We've already announced it on facebook, but we'll announce it here too. We're pregnant with baby # 2!!! We are SOOO excited. We feel really blessed and I can't wait to share how this pregnancy goes. :) We're not very far along at all, but we couldn't keep ourselves from shouting this good news from the rooftops! We'll have our first appointment January 6th. I think I'm probably due around August 17th.
So far I feel great, just fluish and it gets worse at night, but I'm not really nauseous yet. :) I've had a hard time with a little anxiety at night, but I think that's more me letting my fears take over...(working on that)
Well there it is! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Wierd things I do as a Mom
Today I caught myself doing something (that I always do) but for the first time thinking, "ew that's kind of gross and a little weird". Being a Mom changes what you once thought was gross.
Like for example poo used to be gross, but in the last year it comes up in many of mine and Dane's conversations about Boston. We've even had times we've cheered for poo. (I know you parents know what I'm talking about).
The thing I found my self doing today was this,
I see Boston walking around moving his little chompers, so I know he has something in his mouth and I can tell by the way he's chomping that it's probably food, not plastic, but I'm not sure if it's gross old food he found in some random corner of the kitchen or a piece I missed in his high chair, or maybe just some gross weird item that's not plastic, but still not edible that he found somewhere else.
So, I reach in his mouth pull out what he's chewing, examine if it's edible and then shove it back in his mouth if it is. That's gross right?! But sadly, SOOO natural for me. Ever since Boston started eating real food he has stinky breathe a lot and this weird part of me kinda likes his stinky cute little breathe (I'm sure not every Mom relates to me on that one...that's probably just a weird Jill thing)
I also am constantly picking Boston's nose looking for boogers, and running to the changing table with excitment if Dane tells me Boston has a crazy diaper and shouts, "you've gotta see this". I mean what is wrong with me? Being a Mom has turned me into a 12 year old boy. Obsessed with all things gross!
It's not all gross being a Mom though. There's tons of yummy goodness that I never knew existed. Like for example, did you know that half of a little baby's body is made of pure butter? That's why I could just spend all day kneading Boston's little thighs like dough...pure butter I tell you.
And his lipys are the most kissable things you've ever seen. To die for!
Well there it is, I've become a little gross, a little weird and a little obsessed.
Like for example poo used to be gross, but in the last year it comes up in many of mine and Dane's conversations about Boston. We've even had times we've cheered for poo. (I know you parents know what I'm talking about).
The thing I found my self doing today was this,
I see Boston walking around moving his little chompers, so I know he has something in his mouth and I can tell by the way he's chomping that it's probably food, not plastic, but I'm not sure if it's gross old food he found in some random corner of the kitchen or a piece I missed in his high chair, or maybe just some gross weird item that's not plastic, but still not edible that he found somewhere else.
So, I reach in his mouth pull out what he's chewing, examine if it's edible and then shove it back in his mouth if it is. That's gross right?! But sadly, SOOO natural for me. Ever since Boston started eating real food he has stinky breathe a lot and this weird part of me kinda likes his stinky cute little breathe (I'm sure not every Mom relates to me on that one...that's probably just a weird Jill thing)
I also am constantly picking Boston's nose looking for boogers, and running to the changing table with excitment if Dane tells me Boston has a crazy diaper and shouts, "you've gotta see this". I mean what is wrong with me? Being a Mom has turned me into a 12 year old boy. Obsessed with all things gross!
 |
| Boston quite a few months ago with those adorable kissy lips |
And his lipys are the most kissable things you've ever seen. To die for!
Well there it is, I've become a little gross, a little weird and a little obsessed.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Gonzaga
Today was Dane's LAST day of school. Ever! Unless he takes himself up on the "crazy" he's been talking about maaayybbe a PHD down the road. We'll just say (for today) that we are done with school FOREVER! WOOHOO! Boss and I visited Daddy today for our LAST time at his work on Campus. Boston likes to surprise Daddy and run up behind him while he's working at his desk and then he likes to flirt with all Dane's co workers (it's all women...no wonder Boss likes visiting Daddy so much).
