All in a day's work.

So I'm worried about sleep. I guess it started last night, when Owen woke up around midnight, before I had gone to bed, but after I had taken two Tylenol PMs (they are necessary when switching a sleep schedule every week and weekend). Fortunately, this time wasn't as bad as the last time, and the Darling Downstairs Neighbors did not call.

I don't know how I retained my sanity with a newborn. Lack of sleep really does something to your noggin. He woke up earlier than he had been the past few days, so I felt sluggish all morning. Still, I did two loads of laundry, changed two diapers, made four kinds of muffins and prepared two meals before 1pm. After that, my motivation died down.

Owen was really funny today. It's amazing how fast he picks up on things. I was just saying how he learned to say, "all done!" when he is done getting changed. Well, I noticed that he has started saying "all done!" when he WANTS to be done with something. Getting changed, eating, sitting in the tub... The other day, I was in the kitchen making dinner, and Clint walks out and says, "Our kid is so smart." I had to agree. We are your typical proud parents.

He's also a creature of habit. He will inevitably go for the ONE THING in the room that I don't want him to mess with. Today, it was the lamp on the end table. I have removed basically everything from the living room except for furniture and toys. But the lamps have to stay, and they were the object of his interest today. He kept wedging himself between the table and the wall and trying to pull the lamp off. It was frustrating. I had to push the table against the wall so he couldn't get behind it and put the lamp at the far corner. Having a small child does not jive with my organizational anal retentiveness. The lamps are staying though. I will NOT resort to using overhead light, lol. I despise overhead light!!

Since we stopped giving him a bottle, our new bedtime routine consists of tickle-time, bath time, lotion and pajamas, a kiss from Daddy, and then reading and snuggle time with Mama. We have a little stack of books on a stool next to the rocking chair, including "Goodnight Moon," (Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Air, Goodnight Noises everywhere), "Guess How Much I Love You," (I love you as I high as I can reach), and a couple of other various bedtime books. Recently, I added this Baby Einstein's "Windows to Color" book into the mix. That was a mistake. We have had the book for a while, and he's always liked it, but now... geez... Ever since I gave him that option, he pushes all the other books away. He will only relax and let me read this color book. It's really neat though. It has a classic painting, with a little window looking through to the next page, displaying objects in the most dominant color for the painting. For example, on one page, there is a Georgia O'Keefe flower that is mostly red. On the opposite page, there is a heart cut-out and the words, "hot, rich, exciting." Then you turn the page, and it says, "RED!" and has a rose, a fire truck and some other red things. He adores this book. I always point out all the pictures and tell him what they are, and tell him the name of the painter and picture. I am pretty sure he understands "blueberries, Owey loves blueberries" better than "Edgar Degas, 'Dancers Coming Upstairs'." But tonight, when we were on the yellow page, I pointed out the ducklings, and said, "Owey look at the duckies! Do you see the duckies?" and he actually said, "Duckies!"

I think one of these nights I'm going to experiment and just show him a collection of Georgia O'Keefe paintings that I have.

While I was making muffins today, I wanted to keep Owen busy in the dining room, so I opened the lid of the piano and showed him that when you press the keys, a noise comes out. So I got to listen to music while making muffins. I'm going to try to get this on video.

I love being a mom.

AND. The Wellness Bridge is having a contest of sorts (I think to get everyone out of their winter weight loss funk). We renewed our gym memberships, and I paid for two months of the Wellness Bridge. I have to keep a record of what I eat, get my exercise in, and set a goal for the next eight weeks. I set a goal of 8lbs. I think I can lose 8lbs in 8 weeks. Good luck to me.

Good and Bad

So, a lot has been going on around here. I need to sort my brain out, I feel kind of scrambled.

