The Year of the Wood

Today marks our 5th Wedding Anniversary!  I can't believe it's been five years.  In a way, if feels like time has flown by, but in a way it feels like it has been longer than that - maybe because we've been together for 8 years total!  That's a lifetime in Hollywood!  When I asked Adam what he was going to get me for our anniversary he asked why and I told him that this year we are supposed to give each other the gift of wood.  His response was less than poignant!  He went on to tell me that that was just a way to get people to buy each other stuff for their anniversary.  Um....yeah, exactly!  Apparently the travel anniversary gift for the 5th year of marriage is airline tickets and/or cruise.  Check and Check!  We depart for our cruise in less than 40 days!

The past five years have been wonderful, yet challenging!  Adam and I have really never had it easy or remotely so.  We were both still in college when we got married.  Why you might ask.  We had been engaged 2 years and were so in love, and my grandmother was dying with cancer and my brother was home from his tour of duty in Iraq.  I knew I couldn't get married without my brother there, and there was no guarantee.  Also, I wanted my grandmother to be there if at all possible because my engagement ring and wedding band were made from the diamonds of a ring she gave me.  So we got hitched!

Adam commuted to Chattanooga to school twice a week during the first 5 months we were married.  It was hard, but Adam and I had sort of had a long distance relationship from the time we started dating.  I was just starting UTK and he was just starting grad school at UTC.  We talked by phone every night, Sunday through Thursday.  Then we saw each other EVERY weekend, even when we both took summer courses.  But still, being newlywed and not seeing my husband two days out of the week was hard.  Then 15 months after we got married, my dad moved in with us temporarily for 17 months, when he moved back to TN to be closer to his kids and to look for a job.  Ryne was born two weeks before our 4th anniversary, so there has not been a lot of "just the two of us" time in the past five years.

Sometimes it seems like a miracle that we've made it this long!  When I look back, sometimes I wonder why we didn't wait a year until we were both done with school.  But then I see the picture from my wedding of my grandmother's smiling face in the blue dress and blue hat, and my brother looking so handsome in his dress blues and it makes all these years of hard work and hard times worth it!  Obviously every marriage is hard to some extent and every marriage takes work, but Adam and I took our hits pretty early on.

Sometimes it's hard to remember why you got married, or how you felt when you got married.  It's easy to lose sight of that when life starts to set in and take over.  It's true that people grow as the years go by and some people grow apart, but remembering why you joined in Holy Matrimony in the first place is so important.  Adam and I have vowed to work on communication this year.  Our communication has become consumed by how the baby is doing.  We realized that we weren't asking each other enough about each other.  Not that Ryne isn't important, because he is.  However, we want Ryne to grow up with his two parents in the same house who love each other and communicate well with each other.  We are people who wear many "hats."  We were finding it hard to balance the husband and wife hats with the new mommy and daddy hats.  I guess we will have plenty of time to wear the husband and wife hats when we go on our cruise...without my little Watermelon Ryne!  Until then, it's a work in progress.

Speaking of works in progress.  I am giving Adam some form of wood for our anniversary.  I'm not done with it yet, so I'm a little late (oopse).  I would post what I am doing but Adam has actually started reading the blog.  Hi Honey!  So I'll have to keep it under wraps for now!  

Happy Anniversary and Happy Friday!

Thoughtful Thursday - Pay it Forward

I have blogged about Paying it Forward before, but I thought this would be another easy Thoughtful Thursday posting since I'm just getting this started!  As most of you probably know the concept of pay it forward is doing something for someone and instead of having them 'pay you back' for it, you ask them to 'pay it forward' and do something for someone else!  I love this concept!  I think in my last Pay It Forward Post, I left some high dollar coupons for some expensive formula for an unsuspecting person at Kroger.  I still do this, especially with baby-related product coupons.  Babies are expensive!!!

Just this week, I sent a mommy friend two diaper coupons because we are all stocked up for a few weeks and I have recently received a TON of diaper coupons!  We buy Pampers because that is the only diaper brand that does not seem to leak on Ryne or cause him to break out in a rash!  I have received some free Cruisers with Dry Max samples with coupons included, plus Target and Kroger give me Pampers catalina coupons.  So I have several diaper coupons expire each month until the end of the year!  When you pay $9 for 30 something diapers, being able to save $1-$3 on a pack is like winning the lottery!  30 diapers only last a few days, maybe a week (and that's a big MAYBE).

Also this week, I contacted another Mommy friend with a new baby.  I have a lot of non-Pampers brand diapers that we were given that obviously did not work for Ryne, so I saved them to give them to someone else who can use them.  I have roughly 3 packs of diapers with only one or two diapers used out of each pack.  That's close to $30 worth of diapers that I'll be giving a friend of mine.  My hopes for these two gestures is that they will give to someone else (maybe another Mommy) something one day to help another Mommy out!

One of the reasons I picked this topic for this week's Thoughtful Thursday, is that I found myself not being quite as thoughtful as I usually am.  Last week with Ryne's first birthday happening, I got consumed in trying to have the most fab party for my child and wasn't thinking much about anyone that was not a friend or relative.

Friday, I was at Walmart buying cups, plates, napkins , etc. for Ryne's party.  I got in line behind a lady who was buying a few items to make a lasagna.  Her total came to under $9, which I was surprised because I thought it would be more for what she had.  She ran her debit card and the cashier told her that it was not going through.  The lady swiped her card again and again got the same response from the cashier.  So the lady said that she would go to the ATM right quick and get cash for the purchase.  I just stood there thinking about whether or not I should have purchased a $7 fishbowl to use as a serving dish for the goldfish crackers for Ryne's party.  I assumed she would come back with the cash and pay for the   groceries.  There was a line at the ATM so the cashier canceled out the lady's transaction to go ahead and check me out.  So she left the lady's grocery items sitting on top of the grocery bag carousel thing.  Then I saw the cashier look over my shoulder and say, "so you don't want the items" but I did nothing.  When I got in the car I stopped for a minute to think about what happened and I felt terrible for not having the cashier add the lady's groceries in when my purchase and just giving them to her.  $9 dollars isn't a lot when you have money, but when you don't have it, $9 is a meal for a family or several days worth of food for one person.   I realized I was too caught up in planning and buying for a birthday party and I should have been more concerned with helping someone out.