Here's what I'll Miss:
School visits to Daddy. Since Boss was born we've been visiting Daddy on Gonzaga campus. Boss' first day there he wore his little Zag outfit given to him by Dane's Boss' at work (in case you didn't know Dane worked his entire time at Gonzaga as a Grad assistant). I love Gonzaga's campus. It's so beautiful and we've taken lots of walks through the courtyards and by the river. It's a small, cozy campus. Love it. There's also a beautiful Cathedral on Campus that Dane and I had the pleasure of attending a wedding at, and more recently a Christmas candlelight concert. Gorgeous!
We'll miss the wonderful people Dane's met and had the chance to work with.
And let's be honest...that's probably the entire list that we'll miss about school.
Here's what I'm excited for:
Dane getting home before 830-9 pm at night!
A consistent schedule (hopefully) that doesn't change about every 6 weeks.
Leaving work at work. Is this just a myth? I'm hoping it's a reality...we're all sick of HW in this house.
Finals and the stress that goes with it.
And I'll throw one in there for Dane...I don't think he'll ever miss having a new baby in the same month he starts grad school and for a year and a half juggling work, school, homework, job, job hunting, family and church again!
We have no idea where life will take us and we know there will be new challenges, but we're kinda excited to be done with the old ones. :)
I took a video of Dane coming home from class tonight for his last time. He brought home mexican food and I bought him a delicious cake and we toasted with Martinelli in our wine glasses! :) It was a really fun night. :)
Dane and I both got choked up this morning as we realized it was his LAST day of school! (Plus we're both total babies). We feel so blessed that we got to be here at this school and we feel that the Lord guided us here. We can't wait to see where he continues to lead us.
Here are some pics from our crazy, wonderful, grad school life.
Congrats on the MBA Dane! Your officially a "Master"...but I won't be calling you that...like ever. :)
And here's a LINK to a post I did on Dane's 1st day of school. And a little LINKY to one of Boss' first visit on Campus. I can say it's official, we're now Zags for life. We're committed... that tends to happen when you invest thousands of dollars into one school. :)
Here's what I'll Miss:
School visits to Daddy. Since Boss was born we've been visiting Daddy on Gonzaga campus. Boss' first day there he wore his little Zag outfit given to him by Dane's Boss' at work (in case you didn't know Dane worked his entire time at Gonzaga as a Grad assistant). I love Gonzaga's campus. It's so beautiful and we've taken lots of walks through the courtyards and by the river. It's a small, cozy campus. Love it. There's also a beautiful Cathedral on Campus that Dane and I had the pleasure of attending a wedding at, and more recently a Christmas candlelight concert. Gorgeous!
We'll miss the wonderful people Dane's met and had the chance to work with.
And let's be honest...that's probably the entire list that we'll miss about school.
Here's what I'm excited for:
Dane getting home before 830-9 pm at night!
A consistent schedule (hopefully) that doesn't change about every 6 weeks.
Leaving work at work. Is this just a myth? I'm hoping it's a reality...we're all sick of HW in this house.
Finals and the stress that goes with it.
And I'll throw one in there for Dane...I don't think he'll ever miss having a new baby in the same month he starts grad school and for a year and a half juggling work, school, homework, job, job hunting, family and church again!
We have no idea where life will take us and we know there will be new challenges, but we're kinda excited to be done with the old ones. :)
I took a video of Dane coming home from class tonight for his last time. He brought home mexican food and I bought him a delicious cake and we toasted with Martinelli in our wine glasses! :) It was a really fun night. :)
Dane and I both got choked up this morning as we realized it was his LAST day of school! (Plus we're both total babies). We feel so blessed that we got to be here at this school and we feel that the Lord guided us here. We can't wait to see where he continues to lead us.
Here are some pics from our crazy, wonderful, grad school life.
Congrats on the MBA Dane! Your officially a "Master"...but I won't be calling you that...like ever. :)
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| Dane's 1st billboard designs |
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| Daddy and Boss...and Daddy's Zag cap |
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| At Colleen's wedding (Dane's Boss) |
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| On Campus right outside the building Dane does work and class |
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| walking along the river on campus |
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Prayers?
