he would end up digressing and all that work would be for nothing. What a wonderful idea, I didn’t want to do it anyway—haha!

The week before I got induced one of Blake’s teachers told me that he was showing signs that he was ready and to start packing underwear for him if we wanted to start training. Again I thought I’d wait. I am really glad I waited until he was ready and showing signs at school because it made this transition so much easier! Like I said in my previous post, the night we came home from the hospital he was ready to try going in his potty at home and went successfully. From that moment, there was no turning back and, with my mom’s help and encouragement, he was never in diapers again (except at night). He stayed home with us my first week back with Isabella and everyday my mom was taking care of me and the Isa, AND training B to use the potty (I know, she’s super woman right?).

There were, of course, many accidents but we always let him know it was okay and that we would just keep trying. We asked him if he needed to use the potty every 30 minutes or so until we knew his routine better. Every time he successfully went in the potty it was a party with lots of praise and high-fives. On the weekends we would also go shopping for a new car or small toy and made sure he knew exactly why he was being rewarded. He loved it!

It’s been about five months and he is pretty much fully potty trained (yes, it takes time). He has an accident every once in a while, but that’s okay. He is no longer in diapers at night unless he doesn’t go to the bathroom before bed or happens to go to bed unusually early. This transition takes a lot of patience but it’s not as bad as it seems, once you are in it you’re in it and there is no turning back so just embrace it :).

– Carissa

No excuses!

I am so embarrassed that it has taken this long to say hello and to fill you in about my new life with two beautiful kids, but I will get back on track, no excuses!

I’ll start off by backtracking just a tad to let you know how everything went with delivery, nursing, potty training and the rest of the madness (this may take a few posts 🙂 ).

I am not sure if you all knew but my hope for this delivery was to have a successful VBAC. I so wanted to experience labor the way my mom had always described and the way that you always see in the movies, I felt cheated out of the “experience” when my first birth ended in a C-section and I never even got to push. I thought this time was going to give me that experience but unfortunately time was not on my side and it just wasn’t in my cards to have a natural child birth experience.

Baby Isabella!

My husband was leaving for Shanghai on March 11, but on March 4 (my 39^th week doctor visit) there was still no sign of a baby coming. I chose to induce on March 6 because I simply could not bear the thought of my husband not being there to see the birth and I didn’t want to miss out on at least a day to bond together as a family.

I went to the hospital that morning and 12 hours later I had a beautiful baby girl via C-section, no regrets on the delivery method. She came out healthy and I did as well and that’s what is most important.

I was in heaven with my new baby GIRL…but our first night home with the two kids was a bit overwhelming. I am not going to lie, we just didn’t know what to do.

That first day Blake came home from school and out of nowhere wanted to use the potty.  I knew that we would finally have to start that adventure and that Blake was already fighting for our attention. I couldn’t move and I had two kids crying for me and I had to deal with watching my husband pack – can you say overload!!

Blake wears "big boy undies" now as he's learning to potty-train!

When we said good bye the following day and he walked out the door I cried like a teenager who had just been dumped, it was so intense (those hormones are no joke!). He promised the week would fly by but I knew it wouldn’t.

Lucky for me and the kids, I have a fantastic mom who came and stayed with us the entire time. As stressed as I felt, I knew that we would be okay. I’m happy to be back at work and looking forward to bringing you more updates about working and being a mom of two!

– Carissa

“Cutest Belly in Socal” contest for moms-to-be

We’re excited that Xan Confections is participating in the search for the “Cutest Belly in SoCal” – an online Facebook contest for moms who want to show off their baby bumps and win fun prizes! We’re no longer pregnant, but would jump right on the chance to win a grand prize, first place or second place gift basket including items such as a one month supply of our CocoPreggers truffles from the new CocoXan line, containing vegetarian life’sDHA and folic acid, important nutrients needed for happy mommies to create healthy babies!

For contest rules and additional information, please visit the Facebook page here.

Don’t forget to “like” Xan Confections or CocoXan on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @XanConfections and @CocoXan!

I Can’t Believe I am a Mother of Three!

Sorry it’s been so long everyone! Let’s see….the end of my pregnancy was pretty uncomfortable; back aches, swollen feet/cankles and major hoohah bone pain!! But on February 25, 2011, I gave birth via C-section to the most beautiful baby girl in this world, Kenady Renee Anthony. My recovery was very easy and I was home within three days, and now post-four weeks I am totally healed and enjoying my baby. Yes she is gassy, we have too many outfits, but she is super little and wonderful!

