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...