First off, we got a new pediatrician. We got the pediatrician I tried to get before the kid was even born. He wasn't taking patients but when I called last week, desperate to switch, they let me. The lady on the phone was really nice, and got him an appointment the next day. From the minute I met the new ped, I instantly felt better. He was more professional, he was more talkative, he explained things better, he presented new ideas and treatment ideas, it was awesome. Everything about it, the doctor, the nurses, the receptionists, the offices, the PAs and NPs, everyone and everything was better. I'm so glad we switched.

So, the new doc, Dr. M., suggested Owen get a blood test to rule out a couple of rare diseases that might be contributing to his weird poop problem. Those were clear. However, Dr. M. also tested his lead levels, which are elevated. The first thing he asked when he called (personally, not a nurse, extra points for doc) was if we lived in an old house or a new house. So, the kid is inhaling lead dust from the building. He said he doesn't even have to be eating paint or anything to elevate his levels. He also said that the lead levels are NOT high enough to be causing any symptoms or contributing to his poop problem, but he wants to keep an eye on it.

This leads to the other thing. We need to move, pronto. We have been throwing the idea around for a few months anyway. Living in this building with a baby is hard, and everyone can say "I told you so." It's hard. It's especially hard now that he's walking and attempting to open doors and stuff like that. It completely sucks to live on the third floor and cart a baby up and down the stairs. We really like living here, it's so convenient and the place has SO much character and history. It's so spacious and huge and I love how I have it decorated, but if there is a chance that living here may affect my child's health, we are going to have to bounce.

Clint's job is to finish the wall and fix a little thing in the laundry room, and then I'm going to hire a cleaning company to come in and clean this place better than I ever could. Then we are going to get a realtor in here and start getting serious. Then, when we finally sell, we are going to go back to renting (a whole house, with a yard and three bedrooms in case #2 shows up while there), and the goal is to be completely debt free (except for car payments and student loans) before we buy "the house."

So, on the cusp of this big decision, something happened last night that is making the transition SO much easier. Everyone is fully aware of my distaste for Darling Downstairs Neighbor. This woman has been a thorn in my side since we moved in here two plus years ago. I have always been nice to her, I've never done anything that can be considered mean or rude to her. Still, every conversation I have ever had, she manages to say something rude or inconsiderate to me, whether it's telling me that Clint walks too loud, or we shouldn't get Owen up so early on Sunday mornings (for church!) because they can hear us getting him up. The woman has absolutely no tact, or consideration or sympathy, WHATSOEVER.

So last night, because Owen is still going through his poop problem, he is having major trouble sleeping. And, unlike every other night of his life, he is not sleeping through the night as regularly. When he wakes up, we either need to change a poopy diaper, give him some water, or something little like that - but mainly, he just wants cuddled. And, Clint and I are both happy to oblige. However, he will not fall asleep on us. As soon as he's drowsy enough, we go to put him in his crib and he starts screaming again.

Now, there are a lot of different schools of thought on parenting in this situation. Generally, we are not a fan of the "cry it out method," but there comes a point sometimes where you have to let them cry. All of his needs were met, his diaper was clean, he wasn't thirsty, he didn't have a fever, he just wanted held. We held him for 30 minutes and tried to put him back. He cried for a solid 15 minutes after that. If we didn't live in an apartment, I would have let him cry, because the ONLY reason he was crying was because he didn't want in his crib. However, after the 15 minutes, I went in and got him again. I know this was a mistake, but I was trying to have a little consideration for our neighbors. Of course, now he assumes that anytime he cries, we are going to come in and get him, so he may as well scream until we do. I rocked him for another 30 minutes (and by now it's 2:30 am and he has been awake for two hours almost. He's very drowsy, and I go to put him in his bed. He starts crying again, obviously. And after FIVE minutes, Darling Downstairs Neighbor calls me. She asks to make sure everything is OK with Owen because they can hear him crying. I explained that he has been sick and he's having trouble sleeping. She said, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that both of your downstairs neighbors are awake now." WTF? I said, I'm sorry you're awake, but I can't keep going in there and getting him out, I have to let him cry or else he won't stop crying. I'm sure if we would have given him a few more minutes he would have gone to sleep, because whenever he is up, he's never up for more than 2 hours. She reiterated that they are both awake. ??? I said, "I'm sorry, but you don't know what it's like to have a sick child," (they have no kids). She got defensive and I got defensive right back. Honestly, what was the point of her calling? I know it wasn't because she was concerned for Owen. I apologized for them being awake, but I'm not going to make excuses because he is sick and sometimes babies cry!!! AND SOMETIMES THEY CRY AT 2AM!!!!!

