Mama's Little Helper

I love that my little guy likes to help me out.  He loves to assist with the laundry.  He pulls the clothes out of the washer or dryer for me.  Today while I was doing dishes, he simply was not content playing in the kitchen cupboards so I put him in his highchair and gave him some dishes to wash.  He loved it and it kept him occupied long enough for me to do dishes and then some!  Once he decided his dishes were clean, he decided that he could use a washing himself.  Silly guy!

The Post Thanksgiving Clean Up

Did you all have a marvelous Thanksgiving holiday?  We did! The dinner turned out great.  I ended up making pumpkin pie for my husband and successfully roasted my chicken.  I have been eating chicken leftovers for days, which never happened with turkey, so I would say the chicken option was well worth it!  

Friday was my birthday and while I had no expectations for doing anything, my husband suggested that we venture out to REI to do some shopping.  I couldn't believe it!  Mr. I hate shopping wanted to go out on the busiest shopping day of the year?  I was just thrilled to spend time with him (he is a busy man after all) so I jumped at the opportunity.  We went to Santa Monica and walked around, stepping in and out of shops and purchasing items for the baby (because I can talk myself out of things for me but baby stuff is hard to resist!).  

I'm not much of a black friday gal.  I am more of a cyber monday chick.  I have one regret.  I found some jeans on the gap website that I wanted to get the baby for christmas and they were marked down for black friday and then had an additional mark down once you enter a code.  Silly me, I thought the deal would still be happening online but no.  The jeans went back up to their original price, which is too much money for this mama to pay for baby jeans, and therefore Logan will not get his cool jeans this year.  Bummer.  Santa, however, got a great deal on a riding toy on Amazon! Woo Hoo!!!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am trying to clean up a bit before the christmas decorating.  So I cleaned out my closet.  Boy was that sad.  I had to face the fact that if I don't fit into my clothes after a year, I am probably not going to get back into them.  It was the most depressing fashion show/ dress up session I have ever participated in.  I kept asking my poor husband, does this look weird?  This is too small isn't it.  Thankfully he is an honest man.  I don't always appreciate his bluntness, but this time it helped me to purge of items that I otherwise would have held on to.  I kept a few items that I couldn't part with, but decided that it was time to move on and make room in the closet.  

I also packed up a bunch of baby stuff that the little guy doesn't need anymore, now that he's growing into a big boy.  Now I just need to get it out of my house.  I have a lot of stuff that I want to save but don't have space for. I started researching storage facilities.  I am desperate for space.  If we only had a garage......

Letters To Logan ~ Giving Thanks

Logan, my sweet angel, I am so thankful to have you.  I waited a long time for you to come into my life and you are amazing! I cherish every day that we spend together and although I don't always feel it in the moment, I love the nights awake as well.  Thanksgiving last year was special because we were just home from the hospital and Papa made us a marvelous Thanksgiving meal.  I spent most of the day on the couch holding you in my arms. It makes me so proud to see how much you have grown since then. As we celebrate your second Thanksgiving just after your first birthday, I am having so much fun with you.  There is so much to love.

I love the smile that you give me first thing in the morning.
I love the scent of your neck that I get a whiff of when you give me giant bear hugs.
I love how you hold your hand out whenever you want to move around the house because you are not quite confident enough to walk on your own, but you are so beyond crawling!  I imagine you thinking "crawling is for babies..... I am a big boy!"
I love how excited you get when you play with the dog, or accomplish something like fitting a puzzle part in the right spot.

I love that you are a mellow and go with the flow kind of guy.
I love that you absolutely love bath time and get super excited when we start to run the water.  As soon as there is a pool of water in the tub you reach in to splash around even before we get you undressed!
I love that you automatically stick stickers to your shirt when I give you one, because this is what I used to do when we picked up a sticker after grocery shopping.  Now you do it yourself! You are so smart baby boy and I love watching your mind develop.
I love watching you as you get your swing moving when it simply is not moving fast enough for you.  You are so adorable!

