Staying Sane

It has to be said: I don’t like infants. I love my baby, he is precious and a wonderful gift from God. But I haven’t slept for more than 3 hours since March 20th. It’s seriously wearing me down. Every single part of my body is tired. Worse, I am emotionally tired. Try dealing with a toddler when you are emotionally tired. It’s not pretty. Thatcher is no where near as difficult as Thad was, but he is definitely not one of those mythical happy babies. I am the only one who can hold him. I am the only one who can soothe him, and the only one who can put him to sleep. Which basically means that I feel like every single moment of my life is centered around him. Well duh, he is a baby, what do I expect, him to change his own diapers? No, I’m not saying that any of this is abnormal, I am just saying that it is incredibly hard. And exhausting. I feel like I am teetering on the edge of full breakdown, and I have been to this point many times in the last 2+ months. And then we have a good day, or a good night, and I feel like I recuperate a bit. And then it gets gnarly again. It is very easy to forget that this will eventually get easier. I wasn’t that long ago that I did this with Thad, and I felt like I was living a never ending day of screaming baby. But gradually it got better, and easier, and involved more sleeping. This will too.

In this moment of trying to convince myself that things will get easier, and my life will return to it’s more typical state, something soothing came to mind. My MindMap. It’s nothing really, just a little exercise that I came across, I think on a blog somewhere. When I feel like my life is out of control and no longer my own, I like to check in, re-center myself and remind myself of who I am. The kind of person I want to be, the wife, the mom, etc. It is a way to visualize those compartments of yourself. Here is what mine looks like:

If I made one based on today’s life, it would look a little different. I am not currently spreading myself evenly in these areas. BUT, someday, I will again. (Laundry, I’m looking at you…hang in there…we’ll catch up some day). Looking at this makes me reassess some choices though. It’s true that I don’t have time to spend on “Everyone Else”, for example, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take any time to “Be nice” to my husband. Definitely some things that I can work on. And, ultimately, it’s not just for his sake, but for my own.

So, Self, I am talking to you: check yo’self before you wreck yo’self. Or something like that.

Monogram Mug

On one of my Pinteresting expeditions, I came upon this fun project:

DIY Monogram Mugs. I am a fan of cheap, easy, fun crafts, especially when they make good gifts. Extra bonus, I made this project even cheaper and easier than in the tutorial. Her supply list includes scissors, pen, tape, graphite transfer paper, Black Pebeo Porcelaine Pen in Fine Point ($4 at Michaels, also available here) and a print out with the family’s initials. My supply list includes:

1. Black oil-based Sharpie
2. Dry erase pen

Bam. That’s a short list. The project started off with a bang when in an attempt to improve Thatcher’s scream attack, I walked across the parking lot from Five Guys where we had dinner, over to Michaels. I intended to get the pen she used, but after 15 minutes of wandering around the store looking for either the pen or an employee, I was told by the sole person working there that they were out of such pens. Fortunately, this particular 15 year old Michaels employee happened to be well versed in the art of mug drawing and told me that a oil based Sharpie should do the same thing (meaning it can write on porcelain and won’t wash off). Done. I picked out my pen (I used black, medium tip size) and headed up to the register where I then stood in line for another 15 minutes (while trying to jiggle my fussy child into submission…I’m only halfway joking). At one point I honestly considered shoplifting the pen.

Finally they allowed me to pay for the pen ($3.99), and I woke my by-that-time-sleeping-baby back up by putting him in his carseat. He then proceeded to scream the rest of the way home. But that’s a different story.

I was planning on just free handing a letter onto a mug that I had purchased at Goodwill for $0.49. There’s no way I’m paying money for transfer paper and going through the hassle of printing and cutting out letters. Silly. Another bonus of using the Sharpie instead of the suggested pen is that once you write it, it’s permanent. No baking of the glassware is necessary. Before I started working, I realized that even better than free handing, I could just draw out my letter with a fine-tip try erase pen that was in the kitchen drawer before drawing the final letter with the Sharpie. Worked perfectly.

Obviously, there are a million different font styles you could copy, and a billion different things you could put on there. Pictures. Song lyrics. Names. Etc. This first mug I made to give to my sister, with her initial as well as a Bible verse that I know is meaningful to her. I have a second mug to do, but I’m not sure what to put on it yet. I really like how they did a collection of different sizes and shaped mugs to make a whole set. For $0.49 per mug, and the pen already purchased, there’s not a whole lot to loose. I think they will make cute little “Thank You” gifts, or whatnot. Score another point for Pinterest.

Reading with Kids

When we were kids, my mom used to read to us every night. Over the years, she read us TONS of books. Lots of classics like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, etc. Growing up, I was a huge reader, and I still love to read, I just have less time to do it. Thad and I read all the time. He has his favorites, but I can’t wait to read him some of my favorites, especially as he gets older and we can read big books. I have already started to stock pile some of the classics:

(Note also the sweet bookends that Justin made me out of some fire wood he was cutting up).

Here are some that cannot be missed:

1. Chronicles of Narnia

2. Where’s Waldo

Not exactly a chapter book, but definitely one of the favorites in my family while growing up; Who doesn’t love Waldo. I saw these at Costco for like 5 bucks apiece a few years ago. Couldn’t pass that one up!