So this week, keep your eye open for a chance to Pay It Forward.  It doesn't have to be a big gesture.  Sometimes the smallest things can help, and sometimes the small things to us are big things to others!

Top 2 Tuesday - Perfume/Cologne/Scent

Today's Top 2 Tuesday is: Tops 2 Perfumes/Colognes/Scents

I have to say that Mary Kay has some AMAZING perfumes and colognes and seasonal scents, which makes it hard for me to pick just two! However, I personally wear a few more than the rest, even though the rest are wonderful. Some fragrances smell better on different people. It's so amazing to spray the same fragrance on several different people and then smell it. The different notes of the fragrance appear differently on different people.

1. Bella Belara! She's my go-to perfume! We came out with the perfume a few years ago and I fell in LOVE! I wear it almost everyday.

2. My seasonal scent would be our Limited Edition Coconut Lime Body Mist! It's the quintessential scent of the season! It reminds me of drinking a margarita and a pina coloda. It's the perfect combination of coconut and lime! All you need is a little salt and you're in business!

I wish they made blogs that were scratch and sniff because you would fall in love with the Coconut Lime.  I'm not really a coconut or lime person myself, but I'm in LOVE!

Switching gears just a little bit.  Today is my birthday!  Whoo hoo - I'm in my late 20s!   The big 2 - 6! Adam woke me up this morning before leaving for work to tell me Happy Birthday!  I told him that birthdays are not as fun after 21!  Last year when I turned 25 my friend, Lauren, said, "Happy Birthday!  You can now drive a rental car!"  Also, my car insurance price dropped, but other than that, there is really nothing to celebrate until I'm 100!  At that point, it is more of a celebration that you're still alive!

Manic Monday Motivation

Every Monday seems manic to me.  Adam works 40 hours in 4 days so the first of the week is INSANE!  Thankfully, he has a 3 day weekend so we get to play catch up with family time on the weekends!  I think Mondays are in part so manic for Ryne and I because Adam is here all weekend and we have so much fun, and then Monday morning, he's gone for 13 hours.  So it's just me and Ryne.  I think Ryne gets tired of looking at me by the end of the day on Monday!
Monday is also manic because it's the beginning of the work week for me, even though I work from home. I've found that the more work I get done at the beginning of the week, the more likely the work actually gets done!  If I put it off for another day, it may be another week before it gets done (or another month - oopse!).  It's hard to get motivated on Monday.  I wake up begrudging Monday, which is starting off on the wrong foot!
Recently, I have been working on affirmations!  Affirmations are so important in my business because I work for myself!  I have to keep myself motivated.  I have not requirements for my job, so there's no one to tell me to do my job or I'm fired.  It's easy to become lax about things, which in turns makes it easy to lose motivation and lose sight of what you are working for.

I really think that more people would be more successful if they just let their hair down, jumped up on the counter top and let it all out!  Like this little girl:

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A Hot Mess

I know my posts over the past few weeks are probably boring, especially to non-parents, and definitely a little gloomy.  We are still fighting the good fight for sleep with Ryne, and that has been the main thing on my mind because it's been so taxing on my heart and on my nerves.  However, we have actually had some great moments in the past few weeks!  Ryne turned 1, Adam's cousin got married, and today we celebrated Ryne's first birthday with a pool party!
I have to admit that I wanted to go over-the-top, all-out, fantastic, Martha Stewart on Ryne's first birthday party!  He only turns one once and I wanted this to be the coolest First birthday party ever!  If my vision for the party had come to fruition it would have been amazing!  I was totally envisioning something that you would find on Hostess with the Mostess, where everything was decorated so cute and everything coordinated, and it would look like a real professional party planner/decorator had designed this party.
Well, of course things go wrong...especially for me and especially with a one year old running around!

The theme (you HAVE to have a theme these days!) for Ryne's party was One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish because Ryne loves to swim, so we call him our "little fish" and he  turned one (i.e. One Fish..)!  My sister-in-law, Sarah designed some AMAZING invitations that looked like the cover of the book.  You can check out some of her handiwork at Prints Charming Paper.  

I made the smash cakes for the party.  I called them both smash cakes because that's what the baby's cake is generally called because they just smash right into it, and the big cake that I made for everyone else ended up getting smashed as well.  I made a white cake with yellow buttercream icing for Ryne, and the big cake was supposed to be a two-teired yellow, topsy turvy cake covered in fondant to fit in with the "Suess" theme and resemble the cover of the book. Well it was definitely topsy turvy!  So topsy turvy it didn't pass the assembly inspection!  This would have been a great cake to show on Cake Wrecks!