I love how you try to put my shoes on
I love that you brush your own hair
I love that you prefer to wipe your own hands and face after eating meals and all I have to do is give you a wet cloth and you are wiping away.  Its not only your hands and face, but your hair and the tray on your highchair too!
I love watching you dance around to music and enjoy finding your favorite tunes.

I could go on and on.  I am so very thankful to have you in my life today and everyday.  I thank you for being the best little boy a mom could imagine.

The Thanksgiving Menu

I went to the store first thing this morning to complete my Thanksgiving shopping.  It was a relatively pleasant experience.  I was able to get everything on my list and didn't have to wait in lines to check out! As we prepare for Thanksgiving I can't help but think about what it was like as I was growing up.  This is the first year that my grandmother is not around for Thanksgiving and although I have not spent Thanksgiving with her (or my family) for several years, I still miss her this holiday.  I remember going to her house when I was a young girl and having, what seemed to me, a huge Thanksgiving spread.  We all gathered around the table and indulged in Turkey, ham, and all the sides.  My grandmother used to bake pies for the holidays - pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, chocolate pudding pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, lemon meringue pie, mincemeat pie - you know, to name a few!  I was never much of a pie fan, but I would always eat the apple pie!  To this day apple pie is my favorite!  Although my grandmother is not with us anymore, I am still very thankful for her this holiday.  She gave me more than she ever knew.  I cherish the memories that I have and they make me a better mom.

We start this Thanksgiving holiday by baking pumpkin bread!  An early treat!  My husband and I love to make Thanksgiving dinner.  We are not having any guests this year so we are trying not to make too much, but we are still going to have a nice spread.  We have decided on the following menu.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
A Roasted Chicken (because I am not a huge turkey fan, wouldn't be able to come close to eating the leftovers, and I can think of lots to do with chicken leftovers)
Halibut (for my husband who does not eat meat)
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie (possibly)

I am not going to make stuffing this year.  I usually do, and I love it, but we don't need it.  My husband sometimes makes a pumpkin soup, but we opted for butternut squash this year.  We always make homemade green bean casserole, no canned mushroom soup or onions.  Same with the cranberry sauce.  I don't know if I will get around to making the pumpkin pie (again, I am not a fan - but my husband is) but if I have time I will make it for my husband.  I am super excited to make my roasted chicken.  It will be my first time working with the whole chicken and I can't wait!  Sweet Potatoes are not on the menu, another item I love, but again, we don't need it.  So I will make this dish another time.  I didn't pick up any dinner rolls at the market.  Perhaps I will make some if I am feeling domestic!

And how did I spend Thanksgiving prior to baby?  Why hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon of course!

My Swing My Savior

So I have been wanting to get the baby to go to sleep without nursing for months now, however it hasn't happened.  Its not that I am in a hurry to stop nursing, I just want to not rely on it for sleep time.  I have tried nursing him until he is almost sleeping and then transferring him to his crib while awake, as suggested by many gentle sleep training sites, but he would just scream and not stop.  After a few minutes I can't handle it anymore.  I keep telling myself that the worst case scenario will be that when he is a little older I will explain to him at a level he can understand that we don't nurse to sleep and have him participate in what he would like for a bedtime routine.  That being said, I know he can fall asleep without nursing.  He sleeps in the car, he sleeps in his swing (luckily he still fits in that thing and hopefully he will for a couple more months), and very rarely he will fall asleep next to me.  

Last night I nursed him, as per the usual with our bedtime routine.  He fell asleep and then woke about 45 minutes later.  He wasn't interested in sleeping.  He wanted to play.  So I tried something different.  I let him play a little and then put him in his swing with the hopes that I would be able to transfer him to his crib once he was sleeping.  It worked!  I think I may try to do this for several nights so that he can loosen the association between nursing and sleep.  Then, if he will let me, I would like to try rocking him to sleep - one because I want to have some variety, and two because he is going to grow out of that swing.  I still nursed him when he woke up in the middle of the night, but hey, baby steps.  I wonder if I put him in his swing rather than nursing him in the middle of the night this would result in him waking less?  I would think that it is less appealing than nursing, right?  It would be exhausting for me for a while, but if it meant that I got more sleep in the long run I would do it in a heartbeat.  

