Christmas card

So I did a christmas card this year…took me forever to figure it all out, but check it out! I think it turned out well and I loved all the options on shutterfly (part of the reason it took me so long!)

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

or here is the link http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYuWTZu0ZtGjvY&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Oh Hi!

Don’t mind me, I’m just running around like a chicken with my head cut off today trying to prepare for tomorrow (the day Syd and I start nannying)! I’m trying to make sure I have everything ready to go.  While they have an extra crib, tons of toys and lots of food, they don’t have all the comforts of home that Syd is used to, like certain blankies and favorite toys/books. So I’m busily trying to get together everything that I think we need, like an extra sound machine, extra clothes to leave there, an extra blankie etc. How is it that she has so much stuff? She’s only 16 months old!  Luckily I can always run home if I need something or have my brother come and drop something off, it’s not like we are moving out forever!

In all honesty, I’m a little nervous about how her nap schedule will play out tomorrow because she doesn’t really nap well out, meaning she won’t nap anywhere but home and at Aunt Jen’s, which can mean a VERY long tantrumy day!  Also wondering how the other baby will do too, since as I understand it, he’s not really been on a schedule this summer, hopefully, Syd will continue her two nap a day thing and the other baby will get back on a schedule similar to hers. Wish me luck with that!

Any advice for things to bring to help Syd sleep somewhere else?

Restart button

Hi everyone, I am making a vow to start actually blogging again! I think of things to say, jot them down and then walk away and completely forget about them, hello, ADHD.
Here’s a brief update:
Sydney has turned 1 (we had a large party, that was lots of fun, but I realized just how small my house is.  I think we had about 40 people stuffed into a small townhouse).  She is currently running circles around me and learning animal noises.

In a week I am starting a new job, as a nanny to this really awesome family for a little boy that is 5 months younger than Sydney.  I’m nervous for the first week or so as Syd adjusts to napping at their house, luckily she has her own crib there.  I am also nervous for my sanity during the transition time, because as we all know non-napping babies aren’t fun.  I was very lucky to find a job that would allow me to bring Sydney along, how many jobs let you do that?!  Can you imagine a 16 month old in a conference call??

This next week we are trying to squeeze in as much mommy/daughter time as possible, as well as squeeze in as many playdates as possible before we become a threesome.  However, I’m still hoping to be able to make it out of the house with both kids, we shall see how that goes, I guess it is going to give me a taste of what having 2 kids is like.

Anyone have any advice for getting out with two kids?  Any tips/tricks of the trade?

Quick Update

Happy New Year! One of my goals this year is to be better about posting, so on that note, sorry I haven’t been posting.  I kept meaning to find the time, but somehow by the end of the day when I actually had the time to write, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed because I knew that Syd will be up before I knew it! So I promise to be better, but here is a brief update and some hopes/goals for the new year! Also, more pictures will be coming too, because I finally got a new camera (or one that isn’t broken – I am still going to try to get my DSLR fixed)

Sydney had several major milestones: she can now sit up and even get to sitting up (sometimes) by herself, she is standing for several seconds unassisted before she plops down again, she can pull herself up on things (VERY SCARY, she tries to pull herself up on everything even if it’s not stable), and she got her first tooth!!  Honestly I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to get teeth, or if baby dentures would be required…She is also finally starting to get hair!

Also, in other news Mike finally installed the diaper hose (YAY, it happened before she was potty trained!) I wonder if he read that I didn’t think he would get it done?

Goals for the new year:

Keep the house clean – I can’t seem to find a good balance of cleaning and taking a break while she naps.  I also seem to wander around aimlessly when she is napping (maybe making a list of things I need to get done will be helpful), which might be why the house is a mess.

Cook most meals at home – we ate out far too much – I looked back at our spending over the past year and we have spent way too much on take out, more than I would ever like to admit and the number actually made me vomit in my mouth a little.  Also along these lines, I hope to get better at eating the leftovers from said meals, I think we waste a lot of food too!

