On Being a Boy Mom of 2

Someone left me a comment on one of my Ethan posts, which I believe she has now deleted or my post-partum brain cannot find it!...regardless, it really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know who wrote it, and I truly believe she didn't intend to offend me or hurt my feelings, but she commented wondering "how I felt being team green the second time around" and how I felt with my "it's a boy!" moment this time. She acknowledged that I had a feeling I was pregnant with a girl, so "what were my feelings when I found out it was a boy?" Then the comment that really rubbed me the wrong way and started the wave of emotions that lead me to the ugly tears the next day:

"Was there any disappointment either initially or after it sunk in?"

Wow. Disappointment in the birth of my baby boy? As Braden would say: "no way, man!" She did finish her comment stating that she hoped it wasn't "too personal" and that she was "just curious". I truly believe her and that she didn't intend to hurt my feelings on purpose, but she did. Perhaps she was a new reader and hadn't read the blog throughout my whole pregnancy with Ethan, that yes - initially and at the end, I did feel I was pregnant with a girl - but throughout my whole pregnancy I also mentioned numerous times how excited I would be either way. Disappointment would be one of the last words I would ever use to describe my feelings immediately after, or at any point for that matter, about the fact that Ethan is a boy. As for being Team Green...I wouldn't rather have it any other way. When I found out "it's a boy!" I was 100% surprised and I wouldn't rather have it any other way. I was instantly in love with my 2nd baby boy, and super excited that Braden had a baby brother.

So that leads me to the title of this post - on being a boy mom of 2? I LOVE IT! I always knew I would. I had mentioned in one of my pregnancy posts that I had a bit of a "fear" of potentially becoming a girl mom too. Barbies, dollies, playing house...I know it would come to me eventually, but my world the last 2 years and 9 months has been trains, trucks, & tractors and I quite honestly love it! I mean...how could you not love this:

I get to raise two boys. How lucky am I? I get to watch Braden teach Ethan all about the things that he loves! Thomas trains, construction equipment, farming & tractors...I am so blessed. It makes it extra special for me that Laura has her two boys very close in age to my boys. Also, you guys...I have buckets and heap fulls (literally) of baby boy clothing. I will never have to buy Ethan a piece of clothing, unless I want to! 

I am also so excited to be a hockey mom! I know, I know...girls can play hockey too, but having 2 little boys in hockey?! Just fabulous! Laura and I are so excited about hiking trips, camping trips, and all these boy mom things we'll get to do together.


I also wanted to say that of course I would have been very happy with a girl too. I never feel like I should have to justify my feelings to anyone, but that comment really hurt my feelings so I felt like I should just get it out there. It was going to be extra special, no matter what baby we had. If we had a girl - then we'd have one of each. If we had a boy - then he would be the first "second" Schultz boy in 120 years, if that makes any sense! Braden had been the 5th generation to be an only Schultz boy, and now that Ethan's here...we broke the streak. I'm happy to be raising two little boys in a farming family, it makes my heart very happy to be knee deep in testosterone!
So, in conclusion...in case there is any wavering doubt out there...I love, love, LOVE my 2nd baby boy more than I can even possibly begin to describe to you with words!

Also...please keep voting for my pictures in the agriculture photo contest! You do have to "like" their Facebook page first, but you can vote every 24 hours until November 15th! I get a cash prize if I win each category and that would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

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Why The Age Gap?

Well, a lot of people may question why we timed it to have our kids almost 3 years apart. Around the time that Squishy will be born, Braden will be just under 3 months away from turning 3. I think this age gap will be perfect, especially considering the fact that we don't know or not if we will add another one to the mix. And honestly, I'll be turning 30 next April, so I think I might want to wait the 3 years again to have another, if we do...I'll still be plenty young! Some people need to have their kids bing-bang-boom they just want to get all the diapers and little kid stuff done all at once and I think that's great. I know, myself, that I would not cope well with that! I'm not made to be a "2 under 2" or "3 under 3" kind of mom! I know I could do it if I had to...but I don't, so I'm not!

My two big goals before having Squishy were to get Braden in a toddler bed, so as to not have to buy another crib, and to have him potty trained so I could have (hopefully) 6 months of being a diaper-free home! Now, I can say with authority that Braden is 100% potty trained. I was nervous about our upcoming 8+ hour road trip to BC next week, and how we'd do with car seat naps and potty training...but in the last few weeks he has eased my anxiety (as he always does) and he tells us all the time "I need to go potty" when he has to pee when we're in the vehicle. He's only ever had 2 pee accidents in his car seat, and even the odd time when he naps, he wakes up dry. He can pee on the side of the road if we need, but he's also proven in the last week that he can hold his bladder for almost 1/2 hour until we can get home or to a place with an actual potty! Which comforts me more knowing that we have to drive Rogers Pass, down a mountain, where you pretty much can't pull over next week!