Monday Fun Day ~ Plate Painting

We attempted to have a Monday Fun Day Activity today where we painted paper plates to make turkeys, but it all went awry.  Paint ended up in all sorts of places that it wasn't supposed to and although it was fun while it lasted, we never quite made it to the turkey making.  The intention was to paint the outer part of the plate to make feathers.  I was then going to assist with making the center body of the turkey, cutting a beak out in the middle of the plate.  Oh well.  You can't win them all.  I guess we can call this activity plate painting.

Birthday Fun

Ahhhh, I can relax now that the Birthday festivities are over! I successfully made a cake, although I was not satisfied with the result.  You see, it took a lot longer than anticipated to put the whole thing together.  I made the fondant friday night and refrigerated it overnight.  I now wish that I had colored it prior to refrigerating it so that the coloring was complete prior to Saturday morning.  I got up early Saturday morning and made the cakes.  I was pleased with my marble cakes.  I was not pleased with the size and shape of the cake pans that I purchased but they worked very well.   I made up a little cake release and brushed it in the pans prior to putting the batter in and the popped right out when they were done.  Excellent results!  The chocolate buttercream frosting was delish!  Super sweet.  It reminded me of the chocolate filling that you might find inside of a donut.  So putting the cake layers together and frosting it with the buttercream frosting was easy and came together nicely.


I then colored the fondant.  I found that you need to work with the fondant for a few minutes because it is hard from being in the refrigerator.  A great hand workout.  Not my favorite part.  Coloring the fondant was fun.  I read that you should use food safe gloves when coloring the fondant, however I didn't want to buy a huge pack of gloves when I was only making one cake.  So I opted to chance having colored hands.  I made the red fondant first.  I was really scared when I saw how red my hands became, however I quickly washed my hands when finished and the coloring pretty much washed off.   I was so pleased that I was able to get the colors to be what I wanted.  Black and red are not too difficult, but tan is not easy.  I did it though, and was proud to have accomplished it with yellow, red and black! Once I colored all the fondant, I rolled out the base for the cake.  I rolled it on a silicone mat that I have for rolling pie dough.  It stuck.  So my ingenious husband suggested I roll it on plastic wrap.  This worked well, but left marks in the fondant that needed to be smoothed.  I was able to successfully transfer the fondant to the cake and smooth it, but it was not holding shape as well as I had hoped.  I think it was a little too warm or worked a little too much because I had to roll it out twice.  But it was on the cake.  I chose not to take the time to mess with it too much.

By this time it was past noon and I had wanted to be finished by noon so I rushed making the monkey.  I was disappointed with my results.  The proportions were all wrong and I didn't take care to clean my surface after each step so some colored specs ended up being in the tan part of the face. If I had wanted to take more time, I would have worked with it until it was perfect - and had I been expecting guests I certainly would have taken the time - but I just wanted to get on with the partying, so I put my imperfect monkey on the cake and called it quits.  I put little red fondant balls around the base of the cake and placed it on the table.  I was over the baking, so I simply placed the red balls around my sons little cake and put some little red sugar sprinkles on top with the candle.  It worked.

The cake was only one part of the party right?  We had a great time!  We opened presents, played with the toys received and ate the cake after having pizza.  Then we played with dough, finger painted and played with stickers.  It was a great day.  Lots of fun!  I was so exhausted by the end of the day though.  That glass of wine at the end of the night when I finally sat down was so delightful (and much deserved).  Even my husband was praising me for my hard work and that's saying something!

Fondant Fiasco

No, it wasn't a complete fiasco, but making fondant for the first time proved harder than it looks in those youtube videos.  First, I made way too much.  I wanted to make more than I needed because it was my first time and wanted to be able to screw up and have the ability to fix things.  Turns out I made enough for several cakes.  I ended up using double the amount of powdered sugar than what the recipe called for.  What is with that?  I needed to in order to get a decent consistency.  I didn't even end up using all of the liquid portion of my mixture.  I would have enough to make a wedding cake had I kneaded the entire batch.  BUT.... at the end of the day, I have my fondant made.  I was concerned as I was making it that I wasn't going to get it to the consistency that it needed to be, but finally it came together.  It is chilling in the refrigerator and tomorrow morning I will be coloring it, rolling it and creating a fun little cake.  Yeah!

