Change Is A Good Thing...

At least for us it is.

James has worked nights for the past 7-8 years. That wasn't so bad when it was just him & I, but once Dakota came along it seemed like we hardly ever saw each other. I would get home with Dakota around 4pm, James would be asleep right up until time for him to go to work, so he spent very little time with Dakota. We very seldom ever ate supper together. We literally seemed like two individual people whose lives occasionally crossed paths.

Around the middle of June, Carlisle (James' employer) switched him to a day shift. Needless to say, after working so many years of straight nights, James had a very difficult time transitioning over to a day schedule. He had the most trouble getting into a new sleep pattern/routine. He kept telling me, "I don't know if I can do this, this is about to kill me."

Now, here we are almost 2 months later, and not only is he "alive", but he loves it. We have fallen into a very comfortable routine that is great for a change. I get home with Dakota a little before 4pm. Since James works a 10 hour shift, he works until 5pm and gets home a little before 6pm. He plays with Dakota while I fix supper. Now we eat supper as a "family" & we love it. After supper I clean up the kitchen while James' starts Dakota's bath. When I'm done I go in to assist with the bath. We've never had the opportunity to spend this much time together as a family before, but we're loving it!!!

It just feels great to know that I now have help, that we get to eat as a family, we can actually plan and go places together. Plus with this new schedule James is off most Fridays, so Dakota stays home with him on Friday. They both seem to enjoy their extra time together, and its obviously a good bonding experience for them.

So, change may not always be easy, but it is usually a good thing!!!

I've had Enough...

I've about reached my limit, quite simply I've just had enough. I'm ready for something to go right and dare I say it, just work as it should for a change.

We've been having trouble with my car, it just isn't running right. In the last week we've changed the spark plugs and wires. We had the catalytic converters (my car has four) checked to see if they were plugged (they weren't). We put a new fuel filter on (that was plugged). They tripped the check engine light to go off thinking that the fuel filter had to of been the problem. The very next day (wouldn't you know it) the check engine light comes back on.

My husband knows a little, but it is over his head. My father-in-law knows quite a bit about vehicles, but it is over his head too. Since I'm the one that is always hauling Dakota around, I don't want to be stranded along the side of the road somewhere in 100 degree weather. I've finally gave in and called the Ford dealership and I have an appointment for 3:00 pm today. I just hope they can figure out what the problem is without it costing me a fortune.

I just hate going to the main dealership like that though. One, it always costs a lot, usually more in labor than any parts that they would put on it. Two, they always want me to tell them what I think the problem is or what it is doing. Let's face it, I know next to nothing about cars. In my world it either works or there's something wrong with it. When I try to describe something to them they usually look at me like "and I'm supposed to figure this out when you know nothing about it". I just hate this experience, because I feel so stupid trying to relay to them what it is doing. I usually end up telling them to just take it for a drive, you can't miss it. I just may have to do that again this time.

Here's to getting it fixed without breaking the bank, so that we can roll on with things the way they usually are. Plus, we're supposed to be coming back to Schuyler the weekend after Labor Day, and I don't feel comfortable taking it that far the way its running at the moment. I want to come back up home, because its the last trip of the year for us, but if I can't get it fixed, we'll have to cancel, and I really don't want to do that.

Send me some good luck God, Plleeeaaaassssseeeee!

Any Ideas/Suggestions...

Alright, I'll admit it (in case you didn't already know), I'm kind of a blog stalker. I follow what you all post, but quite frankly haven't had anything to write about or the time to do it even if I did have something. Thus the reason that it has been almost a full two months since my last post. I may get better at this one day, but oh well, on to what I need help with.

I'm looking for any ideas from you BTDT moms as to meal suggestions/planning for a 13 month old. I don't know at this point if he is just a picky eater or if it has something to do with the texture/consistency of certain foods that is the problem, but it is really hard to get him to eat. Things he eats really well are:

• Grilled Cheese
• Bread & Butter/Biscuits
• Chicken Nuggets
• Mashed/Baked Potato
• Pancakes
• Pudding/Yogurt
• Cheese Pizza Rolls
• Applesauce
  

I would love to get him to eat other things, and I DO keep offering/trying other foods, he just isn't going for any of them at this time. You can't get him to eat any type of vegetables or pasta. Other than nuggets, he won't eat any type of meat either.

I've tried meatloaf, hamburgers, fish, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese, sliced ham, hot dogs, bacon and so on; all a no go.

I still can't get him to eat his veggies, but we may be getting a little closer on that front. Before he would not even try them, then he would play with them (squeeze them between his fingers), now he will put one piece in his mouth, chew it a little, then spit it back out. No actual eating, but closer now than we were before.

So, is this normal for this age that they latch on to a few particular items and won't do anything else? Can you break them of it or does it have to be in their own time? Some of this could be due to teeth. The 1 year molar area has been swollen for quite a while now, but hasn't broken on thru yet. In your experience, did your children not eat as well during that time?

I'm just looking for any ideas/suggestions, I'm open to anything if it gets him eating better than he is right now, so any ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated!!!