Thought of the Day

Maybe just maybe, they are doing too much road work where you live, when you're detour has a detour in it.

You read that right.  We have a detour by our house, because a bridge is out; and now that detour has another detour in it for road work.  Perfect!!  NOT.

Confession Time

Tonight I feel the need for a few confessions.... so here goes.

By lunch time today I was in such a fowl mood I went and bought myself a Friendly's ice cream sundae cup.  Reese Pieces to be exact.  

YUM!!!

Lately I've been feeling the need to try on my wedding dress.  But I am afraid I will be disappointed.\

Love this picture.

I have a number of friends I owe calls back to, but I am just not in the mood to talk.  

I feel like a crappy friend for this.

Nope, we do not own this phone.  Does anyone?

Some days I get very jealous of my stay-at-home mom friends.  I know, I know, the grass is always greener on the other side.  But still, this is something I would like to experience myself and make that call.

Ah, summer days!!!

Most times when I am on-line I keep all of my chats off.  I don't like people to know I am on-line (unless it's for work) and I really don't like being hit up to chat.  It's just not my thing.  

I don't go to church as much as I should.

Yes, that is our actual church.  Pretty isn't it?

OK, that's enough for now.... I hope you enjoyed this evenings edition of my soul bearing.

The Best Of (Part 4 of 10)

I've been thinking long and hard about the next thing on my list of the Top 10 Baby Items, and then today it came to me as Monkey was screaming his head off and I was searching for Baby Dee.  Baby Dee is #4.

So.... drum roll please.... #4 on the list is.....

The Hasbro/Playskool Glow Worm, or as we call it around our house Baby Dee.

Monkey, around age 3 months with Baby Dee.

Baby Dee got his name from my, now, 16 year old cousin and Goddaughter V.  When V was a baby she needed her Baby Dee, all the time.  Over the years she had several Baby Dees.  My aunt would just keep buying them and replacing them, saying that Baby Dee had gone to get cleaned up or to the doll hospital... you get the idea.

Back then Baby Dee only came in green, and was much longer - now they are short and study and come in blue or pink (isn't that special).  But they still do the same thing, you squeeze their belly and their face lights up and they play music for about 30 seconds (That's my only complaint, why of why, for the love of.... can't they play and light up for like 10 minutes.  Oh heck, I would be happy with 5 minutes.  Who am I kidding?  3 minutes and I would be good.)


When Monkey is crying and nothing soothes him; not the boob, the pacifier, or daddy cuddles; we know it's "Baby Dee Time".  We grab that silly little glow worm, put it right up to his face and squeeze... and then the calm come.  Red eyed Monkey stops crying and looks, stares really, at Baby Dee.  And then Baby Dee turns off, he starts to whimper, so we squeeze again.  A few more rounds of this, and Monkey is happy, chewing on his baby's ear.

We've even had car trips where we have paid Turkey $2 to squeeze and hold Baby Dee to his brother's face over and over again.

We love Baby Dee in this house.  We all do, even the 7 year old has been known to yell "It's Baby Dee time."

Full Disclosure: We didn't pay for our Baby Dee, we had Kohl's Cash and got it for free; but I was not paid for this review and would gladly buy a Baby Dee should we ever need a second one.


You can find items 1, 2 and 3 on my list here.  

Silent Saturday

How our day started.

Dream Feeding

Ah.... dream feeding.... for those of you not "down" with the breastfeeding jargon, dream feeding has nothing to do with raiding the fridge in the middle of the night; but rather it's the art of feeding baby while they are sleeping.


And it is an art.  


I had tried this with Monkey while we were co-sleeping, but it failed miserably.  Instead of eating in a sleepy state, he woke right up and wanted to party.  I decided to give it another try a few weeks back, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Monkey goes to bed around 7pm, and around 10pm (right before I turn in); I go into his room and scoop up his sweet little swaddled body, tip-toe over to the rocking chair, and rock and nurse.    Generally he stays mostly asleep, sometimes his eyes flutter open, but then they quickly close.  After about 10 minutes, he stops sucking and is still; then I gently kiss him on his forehead and put him back into his crib.  And he sleeps.  Adding this night feeding has helped him sleep through the night.  It is bliss.  I love the quiet time together, the stillness of his bedroom, hearing him breath and seeing him so at peace.  