The idea behind a true topsy turvy cake is that the top layer of each tier is larger than the bottom layer and each tier appears to be sitting at an angle.  It's basically a gravity-defying cake, but gravity conquered this topsy turvy cake.  First off, I made each tier WAY to tall.  That had a negative effect on the layers that were unfortunately less dense than the others (the bottom layers - oopse!).  It was just too much weight on a the fluffy bottom layers.  Add on the weight of the fondant and you have a disaster!  Then I decided to cut off part of the bottom of the top tier before covering it with fondant to hopefully remedy the issue with that tier as well and that just messed things up worse.  The top tier looked better and was much more stable than the bottom tier of doom, but I had already cut my hole in the bottom tier for the top tier to sit on, and after trimming the bottom of the top, the hole was too small.  Confused yet?  Anywho, basically the top tier was not sitting on the support structure, it was sitting on the edges of it's designated hole, and put too much pressure on the fondant on the bottom layer, so the fondant began to crack like crazy.  It was a hot mess!  [Speaking of hot messes, it was 98 in Knoxville today!  Great day for a pool party with forty something people in our pool and club house, but I doubt the rest of the neighborhood thought so!]

Go here to see the step-by-step instructions that I used to make this yellow train wreck!  I had even hand carved and hand painted the one fish, two fish, red fish and blue fish to put on the big cake, but they never made it on the cake because the cake was never assembled!  I just cut and served the cake unstacked!  Days and days (and I mean days) of hard work to go into that topsy turvy cake and I couldn't even stack it and it was literally falling apart!  Oh well!  I kept my cool, even though I was thoroughly disappointed and the perfectionist in my wanted to cry!  It still tasted good, which matters most with cake!

Anyway, the rest of my vision for the party didn't quite come together either.  I wanted a picture of Ryne at every month hung up around the club house, I wanted all kinds of cutesy, theme-related things all over.  This was my inspiration, only all One Fish stuff and it just didn't come together like I thought.  We were running down to the wire just getting things set up in the clubhouse, so you know no fancy frills made their way to the party!

I did carve a watermelon fish!  It held the fruit!  We served colored goldfish crackers in real fish bowl, and I made jello cups that looked like little fish bowls by putting a Swedish Fish into blue jello cups!  And Ryne's smash cake was so cute that I actually started getting teary-eyed because it looked just how I wanted it to.  That's what matters!  It was Ryne's day and his cake was perfect!  I think everyone had fun, even if the decorations were not quite what I had envisioned!  I had One Fish goodybags...literally!  I went to every Target in Knoxville, some branches even three time, just to get every child-safe One Fish item in the Dollar Spot that I could!

Next year, we are keeping it low-key, and the cake will be standard or cupcakes!  Happy birthday to my little "one fish!"

Ryne's One Fish Smash Cake with hand-painted gumpaste one fish!

Digging In!  He was such a subdued first-time cake eater/smasher!

Yummy!

Watermelon Fish!

Watermelon Fish Face!

Thoughtful Thursdays

This week was the first time I participated in Top 2 Tuesday at The Undomestic Momma.  I've also read some fellow bloggers that have participated in a Wishful Wednesday.  I've participated in one Thoughtful Thursday from another blog that is on hiatus, so I thought I'd keep the thoughtfulness flowing!
So how does Thoughtful Thursday work?  Each Thursday, I will post a challenge to show some form of thoughtfulness.  I will post my experience and I'd love for my faithful readers and followers (yes that's right, all 11 of you!) to share your Thoughtful Thursday experience with me and share on your blog.  Spread the love.  Spread the thoughtfulness!

I'm going to make the first one easy!  This Thursday, send a personal, hand-written note to someone to let them know you are thinking of them. 


I don't know about you, but I love getting mail - the good kind!  A nice, hand-written note from the heart makes my day!  Society is losing touch with the power of the written word (texting, facebooking, and emails don't count).  So, I challenge you to reach out to someone - maybe a friend you haven't seen or spoken to in awhile, a coworker, family member - and let them know you're thinking of them!  I'm sure it will make their heart smile!

And remember, share your experience with me!  I just love this kind of stuff!

11 Plagues

So what you're not told in the Bible is that there were actually 11 plagues.  Sure we all know about the standard, water to blood, frogs, boils, locusts, etc.  However, I am starting to believe that there was one left out - Cranky Child that Cries Incessantly at Nap/Bedtime!  I wonder if the reason it was left unpublished is because civilization would have ended a long time ago if people knew of this ongoing plague!  Last night was torturous again.  Ryne went to bed just fine and then woke up 45 minutes later and cried for an hour before going back to sleep!

When things go terribly wrong in my life, I always go to the Bible to see if there is not a lesson or story that I can relate to or utilize to remedy my issue.  The 10 Plagues seemed to be the most relatable thing right now.  Monday, the stress of Ryne crying for an hour and a half at naptime actually made me break out in hives from the stress!  Hives are close enough to boils to me!  Throw in a few frogs, locusts, diseased livestock with all this thunder and rain we've been having and it looks like we might be having a good old fashioned curse of plagues!  Sadly for Ryne, being the first born doesn't bode well for him with respect to biblical plagues!

As my mother would say: "at least you still have your sense of humor!"  Yes - at the cost of my sanity!

Top 2 Tuesday!

I never do anything fun like this but I love to read other people's Top 2s!  So today, I thought I'd start the day off with a little fun dreaming!



Today's Top 2 Tuesday is:  The Top 2 things you want to purchase!

1.  A new house!  Adam and I have been looking at houses recently, since we are quickly outgrowing ours!  We have been looking at neighborhoods in different school districts (oh my goodness, it's crazy that are even having to think about that stuff!).   However, we really like where we are located in reference to EVERYTHING!  We are kinda right smack in the middle of everything while being safely a few miles off the Middlebrook Speedway!  But if I could have any house in the area (without having to make the mortgage) it would be this beauty, in Louisville, TN.

It's only a little over 11,000 sqft!  It has 6 bedrooms, a huge kitchen, private pool, boat house, wine cellar in-home theater, sewing room, elevator, etc.  I've toured this house before and it is GORGEOUS!  Now, if I could only come up with $3.5 million, I'd be set!  I guess I need to start looking under the couch cushions!