So last night I asked Dane what I should blog about and he said, "Ask for prayers that I get a job". I said, "are you serious?" and he said, "yes". So I thought, "Hey, why not? I believe in the collective power of prayer.
So there it is. If you would keep us in your prayers that we might find a job that would excellent. We'll keep you in ours. :)
PS Dane graduates in 3 days!!! Oh my!
PSS Boston is the most adorable thing when he prays with his arms folded and he's starting to mumble something that sounds like amen. With that said, ask your babies and children to pray for us too, I've gotta believe their connection is just a little bit stronger than ours. :)
So there it is. If you would keep us in your prayers that we might find a job that would excellent. We'll keep you in ours. :)
PS Dane graduates in 3 days!!! Oh my!
PSS Boston is the most adorable thing when he prays with his arms folded and he's starting to mumble something that sounds like amen. With that said, ask your babies and children to pray for us too, I've gotta believe their connection is just a little bit stronger than ours. :)
Friday, December 9, 2011
Favorite Christmas traditions
Dane, Boston and I just got back from an excellent Christmas concert in a beautiful Cathedral on Gonzaga Campus. He surprised me with this little event for being "a good wife" in his terms. haha. I am big on traditions...especially Christmas traditions, so I'll share with you 10 of ours.
1. Ornament exchange. Dane and I buy each other an ornament each year that has something to do with that year. We also decided that on our children's first Christmas they will receive a nativity ornament, so last year Boss got a beautiful Nativity ornament from Willow tree. This year we'll be buying each other our 4th ornaments! And Boston will be getting his 2nd. These are the ornaments we got for each year,
Year 1: Me- Tinkerbell, because Dane said he saw it and it just reminded him of me, and I watched and loved that movie with the girls I nannied for quite a bit too. Dane- Two bears reading books, because Dane discovered a love of reading during our 1st year together and we read lots of books together.
Year 2: We each got each other polar bears because of an inside joke between us. :) Great minds think alike!
Year 3: Me- A snowman and woman with their arms wrapped around each other. The snowwoman had a big belly and the word, baby printed on her tummy. I was pregnant most of that year. Dane- Jake Sully (in his avatar body). I got him this because we LOVED Avatar and saw it 4 times in theaters (pathetic I know) plus I wanted to get him a hero because he was my hero that year with the pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
Year 4: Wait and see!
2. Attend a Christmas concert. Last year our church put on concerts every night for a week and we loved it.
3. See a Christmas play. Two years ago Dane and I saw The Forgotten carols. It's one of my favorites. I also love the Nutcracker, but have yet to go with Dane.
4. My Mom's chocolate candy clusters. They're amazing and simple.
1 bag chocolate chips. 1 bag butterscotch chips. 1 jar salted peanuts. Heat the butterscotch and chocolate chips in a big bowl in the microwave at 15 second intervals. Stir each time and once they are entirely melted mix in the peanuts. With a spoon scoop up the candies onto wax paper and freeze. That's it! They're also REALLY good with marshmallows. Follow the same steps, but when you mix in the peanuts, mix the marshmallows at the same time. Delish!
5. The Love Box. This is a Yancey family tradition that I love and will adopt into my own little family some day. Every Christmas we sit in a circle as a family and pass around a decorated box (that's been converted to a decorated box of tissues) and we pick one person in the family that we "love" and why.
I love it! Makes for good family bonding. :)
6. Watching The Nativity Story. I LOVE that movie. Dane and I started that tradition last year, but it will live on! It's my favorite version of Christ's story.
7. Christmas Elf pajamas. This is also a tradition in Dane's family that will be passed on for Boston. I have it on good authority that the Christmas Elves have already picked out Boston's pajamas and they look THESE. Haha! They're gonna be so cute on him. On Christmas Eve the kids take their baths and waiting for them on their beds are Christmas pjs. Boss is gonna look like a little man in his Pjs.
8. Gifts to the Savior. In December we choose our "gift" to the Savior. It's just something that we focus on that year to be more Christlike.
