I’ve partnered with the great people at What to Expect to bring 2 lucky winners a set of 3 What to Expect books. You’ll receive What to Expect When You’re Expecting, What to Expect The First Year and What to Expect The Second Year.

This a perfect set for any expecting or preparing to be expecting mom. Having gone through these years several times myself and knowing that each baby and toddler comes with their own set of surprises, I think you’ll find tons of great go to advice in the pages of these books.

For those of us with older kiddos and teens, I did ask them if they could sent me a copy of What to Expect When Your Kindergartner Cries Each Morning Before School and What to Expect When You Teen Hates the Word “No”. But they didn’t seem to have copies of those. I see a writing opportunity in my future .

To enter, go to the What to Expect Facebook page and like them. Then leave me a comment letting me know you’ve checked it out. Easy! Random winners will be chosen on Friday.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Giving Away Some Great Books~

Luke-Xavier-”That mommy has a baby. She’s carrying her funny.”
Me-”That’s how I used to carry my babies, in a front carrier. I carried a lot of babies that way.”
Luke-Xavier-”You carried me that way because I was your baby.”
Me-”That’s right.”
Luke-Xavier-”…and Tristan and Max and Gabi were all your babies.”
Me-”yep, all of you.”
Luke-Xavier-”But I was the leader of the babies. I cracked first. Then I looked inside and I saw Tristan, Max and Gabi.”
Me-”You ‘cracked first’?”
Luke-Xavier-”Yes, my egg cracked first, so I was the leader.”
Me-”I thought you were each in my tummy on your own and I didn’t know you were inside an egg.”
Luke-Xavier-”Yes, we were in eggs. God put them there.”
Me-”What about Kateri, JJ, Mariah, Anna and Maddi?”
Luke-Xavier-”They’re big kids. Big kids weren’t babies….were they?!”

Gotta love the way kids make sense of it all.

Doing the Dance of the Children, one cracked egg at a time~

It’s birthday time around the Lang house. It’s kind of a big deal because it’s the very first time I’ve had the “baby” of the family be 4. The biggest breaks I ever had between kiddos was 3 years, so this is a milestone for me. No more babies. No more toddlers. No more diapers. No more potty-training. No more bottles. No more…the list goes on.

April’s a big month this year. My oldest hit official adulthood on the 1st by turning 21 and now the “baby” has broken the record for being the “oldest baby”. I know, I’m being a little weird about it. But it’s new territory for me. Everyone’s in school, can dress themselves, make their own bowls of cereal…

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Luke-Xavier! I’m realizing that no matter what birthday we’re celebrating, you’ll always be my “baby” and probably be a lil bit spoiled

Have a great day~

I have a friend who’s getting ready to deliver her first baby and she’s so excited, scared, frustrated and ready to meet her little one. I remember what that feels like-how the end of the pregnancy comes and it’s all a big guessing game. You’re never sure of when the big day will arrive or if all the aches and twinges you’re feeling mean that you should go to the hospital or if you still have days to wait. It’s exciting and scary. No matter how many times I had gone through it, I was always a little scared. You just never know exactly what’s going to happen, but you know you’re there for a beautiful result. There is truly nothing in the world like the experience of seeing your brand new baby for the first time! Nothing!

I’ve been thinking a lot about that and even though I am not going to be personally delivering any babies anymore, I would love to be there for women who are. What a great thing to be there to help women through their birthing process! To be there the moment they meet their baby for the first time! I think I want to be a Doula. No, I’m not going to run out and start Doula training. This isn’t exactly the time to take anything else on (I’m barely making it through the Dance of each day as it is). But in the future, when things settle down and I’m not Doing the Dance of the Children quite as much, THEN.

I was able to travel to Northern California this weekend to be a part of a friend’s memorial and it’s really had me thinking of life; how it begins, how it ends and all the in between, where we’re supposed to be living it. It was wonderful to be at a service where so many people were celebrating a life well lived! It got me thinking about all I want to pack into the days of this life that I have left.

Have a great day…today and EACH day~

I am SO out of practice!  It’s not even just the baby stuff, like needing to entertain them or hold and burp them (love the holding part!), but it’s the fact that you have to spend so much energy keeping the other kids off the baby!  It’s the not being able to say, “mommy has to work for a few minutes, watch your movie”.  It’s not being able to go to the bathroom without the baby, for fear the well-meaning preschoolers will give her a toy that isn’t safe, drop something on her head, step on her or pick her up.  I DO remember that babies take a lot of time and energy, but it’s all the worry and equipment and guess work that I forgot about.  How? How did I possibly forget after doing this 9 times?  Well, all I can come up with is that all those years are such a blur.  They were a constant flow of movement and thought.  Yes, now I’m always Doing the Dance, but it’s so different!  I can take 5 minutes to myself when I need it.  I can schedule social engagements and count on the bigger kids to lend a hand.  

I wouldn’t trade all of those years, even if I could and I certainly wouldn’t change saying “yes” to today, but it flashed me back to things I’d forgotten and how much work and how different things were for so long!