2.  Since it looks like I'm not going to be moving into my dream home anytime too soon, I've found a few things to spruce up the ole homestead.  I'm in the process of changing our bedroom to have a blue/green accent color rather than the ivory/brown zebra print that we are currently rocking.  So, this piece would be great to replace my zebra print chaise lounge (which is for sale!!!).

This would be a great chair to sit and read in!

I actually love everything in this room, but in different places in my house and the buffet would look better in the brown wood in my house!  Homedecorators.com give me the hook up!  

So those are my top 2 for today!  I am thinking of recreating the canvas print (above) on my own.  We'll see how that goes!  

Happy Tuesday!

The Breaking Point...

...well, not quite, but it felt like it!  As I mentioned in the previous post, Ryne cried for an hour and a half last night.  It's so hard to hear and so hard to bare.  He did sleep through the night last night though, so that was a bit of a relief!
Then came naptime today, or what was supposed to be naptime, today.  Ryne and I ran some errands this morning, a little earlier than ususal.  I usually wait to run errands until after his morning nap, but that means it's usually mid afternoon before we leave to go anywhere.  This morning, we were out the door by 9:45!  I wasn't expecting to be gone as long as we were, but I also thought he would fall asleep on the way home from the errands if we were out past his naptime.  Well we out for about an hour and a half, so we got home in time to give Ryne some food and let him get settled down for his nap.  He played around a little and started to wind down so I made a bottle and took him to his room to rock him a minute and he started getting fussy.  I tried to calm him down but he wasn't having it!  So I put him in his crib, thinking he would cry a few minutes and wear himself out and fall asleep.  A few minutes turned into an hour.
That hour seemed like a year! After all the crying last night and the crying during naptime, I thought I was going to break down.  I almost called Adam to tell him that he was going to have to come, so I could step out, chill out and avoid pulling my hair out!  The feelings that arise from Ryne's sleep issues are so complex.  It's heartbreaking and frustrating, and I feel like I'm going to go insane!  I just want to cry, scream and stomp my feet, but you have to keep  your composure around your child.

I really pray that we can get a handle on the sleep issues.  Ryne is always in such a good mood and so happy when he gets enough sleep during the day.  He NEEDS the sleep...and so do I!   I'm much happier when I've had adequate sleep as well!

Regression Depression

Just when I thought Ryne was doing better with his sleep issue and back on track, he proved me wrong!  Last night Ryne went to bed pretty well.  Adam and I actually had a chance to rent a DVD and watch it, which has been a rarity in this house for the past year!  However, Ryne did wake up at 5:45 and wouldn't go back to sleep...without a bottle!  Ugh!  One step forward and two steps back - such is my life it seems!  Waking up at almost 6 in the morning isn't too bad.  It's not like he cried for hours on end just trying to get him to go to bed.  OH wait, that was this night - tonight!  
Ryne cried for an hour and a half tonight!  He hasn't done that in several days.  I had almost forgotten how heartbreaking and depressing it was to hear him cry for over an hour!  He had two good naps today, so it doesn't make much sense, really.  I just hope it doesn't take almost another week to break this cycle as well.  Surely since we have established some routine of going to sleep with minimal fussing and sleeping through the night (at least for a few days in a row),  it won't be as tough.  I pray he sleeps through the night tonight! My emotions cannot handle another night of crying in the wee hours of the morning.  These are trying times on us all!
On a happy note:  Ryne said "up" today when he wanted me to pick him up!

The Real Housewives

This year, during Lent, I considered giving up Bravo TV...after the season of Real Housewives of Orange County was over.  I didn't want "drama" in my life, anymore.  No drama for this mama!  I do believe that you become the things you are around most.  If you're around negativity, you'll become negative.  If you're around positive things, you'll be, well, spectacular, etc.!  Well, RHOC came and went and another Real Housewives started in another city (I think New York), and I was like a moth to a flame.  I was so wrapped up in the drama.  Then the New Jersey season started and I started watching it too.  Adam made the comment one night that he didn't think I was going to continue watching that stuff.  I told him that I didn't really like the Jersey cast  so as soon as NYC was over, I wouldn't be watching it anymore.

And then, I realized how absolutely, unbe-weav-ably psycho Danielle was from the Jersey cast and I haven't been able to stop watching since!  It's like watching a plan crash or a train wreck -  you know something terrible is going to happen but for some reason you just cannot seem to look away!  You become completely engulfed in watching tables being thrown (last season), Jersey girls running through a country club with chinchilla furs on to cuss out a psycho with a scraggly weave!  Adam said that he felt dumber after watching the show!  He asks me every week why I'm STILL watching it!

The Real Housewives of New Jersey - Photos - Teresa vs. Danielle: Blow by Blow | Bravo TV Official Site

I've done a little thinking about why reality TV, especially drama TV is so popular!  I think it makes people (me included) feel more 'normal.'  Now, I've never chased a crazy person through a country club parking lot with a chinchilla fur on or flipped a table, but I have tried to argue/rationalized with a fool (or two or three), I have said things I didn't mean that weren't very nice, and I have gossiped (with no intent to hurt anyone's feelings).  We all do these things on some level just maybe not with a chinchilla fur on!  I think it's interesting to see how "the other half" or really the other 10% live.  Even though they live in multi-million dollar homes, they still have the same problems, and the same crazy friends and family like all the rest of us.