The final straw was when she REITERATED AGAIN they were both awake. I said goodnight and hung up. I was so upset that I started crying. Clint went in and got Owen and we are trying to figure out what to do. We decide to bring the pack and play into our bedroom (to let Darling Downstairs Neighbors get back to sleep of course) and put him in there. Of course he starts screaming more. So, we decided to break the Cardinal Rule. We brought him into bed with us. We NEVER do this. And we don't plan to ever do it again. But Owen calmed down, finally. He snuggled up to me for about ten minutes, and then draped himself over Clint for about ten minutes, and was nice and relaxed, so we put him in the pack and play, he cried for about two minutes and passed out.

I fell asleep shortly after, but Clint laid awake fuming about the neighbors until 4am. He wanted to call them back and have words. If you know my husband, you know that's awfully out of character for him. He hardly ever raises his voice or gets mad enough to want to hash stuff out. But he didn't call them back. And sure enough, the kid woke up with Clint's alarm at 7:00 and stood in the pack and play staring at Mommy and Daddy. I pray he takes decent naps today. And of course I'm more motivated than ever to move.

When you live in an apartment, you give up certain freedoms. Most people also have some level of decency and tact. I'm fuming mad, still.


Ok, good stuff. We KILLED on our tax return this year, having a baby is awesome! :) We are paying off some more stuff (the debt just keeps dwindling!!), Clint's having some work done on his car, and we are STILL going to save a big chunk of change. We did have one frivolous purchase, which we have been dying to make for about a year - a new TV! 32inch, flat screen HD LCD, hot damn! It's awesome! And, I don't even feel guilty, because we got it on a super sale at Sam's Club (I heart Sam's).

And Miss Chicken is finally getting declawed on Tuesday. She has scratched her last wall and swatted at Owen for the last time.

AND, I bought 12 tubes of Burts Bees on EBay for $20 (a total steal).

And I had a date with Laura Jackson Roberts last night for crab legs and Reisling (for me, none for her, she's got a bun in the oven). It was so wonderful going out and chatting for hours while the men took care of the boys, and I'm very sorry to hear about the massive leaking in your dining room today. Good luck with that.

Ugh, I want to fast forward to whenever we live in another place, and the summer, where all this snow has disappeared.

It's been a long time.

First off, I should apologize to my faithful reader(s) - Virginia, who informed me that she is disappointed every day when she looks at my blog and I have not updated. I'm sorry Virg.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. The most exciting thing is that Owen is sleeping like a champ. At 10 weeks we started his bedtime routine, and since then, he has started sleeping longer and longer, and he has been consistently sleeping 9-10 hours each night. So, we had said that after 2 weeks of sleeping through the night, we would try out putting him in his own room to sleep at night. We had been preparing for a couple weeks by putting him down for naps in his own room, so he's not confused when he wakes up, he knows what room he is in. So, we actually ended up waiting 3 weeks to move him to his own room (I think it was an accident, because there was no reason to wait longer). So, last Friday (April 10, at two days shy of 3 months), we put him to sleep in his own room. We fully expected to have him wake up sometime in the middle of the night. We laid him down, put on the wombs sounds bear, and I turned on this little "under the sea" lamp that projects a bluish light. We did not hear a peep out of him all night. Since Friday, he has been sleeping in his room, sleeping ALL night, and not even crying in the morning. When he wakes up in the morning, he just sucks his thumb and makes little grunts until we come check on him. He always gives us a really big smile when he first sees us. It's incredible. This morning, he slept almost 12 hours. I put him in bed around 9:15pm last night, and we didn't get him out of his crib until 9am. He does this funny little thing, he shoots his legs straight up in the air and sort of twists himself around. For instance, one night I put him to bed laying longways in his crib, and he must have done his little thing so many times, he was laying shortways. I had to ask Clint if he moved him in the middle of the night.