On This Day ~ 2010

As I celebrate my baby's first birthday, I thought I would share a blog post that I wrote a year ago.  Now that I am reviewing it, I am so thankful that I jotted down these feelings and thoughts as I will want to remember them for the rest of my life! Enjoy~

The Final Stages
The last month of my pregnancy brought on a variety of emotions. Anxiety was probably the most prominent of all. In one of my final doctor visits I learned that my little boy was breech. Once this information was received, I had to make the decision to either try having the baby manually turned by the doctor or to have a C-Section. Of course this all assuming that the baby did not turn prior to the delivery - he did not. So I opted for the C-Section. The delivery was now scheduled. This was so surreal as I had taken these birthing classes that prepared me for the stages of labor and different coping strategies etc. Now I was not going to experience labor, no contractions, no sweaty, bitchy, screaming moments and no pain. Many would consider me (and my husband) lucky. It's not that I wanted to have the pain, but it seemed and still does seem so weird that I just went to the hospital on the scheduled day and said "here I am" ready to have my baby, knowing the exact time that the baby would be coming out.  I almost feel cheated of the experience.


The Pre-Birth
My C-Section was scheduled for November 18th at 6pm. This meant that I could not have anything to eat or drink from 10am on. No water, no candy, no gum. I thought it was going to be hell trying to keep from having food and drink, but it actually wasn't bad at all. I was busy stirring inside. Did I have everything ready? There were going to be packages delivered while we were in the hospital....It was supposed to rain, were they going to be ok sitting outside? What about the dog? Does he know what's happening? I'm going to miss the dog. Maybe I should clean the counters one more time. Do we have food to eat when we come home? What about my hospital bag? Lets go through the list one more time....one of the advantages of having the scheduled c-section (surgery) was that I didn't need the labor and delivery bag that was discussed in my class. I only needed the post-birth items. Don't forget the camera. Lets take some photos prior to leaving. Who had time to think about eating? Not me!


We arrived at the hospital at 4pm.

A Little Change In Approach

I was reminiscing this evening about this day last year.  It was the last day that it was just my husband and I (and the dog of course).  There was no baby and our whole life was about to change.  I recall having a conversation with the dog, trying to explain what was about to happen.  I gave him lots and lots of cuddles.  I remember being more calm than I had anticipated.

I was really concerned that I was going to miss the life left behind.  My husband and I use to travel quite a bit, going to music festivals and backpacking all over.  It was going to be some time before we were going to be able to live like we used to and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it all.  I still miss doing these things, but there are so many other adventures that make up for it!  Years ago, when having a baby was only a thought in my mind, a good friend of mine said something that has always stuck with me.  He said "I don't look at family life as an end to the fun...more of a hiatus and then a little change in approach." 


I can't believe that a whole year has gone by.  I decided to look back at the thousands of pictures that I have taken over the last 12 months.  My boy has changed so much!  It was amazing to look at the stages he has gone through.  I have not printed pictures to make a baby book or scrap book - I know, I'm terrible - so I have made it a mission to do so prior to the end of the year.  Luckily, I have kept track of the days that the baby hit milestones.

Now it is impossible to imagine a life without my baby.  I had a dream last night that I was back at work in the office.  Everything seemed so stressful and rushed and I was thinking how awkward it all was.  I did not fit in at all.  Crazy dreams.  I love love love being a stay at home mom!

I'm A Small Market Kind Of Gal

I heart Trader Joe's!

Man oh man.... I ventured out to Vons today.  Its been a while since I shopped at a large supermarket such as Vons.  Nothing against Vons, but I typically shop at Trader Joes, sometimes Whole Foods.  Every now and then I stop at Gelsons on my way home or walk down to Fresh & Easy if I need something.  It was a weird experience let me tell you.  The store seemed enormous!  Way too many choices.  As with all large supermarkets, there was way too much junk to choose from (or too much junk to make it easy to find the healthy options quickly).  I ended up there because I was trying to be a responsible shopper by cutting coupons!  I happened upon the 'prepare for thanksgiving' flyer and there were tons of coupons for things that I thought would be great for baking, and of course other stuff that I thought we could use.  I will say the prices on items are on the cheaper side but what are you spending your money on?  We don't buy a lot of processed food.  We typically eat organic, natural food or at least foods that have labels with ingredients we can easily pronounce.  No high fructose corn syrup.

