Bye Bye and Hello

I’m stretching myself thin in the blog world. I’ve started numerous blogs to write about different aspects of my life. It’s become a little overwhelming to keep up with them and to figure out what I’m going to write for each. I’ve stared some post but I keep putting them in a draft folder and never finishing the post. I’ve been doing this blog thing for about 3-4 years now and my life has just changed so much that my original blog just didn’t fit. So I made another one. Which in the end didn’t work. So another and another…it makes no sense, just have one place. One Blog. So that’s what I’m doing. It will be about anything in my life. Baby, husband, food, hair, hobbies, etc… So here we go…Living My Life

How quickly they forget

Is your baby sleeping through the night?  No?

How often I've heard this?  For the record, my baby is not sleeping through the night.  He is only 2 months old. 

Here's the thing.  I got sucked into this baby sleeping through the night thing.  Not that I cared if I got more sleep, cuz I don't mind getting up to feed him.  I cared because I thought I should care, at least lots of other people made me feel like I should care.  So I started putting rice cereal in his bottle.  granted i never actually put the recommend amount because deep down i just didn't feel comfortable.  I have been putting 1tbsp of cereal in his bottle at night.  I told myself it was because he is eating so much, which is true, but the rice has not stopped this.  I still have to figure a solution for this but as far as the cereal, I now wonder if I'm stuck doing this.  I don't think I am, I mean it's not a drug or something that has to be lessened gradually.  So after all the stress of trying to figure out how to make him sleep through the night I've finally decided to just stop.  Stop caring what others think and only care about what is best for me, my husband, and Nugget.  There you have it.  If you were planning on giving me advise about how to help him sleep longer at night and it included giving him rice cereal in his bottle at night, you can keep that advise to yourself.  It's nothing personal.  Well it is personal, it is personal to me and my family.  I'm just trying to do what is best for my baby in my own opinion. 

But lets talk about these people who have so proudly proclaimed their baby's perfect sleeping habits.  If you really prod, you may actually find out that their baby was at least 12 weeks old before sleeping through the night.  And if what so many moms have told me is true, after 12 weeks each baby has a renewal and they are much easier to care for.  I'm guessing it is partially because they are naturally starting to sleep longer at night.  Therefore the mom is sleeping longer and therefore everyone is just much happier.  It seems some of these "my baby slept all night"  moms forget that those first 12 weeks are hard and come with a lot of sleepless nights.  Maybe after giving birth you not only forget the pain of birth but you also forget those first 12 weeks.  which i didnt' have labor pain, i had an epidural.  Oooh, I have that to brag to all you "my baby is sleeping through the night moms", I didn't have any labor pains and I only pushed for 30 minutes. 

.

when I get done I'll...

We have a little bit of a schedule for Nugget.  I feed him about 7:30ish, then a bath, and then I rock him to sleep.  It worked last night and it has worked so far tonight.  He'll wake up again about 11ish and then again at 3ish.  Yes, he is still waking up at night but the time between has gotten longer.  The best part is not the duration between waking, it's the sound sleep.  Instead of being fussy, he is sleeping pretty soundly. 

The routine ends about 8:30ish which means I'm able to get a few things done after he goes to sleep.  As a side note:  except for the lake of sleep, I really do wish I had more time with him after work.  But that is for another post.   Anyway, I'm now wondering what to do with my time after 8:30.  The cool thing is that I'll be able to get some housework type things done.  But, if I get done with that, then what?  Do I spin?  Do I cook?  Do I knit?  Do I blog?  It's like I've been given this extra few hours.  Not really of course but I think because I haven't felt like I've had this time before now it seems to mean a lot more to me.  Before I had Nugget I had all the time in the world to pursue my hobbies (and I had a lot of hobbies).  But I wasted so much of that time.  Now 1 or 2 hours at the end of the night is so precious and treated like a gift. 

So what did I do with those extra hours tonight?  First I put together Southwestern Chicken to be cooked in the slow cooker tomorrow.  Then I roasted some bell pepper that I then cleaned, cut, vacuum sealed and froze.  There are a couple recipes that I really like that call for roasted bell pepper and I find it much easier to do ahead of time and just defrost.  And now I'm blogging about the extra time that is allowing me to blog.  ahem.

Oh, you know I really like to give everyone links to good stuff and resources.  Well I couldn't get through another post without a link.  Tonight it's a podcast that I just found.  New Moms New Babies podcast.  I've listened to a few episode and they seem to have a great chemistry between them and they have some great info to share.  From this podcast I learned about Nick Kelsh who has written several books and has some great advise on taking pics of babies.  I also learned about the website Just Ask Baby which has some really interesting childhood development resources. 