9. Service. We choose a service project to work on each year. We've picked different service projects every year, but one we did two years ago was donating treats and presents (contributions came from friends and family as well) to a Women and children's shelter for victims of domestic violence. I loved doing that one and I think we'll try that again this year.
10. Buy a family Christmas book. We want to collect enough Christmas books so that down the road we can wrap them all up and each night in December our kids can unwrap 1 Christmas book to read. And then we will put them all away the rest of the year, so that they're exciting just for Christmas. My sister does this and she got this tradition from someone in our old Ward.
I love this time of year to spend with family and loved ones. Today's been a very Christmasy day with a movie (Arthur's Christmas) to start us out and a concert to finish it off.
Merry Christmas!
Oh! And I suppose visiting Dane's family is a tradition...since every Christmas we spend with them! This will be our 4th one. :)
Double oh! I have to mention a cute tradition of Dane's moms. She does this thing called the "North Pole" and we basically do a white elephant style gift exchange, except for the gifts are gift cards attached to "the North Pole". It's very cute and kinda fun stealing and snagging the gift cards you want. Plus in the end each person ends up with 3 awesome gift cards. :)
1. Ornament exchange. Dane and I buy each other an ornament each year that has something to do with that year. We also decided that on our children's first Christmas they will receive a nativity ornament, so last year Boss got a beautiful Nativity ornament from Willow tree. This year we'll be buying each other our 4th ornaments! And Boston will be getting his 2nd. These are the ornaments we got for each year,
Year 1: Me- Tinkerbell, because Dane said he saw it and it just reminded him of me, and I watched and loved that movie with the girls I nannied for quite a bit too. Dane- Two bears reading books, because Dane discovered a love of reading during our 1st year together and we read lots of books together.
Year 2: We each got each other polar bears because of an inside joke between us. :) Great minds think alike!
Year 3: Me- A snowman and woman with their arms wrapped around each other. The snowwoman had a big belly and the word, baby printed on her tummy. I was pregnant most of that year. Dane- Jake Sully (in his avatar body). I got him this because we LOVED Avatar and saw it 4 times in theaters (pathetic I know) plus I wanted to get him a hero because he was my hero that year with the pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
Year 4: Wait and see!
2. Attend a Christmas concert. Last year our church put on concerts every night for a week and we loved it.
3. See a Christmas play. Two years ago Dane and I saw The Forgotten carols. It's one of my favorites. I also love the Nutcracker, but have yet to go with Dane.
4. My Mom's chocolate candy clusters. They're amazing and simple.
1 bag chocolate chips. 1 bag butterscotch chips. 1 jar salted peanuts. Heat the butterscotch and chocolate chips in a big bowl in the microwave at 15 second intervals. Stir each time and once they are entirely melted mix in the peanuts. With a spoon scoop up the candies onto wax paper and freeze. That's it! They're also REALLY good with marshmallows. Follow the same steps, but when you mix in the peanuts, mix the marshmallows at the same time. Delish!
5. The Love Box. This is a Yancey family tradition that I love and will adopt into my own little family some day. Every Christmas we sit in a circle as a family and pass around a decorated box (that's been converted to a decorated box of tissues) and we pick one person in the family that we "love" and why.
I love it! Makes for good family bonding. :)
6. Watching The Nativity Story. I LOVE that movie. Dane and I started that tradition last year, but it will live on! It's my favorite version of Christ's story.
7. Christmas Elf pajamas. This is also a tradition in Dane's family that will be passed on for Boston. I have it on good authority that the Christmas Elves have already picked out Boston's pajamas and they look THESE. Haha! They're gonna be so cute on him. On Christmas Eve the kids take their baths and waiting for them on their beds are Christmas pjs. Boss is gonna look like a little man in his Pjs.
8. Gifts to the Savior. In December we choose our "gift" to the Savior. It's just something that we focus on that year to be more Christlike.
9. Service. We choose a service project to work on each year. We've picked different service projects every year, but one we did two years ago was donating treats and presents (contributions came from friends and family as well) to a Women and children's shelter for victims of domestic violence. I loved doing that one and I think we'll try that again this year.
