Mommy Musings

Me and Little M visiting my sister down the Jersey shore last week!

WAHOO!!!  I was very excited the other morning when I got a comment from Young Wife/Mom over at I Took the One Less Travelled By...  saying that she had awarded me with this fabulousness! It is my first ever award, so I'm pretty excited about it!!!  (in case you couldn't already tell)  Ok, so now I'm supposed to share 10 true things about myself that you all may not know, give it away to some other deserving people, and let them know they've been awarded.  I feel like coming up with the 10 things is going to be hard,  but I will give it my best shot. 1. There might have been years here and there that were tougher than others, but I have really loved every stage of my life.  I hope this continues in the years to come. 2. I don't mind calling my friends at all, but I really hate calling companies.  It's totally irrational but I get very anxious about having to do it.  The same goes for talking to people in stores.  It is for this reason th...

I was pretty pleased with myself last night. Since the baby, my house cleaning has obviously fallen by the wayside and is no where near the standard it used to be. Laundry seems to be the worst. I always get it done, but it seems that I really only have time to get one load done a day. Which pretty much means that I have to do laundry *every* day, since I never seem to be able to get on top of it. And big organization projects I want to get done around the house? Forget it! That is until last night. Skip had two of his guy friends over to hang out, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get some stuff done (and to let them have some boy time!) I figured I'd start some laundry in the basement and see where I went from there. While I was down there, I couldn't help but notice the absolute disaster that is our basement. It is unfinished, and with the very low ceilings, we will only ever be able to use it as storage. Because of this, anytime we ever need to p...

I have yet another fabulous giveaway to tell you about. (I should really get on doing one of these myself!)  This one is by Mrs. over at Trying Our Best  (remember she's the one with the awesome button on the side of my blog)  She is giving away two "green" products from a great eco-friendly website she found.  Head on over and check it out!

Hey guys...no, it's not me doing a giveaway this time...not yet anyway. In honor of her 100th post, Vanessa over at Journey to James 1:27 is doing a fabulous giveaway. Make sure to head over there and check out her blog!

A flash back to my pregnancy days. Here I am at 23 weeks. I thought I was *huge*. Haha...little did I know how much bigger I would get!

Happy Father's Day! to all the dads out there...especially my dad and my most amazing husband. Skip unfortunately had to work the late shift today, 3 pm - 11 pm, so we spread out his Father's Day activities and presents over the past few days when he was off. On Friday Little M and I took him to his *favorite* bakery about half an hour away. He got to pick out any cake he wanted and it was all his to eat. (don't worry, he didn't eat it all in one sitting!) Then that night we watched 'Revolutionary Road' (EXCELLENT movie for anyone interested in seeing it. It is a much sadder than I thought it would be though) On Saturday we took Little M and drove out to PA to spend the day with Skip's parents. We don't get to see them all that much, so it was nice to just get away for a few hours and relax with them. Once we got home Little M and I gave Skip his presents a day early. I had gotten him a wet vac, which he had been wanting for a while now (this is...

I just wanted to say a very huge THANK YOU! to all my blogging buddies out there.  All of your comments really helped me.  I am not as stressed or worried now, knowing that this is all normal.  In answer to some of your questions, no I don't think it's late onset colic or that she's gassy, because as soon as I pick her up from her crib she is perfectly happy and smiley.  We haven't had any big changes around here recently so I don't think that's throwing her off.  She is teething though and learning to sit up by herself and creep backwards.  Based on your answers and what I have read, that can be throwing her off her schedule.  I think it might also be a touch of separation anxiety as well, since as I said she is fine once I go in there and she sees me.  Tonight was much better.  It only took her about 15 minutes to go down and it's already 11:30 and I haven't heard a peep out of her.  Maybe she read my blog this morning and decided to give me a break to...

