WOW
What a whirlwind life has been for us lately!
We just completed our first move from the sell of our first home to the apartments where I work. I just got over saying goodbye to the house that was the place of so many huge "firsts" for our family. Literally we got everything out on a thursday before our closing date on friday (a bit last minute) and that same day found out that Jamie had been offered the opportunity of a lifetime career-wise in Kansas for a start date of the 30th. *Insert image of my head spinning off of my shoulders*
Overwhelmed just doesn't seem to be descriptive enough for my current emotional state. We know absolutely NO ONE in Kansas, have never seen the area, and I am deathly afraid of tornados. HERE WE GO!
I have 3 weeks more or less to get everything ready for yet another move. But I will say that I am excited by the uncertainty of everything. The job itself is going to afford Jamie priceless experience and open so many more doors for him in the future. We both know this new company will probably pale in comaprison to his current employer who have been just like family to us. This decision has kept Jamie and I up several nights in a row going over pros and cons again and again. One of the major pros being that I have the option to be a full time mommy to my Parker boy. We finally came to the conclusion that we are young and in the perfect place in our lives to go out on a limb so why not? We will miss everyone terribly, but it is definitely within driving distance and I have a feeling we will be making that drive often!
In short, it looks like I will be blogging allot more to keep everyone up to date on what we are doing. Until the next blog, just call me Dorothy... Kansas here we come!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sweet Screams?
Ahhh, sleep training.
At one point, I believe all parents go through this horror. Up until about 2 weeks ago I was perfectly content spoiling Parker rotten for the rest of his life by letting him sleep in bed with Jamie and I (awful practice, I know) Ever since the night he was born and they wheeled him in next to me in the little plastic hospital grade bassinet snugly burritoed (is that a word?) in his blanket. I spent the first 3 hours after the nurse shut off the lights and Jamie began snoring staring at the wad of blankets through the plastic. It didn't move and I couldn't discern any sort of breathing motion either. After a few times of poking the bundle with my finger and making that little caterpillar squirm I soothed my nerves by scooping him up and nestling him into my arms for the rest of the night...and all of the nights following that one. With a brand new 7 pound baby that wakes up to eat every 2 hours its the ideal situation for mommy. I didn't even need to open my eyes to feed him! However, 7 and a half months down the road when I am still being woken up several times a night for feedings it seems much less convenient. Not only for me, but my poor husband was banished to the farthest sliver of the edge of our bed each night with very little covers.
So two weeks ago I became determined to set it right and get our whole family a better nights sleep by getting him into his very expensive yet-to-be used crib. Let the wrath of the baby begin!
Night #1: I bathe him, lotion him, turn of the lights and feed him and rock him. He begin to fall asleep and I am thinking "YES! I've got this in the bag!" I get up from the glider and begin to lay him down into the crib. Before his tiny booty hits the sheets the first scream is let out... "Oh no!" I lay him down and make myself comfortable on the floor next to him and rub his back as he screams and writhes in angst. It is probably one of the worst feeling s ever as a mommy to see your child fully convinced the end of all things is upon him because of something you are doing. He falls asleep after and hour and a half of screaming and I drag myself to bed. He wakes up about every 2 hours that night to eat and cries himself to sleep for about 10 minutes each time. At 4:30 am he comes back to bed with me because I am exhausted and need sleep.
Night #2: Same routine, I lay him down and he cries for 30 minutes...hmmm...that was easier. He wakes up only two times and sleeps the ENTIRE night in his own bed. I felt like a rock star! I was rested, he was rested and we were ready to roll!
Night #3: He falls asleep before I have a chance to get him to his bed and he sleeps...wait for it... ALL NIGHT LONG without waking up one single time! He is super baby!
Since night three I have had the best, most restful nights of sleep since before I entered preterm labor at 29 weeks. Why did I not do this way before??? I have my bedroom back, time in the evening to get things done, peace of mind knowing he will not fall out of the bed, and time for my husband. Parker zonks out each evening and sleeps like a rock and wakes up the happiest little boy you have ever seen. He still takes naps on top of sleeping a solid 10 hours per night.
This experience has definitely taught me that at times, parenting is hard and it seems much less of a hassle to do the easy thing rather than the best thing. Never again!
At one point, I believe all parents go through this horror. Up until about 2 weeks ago I was perfectly content spoiling Parker rotten for the rest of his life by letting him sleep in bed with Jamie and I (awful practice, I know) Ever since the night he was born and they wheeled him in next to me in the little plastic hospital grade bassinet snugly burritoed (is that a word?) in his blanket. I spent the first 3 hours after the nurse shut off the lights and Jamie began snoring staring at the wad of blankets through the plastic. It didn't move and I couldn't discern any sort of breathing motion either. After a few times of poking the bundle with my finger and making that little caterpillar squirm I soothed my nerves by scooping him up and nestling him into my arms for the rest of the night...and all of the nights following that one. With a brand new 7 pound baby that wakes up to eat every 2 hours its the ideal situation for mommy. I didn't even need to open my eyes to feed him! However, 7 and a half months down the road when I am still being woken up several times a night for feedings it seems much less convenient. Not only for me, but my poor husband was banished to the farthest sliver of the edge of our bed each night with very little covers.