10. Buy a family Christmas book. We want to collect enough Christmas books so that down the road we can wrap them all up and each night in December our kids can unwrap 1 Christmas book to read. And then we will put them all away the rest of the year, so that they're exciting just for Christmas. My sister does this and she got this tradition from someone in our old Ward.
I love this time of year to spend with family and loved ones. Today's been a very Christmasy day with a movie (Arthur's Christmas) to start us out and a concert to finish it off.
Merry Christmas!
Oh! And I suppose visiting Dane's family is a tradition...since every Christmas we spend with them! This will be our 4th one. :)
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| 4 Christmas' ago. |
Thursday, December 8, 2011
10 Book recommendations
Here's a list of a few books I recommend.
1. Heaven is For Real. Dane and I stayed up till 2 a.m. yesterday reading this book and I LOVED it. It's an incredible (real) account of a boy name Colton going to Heaven while he was in surgery. Over the course of a couple years he reveals to his parents all sorts of incredible details about Heaven. It's one of those faith building books that you just can't deny.
Favorite part from the book: The dad is praying angrily to the Lord wondering why his son has to go through all this and later he says something along these lines, "while I was yelling at God for allowing my son to go through this, my son sat on his son's lap".
Also at the end of this book the Dad tells about a little girl named Akiane who is a child prodigy. She's an artist and she grew up in an atheist home and has claimed since she was 4 that she has visions of Heaven, so she paints those visions. In Heaven is For Real the parents of Colton show him pictures of Christ and ask if that's what he looked like and Colton always says no and points out things that aren't quite right. This goes on for years and years until Colton's Dad shows him THIS painting without telling him anything about it and Colton is silent and then says, "that's it". Pretty Amazing! It's not how I always pictured Christ but the painting is growing on me a lot.
2. Jane Eyre
I love a good classic and even better? On the Kindle most classics are free! Jane Eyre is a book I want my girls (if I ever have any) to be well versed in. She's such a good example of sticking to your morals and to who you are in spite of everything.
3. Anne of the Island
I've loved Anne of Green Gables from the time I was a little girl and as an adult I've recently reread the books and have made it as far as the 3rd book in the series. Which is, Anne of the Island and I couldn't get enough! This was my favorite so far. Now I'm on to Anne of Windy Poplars.
PS I always feel really nerdy admitting I like Anne of Green Gables. But what can I say, I really do love em.
4. Little Master Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet
We rent anywhere between 30-50 books from the library every month and fill up Boston's bookcase, so that he always has lots to pick from. This is one of the books I rented and I LOVE the illustrations. It's just a little counting primer, but again I love the illustrations and I love that it introduces classics at a young age. Babylit is a company that puts out all sorts of these books including some Jane Austin primers, such as pride and prejudice. Adorable! :)
5. Two REALLY simple books I love are Go! Go! BoBo colors and Higher! Higher!
I read Go!Go! BoBo to Boston in a CHEER! the whole time and he laughs his head off. Higher! Higher! has about four words throughout the whole book and I find it simply adorable.
6. Another Boston favorite is On the Night you were born. We bought this book for Boss for his first Christmas and Dane and I both have it memorized. We read it a lot and the poetry is beautiful and sweet and so are the illustrations.
7. Three cups of Tea.
This man is amazing and he wrote an incredible book about his journey to build his first school in Pakistan and the 100's of schools (maybe more?) he's helped build since. I met him in person at A lecture he gave at Gonzaga and I posted about it here. Dane and I were one of the only people there with a baby (go figure) so one of Greg's "people" pulled us to the very front of the autograph line. Greg played with Boston and gave him a c.d. of his daughter singing, with a note to him on it. :) I like Greg even more now.
8. A Thomas Jefferson Education
My sisters, Mom and I have a book club wherein we discuss this book and it makes for the most enlightening conversations. It's a great philosophy on education.
9. The Ugly Series
If you like books like Hunger Games, then you'll love this series too. It's about a Dystopian society in the future that separates it's society between Uglies (children pre-plastic surgery) and pretties (Teenagers and older, post plastic surgery) and I think the old folks are called Crumblies. Everyone in this society gets plastic surgery at a certain age to become a pretty, the main character, Tally is about to turn the age of becoming a pretty and this is her story.