Years ago we shopped at Vons because it was close to our home, therefore, I was able to use my old phone number to get the club prices on items.  This, along with my coupons saved me $25.  Not too shabby.  I am sure that if you take the time to search out the healthy items and shop here regularly, this market could be a good option.  I couldn't handle shopping there though.  I tried to start by walking through the produce area.  I found the organic mushrooms, picked some up and decided I better move on to the baking aisle before I wander about.  Obtaining some baking supplies was after all the main objective of my trip and I was already wanting to leave.

I finally found the baking aisle and picked up my powdered sugar, chocolate, and gelatin for the cake I am making.  I pulled out my seven hundred coupons and began ruffling through them to see what I wanted to buy, ensuring I pick up the right quantity and volume of the products.  What a pain! Of course I didn't have all the coupon items on my list, so I was a disorganized mess.  I got through about five and decided I didn't need the other items bad enough to find them in the store.  I suck at couponing.  I am the person that will have a coupon for two bucks off six packets of Plum baby food and will show up to the counter with two packets of Plum food and four packets of Happy Baby food and wonder why my coupon is not working.  Yep, happened.  Then there was the next time around when I actually picked up six packets of plum food (simply because I was determined to use the coupon) and once I got to the counter I forgot to hand the dang thing over.  Now the coupon has expired.  Yep.  Suck at it. 

I needed staples such as milk and eggs and decided I will go to Trader Joes tomorrow to pick them up.  Isn't it weird how we become accustomed to our grocery store.  I know exactly where to find the items that I typically buy on a regular basis and can get through the store rather quickly.  I think I became anxious because I had the baby with me, I didn't know how long he could hold it together before becoming uncooperative, and there was simply way to much stimulation (for me, let alone him).  I walked up and down the baking aisle three times and had to ask someone before finding the corn syrup.  Seriously? Again, I have nothing against Vons but I so prefer my small market that may not have every item that I need for my fondant cake, but has everything I need for everyday use.

This Should Be Interesting

Only a few more days until my baby's 1st birthday!  We are not having a big party, but we are having a little, intimate, family party, so I have been busy this week purchasing supplies.  We are going with a Paul Frank theme this year.  The baby does not watch tv or have an attachment to any sort of character, so I went to target to see what they had.  I decided that our options were generic birthday theme (balloons) or Paul Frank monkey theme.  So I went with monkey.

Then I decided that I am going to make a cake.  Not just any cake.... a fondant cake with a monkey on top.  This should be interesting.  I rarely make cakes and have never made fondant so I am really hoping it does not turn into a disaster, which is entirely possible!  This will be my first layer cake, so I purchased a couple 9" cake pans as well as a couple supplies for making the fondant.  I also purchased a little 3" cake pan that I will use for the baby's special cake.  I looked online to see what others had done in terms of making a paul frank cake and wasn't terribly inspired by any of them, so I have been racking my brain to come up with exactly what I want to do.  Decision number one:  What color should I make the base of the cake?  All of the supplies are in a blue, red, yellow color scheme, however I am not sure that I want to make the base any of these colors.  I may go with orange or green.  Decision number two:  Should I simply put a paul frank head on top of the cake or should I add other decoration such as stripes or polka dots?  I may need to get the fondant made prior to making this decision.  Decision number three:  What paul frank depiction should I create? Ice Cream on his head? Head phones?  Sun Glasses?  Traditional?  Again, this decision may be made once I am into it and see how I am liking the process or not.