However, I would like to point out to Bravo that filming women who live in multi-million dollar homes and spend money like it's going out of style, is not "real!"  If you want "real," come film my life with my energetic, sleep-hating child, my crazy friends and family (yes, I'm calling you all crazy - good crazy though!), and my PETA friendly wardrobe in my tiny three bedroom/ two bathroom house! It doesn't get more real than this - The Real Housewives of Knox County!
P.S.  Ryne slept through the night last night - back on track!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Technically, it is Saturday morning here in Knoxville, but when I mention "last night,"  I'm actually talking about Thursday Night/ Friday morning or Day 8 of the Sleep Diary.  Last night, we lost the sleep battle!  Thursday Ryne had his 12 month shots and did not nap very well Thursday.  Adam and I figured that he would probably go down for bedtime pretty well.  Again, Adam "read" to Ryne and Ryne barely took a bottle at bedtime.  We never expected at 2 AM that he would wake up screaming!  We let him cry about 10 minutes to see if he'd go back to sleep but he didn't.  Adam got up to rock him.  Ryne just couldn't get settled back down so I broke down and made a bottle, since he hadn't had a full feeding at bedtime.  Ryne took the bottle and fussed a little more and then finally went back to sleep.  So considering all that, we never expected him to wake up at 7:30!  I mean seriously!  Adam and I like to sleep in on Fridays, especially since I had been baking all day and Adam had worked all week!  I thought we might be able to give Ryne another bottle at 7:30 to see if he might go back to sleep because he woke up crying.  We were not so fortunate!  He was still tired but he was NOT going back to bed.
It felt like a total setback!  We were doing so well!  Ryne and I were finally sleeping through the night for the first time in a year (over a year for me due to pregnancy).  Ryne wasn't requiring a bottle at night!  So to have to wake up and give him a bottle was upsetting!
Ryne hardly napped today (Friday).  Sometimes I think he gets so far off schedule that it's hard to bring him back around to sleeping at all!  If he doesn't sleep well at night, he has a harder time going down for naps, but if he doesn't nap well, it's hard to get him to go down for bedtime.  It's a vicious cycle!  I think he took two 30 minute naps today, which is hardly enough.
Hopefully he will sleep well into the morning so I can get this cake done in peace!

12 months!

Yesterday at 1:45 pm, Ryne turned 1!  It was exciting and depressing all at the same time!  Time flew by so quickly!  It seems like yesterday that he was born...and not a year ago yesterday!  I kind of feel like time was stolen from me when he was born early.  Don't get me wrong, I was so happy to seem him and so happy to finally get to meet him and hold him and so happy to be able to stop having contractions after three weeks of them, but it feels like he shouldn't be one yet.  He should be one next month!
Anywho, back to reality!  Adam's parents came by to see Ryne (and maybe us) last night!  Honestly, I was a little worried that it might be too much excitement for Ryne that late in the evening, and that he might have trouble going to bed, but he didn't!  We even changed up the routine a little bit and had Adam do the bedtime routine with Ryne.  I told Adam that he needed to read Ryne's night night books to him.  So he read  Guess How Much I Love You  in the most boring, monotonous voice ever.  Ryne conked out in a matter of minutes!  I could hear Adam over the monitor and honestly it almost made me pass out, from sheer monotonous boredom!  Ha!  Ryne slept 11 1/2 hours last night!  Hopefully this is becoming the norm for Ryne...and me!!!  It's amazing that it took less than a week to get on a good sleep schedule and sleeping through the night!
Ryne has learned a few new tricks!  He has really gotten into throwing a ball around!  Oh how that makes Daddy happy!  Ryne seems to be right-hand dominant, but he can throw pretty well with both hands/arms! He is mimicking everything that I say.  I mean EVERYthing!  He mimics the intonation of what I say and how I say it!  He pretty much eats anything we eat...well anything that I eat.  He ate lasagna tonight and loved it!
Ryne had his 12 month well check today!  He got two shots, which were no fun.  He cried for a minute and then starred at the nurse with his death look, letting her know that she was on his "list!"  She even asked if he generally holds grudges!  He weighed in at a whopping 19lbs 12 oz, which is in the tenth percentile (on the preemie scale)!  His noggin is still holding out at in the upper 60s to low 70s on the preemie scale.  There must be a big ole brain in the big ole noggin!  He got the go-ahead on whole cow's milk - my purse is thankful for that!
We learned a few interesting things at this well visit.  The AAP recommendation is to know keep children in rear-facing car seats until 2!  WHAAAT!  I actually read this on a memorandum at Ryne's nine month well check, but thought I'd follow up on it.  Apparently, it's not a law, but HIGHLY recommended.  I talked to Dr. P about it.  He said that it is the safest thing, but after a child reaches 18 months or so, it's hard to keep them backwards in the car because they get very fussy!  Ryne still has a few pounds to go before he has to move out of his infant car seat, so we'll see how old he is when he finally reaches 22 lbs and go from there!  Ryne's really observant, so I have a feeling that making it to 18 months will be difficult with him sitting backwards.
Also, since Ryne has six teeth, I had to find out about dentistry!  Again the AAP recommends that you take your 1 year old to the dentist.  Dr. P says that there's really not much to be done at 1 year with six teeth unless there is a problem.  He recommends waiting until 3 before taking a trip to the dentist.  If Ryne has teeth like mine, he may be taking a trip before then. (nota bene: I say this as I am drinking a Pepsi and eating Sour Patch Extreme  Soft and Chewy candy!)
I'm excited to see what the next month and next year holds!

Today's a Day to Celebrate!

