Chocolate Donuts

I have been trying to figure out how I was going to write this post. I can't figure out how to lead into it, and I can't really think in thoughts what I want to say, so I feel like I'm going to do the typing form of verbal diarrhea and just put it out there.


Derick and I have been purposely trying to conceive a second child since October 2010. We have had success, but those successes quickly turned into failures... three times. 19 months, it was. Somewhere in the range of a little over 560 days. I will be the first to say that I fully understand that in comparison to some people's journeys, 560 days is not much. But it's certainly not nothing. 


Without disclosing complete full details, names, etc, I'm gonna delve into why I am so baffled and just emotionally wasted. But also overcoming a lot of grief at the same time.


When I found out I was pregnant this last time, I just knew there was no possible way that I would have 3 losses in a row. Who on earth does that happen to? I know Job had a lot more grief in his time of trial. And I'll be honest, in self pity, I have been known to refer to myself as the reproductive version of Job. Well, here's why. Sure 3 losses, pick your stuff up and move on, right? Then add to that 3 of the closest people in my life all pregnant at the same time. 2 of them actually have 2 of my 3 miscarriage's actual due dates. I am not joking. And 2 of them (while I was trying SO hard) were complete surprise pregnancies. And those same 2, we would have all three been pregnant together and delivered our children literally within days of one another, and OH how fun would that be?! Right, keep dreaming, Pickle. These girls know that I love them very dearly and am in no way blaming them for anything. They also have been EXTREMELY understanding of my extremely conflicting and confusing feelings throughout. So, not only all that, but one day I grouped together all pregnant women on my facebook and had 27 of them. I totally get that it's the time in my age-group's lives to reproduce but wow, 27 is a large number of impregnated women! All this and let's not forget my line of work! In my five and a half years as an L&D RN I do believe during the first 4 years I could have easily counted on my two hands the number of adoptions, and things of that nature, I had encountered. And I worked for one of, if not the, busiest L&D units in the metro area. Well, in the last 560 days, I have seen SO MANY adoptions, teen mothers, unfit parents, DHS involvement, etc than I had seen in all of my prior nursing career. I can not even begin to tell you what kind of emotional toll it takes on the soul to care for these poor mothers and their children. I am not saying that God has placed adopting on our hearts. I feel like that is a major decision and I feel like it's something God has to place on both parent's hearts. And at this time, it is not something we feel like God is leading us to do. In fact, we have had more reassurance and affirmation that things will be perfectly fine if Jake is our only child. So here is what sealed the deal. The weekend of yet another announcement that took all of 3 months to get pregnant, Derick and I decided that for our emotional well-being and for the benefit of our son, it was high time to take a break from the world of trying to conceive. I was at the very end of a cycle. If you have ever spent a large chunk of your life trying to get pregnant, you can agree with me that the 2 week wait is horrific. Well, I was nearing the end of my 2 week wait. Having the knowledge of my clotting disorders, I have to be testing daily in case it comes up positive, so that if it does, I can get on medicine ASAP. So, THE night we decided this was it, I walk into walmart to get a box of HPT's. And I did not dilly dally, I literally walked straight to the pharmacy, grabbed the tests, and walked to the register. I stood in line with not 1, but 2 screaming newborns. One of which had an older sibling sitting up front in the basket that appeared to be around Jake's age, sucking what appeared to be apple juice out of a bottle. Which register did I happen to pick? Oh, the one with a very, very young lady who was largely pregnant. It took every ounce of my being to hold it together while she rang me up. Pitiful me, with my pregnancy tests, that I only dreamed of seeing a positive on, my 16 & pregnant cashier, and the 2 screaming-in-harmony newborns. I'd imagine when she last purchased a test she was ashamed and scared and here I was willing to give my right arm for that positive she probably cried about.


Well, if all the previous blows were not sign enough to give it up... that moment... was. I knew I was not pregnant. I have done this enough times to know, and I knew it was over. I took those stupid tests anyway until it really was over. 


