"Hi Mama, I'm Going to Scream ALL DAY! YAY!" -Bubba

I. AM. EXHAUSTED. 

something to keep in mind as you read this post. 

Jack has been having really restless sleep the last couple weeks. He wakes up crying in the middle of the night (easily falls back asleep) and wakes up SCREAMING around 6am for a bottle. Well thanks to the recent development of him being able to hold his own bottle, John just gets up and gives him one in his crib in the morning and it allows me a couple more hours of sleep (Thank God). 

Last night when he woke up crying around 2am I just put him into bed with us. Mistake. He is a BED HOG! Also, homeboy packs A LOT of body heat. I was sweating and falling off of the bed. John must have been hot too because around 4am he put him back in his crib. 

This morning I was all "Yay! It's pool day!" He woke up at 9 (I woke up at 7:30...) and so he had a big bowl of cereal before we got ready to go. We got out the door and about halfway there I realized two things. 1) He was due for a bottle around 10am and I DIDN'T BRING ONE! 2) There was not a spare paper diaper in my diaper bag for after we were done swimming. MAMA FAIL! Then when we got to the pool (It's about 20 min away) it was CLOSED! Yeah, me, I'm NOT winning on this day. 

It was a screamy day (as in fussing, crying, or just screaming for his his own enjoyment) that consisted of ONE 45 minute nap, that he fought TOOTH & NAIL. He usually takes TWO 1-2 hour naps.. WTF?!

 Look at that grumper face! (That's PURE John folks)

 "Mama, I am going to drive you CRAZY today, mwahahaha!"

Ugh, okay, he's still cute :)

 Despite the drama we made it out of the house to the grocery store for weekly staples and ingredients to make S'more Cookies (I blame a tweet from Allie that directed me to this recipe). 

Hip-stah status at the grocery store.. way too cool for smiles.

Somehow I managed to have a PERFECT batch of cookies out of the oven and cooling and dinner underway by the time John walked through the door. We sat down and had a nice family dinner at the table - no TV or phones. Jack was well behaved and gobbled up his sweet potato, carrot, & apple puree (re-organizing my baby food page this weekend!). 

Chicken, Leeks, & Sun-Dried Tomatoes in a white wine sauce.. yum!

Like I said, I'm exhausted! But my boys are fed, my kitchen is clean, & tomorrow is Friday! I actually bit the bullet and called a non-family babysitter yesterday.. John and I have a date tomorrow night and I cannot wait.. It's time to put some focus back on our marriage- we realize that we neglect this often because of Jack! 

Sorry for the wordy post.. That pretty much just typed itself out word vomit style! 

P.S. I have had SO much fun talking to new followers & discovering new AMAZING blogs today from all the Bargain Blonde traffic. It was truly an amazing opportunity and I am so excited about my new friends :) 

I'm Alive & My iPhone is Too!

Yes, we are home (finally) and alive. We had an absolute BLAST and could not have had a better time visiting with friends and turning Chicago into our own personal East Lansing. John and I even made it into (and out of) the city without having a total meltdown GPS fight (Go Team Marriage!) 

I do not yet have pictures and full weekend recaps ready, but at some point this week the Chicago run down will take place. For now what needs to be known is that I drank WAY too many Irish car bombs and definitely took silly face pictures in my cute green outfit.

Bubba seemed to have a wonderful time at Grandma & Papa's and I was sent many picture updates throughout the weekend that made me want to cry into my green beer because they were so cute.

After not passing out going to sleep until 4:30am on Sunday (which is actually 5:30am to John & I) I woke up at 7:30am and freaked out about NEEDING to see my child and poked John until he (grumpily) complied and we got on the road at 9am. I was CONVINCED that Jack didn't know who I was/was scared of my Johnny Cash rasp voice (seriously, I sound like a smoker of 10 packs a day). He also looked 8 years older and I felt as though I had missed his whole life (All very dramatic). 

Today was deemed a pajama day. Despite the gorgeous July-like weather outside, I spent the day snuggling and getting in some extra love with Da Bubbs. 

I also made puff pancakes for Brunch

I used whole wheat flour and almond milk instead of reg. flour & reg. milk. I also added a dash of Vanilla Extract and topped it homemade vanilla peach preserves. YUM.

Bubba is now a lighting fast speedy ninja baby that can army crawl everywhere! I wasn't exactly fully functioning today so when snuggles and play time weren't happening I made the questionable decision to set up his pack'n'play in the living room and load it up with toys. I cannot even begin to discuss the SQUEALS of delight that this scenario created. It's fine, he likes this better than playing with me, I GUESS I can try to not be offended...