I have the basics figured out.  I am making marble layers with chocolate buttercream frosting under the fondant.  I consulted my Joy Of Cooking cook book to get a cake recipe and I found the perfect frosting recipe on a blog that I enjoy Savory Sweet Life.  I went on YouTube and researched how to make fondant as well as how to apply it.  After reviewing a number of videos, I think I have a recipe that will work and am praying that it is not way too much or too little fondant.  At this point, the cake seems like a fairly large task, but a fun task that is completely doable.  I don't feel that it is too much to take on, I just want to time it right so that everything is fresh and I am not rushed to finish it.  Now that I have my recipes, its time to go shopping!

Our Hand Turkeys

Here are our turkeys that we made today!  My apologies for the poor quality photo.  Logan enjoyed this activity.  He loved playing with the pom poms and felt.  We can't wait to complete our next Thanksgiving craft!

Monday Fun Day ~ Hand Turkeys

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday I think it is time to make some Turkey Crafts!

Today's Monday Fun Day Activity is making Hand Turkeys.
You can trace a hand to make these fun little turkeys, but I am using cardboard cut outs left over from a pair of gloves that I purchased for halloween.  Recycle, recycle, recycle!  We are using construction paper to make the face of the turkey and a mixture of materials for the feathers.  We are simply opening the craft box and I am letting the baby pick and choose items to stick on the turkey.  We have pom poms and felt that I think will work best for this project, but who knows, he may choose paper, fabric, or something completely different than I am thinking!  I will be sure to post some pictures when we complete our turkeys!

Is This Week Over Yet?

I know that I have not been posting as much as usual this week.  Bare with me as I chant "I think I can.... I think I can".  I cannot wait until this week is over!  Not only am I home alone with the baby and dog, but I have a miserable, teething baby who doesn't want to sleep but is cranky all day and crying all night.  Poor baby.  Poor Mama!  Despite the lack of sleep, I am having a pretty good day.

We went to stroller strides this morning.  I really didn't know if we were going to make it, or make it through the class once we got there, but we did!  It feels so good to get out with some moms when I am feeling a little desperate.  It made a world of difference.  After class we shopped at lululemon athletica.  They had a special event for us moms (held a raffle for a new outfit, gave us snacks, etc.).  It was fun!  While I didn't win the raffle, I did find pants and a shirt on the sale rack that I couldn't resist!

At least my baby is napping.  He is napping and I am choosing to do nothing except type away at these computer keys and get lost in the internet.  Maybe I will even get to close my eyes for a minute before he wakes.  Maybe he will feel a little better when he wakes.  Here's to hoping!

Missing Papa

Well, I am a single mommy this week and it has been busy!  I mean, I stay at home with my baby during the day while my husband works, but there are definitely times that he helps out and I feel it when he goes out of town.  Usually I can get my husband to watch the baby for a few minutes in the morning so that I can rest a little before the day begins.  The baby tends to be ready to rock and roll when he wakes and mama, well mama takes a little more time to get going.  While I appreciate the assistance in the morning, it is the evening that is especially difficult on my own.  I am so grateful to have my hubby.  He usually watches the baby while I prepare dinner.  He also takes the baby after bath time and dresses him in his pj's and is generally present most evenings so that, even though I am supervising the baby, I can relax a bit because he is too.

I think the dog might be more difficult to handle than the baby.  The dog always wants to go outside right when I sit down to nurse the baby.  He also gets super hyper at night when the baby is trying to sleep.   I make an extra effort to get the dog enough exercise when hubby is out of town so he is tired.  I tell you though, nothing beats cozying with the pup at the end of a busy day.  Love him!

He Stands!

The past few days the baby has been really into walking- with a little assistance.  Today he stood on his own.  I was so happy that my husband and I were both home to experience the happy moment!  My husband had the baby's arm and just let go and the little guy just stood there!  It's been clear to us for a while that he is strong enough, but he gets scared and always bends down to sit or crawl.  We were so proud to see him stand on his own.  We repeated the steps and again, he stood on his own!  Its only a matter of time before he starts walking!!  Happy Days!