That Monday (2 weeks ago today, actually) was the first time I breathed a sigh of relief. I have not just lived to live for me and my family for 18 months. That is greater than half the amount of time my child has been alive. Which is one of the reasons I hung it all up. It is time for me to fully, 100% enjoy the child that I DO have without wishing and hoping for something I don't have. And so, we started making plans. I had one week of freedom and then suffered another blow.


We were so excited about how we won't be having all those ridiculous medical bills that fertility problems bring. We were making plans and I guess we are just so naive is all. I had a couple lymph nodes in my neck pop up. I thought nothing of it, then remembered it had popped up about a year ago and I never had it checked out. Well, google a swollen lymph node in the neck and you'll see just why I made an appointment. It didn't feel the way bad ones are described. No, it felt like a good one. It was just swollen. So, I go to the doctor. And he is immediately shocked by the size and location. He tells me that because of my age and being that I am a young mother (cue the flood of tears, thanks doc) that he is sending me to see an ENT to be evaluated for cancer. He may want to biopsy it, whatever. Greaaaaaat. So, here we go AGAIN. I can not catch a break, is how I feel. Emotionally, I feel beaten, if I can be honest. And I can, because it's my blog. ;-) The doc started me on antibiotics and said his office would get with me to get the appointment scheduled. Awesome. So I go home thinking I have cancer and start in with all the terrible thoughts that so easily invade your mind especially when you're already knee deep up to your eyeballs in spiritual warfare. I waited for 2 days for them to call me and they never did. I thought, awesome, it must not be that bad. Had a couple docs at work tell me what they thought just by examination, no one was alarmed, this is good. So, I decided I'd at least call and see what the deal was. Called and they're like "Oh, goodness! We misplaced your file and we need you to see Dr. So-and-So at 7:45am on Monday morning". I reply, "Wow, that's awfully soon, I haven't even completed antibiotics yet". To which she replies, "Oh, yes, Dr. S-a-S wants to see you ASAP, if there was an appointment today, he would have penciled you in, but the office is closed today."


AWESOME. This is sounding greater by the SECOND.


I went to my appointment this morning with a lot more peace than I expected and I am fully and 100% convinced it is due to the handful of people that were even aware this was going on praying for me. The reason he wanted me to be seen today (and bc he was closed on Friday) is because he was on call all weekend for like 5 hospitals and he uses the Monday after call-weekend for all the random stuff from over the weekend. He does a thorough examination from head to... neck (ha, an ENT, get it?) and when he is finished he says, "You are fine."


He's right. I'm fine. I'm going to BE fine. No matter what. No matter what comes my way, it's always going to be fine. Might not care much for the outcome, but in the grand scheme, I'll always be fine because this is not our home. I had my first parental epiphany last night. You know the one where you can vividly see yourself saying something that you picture God might be up there saying to you, as His child?


We got home late last night. When Jake and I got inside he noticed a bag of chocolate donuts sitting on the counter. He demanded one. When I said no (since it was 10pm and past bedtime) he begged and pleaded and had an all out fit. I saw myself in him. I watched him thrash on the ground, screaming and crying in frustration. I saw me. (I couldn't begin to tell you the countless hours I laid in my bed, or on the floor, crying out to God in agony and sheer frustration) I reached down and scooped my little boy up in my mommy arms and held him tight until he started to calm down. I saw an image of God holding on to me. When he calmed down, I kissed his little cheek and told him I was sorry that he couldn't have a donut right now, but that they would be there in the morning and we could have them then. That's when I heard it. "Not right now". Then he wiped my kiss away in frustration. I understood him. It's hard to accept love when all you want is that chocolate donut and your mommy just told you, you can't have it. Yep, I totally get that. 

I would love to give him everything he wants whenever he requests it, but then he wouldn't turn out to be a well-rounded individual. There are so many lessons to be learned as a parent. I pray I'm shown a lot more, because it was probably the coolest lesson I have learned, to date. I'll wait for my chocolate donut. I'll enjoy the other treats along the way and if I never get my chocolate donut, I'll still be fine and I'll still be very, very happy with my little lover of chocolate.