Dream feeding is a dream... a good one.

Seeing Blue

Today Husband and I decided to start removing the nasty old carpets in the upstairs of our house.  My Step-Dad was going to do this for us before we moved in, but then his work got busy, and one thing lead to another and now he's no longer with us.  A few weeks ago I pulled up the edge of the carpet on the stairs and I saw that our stair were painted blue.  Then curiosity got the best of me and I started looking under corners of rugs in the bedrooms upstairs, and was delighted to find hardwood floors, but saddened to see that they too were painted blue.

Our house was build in 1915, so sometime in the last 96 years someone decided blue floors would look wonderful.  My guess is they are a product of the 70s... as most things this tacky (myself included) are.

The photos do not do justice to how nasty the carpet was.  It smelled.  It was full of dirt, despite us vacuuming it weekly.  There was dirt under it, piles and piles of dirt.  And so much was stuff spilled on it over the years that some of the carpet padding is stuck to the floor.

Then once we finished the stairs we decided to do the hallway.

Gotta love the blue floors.  But in my opinion, it's way better than the carpet.  That icky, stinky, ugly, nasty, carpet.  Good riddens... I am happy to be seeing blue.

Fall Bucket List

Fall is here!!! (Ok, not officially, but close enough.)  This summer we didn't get to do hardly anything we had been hoping for, and we've had a rough start to the fall, so I figured some looking forward to the future is  needed right now.

So here we go... what we, the grand family of Two Eggs Over Easy, would like to do this fall.

- Go to the town fair
- Go to The Big E
- Go apple picking
- Make, bake and freeze several apple pies
- Go pumpkin picking
- Carve pumpkins before Halloween
- Take the boys Trick Or Treating
- Go for a drive to the Mohawk Trail
- Go to a Corn Maze
- Have a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner
- Go to Yankee Candle and get our Christmas ornaments for the year (we get personalized ones each year)
- Husband and Turkey to go overnight camping
- Have a Halloween party (this is on Turkey's bucket list)
- Go on a Halloween Date with Husband and go on a Haunted Hey Ride
- Visit with our friends in CT
- Go to the Keene Pumpkin Fest with my mom
- Go to the book sale at the library
- Build a scarecrow

Wish us luck... this family could sure use some FUN.

In Memorian (sadly, again)

In Memorian of Grammie

July 4, 1935 to September 13, 2011

This week we said good-bye to one wonderfully goofy lovable lady, my Grammie.  I dug through old pictures tonight and could post ones of her in her big hats, or tight curls, or making one goofy face after another... but instead I've decided to just use one of my favorites from our wedding last year.

She's just the cutest thing, isn't she?

While she could be ornery and set in her ways (aren't we all at times), she was certainly a pleasure to have around... and she taught me a lot.  She showed my cousin and I how to shop like ladies and buy proper Easter hats. she took my to get my first perm (and my hair's been curly ever since), she had a great love of books (many of which I have in my attic).  She wasn't the greatest cook... but she made killer spaghetti sauce, sweet tea, potato salad and French meat stuffing.  She loved, and I mean LOVED, chicken and dumplings.  For a few years she worked as a lunch lady.  Having your grandma as a lunch lady certainly HAD benefits, I can almost taste the egg salad sandwiches on the white bread (because that's what you ate in the 80's).  And she was a hoot at times... like when she painted her living room that orange sherbet color (OK, she bought the paint and had my uncle do the work).  

My only regret, was that I never had a chance to learn how to make her meat stuffing (I've got all the other recipes down pat).  

Rest in peace Grammie... and if you want to send me that recipe in a dream I won't mind.  

That Thing Called: SLEEP

I know I've blog about it before, and I am sure I'll blog about it again; but as a mother of an infant it's a topic that fascinates me: SLEEP.

