Life Lessons - Sharing is Caring

Also  - if you didn't get a chance to link up with  Things I Love Thursdays the linky is still open. I changed the format a little so feel free to share about non-mom/baby related things too. New kitchen mixer everyone should have? Awesome blowdryer? Let us know what we're missing out on.





So this week I learned that...

1) Your husband will go on a sweet binge and eat all his and your ice cream before you get a bite. Then to make it up to you he will buy you a pint of Cherry Garcia - which he will also eat before you get a bite. He will then finally come home with two pints . One for you and one for him. He will eat all of his and you will finally wisen up and hide your pint under all the frozen veggies.

2) Driving has become hazardous to my health. On the way home last night I came this close to being pelted in the back of the head by Mr. Frog.

Not cool.
3) I need a maid.
4) And a cook.
5) Along with a nanny.
6) Can you throw in the winning lottery numbers too?
7) In one week I will be on my way to Savannah for a weekend getaway.
8) OMG - I can't wait.
9) I suppose I need to take care of chores and boarding the dog and all that this weekend though. Boo.
10) Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to have to pump when your child won't take bottles?
11) This has been his week at day care - Monday - 3 oz. Tuesday - 0 Wednesday - 0 Thursday 2 oz
12) Yea, He's a boob man.
13) Apparently a jealous one too.
14) The instant I snuggled up to the hubby last night and thought about initiating some nookie - he woke up.
15) Apparently he wants to be an only child.

Things I Love Thursday - My Gym

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As I have mentioned many, many times before I was a gymnast. I lived for gymnastics. It was ALL I wanted to do. After I retired from gymnastics I stayed in the sport by coaching for about 8 years. I knew from the start that when I had a child I wanted them to do gymnastics.

My reasoning though has nothing to do with wanting Jellybean to be the next Olympian so I was on a search to fond the right program. Luckily my choices were pretty limited due to Jellybean's age so I decided to give My Gym a shot.

Best choice I ever made - seriously!

I love My Gym for everything it is and everything it is not.

I'm not going to lie - one of my reasons for wanting Jellybean to start a Mommy and Me program was for me. I needed a chance to interact with other adults and make a connection. This class gives me a chance to do just that.

My other reasons for wanting Jellybean to do gymnastics though are ALL about him. Gymnastics has been shown to help with reading, math and a slew of other academic subjects. It is also the perfect sport to serve as a foundation for any other sport. Is Jellybean getting all of that now? Probably not. But he is getting something out of it.

I love that My Gym is non-competitive. They aren't trying to develop a gymnastics star. They are trying to make sure my child has a great time though. The class is perfect for his needs as a baby. There is time to just crawl around. We stretch, we sing, we dance, we play. Then we break out. He can do gymnastics activities, swing, chase after a ball or practice pulling himself up on a mat. There's a separation activity where he plays on his own with the other babies and then finally a puppet show and the bye bye song.

That is what I want for Jellybean at this stage in the game. An environment where he gets to work on his crawling, standing and walking. Somewhere that isn't on the lookout to see if he is better than the rest. If he has potential. My belief is - every child has potential - it just might not be in gymnastics! I love that they offer free plays in addition to his class. My Friday lunch hour has now become my play with Jellybean hour - and that makes my week all the better.

So I would have to whole heartedly say that My Gym has exceeded my expectations and I am so happy I took a chance on it.

Now, what are you loving?



PYHO - Cleaning My Plate

As I mentioned on Monday, we started Jellybean in baby gymnastics. I'm going to talk some more about that tomorrow in Things I LoveThursday but so far we really love it. The only thing about it though is that in order for me to take him to the free plays they offer I have had to adjust my work schedule. More often than not I am working later so I can take a two hour lunch on Fridays. That makes for some huge time constraints at home.

I may not walk in the door until 5:45. I like to have Jellybean in bed no later than 8pm.

In between there is dinners to cook for the hubby, me and Jellybean, bathtime and if I'm super lucky a few chores get tackled. Half the time I am doing all that solo because Joey is working late.