Jack also took a GIANT afternoon nap. This is new and AMAZING. He was also sleeping on his stomach (VERY new).. I just don't even know this little boy anymore! Looks like I cannot go on any "Bubba Free" vacations for a while, I miss too much!

I hope everyone's weekends were as wonderful as ours was :)

Today is NOT My Favorite

I am so tired right now. It should be 10pm for how tired I am. It's not. IT'S 4:11 IN THE AFTERNOON! 

Today has not been great. I know that these days happen and I am not going to get all down on myself and my parenting because Jack is a baby- he's unpredictable and ever changing. Day's like today are, unfortunately, inevitable. 

It all started 24 hours ago when my angel boy started fussing, and fussing some more. He wouldn't nap. He had to be held, but didn't really want to cuddle. Basically he just wanted me to sit next to him and allow him to touch my face as he went about playing with his toys. Cute right? Except I had a migraine. John came home like Superman, took Jack, made dinner, the works! But Jack wasn't even soothed into Daddy bliss last night. He was crying and drooling and I thought this must be the teething thing bothering him again! He felt feverish so we finally broke down and gave him some baby tylenol. He was only happy when bouncing on John's knee.

This hilariousity was the result:

Untitled from Kay M. on Vimeo.

We were finally able to put him down but that only lasted until about 12:30am. Bubba was WIDE awake. So I just got him out of his crib and brought him into bed with John and I. Homeboy thought this was some sort of slumber party and just kept kicking his legs and screaming "AH DA DA DA". after about 45 min of this nonsense he finally fell asleep. I considered just letting him stay in bed with us, but in order to make that work I either need a bigger bed or a smaller husband.. 

Today is a whole other story. I woke up in a great mood! Life was good. We had big big plans, the weather was supposed to be phenomenal. Bring it on Tuesday! I even got a sweet text from my husband

True story about my toe by the way.. it's purple and painful. 

We had big plans to go to the library to meet up with a mom group but Bubba showed me who was boss right from the start. When we needed to be walking out the door he started screaming (aka nap time). So scrap that plan (argh). I tried to make the best of it. I cleaned a little bit, made some baby food. When Bubba woke up he was KIND OF in a good mood. 

That little half smile isn't convincing me..

He then started getting SUPER fussy. He was NOMMING on anything he could get his hands on. I knew then that it must be his teeth.. Sigh. Where are these damn teeth?! I feel like they are never going to show their faces and are just going to hide and torture my sweet boy FOREVER..

I tried to distract him with teething toys and frozen peas, but his discomfort could not be denied. When it became ABUNDANTLY clear that it was time for an afternoon nap I placed him in his crib and hoped for the best. I got the WORST. He assumed his sleepy positions but SCREAMED. Ugh. 

This is when I talk myself into thinking that I am a TOUGH mom and he can just scream it out. I get the logic behind NOT letting your child scream it out. They cry as a form of communication and if your baby is crying they are trying to tell you something. Well my counter logic to that is, yeah, duh! Jack is crying because he's tired but doesn't want to be. It makes sense to me at least.. This phase of crying it out lasts about a MAX of 10 min before I break down and go get him. It didn't help that someone in the condo behind me came out of their house and started making comments like, "is that woman neglecting her baby?" I wanted to go out there and scream "F*** Y**.. I didn't. It was just HIGHLY frustrating when I am already HATING this situation to begin with.. I didn't need extra commentary. 

After I went and got him he let me snuggle him for 10 min before finally calming and I knew he was TRULY ready for his nap. I tried to sneak out of his room quietly, and 5 min later I found him like this:

It only lasted about 30 min but it was 30 min of peace and quiet that I needed. When he woke up he had a bottle and then let me snuggle him for a few minutes. He stared up at me and the whole day was better.. kind of. I cannot wait for John to get home. I'm hoping we can take a walk and get some dinner downtown - if Bubba allows of course!

To top it all off, we had a storm last night. When I looked out my window this morning I saw this:

YUP! My poor sign...

I guess I should have used something stronger than hot glue (DUH).. I'll be getting wood glue ASAP.

Tomorrow that same mom's group is having ANOTHER event so hopefully it will work out, but since Jack is clearly not feeling like himself I am leaving it up to him. For now, I am LEGIT excited about the fact that The Biggest Loser is on tonight. I graduated high school with one of the contestants (Jeremy). And while we weren't friends or anything, it's still really fun to cheer him on! It's the little things that make your day right? 