Well, it's getting time for Nugget to start stirring.  Tomorrow night when I get done with washing the dog I'll...


.

Faces of James

I just love these pics.

.

Expectant Mom Shopping List - Part 3 (but not Part 3)

I'm not going to continue with this list.  I will however share with you what we love as a family as I come across them.

This post... not a Boppy but a Leachco Cuddle-U pillow.  I know it looks the same but ours is a Leachco.  What do I love about this pillow...take a look.

 You can't see the little strappy thing that makes this a wonderful thing.  It holds him in even when he gets all squirmy (from trying to poot).  He is so comfy in here.  I've been using it on the couch and in the bed.  I'll get him all set up and then I'm able to lay down next to him with out worrying that I'm going to roll over on him.  He also uses it for tummy time.  He is not that fond of being flat on this belly but when I put him in here he is able to look around and lift his head just like being flat on his tummy. 

And something else we've been enjoying learning.  Baby yoga.  My mom got us a this Baby and Toddler Yoga video.  We are taking our time and getting used to doing the routine.  Once we've worked through it a few times I'll give a more thorough review.  And speaking of yoga.  I hope to start doing yoga again.  I'm putting that at the end of this post with the hope that nobody will read this far and nobody will be able to hold my feet to the fire about my declaration.  What?

This is hard...

I've been putting off this post for a week.  I felt it appropriate to write about my little girl Sara before continuing on. 

Our little girl lost her fight with colon polyps/cancer. 

All I can say at this point is she will be dearly missed and was much loved.

Expectant Mom Shopping List - Part 2

First I want to share a super cute pic of the Nugget.  He has had such a bad time lately with gas and tummy problems that moment when he is happy and making all the cute faces just had to be saved.  This is just the cutest faces I've seen, too bad it's a crappy iPhone pic.

Okay, back to the list.  These are things that are wonderful extras that I've fallin' in love with.

Our grass drying rack is so wonderful.  No matter what size the bottles, nipples, or whatever needs to dry this rack holds it.  Only one complaint, it's not big enough.  It needs to be longer.  Even with it being small I can fit 6 bottles and parts on this thing.  That is counting the 6 parts to each of my bottles. 

Speaking of bottles.  I would advise all moms to spend the extra money (like a dollar extra, really not much) and get Dr. Brown bottles.  Yes, they have 6 parts (lid, nipple, connector ring, valve, funnel, and bottle) to each bottle which can be a pain when washing but I credit these bottles and soy formula for making my Nugget a happy baby.

This is a new purchase that helps with bath time.  DH and I always fought about temp of the bath water.  I always thought it was too cold and he thought it was too hot.  This little guy helps to settle the fight.  Instead of the word "HOT" on the bottom and became white no mater the temp, this little Octopus bath thermometer lets you know when the water is cold, hot, or ideal. 

I've heard 2 different reactions to a Diaper Genie (or similar product) one is that mothers hate it and other mothers love it.  I'm in the "Love It" category.  I think because I got the newer version the Diaper Genie II Elite.  It doesn't do the twisty thing, it just has these little flipper things that open and close allowing the diaper to drop into the bag once the lid is closed which keeps the smell in the bag and not in the air.  I don't know how to explain it very good. 

We love our Precious Planet Playard.  We used it as a bassinet for the first month.  The changing table thinging made things very convenient for late night changes.

So these are a few of my favorite things.  To be continued...

Expectant Mom Shopping List

Being a new mom I thought I would put together a little list of things that were most used in our first month with Nugget.  This might help any expectant mothers out there or help when buying for an expectant mother. 

First: The Big 3 (IMHO)

1.  Bottles/nipples of choice.  This seems obvious but everyone things that everyone else will buy bottles.  I can tell you that unless you want to wash bottles 4-5 times a day (which I don't, once is bad enough) having lots of bottles and nipples is essential. 

2.  Receiving blankets.  Doesn't seem like something you would need a lot of, but in the first few weeks of wearing those diapers with the cut out for the umbilical cord or maybe just because he is a boy, he peed through diapers so many times.  Well, in peeing through the diaper he also got his blanket wet.  Since babies like to be swaddled so you need those clean receiving blankets.

3.  Onesies.  Again this would seem obvious and when I got a bunch at my shower I thought it was too many.  Nope.  Again with the peeing through diapers so much we not only had to change the diaper but the sheets, blanket, and the onesie.   Again with not having to do so much laundry. 

Next post will be fun extras that are really appreciated.

Maybe he was right

I really do feel bad for first borns.  We parents are just trying to figure things out and experimenting on them.  Poor James.  It really is a good thing he is such a good baby.  He is a wonderful little being and I love every moment we've had together.  Can't wait to see what the days, months, and years have to bring. 