So if you guys hadn't noticed - I decided to clean my plate some.

I love blogging - the actual act of writing along with reading all of your entries and sharing feedback. It’s a great release for me. The problem is when I don't get a chance to sit down until 9pm, I don't have the mental capacity to read or write anything. My blog, twitter, facebook - they are all luxuries, not necessities so I had to give myself permission to not be a part of it when I don't have the time to sacrifice for it. I had to remind myself that I do work two full time jobs - one to pay the bills and the other to be the best mom in the world to Jellybean. That means that there may be weeks where I don't get on the computer at all. I might not read a single blog, tweet or anything. My house may also be in shambles if the hubby worked late all week.

We are still finding our way in this world of parenting. It seems like every time you figure it out - something changes. I know most mom's are dealing with back to school right now so they are in the same boat. There are some little steps I've taken that seem to be helping. I joined E-mealz and what a lifesaver that has been! I love having my meals decided for me! Meal planning was something that fell by the wayside when Jellybean came along. I tried but I just couldn't keep up with it. For anyone that hasn't joined E-mealz - do it now - I swear it's the best thing ever. Use coupon code Dave and you'll only pay $12.50 for three months! We have loved trying new recipes too since you often fall into a rut with meals - at least in our house. I also stopped trying to be Super Mom and make all of Jellybean's meals myself. Babies R Us had a huge sale on Earth's Best Organic Baby Food - so I stocked up. If I need an easy night, I am not a failure for pulling out a jar. Jellybean is just happy to eat. He doesn't care if I cooked it or not.

So while I may not be the best blogger or internet friend any more - I do have a lot on my plate and the number one priority is thriving. My preemie is almost 8 months old and right now he is developmentally ahead in every area. By nine months, I am pretty sure he will be walking. That scares the bejeezus out of me! He is a happy, smiley, full of joy kind of kid. He is still breastfeeding and usually refusing bottles. He is so smart that we have to hide things from him regularly. You show that kid how a toy works once and he has it figured out. So my plate it is full but I am so fulfilled!

I miss all of you, I really do. So far though - I haven't heard Jellybean complain so I must be doing something right.

This post is linked up with Shell as part of Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays.

 

Conversations with Jellybean - Fliptastic

Hey Jellybean, You want to tell everyone why Mom fell off the face of the earth and hasn't posted a blog in forever?

 Sure thing, Mom!

Well guys, my super awesome mom signed me up for baby gymnastics! I go every Saturday at 8:30am.

It's loads of fun - but if that wasn't enough they have free play too!

Since my Mom loves me bunches she tries to take me to that too. 

 So on Monday's she stays late at work so we can go to the evening session.

And then she has been adjusting her work schedule too so she can take a long lunch on Fridays for the play session they have then.

As if that wasn't enough, her car was on the fritz last week too and Daddy had to work on Saturday.

Mom has been super busy but I still think she's the best because she always puts me first.

 So sometimes she has weeks where she doesn't get to talk to all our friends here.

Maybe its because she is making dinner, washing clothes, or blowing raspberries on my belly.

Or she might be cheering me on when I manage to pull myself up and you know - just stand there. But she's still thinking of all of you.

 And when Daddy takes me for a ride on Blue she finally has a chance to say Hi! I missed you!

Life Lessons - Heartbreaker

My Veggie Tales giveaway ends Monday - go enter now!

Also  - if you didn't get a chance to link up with  Things I Love Thursdays the linky is still open. I changed the format a little so feel free to share about non-mom/baby related things too. New kitchen mixer everyone should have? Awesome blowdryer? Let us know what we're missing out on.

1) This week I learned that your child is going to break your heart.

2) You will carry him for 35 weeks (longer if you aren't carrying Jellybean who insisted on coming into this world early)

3) You will then spend two weeks constantly by his side while he is in the NICU and another 10 weeks at home. You will endure constant screaming due to reflux, marathon nursing sessions and being peed on.

4) Once you return to work you will go visit your baby at lunch every day because 90% of the time he refuses to take bottles so you instead have to nurse him.