He also seems to really like his bumper.

He is also making other little milestones. He smiles in response to voice and other smiles. He yells when no one is paying attention to him! If Clint and I are having a conversation in the kitchen and Owen is in his swing, if we don't talk to him for a couple minutes, he yells so we look at him! It's so cute. He has started sort of laughing, more like an attempt to laugh. He hasn't had a giggle or a full-on belly laugh just yet, but I think it's coming any day. He saw himself in the mirror for the first time last week. He has also started reaching and grabbing for things he wants. He will hold onto something for a good 5 minutes at a time. He also wants everything in his mouth now. Big strides.

We also had his first Easter. We went to church in the morning and had dinner at my mom's. After that we went to visit my great aunts. He got a basket from us and a basket from my mom. He got some books, Pinocchio, some lotion, a little horse stuffed animal, a bunny and a little whale bank. He actually seemed interested in his Easter basket, which was cute. I of course took a million pictures.

We also had a breakfast date with Owen's best friend Alexander, who is exactly 4 days older than Owen and Erin, my new thrifty, coupon clipping, green-tastic friend.

We also had his 3-month photo shoot on Easter, which was really cute.

Owen also excels at being adorable.

Clint is home for another two weeks. No big news on his job front as of yet. I continue to find little ways to save money by using coupons and trying to obtain free things (like a $25 gift card to Rite Aid just for transferring a prescription). It's becoming such a challenge, it's so fun, like a game. I also have been buying coupons (technically not buying coupons, but buying the time it takes for the person to search for, clip and ship the coupons) on Ebay. I bought $68 dollars worth of Kashi coupons for $6.50. Yes.

This weekend, I had an excellent shopping experience. I used my Rite Aid gift card to buy like 10 things, and I only had to spend $6 out of pocket. I bought a ton of food things and some baby stuff, toilet paper and paper towels at Target. After $10 in coupons and a $25 gift card, I spent $17!!!

We watched Marley and Me, and Clint and I both cried like little girls. So good.

I have to get ready for work. Blah.

One more time...

So, because my husband keeps closing my window of my partially updated-haven't been saved-I'll get back to it later-and then the window and whatever I wrote is now gone forever-blog, I will be typing this for the third time.

Everything on the home front is mostly good. Still no good news on Clint's job. They did NOT get the big order they were hoping for, but as Clint tries to assure me, the several smaller deals that are in the works are going to be just as good. There is also the 8.6m grant from the government that is supposed to be coming in April... I guess I am just pessimistic...or realistic... I need answers and results.

Owen has started sleeping ALOT. He wakes up around 7-8, takes a little nap between 9 and 10, usually takes a big nap from around 12-4, and then comes the evening. Turns out the boy has colic. Every evening around 6ish, Clint says he cries and cries and there is no consoling him. I know it's because he is tired, but he won't sleep! He gets himself so workd up that he can't relax. Clint has found (since I am at work at that time every week night) that putting him in his carseat and walking him around the apartment or putting him on the dryer is the only thing that helps him fall asleep. Once he falls asleep, by the time he wakes back up, he is usually out of the colic period of the night. When I get home at 9 (oh how I wish I was home for the evening with my family, but instead I am proofreading legal documents), I snuggle him for a few minutes and make him smile, and then we start the bedtime routine. Bath, lotion, bottle, bed. In the past two weeks, he has gradually been building up the amount of time he sleeps, and Thursday or Wednesday he slept 10 hours!!! If he goes to bed around 10, I can almost guarantee he will sleep until 6:30. There has been two times in the past week that he woke up before morning. Once because I think he started choking on his saliva and then another time because I think he had gas. If he does wake up before morning now, it takes very little time to get him back to sleep. Thank God, because now that he does sleep through the night, I will be so sad if we have to start trading off middle of the night feeds.