Read to Sydney more – Mike has been really good about reading to her at night, but I want to be better about reading to her too!

Paint the interior of our house!  Almost all the rooms are this dark tan khaki color, it makes me depressed, but I have not found the time to actually do anything about it!

What are you goals, short term, long term?

Happy New Year!

My Favorite Time of Year

I LOVE Christmas, I love the how everyone is more upbeat and happy and the energy in the air!  I love shopping for and wrapping gifts.  My favorite part of Christmas is selecting and giving gifts to my friends and family, I like to be tricky though.  Two years ago I wrapped Mikes iPod up in a Nintendo DS Box and put his video games in his boxers boxes.  After all the gifts were opened I said ‘hey let’s play each other on our DS’s.’ he opened the box and found the iPod, which is what he really wanted.  He really thought I had gotten him the DS (even though we already had 1) and was so excited to see that it wasn’t the DS, but the much desired iPod.  Sometimes I like to wrap gifts inside gifts, so if you ever have the pleasure of getting a gift from me check the pockets or make sure what’s supposed to be in the box is actually in the box.

Last year I finally convinced Mike to buy me a Christmas tree (in all the places we have lived we have never really had room until last year).  I made him start the tradition so that when Sydney came we would know what we were doing!  We decorated it and strung tons of white lights on it and it sat in our living til the second week of January until he finally hauled out and threw it in the woods behind our condo!  I wonder if it’s still there and if anyone even noticed?!

This year we have yet to get our tree, but that is happening this weekend, and I won’t be employing my sneaky wrapping and box swapping techniques on Sydney (this year), but I have carefully selected most of the gifts she will be getting (even though I am sure she will be more interested in the wrapping paper), let me know what you think!  Also what did you get for your child’s first Christmas, what did you do to make that day special?

1. hat and mittens

2. books lots of books, we are tired of reading the ones we have

3. blocks and cups to work on stacking

4. a pop up toy, you know the one that has 5 different ways to make the people pop up…she is obsessed with the one on a toy, imagine if she had 5 to play with and figure out how to open!

5.  a few cute outfits

6.  Some other little toys, not quite sure yet, but a trip to a specialty toy store will help me solidify these

Random things

1. I get/feel socially awkward…I get nervous now when meeting new people. I get quiet, I don’t say much and when I do it’s usually something that I regret saying (open mouth, insert foot). Since I am so quiet, people think I am bitchy, have a stick up my butt or think that I’m full of myself, when in reality I’m just shy. However, once I get to know you and feel comfortable around you I don’t shut the hell up! Mike says I have no reason to be nervous, especially because Syd is such a great conversation starter, I don’t like going places without Mike where I know that I don’t know many people.
2.  I like to eat ice cream even though I am lactose intolerant.  I really enjoy when Mike goes out and gets the ice cream, brings up 2 spoons and gets in bed with me and we alternate pints of yummy ice cream while watching TV!  Hello can we say old married couple?
3. I miss sleeping, don’t get me wrong I LOVE and ADORE my kid, but I would love just one full night of sleep.  Although I’m sure I would wake up even if she was sleeping through the night.
4. I’m boring, I think I need to find a hobby or something to occupy my time.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Can’t take up too much time though as I actually don’t have THAT much time, just want something besides Sydney to make me feel accomplished
5. I always read the end of a book before I start, I read the last 4 chapters of Harry Potter 7 before I started the actual book because I wanted to see if Harry died (he didn’t so I could safely read the book from the beginning – as a side note I read the book in one night)

6. Sydney has a lucky Ravens outfit that I wash every week so that it’s clean for the game.  Mike makes me put it on her even if it’s a night game.  Thus tonight, since they are playing the Steelers for the Sunday night game, she was put to bed in the outfit!

7.  I hate having my feet covered at night, even in the dead of winter

8.  I am jealous of Sydney’s eyelashes, she got Mikes gorgeously long eyelashes on the top and my funny little eyelashes on the bottom.