5) As most mother's do, you will do 90% of the parenting and baby wrangling. Waking at night to feed the baby, waking up with him at the butt crack of dawn because he is ready to play, being puked on, etc will all fall into your hands.

6) In appreciation said baby will twist a knife in your heart when you least expect it and at 7 months old -

7) HE WILL SAY DADA FIRST!

8) Who me? Bitter? No, not at all.

9) I still say it was a question, like are you my Dada? You know, since he's been working weekends and late in the evening so Jellybean hasn't seen him all that much.

10) I think Jellybean realized the pain he caused me since he's been extra snuggly since saying THAT word.

11) We may have slept snuggled up together all night last night. I know we shouldn't but how do you say NO when your baby burrows into you, sighs and falls asleep peacefully?

Things I Love Thursday - My Moby Wrap

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I mentioned last week that Jellybean had reflux. (Thankfully he has grown out of it now!) What I may have skirted over was that until we got Jellybean on some medication he screamed. Constantly. If we laid him down for even a second.

IT WAS EXHAUSTING.

I was home. ALONE. With a screaming child that hated the car.

WITH A PASSION.

Finally, in sheer desperation – I bought a Moby Wrap. I figured if he felt better when he was upright this had to work.

At first the Jellybean wasn’t sure if he liked the Moby. Heck, at first I wasn’t sure if I liked it either!

But I had just shelled out $40 for the thing so I figured I would keep trying. Initially, I tried the newborn hug hold but my curious monkey did not like not being able to see and look around so I switched him to the Kangaroo.

And there was silence.

HE LOVED IT!!

So four or five times a day, I would strap on the Jellybean and we would walk. All over the neighborhood. I worked off all the baby weight and got to meet the neighbors. The Jellybean would take it all in and then he would sleep. Snuggled up to his Mommy. I grew to love the convenience of the Moby. It wasn’t as cumbersome as lugging a stroller everywhere. It kept people from touching him and spreading their germs to my preemie. And have I mentioned it kept him from screaming? Oh that was nice.

Since then, the Moby has gone everywhere. I wore him at the circus. He was strapped in at shopping trips at Target. Furniture shopping? Yup, A snuggled up Jellybean was right there the whole time trying out couches. Walking the neighborhood looking for a runaway dog – discreetly nursed him in the Moby while talking to those same neighbors! Even now at 7 months old, I will throw the Moby on if he gets fussy while I try to finish up chores and it settles him right down. Quite honestly – it is the best $40 I ever spent. I could live without my stroller even though we do use it more often now but I couldn’t imagine life without my Moby. If you are wondering what to get someone as a baby shower gift or you think they already have everything they need – get them a Moby. I plan on purchasing them for any future momma’s I come across!

You know what else I would love? For you to win my Veggie Tales giveaway! Go ahead and enter!

What are you loving this week?

PYHO - Making Me a Priority

Don't Forget to enter my Veggie Tales giveaway!

Also  - I have a new meme that I would love for you to join up with too! Its  on Thursday's so I'm giving you time to prepare for it. It's called Things I Love Thursdays.

Everyone tells you that once you have a baby you need to make sure to take care of yourself too.


That you need to make time for yourself and just relax.


Occasionally you need to put yourself first and that's okay.


What they don't tell you is how to do that.


They don't tell you how to turn the mommy mode off for a minute and think about yourself as the person you were before.


For me. It took a shopping trip to do it. And my hubby.


We were at Kohl's since Hubby needed some new pants. (All of his for some reason become "work pants" and he is left with no nice clothing to wear in public.) I had the Jellybean as usual and was coordinating nursing him while browsing through the baby clearance items. Hubby found me and had his pants in hand.


Which he hadn't tried on. GRRR...


So it was time for a visit to the changing room and of course - a swap in sizes after that. Then Hubby turns to me and says - "Why don't you pick out some clothes for you?"


The thought hadn't even crossed my mind to shop for myself.


Even though a large majority of my pre-Jellybean clothes no longer fit me.


And my style had majorly changed since having Jellybean.


