Monday, February 28, 2011

Twas a Wet One!







The waters were higher today than I've ever seen!! That crazy lake looking thing is normally a small stream. The good news is it receeded and my basement is still dry. :)

These Feet are Made for Walkin'

No, Blaine can't walk yet, but he can walk by pushing his cart. SOOOOOOOO CUTE! I'm a proud mommy!

Sorry I have tons of videos; I was just too happy. :)

PS can one of you blog experts tell me why some videos appear wider than the column they are supposed to fit in??







Sunday, February 27, 2011

Backpack Cam



Sort of reminds me of Blair Witch Project. Love the perspective!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Total Transformation

The 7 month mark has been a total turning point for Blaine. He's just less emotionally on edge these days. There has been a 100% NOTICEABLE difference in the kid in the last 2 weeks. I mean he still cries when I try to put him in his carseat (and arches his back, yells, screams, etc) but all in all he is just a total different person. When he gets tired, there are no more total meltdowns. Less meltdowns in general. For some reason, I think his emotional wires were just a bit shorted out for the first 6 months of his life and now he's totally turned a corner.

Have you or did you notice an age when your child "totally transformed" emotionally?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

EC on Good Morning America

My aunt-in-law saw this on TV! Although I'm not a fan of the story (it is sooo ridiculous), it is cool that a 4 month old went potty for the cameras! I could totally see it having gone the other way and them saying, "When we turned out cameras on, the baby wouldn't perform" and hint towards the fact that EC is crazy and doesn't work.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Parenting/pressure-potty-train-earlier-earlier/story?id=12972798

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

One Year Ago Today!

WAS MY 20 WEEK ULTRASOUND! I only had one ultrasound my whole pregnancy and my insurance didn't even cover it [I'm not bitter or anything]. But it was a surreal day that I will NEVER forget!

My belly looked like this:



They showed me that despite my worries, there wasn't a smurf in there but indeed a healthy boy:


And now look what that little lump turned into!! [he is genetically programmed to be messy; you should meet his father]

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

134th Rule of Friendship

Don't become friends with someone who has exponentially more athletic ability and self drive than yourself.


So I have this mom friend; how we met and became friends is a whole other story in itself. [It may have involved me stalking her down a bit, but hey she's glad I did! haha] We have a lot in common: both had a baby last year, both are teachers, both are off on child-care leave this year, both coached high school sports, and the best part is I can see her house from here.


The difference? She is a heck of a lot better athlete than me! Or maybe she is just more driven! I used to be a good athlete, but then I graduated high school. LOL. I can still keep up easily with the junior varsity girls on the cross country team, and I enjoy running with them because I can run with them the majority of the time but then sit out the really really hard workouts and write down times / act busy so I don't feel guilty. I was an assistant coach for 6 years before taking this year off and the most I ever ran at a time was 8 miles. I never run in the winter and I wouldn't say running is in my "top 3 ways to exercise".


So, to make a long story short, mom friend begged me to train and run a half-marathon with her. I wanted to say "heck no, you are crazy, I'd rather be lazy" but I know I need a kick in the butt to get these last 5 lbs off. I looked a few training tables online that looked like this:


I was feeling pretty confident! I could handle that! Then super-driven former-collegiate athlete mom friend gives me this:

Yes, that would be 9 miles next week (remember I have only ever run 8 at a time and that I never run in the winter?!!). And go ahead and forget about 14 miles with the last 4 at race pace. WOWSERS!

In conclusion, being friends with someone more driven than yourself only makes you feel inadequate and makes you much more creative when it comes to making up excuses! ;)

Friday, February 18, 2011

7 Months


We are celebrating with a 60 degree day in February! UNREAL! :)
In the last month Blaine has:
~ been waking up 2-3 times at night
~ goes to bed between 7 & 8 pm and wakes up between 7 & 8 am
~ doing the army crawl like a maniac
~ dancing with his happy legs
~ still hating eating green things and squash
~ eating oatmeal, carrots, applesauce much better
~ going potty very well
~ still resisting naps
~ crying it out more to learn how to sleep on his own
~ loving going outside [when it is above 30] to sled, hiking, icefish
~ doing better in the car when awake
There you have it! This month we take him over the border to Canada (gotta take that giant trophy back...boooo) so we'll see how he does in the car for 5 hrs. We'll plan to drive when he sleeps! :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Junk Mail Folder

So I went to click "empty" on my junk mail folder (and its 118 messages), and just after the click, I THEN saw a message titled "Pumpkin Seeds" from a Krissy or Kristy or something or other. BUT IT WAS TOO LATE!! If anyone has emailed me lately for some seeds, please resend.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Goal Update

Well, here's how things have been going.

I'VE LOST 8 LBS SINCE JANUARY 1ST!!