The Weekend Recap

Friday:

I went to see a movie with a couple of ladies that were kind enough to let me crash their mother/daughter night out. We saw The Vow. I was unimpressed. It pretty much gave me anxiety the entire movie.. mainly because if I woke up to the sweetest most gorgeous man EVER telling me he was my husband, I would not be complaining! We went to a 9:30 movie so that we could put our kids to bed before going out. I was thankful I got to get in a few extra snuggles with my sleepy boy before leaving

The downside was that this mama goes to bed at 10pm every night and so I had to drink a cup of coffee before leaving just to stay awake! John and I were a pathetic and hungry couple because I couldn't eat meat (Gotta love Lent Fridays) and John didn't want to eat fish.. so being the oh-so-romantic fatty wife that I am, I stopped at McD's on my way home and woke John up with a feast (it was midnight!) We had a picnic of french fries and McDoubles in bed - TRUE LOVE people.

Saturday:

It was snowy and cold so our plan to visit my potential school went immediately out the window. We took the day slow, we cleaned & tried out a new breakfast spot (At 1:00 in the afternoon). Bubba has been pretty hilarious lately. Check out this face he makes the minute he swallows a bite of food

He also sat in a restaurant high chair like a big boy and loved banging his hands on the table. Have I mentioned how much I am in love his shopping cart/high chair cover (and his cute face)??

He's such a happy man. My parents stopped over with a few friends in between a wedding ceremony and the reception that they were going to in our area. Jack sat on the floor to play with toys and we watched him like he was the most entertaining thing on the face of the planet (Because, well, he is!)

Sunday:

This mama crawled back into bed when Bubba went down for his morning nap and accidentally slept in until 10:50 - WHOOPS! No church for us.. :/ We got moving quick and piled into the car to head to East Lansing. We met family and friends at one of our favorite Sparty bars before the big basketball game! Some actually went to the game, John met up with some buddies, & Meg, Jack, and I watched the oh-so-disappointing game from her place. Bubba distracted us from our misery :(

As always the weekend went by way too fast.. Can we also discuss that since posting about Jack's schedule I feel as though I have completely jinxed things?! The next morning after the post he slept in until 9am (I'm not complaining) and then last night he woke up at 3am WIDE AWAKE wanting a bottle.. he didn't go back down until 4am (I am DEFINITELY complaining) and then he woke up for the day at 6:30am!!! What. The. HELL. I am sorry, but I don't require an enormous amount of sleep, but I do LOVE my 8 hours. I thought that since he woke up at 3 I would AT LEAST get to sleep in until 8am.. right?? SO wrong. Oh well.. 

Happy Monday :)

p.s. I almost forgot about my picture a day challenge: 

March 3 (Your neighborhood) 

Off our back deck.. our ugly little condo complex.. this just proves you can't choose a book by it's cover, otherwise John never would have even THOUGHT about so much as looking at our new place! 

March 4 (Bedside)

Add my phone on its charger and this is what I go to sleep/wake up with each and every day. 

The Six Month Skinny

We had a bum day.. as you can see from pictures - Jack stayed in his jammies all day (and he wasn't the only one.. they were technically yoga pants if that makes it any better??) We got a surprise visit from my brother. He hadn't seen Jack since the superbowl and wanted to come say hi before he left for spring break. I was happy to see him and get to hang out for a few hours - I love having him only 40 min away.. he was far far away playing hockey for 2 years! Jack really loves his Uncle Sean.. they are pretty much best buds. 

I also got some INCREDIBLE news!

I got an e-mail that there was a new message on one of grad school applications. So I logged in to check my status...

Yup! I'm going to grad school next year!!! I still have to hear back from one other school before I officially decide where I am going... but whether that other school is a yes or a no, I will be going back to school in the fall to get my MASTERS in Social Work. I couldn't be happier. It is a huge weight off of my shoulders and I cannot believe I'm actually going to be one step closer to my professional goal! 

So it's SAHM for 6 more months, then this Mama is going to be a Student again. I know that it will be hard and there will be lots of challenges and bumps in the road, but I can handle it. If the past year has taught me anything, it's that I am stronger than I give myself credit for sometimes!

As promised yesterday, I am going to write out a sample schedule for the day to day with my Mr. Jack. This is a loose schedule, I do not follow it to a "T" every day. I still believe there should be room for Jack to decide how he feels and what he wants, but I also don't think I should be letting him "run the show" so to speak. Habits we form now will follow us into the future! I know that there are lots of different parenting styles running along a spectrum, and I really feel like I fall in the middle on most things. It's what works for us, what John and I are comfortable with, and makes everyone feel happy, safe, and secure! That is the most important thing.

