Party....baby's room....3am

My little Mr. is a good night sleeper-most of the time...Last night he fell asleep while getting some auntie cuddles in around 7pm. Against my better judgement I followed along and let him be, without our bedtime routine/last call bottle/final diaper check/story. I continued to have fun my siblings and great friend playing games and picking up until 11pm, just as I closed the dishwasher door-crying. I was optimistic, simple feeding then he'll go back down...

I struggled until 1230am then retreated to my bed where the hubby had been sleeping for hours. 130am was a second wake up call and I tried nearly everything including 10 minutes of monitored crying with my hand on his chest not picking him back up which only woke the hubby. I left my husband to try and crawled back into my bed for a 30 minute cap nap while Greg tried to calm him.

By 3am my little family if three was still hanging out in the nursery, full lights on with a happy (unless you put him anywhere near a lying down position) five month old. We read books, laughed, emailed video clips to grandma and Aunt Chrystal stationed in Quatar, and rocked. I googled nursery rhythms to sing and paced the room. Needles to say, not much sleep was had and I ended up sleeping in a make shift bed on the nursery floor next to a baby in only a diaper from 5 am to 730 am.

I remember walking past that onesie in the store that said "party, my room, 3am" - I was laughing then....it's not quite what I imagined-living it now. I am super lucky most nights but 3am was never and will never be the highlight of my day.

Prego brain and beyond....

During pregnancy my mind that previously recalled many events down to the booth location where we ate dinner while having a night out with friends, turned to mush. I literally checked into the wrong OBGyn office for my first visit and it didn't stop there. One day I reported to my bi-weekly stress test for the baby with two different shoes on. I am not talking a similar shoe, just a different color but a sparkly silver flip flop and a brown flat dress shoe. Then I mailed several baby thank you notes without stamps and hubby had to point out to me why I got them back.

Since the baby, I thought the "prego brain" would go away but I am still waiting. I have already pulled into the garage without stopping at daycare, burned a hole in Grant's bath towel, and on several occasions- call myself while trying to check work voicemails not understanding why when I answer call waiting no one is there. I am hopeful to regain some of that lost "brain power" but for now at least one person is smiling because of me-thankfully not my insurance carrier. ;)

Truly one of the family

Truly one of the family...

The other day my mom saw one of Grant's baby towels over the couch and asked me what happened to it.  I laughed and said "oh-that happened months ago, get over it."  What we were discussing was a baby towel with a couple quarter or bigger sized burn holes in it.  You see when Grant was two weeks old, it was still pretty rough with the 1.5 hour wake up screams all day/night long.  One time around 1am, I needed more light but didn't want to blind myself so I threw a towel over the lamp shade and it worked great.  At the 3am wake up call, I thought it worked great again until I went to shut off the lamp and noticed the burn holes.  The towel touched the bulb and burnt through the towel thankfully without doing worse.

For the first couple of weeks I put it in the bottom of the towel pile without much thought until I sent the hubby after a towel one night.  He saw the holes and questioned me while my answer was "oh-that happened weeks ago, get over it." After that we used the towel with the bath cycle as long as only hubby or I was bathing the little one.  In the event of company, Grant only used the good towels.  When I thought about this, I laughed thinking of all the items we have that only come out when nobody is around: those comfty pants, old slippers, stained sweatshirt, slightly pink once white socks that were washed in the load of reds, and the pile of holey slightly tight t-shirst the hubby sports.  With having only one little bitty, everything is still really new so Gran't burnt towel is his "for family only" item and we love it! 

Grant's wish list (things momma thinks look cool)

There are so many things that Grant could get over the holidays but below is his "I am so lucky have enough of list." But since I know that no or little presents only won't be an option for our family (first little one on both sides) I included some things we have been drooling about too!

We have lots: size 2 diapers, blankets- except Aden and Anais swaddles, rattles, stuffed animals, tethers, clothes under nine months, pjs up to 24 months, swimsuits till he's like five-lol, diaper creams, bath supplies, burp cloths, and bibs. (We are so blessed!!!)

Below is,our drool about list (photos from Amazon)

What does your little one have a lot of?


Holland



Update- I started this a couple of days ago and already purchased giraffe for Grant....hey, I waited 20 weeks!