May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope. Romans 15:13.


Happy Monday, friends.

27 months: Potty Training, Silliness, and a Big Heart.

I hadn't planned on doing much more of those "monthly birthday" posts, but this past month has been a month of lots of changes for little man, so I thought I'd post a thing or two. :)

At 27 months, Jake...

You are STILL right around 29 (allllllmost 30) pounds, which means you have gained a whopping 1 pound in almost a year! Which completely blows me away, considering what a little food lover you started out being!
You are much pickier with food, than the baby-you was.
You have dropped down just a tad into the 50-75% for weight.
You are 38" tall. You are TALL. That is in the greater than 97%... which when looking at the actual chart, is not even on scale for your age.
So, you are starting to shape out into a tall and skinny little Pickle.
The biggest achievement this month was POTTY-TRAINING.
You are a ROCK-STAR at the pottying situation.
It's been almost a month. You very rarely have accidents.
You can go many hours without a potty break.
Mommy has to admit... little boy underwear are probably the cutest things EVER!
Since you have no diaper taking up space in your pants, you have stayed the same size as last summer in your shorts/pants... except length in the pants, so that is a little bit tricky.
You wear 24 months/2T in shorts so you can still wear all your shorts from last summer!
You wear size 7.5 in shoes.
You wear some 2T, mostly 3T in shirts.
Your legs have gone through some kind of growth spurt recently, so your pants have gotten really short.
You are working on your second year molars, which are taking FOREVER to come in and they really bother you. You have your fingers in the back of your mouth all the time. :(
Your third Easter was so much fun. You love to hunt those eggs!
We have had a very warm spring, so we have spent a LOT of time outside. Lots of zoo dates, play dates, "helping" daddy in the yard, and backyard playing.
You, my son, have a strange love for bugs and things of the like. Mommy is absolutely terrified of all critters that crawl or fly and you already know this.
You like to laugh at Mommy's squeals about the bugs.
We haven't been watching too much TV recently, but you do love Team Umizoomi these days.
You know your shapes and colors really well. I can say, "hand me the purple round thing over there" and you can find it.
You can recite your ABC's.
You can recognize your numbers and some of your letters by sight.
You still leave out "3" when counting to 10. I think it's cute.
You can count backwards from 8 to 0, and you don't leave 3 out then... ?
When you get past ten you say, "ewebben, telve, tur-teen, ewebben-teen, telve-teen".
When asked how old you are, you very rarely say how old you really are, and say something more like 6, because you know it's silly.
You ARE silly.
You are bossy. :)
You are goofy.
You are absolutely PRECIOUS.
You have a huge heart and HATE to see people sad-I hope that never changes.
When Mommy cries (bc mommies sometimes do) you will crawl up in my lap and wipe my tears and tell me "it's ok, mommy". Bless your tiny heart for having compassion on a grown up. Makes me want to cry right now just thinking about it!
You can say "grace" at dinner. You fold your hands (and you make sure everyone else does, too) and say the "God is great..." prayer. Talk about precious! :)
You like to be naked. Oh, my goodness... I have turned around to find a naked boy countless times this past month!
You are doing great in your swim lessons.
You are, quite possibly, the funniest kid I know. You say some of the funniest things sometimes. We were driving home from swim lessons one night, and you had an owie that you couldn't locate (?) and you said, "Where'd my owie go?? Ughhh... that drives me NUTS!!" So, so silly!
You have certainly reached the part of terrible two's where you tell people "no" constantly. You say "mine" way too often. I guess as an only child, when everything truly IS yours, it's hard to get used to. You like to make sure people know when it's "Jakey's turn!!" and it's usually always your turn. Ha!
You are OBSESSED with cars, trucks, anything that has wheels or a motor!
I'd be willing to wager a bet that at least 10 hours of my day, I can hear some kind of motor noise coming from you. It is so darn cute.
You still love your blankie and your Bear, which you often refer to as "blanky-bear" these days. They are a team of lovies, I guess.