10. The Five Love Languages This is an excellent book for couples. It gives you a quiz and helps you and your spouse figure out your love language. If you have different love languages, you may not understand how your spouse gives and receives love, but knowing the language they "speak" can really improve your relationship and help you to express love in a way your spouse can understand and appreciate. Great, great book. There is also a love language book for your children. I believe you answer the questions for your children, but it helps you to understand how they receive love, so that you can be sure your showing them love in a way they can understand.
1. Heaven is For Real. Dane and I stayed up till 2 a.m. yesterday reading this book and I LOVED it. It's an incredible (real) account of a boy name Colton going to Heaven while he was in surgery. Over the course of a couple years he reveals to his parents all sorts of incredible details about Heaven. It's one of those faith building books that you just can't deny.
Favorite part from the book: The dad is praying angrily to the Lord wondering why his son has to go through all this and later he says something along these lines, "while I was yelling at God for allowing my son to go through this, my son sat on his son's lap".
Also at the end of this book the Dad tells about a little girl named Akiane who is a child prodigy. She's an artist and she grew up in an atheist home and has claimed since she was 4 that she has visions of Heaven, so she paints those visions. In Heaven is For Real the parents of Colton show him pictures of Christ and ask if that's what he looked like and Colton always says no and points out things that aren't quite right. This goes on for years and years until Colton's Dad shows him THIS painting without telling him anything about it and Colton is silent and then says, "that's it". Pretty Amazing! It's not how I always pictured Christ but the painting is growing on me a lot.
2. Jane Eyre
I love a good classic and even better? On the Kindle most classics are free! Jane Eyre is a book I want my girls (if I ever have any) to be well versed in. She's such a good example of sticking to your morals and to who you are in spite of everything.
3. Anne of the Island
I've loved Anne of Green Gables from the time I was a little girl and as an adult I've recently reread the books and have made it as far as the 3rd book in the series. Which is, Anne of the Island and I couldn't get enough! This was my favorite so far. Now I'm on to Anne of Windy Poplars.
PS I always feel really nerdy admitting I like Anne of Green Gables. But what can I say, I really do love em.
4. Little Master Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet
We rent anywhere between 30-50 books from the library every month and fill up Boston's bookcase, so that he always has lots to pick from. This is one of the books I rented and I LOVE the illustrations. It's just a little counting primer, but again I love the illustrations and I love that it introduces classics at a young age. Babylit is a company that puts out all sorts of these books including some Jane Austin primers, such as pride and prejudice. Adorable! :)
5. Two REALLY simple books I love are Go! Go! BoBo colors and Higher! Higher!
I read Go!Go! BoBo to Boston in a CHEER! the whole time and he laughs his head off. Higher! Higher! has about four words throughout the whole book and I find it simply adorable.
6. Another Boston favorite is On the Night you were born. We bought this book for Boss for his first Christmas and Dane and I both have it memorized. We read it a lot and the poetry is beautiful and sweet and so are the illustrations.
7. Three cups of Tea.
This man is amazing and he wrote an incredible book about his journey to build his first school in Pakistan and the 100's of schools (maybe more?) he's helped build since. I met him in person at A lecture he gave at Gonzaga and I posted about it here. Dane and I were one of the only people there with a baby (go figure) so one of Greg's "people" pulled us to the very front of the autograph line. Greg played with Boston and gave him a c.d. of his daughter singing, with a note to him on it. :) I like Greg even more now.
8. A Thomas Jefferson Education
My sisters, Mom and I have a book club wherein we discuss this book and it makes for the most enlightening conversations. It's a great philosophy on education.
9. The Ugly Series
If you like books like Hunger Games, then you'll love this series too. It's about a Dystopian society in the future that separates it's society between Uglies (children pre-plastic surgery) and pretties (Teenagers and older, post plastic surgery) and I think the old folks are called Crumblies. Everyone in this society gets plastic surgery at a certain age to become a pretty, the main character, Tally is about to turn the age of becoming a pretty and this is her story.