We have also been putting him down to nap in his own room in his crib for daytime naps. At first it was in the carseat, but the past few days I have been laying him down on his back in his crib, and if he wakes up, he sucks his thumb and falls back asleep. I think this will make it easier for when we go to putting him in his own room for the night. I told Clint when he sleeps through the night every night for two weeks, we could try putting him in his own room.


He also smiles and talks so much these days, I am on the edge of my seat waiting for him to laugh for the first time! I can't wait! I think he tries, but he doesn't yet grasp that he can make the same sounds Mommy and Daddy make everytime he talks and smiles. He does understand conversation it seems. I talk and then wait for him to respond, and he does! He makes his little noises and then I talk back. And before, where I had to touch his cheeks or lips (which I still do if I am trying to get him to smile for strangers) if we are at home, and it's either me, Clint or my mom, he smiles if you only look at him. Someone told me today that he looked like the Gerber baby and that he could be a model for baby magazines. I think he's the cutest baby I've ever seen, but I'm partial.

I scheduled his baptism for April 26 at the early service at church! It's a tiny congregation compared to the 11am service, but we know the most people at the morning service, and it's more intimate and we love it. Owen is always fantastic through church. He is quiet and looks around, usually falls asleep towards the end, and seems to impress everyone. He is such a good little church-goer.

I'm having a hard time being at work these days. When I know Clint is home with Owen and he is being colicky, it's all I can think about. I don't think people who don't have kids can understand. I hate that if it were up to Owen, his bedtime would probably be 7:30 or 8, but we hold him off until I get home from work. For now, Clint and I will continue to fantasize about what it would be like to win the lottery. We always plan to help our parents with their debts, pay off all our debt, invest wisely, and of course take fantastic vacations.

Still reading Revolutionary Road. It's really good, but I have about five seconds a day to look at a book. We watched Role Models and half of Milk this weekend. I can't wait until Marley and Me, the Reader, Revolutionary Road and Benjamin Button come out on video.

Things to look forward to, Shannon may come visit this weekend, Virginia's baby shower is coming up, possibly seeing the HONORS, http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=313076515 (my friend Brandon's band) in Pittsburgh and seeing Nicole! And of course, my aunt visiting and seeing other relatives for Owen's baptism!

Good things.

Drum roll, please.

Owen slept through the night last night!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back story: We have been doing a bedtime routine for less than one week. We have been trying to keep him up a little more throughout the day, as long as he stands it and doesn't get too fussy. Just sort of prolonging things. For example, if he wakes up at 1pm after a nap, we will play for a little while before we feed him lunch.

The routine consists of me getting home from work at 9pm. Loving on him for a few minutes. Having a nice calm bath with Johnsons bedtime bath. (We only wash his hair twice a week because that's his least favorite part, and his hair stays magically clean). Then, he gets rubbed down with Huggies Soft Skin lotion. Gets a fresh diapey and a nice terrycloth or fleece sleeper put on. Then he has a warm bottle and is rocked until he falls asleep.

The first night he slept five hours, and we were thrilled. Even after he woke up after 5 hours, I changed his diaper, fed him another bottle and then he went back to sleep within a half an hour. He woke up about an hour later, but we thought he was getting better at telling day from night.

The second night, he slept something like 6 and a half hours!! That was even better!! But, the downside was that he went to sleep a little earlier because I came home from work earlier, so he got up earlier. That was a hard day that started at 4:45am.