When Monkey was first born I set a timer when we went to bed at night, as to not let him sleep through a nursing session.  I set the timer in 3 hour intervals.  In the 4 weeks I used the timer, he only sleep long enough for it to go off once.

Then around 6 weeks of age he started sleeping 5 or so hour blocks at night.  It was heavenly.

At 8 weeks of age, he was sleeping 12+ hours a night.  It was a miracle.

When a month later, he stopped.  I was crushed and confused as I commented in this blog post.

Sleep at night was a struggle.  Naps were a nightmare.  Prior to the sleep derailment, Monkey had been sleeping at night in his co-sleeper and napping in his swing. He had been just going down to sleep in both  locations without a problem.  Now we were sitting in front of him while he was in his swing swaying back and forth and trying to coo him to sleep.  Husband was patting his butt at night and I was nursing like a fool in hopes he would sleep.  We were living a nightmare.

That's when Husband and I decided to practice (our version) of Marc Weissbliuth, M.D.'s Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.  We had been following them prior, but I guess you could say we got lazy once Monkey started sleeping so well.  We started with correcting the nap problems.  No more sleeping "in motion"; naps were to be taken in the co-sleeper.  We set up a nap time routine, and then implement the crying it out (5 minutes, go and soothe, 7 minutes go and soothe, 9 minutes, go and soothe, and so on).  Typically after the 7 minute mark he was asleep.  Once or twice he stretched it to the 11 minute mark.  But within 2 and a half days, naps were no longer a battle.  Sure he sometimes goes down with a whimper, but really it's no more than that (unless, he's over tired and then really it's our fault for not putting him down sooner and we comfort him to sleep).

We then went to apply this principle to bed time, and expected a struggle.  But we got none.  His bedtime routine is a short and easy one.  Sometimes we read a story in his room, otherwise it's fluoride, PJs, swaddler, and nurse (or bottle of breastmilk from Husband if I am out).  A kiss on the forehead and a "good night", and that's it.

STTN still proved to a challenge.  We had considered some of the sleep tactic Weisbluth wrote about, but with co-sleeping we really didn't see this as an option.  Family members suggested we move him into his own room.  But we were committed to co-sleeping for the first six months.  Monkey started waking up and wanting to nurse any time Husband or I entered out bedroom, or rolled over in bed, or snored too loud.  I was convinced he was reverse cycling; and tried to combat this... but really I don't think that was the problem. 

Then he turned 6 months, and we moved him down the hall to his room.  It was a bittersweet night, our baby wasn't so much a baby anymore.

In the end it was a move we needed to make, and probably should have sooner (but co-sleeping is recommended for the first 6 months); Monkey's sleep improved.  Some nights he would STTN.  Some nights (maybe twice since he moved) he's woken twice.  Most night's he wakes once (knock on wood), around 3:30 to eat.  Husband and I have talked about whether or not he needs this feeding, and we think he does (ask us what we think in another month however); and we are OK with this.  Monkey goes to bed around 7pm, nurses once overnight (typically) and then is up for the day at 6am.  His first nap is at 8am... and we are slowly falling into a good sleep/nap schedule (which is our goal by 9 months).

I hope we are able to meet the rest of our sleep challenges with him (and I assume there will be some, he is human after all) with our eyes open and we can comprehend his needs sooner, rather than later.

Silent Saturday

A glimpse into our day.

Pinterest Friday

This evenings TV selection.

Yes... I will finally buy a wet bag... this one or...

this one.

Someone under 1 may be this for Halloween.

A certain 7 year "needs" this.

This would be a fun craft to do.  And I love the "welcome" on the door.

Or I could buy this of etsy.  Which may be cheaper once I figure in gas to the craft store to do the above.

Some one's dinner tonight.

Everday

It seems like lately, everyday, I am packing up some of Monkey's baby gear or clothes that he no longer fits or uses.  My attic is full of odds and ends of his baby gear.  The top shelf in his closet has more clothes on it that doesn't fit him than the dresser holds of clothes that DO fit him.  (I really should buy a bin to store his clothes in.)