First things first - it's Ryne's first Birthday!  I refuse to say that he's 1 yet though because he was born at 1:45 pm so I'm savoring every moment of still having my "baby!"  It's a happy but sad day.  It's hard to see your baby grow up.  He's starting to look like a little boy, not a baby!   It's also been hard on me because I made myself and Ryne some promises that I would be in a better position with work by the time he was a year old, and I'm actually farther behind than when I made the promise!  I feel a little like a let-down!
Anywho, another reason to celebrate is that Ryne slept 11 hours last night without waking up!  That gets a big WHOO HOO in my book!  We did our bedtime routine.  Bath, bottle, book, brush and bed, and he cried for about five minutes when I put him down and then I didn't hear another peep until 8:30 this morning!  He didn't nap all that well yesterday.  His morning nap was great!  I had to wake him up after two hours!  His afternoon nap was a nightmare - basically he didn't take one.  He was tired and kinda cranky the rest of the evening, which is really no fun at all!
It will be interesting to see how tonight goes because Adam's parents are coming up this evening.  I wonder how the extra excitement will affect him going down for bed.  Here's hoping for the best, but I think we are on the right track regardless!

Happy Birthday to my cute, sweet, charismatic little BOY!

Sleep Diary - Night 5

Last night was probably the best night overall!  We unintentionally strayed from the bedtime routine last night.  Adam gets home kind of late on Monday nights so by the time he gets home and we eat, there is not much time left in the evening before little boys should be going to bed.  We are currently looking into either buying or building another house since we have definitely grown out of ours in less than three years!  So last night we drove by another subdivision to look at a floor plan we like!  We got back home around 9 o'clock which is when I like to put the baby down for bed.  Ryne actually fell asleep on the car ride home, which I feared could be as disastrous as Saturday night.  However, I was able to get Ryne out of the car and into the house with him awake, but still drowsy.  I held him a minute while Adam got in the house and closed the garage door (since it makes a lot of noise).  Ryne had been taking a small bottle in the car before he fell asleep so I thought he might still be a little hungry so I put him down in the crib, knowing he would cry while I made another bottle.  I got the water in the bottle and realized that he wasn't crying anymore.  I waited a few minutes and only heard a little whining off and on for less than five minutes before he was out cold!  Whoo Hoo!  I was so excited not to have to let me crying for over an hour!  It's very stressful having to listen to your child cry that long, so I was excited for a break and I'm sure Ryne's lungs were excited for a break too!
Ryne did wake up last night - twice.  He woke up at 1:30 and cried a few minutes.  I got up to check on him, but didn't go in his room.  I listened from outside the door.  He had gas!  He fell back asleep, so I got back in bed.  He woke up again at 2 AM and I could tell over the monitor that it was gas again!  Poor little guy, it must really hurt.  He fell back asleep within a few minutes!  He slept until 7:30 this morning, so ten hours or so!  Let me reiterate - Whoo Hoo!
Hopefully last night wasn't just a fluke!  The ultimate goal is for Ryne to go down for bedtime and naps without too much crying and then to stay asleep for 8 - 10 hours at bedtime!  It seems that we have eliminated the nighttime feeding, which is fabulous!  Hopefully we will have a good report to give the doctor on Thursday at the well visit!

Sleep Diary - Night 4

The sleep equation is getting a little unusual!  It seems that the length of time that Ryne cries when going down for his name is directly correlated to the length of time that he sleeps.  Last night Ryne cried almost an hour and a half.  The literature states that younger babies may cry 30 to 90 minutes before falling asleep.    Ryne's not a younger baby!  The bedtime routine really does seem to be working against us.  He knows what's coming and starts fussing.  At that point, I'm supposed to rock him until he calms down but he doesn't calm down!
He slept almost 9 1/2 hours last night without waking up.  And so far today he's had an hour and a half nap (would've been longer but a stinking telemarketer called) and a 45 minute nap.  So naptime hasn't been as good today.  I'm hoping tonight goes a little smoother (i.e. less crying - please and thank you!).  I take Ryne for his 12 month well visit on Thursday, so if he's still crying like a maniac for hours at bedtime then I'll discuss it then.
On another note, I cannot believe that Ryne will be a year old on Wednesday!  I Die!

Sleep Diary - Night 3

Yesterday afternoon, I packed Ryne up and took him to visit with Adam's parents.  I needed a break from a screaming crying baby and it's always good to have some time with the grandparents!  While at the Knies's, Ryne had a short nap - I think an hour long.  When I came to pick him up he was tried and wanted a bottle.    It was after 8 pm so I figured that a bottle and the car ride home would knock Ryne out, which in turn would hopefully make the night easier.
Well...I was wrong.  He did fall asleep, but woke up as soon as I pulled into the garage!  I thought maybe I could get him in the house, out of the car seat and in the bed before he became fully awake.  I was wrong about that too!  I gave him another small bottle and he started getting rowdy about half way through.  I put him in the crib and closed the door.  He cried for an hour and 15 minutes!  Longer than the nights before...combined!   I was so worried that he would still wake up during the night like he had in the previous nights, but I'm happy to report that he actually slept 9 hours without waking up!!! Major improvement!  When he woke up this morning he was crying, which is not good, but not all that bad either.  Generally if a baby wakes up crying it's because they didn't get enough sleep, they are hungry or wet, or something else is wrong.
So far today, Ryne has had two two-hour naps!  He hasn't taken two significant naps in day in a long time!  We had to wake him up after two hours both times.  We don't want him sleeping too much during the day!  He went down for his naps with minimal crying.
Hopefully tonight will be even better.  Hopefully less crying on the front end, but I'm SOOOO grateful for a full night's sleep last night!  He needs it!

Sleep Diary - Night 2

The nurse told me when she handed me the "Bible" that the first night was the worst and the first few nights would be rough.  Well...she was right in one respect and wrong in another.  The first night was actually better than the second, but both nights have absolutely sucked!  Last night, Ryne cried for 45 minutes before he finally fell asleep!  I mean seriously, I don't even have the energy for that!  After he cried that long I figured that maybe he would sleep through the night just from sheer exhaustion.  Wrong!  He woke up sometime around 3 AM and cried until 5:02!  Two hours of almost non-stop, inconsolable crying!  I let him cry a bit then got him out to hold him to calm him down, which didn't work.  I later offered a bottle, which he wouldn't take.  His cry progressed from scared to pissed!  He didn't want to be in his crib and he didn't want to be asleep.  He wanted me, but he didn't want me to do anything that might cause him to fall asleep again.  Oh how I wish I had a dumb baby sometimes, who wouldn't pick up on my plot!  I honestly believe Ryne is nothing shy of genius!  