Night before last, we thought the past two nights had been a fluke. He woke up at 12:30 after going to sleep at 9:30. We were so sad. But, he still was only up for about a half an hour, and went right back to sleep and slept for like 4 hours. We think he may have had a tummy ache because it had been more than 2 days since he pooed. (His usual is once every two days).

But last night!!!! He was in a good mood when I got home (most times he is so sleepy that he is a little cranky), but he was in an awesome mood, smiling for 10 minutes at us, and carrying on a conversation! We talked and he made little cooing noises back at us!! He had his bath, and even tolerated having his hair washed without crying! He had his lotion rubbed on, which made him fuss a tad, but once we got to the bottle, he was fine. He fell asleep around 9:45pm and didn't wake up until a few minutes before 6am!!!!!!!! I attribute this success to routine, staying up longer during the day, gentle sounds and lights around and after bathtime, and of course, the thumb. When he woke up, he fussed for a second, and then I heard him start sucking his thumb and then silence for another half hour. When I looked at him right before 6, he was still sucking his thumb. Shortly after that he woke up for good. Thank God for thumbs!!!!!

Here are some pictures that Clint has taken with his cell phone and sent to me at work, so I don't miss him too too much.

Adorable, right?

We have also definitely decided on April 26 for his baptism! Yes! My Aunt is coming from North Carolina, and it's good with both of the God-parents. In other church news, we are working in the nursery this weekend for a little extra $$ and because the new girl can't do it this weekend. I told our minister that if she ever can't do it, we can come back to it.

Speaking of money, I am turning into quite a bargain shopper!!!! It gives me such a thrill!! I got a one day pass to Sam's Club thanks to our Allstate Insurance and my friend and fellow bargain shopper, Erin. They had our brand of formula, Similac Advance Early Shield, in 33.4 ounce containers for $27!!!!!! Usually it is $23 dollars for 23 ounces! I bought two for a total of $54 which will probably last about two weeks! Also at Sam's I bought an enormous package of chicken for $11, and an enormous package of western style pork ribs for $8. Since I am still on my mandarin orange and canned pineapple kick, I bought a case of each (8 and 6 cans, respectively), for a total of $15. Along with a couple other little things, I spent $108. (Considering half of that was formula, and I got at least 6 meals worth of meat, I feel excellent about it.

Then today, I went to Kroger for other essential things. I had a list of about 15 things, but came home with much much more. I got some veggies, english muffins, potatoes, etc... Then I realized that Kroger was still doing their promotion on certain brands, where if you bought 10 participating items, you got five dollars off your grocery bill. Just so happens, tons of the participating items were things I usually buy anyway! Including 4 Powerades for Clint at $1 each. Also, I don't usually buy frozen meals for myself, but Clint takes them for lunch a lot, and there a couple that I enjoy and will occasionally buy. Well, Stouffers frozen meals were on sale for $2 each, AND I had two separate coupons for Stouffers, saving over $2. So, with me back to work and Clint home with the baby, sometimes all he has time for is a frozen dinner. So, I bought like 12 of them!! ALSO they were a part of the promotion where if you bought 10 items you got $5 off!!! I also had a $5 coupon for complaining about Cottonelle toilet paper, so I bought a 12 pack of mega roll toilet paper for $1.49 after a sale and my coupon! I got a roll of paper towels for $.59, and Huggies were on sale for $10, and I had a $2 off coupon that expires in May, so I bought some in the next size, because I still haven't had to buy diapers yet!! So I got 40 size 2 diapers for $8!!!

So, I was excited to see the total. I put all my stuff on the conveyor belt, and the total was $138. Then, I used my Kroger plus card, saved a total of $10 because of the promotions, and used my coupons and the total was.......... $74!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's almost half!!!!! Clint was so proud of me. We also have been finagling our bills around so that our payments are manageable while Clint is laid off, and once he goes back to work and is at full salary, we will be able to pay off his car by the end of summer!!! Then, we want to put all that extra money towards other bills! We have a good plan.

Ok, this is like the longest post ever.
Today is a good day.