Crayon Chaos

Is it bad that I no longer care what direction the crayons go in the box?  I used to take care to ensure the pointed ends were facing up, however as my son began to use the crayons (and putting the crayons in the box) they would often end up in the box 'upside down'.  At first it took all my might to not take the crayons out and turn them around.  I want him to feel accomplished, so I leave them.  Now I don't care and find myself shoving the crayons in the box however they end up.  I am not sure that this is a good thing.  I mean, when I am picking the crayons up (and not doing it with my son) it usually means I am in a hurry.  Does this mean, though, that I can't take the extra 4 seconds to turn the crayons around?  And when I let my son place them pointed side down I ask myself, "Am I teaching him to not respect his belongings?"  I am kidding really- mostly- , but what does this say about me?  That I pick my battles so to speak?  That I no longer take time to do things well and do things half assed now?  What does it mean?  I remember Oprah once saying that you should always place your bills in your wallet so that they are face up, all facing the same direction and in order because this signifies that you respect the money that you have.  So I have to wonder if the same applies to the crayon box!

Still Not Sleeping But He's Cute

I know that November is about giving thanks.  Therefore, I am looking at the positive each day and recognizing that there is so much to be thankful for.  I am really enjoying my son now that he is almost a year and reaching all kinds of milestones.  He isn't yet walking (or standing without assistance), but today he walked quite a long distance with a one hand assist.  Very exciting.  I am so thankful that he is a happy, healthy little boy.  I am so thankful that I am fortunate enough to be able to spend each day with him to watch him grow.  So thankful.  It is easy to get caught up in the frustrating situations, but the frustration never lasts long because when my baby smiles at me or sleeps peacefully, it melts my heart. 

Sleep, or lack there of, is the biggest frustration right now.  My boy has regressed tremendously when it comes to sleeping.  I recall the days when I would tell people that he would sleep six or seven hours a night.  I was so pleased and proud of us.  Now I am lucky if I get two straight hours of sleep and that's no exaggeration.  I am trying to ease him away from nursing at night because I feel that he relies on this and perhaps if the boob is not available all night long, he would fuss less during the night.  It is dry in our home though, and even I wake thirsty, so I do take this into consideration when he wakes and cries.  Its hard to tell if he needs to have a drink or if he simply wants attention.  He always nurses, but sometimes it is not for very long.  I have tried the past few nights to pull my breast away after a few minutes, lessening the length of nursing sessions, and this has worked some of the time.  I think I may try to keep a bottle with water next to my bed and offer this instead of my breast to see if this works.  My assumption is that this would be less satisfying, yet will provide liquid if necessary, and he will crave it less than my boobs.  He eats enough in his awake hours to go without breast milk at least several more hours.  

I have to wonder if he would sleep better if he were in his own room.  Sleeping in my bed and sleeping in his crib in my room seems to make no difference in the length of time he stays asleep.  Placing him next to me in my bed allows me to try rubbing his back and such when he stirs to see if I can get him back to sleep by soothing him in this manner.  It has not worked.  Oh well, I will continue to try new things until I find what works.  I keep hearing that eventually he will sleep through the night (even if I do nothing), but I am hoping that night comes sooner rather than later.   No sleep leads to a cranky mama - until my baby smiles at me :)

Holy Crap Its November!

Am I the only mama that is happy Halloween is over?  I mean, we had a fabulous weekend, but I think that we planned too much.  By yesterday afternoon I was over it.  We didn't get to all of the items on our Halloween agenda, however we opted to attend Boo at the LA Zoo which was fun.  Crowded, but fun.

I am excited for November.  My baby turns one this month!  I can't believe it has been a year already.  We are off to a bit of a rough start this month though.  You see, I spilled hot cocoa on my laptop.  Yep, now the track pad only clicks when it wants to.  As if that wasn't bad enough, I received a jury summons in the mail.  You know, in the past I didn't really mind the whole jury duty thing.  I had a job that paid for several days, I enjoyed the trial process, and you are exposed to all sorts of interesting folks. Now, however, I am not sure how I would serve on a jury with the baby to care for.  Luckily, one of the categories under the 'request to be excused' section is 'providing full time care to another'. So, I requested to be excused and included that I am breastfeeding.  We shall see how Los Angeles responds.

Now to pack up the Halloween decorations and pull out the Thanksgiving goodies!  I love Thanksgiving.  I am already thinking about Thanksgiving dinner!