A rant to the "I know what I'm doing" caregivers

 As a child care provider (please note that means I have changed more diapers and cared for more kids in my working years than I do or will as a mom!!!) I have and would NEVER tell another parent, "I have done this before, I know what I'm doing." Here is why, and it's common sense: Every single parent and family is VERY DIFFERENT.  Allergies are SCARY. Safety is IMPORTANT. It's easier on all involved to keep routines at a norm, including what they eat, do, sleep, dress etc etc the list goes on.

Who wants to throw a child off schedule, risk an allergy or be the one in charge when that thing that "never happened to my kids" happens to the kids you're watching? Routine is probably the number one rule in helping a child earn your trust along with their rightfully over protective parents who work very hard to keep their kids safe and happy.  I know I put a lot of time, stress, and tears into worrying about my kid. I work way too hard to make everything as good as I can for him to have someone blow me off. "I've done this before" puts my kid and my parenting in a category with everyone else and that's simply not okay.

I'm aggrivated for the moms in my mom groups who constantly talk about rules being broken when their kids are in someone else's care. 4 month olds getting solid foods introduced when the parents have not yet done so, hellooooo allergy risk. Sugary foods given to a toddler when Mom doesn't allow that. TV time, arguing the schedule, forward facing in the car too early, not using straps because the child can't role yet (the straps are to prevent suffocation, people!). Yikes!!!

If I put 10 women in a room together who have "done this before" and asked them specific questions as to how they feed, sleep, entertain, and keep their kids safe-absolutely no two women would be the exact same. So really, it's more than rude, it's stupid. Not to mention horrifying for the mother who is about to leave her baby behind.

I try to listen to the parents. They are entrusting you with their most precious bundle on the planet and will probably walk away playing crazy scenarios of "what ifs" in their head as all of us do. Help them rest easy by showing them respect and listen. I listen also to know how to keep that child on a schedule that will help them trust me and so I know what to do when one of the inevitable twists that kids throw at you comes up. I ask myself most often "what would Mom or Dad do" in this situation? I can't very well figure that out if I haven't listened.

I just saw a particularly irritating story on a mom group post and had to vent for her. We've all been there. 

  

Welcome back?

In attempt to keep away from Facebook, I'm going to try blogging more. We both are! We will post pictures here and on our Google Drive folder, which I'm happy to share with our friends and family!

Today is our gender reveal day! Our anatomy scan is in 75 minutes. Lennon is asleep and Jeff is at work while I anxiously wonder if this kid will have their legs crossed or not. I'm finally starting to feel little kicks and movements - 21 weeks this Sunday.

Lennon started taking steps in the last few weeks, and last night really decided it was time! He prefers to stand and walk away from objects as opposed to dropping to the ground and crawling at lightning speed now. (It really is lightning speed, I thought I was just a biased Mommy but multiple women have commented in the last few weeks at his speediness!) He is getting more and more into books this month which is really exciting for us! He always loved them and turning the pages but is now pointing at items and taking one or two books off the shelves (as opposed to every last one) before sitting and flipping pages in a particular book now. He has a silly "woof woof" that really sounds more like panting or grunts that he likes to imitate every time he sees a dog, cat, fish, or bird. We cannot WAIT to take him to the zoo as a family! He is SUPER vocal and although words aren't quite associating with objects to our ears, he has got a lot to say and ask about. It's great. 12-36 months has always been my favorite age as a nanny. They are learning something new by the second and getting into a number of things. As exhausting as that can be, it's very fun!

I've been watching multiple kids at different times and so far I'm loving it! I have one kiddo here "full time" (Tues-Thurs) Penelope, who is one next week. Some of you have heard me talk about Luna, the 1 year old Lennon and I would watch together last semester at her home. Luna is now joining us two times a week! Otherwise I have asked to do drop in care which works really well with my Golden connections. A 2 year old is coming by 2 mornings a week in February and yesterday I tried my hand at a 4 year old visiting. He was SUPER FUN! I miss my preschool kids! He was all about outer space and learning about he sun and solar eclipses, we had a great time going through the World Books Jeff's parents just passed onto Lennon! Lennon seems to love it and doesn't have a hard time sharing Mommy, so relieving. He is quite possessive of his toys at times, but Miss Peepers (our nickname for sweet Penelope) really holds her own! Very fun to watch. My back is killing me this pregnancy and the toddler lifting doesn't help. I'm not a fan of slowing down so I'm going to try a chiropractor and see if that helps; I want to keep this up until 36 weeks at least!

Off to wake that kiddo and pick up Daddy for the big appointment. We are having a little get together to celebrate with friends tonight. I'm so tempted to fill a box with green balloons and confuse everyone :)

Neither Jeff or I have a big feeling this time. We are pretty convinced we will only have boys though.

Our 3rd Ullr Grass! Last year this little man helped direct his first festival! This year he enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Klenske and still got to join the fun for a bit all three days. 

We are letting him co direct it with the organizer's daughter next year. Should be great. 