Babies are one of the greatest gifts and joys that you can be given.  Luckily, all the work and energy that goes into them fades away into distant memories as life moves forward.

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Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for details on how you can be the next winner of a pair of tickets to the Shecky’s Girls Night Out, coming to San Diego May 14th! 

Have a great day~

The squadron is getting ready for the Change of Command in early May and there are always events that lead up to that.  Thursday night was the COC dinner and Clay’s farewell from the squadron was also included in the night’s festivities.  

He was presented with the above plaque which has a picture of him, flying his last flight at the squadron which was just 2 days before this.  Our time with this squadron has been wonderful.  It’s full of great people who look after one another.  Even though Clay has been farewelled, I will get to continue to attend the squadron’s functions because of the type of orders he is leaving on.  I look forward to continuing to attend social gatherings and OSC (Officer Spouse Club) meetings with this group of great people!

That night, we came home from the dinner, changed into our work clothes and got down to business, finishing the packing up and cleaning of our house.  The painters were coming the next morning.  I was able to go until 1 am and then crawled into bed, setting the alarm for 4 am to get it finished.  It was (miraculously) done in time for the painter  and I headed out the door with the 2 youngest kiddos to keep them busy, outside of the house, for the day.  I hadn’t been able to take them to the park in awhile, and to be forced out of the house, with no looming laundry and no hope of computer work, was the perfect opportunity to focus on spending some fun time with them.  We spent a whole day of “fun time”.  ”Fun Time” is exhausting!  

Clay finished his work day and met up with us to take the kids to dinner while I got ready for a farewell dinner with the great ladies from my bible study.  One of the women is leaving for a year to Germany.  Her husband is a reservist and has orders.  She has packed up the kiddos and they are heading over.  She’s taking my godbaby with her, which I am NOT happy about!

We all had a wonderful dinner (at my favorite restaurant!) and were able to spend some time chit chatting and making her promise to use Skype 

After dinner, I met my family in our freshly painted house and we carefully went to our rooms.  The painter was coming back, first thing in the morning and we needed to be ready to go again.  With this mini remodel, we requested that the bedrooms not be done.  This helped us in 2 ways.  First, we didn’t have to move EVERYTHING out of the house and secondly, we could tip toe into our rooms at night and not have to get a hotel.  

But Clay had to rally the troops on his own, yesterday, because I was attending our CO spouse’s farewell.  Normally, this is a luncheon, but Lisa asked that we all do something a little different in honor of a cause that is close to her heart.  So, we all met up for the March of Dimes, March for Babies walk.  

The squadron’s name is the Wildcards and everything is western themed, hence the cowboy hats. However, it was the first time since I decided to try a work out routine, that I’d put on workout clothes.  This quickly brought to mind the whole work out fashion issues I’d had a few months ago!  I chose to solve the problem with a long tee shirt.  :-)

I got to walk along with one of the newest members of the Wildcard family for part of the way.  I hadn’t worn a front carrier in a couple of years.  It felt great!  There’s nothing like snuggling a little baby!

After our walk, we had a picnic lunch in the park.  

Then it was off to find my family and figure out what our plan was for staying out of the house for another day.  We met up at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) for some fun time in their game room.  The kids love going there because there’s a bowling alley, a game room where no quarters are required and a movie theater where you can pick which movie you want to watch (first come, first served)!  It’s a great place to have a party or spend the afternoon.  While Clay kept the kids busy there, I grabbed Gabi and took her shopping for a bday gift for the party she was attending that afternoon.  Gift picked and then off to the dance party.  It was great to see a room full of 4 and 5 yr. old girls dancing and pretending.  LOTS of fun!

We came back to the house in the evening and it has been freshly painted, new carpet has been installed, the bathroom, kitchen, dining room and laundry room have new vinyl and the entryway has been retiled.  In a few days new window coverings and appliances will be delivered.  Whoo Hoo!  It’s been exhausting, keeping the kids out while still fulfilling our daily obligations, but the house is looking GREAT!  Pics to come soon, I promise.  The only problem is that now I don’t want to move our stuff back in.  I just want to leave it all looking fresh and clean. ~Sigh~  

Today, we are staying out of the house again and have been invited for a bbq and pool party.  The kids are excited and I’ll be happy to relax and watch them play.  Tomorrow begins the unpacking of the boxes and making the house look like we live in it again.  

I hope you’ve each had a great weekend and that your pace of life has been a little slower than ours.  

Have a great day~

I had the privilege of becoming a Godmother (for the 4th time) yesterday.  Sweet, little Lauren Marie was baptized at the parish that’s attached to my children’s school.  We hadn’t been to a Roman Rite baptism in quiet some time.  Everything was beautiful and I’m happy I got to be a part of it.  Afterward we headed to the family’s house for a luncheon.  My little ones are friends with the other children in the family and my older girls have babysat for them, so it was a nice, quiet, comfortable afternoon of visiting.  

I love this pic of the little ones gathered around the sleeping baby.  So sweet!