I did elect to have the tubal and now with 3 under 3 and the craziness that brings, I am really grateful for my decision! More power to you mothers of more than three, but even three is pushing the levels of sanity for me :). My days are filled with singing the Black Eyed Peas to her, changing 20 diapers a day, watching a lot of reality TV (LOVING Celebrity Apprentice this season) and cycling her legs through her gas attacks. I have been back to work a few days a week since but am really trying to use my time to take care of Kenady and myself.

I still worry about SIDS, choking, her getting sick from the boys and her head; after having a boy with flathead I check her head every day! So far so good, but she has a lot of grooves that freak me out haha! It doesn’t matter if it’s your 1^st, 3^rd or 7^th…you still worry.

Not that my breasts are anyone’s business BUT I am pumping full-time and it’s working out well for us. I have surpassed my longest with GG of 4 weeks and am going strong towards my 6 weeks goal and I will probably just continue even after that, as long as everything is still going smoothly. My GG and I passed a yeast infection from day 1 for 4 weeks to one another and that was brutal so I am very grateful no cracking, bleeding or discomfort for either of us. She has gained 3 pounds since birth so whatever we are doing is working!

So, I will be back to writing my toddler and baby challenges full-time in a few weeks. Thank you for all the love!

New Babies!

We’re excited to announce that Kerry and Carissa are both proud mothers of beautiful baby girls! We will be taking a short hiatus from the blog as we adjust to being new moms again, but will periodically be posting nutrition tips and tricks for eating right and staying healthy.

We’ll be back soon with stories, photos and more information on our girls!

The Home Stretch

Kerry and I are only weeks away from meeting our little girls and we absolutely can’t wait!! Lucky for us we are busy at work so it keeps us busy and helps the time pass a bit quicker 🙂

-Carissa

Did I mention we were busy…

My apologies to our readers for our absence since the holidays!! I don’t think either of us ever mentioned that this is our busiest time of the year!

I have been swamped at work but it has been “good” swamped, so much is going on. We just released our new 2011 Susan’s Healthy Gourmet menu and we couldn’t be more excited. As the nutritionist, I get to play a big role in the planning and development of the new menu. This is always my favorite time because it’s when I can be the most creative in my job. We have been working all year with our chefs to create new healthy and delicious entrees and we are always proud when one makes it on to the new menu for our customers to enjoy.

There have also been many changes in our sister company LifeSpring Nutrition, which provides healthy frozen meals for boomers plus. I just started managing the customer service staff and I have had to focus a lot of time on training. They too just released a new 2011 menu and it offers so many new healthy dishes that blow your typical frozen meal out of the water.  🙂

But not only have I been busy at work, I have been busy at home too! I am entering my 34th week of pregnancy and man am I feeling it! I am much bigger and all I can think about is my baby girl arriving early, haha! I have been busy nesting and getting her room ready as well as doing lots of shopping. Blake is still in his terrible twos and he somehow managed to start sleeping in our bed full-time.

Although, I am right in the thick of things I will try my very best to keep you updated and keep on blogging, it’s always a nice break from the madness!

-Carissa

Busybee Dinners

The second Jax could start eating solids I seriously started to stress. I am just not one of those moms who grows her own vegetables and makes organic, from scratch meals. Actually, I am not even one of those women who makes meals. While other moms are sharing recipes, I am thinking about how we can make better use of the 5-7 p.m. time we have with our kids (this week we went to the park when it was all dark outside and to the Counter for burgers).

Lucky for me, I work for and am part owner of a fresh food delivery service that has kids’ meals, Susan’s Healthy Gourmet. I kid you not and I am not just saying this because it’s my family company, I do not know what I would do without our twice weekly deliveries.

One time, and let me tell you this only happened once, I forgot to order our meals for Jax. Now like a good mother, I had bought some “back up” meals at the store just in case something like this happened. Up to this point Jax had been used to fresh fruit, bright green veggies and fresh meats. We rarely feed our kids junk food or high in sodium or sugary things. So I go to feed him this off-the-shelf dinner (I don’t want to say the brand because I don’t want to be rude BUT it was a well known brand and I am sure if you went to the baby section and saw shelf-ready meals you could figure it out) and as I open it, smell it and look at it, I say to him, “Jax I am really sorry honey.” (The peas were yellow. Ew.)

So, I deliver the meal to my child in his highchair. He looks at the food. I turn around to go back into the kitchen. I hear a “Plop. Plop. Bloop.” I turn back around and he has dumped his entire meal on the floor and then sees me and drops the plate too. Needless to say my husband and I have not since forgotten to order our Susan’s Healthy Kids meals. A usual order for us is: fresh fruit bowls, ravioli with peas and apples, turkey noodle bake with butternut squash and snow peas, meatloaf with potatoes and broccoli and pizza with celery, carrots and applesauce.

– Kerry