But to buy something for myself - could I really do it and not feel guilty?


Yes - I could. Most of my purchases were from the clearance racks but that just meant I could get more stuff. Hubby found a dress I loved the instant I put it on. Dresses are a HUGE part of my style now.


That half hour of perusing the racks while the Hubby wandered with Jellybean - it was DIVINE. I forgot how good it felt to spoil yourself every once in awhile. How nice it is to have a few cute outfits that REALLY fit you.


More importantly - I remembered that we need to take the time to indulge ourselves every now and then. That you aren't taking anything away from your spouse or your child by treating yourself every now and then.


That being said - There's a pedicure in my near future.


This post is linked up with Shell as part of Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays.

 

Excuses, Excuses!

I tried writing an interesting post tonight but - (choose your favorite excuse) {kind of like the pick your adventure books}

my scalp was itchy from all the crazy Florida humidity so I kept having to scratch it and that took away from my typing ability.

I had a brief heartburn like sensation from using way too much cajun seasoning on the catfish and feared for a second I may be pregnant. Then I remembered you had to have sex to get pregnant and breathed a sigh of relief.

the hubby brought home ice cream from the gas station and everyone knows ice cream > blogging.

I couldn't find my good tweezers and had to pluck my annoying chin hairs with the crappy tweezers which takes twice as long.

I worried that we could no longer be imaginary friends since I just revealed I have annoying chin hairs to you. Or does that make us best friends now?

I posted twice this week already so technically I'm ahead of the game anyway.

I was contemplating the fact that I get baby fever every time I drive past the hospital where Jellybean was born causing me to want another immediately. Luckily I only drive past that hospital 10 times a week since I pass it to and from work.

I was spending quality time bonding with the hubby as he watched a movie and I wrote this!

I was figuring I should quit begging everyone to link up with Things I Love Thursday or enter my Veggie Tales Giveaway...

Conversations with Jellybean - Oh Blue!

Don't forget that I'm hosting an awesome Veggie Tales giveaway! Go enter - not that many people have so your chances of winning? AWESOME!

Also - I have a new meme that I would love for you to join up with too! Its on Thursday's so I'm giving you time to prepare for it. It's called Things I Love Thursdays!

Conversations with Jellybean

  Oh, Hey Blue! Did you want to come play with me?

 Hey, what's this thing you're wearing? It's kinda shiny. I bet you'd like it if I tug on it a bit.

Jellybean, It's a choke collar. The tugging not so cool...

Oops, sorry dude. My bad.

 Umm..Jellybean? That would still be tugging buddy.

 Fine, I'll just chew on you over here instead.

Sigh...

Hey Blue..

Yes, Jellybean?

  There's just one little problem.

 What would that be Jellybean?

 My star..you seem to be laying on it. And I just can't get to it.

 Oh, let me help you out there!

 Aww Blue! You're the best! I love you.

Me too, Jellybean. Me too!

Summer Fun Showoff

 Don't forget that I'm hosting an awesome Veggie Tales giveaway! Go enter - not that many people have so your chances of winning? AWESOME!

Also - I have a new meme that I would love for you to join up with too! Its on Thursday's so I'm giving you time to prepare for it. It's called Things I Love Thursdays!

Shell over at Things I Can't Say is hosting another fun linky so I couldn't help but join in! It's the Summer Fun Show off.

Of course, living in Florida - its always summer! Jellybean still managed to have some actual summer fun though!

Link up your Summer Fun for a chance to win prizes from Ubisoft.

A Million Things

There are a million things I should really be doing right now.

My chore chart is almost untouched.

There are toys all over the living room.

My bed needs clean sheets.

But this guy -

has had a rough weekend. His top teeth are working their way down which means grumpiness, needing mommy more than usual and some crappy naps.

So he's been doing a lot of this -

and finally he passed out like this -

and I just don't have the heart to disturb the poor guy.

Even if my leg is cramping and I need to pee.

Life Lesson - The Feed Me Edition

First, a big hug goes out to Sara. She lost her Dad last week and could use all of our hugs and love out there in bloggy land.