After about an hour and a half of Ryne crying, I literally sat in the floor and silently cried and prayed.  Mom even came upstairs to check on things, but I shooed her away because I was so worried that it would rile him up even more.  Adam's parents offered to keep Ryne tonight so we could get some sleep, but I felt like it would be a setback.  Another bed, that he's hardly slept in, with another person trying to put him to sleep seemed like a recipe for disaster!  I would rather press on in hopes of breaking these bad habits as soon as possible!

I've learned a few things just in the past few nights.  The literature suggests routine, everyone does, but a routine is actually working against me.  Ryne knows the routine and knows the intended outcome, so know the fight starts earlier in the routine than it used to be.  So much for trying to give this child a bottle or read a book!  Last night he started clawing my face and kicking the book.  He is not an aggressive child, but this was a little more aggressive than I would like.  He will not take to a transitional object.  Poor Tad, he must be feeling quite lonely and abused since he gets thrown into the floor frequently!

I've also learned that going in to check on Ryne and rub his back to calm him down, does NOT calm him down.  It only makes matters worse.  If things don't improve I am going to call the nurse Monday to see if they have any other suggestions.

Diary of a Sleep Deprived Mother

If you are a mother, you are probably reading the title and thinking, "aren't we all!"  When you decide to have children, you go into it with the thought of knowing you will be losing some sleep, or no more sleeping in, which is all very true, but some of us have it more difficult than others!  Most other mothers that I talk to have children that sleep 12-14 hours a day and sleep through the night.  I am not so fortunate!
Ryne will be a year old on Wednesday, and he STILL doesn't sleep through the night!!!  I remember at Ryne's 2-week well visit, the pediatrician told me not to expect to sleep until Ryne was 3 months, 13 lbs and 3 chins (fat baby)!  I thought I was going to die right then and there because I LOVE sleep!  Three months of not sleeping through the night - Agggh!!  Well three months rolled around - still waking up at night for a feeding or two.  Thirteen pounds rolled around - still waking up at night, etc.  Three chins has never rolled around.  Ryne takes after me - he's on the thin side!  At three months Ryne was having a lot of sleep issues and spit-up issues, we took him to the pediatrician and found out that he had reflux - most babies do nowadays because of the "Back to Sleep" campaign, where babies are supposed to sleep on their back to reduce the risk of SIDS.  Ryne didn't grow out of his reflux as soon as we had hoped.   So Ryne continued to wake up at night for a feeding and had to take a bottle and be rocked to sleep every night and every naptime - not good!  To this day I can count on two hands the amount of times Ryne has slept at least 8 hours without waking up for a feeding!  This is where you pull your hair out!!
Recently, Ryne has stopped taking all his reflux medication and hardly spits-up - definitely nothing compared to what he used to do!  So, naturally we assumed that he would begin to sleep through the night.  Um, NO!  The sleep issue has gotten worse here recently.  He fights tooth and nail (sometimes literally) to avoid going to bed.  We've been putting him in his crib when he fights to let him cry a little and wind down, and then giving a bottle and rocking.  That method hasn't been working this past week and he is still waking up during the night for a feeding!  Most other mothers/parents that I've talked to have said to put him in his crib to cry and shut the door and don't go back in there.  There are some dangers to the Cry It Out method, like decreased oxygen intake from crying so long, not catering to true needs like pain, etc., and the development mistrust issues.  Those thoughts kill me and I feel like that's a little on the extreme side, but different strokes for different folks!
Finally yesterday, I had had enough!  A year of this nonsense, you've got to be kidding me!  Ryne had only slept 7 hours (bedtime and two naps) and cried for 45 minutes at naptime #2 so I decided to take him to the pediatrician.  Basically the pediatrician told me that Ryne is a "trained night crier and trained night feeder" - a double whammy, and it all stems from the reflux issues!  The pediatrician said "It's just not fair."  Ryne has developed an aversion to sleep because he associates sleep with pain (from the reflux) and since a reflux baby has to take smaller/more frequent feedings he has developed the habit of waking up during the night for food, even though he's not hungry.  The pediatrician gave me the "baby sleep Bible"..."according to Job" he added!  The sleep issues should be resolved in at least two weeks.  Ryne goes for his well visit next week so if he is still not sleeping through the night they will reevaluate.  So we are on day 2 of Hell Week! The first night is usually the hardest, which it was absolutely terrible last night!
The literature suggested I keep a sleep diary, so here we are folks - the Diary of a Sleep Deprived Mother - Day 1!  And yes I am aware that this is supposed to be for Ryne, but lets face it, I'm in this just as much as he is!
Last night Ryne went down fairly well.  He didn't go to sleep until 11:15ish.  I read his bedtime books, gave him a bottle and rocked him until he got drowsy.  I put him in his crib and he cried for about 8ish minutes.  He woke up twice during the night.  The first time he cried about 5 minutes and fell back asleep.  The second time is what makes the first night the worst!  Ryne's cry sounded different.  It was the 'I'm scared or in pain' cry. I still waited 10 minutes to see if he might go back to sleep.  After 10 minutes the crying continued and started to escalate.  So the literature says that you can get them out of the crib and hold them (contrary to what most  CIO parents do).  Ryne still cried and cried.  Finally I decided to make a bottle since a trained night feeder has to have the nighttime feeding tapered down.  Ryne refused the bottle, so I knew this was something different.  I gave him a little Motrin for pain and still the crying continued.  I tried rocking him, getting his best bud, Tad, out of the crib to hold, a pacifier - nothing was calming him down.  Finally about a hour later, he took a bottle while being rocked and started to drift off to sleep.  So I put him in his crib with Tad before he was completely asleep.  He let out a few whimpers and then finally fell asleep!  By the time I got back in bed, the sun was starting to come up!  I got back in bed after that emotionally exhausting hour and we both slept until 8:45.  So he slept more, even with the hour of crying, than he had the past two nights.  He is currently down for his first nap and has been asleep over an hour!  Yippeee!
This process is grueling.  It pulls at your heartstrings and wreaks havoc on your emotions that your child wants you/thinks they need you and you can't just go and pick them up and comfort them.  It tests your patience and your sanity.  It pushes you to the edge and then lets you dangle there by a thread!  You want to cry but you can't, you want to give up, but you owe it to your child and yourself to push through the pain.  Short term pain for long term gain, right?
Let me reiterate that not all babies are this way, so don't let me discourage you from having a child!  They are a blessing and there is no greater love!  However, this may be a great story to tell a teenager that thinks she/he is ready to take on "adult" activities!

