Thursday, July 29, 2010

I have this little problem.....

Well I guess it's more of an issue then a problem. But whatever it is, it sure doesn't hurt that she is this stinking cute!



The smiling face above could also be named "The sleepless wonder". Save your breath on preaching to me the virtues of a rested baby. I know it. I believe it. But the kid doesn't sleep. She is the queen of catnaps. And I am weak. As we entered night 4 of trying to transition her to the crib from her cosleeper, she only made it in the crib for about 5 minutes until I had her back in bed with me. She needs me. She needs to be able to smell me, know that I am close and that I will comfort her. But even when she has all that, the kid is a poor sleeper. Still wakes at least every two hours. At one point she was on a great schedule, easily slept through till we had to get up at 5am. But then teething began and it all went to crap. I know I should be sleep training. I am exhausted, as is my darling hubby, but I just can't let her cry it out. It's so sad. And she is so happy to see me every time I go in there.

Any tips, ideas?

XOXO~
Christine

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A day in the life......

And it goes a little something like this:.........

10:47pm - put a soundly sleeping Miss Mimi down in her crib, for hopefully 2 successful nights in a row. Greg made it thru last night with her, surely I can do it too, right?

12:02am - awaken to high pitched fire alarm caliber screaming coming from nursery, however, not coming thru on monitor. Noise level apparently not an issue for 2 other people sleeping in my bed, they both continue to snore.

12:03am - enter nursery, calm baby, she grins back at me, assuming night time is now over and its time to hang out.

12:04am - return to nursery with bottle, Mia promptly grabs and begins gulping as if she hasn't eaten for days.

12:05am - attempt to figure out why on earth baby monitor isn't working when it worked fine the night before. Determine that the kid is loud enough that no monitor is necessary, go back to bed.

12:13am - awaken to violently loud screams, again. Enter nursery, wonder if baby is too cold to sleep. Wrap blanket tightly around Mia's abdomen. Rub her tummy, go back to bed.

12:15am - Screams continue. Try to convince myself that she is ok, almost 10 months old and has to learn to sleep thru the night at some point.

12:16am - Feel guilty, enter nursery to quiet screaming and prevent other children from being woken up. See that blanket is now on baby's face, panic! Assume that baby is now dying of SIDS (regardless of the fact that she is shrieking like she is being stabbed) quickly label self as world's worst mom, pick up dying baby and attempt to rock her to sleep.

12:25am - Put baby back in crib, her body feels warm, but still convinced that she must be freezing, why else would she be so fussy? Remove offending blanket, swear at self for greedily installing central heat and air instead of individual wall units so that I could manage each room's temperature control and therefore prevent baby's now obvious hypothermia. Go back to bed.

12:28am - Begin to doze back off, drooling starts, only to be rocketed back to reality by now working baby monitor, Mia is grunting and crying and is clearly suffocating to death.

12:29am - Enter nursery and see that although close to crib rail, baby appears to be fine and just angry at her awful mother for abandoning her. Instantly recall that beautiful crib was subject to a recall and can't remember if husband installed repair kit on this crib or other crib. Swear at husband under breath for not loving the baby at all, who on earth would not try to save baby from dying by installing the kit? Crawl under crib, while singing "You are my sunshine" to try and quiet sobbing baby, trying to determine if said kit was indeed installed. Wonder if husband did install kit, and I am just losing my mind. Maybe I should wake husband from clearly sound and peaceful sleep and ask if he managed to find time between The Deadliest Catch and Pawn Stars to think about preventing baby from death?

12:31am - Baby now back in too small cosleeper, next to mom's bed, sleeping soundly.

XOXO

Thursday, July 15, 2010

T minus 72 hours and counting.

Those of you closest to me know that this blog has been quite the hot topic lately! All the drama is not really my style, but there has been a silver lining, the blog has had a HUGE amount of traffic the last couple weeks. I might even be able to advertise soon, lol. Before moving on, a huge Thank You to all of you who offered your moral support during that whole debacle, it means tons to me, and it was nice to not feel like I was losing my marbles.

~ Anywoo ~

The family and I have a small function going on this weekend, lol. I have to admit, I may have bitten off more than I could chew with this one. Greg and I have been working late into the hours of each night to make sure everything is done, along with help from Aunt Crystal(who by Sunday will have flown in from sunny Las Vegas not once, but twice! to help) Aunt Cheri, and Lou. I don't know how you do it Jayena. Maybe it's 2 kids instead of 3. But you are amazing, and I am so tired, I may be willing to admit defeat. But just this once ;-)

On to the point of this post. Our little #2 is turning the big 02! Toots is turning two! Hard to believe. It feels like it has crept and flown by all at once. My poor middle child. Such an easy baby and total pain in the tush at the same time. It's crazy to think that this was the little face looking back at me at her baby shower:



Such a pretty little baby.

We plan on celebrating in style (of course). The circus party preparations are in full swing. For once in my life I can honestly say I am shopped out! Greg has had his first experience with a high temp hot glue gun, and while the project was finished, the man has very few fingerprints left. I have (with help from Lou) made T her little ringmaster costume. And since #1 couldn't bear the thought of not wearing something special herself, I also made her a little black tutu. When is a tutu not appropriate anyway? Both girls will have mini top hats (please don't look too closely, they are ridiculously crafted) and matching fishnets. I have to admit, I became deliciously light headed and ecstatic when I was able to score toddler sized fishnets! The activity boxes are assembled. All the games and prizes have been organized. The table decor and centerpieces have been put together and carefully packed up. The party favors are assembled and waiting for eager little fingers to rip into them. Tomorrow I will try to wrap up the rest of the loose ends, and buy the food and cupcakes. Oh, and my popcorn cupcakes turned out to be painfully easy to make.

I am almost giddy with excitement. This is like Christmas, only better because it will be sunny and 75. Next time I complain about how tired I am, or how frustratingly annoying my girls are, one of you gals be sure to remind me of how blissful I feel right at this moment. It was hard, but I did it. I am so excited to see each and everyone of you on Sunday. Please bring your cameras! I don't mind if I have to delete 50 unflattering shots of myself, I will be perfectly content if I end up with just a handful of my little Tess smiling and enjoying her special day.

Till next time,
Christine
XOXO