And what childhood will now be complete without reading these new classics:

3. Harry Potter

If I have said it once, I’ve said a millions times: my husband is a genius. But the boy does not read. I should re-state that: he does not pleasure read. He does not read fiction. He reads boring stuff. While I have voluntarily read hundreds and hundreds of books, he has probably read a dozen. That may be an exaggeration, but not by a whole lot. One of the few books he has read (and so have I), is this series:

4. The Lord of the Rings

If I had girls, I would add these to the list:

5. Girly books: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, plus 2 of my all time adult favorites, The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End

Easter 2012

For some reason, I don’t always do a good job of celebrating holidays. I like holidays, I just sometimes fall through with putting out the effort. But since Thad is getting a little older, I am feeling more and more guilty for letting anything pass without celebrating. I feel like I would be cheating him a little bit. So for Easter, we pulled out most of the stops. Decorated eggs, gave Thad an Easter basket, went to Justin’s family’s for an egg hunt and ham dinner. The obvious thing that we didn’t do is go to church. I’m not quite ready to tackle that one yet. Even though he doesn’t know why we were doing any of this, Thad still had a good time, so I’m glad we did what we did.

I didn’t get stuff for his basket until the day before Easter, and let me tell you, Walmart was at it’s FINEST. It was pretty ridiculous. But, I made it out alive and got some good stuff for him. Elmo plate, new sippy cup with TRUCKS!, some egg-shaped chalk, a stamp pad with alphabet stamps and some bendy bunnies. He did also get one candy item, some Peeps, which were used as a bribing tool during his next haircut.

He had a great time dying eggs with Daddy.

And then later eating 2 of the eggs. The first one he cracked playing with it, so we peeled it and let him eat it. The second one he hulked in half while I had my back turned, so I let him have that one too. Gross.

In the afternoon, we went to Justin’s cousin’s for an early dinner. I had offered to bring some desserts, and made a couple of new recipes.

I made Salted Caramel Popcorn from a recipe on Pinterest, which was really tasty but kind of a pain to make and SUPER sticky. It wouldn’t have been as big of a pain if I hadn’t let a saucepan of boiling sugar burn to a CRISP on the stove. That was a mess to clean up, and I had to make a second batch. But, it was a big hit with people. I would probably make it again doing a few things differently: Obviously, try not to burn sugar, duh, and I would also use less marshmallows than it calls for to see if it turns out a little less sticky.

I also made some frosted sugar cookies, and I have to say that they were right on the money. I have made the cookie recipe before, but didn’t like the frosting recipe that went with it. So, I searched for a different frosting recipe and found this one, which is fantastic. I expect 3 things out of frosting on cookies: I want it to taste good, I want sprinkles to stick to it, and I want it to harden so you can stack cookies. This recipe covers all three.

Birthday Boy

Thad turned 2 just ten days after Thatcher was born. Because I knew the timing was going to be tight, I had everything planned ahead of time. And by “I had everything planned”, I mean that I had it planned for everyone to do everything for me. Slight exaggeration, but my sister had offered to bring a birthday party to us, and I took her up on it.

I bought all of Thad’s gifts ahead of time from Amazon (my favorite way to shop). I try to maintain a level of organization with his toys, and buy him things that build on things we already have. I also really want to get him things that encourage his imagination, development, and keep him occupied for more than 2 seconds.

Play Doh Accessories: I wanted make better use of play doh than him just asking me to “make dog”, “make face”, “make cat”, and so on. I found this huge set of cookie cutters (extra bonus…now I have a huge set of cookie cutters for cookies). Strangely enough, we haven’t actually used these with play doh yet, he is entertained by just going through them and looking at all the different shapes. I also got him this placemat to play with play doh on, instead of having to scrape it off my kitchen table.

Stickers: He really likes the window decals that I have gotten him at the Dollar Tree. Those seem to be better at his age than real stickers that are only useable one time. I found this cool sticker book of reusable stickers and sticker scenes. This one has been a big hit, although he has to have someone take all the stickers off the the sheet for him.

Craft Supplies: This one is a no brainer, craft supplies are always good. The more you have, the better. Yes, they can be messy, but they can also occupy for a long time and be lots of fun. These items, along with the other things I got him are put up out of his reach. That way, we get them out at specific times, and they are not always accessible.

Whenever we have a gift-giving holiday, I always put EVERYTHING up and bring it out one by one. That way he is not overwhelmed with a ton of new things, and can focus on one thing at a time.

He also got some great stuff from the rest of the family. Lots of books (including books on disk, which he loves). Our families are really good about getting gifts that Justin and I approve of, and are in line with what we want our kids to spend their time doing.

We celebrated the weekend of his birthday. Justin’s parents were already in town, they had stayed most of the week prior to help me while Justin had to be out of town for training. My parents and sister with her family drove down for the day. They brought everything. Mom and my sister made lots of food. My younger sister who had to work made John Deere cupcakes (the theme of the party).

Thad had great fun opening presents and playing with his cousin (and Uncle Sam).

And we were all happy to have another chance to see new Baby Colby, who Thatcher met for the first time.

5 Facts of a Sleep-Deprived Mom

1. When you tell your husband that you think the disposal is breaking, he reaches inside and pulls out a washcloth, expect a dirty look.

2. A new bra can make you feel like a new woman, even if it is a nursing bra

3. If you can take a 3 hour nap and then immediately turn around and go to bed for the night, you are tired.

4. We filled my car’s tank when we went to the hospital to have Thatcher. I still have over a half a tank. It has been a month. That’s how many places we go.

5. I’m not sure who makes exercising more difficult; the infant who requires re-pacifir-ing every 30 seconds, or the 2 year old who is constantly climbing on me and trying to “get my toesies”

Coat Hanger

This was a fun Pinterest project that Justin and I did together. Total cost was under $2.00 for 2 of the hooks, everything else we had on hand already. Justin cut, edged and painted a 1x6 piece of wood for me, and also spray painted the hooks. There is a whole video that good old Martha has on her website, but I didn’t really follow her directions. She used stencils to paint on the animals (that you can download), but I just freehanded the animals with a pencil, then painted them on with acrylic paint.

Prepped Board

Final Product

We hung it up in Thad’s room so he has a place at his height to hang up his sweatshirts, hats, towels, etc.