My most favorite thing you started doing in the past couple months is singing our bedtime song. We leave out the first verse (just because when I started singing it to him, I couldn't remember it :) ) and you know every word to the rest of the song! I catch you singing it sometimes. I played it in the car recently, it was the first time you'd heard it other than Mommy singing (LOL poor child) and you stopped what you were doing and sang along at the top of your lungs. So cute.

Here's our song minus the first verse...

Godspeed by Dixie Chicks

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

Jake and his Pop at the zoo. My very own monkey.

He is so pretty.

Easter!

caught this at a play date at Paisley's house. 

swim lessons!

Jake and Kale playing at a nature park.

That, is one COOL kid. ;-)

Godspeed, little man. Sweet dreams, little man.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Today's Date.

Today marks the day that I should be having a baby, my due date. April 5th, 2012. I have been dreading this day for the past month. I purposefully made sure I scheduled something on this day. The days have been hurling towards this day. I have been thinking lately about how I should be right now. I should be finishing up the nursery because you're never fully prepared for the second like you are the first. I should be huge and waddling. My face should have that puffy last 2 weeks looks right now. I should be having a baby today. Jake should be getting a sibling.

I am so certain that God KNEW I needed to completely and totally be drowning in something else to keep my mind off of it. And so, today, we have potty-trained per Jake's decision to start potty-ing yesterday. It's nearly all I've thought about all day, those two things. I will confess that I did manage a 2 hour nap, and the child is still napping, and dinner is done in the crock pot, and the husband is home from work early to begin his long weekend. So there are PLENTY of positives right here in front of me. My glass is half full. :)

A friend of mine recently wrote on her blog about this very same subject. It touched me really deeply and was posted at the most perfect of times. Exactly one month before and exactly when I had begun to think about the coming date. I will not lie and say I cried no tears of sadness today as the date was on my mind any time I had a moment to think about non-potty related things. But this day was a lot better than I had imagine several weeks ago. Thank you, Monica, for the light you shed on choosing JOY with this very topic. :) Here is her post. Monica's blog post She said it SO well in that second paragraph, and mostly when she said she cried tears of happiness and sorrow at the same time. I can not tell you how many times I have done that. It is a really bittersweet thing when life goes on around you and everybody else gets so easily what you so desperately want.

Jake is doing great with potty stuff. I go to work tomorrow and it's all on Daddy to keep it up! He'll do great. Seriously, this kid is amazing me! Oh! I almost forgot!! He got a big-boy hair cut today! He got his very first hair cut in June or July of last year and ever since has only gotten trims. But that hair was getting a little bit unruly when it got sweaty from playing outside, or whatever. And I can't have my boy looking less than cute!! He looks SO handsome with his big-boy hair. And he was SO funny during the cut. He just sat there and watched in the mirror as my friend, Kristie, did her thing. He didn't even make a stink about the clippers when they came out! I told him it tickled, and he just kept talking about how it tickled. He did great. Afterward, we went to Krispy Kreme for momma's sake and for Jake being so good. :) He got a sprinkles donut. And he got one to take home for when he did the first #2 (sorry lol), which he HAS done, and he wanted to wait till after his nap for his big special donut.

Wooo!

He's looking in the big mirror in front of him.

Just watching himself get his haircut.

SO handsome!

Jakey's special donut for being a big boy during his hair cut.

Totally excited about his BIG accomplishment.

Still looks the same on the top, but it's big boy in the back. Mixed feelings here! But it's super cute, of course.

Jake is now up from his nap and sitting with me asking me to put the "peter" (computer) down, so I must go. Happy Thursday!

Such a Weird Day!!

Today has been the weirdest day, to date, of my parenting career. I know my parenting career is only beginning. But let me tell you how Jake decided he was ready to rid himself of diapers today.

Here's the thing. This is not open for advice, at the moment, but I did want to share what went down today. :) Everybody does it different, and Jake is doing it WAY different than I'd originally planned.