Under the tree from Santa

Grant has been crossed off Santa's to buy for list since August! Poor kid does not sleep in his crib but couldn't if he wanted to since it is filled with new stuff that keeps coming....we love it!

The following items are wrapped up for the little one's first Christmas:

Lamaze soft pull truck
O'Ball large rattle with rain stick
Fisher Price swing and bouncer in one
Apptivity case for iPod
Sassy push and pop car
Having a ball pop and roll car

I am sure Santa will have a couple more boring clothes type pieces for Grant and momma still needs to find his first Christmas story book, any suggestions?

Holland

Baby products we love!

Baby aisles are full of stuff that look pretty, cost money, and often just confuse parents to be. Having a room full of baby stuff, there are are some products that confuse me but we certainly have our favorites. Below are some of are favorites that I am not sure we could live without!

Grass Drying Rack- this sits on our counter full of washed bottles, pump parts, dropped pacis, and random toys. It goes in the dishwasher as two pieces and has cute flowers and twigs to hold the smaller pieces.

Rock and play Snug a Bunny: at four and a half months, little Grant still sleeps in this. (He is our peanut weighing only 11lbs6oz). We haven't tried the crib in a while but with a baby that sleeps all night-why change? It has a removable/washable pad that is great, folds for trips to nana's, and allows the baby to sleep cuddled at a slight angle (great right now since Grant has a cough-poor thing.)

Bright Stars links- or any links in general but the bright colors match our nursery. We went and got a second pack of these and they are everywhere: hanging from the carseat, jumper, bouncer, swing, bumbo tray, playmat, and Grant himself!

Itzaben baby timer: this timer was super handy the first two months. It has multiple timers (and alarms) for feeding, diaper changes, sleeping, and other along with a handy clip, light, left/right switch for nursing reminders. Even though we don't use this around the clock now, it still is used for outings and when we need more light at night. I would recommend this product or an app that does something similar, the product allows for multiple person use.

Aden and Anais swaddles: these blankets I was referred to buy as a much have by nearly every mommy blog out there. One of the things you get plenty of is blankets prior to the baby, I didn't want to buy any or register for them for fear of opening that door. Three weeks into Grant's up every two hours at night routine, we were looking for anything to get a little more sleep. My sister Lauren wrapped Grant and he fell asleep (she works with babies on a daily basis) so it was worth doing again. We had a long baby so the blankets we had (except the one pink flowery blanket we got for a shower) didn't fit the bill. I broke down and spent the $40 for four A&A blankets from the local baby store. Since then we swaddle every night, snuggle with them, use them for nursing covers, sun shades, and tummy time. We have four but still want a second pack for Christmas! Also we have the security blankets and love them to pieces as well!

O'Ball rattle: this was the first toy Grant played with around ten weeks. The ball is perfect for little hands to grab onto or hang with links for hands to bat at. They have many more products: larger sizes of these rattles, football shapes, and ones with rain sticks. Santa is bringing a large one for Christmas and maybe someone else will give us the football shaped one.

Safety first nail clippers: babies have fast growing nails and we eliminated two other clippers in our quest to find this one! Don't get the cute bee shaped ones, not worth it!

B. squeeze blocks: these are becoming a favorite but I think they will be around a while. We purchased them from Target after the photographer we used for our family photos got Grant to smile with one. There are eight or ten in a pack, super cute bright colors, and perfect to chew on. I am thinking about buying a second pack for dividing between baby gifts.

There you have it, some of the most loved things at our house. Anything I missed for this stage or I should hint at for 6-9 months stage?


Thanks for stopping!!! Holland

Christmas cuteness

First, our little one is already good at sharing germs from daycare which has left my family a coughing, crabby trail of kneenex lately. I am still struggling with the need to get it all done: housework, work, organizing, shopping, good time with Grant, and feel like screaming how does anyone do this- not to mention those with more than one little person. I want to put the tree up for Christmas but the shear thought of the hours that would take just have me wanting a nap. I have been doing a monthly photo collage for family and friends and noticed today the four month one is overdue. I can't overlook a holiday so yesterday I used my "Grant time" to snag a hopeful photo for a Christmas card. I think I have some winners, take a look!

The second one I call "grant's sexy Santa look" but a co-worker said the caption could also be "got milk?" (Either one-I think it is too cute) The last one, after a little editing, will become our 2012 card and then there is a couple other cute ones.