10. The Five Love Languages This is an excellent book for couples. It gives you a quiz and helps you and your spouse figure out your love language. If you have different love languages, you may not understand how your spouse gives and receives love, but knowing the language they "speak" can really improve your relationship and help you to express love in a way your spouse can understand and appreciate. Great, great book. There is also a love language book for your children. I believe you answer the questions for your children, but it helps you to understand how they receive love, so that you can be sure your showing them love in a way they can understand.
It's all relative
Last night was rough! Boston woke up a couple times (darn teething) and then woke up for good at 6 am and hasn't been back to sleep since. I feel like death. My head is spinning and I'm achy and in the most horrible mood imaginable. In addition I spent half the night/morning praying God would take over my parenting duties and rock my child to sleep for me. Seemed reasonable at the time, but now leaves me wondering if the Lord didn't find that a bit humorous (tell me you've done the same thing before right? I'm not alone)?
As I sit here, blogging, sulking, listening to my child scream from his bedroom (because that's what I've finally resigned myself to after hours of rocking, feeding, diaper changing, walking, playing, etc...) I remember back to the sleepless nights of Boston's newborn stage (who am I kidding? That lasted till he was like 9 months old). But in the beginning it was definitely the worst. He woke every couple hours, in fact due to dehydration and lack of milk on my part we weren't allowed to let him sleep past 3 hours until he was around 3 months old. Those first days of no sleep or interrupted sleep were torture, but then we adjusted and found our groove (sort of). I remember my first night of getting only 4 hours of sleep was amazing! I thought I could run a marathon after that. I remember thinking, "Why did I ever think I needed so much sleep? If I can just get 4 hours of sleep in a row I can survive and I will be soooooooo grateful". But gone are those days of sleep torture and we now expect Boston to sleep solid for 12 hours straight from the moment we lay him in bed. We-PAUSE! The thought just occurred to me to give Boss some tylenol...be right back!
I'm back. So as I was saying we're now used to full nights of sleep, so on these rare occasions when Boss does wake up multiple times in the night, or even just once, I feel like I've been hit over the head with a sledge hammer. I could NEVER complain about this to any Mom of a newborn...she would probably slap me (I know I would of). However this all brings me to the thought that our trials/difficulties/challenges/whatever we "go through" are all relative. They're relative to our experience, to our stage of life...just relative to us!
So some people compare and say, "Oh you have NO idea what hard is" and some people forget what it's like to be in your shoes and say, "Oh just wait till you have 3 kids, I'll show you hard, or "wait till your my age, your problems will seem so insignificant then" but I say, "Hard is hard. Plain and simple. It's all relative".
I have to say I owe this thinking to my Mom. She never makes anyone feel like what they're going through is insignificant or not difficult and from the time I was little she took every one of my challenges or hard times very seriously and she's certainly someone that could say, "You don't know hard, I'll tell you all about hard" but she doesn't. And I love that about her.
PS When you're a parent don't go to bed at 2 a.m. Ever. Even if you AND your husband can't put down the book your reading. Don't ever go to bed at 2 a.m.
PSS I love Tylenol...and the renewed energy (thanks to this here blogy) to attempt rocking him one more time. :)
As I sit here, blogging, sulking, listening to my child scream from his bedroom (because that's what I've finally resigned myself to after hours of rocking, feeding, diaper changing, walking, playing, etc...) I remember back to the sleepless nights of Boston's newborn stage (who am I kidding? That lasted till he was like 9 months old). But in the beginning it was definitely the worst. He woke every couple hours, in fact due to dehydration and lack of milk on my part we weren't allowed to let him sleep past 3 hours until he was around 3 months old. Those first days of no sleep or interrupted sleep were torture, but then we adjusted and found our groove (sort of). I remember my first night of getting only 4 hours of sleep was amazing! I thought I could run a marathon after that. I remember thinking, "Why did I ever think I needed so much sleep? If I can just get 4 hours of sleep in a row I can survive and I will be soooooooo grateful". But gone are those days of sleep torture and we now expect Boston to sleep solid for 12 hours straight from the moment we lay him in bed. We-PAUSE! The thought just occurred to me to give Boss some tylenol...be right back!
