Wordless Wednesday: Seasonal Craving

p.s. I'm thankful for the awesome weather forecasted for the next few days...bring on the walks, time at the park, and energy.

We Need Our Rest

Historically I have undervalued sleep.  As an elementary-aged child I would hide in my closet with the light on and read for hours after bedtime. During summer vacation in high school I would sometimes be going to bed as my step-father was showering for work at 5:30 a.m.  During my year as a teacher with a 35 minute commute and thus a wake-up time of 5:20 a.m., I discovered the beauty of going to bed early and waking up somewhat rested and wondered how I had ever lived on so little sleep.  But that lesson didn't last all that long, and I returned to my night owl ways. 

Now as a first time mom I am a huge proponent of sleep...for my son at least.  In fact, one of my little pet peeves as a mom has been how much attention our society seems to give to the breast milk versus formula debate while ignoring how incredibly important sleep is to basic human development.  I guess that's because my son quit napping (except in the Ergo) for a week around 2 months of age or so until I began offering a bottle after nursing, and on the occasion I had to use formula to supplement I had to read a label that reminded me that breast milk was the superior choice for my son.  Could you imagine any other product bearing such a label? Couldn't everything on the junk food, juice, or cereal aisle be labeled "Fruits or vegetables are better choices for your children?" Anyway, I digress.

I wonder how much of the misbehavior and fussiness we see in young children is because they are overtired, and their parents lack the knowledge of how important a decent sleep schedule and short wake times are--particularly at young ages.  I imagine some parents have an inkling but don't want to be inconvenienced by a schedule, and then other people like me may be at the other extreme and a little over-zealous or analytical with the schedule.  I figure a second child will break me of some of this, but almost every time I veer too far from our schedule, my son's temperament takes a nose-dive in the form of crying and fussiness which generally are not part of his routine behavior.  Seriously--when it gets close to bedtime Jackson hits a wall.  We describe it as "melting," and it's marked by falling down and sometimes even hitting his head on the ground.  It's so pitiful, and sometimes it begins just 3 hours after he's woken from his last nap.  We try to keep him awake until 7 but often poor guy just can't make it.  Now if I could just get myself in bed 8 hours before my alarm (a.k.a. Jackson) sounds around 6 a.m. :)

p.s. I'm thankful that most nights my son sleeps without making a sound for 11 hours.

Wordless Wednesday: Halfway There!

p.s. I'm thankful for all the hand-me-downs my sister has already lent me for my daughter. I love pink!

Our Family Harlem Shake Video

Yesterday my husband had just one goal: to make a family Harlem Shake video.  Definitely not my thing, but I played along, and Jackson LOVED it.  He couldn't stop watching his daddy act silly. 

 

p.s. I'm grateful for a husband who still surprises me and makes our son smile and laugh so often.

Pinterest Successes (and Failures)

I enjoy perusing Pinterest occasionally, and somewhat to my amusement my husband does too.  He even has the app on his phone and uses my account to pin things.  The best part about it is that he has started creating things that I have pinned.  He recently made an end table for our sunroom, a cute garland for Jackson's birthday party, and frames from pallets for our living room. 

While the photographs on Pinterest are great eye candy, one of my pet peeves about Pinterest is that sometimes all the pinned item is is a great photograph--a photograph that practically seduces you into making a recipe that you might know better than to make if it weren't for the incredible photograph.   My first Pinterest fail was Reese's Krispies; I thought peanut butter, chocolate, and Rice Krispies would have to be awesome combined, but you couldn't give these "treats" away.  That experience made me wary and was reinforced by my next experiment that rendered a mediocre dessert.  The photographs trick me into bad ideas! I gave Pinterest one more try last night and made baked s'mores and finally cooking success!

Unfortunately we had a big fail yesterday evening just a few hours before the dinner party we were hosting at 7:00--not Pinterest related this time.  My husband filled our dishwasher soap dispenser with dishwashing liquid soap and moments later our kitchen floor was covered with bubbles.  Thankfully our doggy Thatcher alerted us with major barking, and we caught it quickly.  I spent an hour scooping out bubbles and cleaning the floor only to then discover the pipe underneath our kitchen sink was majorly leaking, and everything under our sink was soaked.  I put a bowl under the pipe, cleaned up that mess, and then Jackson proceeded to spill the bowl of dirty soapy water all over the kitchen floor and himself.  All of this happened while we were suppose to be cooking dinner for our guests.  Definitely a Calgon-take-me-away few hours.  Needless to say we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the evening, and we're still handwashing dishes and have put off tackling the soapy dishwasher until tomorrow. 

p.s. I'm thankful for understanding and helpful friends and for our new tradition of monthly dinners at each others' houses.

