Nap time. The moment when we get that little one down to sleep and run into another room, usually the kitchen or living room, to get something done that we cannot do when those sweet little babes are awake. Whether it is grabbing a quick bite to eat or let's face it, we'll starve for the day...or getting that much needed bathroom break where you think you might literally pee in your pants as an adult or just taking a moment for you; some peace and quite time (I'm laughing because I know this is rare for every mother!). In most cases though, this is the perfect time to get things done around the house.
However, what do you do when your little one refuses to nap in his crib? You improvise! Jase is still in the rocking-to-sleep phase even though I feel that he's at an age where I should be able to put him in his crib somewhat tired and expect that he would fall asleep on his own. Yeah right! That's my wishful thinking talking. Now, every child is different, but I'm convinced I'm not the only one that has a 14-month old that still gets rocked to sleep.
So we start nap time with me rocking him in his chair and him falling asleep within 10 minutes or so. After he falls asleep, I slowly get up, fingers crossed, and tip-toe towards the crib. When I start that slow descend down to the crib, his body stiffens, legs go straight out, eyes shoot wide open and he cries. My reaction? SHIT. Back to the chair we go.
The very odd thing is it doesn't happen every time. I can put him down for the morning nap, but not the afternoon nap. The next day could be completely different and he could go in the crib for both naps or neither nap. He just started this lovely habit this month, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it has something to do with teething. The only way I can get a small glimpse of freedom for a few minutes is to get him into that deep sleep and slide a boppy next to him in place of me. The only other option for nap time is driving around in the car and turning on the love channel on XM. Believe it or not, works every time.
Hopefully this is just a phase he's going through, but brings me to my next topic: CIO. Until then, here are some pictures to make you laugh!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Homemade Baby Food: Yes or No
I've seen so many pins on Pinterest about making baby's food at home. These pins link to many different sites and blogs that share a common theme: home-made is better and cheaper. So I thought to myself "heck, why not give it a try".
A friend of mine gave me a Baby Bullet machine along with a set of freezable trays and a baby food cook book. I must say that after skimming through this cook book a few times over the past year, it seems like a good one. It is broken down into different stages of life/months on what your baby should eat. Of course every baby is different and if they're like mine, won't have teeth until they are over a year old! Yes, you heard correctly. Jase was 13 months old before he popped his first tooth. We were shocked! So each baby might eat different foods by month six or twelve.
Randomly, on Sunday morning, I read through the puree section of the cook book. I took mental notes and headed off to the store. My mission was not to completely take him off of store-bought food, but merely to compare home-made versus store-bought. I grabbed some fresh apples, pears, bananas (okay, those were for me too), carrots, strawberries, and a mango.
When I got home, I turned on the TV (Packers were playing and I couldn't miss that!). I started peeling the apples first, then the pears. I had two of each. I chopped them and put them into a small pot over low heat to soften. After about six minutes, I removed them from the heat and placed them in the Baby Bullet. I added a dash of cinnamon and blended away. Superb! That machine works well! It only took a minute and the food was done. I separated the mixture into the silicone freezer tray and moved on to the next concoction.
Randomly, on Sunday morning, I read through the puree section of the cook book. I took mental notes and headed off to the store. My mission was not to completely take him off of store-bought food, but merely to compare home-made versus store-bought. I grabbed some fresh apples, pears, bananas (okay, those were for me too), carrots, strawberries, and a mango.
When I got home, I turned on the TV (Packers were playing and I couldn't miss that!). I started peeling the apples first, then the pears. I had two of each. I chopped them and put them into a small pot over low heat to soften. After about six minutes, I removed them from the heat and placed them in the Baby Bullet. I added a dash of cinnamon and blended away. Superb! That machine works well! It only took a minute and the food was done. I separated the mixture into the silicone freezer tray and moved on to the next concoction.
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Cinnamon Apple Pear Mixture |
There was one post in particular that I recall reading online that was how you can cook and freeze a one-month supply of baby food for $20 in an hour. I don't know where this lady shops or how much her child eats, but I can tell you that does not sound right. I made three different blends and it took about two hours to steam/boil, puree, wash the machine, and separate the mixtures and that was not even a weeks worth.
To compare, the frozen tray sections only hold about 2 ounces of food while the normal Gerber packs hold 3.5 ounces and Beech-Nut jars hold 4.25 ounces. For every meal, I had to use two of the home-made frozen blocks which disappeared quickly! So it turns out, although it is definitely better for your baby to have home-made food so you know exactly what goes in it, the cost is not better. Does that mean I'll stop making some food...no. I will probably still mix in home-made every once in a while, but won't rely on it. I found that the Gerber and Beechnut all natural baby foods work just the same and are safe.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Where to start?
Never in a million years did I expect to walk away from a $60K/year job with nothing lined up. I'm not the type of person that doesn't have a plan in place before I make the next move. I've worked hard my entire life in order to get ahead of the game and always kept myself busy. I found that the more a person stays busy, the more organized they become. When you are sitting in an office for 9-10 hours a day, miserable and watching your life pass by, you start to think about the 'what if'...
When the door opens again, it's the nurse with this gray machine that has tubes and a face mask. She hands it to me, quickly shows me how to operate it, then leaves the room. My first thought...are you kidding me?! I've got a cranky, very strong one-year-old who is fighting me tooth and nail and screaming bloody murder. I have to do this alone? Once I finally got the mask on his face, I started singing in order to calm him down. After about five minutes, he relaxed and we finished the treatment. The doctor came back into the room and prescribed inhaler treatments and an antibiotic. A week and a half later and I can report that he is doing much better.
So my 'what if' moment slapped me in the face around October when I realized how much of my son's life I was missing compared to how demanding my job was...and all for a job that I wasn't in love with. This job was just that: a job. It was not my true passion. So I put in my notice and December 31, 2014 was my last day. "On to new adventures", I thought.
Now I must tell you that my son, Jase, was sick a LOT last year. In his first little tiny year of life, he caught everything you could think of. Croup, colds, ear infections, bronchiolitis, hand/foot/mouth virus, stomach virus. It seemed like we were at the doctor every month for something new and this took a heavy toll on my heart. Throw in stress from work and you could say I was starting to slowly lose my mind.
In life, people need to constantly re-invent themselves. My epiphany moment in October made me realize that I needed to move on to better things. I am a creative spirit and need to be in a position where I'm free to create. I thought "I can take 2015 and make things happen". Take care of my son, get myself healthy, start writing again, and land that dream job.
So my first order of business is getting my baby healthy. However, I did not expect to be thrown back into the doctor's office on January 5th (my first official Monday off work) but there we were again. It's never a good thing when the nurse calls you back into the room and says, "back again?". Yes, we were back again, just a short nine days later. The doctor comes into the room, evaluates Jase and tells me that they want to try a breathing treatment.
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Pitiful baby |
Over the past year, we've gone through a lot of lows, but the highs make those lows seem so insignificant. I started wondering if there were any other moms out there feeling the same way I felt. When I opened up to other new moms, I realized there is nothing special about the way I feel. It is so common that it almost makes me feel normal again! This blog is not only to help inspire me again, but to inspire other moms that might be going through similar situations and to realize you are not alone. This is my first child, and I am doing the best that I can. I am making do with what I've been given and hoping to make this year amazing. I would be lying if I said this didn't scare me a bit!
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Me and Jase-all smiles! |
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