Baldy

So at almost 8 months old Sydney doesn’t have much hair and I’m beginning to think that she might never get hair! I know it will eventually come in, but she really doesn’t have that much, so I have to be careful to make sure to dress her in “girly” outfits so she’s not mistaken for a boy, which happens a lot, even when she’s wearing pink/purple. Her father and I are both blessed with lots of hair atop our heads, but Syd seems to be lacking in this department. With all the heartburn I had while pregnant I thought for sure she would have lots of hair! When she was born it looked like she had a decent amount of hair. It turns out that she just had a smallish head because as soon as her head grew to epic proportions (98th percentile in head circumference) she seemed to have less hair. As her head grew, her hair didn’t so there was the same amount of hair covering a larger area making it look more sparse.
In our living room I have pictures of when she was in the hospital and it looks like she has a ton of hair and then I look at her now and it looks like she has none. I’m hoping it starts growing in soon, otherwise does anyone know if they make baby toupees?

A few days old and she looks like she has hair

7.5 Months old and less hair...

Stuck in a rut

Syd and I have been working on getting into a routine and a nailing down a good schedule/routine.  It may sound easy, but it’s not, you try convincing my 7.5 month old that she needs/wants to nap…it’s hard!  I think we figured it out, but then I didn’t like to deviate from the schedule.

So the schedule is Sydney wakes up around 7-730ish, plays in bed between Mike and I while I try to convince her she wants to close her eyes for a little longer so I can keep mine closed a little longer.  We eventually make our way downstairs to play and eat breakfast (eating’s a whole post unto itself) until nap time about 1.5 hours after she has woken up (8:30-9ish).  Lately, the morning nap hasn’t been more than an hour (hopefully she’s not phasing this one out, the longer she keeps the one the better) up for 2 hours (eating and more playing and sometimes a quick errand or two in this time slot), then nap, usually for about 1.5-2 hours, but this one seems to be getting cut short too! She wakes up and then takes a catnap around 5ish wakes up again eats dinner, has a bath and goes to bed for the night…Sounds lovely, except the days when she doesn’t want to stick to the schedule…

I left her with Mike this weekend and he didn’t stick to my schedule and when I got upset he tried to convince me that it’s OK to get deviate from the schedule.  That we can’t live and die by the schedule or what fun would life be?  We should be able to enjoy Sydney and our time with her instead of fitting her into a schedule and you know what?! He’s actually right! So today, I just went with it and we had a pretty good day, I did try to stick to a loose schedule, but she ate and napped and was generally really happy and giggly all day!  So I learned that at the end of the day it’s nice to have a loose schedule of events, like I know we need 3 naps (2 short and 1 long) and that we need 3 meals, but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen at exactly the time I want it to, I am trying to learn to sit back and enjoy the ride!

Do any of you stick to a schedule?  Are you rigid about the times or are you generally satisfied as long as certain things are done like 3 naps and 3 meals?

Oh Diet Coke, how I love thee

I LOVE diet coke, I know…you needn’t lecture me on how bad it is, my husband and all my friends already do, but I must tell you I can’t survive without it! I am addicted and have a serious problem, I am trying to limit myself to only 2 or a 3 a day, it’s how I make it through the long days that start at 730ish and end around 1030ish.

While most people prefer something warm to jump start their morning, I like to drink a diet coke, something about the bubbles and the cool liquid makes it so refreshing and gets me moving!

I went cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant with Sydney (aspartame could be bad for fetus…didn’t want to take the risk).  So for 9.5 months I did not take a single sip of diet coke (it was hard).  This guy in my office always walked around drinking one and I would sit in meetings salivating, staring at his diet coke, dreaming of the day when I could have another one.  I tried switching to regular coke, it was too sweet and made the morning all day sickness worse.  I tried switching to tea, but I didn’t like how I had to remember to start the kettle before I got in the shower so it would be ready by the time I needed to leave (I slept until the last possible second).  I gave up, I stuck to water and juice for the remainder of my pregnancy.