Back in August, Jake peed on the potty twice, he was talking about going, he liked to flush the potty, it was fun and interesting for him. I made a huge deal, but he was so little, he didn't really get it. I tried to force him into potty-ing for like half a day, and he wanted NOTHING to do with it. He got so mad about it that he did the whole thing they warn you about... He would not even TALK about the potty for at least 4 months following.

The past couple months, Jake has started talking about it more and more. He's been acting really interested. He would pee on command for Derick, when he asked him to. He liked to sit on the potty, he liked to stand and try to pee. He'd try SO hard sometimes. I did NOT force him. This time, I was not ready and he was getting that way. I just didn't feel like I was in a great place emotionally, mentally, whatever... Just not really up to all it involves. Which is a lot, and I knew that. You're not just ridding yourself of diapers. You're still wiping a butt, but now you have to stop and go potty ALL the time, EVERYWHERE you go. You have to deal with accidents and wet pants and blah, blah, blah. Not ready, was I.

The past couple DAYS Jake has been VERY talkative about potty stuff. He pulled his potties out of the closet and wanted to sit on them. I ignored it, as usual, because I am not ready. :)

Today, I was at a conference. Jake was staying with his Nanna (Derick's mom). She text us around noon saying Jake had gone pee in the potty! What the heck?! Is what I was thinking lol. She told us that he had run off after a diaper change and let her know that he did not want a diaper back on. She said that he started to "leak" lol and told him, "Oh, no! Run to the potty!" He said, "I pee in potty" and he sat down and did it. I thought, whatever, a fluke... if he wants to pee now and then, then whatever.Then a few minutes later she text us again saying that he was playing in his playroom and he stopped playing and ran to the potty, saying, "I gotta pee pee"! And he did it again. He peed FOUR more times this evening, in the potty! We went to the store (he had to wear a diaper, so we used his old cloth diaps, so he could feel the wetness a little better) to get him some "big boy night-night unnawears".

4-4-2012, Jake decides it's time to start potty-ing

picking out his big boy night-night unnawears

The picture explains itself, I do believe. :)

I can NOT believe he took this into his own hands... and I can NOT believe my baby is growing up so dang fast!!! Just YESTERDAY I was saying how we are nowhere NEAR thinking about potty training. Jake thought otherwise. I guess I'll follow his lead.

Happy Wednesday!

The Adventures of Our Little Pickle

Yesterday, Jake and I spent nearly all day outside. We have been so blessed with beautiful weather this week!! Last week was spring break for the area, and since we don't have "spring break", I was sort of dreading the week because of all the extra people that would be in all our normal places. The zoo, the aquarium, the park, even the grocery store! But it rained all week, so we happily hibernated. Jake played outside regardless, because even though it was rainy all week, it was pretty nice out. So, before I go onto our fun day yesterday, I have to post a couple of my favorites from last week.

That would be my umbrella. :)

seeing the world through the eyes of your child has got to be one of the coolest things this side of eternity!

Ok, so I am on a quest to be outside as much as possible while it's so nice we aren't melting yet. Jake surely does not mind that! For the first probably 18 months, being outside was more of a chore keeping him from eating everything than it was exploration.

We started our day with morning time snuggles and giggles.

Silliest kid I know!

I seriously do not understand his obsession with the "wips"...

We got all ready to go to the park and play around.

He likes to slide down normal, face first, and this way... mixing it up, keepin it real on the playground.

Someone didn't take a very long nap, so we took advantage of the extra time and went out to a nature park in South BA. It was reconfirmed to me, while we were there, that children BELONG outdoors. Not just the playground, but like really outside with the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors. This nature park is like a nice little hike through the woods, but still close enough to society lol.

We happened upon this little gem. We walked up and all the trees around were gnawed off, and I thought... hmm... Then I saw a large pile of brush stacked quite nicely in the water. We were in beaver territory. 

My child, welcome to the wonderful world of "soft dirt".

