Mummy overslept

On Sunday night, I decided to piggy back off of the weekend and put Emerson to bed in the playpen. I caved after five minutes. He wasn’t crying, or anything. He was just lying there, but he wasn’t falling asleep. I was extremely tired, so I aborted the plan, popped him in bed with me, and nursed him down. We slept like shit. On Monday night, I decided to give it a real try and to put him down in the playpen. It took me about 30 minutes of rubbing his back, but he did go to sleep around 730pm. I went downstairs and watched all of my shows. It was a nice three hour block of time to myself. I started to fall asleep on the couch, but then he started crying, so I went upstairs and put him in bed with me. I know, I caved, but putting him down at bedtime is my first goal. I’m trying to make this an easy transition. Last night, it took him awhile longer to go down. He didn’t sleep as long in the playpen before waking and crying. I put him in bed with me again. We slept amazing though. Tonight, I’m going to try to toughen up and when he wakes in the middle of the night, keep him in the playpen. I’m lowering the crib on Friday when I work from home, so we can start that over the weekend. I think he’ll be happier in the crib because there’s more room. We’ll see how that goes. I hope I’m right.  I know it’s a process, but the sheer fact that I can lay him down awake and put him to sleep without nursing is huge. I’m also glad that we’re doing it without tears and crying it out. I hate that and I am not tough enough to do that. Daycare has conditioned him to be able to sleep without a bottle/nursing. I just want to be able to follow through with what they’re doing because obviously it works!

 

Outside of that, nothing much is going on. I can’t wait to grocery shop on Friday. We are down to the bare minimum again and I’m struggling with making dinner every night. Last night, I made the most random meal. We only had a few pierogies and hot dogs left, so I cooked those along with some veggies and mashed potatoes. Tonight, I’m at a loss. I forgot to get  ground meat out to thaw, so I’m going to scrap that idea and just save it for another night. I’m thinking tonight will be another pasta and garlic bread night. Emerson loves garlic bread, so I’m sure he won’t be too disappointed. We’re going to do breakfast for dinner tomorrow night. Even though I meal plan, I have no idea how we end up running short before the two weeks is up.

 

I slept in this morning, which meant I was late to work. Now, I’ll have to work a half hour longer. The good thing is I don’t get off the bus too much later, so I’m not that much later picking Emerson up at daycare. Yesterday, I sent the most delicious Leprechaun munch into daycare for their St. Patrick’s Day Party. The mix itself didn’t look that appealing, but it tasted amazing and I put it in a really cute barrel jar. Today, Emerson was on the calendar to provide snack. I made an Easter trail mix. Yum! I have so much cereal and pretzels left over from snack the last two days, which is nice. Emerson can eat that at home.

 

We have nothing planned this weekend. I need to check out the weather. It would be great to head to the park, or something. Daycare has been taking the kids outside since the weather turned nice, so Emerson is getting some fresh air. I’m not though. It would be awesome to do something this weekend. I guess I should check around to see if anything is going on and make some plans for us. Alright, that’s about all I have for today. I hope you guys have a super Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mummy's baby slept alone!

This weekend was really nice. On Friday, we had nothing planned. I worked from home and ran some errands after work before I picked Emerson up. We just hung out at home. We had to be up early for Easter photos! I woke up around 6am on Saturday morning to get myself ready. We had to leave the house by 830am. I knew if I didn’t get up and get ready early, I’d lose my window of opportunity. I was not getting into any picture if I wasn’t ready! Anyway, Emerson slept until around 6:45am. I got him up, fed him breakfast, then got him dressed for pictures. He looked so adorable in his little bow tie! I was shocked that I was able to keep him clean before we left the house. It was raining pretty hard, but we managed to stay dry. 

 

The pictures turned out amazing. Emerson was such a good sport. He did start to cry towards the end, but I think he was just over the flash going off in his face. I got way too many prints. Mental note for next time. I really only needed one pose printed out. I let this woman talk me into far too many pictures. I’ll stand my ground now that I know their game! I have all of the picture divided out. I just need to get some stamps, so that I can mail them to family and friends. I’m really excited about the pictures. We finally have some nice ones together! I couldn’t be more thrilled. While we waited for the pictures to print, I took Emerson to the mall. He played in the play place for a long time. He had a blast with the other kids too. It was cute watching him run around. After grabbing the pictures, we headed home for lunch. Emerson was starving and so was I!