Anyway, about this experimentation.  When James was 1 week old he was not gaining enough weight.  We were instructed by our pediatrician to feed him every 2-3 hrs.  To even wake him up and feed him (wake him up at least during the day).  Well, we did this.  By the next office visit he had gained 1 pound.  We were very proud parents who felt we had done a good parenting job.  Not being told differently we continued to make sure he was being feed every 2 hrs (during the day which just naturally went into the night feedings).  2 weeks later, now 1 month old, James weights 10 pounds.  I just hope the Dr. understands that we are just trying to do the right thing and that we were not trying to create a little porker.  So this is the reason for his gassiness, parents that were really eager to make sure our little one was eating enough.  What we got was a little one that was eating too much was causing him to have gas.  Paul akined it to eating Thanksgiving dinner several times a day.  I would have gas too. 

After being really upset at myself for again screwing up and "not being a good mom", I've decided to try to relax and do what feels right. Which is not so easy when you little one is crying and you are just trying to make him happy. 

Speaking of making him happy.  This made him happy and allowed me wash some bottles. Oh, and check out the grass thingy on the counter.  It's a drying rack thing for baby bottles and stuff.  Great product just wish it was bigger. 

Advice you can use...

My little Nugget is 3 weeks and 4 days old.  You probably know that you get all kinds of advice when people find out you are pregnant, some you can use and some you discard.

The most used and most appreciated bit advice thus far is this...waterproof pads and layering.  Here's what you do, layer a waterproof pad and then a sheet, waterproof pad and sheet, and repeat.  Why?  Let us imagine it is 2am and your little one has just wet his diaper.  He/she peed so much that it overflowed the diaper and now the crib sheets are wet.  Do you really want to be changing sheets and diapers at 2am?  I don't.  See where I'm going with this?  Wet sheets, just remove a layer of sheet and waterproof pad and your done.  Fabulous idea right!!!  Thanks to my friend Jessica for this one, it saved us so many nights.  There was even a night that we went through 3 layers.  I couldn't imagine having to change the sheets each time there was a pee containment failure.  The pads can be a bit pricey, but believe me it is so worth it. 

Only 3 Hours of Sleep

Yep, I'm a new mom. That's why I only had 3 hrs of sleep today. In my sleep deprived state I thought that it would be a fun project to start a blog about being a mom (a new and inexperienced mom). Not that this in an original idea or concept. And not that this blog would ever aspire to have a movie made about it. But, it will chronicle my life as a new mom and will be a place that I will share some of the helpful hints and ideas that are found along the way. You, the reader, will also be able to read about all the trials and challenges that my baby, husband, and I experience. Well here we go.

So, why did I only have 3 hours of sleep? Gas. Not colic, thank God. But simple elemental Gas. And I still haven't mastered the "sleep while your baby is sleeping" thing. Imagine a cranky gassy baby that only relaxes and calms when curled up on mommy's chest. I'm sure that almost all moms have experienced this. And I'm going to be honest here, I love it. I love that I have this ability to sooth a cranky baby with just a cuddle. Anyway, I digress. So, here I am sitting up in bed allowing the sweet innocent wee one to sleep while I try to stay comfortable and keep my foot from falling asleep. The foot that was curled under me so that I could prop up my arm that kept the sweet little baby from rolling off onto the hard floor and crack his scull open. This being another reason I can not allow myself to fall asleep. Anyway, about 3 am, "Nugget" as I'll be calling him, starts smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. I know what this means. Hungry. I knew it was coming. It's also inevitable that he would then need to be changed and then we have to try to get a gassy baby back to sleep. Well, at 3:14 am I had to get hubby to try to calm him and get him to sleep while I got some sleep. He of course had no problem. Binky and a rocking bassinet works wonders when daddy does it.

Now, fast forward 3 hours. 6 am. Hungry Nugget. It's dad's turn. Dad feeds Nugget and proceeds to burp Nugget. This is not normally exciting. Not until a little Nugget takes a big ol' poo. Again this is not something that would be extra extraordinary. Daddy has no probs with changing poo diapers. But there was a serious failure of the diaper containment zone. Oh Meh Gah. It's 6 am and I've only had 3 hrs of sleep. We are dealing with a failed containment zone on 3 hrs of sleep. Needless to say we all got cleaned up and then hubby and I had a nice laugh over the whole incident. But in my sleep deprived state I thought "I need to share these stories with the world". Why? Why does everyone need to know about this. You don't. I don't have to share it with anyone, but I'm going to anyway.