Sleep... I never thought I would spend so much of my day thinking about sleep. How many hours will he sleep tonight? What can I do to help him sleep better? What time should I put him down to sleep? Do you think he's ready to go to sleep now? Will I ever have a full night of sleep again? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. I did however, get some perspective on the sleeping issue in our house.
Conrad is almost 4 1/2 months old. Some babies sleep through the night at this age, many do not. Conrad's sleep has been regressing for at least a month. At about 2 1/2 months he slept one four hour stretch and then up every two hours. Since then, he's been back to every two hours, at least. I don't know if he's really hungry every time he wakes up, but I also don't think I'm ready to start any official sleep training with him. I've also noticed that he does not seem to be nursing as effectively in the daytime. He seems distracted during his feedings. An article I found supports that theory. It says that around four months the baby starts getting more interested in their environment and has less tunnel vision when it comes to nursing. This can cause them to nurse less effectively during the day for a while and then want to eat more at night while it's calm and they can concentrate. Aha. Well doesn't that just make sense.
I know that not everyone has an exactly 4 month old baby, but I thought that this might be a good reminder that sometimes babies are doing things for a reason, even if we don't know what it is. We don't need to rush to "fix" everything right away. Click here for the link to this particular article. This website has other great articles that may be helpful if you are in a different stage, but still looking for a clue into their mysterious sleep behavior!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Come here....Come here....Come here....Come here
There are scenarios that as parents, or friends of parents, or children of parents that we all recognize. The situations which are humorous when happening to someone else, but decidedly less so when we are the ones weathering them. When I was a little kid, my grandparents used to have Bill Cosby tapes which we would listen to on the 13 hour drive to West Virginia every year. I still think they are some of the funniest things I have ever heard. Here's Bill's take on parenting.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Why can't we just....
Not be so hard on ourselves? Acknowledge that doing the best that we can is just that, the best we can. This week I've been struck by the number of expectations that we put on ourselves, and that sometimes as women in particular, we put on each other.
My oldest is less than two years old. I am just dipping my toe into the world of parenting, the world that requires me to do more than just love and nurture my precious baby. I am just starting to think about things like discipline, sharing, and boundaries. I always knew they were part of the gig, and maybe I even tricked myself into thinking I was already practicing these things, but I know now that I was wrong. It has only been in the last few weeks that I have stopped to think, "I'm not sure how I should respond to this behavior / action / emotion". And in the aftermath of these first few moments I have already lost sleep over how I reacted. I was too strict, too lenient, too reactive, too passive. Too exhausted just thinking about it!
The reality is this whole mommy thing is a learning process, for the mommy and baby, right? Sure, Warren might be learning that he needs to share his toys, or sit at the table to eat, but I'm learning too. It's ok that we don't have all the answers yet, we have at least the next 18 years if not the rest of our lives to figure them out. Our shot at being a good parent isn't blown by not knowing exactly what to do in these first few moments.
Breast feeding. How have we, woman to woman, made each other feel like a failure if this is a struggle, or doesn't work? Over and over I am talking to moms who are in tears over the pressure that they feel to breast feed successfully. Let's stop and realize that these first few months and years are all just part of the process of us becoming mothers, and our babies becoming individuals. We will continue to influence them for the rest of our lives, and we don't have to get it right all day, every day. An old friend of mine used to say, "the pro is in the process". That is still my favorite saying, and I draw on it often. I don't want to be so worried about the end result that I miss the process, because that is where life is happening.
Take a look at those sweet babies, are they loved? Then let's forgive ourselves for everything we think we have done or are doing wrong, because if they are loved we are doing the best thing of all.
My oldest is less than two years old. I am just dipping my toe into the world of parenting, the world that requires me to do more than just love and nurture my precious baby. I am just starting to think about things like discipline, sharing, and boundaries. I always knew they were part of the gig, and maybe I even tricked myself into thinking I was already practicing these things, but I know now that I was wrong. It has only been in the last few weeks that I have stopped to think, "I'm not sure how I should respond to this behavior / action / emotion". And in the aftermath of these first few moments I have already lost sleep over how I reacted. I was too strict, too lenient, too reactive, too passive. Too exhausted just thinking about it!