 

What happened next was kind of crazy. Em was really sleepy, so I followed our typical routine. I took him upstairs and prepared to nurse him to sleep. He didn’t sleep. He wasn’t fighting me though. Just lying there nursing, but very tired. I decided to try to lay him down in the playpen just for the hell of it. I laid him on his belly, rubbed his back for a minute, and he instantly fell asleep. What?!!!!!!!!!! I was beyond baffled! I know he naps this way at daycare, but he’s never done it for me. I’ve always been confined to nursing to get him down, which means I end up having to lay down with him for naps. I tip toed out of the room and headed back downstairs. I cleaned up and hung out while he napped for an hour. It was really, really nice. Most of the time, I can sneak away, but he’s always laying on my bed, which freaks me out. He is a big roller. Though I have the monitor on and I can hear everything, it still freaks me out to not be up there with him. I never truly relax. I run up and down the stairs with every little noise. It was nice to not have to do that! After he woke, I fed him lunch and we played for a few hours. He started to get tired again. I decided to just go for it and try the playpen again. I didn’t think he’d go for it, so imagine my surprise when it worked again! Another nap in the playpen! He napped for a little over an hour this time. I started a casserole for dinner, cleaned up again, and worked out. It was nice to have my own time without worrying about him rolling out of bed. That night, we followed our usual bedtime routine. I didn’t rock the boat by trying to put him down in the playpen.

 

Sunday was insane. We woke up, had breakfast, and played for a few hours. Emerson started to get really tired around 10am. Dare I try again? Why not! I took him up stairs, and laid him down in the playpen. I rubbed his back for a few minutes and he slowly drifted off to sleep.  Heavenly! I went back downstairs, took a shower, and got ready for the day. After cleaning up, I decided to fill out all of the pictures to distribute to friends and family. It was so nice having that time to myself. I love Emerson to pieces, but I never really get a break. If I’m not at work, then we are home together, or I’m running errands. I’m always doing something. It’s very rare that I sit down at home. Even when I am at home, I’m usually running around cleaning, or making something. Anyway, after Emerson woke from his nap, we had a snack and played some more. Nap #2 approached and I decided to try the playpen again. I wanted to make sure this wasn’t a fluke. I laid him down, rubbed his back, and he fell into a deep slumber. He slept for nearly 3 hours. We were due at my parent’s house for dinner, and I ended up having to wake him up. Who knows how long he would have slept. Anyway, that three hours was pure bliss. I worked out and laid on the couch watching television with the dog. That’s something I NEVER do! Is this how it’s really supposed to be? If so, then sign me up because it is amazing! Just getting a small break like that during the day makes such a difference. I felt like I had more energy too. On top of that, I got to get In an extra workout yesterday!

 

After I woke Em up, we headed to my parent’s house. I brought our dirty laundry with us. We had so much! I have no idea how. I just did laundry a week ago. Anyway, Emerson played HARD. He ran himself into the ground. By the time we got home, it was bath, then bed. I did try to put him in the playpen for bed. He’s very sick though. The poor thing has a cold, sore throat, and runny nose. He sounds like a frog when he tries to talk. His nose was bothering him so bad and the cough kept startling him, then waking him up. After about 15 minutes, I decided to just nurse him down and to let him sleep with me. We slept like absolute shit though. He kept waking and crying. I know he doesn’t feel well. I just hope it passes quickly. I’m so excited over him sleeping by himself that I want to give it my full effort, lower the crib, and to try to put him in there. I especially like that there isn’t a fight to accompany this transition. Well, at least not yet. I just wanted to take his cues and to go at his pace. I’m trying to go full steam with this and to seize the opportunity before it passes. I plan on trying the playpen again tonight for bedtime.  I just hope he feels better. We both sleep so much better when we are separated. He moves around too much and keeps me up!

 

Alright, I have to get some more work done before I call it a day. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

 

 

Just another Mumday

I know I haven’t updated in a few days, but there honestly wasn’t much to say outside of the norm. Work, daycare, dinner, clean up, play, bed, repeat. I’m pretty tired today. We went to bed at our normal time last night, but I woke from a nightmare around 10:50pm, then couldn’t get myself back to sleep. I ended up waking around 330am, letting the dog out, then letting her sleep in bed with us. I overslept by about 45 minutes, which ruined my workout this morning. I’ve been working out in the mornings before I wake Emerson. Luckily, I checked my calendar and it’s rest day, so it didn’t even matter! I’m so glad because my legs and butt are sore! I’m not really sure what my goal is. It feels good to work out and do something for myself though, especially because it’s free! I guess I’ll see how it goes after these two challenges are up on the 30^th, then decide where to go from there. My abs are killing me. I feel like they hurt bad enough that I should have a six pack! (wishful thinking)