Half way Ullr Sunday! What a weekend for us all....I'm super shocked my legs and body held up like it did. 9 am to 2 am 2 nights in a row, plus all the hours that went into this festival in the weeks leading up. Wouldn't trade it for the world, we love this fest! 

Ullr Sunday was a gorgeous day! 

The day I fed 4 kids lunch at the same time. Piper didn't know what to do with himself. 

HE OR SHE!?!?!? Mommy needs to stop eating all the chocolate, it better get eaten up at tonight's gender reveal. 

Be nice

I feel the need to write about something that has weighed so heavy and pointlessly on my mind. I apologize for this being the first post back since mid pregnancy, but mommy-hood has changed some things and I feel pretty strongly about this.

I was recently called out by someone implying that I was "unproductive" and ungratefully living off my husband. I can't help but consider this an attack on more than just myself, but on so many parents who stay home to raise their kids. Even though we all know, and most importantly I know, this is far from our family's reality, it really sucked. Really, really sucked. I've let it get to me way more than I should but the truth is it hasn't been easy adjusting to it all. When you're lacking sleep, stressed, struggling with hormones, working day and night and full of guilt, it's easy to let petty people creep up on you.

We are very grateful I'm able to stay home with Lennon and still bring in a solid chunk of change to pad our finances. But to say it's been a huge adjustment is an understatement. I'm plenty hard on myself for not working "more", which is absurd because I work around the clock. Then there are the times I feel down for not getting out of the house and away from work, which keeps me in the house and feeling sorry for myself. In our relationship, I'm not used to bringing in the smaller portion of our income. There's been a lot of guilt to go along with this new lifestyle. I have to add, Jeff has been very supportive of it all. In fact, when I told him about this awful attack, his response was "you are way more productive than I am." Ha! (We love you very much and appreciate all your hard work, honey!)

Obviously, this struggle isn't only true for me. When a parent chooses to stay home, or in some cases has no choice but to stay home due to cost of child care, it's a big adjustment. The guilt is real and here's the fact: the job these parents hold is an important one, folks- they're raising the future! They are responsible for bringing up respectable humans. Their guilt and bad moods can easily rub off on these kiddos, and worse yet, those selfish enough to make such awful judgement will rub off on them as well! No thank you! 

I think we can all agree that with the hate in the news lately it is important to teach the kids kindness and love for one another. When Jeff and I would talk about what we hoped for our little man as we prepared to meet him, we both agreed we just want to teach him kindness, honesty, love. Be a good person, that's what we care about most. Well, it takes all of us to lay that example. We have to be kind to one another in order to show what kindness looks like.

Be kind, Be nice. Keep your judgement in the trash where it belongs. Remember who's watching you.

23 weeks

Baby K is getting big! 

I put together this little collage of all the weeks since my birthday on May 22 when I was 15 weeks! Can you see the difference between 22 and 23? 

I have a theory that when he has a growth spurt I end up really tired, weak, and sometimes pretty sick. Last Tuesday was a really rough day for me but I bounced back immediately. I've been eating non stop since, I can't get enough food! While I feel like I have great energy, my legs feel like I've just run a marathon every day. I've been really slow walking around hilly Golden and getting up our 38 steps! Jeff says he has to get used to it as he is usually huffing and puffing to catch up with Piper and me! Now I'm always 10 feet behind. I'll take that as a compliment?

We started our registry at Target last night. It was really hilarious to see Jeff get all excited and goofy. We have received so many awesome items from friends here that it's hard to fill up a registry! I think there are plenty of things we'll need for Baby K's first year that we can continue to fill up though.

No big news this week, Jeff and I are just working away!

23 weeks, July 18

Jeff giving our stroller a test ride! My parents got this for us when it was on sale a while back, car seat included. The other Target displays have them tied down so we were really excited (Jeff even more than I) to test it out!

A few photos from the garden. I'm on a huge veggie kick lately so I can't wait to enjoy some of my own harvest! The top left pepper is a Pinot Noir bell pepper...I hope I get more than just this one but it's pretty awesome! 

21 & 22 weeks

I'm getting too to blog! That's a good thing though!

Things have been up and down since our last post. Mostly up, fortunately.

I was still getting over the nasty sinus infection and finally bouncing back when I got another round of something, seems like a stomach virus. Today is my catch up day, just trying to take it easy to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Baby boy is healthy, I feel him kick and move around a lot. He is most active in the evening it seems, Jeff has been able to finally feel some good movements more recently. I'm reading he is really developing his motor skills and reaching around to touch and discover. I'm definitely feeling that!

Lots of concerts and baseball fun since the last post! We had a ticket fairy visit us recently with some unexpected events :)

Umphrey's McGee at Red Rocks on July 3: Our friends saved us spots in the 4th row! We love this picture from the show and may have to frame it for Baby K's music themed bedroom!

Jake from Umphrey's McGee shredding guitar in the background of the Baby K bump!

Bill & Jillian Nershi on July 9: This was part of the Clear Creek concert series which is usually outdoors. Bill Nershi (of String Cheese Incident) draws a huge crowd and once again, our forecast was calling for rain. So they moved it inside in anticipation. It was awesome, but an indoor show is a little too much for me we learned. I prefer outdoors much more at this stage in pregnancy!