He got an owie and was showing me, while also showing me his quite nice little quads he's got going on.

Watching a squirrel run up a tree.

This kid goes ninety-to-nothing... always!

He is so cute.

We went inside the little building at the entrance of the park, where there were plenty of displays. Here, Jake is admiring a tarantula. Jake is asking it why it's hiding, and telling it to come out of there, in this picture.

I wish I had pictures from swim lessons, we'll have to get some next week. We started a class a couple months ago, and Jake LOVED it. So we decided we would continue swimming, his first lesson in his new class was last night. Let me just say... the child is a FISH. We got to have the same teacher as last time, so she has been able to see Jake's progression. The class Jake is in, does full submersion. Yes, my 2 year old can hold his breath underwater with zero problems. Now they just started it in the last couple sessions, and those times he was always a little choked up when he came up.... like he'd gulped down a bunch of water. This time, toootally different story! He came up out of the water like nothing had happened. So, I just went with it while we waited on the other kids to take their turns. I let him start going under. You don't just drop them underwater, there are verbal cues that prepare them to take a breath before going under. By the end of class, Jake was swimming under water 3 feet stretches to the wall, climbing up and waiting on my go ahead to jump back in. If you know Jake and water, you know that 2 months ago, the latter would have never happened. That kid jumped in whether you were ready or not. Needless to say, Miller Swim School in Tulsa is AWESOME! Jake loves swim lessons, and I of course love watching him do something he loves!

It was such a fun day for both of us! We went back to the nature park tonight with Jake's friend, Kale. They were pretty cute together, although I feel like I spent most of my time keeping Jake out of harm's way. :)

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Jake, the ERF-er

Jake is now 2. He will be 26 months in a little over a week. In the past month, I have had several people ask me when I'm going to turn Jake around to forward facing in his car seat. Well, let me clarify this for anyone that wonders this same thing. :) And I am going to start from the beginning of my car seat days.

Before Jake was born, I did not research car seats. I bought what was cute. Which is fine, since a car seat is made to protect a child. However, the most important thing a parent can do when it comes to car seats, is to choose the best one for your child and to READ THE MANUAL. And when I say that, it is in all caps for a reason. The manual should be read... front to back. Also important, the automobile's manual should be read on all things child passenger safety/car seats. So, there ya have that. I did none of the above. I left the installation up to Derick, since that's what guys are good at. I trusted that he had it in right. He did. However, I had no CLUE how to even buckle him into his seat when we left the hospital. THANKFULLY where we delivered Jake (St. Francis Hospital, where I was working at the time) they try to have someone that is car seat certified working. A CPST was working and she ran the basics by me and out we went. I didn't even know how tight the straps needed to be. I was just guessing. And I certainly had no idea about the retainer clip (chest clip). I looked at my friend's pictures on facebook, because surely THEY knew what was best and how it was done, right? I seriously NEVER even gave it a single thought other than that. Then someone made ONE comment on a picture I'd posted to facebook when Jake was 3 weeks and 1 day old. Beverly Muzzy, if you read this... it was you. :) Her one comment (that was in no way offensive!!) is probably mostly responsible for beginning my obsession with car seats. This was the picture.

 She just said something about the straps being too loose. Look how loose they are! You can tell they're too loose! And that retainer clip... dear LORD look how low it is! Cryin' shame. After that, I started reading things online and read my manual and my car's manual. And then I used that info for me and only me. THEN I started to analyze pictures that people would post to facebook and my heart would just break for those poor kids whose parents were just like me and didn't know any better! So, I started posting little facts and tidbits here and there in an effort to bring light to subject that is so often brushed over. I have had people tell me specifically that the facts I post about car-seat safety has shed light on something they were not aware of and in turn were able to make their kiddo safer. Anyway, after that comment, Jake looked more like this in his car seat.