I swear Turkey didn't grow up this fast.  But maybe he did and I just blocked it out.  You know like how you block out the pain of childbirth after the fact, just enough to trick yourself into having another.

These days it seems like Turkey is growing too fast as well.  Just yesterday he told me he couldn't wear his raincoat to school since it was too babyish (which I agree it may be now, he got it when he was 4 (and it was huge on him)).  On Turkey's first day of school this year I cleaned out all of his old clothes as well, and then on Labor Day we cleaned out his toy room and took out all the broke and "babyish" toys.

Sigh.... don't blink they grow so fast.

The Best Of (Part 3 of 10)

So far on the list we have had 1) The Arms Reach Co-Sleeper and 2) The Woombie.... and now tonight I present you with #3 (aren't you lucky???)....

Drum roll please....

And #3 is the "nursing tank".  Specifically the nursing tanks that Target sells.  If you plan on nursing for any period of time a nursing tank is a must have for your new mom wardrobe.  The simplicity of being able to unclasp your top and offer you baby a meal is key in trying to balance it all.  Not to mention they are cute (I've had several compliments on mine), and versatile (you can wear them under a number of things as the weather gets cooler).   Now granted they don't have to be the Target brand.  But at $16 each, how can you go wrong?

Full Disclosure: I was not paid or offered product for this review.  Views are solely my own.

Things I've Been Meaning To Do (September)

It's that time of month again.... it's Lazy Mom's "Things I've Been Meaning to Do".  You can find her list here.

And now, onto my list.... wish me luck, I didn't pretty terrible last month.

1) Develop these single use cameras from our wedding.  It's only been like a year and a half... so why not finally get it done now, right?

2) Start filling in this Family Tree / Family Album.  I bought it at least 4 months ago.

3) Tidy up the coat rack area.  If this doesn't get under control soon we'll never have room for the dreaded winter gear.

4) Put pictures in this frame.  I have them (OK, I am short one and that's why this isn't done).

5) Go around to each room and make a list of what that room needs.  Example: new wash paper basket for Turkey's room.  His got crushed some how... I am not asking questions.  See I got this handy-dandy notebook out to do this job with.  That's progress, right????

Literally

Turkey had a "Getting to Know You" homework assignment to do over the weekend; and in true Asperger's fashion he took each question literally.

My favorite example is this question: "What is your favorite hobbies or sports?"  Turkey replies: "building Legos". So I ask him if he wants to list fishing or swimming or bowling as a favorite sport.  He replies, "No, it said hobby OR sport, not both".

When I told him to write his last name on it, he replied; "It says name not first and last name".  Sigh.... "You need to put both down in case she knows another Ray." He begrudgingly wrote it.

I love that kid, but he makes me a little crazy some days.

Update: TIBMTD August List

Let's see how the list fared last month:


1) Wash my car.  I mean REALLY wash my car (read: take to care wash and have them do the windows inside and out as well); and not just let Turkey wash it.  Done, done and done!!!  

2) Put weed paper down and mulch over the front "garden". Not done.  I found the weed-paper at my mom's house today, and I left it there.  Fail.  

3) Get Monkey's footprints.  Not done.

4) Send a note to the White House and get a "congrats on your birth card" for Monkey. Half done, the letter is written and in the printer.  


I guess I'll give myself a 45% this past month.  But hey, it happens, I'm only human.

5) Get Turkey a new mattress.  We're having a tax free shopping in my state this month; so this may actually happen.  Didn't do.  I decided there were too many people out shopping that weekend to go.

Silent(ish) Saturday

Monkey versus Spaghetti

Guess who won?

Breakfast of Champions

Last night I asked Turkey what he would like me to make him for breakfast for his first day of school, and he replied: "Two eggs over easy, pancakes, bacon and sausage."  Good thing I have today off from work.

Why, yes, that is turkey bacon (and turkey sausage).
And yes, he did insist on using all these separate plates.

So that's what he got and that's what he ate; plus another one and a half sausages and another half a pancake with OJ and milk.  

Apparently he has a hollow leg.

I hope his first day of 2nd grade, and all the schools days to follow are this fulfilling and wonderful for him.