He's got the nap thing down, the odd time he takes a nap, that is! He had a 4 hour nap when we were camping and woke up dry! He often wakes up dry in the morning but we still put a diaper on as a back-up, just in case! I think if I was really strict with fluid restriction intake after supper he would probably wake up dry all the time, but I'll wait until he's a bit older...or, knowing him, he'll just do it with his ready.

The scoop on poop. I had been avoiding posting about this, so not to drive my readers crazy, though I did send out a few tweets of frustration the last few weeks. He has had poops in his potty since day 1. I kinda figured it was a fluke, but was also very happy that he did it so he would "know" that he could and that he should. BUT, over the last month and a half or so, he just could NOT get the poop on the potty thing down. I didn't know what to do. I tried increasing the fibre in his diet so he would have to go more regularly (he's been an every 2-3 day pooper for well over a year now) but that wasn't working. He would keep having tiny accidents in his underwear, but wouldn't "really" go. The morning we went to Hertiage Park, I knew he had to go, so I tried bribing him with the train ride - and it worked! He went all by himself in his little potty and I thought we hit a huge milestone. But even the next week after that, he would.not.do.it in the potty. Kept having small accidents in his underwear. So finally...I broke out the laxative. I'm not talking like "Ex-Lax" bowel-prep laxative, I'm talking a powder laxative that's meant to increase regularity. Again, the morning we were to go camping, I knew it was a poop day. We begged and pleaded and bribed that he could go camping and ride on the boat, but he had to poop in the potty. Poor kid, we all felt horrible...but eventually as Jay and I were packing up the trailer, he went to mom and told her he pooped on the potty - and he did! We tried making him sit for 20 minutes, watching Netflix on the iPad...nothing was working and eventually he just did it on his own. He was SO thrilled with the reward of going camping...that when we were camping he had 2 small poops in the trailer potty and he hasn't looked back since.

It was a very frustrating thing for all of us, but as with everything in his life, he just did it when he was ready. I wish I had magic cure I could tell you for getting your toddlers to poop on the potty, but as my friend with triplets a few months older than Braden said - it just takes a bit longer for some to be pooped trained and it will happen when it happens! It's one of the few things in their life they can control!

Another thing that I really like about this age gap, is that I don't have to run around the world getting Braden to school or sports. Braden won't be in play school until fall 2013 and he's not in any classes or lessons so we can just chill, commitment-free at home getting used to being a family of 4!

And here's a couple Flashback Friday pictures...because no post should go without a few pictures!

A Taste of 2 Kids

As I mentioned yesterday, I got to have Abby while Ben and Jess went back to Edmonton. Mom was there to help, so I put Braden to bed and she put Abby to bed. They both go down at about the same time. But I played with Abby before her bath time and then Braden and I gave her a bath. It's given me a little preview of what Braden will be like as a big brother, and I'm liking what I'm seeing. He just absolutely adores her, and she, him. Braden likes helping out with Abby more than I anticipated he would. He really wanted to have tub time with her, but I told him that he already had his bath and that it was her turn, then I asked if he wanted to help and he was all game for that!

There's definitely a lot for Braden to learn with his Big Brother training. How to be gentle and careful around a baby, not to slam doors, to try and whisper and speak quietly while babies are napping. BUT, I'm hoping that with the very forgiving newborn stage of infant sleep...our baby will learn to sleep with baby elephants running around the house (literally) and that he/she will be an excellent car seat sleeper! Braden was very patient and very good when Abby was fussing in her car seat on the ride home. We got to steal Jess & Abby for the whole week, as Ben is working in Calgary, by the way! Braden would say "it's okay, Baby Abby! It's okay!" And he'd pull on her car seat toy so it would play music for her.

I can't wait to see Braden as a Big Brother! I think he'll do really really well, and he's getting used to Mommy holding and playing with another baby. He's never been jealous or shown any separation anxiety with me...but clearly at the end of a long day...he does have his moments!

I took the two kiddos to town by myself the other day to give Jess some nap time, you should have seen the weird looks that I got being almost 25 weeks pregnant, carrying a 3 month old in a bucket car seat with a 2.5 year old at my side! Hehe, she's not mine! She's my brother's! But it's giving me confidence that yes, indeed, I will be able to be a mother of 2. Will it be easy, probably not, but I know I will be able to do it. No turning back now, anyway!