For this post I have borrowed this awesome button from "Mrs." over at Trying Our Best (stop by and check out her blog...it's fabulous!!) I have added the button over to the side. I need to just vent for a few minutes to say I have absolutely no idea what I am doing as a mom. Tonight Little M woke up around 9:30. She had gone to bed about 45 minutes earlier than normal, so I expected she would probably wake up. I gave her a bottle which she hungrily drank most of. Then I burped her, changed her, and *attempted* to put her back to bed. After lots of crying on both our parts she finally fell asleep around 11. I have no idea what happened to my newborn baby girl who used to sleep wonderfully. The first few months were like a honeymoon with her. She would go right down without a fuss at 7:30. No rocking, or singing, or pacifier necessary. Now she won't go to sleep without a huge production. I don't know what has changed. And her napping schedule is pract...

As I think of them, I'm going to be posting some short, quick entries on things I have found useful as a mom. Here is today's tip! - Get an extra diaper bag, or any oversized bag, fill it with diapers, wipes, small garbage bags, burp cloths, and an extra set of clothes and leave it in your car. Because I have done this I never have to pack a diaper bag when I am running out to the store or on a short trip with Little M. I can just grab my purse and go!

Thankfully Little M decided to go to bed not long after I finished my posted last night (early this morning).  I guess she could read what I was writing and decided Mommy was getting tired of playing in the middle of the night!  Even more thankfully, the husband got up with the baby when she woke up for the day at 6:00 am.  *does she ever need to sleep recently?!?!?!?!*  He let me sleep in until 8:30... wahoo !!! It was very exciting.  It did push our plan to get on the road until 9:30, but the sleep was soooo worth it!  I will post tomorrow about all the fun Father's Day activities we have been doing the past few days!

When I was pregnant, I was fully aware that I would be a walking zombie the first few months of my child's life. I knew that newborns constantly wake up to be fed, changed, burped, or just rocked. I knew I would pray for the day that she finally slept through the night. Well here's something a lot of moms don't talk about....It's not just the first few months that can be sleepless, but many months after. My daughter actually slept pretty well from the beginning. And I'd say months 2-4 were absolutely glorious. She slept almost 12 hours a night, every night!! I certainly relished these days and did not take a single one for granted. Since then though we go through patches where Little M will sometimes sleep well and sometimes not. Tonight is one of the "not" nights. It is currently 1:42 am and she has been up for over an hour (this is after waking up two other times since we put her down at 7:30 pm) She has had a bottle, burped, been changed, rock...

It's still raining here...seriously, I'm not joking. We've had at least a little bit of rain everyday for at least 2 - 2 1/2 weeks now. It's really getting depressing. I mean if I lived in Seattle I would understand, but here on the East Coast we're used to summer...you know 80* and sun! I think I'll just start building my ark now...or at least a small row boat to get through the pond that has now sprung up in our back yard...or the small stream we now have in the basement. Awesome. Anyways, I promise this whole post will not be about the rain because I do not want to depress you with our crappy weather! We have had a very busy few days around here. Sunday was Little M's baptism. She looked just like an angel! And she acted just like an angel too...she slept through the entire ceremony! I could not believe it. Apparently, as long as her Mommy is holding her, she really doesn't mind if strangers pour water on her or rub oil on her head. Who knew? With a...

Dear Rain, Please stop.  I mean really.  It's been rainy ALL WEEK.  And it's June!  If it were April I would understand but that was MONTHS ago.  I really need some color on my pale skin.  And Little M could use a nice long walk in the sunshine.  And you have officially ruined the outside stair railings of my house.  Yes, I know I'm the one who attempted to paint them while it was raining, but still.  Please just go somewhere else...preferably soon.  Thanks Signed, A very cranky Mommy

Again, I am taking this list of supplies straight off the Buy Buy Baby website.  I will add my own to the bottom if I think of anything else! Bassinet or Cradle - I never bought a bassinet or cradle.  Right from the beginning my husband and I decided Little M would sleep in her own crib, in her own room, right from the first night.  Lots of families have their own opinions on whether or not baby should co-sleep with the parents in their room.  Skip and I personally felt that we wanted our room to be a place where we could always go and there would be peace and quiet.   Little M's room is right next to ours, and we always hear her if she cries during the night, so it's not an issue. Bassinet / Cradle Bedding Set - N/A 2-3 Bassinet / Cradle Sheets - N/A Crib - This is the crib Skip and I bought for Little M.  It is from Graco .  We got it from Walmart for a really great price.  It can later be turned into a toddler bed, and then used as a headboard for a "big girl" bed...