The reality is this whole mommy thing is a learning process, for the mommy and baby, right? Sure, Warren might be learning that he needs to share his toys, or sit at the table to eat, but I'm learning too. It's ok that we don't have all the answers yet, we have at least the next 18 years if not the rest of our lives to figure them out. Our shot at being a good parent isn't blown by not knowing exactly what to do in these first few moments.
Breast feeding. How have we, woman to woman, made each other feel like a failure if this is a struggle, or doesn't work? Over and over I am talking to moms who are in tears over the pressure that they feel to breast feed successfully. Let's stop and realize that these first few months and years are all just part of the process of us becoming mothers, and our babies becoming individuals. We will continue to influence them for the rest of our lives, and we don't have to get it right all day, every day. An old friend of mine used to say, "the pro is in the process". That is still my favorite saying, and I draw on it often. I don't want to be so worried about the end result that I miss the process, because that is where life is happening.
Take a look at those sweet babies, are they loved? Then let's forgive ourselves for everything we think we have done or are doing wrong, because if they are loved we are doing the best thing of all.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Bananas....B.A.N.A.N.A.S
Is it wrong that I self check my spelling of bananas by singing the Gwen Stefani song in my head? I hope she got it right, hmmm.
First of all, I just want to thank everyone for the amount of LOVE you've shown me since announcing the blog rebirth. I have felt so grateful and inspired the last few days thanks to all of you. Now here's my challenge: let's all pick someone else to make feel the same way. Somebody else who just had a baby, started a new job, retired, is going through a transition, or just needs a show of support. Call them up and say "hey I've been thinking about you, let's get together". No matter how you think they will react, just do it, it is exactly what they are needing right now. It will make a difference, it did to me.
I think there will need to be a segment of this blog entitled, "last to know". I am always learning new tricks which I am certain that everyone else has known about for a long time. But maybe there is some other girl or boy out there who has spent a lot of their life pondering whether northbound or southbound is the best way to hike the Appalachian Trail, or whether my mom knows what the Doobie Brothers meant by Doobie, and never really worried about things like what you can do with a Bounce sheet or white vinegar.... until now. These "last to know" segments are for you, or me.
I only like green bananas. There she goes again, b.a.n.a.n.a.s. If there is even a hint of a brown spot going on, I'm done. I always have great ambitions to turn every aging banana into a loaf of nut bread, but then you don't have enough of them at the same time, there are bugs in your flour etc.. Then I read that you can simply peel an aging banana, throw it in a ziplock and freeze it. Take them out whenever you actually have time, and fresh flour, and make some nut bread...OR.... take one out and put it, still frozen, into a smoothie! Guess what? It works!
We have been blending up smoothie after smoothie at our house recently. Warren thinks it's so neat to drink out of his own cup with a straw. I use them to get good stuff into the little man, and to clean out the fridge. This smoothie is a variation of one I used to make when I worked at a high end gym in New York a few lifetimes ago....
First of all, I just want to thank everyone for the amount of LOVE you've shown me since announcing the blog rebirth. I have felt so grateful and inspired the last few days thanks to all of you. Now here's my challenge: let's all pick someone else to make feel the same way. Somebody else who just had a baby, started a new job, retired, is going through a transition, or just needs a show of support. Call them up and say "hey I've been thinking about you, let's get together". No matter how you think they will react, just do it, it is exactly what they are needing right now. It will make a difference, it did to me.
I think there will need to be a segment of this blog entitled, "last to know". I am always learning new tricks which I am certain that everyone else has known about for a long time. But maybe there is some other girl or boy out there who has spent a lot of their life pondering whether northbound or southbound is the best way to hike the Appalachian Trail, or whether my mom knows what the Doobie Brothers meant by Doobie, and never really worried about things like what you can do with a Bounce sheet or white vinegar.... until now. These "last to know" segments are for you, or me.