 

Last night, we had hot dogs, mac and cheese, and baked beans for dinner. It was pretty good. Nothing special, fancy, or even healthy, but to save sanity, I have to throw in an easy meal every once in a while. According to my meal planner, we’re having barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegetables tonight. Sounds good to me! I’m sure Emerson won’t put up a fight over that either. After work, I have to run to the store to buy some more milk and dish liquid, or I won’t be washing any dishes tonight. I’m still pumping, but I have to supplement some whole milk with my breast milk. On average, I pump around 10oz a day. If I’d add in another pump, I’m sure I’d get more, but I’m happy with my output now. Emerson gets 3 5oz cups of milk at daycare, so I’m supplementing around 5oz. Not bad. He likes whole milk, so it’s pretty much a win-win. When I’m fully done pumping, I know he won’t have an aversion to switching over. He gets a cup of regular milk with dinner too, so I know he doesn’t mind if he isn’t getting a breast/whole milk cocktail either. I don’t mind pumping at all. I’m still nursing him at night too. A lot of people cannot wait to be done nursing and pumping. It honestly doesn’t bother me. Maybe one day it will, but right now, I’m okay with it.

 

Next week, we’re on the snack calendar for Wednesday. St Patrick’s day is on Tuesday, so I’ll end up sending two treats next week. For Tuesday, I’m going to make little treat bags with rainbow goldfish in them. I thought that would be really cute and festive. I’ll decorate the bags with shamrocks and a fun saying too. On Wednesday, I’m going to make a Leprechaun Munch, which is basically just trail mix with some green m&ms. Both snacks are fairly cheap too, so I won’t be breaking my bank. A month ago, I bought Emerson two St Patrick’s day tops, so he can wear one on Tuesday and Wednesday. The big St Patrick’s day parade is this Saturday. Back before I had Emerson, it was one of my favorite times to celebrate every year. My friends and I would dress up in all green and we’d head out really early in the morning to drink. How times have changed! It was a great time though hanging out with a huge crowd of people partying all day. I have a lot of good memories from over the years though. I’m not sad that I am not participating this year either. Emerson and I have some good things on our calendar. I’m hoping most people are in the city, so it isn’t crowded when we’re running around on Saturday!

 

On Sunday, we’re going to visit my parents. We haven’t seen them in about a week. I did call my mom last night, but we didn’t really have much to chat about. I guess that’s a good thing. Sometimes I hate rehashing my entire day to someone. I don’t think anyone really cares what we eat for dinner, or how late we sleep in either. I put it here because, well, this is my blog and I can. The one thing that irks me is she doesn’t call me, or really text me. The second I don’t text, or call her though, she has an attitude about it. “You can’t call your mother?” I make it a point to call her several times a week and to text her and my dad though. I love them dearly, so obviously I want to catch up, but I wish my mom put forth a little more effort when it comes to us. She’s absolutely wonderful with Emerson when we visit their house. Remember when he was smaller how she was very disconnected from him? I don’t know if it was just because he was so small and there wasn’t much to do with him, or what, but I’m so glad that things improved ten-fold. They still don’t see him unless I bring him to their house, but I’ve realized some things are never going to change. It at least gives us a reason to get out of our house, but it would be nice if they stopped by every once in a while to see us in our own environment.

 

I was considering asking if I could have Easter dinner at my house. My yard is amazing and the weather will hopefully be nice. It would be nice to have an egg hunt and to just hang outside if the weather permits. I know my younger sister and nephew wouldn’t mind, but I’m not sure how my parents would feel about it. They’re such homebodies and are so used to hosting all holidays. They might not like the idea. I’d be responsible for cooking dinner too, which wouldn’t be a problem for me. We always have ham. I’ve never cooked a ham before. I wouldn’t mind trying though. I guess I can float the idea around to my parents over the weekend and throw out some feelers. If they aren’t too opposed to it, then I wouldn’t mind at all. It would be really fun for me to be able to make a meal for everyone, dress the table, and decorate. We all know I absolutely live for things like this. I was going to host a small egg hunt at my house for Emerson, my nephew, and some friends, but I decided against it and to just save my pennies. There is no reason to unnecessarily throw an event.  I can make the holiday special in other ways outside of hosting a huge Easter egg hunt/brunch.