So two weeks ago I became determined to set it right and get our whole family a better nights sleep by getting him into his very expensive yet-to-be used crib. Let the wrath of the baby begin!
Night #1: I bathe him, lotion him, turn of the lights and feed him and rock him. He begin to fall asleep and I am thinking "YES! I've got this in the bag!" I get up from the glider and begin to lay him down into the crib. Before his tiny booty hits the sheets the first scream is let out... "Oh no!" I lay him down and make myself comfortable on the floor next to him and rub his back as he screams and writhes in angst. It is probably one of the worst feeling s ever as a mommy to see your child fully convinced the end of all things is upon him because of something you are doing. He falls asleep after and hour and a half of screaming and I drag myself to bed. He wakes up about every 2 hours that night to eat and cries himself to sleep for about 10 minutes each time. At 4:30 am he comes back to bed with me because I am exhausted and need sleep.
Night #2: Same routine, I lay him down and he cries for 30 minutes...hmmm...that was easier. He wakes up only two times and sleeps the ENTIRE night in his own bed. I felt like a rock star! I was rested, he was rested and we were ready to roll!
Night #3: He falls asleep before I have a chance to get him to his bed and he sleeps...wait for it... ALL NIGHT LONG without waking up one single time! He is super baby!
Since night three I have had the best, most restful nights of sleep since before I entered preterm labor at 29 weeks. Why did I not do this way before??? I have my bedroom back, time in the evening to get things done, peace of mind knowing he will not fall out of the bed, and time for my husband. Parker zonks out each evening and sleeps like a rock and wakes up the happiest little boy you have ever seen. He still takes naps on top of sleeping a solid 10 hours per night.
This experience has definitely taught me that at times, parenting is hard and it seems much less of a hassle to do the easy thing rather than the best thing. Never again!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Memories and Musings and Moving Boxes
It is currently 10:56 PM and I have to wake up and go to work early tomorrow. I should be tucked into bed right now like Parker is instead of being perched here typing away in the dark, but Jamie is working late and I can't seem to wind down without him here. Sitting alone in our kitchen staring at half-packed moving boxes inevitably leads me to sentimental thinking on our home for the last 2-ish years and all the major life events that have occurred here.
Getting married, having Jamie as excited as I was at the prospect of having a baby and then trying to accomplish that, finding out I was pregnant and then having Parker introduced into our lives. That is allot of growing up in a short amount of time!
Of course, I realize that these walls are just wood, drywall and paint. But they have a life to them all their own. I feel as if the house were remembering with me and in some way saying goodbye. All of a sudden, I don't want to hand over the keys to anyone else. Will they clean it? Will they decorate it and be as proud of it as we were? Will they prune my roses and water Jamie's precious grass to keep it green? More than that, will they love as much as I have and relish their life living in it as I have? I take the memories, pictures, and my family with me when I leave but I can't help the feeling that I am leaving a huge piece of my soul behind. I think I get why people believe in ghosts, I would haunt this house and spend eternity soaking in the atmosphere of my first true home and reliving my time in it.
Where we go from here, who knows? We will be happy, we will have more wonderful moments each day. But this house was the place where I found myself, got to know who I was and learned to appreciate that person. There is so much "letting go" to be done in life and if you ask me, it happens too often.
My resolve is to set my sights on the future and to chase my dreams in whatever kind of dwelling we end up in. I sip a small toast to my Cellini Drive home, thank you for sheltering me and all of the things I love and hold dear and for giving me a sigh of relief at the end of every long day at the sight of your driveway. You were the true meaning of what "home" is supposed to be and in some way, a friend to me. I pray whoever finds themselves wrapped inside your walls in the future feels the same way about you as I do.
Getting married, having Jamie as excited as I was at the prospect of having a baby and then trying to accomplish that, finding out I was pregnant and then having Parker introduced into our lives. That is allot of growing up in a short amount of time!
Of course, I realize that these walls are just wood, drywall and paint. But they have a life to them all their own. I feel as if the house were remembering with me and in some way saying goodbye. All of a sudden, I don't want to hand over the keys to anyone else. Will they clean it? Will they decorate it and be as proud of it as we were? Will they prune my roses and water Jamie's precious grass to keep it green? More than that, will they love as much as I have and relish their life living in it as I have? I take the memories, pictures, and my family with me when I leave but I can't help the feeling that I am leaving a huge piece of my soul behind. I think I get why people believe in ghosts, I would haunt this house and spend eternity soaking in the atmosphere of my first true home and reliving my time in it.
Where we go from here, who knows? We will be happy, we will have more wonderful moments each day. But this house was the place where I found myself, got to know who I was and learned to appreciate that person. There is so much "letting go" to be done in life and if you ask me, it happens too often.
My resolve is to set my sights on the future and to chase my dreams in whatever kind of dwelling we end up in. I sip a small toast to my Cellini Drive home, thank you for sheltering me and all of the things I love and hold dear and for giving me a sigh of relief at the end of every long day at the sight of your driveway. You were the true meaning of what "home" is supposed to be and in some way, a friend to me. I pray whoever finds themselves wrapped inside your walls in the future feels the same way about you as I do.
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