My Valentines

 

p.s. I'm thankful for a holiday all about candy, cookies, cupcakes, and love.

We are Having a Girl!

Last week we learned that our July baby is a girl! Needless to say, we're thrilled.  I adore having a son but am really excited that we'll have a daughter too.  I've enjoyed my nieces so much that I've longed for a little girl for years.

We found out we were expecting in November.  I had actually just met with my doctor and discussed how to get my cycle back on track (since it hadn't been since I had Jackson a year ago), so we could "try" in the spring.  Since we hadn't been preventing pregnancy I took a test before starting the medicine he gave me, and voila, a positive sign appeared.  Of course, we were excited but a little shocked too.  The shock wore off in a few days, and like before, I often feel so thankful that we have such an easy time conceiving.  What an incredible gift.

We had talked about what age gap we would like between our children and couldn't decide, so not trying or preventing was the route we chose....and I guess God wants our children close in age! There will be 18 months between them, and I hope they'll be good buddies. 

Since we found out the gender of this baby two days before Jackson's first birthday we decided his smash cake should reveal whether he would have a sister or brother.  Plus it was an easy way to tell our seven parents at the same time. 

Jackson's birthday party was last Saturday, and I was most excited about seeing what he would think of his first taste of cake.  Baking his smash cake and the cupcakes reminded me of how much I love frosting, and I wondered if he would too.  It took him a few seconds to dig into the frosting, and then he figured out he could lean down and just bite into the cake.  So fun to watch! And of course, everyone was leaning in to see if the cake was blue or pink.  And while Jackson seemed to like the cake, he didn't seem to like it anymore than plain whole milk  yogurt.

So this week we're enjoying lots of new toys and continuing to think about baby girl names.  We love Ella, but I wish it weren't so popular.  I'm advocating for Sloan, but my husband isn't quite on board yet. We'll see, but I'm ready to call this baby by name.  Can't wait to meet her!

p.s. I'm grateful that this pregnancy is easier than my last one and that our daughter looks healthy with long legs and feet and full lips.

p.p.s. I promise that Jackson wears clothes most of the time :)

Jackson is One!

Dear Jackson,

Today we began the celebration of your first birthday, although you seemed pretty oblivious to the importance of the day. We had our usual playdate with your closest friends (Holden, Tucker, Charlie, Wells, Asher, Elliott, and Betsy), and it was a two hour whirlwind of activity and fun.  You like the babies and try to touch their faces and steal their pacis, although you never otherwise use a paci.   You enjoy the bigger boys too but are also content to just watch and play on your own.  Your other favorite playmate is Thatcher.  I'm hoping sharing will come somewhat naturally to you since you've shared all of your toys with him from day one.  I've tried to teach Thatcher to leave your things alone, but then you go and stick them in his mouth.  You two "fight" over toys sometimes, and you enjoy every second of it.  You like his crate too, and whenever you can, you get in it.

Independence is something I've tried to instill in you, and boy have you taken to it! You entertain yourself in your room for 10-20 minutes at a time and will often play alone in the kitchen floor even longer if I leave the tupperware cabinet open.  This week you've really enjoyed your music table and play crayons that you alternately eat and slam together to make noise.  Oh you love to make noise! Slamming things into tables or against each other or the door--it doesn't matter so long as it's loud. You love music too and begin bouncing when you hear it.  You and I dance around to Taylor Swift & Pandora stations, and you and your Daddy listen to bluegrass and the Lumineers a lot.

Your typical day begins around 6 a.m. with a bottle followed by Baby Einstein.  Then it's a little bit of play time and breakfast.  Most mornings we feed you a smoothie (banana, strawberries, blueberries, and spinach) mixed with oatmeal, and then you feed yourself finger foods like scrambled eggs, bread, cheese, and puffs.  You like to share your finger foods with Thatcher.