Now for my life lessons for this week.

1) On the day you are most tired your husband will come home from work and immediately fall asleep on the couch leaving you to fend for yourself with the baby.

2) This will also be the day you did not get to eat lunch at work so you are ridiculously hungry.

3) It is a known fact that you are extra crabby when hungry.

4) Hubby should know this by now as there are many occasions he has bought a cheeseburger from Mcdonalds while forcing his wife through a marathon shopping session at Wal-mart.

5) (FYI - I hate shopping at Wal-mart with a passion - it’s a necessary evil in my town but I loathe it)

6) When hungry and crabby, I may mutter things about lazy men, divorce and other obscenities.

7) That is a sign to feed me immediately.

8) You can redeem yourself by letting me sit on the couch later in the week with a sleeping Jellybean while you cook and clean.

9) The Calzone hubby made - AMAZING.

10) It's also been made blatantly clear once again that I really don't have a filter.

11) Overheard at our house last night - (of course said by yours truly) - "You know what we should do sometimes?"

 Hubby -"What's that?"

 Me - "Have sex"

12) I'm romantic like that. I mean if that doesn't get him in the mood nothing will, right?

13) Do they have etiquette classes for adults? I could use them.

14) Jellybean is on a roll this week.

15) Cut his second tooth and oh yeah - he can pincer grasp. Who knew?

16) Hubby and I are now addicted to Jellybean's teething biscuits too.

17) In addition to the puffs.

18) What? Mommy gets hungry too!

19) If you haven't linked up for Things I Love Thursday or entered my Veggie Tales Giveaway...

20) Go do it now!

Things I Love Thursday

Did you notice I'm hosting an awesome Veggie Tales giveaway? You should totally go enter. All the cool kids are doing it! If you link up today you get an extra entry!

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This is an opportunity to link up every week and share an item you or your kiddos just can't live without. Sort of an online girl's night out. So dish about that great new toy you bought your kid or the amazing lipstick everyone needs to try. Let us know what we are missing in our lives. Because ya'll? I'm tired of just comparing sales on diapers and deciding whether I can go another day with out showering!

So for this Things I Love Thursday I am going to go back a little bit and feature something I loved when Jellybean was a newborn. Next week I am going to gush about my moby wrap that I still use now!

The first thing I could not have lived without was Jellybean's swing. He was a tiny thing when we brought him home and didn't really fit well in a bouncer or anything of that sort. Someone had generously gifted us a Graco Newborn Soothing Center Swing and that was the best thing we could have been given at the time. In addition to being a tiny thing, Jellybean also had reflux. 

The swing kept him inclined which would tone down his screaming for a bit. If he had a cold - the incline helped him breathe. This swing was extra cool in that the base for it also fit our car seat so if he fell asleep in the car we could just take him out and snap the car seat in and let it go. (Not that he fell asleep in the car very often. He HATED riding in the car for the first three months!) 

Graco offers the following description -

The Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center was designed based on significant research into the needs of newborns, as well as feedback from real-life mothers. This unique tool is designed to simulate the comfort of the womb with customizable touch, sound, sights, and movement. Four unique seat positions and four different cradling motions mimic how you cradle and hold your baby, and six speeds allow you to customize the Center's movement based on your baby's mood and needs. A two-speed vibration provides baby with a subtle, calming "massage" and a built-in swaddle blanket, head support, and snug five-point harness keep baby feeling extra secure.

Soothing, familiar sounds help to relax your baby as well: choose from low-frequency sounds that mimic sounds heard in the womb; natural sounds such as heartbeat, rain and wind; or lullabies played through the high-quality speakers; or provide your own play list with the included MP3 connection and holder.

Baby's eyes are kept from over stimulation with an adjustable canopy, which controls light and limits baby's line of vision--making it easier for a tired baby to feel calm. A close-by mirror gives baby something interesting to focus on quietly.

Regardless - Jellybean loved the thing. 

Sadly - we can't use it anymore since Jellybean now tries to fling himself out of bouncers, swings or anything of that sort...