Rockies Firework Game July 10: We got tickets from Jeff's boss who decided her family was too tired. The seats were great, Rockies won, and there was a rain delay for the fireworks. That's how the Klenske's do it, rain delay! The fireworks were spectacular and we decided we are definitely doing this next year with the little man. If you're in the right sections for the game, they let you go onto the field for the fireworks display! Jeff wants those seats!

Avett Brothers on July 11: This was a last minute decision for us, and it helped our friends had tickets available the day of! We love the Avett Brothers, Sturgill Simpson opened, he's been on Jeff's short list for a while.

Wilco on July 14: This was tough for me. We got the tickets for free, but I was recovering from a really rough day. Our seats were close to the bathrooms which makes a big difference for me at Red Rocks with all the stairs. We went late and I sat through the whole thing but we really enjoyed it. Love Wilco!

Jeff's picking up extra hours at Anthony's right now due to some of his co-workers vacation schedules. I'm hit or miss on summer lessons; kids have been out with activities or sick, and I've had a roller coaster of sick days. I will be doing more baby sitting before summer is over and am currently ramping up for the school year. I'll have 20 piano students that I'm trying to coordinate into weekday evenings. I'm also teaching my music class through Virtuosity Dance Centre on Fridays starting in August. I'll also be teaching their Story time and Art & Movement classes! More to come on those.

My music class will probably still take place outdoors up through the end of October, weather depending, the parents really like the outdoor aspect. I plan to teach up until my due date if I can and then go back to work in January when school starts back up. My kids are still planning on a holiday recital and participating in Olde Golden Christmas. That should all be interesting with a little baby tagging along, but I'm looking forward to it and keeping optimistic all the way around.

I included some pictures of our recent fun, and hope to update again soon!

Umphrey's McGee, 20 weeks

UM!

Lemonade and Beer at the Rockies game

Rockies Fireworks display

22 weeks, July 11

Piper fetching in the creek

Avett Brothers, 22 weeks

Avett Brothers

Beautiful Red Rocks

I call this Red Rocks in Utero :)

Gender Reveal

It's a boy!!

The appointment went great. The doctor used the word "perfect" to describe our little man. Perfect! I wasn't aware that was a medical term :) 

We couldn't be more thrilled for a Klenske boy. I'm totally outnumbered in the house, but with my emotions these last few weeks that's probably a good thing.

Here are some photos below of our ultra sound and gender reveal party! 

The big reveal!

It's a boy!!!

All the silly wives tales said girl!

Measuring 5 days ahead weighing 15 oz.

20 weeks!

I hit 20 weeks on June 27th! Halfway point!!!

I've been suffering from an awful cold and sinus infection.....and cough. It's been absolutely miserable to be honest. I stayed home 2 days to rest, got better, hit a set back getting sick again, and then just had to suck it up. We worked and danced at the Rapid Grass bluegrass festival over the weekend in Idaho Springs. I easily could have skipped out and our crew would have understood, but who wants to miss out on being a part of what makes a festival a success? And a success it was. We really enjoyed Saturday and Sunday and drove home each night to care for the dog and get some rest in our own bed. I have been a bit better this week, I can smell things again :) but the cough is just ridiculous. It's working it's way out of my system and I'm taking care of myself. The doctors say I can't really do much and it's not harming the baby as long as I don't have a fever. I think she felt pretty bad for me, haha. Oh, the joys of a summer cold *from Hell!!*

We are awaiting our big anatomy scan and gender reveal on Thursday! I can't believe it, it feels like the biggest event of our lives thus far, it really does! Of course an even bigger event will happen this fall and every day from there on out. To me, it's being able to say we are having a son or a daughter. Those words ring so strong in my head. I am really excited and prepared for the baby to simply not cooperate leaving us questioning the gender. Hoping mainly for a healthy appointment with great news on how Baby K is growing along.  It is going to be so fun to see this 10 inch growing life inside me!!! Grow, Baby, grow!

You may (or may not) have noticed the length from last week to this week went from 6 inches to 10! Interesting "fact" according to my books and Baby Bump phone updates: before 20 weeks the baby is measured from head to rump as the legs are usually curled up against the body. So this measurement (also according to an average by the books) is from head to foot. We should be able to find out Thursday what the baby is actually measuring and the doctor can get a good look at all of baby's developing parts and organs. Pretty cool, huh? What did we do before all this technology??? 

Below are some pictures from our big week! This week will be even bigger! I LOVE the 4th of July :) 

 

Happy 20 weeks! Setting up dinner for Sam Bush and The Travelin' McCourys!

20 weeks on June 27.

Happy parents to be.

Scout and Kindell Thompson decided to match me....

So Cassidy had to join in as well.

Sam Bush! Such a nice, funny, down to earth guy. And one hell of a musician :)

Coral Creek performing with a guest appearance from Sam Bush!!!!

Enjoying Rapid Grass with our dear friends Josh & Dawn Walker.