You're ready for a nap by 9 a.m. and usually sleep about an hour and a half.  After your nap we play some more, read books if you'll sit still, and if you're lucky, I let you climb the stairs, which is one of your most favorite things to do.  You've been climbing them for months! And while you've been able to walk for over a month now, it's just been in the last week that you've chosen to do so with great frequency.  Some days you walk over half the time!  It's really fun to watch; you usually look like Frankstein with your arms out straight in front of you. 

Sometimes we run errands together, and you're such a good shopper! You're patient and pleasant and love watching people and riding in the cart.  We shopped one day for 3 hours, and I think you enjoyed it much more than I did.  Your Nana and Pops take you shopping a lot.

We have lunch around noon, and your Daddy often comes home to eat and visit.  Your face lights up whenever you see him.  You're a great eater, and lunch is more veggies and fruit with some sort of protein and grain.  You like black beans, yogurt, and everything else we've given you (except mashed potatoes).  Since today was your birthday I let you try chocolate milk, and you're a fan! Your birthday party is Saturday, and then you'll finally get to try cake, which will be your first taste of a sweet.

Your next nap begins 3 and a half hours after your first one ends, and it's usually only an hour.  After this nap we like to meet a friend to walk if it's warm enough.  We walk with Keri and Lindsay and Betsy a lot.  Thatcher loves to go with us.  You eat an early dinner around 5:00.  You have a bath every other night, and this is one of your favorite activities.  You squeal every time we head upstairs and would play in the tub for hours if we'd let you. 

You're usually ready to go to bed pretty early regardless of what is going on and lights are almost always out by 7:00.  Either Daddy or I give you your bottle in the dark with the sound machine going, and when we lay you down on your belly in your crib, you push your behind up in the air and pull your puppy underneath you.  You're so precious.

One of the most striking things about you is how happy you are.  You smile a lot, laugh in delight often, and like everyone.  I'm often asked if you ever have bad days, and thankfully those days are rare and just when you're not feeling 100%.  And thankfully you've never even had a fever and have enjoyed a healthy first year of life with only the occasional runny/stuffed up nose. 

Last weekend Daddy and I left you with grandparents for the weekend (Grandma half the time and Gan and Poppy the other half), and I don't think you missed us one bit.  Your grandparents adore you, and you're such an easy baby that it makes it really fun for them to keep you.

I am so glad to be your mom and am excited about seeing how you grow and who you become.  I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with you.

Love,

Mommy

p.s. I am so thankful that you're my son.

It Takes a Village

Since our son arrived in February we have had so much help, and it's still been hard to adjust to the dramatic increase in responsibility at times.  Initially we had friends and family bringing meals several times a week, which was wonderful, because otherwise we would have been eating out every single meal (or eating peanut butter sandwiches).  Each month has been easier than the previous one, particularly as Jackson has become more and more predictable and I've cut back on pumping (at one time I was pumping over 3 hours a day combined with 2 hours of bottle feeding). 

Since Jackson's arrival my husband's work travel schedule has increased tremendously.  Blake now  travels anywhere from once a month to every single week in a month.   When Jackson was a month old Blake's travel schedule exploded, and he was gone three out of four weeks in a row and I would get physically sick with anxiety--which even in hindsight I totally understand because things were SO much harder then.  Thankfully I don't feel very anxious anymore when Blake is gone, and I've learned that if he's going to be gone for more than 3 days I have to ask for--and accept help--even when I don't think I need it.

Yesterday my sweet neighbor volunteered to keep Jackson, and it allowed me to go visit my friend who is pregnant and on bed rest in the hospital (and to have a peaceful late lunch).  Last week it was too hot to take Jackson on a walk, thus I couldn't walk our dog who had been inside all day while we were out of town (and Blake was out of town).  So our neighbor offered to take him to the park when she walked her dog.  Tomorrow Blake's dad is watching Jackson for a little while just so I have some kid-free time and they get some one-on-one time.  All of this help not only helps me, but I think it's so good for Jackson to be with people besides me (and I love hearing about all of the different things others do with him that would never occur to me) and it really helps our marriage.  These breaks help me not meet my weary, over-traveled husband at the door with our child and exclaim "here, I am exhausted. Take him please. I am done!"  This help often allows us to have alone time to connect, worship, or even get chores done--and while our baby is with people we admire and trust.  What a blessing to have a village to help because we certainly need one!

p.s. I'm thankful for my crock pot.  I love cooking 8 portions of a meal at one time because that's the only way I avoid eating totally awful when Blake is gone.

Wordless Wednesday: First Trip to the Library