Two Steppin'

pavement

I'm in need of feeling the pounding of hitting the pavement under my feet. Of taking 30min and getting some miles on the jogging stroller and on my shoes.  To start mine and Ian's morning off with run along the riverwalk, to hear the birds chirping, to see the baby geese follow their momma along the path to the water (and hope they don't run after me), to witness the trees getting their leaves, flowers blooming, to feel that burn in my lungs of being out of breath, to push my body to it's limits and build my endurance back up.  If you can't tell I have spring fever, not sure if it's because of all the snow or the deadline at work that is looming overhead or that the stores are putting out the spring lines or that my child is struggling to sleep through the night. I'm going with all the above. And no running won't make any of those things go away but they will help cope.

"I do it as a therapy. I do it as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline."  - Jack LaLanne

I couldn't have said it better myself, retail therapy is also a good coping tool but not as easy on the budget as hitting the pavement or dropping and giving 15 (my current max for push ups before I need a break).

What's your coping tool?

Napping

Thank you all for the comments and advice, as I said willing to try anything.  Some of you asked about his napping and I feel he is an excellent napper.  He goes down for his 1st nap 2hrs after he wakes up and will take a 1-2hr nap and then usually 2hrs after he wakes from his morning nap he takes his 2nd nap which again is usually 2hrs long.  He can sleep through anything (I was able to vaccum his room while he napped and he never even stirred....yes he was still breathing).  I think maybe one of the issues is that when he's at the sitters he's on their routine where as when he is home with me or at my parents or in-laws he is on his own routine.  Or maybe that has nothing to do it...

I quickly glanced at the babywhisperer forums but haven't gotten to dive into much yet. Not too worry I will keep you all posted!

dark circles

I have dark circles under my eyes that only getting darker and my brain is fried trying to think of ideas to help Ian sleep thru the night.  He did great with sleeping up until about 3 months ago and then started waking up anywhere from 1 to 3x a night.  He goes to bed prefectly fine never puts up a fight. Staying asleep is  different story.

We have tried:

1. letting him cry it out, I gave up after 45min
2. feeding him right before bed didn't make a difference so at least I know he isn't hungry
3. having white noise in the background 
4. keeping him up till 10, this worked once
5. sitting next to his crib and rubbing his back
6. getting in his crib with him, yes you read that I right I hopped right in and it didn't make a difference
7. Motrin/Tylenol combo for any teething pain
8. Humphrey's teething strips/tablets
9. baby orajel
10. Johnson and Johnson's bedtime body wash and lotion
11. music playing in the back ground, in case there was a case of loneliness going on
12. .....

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions.  He typically goes to bed between 8-9 wakes up anywhere between 12-2 and then will wake up again around 2:30 and sometimes an hr later and then will sleep till I wake him at 7 (on the days I have to work) or whenever he wakes up on the days I have off. What ends up happening is that I get him and as soon as I pick him up he nuzzles into my neck and cuddles, we usually head out to the couch and he goes back to sleep within about 5-20min and usually within that time I too have fallen asleep.  After I wake up I carry him back to his crib where he will sometimes stay asleep until the morning or following the pattern or something very similar mentioned above.  I have talked with our Dr and said there is no "this is how you do it" book you more or less have to fly by the seat of your pants and often times go into survival mode.  He said  his kids liked to sleep in his and his wife's bed so so they rolled out sleeping bags and told them if you want to sleep in here there you go.  It wasn't ideal he said but everyone slept.  We are in survival mode right now we all sleep maybe not in our respective beds but we are sleeping and it might not be a great sleep but it's sleep.  Any thoughts????



1yr photo session

We ventured off to see Brittany Knox at Knox Photography a few weeks ago for Ian's 1yr photo shoot.  That day he was living a model's life of hanging out in his pj's all day long and going to the studio in his jammies too!  He is was kinda in a funk that day and completely uninterested in his cake it took me force feeding it to him and then viola he couldn't get enough.  Brittany said she has never had a child not be interested and not cry after the cake was taken away.  What can I say he's a weirdo but I love my lil weirdo!!

Cheerios Cake and Smash Cakes

When it came to planning Ian's 1st birthday I knew that I didn't really want a theme the only theme we had was Ian is turning 1.  When it came time for the cake Marcus and I thought what does Ian like and the only thing we knew he 100% likes is Cheerios so we made a Cheerios cake.  We tossed around serval ideas to accomplish this and did a trail run a few weeks before so that way when it came time for the real thing we would be ready. 

Well, we forgot to account for Kota dog eating the corner of the one of the cakes, me not being able to shave a cake down evenly or being able to spread icing without making it look like a kidergartner did it. I bought 3 cake mixes and made all 3 cake mixes threw all 3 cakes away and then sent Marcus out for 2 more boxes of cake mix and more eggs.  I made a 911 call to my MIL and made a desperate plea for her help (the party was the next day).  You see my MIL is gifted when it comes to mixing ingredients together and has a way with frosting bags and frosting tips. She has made a birthday cake for Marcus for each and every one of his birthday's.  In his younger days she would make a 3D cakes...no pressure right?

It was New Year's Eve (Ian's birthday) and were headed over to my in-laws anyway to celebrate Christmas with my sister in-law and her hubby since he had to work Christmas day.  So while the guys watched Notre Dame play and win my MIL and I were baking the cakes and making the frosting and figuring out our game plan.  This is what we came up:

We piped the icing instead of spreading it and the heart is Cheerios treats (marshmallows, butter and Cheerios) that was in the original plan.  The tricky part came with the lettering I feel we accomplished what we were going for and that would not have been possible without my MIL and her willingness to ring in the new year with me piping yellow frosting.