I only like green bananas. There she goes again, b.a.n.a.n.a.s. If there is even a hint of a brown spot going on, I'm done. I always have great ambitions to turn every aging banana into a loaf of nut bread, but then you don't have enough of them at the same time, there are bugs in your flour etc.. Then I read that you can simply peel an aging banana, throw it in a ziplock and freeze it. Take them out whenever you actually have time, and fresh flour, and make some nut bread...OR.... take one out and put it, still frozen, into a smoothie! Guess what? It works!
We have been blending up smoothie after smoothie at our house recently. Warren thinks it's so neat to drink out of his own cup with a straw. I use them to get good stuff into the little man, and to clean out the fridge. This smoothie is a variation of one I used to make when I worked at a high end gym in New York a few lifetimes ago....
CHAI LATTE SMOOTHIE
If you have spotty bananas
you've frozen ahead of time
take one or two out, slice it, throw it in a blender and add:
1/2 c. Chai Latte Concentrate (I got this one at Publix)
1 c. almond, rice, soy, or lowfat milk
2-3 heaping Tb. of almond or peanut butter
1/4 t. vanilla or almond extract
1 c. crushed ice
Blend it all up. This amount makes me one big and two little glasses.
and one happy little guy....
By the way, I use a Ninja blender. It doesn't have a huge canister, so is not a great choice for big batches of say.... strawberry margaritas, but it does bring ice to it's knees in a way that only a ninja could. It's also easy to clean and costs only $40. Find it here.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Before we begin.... a disclaimer
Some of you may have been here before. Some of you haven't, but might notice the renovation heavy posts that precede this one. This is indeed a blog resurrection. A new years resolution of sorts. As I disclosed in the intro after having my second kiddo this spring, I realized that the days I thought would be filled with play dates and coffee groups were instead filled with laundry, cleaning, and two little faces that while adorable could not yet speak back to me. I also noticed that many other new moms felt the same way. So, I made a commitment to myself and other mommies looking for a lifeline. I am going to share a little bit of myself and my life and hope to receive some sharing in return. A sense of community, or "we're in this togetherness" of sorts. While we are still very much in the process of renovating our house, I am releasing myself of the pressure of posting a tutorial or materials list with every update. I decided not to delete all my previous posts pertaining to house projects. While I am changing the focus of this blog somewhat there may still be some valuable information in there for new readers. From now on I will share some reno projects but I will also share kid ideas, recipes, hopefully a few laughs, maybe a few tears, and definitely a few oops. I hope this is just what you are looking for too.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Getting Close!!!!
We are finally getting close to moving day! One to two weeks away, depending on who you ask. I'm the more optimistic, of course. Since I've written last our floor dude, Junior, has been working away on our wood floors and they look great! He has about one room and the steps left and then has to go back and tile the laundry area where we had the wrong tile at first. Then..... it's moving time!!! I've been working on some cool projects too but they aren't quite done yet so you are going to have to wait for after pics.
In the meantime, here are some pics of our "in progress" wood floors!!!
In the meantime, here are some pics of our "in progress" wood floors!!!
Living Room
Living Room
Den
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Tile Time!!!
Exciting times! Flooring is going in and we may actually live in this piece one day!!! Junior our floor man has installed the floor in the bathrooms and will be starting on the wood tomorrow. We had a bit of a color snaffu on the laundry tile so that one is delayed until the correct color comes in. Yep, it's always something. Not even that can keep me down today, though. Take a look:
Next Up Hardwoods:
I think I want the floors to lay horizontally when you open the door. Usually they are lain parallel to the doorway but our living room is so long I want it to feel wider.
Ok, that's all for now. I'm headed out of town for a few days but I will hopefully have another awesome flooring update when I get back!!
Guest Bathroom
1/2 Bath
Master Bath
The Master Bath looks so much bigger!
Half of the wood
Floor lay out
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