 

The portrait studio called me earlier to confirm our Saturday appointment. They let me know that we’ll be doing 35 poses, which I thought was pretty fair. I have a coupon that is actually pretty amazing. I pay $19.99 and I get 43 prints, 5 Easter cards, and a free 16x20 portrait. It isn’t a bad deal at all and If I really like them, then we’ll use it again. When I do home photo shoots, I usually end up spending anywhere from $10-$20 depending on props that I put together and printing out the photos. This isn’t running me much more, so I can justify it. Emerson has to send a family photo to daycare for their family wall. I made a photo collage of myself, Emerson, and Kodie. I just printed a 4x6 and a 5x7 to pick up tomorrow at Walmart. I spent $1.66. Not bad!

 

Alright, I’m going to wrap this up, so I can pump one more time before I head out. Happy Thursday, all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mummy is cranky

 

 

 have no idea why, but I’m irritated today. I guess I’m just having one of those days. All the little things that typically don’t bother me are really pissing me off. I guess we all have those days sometimes. I hate this feeling though. I woke up early today, which was great. The baby and I slept really well too. He woke a few times, but nothing crazy. I was able to get ready this morning, pack our stuff, and get in a quick work out before I woke him for daycare. Those are the type of mornings I wish I had more often. It’s nice to not rush around and to be able to actually breathe and relax before heading to daycare and work. I think I’m just sick of being at work and I’m ready to go home. I’m sick of hearing people talk on conference calls, walking behind me and dragging their feet, or even sneezing. I sound so petty! I can’t help it. I’ll try to scratch my ass and get happy!

 

After work yesterday, I ran some errands. I was 25 minutes later than usual to daycare, but it doesn’t happen often and I’m sure Emerson didn’t even notice. I need to pick up some peeps and a foam wreath to make an Easter peep’s wreath for my front door. So far, it’s turning out nicely. I was using toothpicks to hold the peeps in place, but I’m aborting that plan and heading to my glue gun instead. The toothpicks were killing my fingers. I need more security to hold them into place anyway. Plus, I don’t like that it puts a hole in the Peep. I’ll post a photo when it’s done. I probably won’t finish it until later in the week, but it’s starting out really cute. I’m excited about it!

 

Anyway, when we got home, I opened up the back and front door. I locked the front door’s screen just in case Kodie decided to push on it hard if someone walked, or drove by. She’s very high energy. If anyone even drives down our street she goes nuts. It was nice to open the windows and to get some fresh air in the house. The weather was so beautiful. I made chicken ranch quesadillas, sweet potato fries, and corn for dinner. It was so yummy!! Tonight, my meal planner says we’re having grilled chicken, pasta, and garlic bread. Sounds good to me. I’ve been meal planning prior to grocery shopping and then looking at the meal planner that I made every day to know what I’m making for dinner. It has been really nice to not have to think about what we’re having.  Dinner time is really important to me. I want Emerson to feel a sense of family and structure. Cooking and having dinner on the table every night makes me happy. Plus, we get to sit down together. I know he mostly just babbles now, but I’m hoping when he can talk he wants to tell me all about his day. Anyway, I’ve been looking on Pinterest for some different recipes too. It’s always nice to switch it up and to give Emerson a little variety. I think I’m doing fairly well!

 

After I was done eating, I let Emerson finish up. I did the dishes, wiped the table down, and cleaned up the house a bit. I feel bad doing that sometimes. He’s still eating and I’m running around, but if I don’t do it, it won’t get done. I hate going to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. It just creates more work for me the next day. Anyway, after I cleaned up and Emerson was done with dinner, I wiped him off and we played for about an hour. Usually, he chases me around the house and I hide in various spots. He always finds me though. It’s REALLY funny! He walks up really quiet, then bursts out laughing as I scream “AHHHH” from beside the couch, or behind a door. It’s hilarious. Em started to get fussy around 7:30pm, so we headed for bath. I let him play in there a bit. Lately, he’s been drinking the water and getting it in his nose. He freaks out and cries. I don’t know how else to get him to stop aside from letting him learn from his mistakes. Water in the nose is no fun! He went to bed fairly quickly too, which meant I could watch my shows. Vander Pump Rules Reunion and Shahs of Sunset. I love the Bravo network! I stayed up until nearly 10pm. That’s definitely out of the ordinary for me.

 

Alright, I have to go over some financial stuff and train someone at work. Have a super Tuesday, all!