I am totally and completely in love with my two new dining room chairs!!!  When my husband and I first got married, he found a fabulous, glass-top, marble base dining room table with four matching chairs at a local antique shop.  Since we were living in a tiny one-bedroom condo at the time, four chairs were all that would fit.  However, now that we have an actual formal dining room, and a growing family, we are definitely in need of some more chairs.  This was difficult though, because since the chairs are antiques we really have no way of matching.  So I set out to find some chairs that just complemented them.  THANKFULLY they are cream colored, so it would be pretty easy to find something to go with them.   I was leaning towards the fashionable Parsons Chairs since I think they are so elegant looking.  They can however be slightly on the pricey side (for me at least)  I was hoping to spend no more than $200 on the pair that we needed. ...

I took Little M up to the school today where I used to teach. I hadn't brought her up there in two months and everyone was amazed at how much she has changed! It was really nice to be there and visit with all my old colleagues and students, but it was tough as well. I was amazed at how different and more mature all "my kids" have gotten. I taught most of them for two years in a row and it's hard to no longer be a part of their lives. They love when I come visit, but I don't really have an clue what's going on in their day to day lives. I have never regretted my decision to stay home with Little M, but it was definitely not an easy one. My husband and I have had to make a huge financial sacrifice in order for me to stay home. He also has had to take any over-time that comes up....something that is very draining for the both of us. I also do miss a lot of aspects of working outside the house and teaching specifically. I miss having adult conversations...

In my free time (ie during 5 minute stretches while Little M sits next to me on the couch and plays "quietly" with her toys) I have been working on a new layout for my blog.  I think it's a little more sophisticated looking than it was before.  Let me know what you think!!

Sorry for being MIA for a while now...I have not forgotten about all of you!  Things have just been so crazy and busy.  There has been a lot of family stuff going on as well.  I promise to blog more tomorrow about everything Little M has been up to!

Today I am thankful for all my friends who have been so supportive during this tough time. I am also thankful for my husband who has been just amazing, helping out and offering so much support. I am also thankful that my Grandma is in good spirits despite everything going on. Keep those prayers coming for her!

Nothing 100% confirmed yet about my grandma...though things aren't looking great. In the meantime, to take my mind off of everything, I'll give you some Little M updates! Last week we went to our first Mommy playgroups. One got cancelled so we just went to the other. It was held at a local coffee shop and three other moms were there besides me. I was sooooo nervous about going because I notoriously hate meeting new people. I'm just not always that good about striking up conversations and making small talk. This meet-up went very well though! All of the moms were very nice and the babies were right around Little M's age, so I knew these ladies were going through the same things I was. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit and relax. The moms were all about 7 years older than me though. I think it's great to have friends that are older, but I also wanted to have some mom friends closer to my age, so they understand better what I'm going through...

So sorry I have been MIA from the blogging world for the past few days. My grandma is in the hospital (the only grandparent I have left). She apparently has had a series of small strokes. They have admitted her for a few days to run some more tests and keep and eye on her. We are hoping that they don't find anything else wrong with her, though it will be good for her to be under the care of doctors for a few days. It will also be good to give my mom a few days to figure out what will happen when she gets released, as she still lives alone. We'll just have to see. Little M and I are hoping to visit her in the hospital today to cheer her up a bit. Please keep her and my family in your prayers, and I will blog more later about what's been going on with Little M recently!