And so, you just ran?

"When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went."  This quote from Forrest Gump most accurately describe Ryne these days...except maybe the sleep part!
Ryne took his first solo steps at 10 months.  He had been taking 3 or 4 steps at a time up until about a month ago and last night he ran for the first time!  Adam is at a continuing ed class this weekend so Ryne and I packed up and headed to Kingston to stay with Granny Boo!  As soon as I put Ryne down in Mom's living room, he took off running!  It was hilarious!  He had his arms out in front of him and his quick leg movements reminded me of how a chicken runs!  Believe me, I know how a chicken runs, especially after Ryne and I chased a few with the stroller at Papa's house in June!  
When Ryne started walking, Adam said he hoped that Ryne would really be walking by his first birthday.  Ryne is having a pool party so Adam wanted to show off Ryne's walking skills.  I told Adam that I was afraid Ryne would be running by his first birthday, and apparently I was right!  Ryne's pool party theme is Dr. Seuss's "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish", but I think the new theme is going to be "No Running!"  Awww...that takes me back to the way Adam and I met!

Lead-tainted baby food products!

That's right!  I'm going to win the Mother of the Year award!  Not only have we purchased several baby products that have recently been recalled, but now I have learned that I was feeding my baby lead for the past few months!  Great!
Several brands (including major brands) of apple juice, grape juice and packaged pears, peaches and fruit cocktail were tested.  Check out the link to find out all the foods tainted with lead.

I'm thinking that my grandfather has the right idea.  If you need it, grow it or butcher it because it seems nothing is safe anymore.

4th of July!

This 4th of July was MUCH better than last year.  Lets see, last year I was a hot, swollen, miserable blimp with contractions every ten minutes and back labor pain!  This year I am the complete opposite of swollen ("sunken" seems more fitting), the complete opposite of miserable and the only pain I had was the sting of a sweat bee, so the hotness still remains I guess!  Ha!  This July is looking better already!
This year we spent the 4th of July at my best friend's house, again!  Adam and I do miss the ole Kingston Fireworks, especially since we usually got free food and drinks and the best seats in the house!  However, we have been trying to keep it a little more low-key the past few years!  Last year Charlotte had everyone over for their housewarming/4th of July Celebration.  This year it was a little more intimate with fewer people and lots of food and fun!  It so much easier to have your own air-conditioned bedroom with the pack-n-play set up and private bathroom to take care of all your baby needs, than fighting for a port-a-potty with thousands of other sweaty people!
Charlotte has a saltwater pool which is fabulous!  No more dry, itchy skin when you swim!  Ryne loved the pool.  He kicks pretty well and does some arm motions, but we HAVE to work on bubbles!  By this time next year, he will be doing breast stroke and butterfly!  He picked up a new girlfriend as well!  He likes a girl with swimmies on!  There was an 8 month old baby girl and a two year old girl there - Ryne went for the older woman!  Sophia came up to Ryne to give him a hug and Ryne totally put the moves on her and tried to get a kiss (or "sugar" or "shuggies" as we like to call it)!  Sorry Brylee, but Ryne is apparently a two-timer!
The food was fabulous, as well.  We had ribs, grilled shrimp, beer bread (i think it was made with coke), chocolate brownies with peanut butter m&m's - yum, and lots more!  Ryne ate like a champ.  He loved ribs and beer bread and even managed to snag a piece of chocolate chip cookie from the Godmother!
We ended the night with fireworks, which Ryne was not a fan of.  He liked to see the colors but hated the sound that they made.  He would give a little whimper every time he heard one of the fireworks.  So instead of spending the night we packed up and headed home, but it was nice being able to wake up in our own bed after a day with so much excitement.
Today we went to Kingston to spend some time with Jo Ann and Frank, and we took Adam's grandmother as well!  Ryne definitely showed off his walking skills, since Mamaw had not had a chance to see them yet!  Ryne is walking, walking, walking.   He walks from room to room, down the hall outside and inside (I'm starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book, but you get the idea!)!  Again, Ryne ate like a champ tonight- salmon, green beans, baked potato, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, yogurt melts and a little homemade peach ice cream!  He's really turning into a little Adam, when it comes to appetite!  
I can't believe my little baby boy is going to be a year old next week!  I'm excited but sad at the same time!  Tune in this month for the more home projects, 12 month update, another wedding cake, Ryne's birthday cake and party, my birthday cake (if I have the energy to make it) and 5th Anniversary update!  We have a exciting month ahead!