What do you think?

One year ago...

One year ago today, we found out about our little one! It's like he is already one year old on my mind since he has been around that long in our lives- true back then we didn't know him or her but we knew we were parents! So maybe there should be a happy anniversary for becoming parents? Anyway.... What a year! Those pinks lines turning darker in the low lights of a cruise ship bathroom off the coast of Honduras was the beginnings of our family and I couldn't be happier about the year we have had.

At home photo shoots

I love making different photos of my little one! He doesn't let momma get very much time in but it's his first holiday so I had do some cute Halloween takes! Here are some of them:

DIY bench

While looking for a new bed, I became very familiar with the clearance selection of the furniture stores in town. When I found a black under dresser piece for $30 I could not pass it up. My husband was less than excited about making it into a bed so I found another use for it: a bench!

We have a big family room in the basement with little seating so this would be a great solution. It took me a while to figure out the pieces and the right foam to ensure the piece would be comfy for a long while.

First the under dresser is like what it sounds like, a short long dresser you put under something-in most cases a bed.

I measured the piece and had the hubby purchase plywood that he cut to fit the top (we added a small overhang on the front to help people from hitting the drawer knobs-just about an inch or so.)

Next after a lot of searching I found high density foam at Joann Fabrics- .5" to 5" thick but the price got bigger and bigger with each half inch. Being 26 weeks pregnant, I got to sampling them. By myself I would drag out the 8ft by 3ft piece, lay it in the middle of the aisle, and get down and sample it. Repeat,repeat,repeat- I finally settled on the 3 inch piece (the best mix of thickness and price since the foam was already on sale half off) and dragged it to the front of the store.

They cut the piece with an electric knife (a cool trick I later stole at home- I needed another excuse to get out the lonely, once a year turkey curving knife anyway...) I paid the $60 and was on my way.

At home I gathered the under dresser, plywood, foam, and fabric of choice to start the project. After noticing the green foam color lightly shown through the white fabric, I added a layer of quilt batting to the mix. I got the neighbor's electric stapler and a friend to help put it together.

I cut the foam to the exact size of the plywood. Using the under dresser as a work bench,we layered the wood, foam, batting, and fabric together. Starting on one of the longer sides, we pulled the batting and fabric over the wood and foam, stapling it on the bottom side of the wood. Repeat many times! We trimmed the excess fabric and batting away as necessary leaving us with the final project.

I can't be happier on the way it turned out and for just under $100!!! This can be done in so many different looks to fit your style with the choices of under dressers and fabrics out there.

I later found out that the original price was only $100 on the under dresser so even not on clearance- it would have been a cheap bench for the sitting and storage space it provides.

We have had two parties since the project was completed and the bench gets a lot of use. The foam is not yet showing any use or sinking- the extra money spent there shows!

New vice

In my last semester of college I took a photo design class and I loved it. Yesterday I discovered my newly fixed computer now has the basic version of the same program-thanks computer fix it guy!

My greatest piece then was removing a person from our last family photo before my dad died. Last night I spent two hours removing backgrounds from various photos and even one with my arm holding the little one. I am in no way a pro but I am so excited to learn more tricks and share them.

Write a caption for this piece of cuteness...

I am always getting free Shutterfly photobooks but never have time to "hop to" by the deadline. Here is my idea: take the funny "out takes" and have people write the captions. I will post funnies and please play along! I will start:

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I am still hammering out the details of what this blog will all entail but thanks for coming by! I want a place to share, vent, and connect with others so I thought this would be a good start.

Background (I am sure more will come later but here's the scoop):


Born.
School.
Married.
School.
Work.
Baby.

So.....

My little one, Grant, turned 14 weeks old today and this is my last week at home with him. I have mixed feelings about going back to work, there is still so much I wanted to get done at home but yet I think that I need to spend time on this. Oh well.....momma needs something else to do!


I started a pregnancy journal after I saw some great examples to document my time and journey. After having a wonderful baby boy, I don't know how much he is going to really enjoy beyond the basics, yearly books, stories, and photos but I really liked the writing piece so enter my solution.

I have had a screaming baby today and most of yesterday so here is what else I've got:

I put this on the baby today since it is so close to Halloween and it was cute. The back side had a cute little saying too and boy was that true at first but hopefully he is emptied out by now!