Yep, so exciting. I've done HORRIBLY with changing my diet but I've done very good with uping my exercise. Whenever baby is playing on the floor, I'm there with him but keeping moving by doing mountain climbers, push-ups, and crunches. Have you ever tried doing crunches for 10 straight minutes? Tough! But I've done that numerous times while watching TV in the evening. I've checked a few exercise DVD's out from the library (and now that I know they have them, I will continue doing this!). I've continued cross country skiing 3 to 4 times a week. I've gone to power yoga with the track team a few times.

The snow is melting (boooo) but that means warmer temps so I can get baby out more and get the stroller out of my basement! Time for him to remember how to sit in that thing (and hopefully it goes better than it went last fall when normally he just cried in it). I'm going to train for a half marathon with a friend but not actually run the race with her (it was $90 and I'm not going to have $90 of fun). Blaine realllly needs to like the running stroller because her 9 month old daughter has no problem with it.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Daddy's Happy Day






I'm pretty sure Nick's been dreaming of this day his whole life: taking his child icefishing.

[and before you call child-protective services on us, we are less than 30 yards from our backdoor in this pic and the ice was 12 inches thick]

He's already stated that he needs to buy a 2 man shanty for next season. :)

Friday, February 11, 2011

THE SUN!


NE Ohio is one cloudy place in the winter. Actually Cleveland is #1 among big cities with 93% of winter days having some sort of clouds. I'm not even kidding when I say that sometimes it feels like a month goes by without seeing the sun. So when I see it, I take pics. :)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Blog Award Take 2!!

I'm saying take 2 for two reasons!! Back in October I did something very similar so I'll try to think of 7 different things about myself! And it is take 2 because today Anna gave me the award and last week Abby gave me it too. THANKS SO MUCH!! Anna is awesome because I haven't even seen her since high school but from what I read on her blog, she is the same sweet girl I ran track and competed gymnastics with. Abby had a beautiful baby named Casey last summer and he and Blaine have verrrry similar qualities! I enjoy both of their blogs very much!

Here goes!

1) I started blogging in 2008 after being a lurker for awhile on other blogs. It is weird to see how it has changed through time and how I've changed the types of blogs I read.

2) I REFUSE TO DO TWITTER!

3) I want it to be winter for at least 4 more months. I doubt anyone around here shares my sentiments.

4) I used to be a MAJOR worry-wort about "the unknown". Examples: where I'd go to college, where I'd live someday, if I'd get married, etc. Now that my life is resolved mostly, I worry a lot less and enjoy life a lot more.

5) Now I worry about whether or not to go back to teaching when my child-care leave runs out.

6) I have texting blocked on my phone. Texting is annoying!

7) I love love love road trips and hope and pray Blaine starts liking the car more so we can take him on some ASAP! :)

Here are my nominations:

Tara from ALASKA (!!!) whose daughter is Blaine's birth twin (7/18/2010)
Kara, runner / mom
Amanda, strong mama extraordinaire

Saturday, February 5, 2011

On the Move!



Blaine has progressed from scootching around only when very angry to actually wanting to do an army crawl without tears. And once he figured it out, he was pretty much a professional by the next day. Normally he will crawl all the way across the room with the sole intention of getting to the nearest human who can help him stand up. LOL! He would much rather be upright. It is so funny. And when he is standing he wants to be a big boy and only hold on using one hand.

On the potty front, for some reason Blaine is on a totally Baby Bjorn potty strike at my mom's house. At home he still goes on his little potty but not there. However, he will go in big potty everytime. I think it's because he likes to play with the toilet paper! Just like daddy ;)


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Dear Fellow Babies..

[this was on baby center and perhaps is the funniest thing I have ever seen]

Dear Fellow Babies,

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months.

Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in.

I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night.

I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
My sleep sack tickled my foot.
I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?
The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn’t like it touching me.
I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between
feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don’t worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.

Also, I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the sleep sheep with rain noises puts me to sleep, sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn’t get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn’t really need sleep.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

ICE-STORM and Tabbies

I've been wishing for a giant winter storm to hit Ohio pretty much this whole winter season. I keep seeing the east coast get slammed with 20 inches at a time and my heart is full of envy! The ground has been white here about 95% of this winter but it has been coming in 2 inch increments. Well my wish almost came true but then it turned to FREEZING RAIN. So now I have so much ice on my house / deck / driveway, I can't go anywhere and am still sitting here waiting for those 20 inches of snow I want so badly. Boo.

In other news, I finally have tabs across the top! If you haven't checked them out yet, give them a click. :)

As far as naps and sleeping, we've had to used "cry it out" a few times lately after nursing / walking / etc fail and he always cries less than 10 minutes. His night wake ups have settled back down to only 2 so that makes me happy.

Blaine went to his first night-time winter geocaching event. We were going to leave him at home but unseasonably warm temps changed our minds! We only stayed an hour and a half and he did great! Even snoozed a bit and when awake, never made a peep!