A "Normal" Day:

Anywhere between 7:00 & 7:30am Jack wakes up in splendid mood and laughs and coos in his crib until Mama can muster the strength to get out of bed. We sing our morning song (an original, improv creation by yours truly.. sometimes in an opera voice). Jack smiles and plays peek-a-boo with his beloved blanky while we change his diaper and then head downstairs. I heat up a bottle and we watch the Today show while he sucks it down like it's his first meal in days (or 12 hours)
7:30-9am We play with toys on the floor, roll around, try to crawl, bounce in our bouncer and eventually Jack starts fussing and it's time for a nap. I put him down with his paci, blanky, sleep sheep set to the sounds of the ocean, and the mobile cranked all the way (high maintenance over here) He will normally sleep anywhere from an hour to (when I'm lucky) three hours.. Usually about two hours though.. so lets go with that..
11:00am Wake up, have morning cereal, about a half cup (sometimes mixed with half a banana or a tbs of applesauce). Play some more, have a bath (every other day), get ready for the day (both Mama and Jack), 12:00 bottle. After this second bottle we will usually try and get out to do our errands, take a walk, or in cases like today just hang out around the house and play.
 2:00pm Lunch time! He eats about 3-4 tbs of whatever I have made at the time. More playing, more laughing, lots of pictures, LOTS of smiles!
4:00pm Jack has a bottle, and then gets cranky. He wants to sleep but won't let himself. I usually try to put him down but end up going up and down the stairs 50 times (hello cardio) putting his paci back in and trying to sooth him as he screams with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head (aka assume sleep position).. sigh.. this part of the day SUCKS
5:00pm John is home from work. There is so much happiness. Jack LOVES to play with his daddy. They roll around and play until dinner
7:00pm Dinner time! I either give Jack a fruit or a veggie, depending on what he had for lunch I will do the opposite. I always keep bananas in the house and try to have applesauce made and ready to go in the fridge. He starts getting really tired after this time so we get to snuggle and love on him in the very short period of time that he doesn't have to be a squirmy wiggle worm.
8:00pm One last bottle and then he's off to bed. He's so happy to be put in his crib at this time that he doesn't even need his special sleepy time noises. He snuggles with his blanky and falls right to sleep for the whole night!

Today was a great day for obvious reason! I'm happy to snuggle up with my husband on the couch and watch some American Idol :) 

Cleaning House & Six Month Stats

Da Bubba tried to wake this Mama up at 6 AM - UH UH. Seriously, husband wasn't even out of bed to get ready for work yet. I sleepily warmed up a bottle and scooped up my lunkin, laid him down next to me in bed and fed him like the good ol' days when I was still breastfeeding.. aka half asleep. It did the trick and we snoozed side by side until 8 :)

Remember yesterday when I talked a big game about not being able to stand the state of my home?? Well I was too overwhelmed by the enormity of the mess (while proofreading I noticied this GIANT excuse.. I just didn't get to all of the cleaning today, plain and simple) so I just sort of chipped away at it little by little all day. It wasn't exactly the O.C.D. "GET THIS DONE NOW!" mentality that I used to have, but I think that I need to adjust to wanting order in my home while still accounting for the fact that I do, indeed, have a baby. A really cute one at that! He is SO good at sitting up now. He is also a DROOL MONSTER. He wants all of his toys, every blanky, and even the toy basket, in his mouth - at the same time.

Yes, I know that was an EXCESSIVE amount of pictures, but seriously how do you edit any of those out?! I already cut the album size down by half before choosing these ones to upload. Notice anything else? We FINALLY got a rug. I just picked it out, without consulting John. I knew once I made a decision and just got it in the room that he would love it, and I was right :)

Bubba had his 6 month well check up today! I still haven't taken his 6 month pictures.. no excuses.. but it needs to get done (TOMORROW).

The Stats:

28'' long (90th percentile)

21 lbs 5.3 oz (95th percentile)

Yes, he is a tank. Every nurse and receptionist did a double take when looking at his chart, "He's only six months?? He's huge!" John just smiles (while thinking to himself, "Daddy's little football star"). 

He also had to get THREE shots. The torture. I seriously fight back the tears EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It's the worst. But he still gave out smiles to everyone he saw when we were leaving, so I guess he isn't too traumatized. We found out he is going to have to have surgery within the next few months which sucks, but we knew it was a possibility. We meet with his urologist this weekend so hopefully we will nail down a date - can't wait to start anticipating that horror (ugh).

I'll end this post with a pic my father-in-law took yesterday while we were out on our walk. No, my husband does not go out in public in this outfit, he just put on the giant rubber boots for the walk (he came in his dress shoes). It would be lovely to get a family picture where we all look good, Jack is looking at the camera, and hair isn't in my face - but this works for now :)