Perfectly snug fit, retainer clip at armpit/nipple level. Beautiful. And yes, it is perfectly ok for a kid's head to lay against the side like that. If you do not like it, you can place rolled up blankets, towels, washrag, whatever... Just so long as nothing comes between the child's body and what came WITH the car seat. Aftermarket positioners are UNSAFE FYI. Also unsafe and not recommended (which I did not learn until I became certified) are those little rings I have hooked to his seat. Anything that didn't come with the seat, is unsafe.

I unofficially began researching content on child passenger safety on my own. I knew what was appropriate, for the most part, and what was completely inappropriate. Truthfully, I used my friends' facebook pictures of incorrect usage, along with informational websites, to learn what was ok, and what was not... and also what was of popular belief but not true or ok.

Jake was on the heavier end as an infant, and his infant seat only went up to 22 pounds. At 6 months, Jake was 19 lbs, so I knew I needed to find a him a new seat quickly. I decided on the seat below. I ordered this seat before it was even available to be ordered. I thought it was THE seat for us. :) Here is Jake in his brand new seat at almost 7 months. He was actually only testing it out. We didn't go anywhere, I just buckled him in for the picture.

August 2010 with Sophie the Giraffe. Straps could probably have stood to be a little tighter, but we weren't going anywhere right then. I was just excited to see what he looked like in his new seat.

The reason I had bought this seat was, first and foremost, because it would allow Jake to rear face until 40 lbs. We have since moved on to a different brand of seat. This seat was a car accident, so it had to be destroyed. Here a few of my favorite of Jake from then till now in his seats.

At 26 months, 30 pounds, 37.5", Jake is perfectly happy (and safer) rear facing. 

I have had people sort of snicker, or try to justify their "turning around" of their almost 2 or barely 2 year-old toddler, and even a barely ONE year-old toddler. You can say whatever you want, especially if you have your own blog... because I'm about to say what I want... since this is my own blog. Sorry, I am really passionate about it. :) My child is as much as FIVE times safer than your forward facing child. So... snicker all you want. Because that is what I have encountered a couple times... however... I'm being very kind to keep my comments (and not so nice thoughts) to myself, even though I could completely slam them with facts. :) I did not make up that statistic above. It was a real number in a real study, published in real medical journals. Wanna see what it would look like if your forward facing kid was sitting right next to my rear facing kid in a crash?? Here you go. :) Hmm... Pretty sure I like the rear-facing position a lot better. And if Jake can still fit properly, he will still ride that way.

Ever heard of internal decapitation? Google it. It was enough for me to take the real-world studies seriously. Watch a couple youtube videos of kids who were affected by it. You may change your tune about my exponentially safer-than-yours child.

This site really explains every reason that rear facing is safer.

So, yep. Jake is still rear-facing. I have no time-limit set on it other than his size and what the seat will allow. Until we reach that point... my kid will be safer than forward facing kids. And trust me, I have the highest weight/height limit seat on the market, it will be a while. I am not interested in forward facing. It is NOT a fun or exciting thing. In fact, the day he turns around will be a sad day, because it will be a step down in safety.

So, there you have it. We do extended rear-facing in the House of Pickle. It is not for everyone. I totally know that. But DO know that the AAP recommends that ALL children stay rear facing until 2 years or as long as they fit the height/weight requirements of the seat in rear-facing position.

In June of last year, I completed a 4 day training course and left being "car seat certified", or the actual term... Child Passenger Safety Technician. So, if you have ANY questions, or would like me to help you make sure your seat is being used properly and safely, PLEASE ask me to look at any time!! I have honestly, since the day I passed that class, had 3 people ask me to look at their seats. Well, other than the ones in the car-seat clinics I help with. If I had a friend that was car-seat certified, I'd be all over that offer! Please ask, I want my friend's kids to be as safe as possible!

It is estimated that about 80% of car seats are misused, either because a child is in the wrong seat, the seat is installed wrong, or the child is not placed in the seat correctly. I will willingly admit that Jake's was installed incorrectly when I went to take the CPST course.

So.... feel free to ask me to check out your seat(s), or to help you find a car-seat check station in your area!

Happy Tuesday, friends!