Even so, it tested my ability to be up all day.  We got home around 3 and I headed to bed.  I was able to stay there for a couple of hours and then get up to take care of serving dinner.  I’m wondering when the afternoon napping will come to an end.

This morning I’m back to my regular alarm schedule of 4:15 am and can’t help but wonder how soon I’m gonna want Gabi and Lex to lay down with me.  I suppose the day will tell!

Have a great day~

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to the show.  You questions, comments and show ideas are always appreciated.

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Last night I helped a friend with a jewelry show. I love talking to people and meeting people, so striking up conversations and sharing how much I enjoy wearing Silpada Jewelry wasn’t tough to do. The hostess had a great turn-out of friends from all areas of her life. A couple of her friends were obviously ladies she had met at the gym. They were toned and beautiful and you could just tell that being in the gym was a part of their lives. We started talking about weight loss and working out. I shared that I’ve recently lost some very stubborn baby-weight and that now it’s time to get to the gym and start a good routine of working out.

In the course of the conversation, the number of children I have came up. This is always a conversation turner! The minute someone asks, “How many children do you have?” and I respond with, “nine”, the conversation takes on a whole new life! Last night was no different!

To make a long story a little shorter; we ended up at a point where I was being encouraged to share the fact that I have lost 30 lbs. with my readers and listeners. The funny thing is that I never thought of it! Sometimes I completely forget to mention things that are going on over here! Anyway……………

After my first 5 kiddos I lost the baby weight very easily. It seemed that my body was in a good routine of pregnancy and then bouncing back. After Maddi (our 5th child) we had a miscarriage . It was really hard on both of us and I ultimately went on antidepressants to counter the effects. I stayed on the medication for about 4 years. In the first year I gained about 30 lbs! The weight went on SO quickly! I got pregnant with Tristan (our 6th) about 10 or 11 months after starting the medication. Tristan is now 9 yrs. old and I swear I’ve been carrying that weight ever since! It’s been a source of frustration for me for all these years. Of course, I had 3 more children after Tristan, but I felt that through diet and exercise the weight should come off, just like it had with the first 5 kids. It didn’t happen!

Fast forward to this year. Now, Luke-Xavier is two and I started making a real effort to drop some of the weight at the beginning of this year. I felt overwhelmed with the amount of weight I felt needed to be lost, so I decided to just focus on a goal of 10 lbs. Between January and March I was able to achieve that goal. It felt GREAT to finally see a different number on the scale! I decided to keep that same goal in mind and to see if I could do it again. To be honest, I was able to lose about 5 more lbs between May and June, but nothing else was happening. Then in July I stopped nursing Luke-Xavier. He had turned 2 yrs. old in April and was still a really strong nurser. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to keep nursing for life! I finally dug my heels in and weened him. Within weeks of weening I began to lose more weight. Ultimately between the end of July and the end of Sept. I was able to drop 20 lbs. without much effort.

Some of the things that helped me FINALLY lose this weight are;

I stopped snacking
I cut my portions and never have a second helping
If I’m eating something and one or more of the kids ask for a bite, I say yes. I’ve found that I can eat anything I want as long as I share it! Imagine eating a candy bar or ice cream in this house! As soon as the kids see it they flock around me like ducks to bread crumbs. In the end I end up with a bite or two. Perfect! I think that’s my favorite tip!

So, I still have 10 or 15 lbs that I’d like to lose, but it’s really time to think about exercise. I’m in no hurry to lose the last of the weight since I’m still breaking in the new clothes I’ve bought or been handed. But adding a daily walk or some time at the YMCA will surely help me tone up.

I’ll keep you posted!

Have a great day~

I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Jim from Healthbuzz about the difference between Postpartum Depression and the Baby Blues. After each of my kids I’ve felt a difference is emotions and the intensity of how I react to certain situations. I always felt that I must have been experiencing Postpartum Depression but was confused by the label and what I thought the definition of that was. I felt very timid about talking about it because I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t connecting with my baby or that I couldn’t care for my children. Now that Luke-Xavier is two years old and I’m well past the stage of feeling like anything is wrong, I decided to ask some questions and found out that my feelings were very normal and were considered the “Baby Blues” and not Postpartum depression. I hope this show offers some clarification to the line between what’s normal and what might be the signs of something more serious.

Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com and for listening to the show. I welcome your comments, questions and show ideas.

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Have a great day~

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope that each of you moms get a special day. If you don’t have any special events planned, be sure to spend a little time remembering some of your special mommy moments.

Since it’s a Mother’s Day show, I decided to talk about a couple of “Mommy issues” I’ve encountered over my years as a mom. I give you permission to chuckle at me as you listen. Sometimes the things we end up doing as parents can be funny!

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to the show. You can always email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com or use the “contact” button. Please take a minute to visit our sponsor, Aveeno Baby.

Have a great day~

Americanpregnancy.org
and
miscarriagesupport.org

Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com. I look forward to your comments and questions.

You can always email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com

Good night~

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