Mike used to joke that he would have a cold diet coke waiting for as soon as Sydney had been delivered, I wasn’t joking, I wanted him there with that diet coke waiting for me!

After Sydney was born I lasted about 26 hours before I demanded my husband find me a diet coke, it was a harder task than it seemed, as the hospital only had pepsi (blech, and yes I can totally tell the difference) and I didn’t want him to leave the room because I couldn’t get up on my own.  A few phone calls and an awesome best friend later, I had my first diet coke of 9.5 months in hand!  I couldn’t wait, I ripped off the lid and took a swig, I pulled it away from my lips, something was amiss, it still had the refreshing feeling, but it tasted funny, different than I remembered!  I chalked it up to the fact that I had been eating bland boring hospital food and polished off the rest of the bottle.

The next time I got around to having a diet coke was a few hours after being home, it still didn’t taste quite right, but nonetheless I finished the can because HELLO sleep deprived and needed caffeine.  Odd taste aside I got into a routine of having 1 a day (I was worried about the caffeine in breast milk).   A few more sleep deprived weeks go by and I allowed myself to have another one in the afternoon because let’s get real, I needed caffeine to stay awake and the single can didn’t seem to be cutting it and the caffeine didn’t seem to be bothering Syd at all.  At 3 months in it was back to work and I figured well, it’s OK to have just one more because it’s still not more than the recommended 200 mg of caffeine limit and I needed to stay awake at my desk!! I made myself stop there because it could have easily spiraled out of control and I could wind up allowing myself to drink a whole 12 pack in a day under the guise of being sleep deprived.  I am now up to 3 cans per day and I can’t and won’t let myself drink more, it’s going to end there.  However, even to this day it still doesn’t taste the same as it did before I was pregnant, but I still love it just as much.  Does anyone have any drink they are addicted to?  If so, how do you limit yourself or cutback?

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I have a lot to be thankful for, a beautiful, wonderful, happy, healthy baby girl, a great husband and a lot of other things! I couldn’t ask for anything more in the world!  This year we are going to my dad’s house for thanksgiving, which is nice because it’s only about 10 minutes away!  We usually go there because it’s so close and I used to have to work the next day so it made it easy.  It’s always a unique experience depending on who is there as was evidenced by last year!  There are a lot of family dynamics at play, as with most families I am sure.  I am part of huge blended family on my mom’s side and a small blended family on my dad’s side (I will have to do a family recap at some point so you can see just how confusing it really is…try explaining this as a 5th grader…yea I did and people just got lost after the second word).  My dad lives with his girlfriend T, who has 1 brother and 3 sisters, for Thanksgiving T’s brother and his family and T’s mother and her “beau” were in attendance.

Last year, I think I was just starting to show, I guess people could still get mixed up and think I had just put on a lot of weight? (but honestly how confusing can it be? I was a stick pre-pregnancy)  T’s brother didn’t realize/know I was pregnant and when he found out he said “good I thought at first you had just put on a lot of weight!”  Umm ok, what do you say to that?! At least this year something like this won’t happen?  Although I still have a little soft middle to shed…so you never know what comments could be made.

Every year the dinner conversation digresses to the same topic about where T’s family last name comes from.  Literally, you can cut and paste Mike and I from year to year sitting around the table listening to the arguing about the family last name and which side they are really related to.  Two years ago David (my brother) turned to T and said “Didn’t we talk about this last year?” to which T replied “Oh my god you’re right! Is that sad?” I think I piped in and said we talked about it the year before that too.  So I’m sure we’re in for a repeat conversation this year, I will make sure to update you!

Another joy I had last year was being sober through the whole holiday season (drinking mass quantities while pregnant is usually frowned upon).  You really see how drunk the rest of the family gets.  I learned that when drunk my family is bunch of in your face close talkers who repeat themselves when we think we aren’t being heard…

Hopefully this year new conversation will be had, nobody will think I am “fat” and I won’t be spat upon by a close talker!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and eats a ton of turkey (or Tofurkey if you are vegetarian)!