Smash cakes:

Again a big thanks to my MIL she made 3 smash cakes (1 for his photo shoot and then 2 to pick from for his bday we didn't know how the monkey would turn out).  Well I think the monkey turned out great, she did from a picture again such talent she has. I think Ian will have lots of memorable cakes.  Guess I better get practicing.

Snow day

This is what we woke up too Saturday morning (it started snowing late after Friday) and what happens when you live in an area that attracts lake effect snow, we got about 24in and other areas got 38in and just 15miles away they got a dusting compared to this. This snow caused us to miss celebrating my cousin's little boy turning 1 and other errands that were to be accomplished that day as the mayor instructed all residents to stay off the roads and you could be ticketed if out (But nontheless Notre Dame did not cancel any basketball games due to weather).  We live on a snow route and only saw the snow plows come through once the entire day.


my car and the dogs tracks as they leaped through




Kota Dog trudging through in search of the perfect spot.



1st Birthday

A week ago we celebrated Ian turning 1, it was nice to get together with family and celebrate Ian's 1st year of life. Some of these pictures are from his actual bday 12/31 and the others are from his party 1/1 that my parents so generously allowed us to invade their home with 20 of our family members. .

Good Morning Birthday Boy

Cheerios appetizer while we wait for the oven to warm up for cinnamon rolls



Birthday cinnamon rolls



can't wait





enjoying birthday cinnamon rolls




yum the recipe made a ton (another post on that venture later)




the cakes, 2 smash cakes to choose from




some of the spread




the cousins, they are 6 days apart




opening gifts




the boys figuring out the book




the cake for the guests (that gets a whole post of it's own)




sharing with Nana




overall not to messy




def. my child





sisters, Aunt CiCi was so helpful in party preperations



the fam

 **There is suppose to be a family picture right here but it's having issues**


present from mommy and daddy




Kota dog can't wait for rides this spring/summer



Ian indulging in his cake

Products

When I was pregnant with Ian I sent an email out to other momma's asking for their top 3 can't live without baby products.  If anyone has been in Babies R Us it can be a little overwhelming and that is putting it lightly.  Once I received responses back it was onto figuring out which brand to go which is comparing sizes, reviews, functionality, etc.  Now that we have made it throught the 1st year I will go through my list of must haves and items I could've passed on.  My must haves and could've passed on's all come down to personal perference.


Must Haves:

Jogging stroller: I get that this is not going to a must have on a lot of people's lists but thanks to the jogging stroller I was able to train for a half marathon.  He was probably put in the jogging stroller sooner than what is recommended I always tried to make sure there was support around his head and neck.  I also ran on a well paved route so bumps and turns were few and far between.  We found our stroller on craigslist for a whooping $75 this retails brand new for around $200. This is the stroller we purchased it's Jeep Overland Limited Jogger has built in speakers, pedometer and a front fixed wheel which I perferred I felt I was able to handle it better while running it allowed me to push with one hand:

*Now it is a big stroller is fills up the entire cargo area of my vehicle leaving very little room for bags if road tripping or grocery shopping

Swing: we have a lil house and needed a lil swing so we got for our lil guy: A Boppy Rock in Comfort travel swing.

Breast Pump: this is something that I would not skimp on the brand/price it is pricey but for use was a huge money saver compared to formula.  We purchased a Medela Pump In style Advanced.  I used this up to 8x a day everyday

Bottles: We use Dr Brown's bottle system there are a lot of parts and a lot to clean but I never knew any different as these were the only bottles we ever tried.

Powder: this powder was actually given to us for when Ian wore his helmet to help prevent/treat heat rash.  It's called Caldesene and let me say any redness that was at diaper change #1 by diaper change #2 it is GONE...SEE YA LATER...

Vaporizer: at any sign of congestion causing wakefulness at night we plug this in:

Swaddle Blanket: for some reason when husband's become fathers they have the ability to wrap your child in the tightest unbrakeable burrito. Me on the other hand couldn't do it so this came into great use it's Summer Infant Swaddle in those middle of nights feedings and the need to be re-swaddled occurred.

Monitor: this monitor gives us peace of mind at night it's by Graco and is an Angelcare movement sensor monitor again we have a lil house and at first we weren't going to get a monitor because we have no problem hearing Ian if he is awake.  My sister actually found out about this monitor, an alarm will go off if no movement (breathing) is detected.  Now there is a downside but it doesn't come till later now that Ian is mobile he will often times wind up in the corners of the crib where there is no sensor meaning the alarm goes off.  It gives huge peace of mind especially after Ian's stay in the NICU and the constant monitoring that is done there.



Burping/Spitting: Ian is not a big spitter upper so we would usually go through one of these a day if that.

If you are looking for something that has style and more appealing to the eye check these out by Courtney Bock:

And if you are in the Michiana area check them out in person at Orange Tree

Those are my must haves so that means it's time to move onto could've passed on.

1. gilder/rocker, currently all of Ian's stuffed animals are sitting in it. 

2. boppy nursing pillow

3. diaper bag, let me explain.  I searched high and low for the "perfect" daiper bag and I have one it sits in my car.  I can't tell you the last time it has left my car or that I have gotten anything out of it or put anything in it. When I leave the house with Ian I take a wipes carrier and toss a diaper in it and then toss that into my purse and if we are going to be gone for more than two hours I toss another diaper into my bag. 

4. everyday stroller, we purchased from my boss a peg perego stroller and then purchased a car seat that adapted to it.  Looking back I would have gotten a snap n-go  and then a nice (chicco or McClaren) lightweight stroller and our jogging stroller.

Well, there's my lists of must have's and could've passed on of items.  Again it's personal perference and what is going to work best for your lifestyle and family.