I'm back. So as I was saying we're now used to full nights of sleep, so on these rare occasions when Boss does wake up multiple times in the night, or even just once, I feel like I've been hit over the head with a sledge hammer. I could NEVER complain about this to any Mom of a newborn...she would probably slap me (I know I would of). However this all brings me to the thought that our trials/difficulties/challenges/whatever we "go through" are all relative. They're relative to our experience, to our stage of life...just relative to us!
So some people compare and say, "Oh you have NO idea what hard is" and some people forget what it's like to be in your shoes and say, "Oh just wait till you have 3 kids, I'll show you hard, or "wait till your my age, your problems will seem so insignificant then" but I say, "Hard is hard. Plain and simple. It's all relative".
I have to say I owe this thinking to my Mom. She never makes anyone feel like what they're going through is insignificant or not difficult and from the time I was little she took every one of my challenges or hard times very seriously and she's certainly someone that could say, "You don't know hard, I'll tell you all about hard" but she doesn't. And I love that about her.
PS When you're a parent don't go to bed at 2 a.m. Ever. Even if you AND your husband can't put down the book your reading. Don't ever go to bed at 2 a.m.
PSS I love Tylenol...and the renewed energy (thanks to this here blogy) to attempt rocking him one more time. :)
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| This is from a road trip I took before I was married, with my sister and her kids. I was amazed at how exhausted I was after a couple sleepless nights, so I had to document my haggardness. All I can say after having a baby is I've looked MUCH worse than this! |
Monday, December 5, 2011
A realization in Motherhood
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| I think Boss was just about a month old here. |
So one day I decided to look at my day as a work day, not a day off. For some, that may sound depressing but I actually found it quite enlightening. Instead of thinking of MYSELF all day and how best I could entertain myself, I thought of what I needed to do for work that day and I ended up being incredibly productive. (This day of enlightenment happened to be on THIS day that I blogged about).
Instead of thinking of my hour and a half to myself while Boston slept as not that great, "I wish he'd sleep longer" I thought about how awesome it is that my job allows for hour and a half long lunch breaks! One of the main duties of my job is to play with my son and help meet his needs. That sure beats sales calls, data entry and any number of other tasks I did in my old jobs. I also am the CEO of this house, which means I pay the bills, manage our money, clean the house and cook the food. But I can do all of that with music playing or a movie to watch, or a book or talk to listen to. This job rocks!
I realized, well I already knew this, but on this day it sunk in that the purpose of my life is to serve, not to be entertained. And If I serve with a happy heart I will have more joy than any amount of "entertainment" could ever bring me. I believe my main job in life will be to raise my children and run my household. Some may think that's a really old school way of thinking, but I honestly wouldn't want it any other way. Yes, there's sacrifice involved in this job. I do give up my free time and some sleep and the ability to buy more things, but it's kind of like trading in 20 bucks, and getting about a million in return. The blessings and joy that come from this job FAR outweigh any sacrifice on my part.
I gotta say, my job's pretty amazing. :) Plus I have the cutest "Boss" around. (cheesy I know...had to throw it in there).
Nutrition and Anxiety and a little Family home evening idea
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| After we got Boston's picture with Santa |
When my anxiety started I prayed a TON for help and an answer that continued to come back to me was "nutrition." Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. I haven't known quite where to start, but since Boston was born I felt impressed that If I made a lifestyle change with the way I eat, I could save myself a ton of grief from anxiety.
A little less than a month ago (when I had a mini panic attack that I mentioned in a previous post) I felt really freaked out and even a little bitter toward the Lord, thinking, "what the heck?! I'm doing everything I should, to eliminate this anxiety and now it might be coming back?!" but I was quickly humbled by the immediate thought of, "NUTRITION". So I decided it was HIGH time I really make that a priority. I was talking to a sister about this and she connected me with a close friend of hers that's like a health nut guru. She's amazing! She told me that sugar and caffeine are really bad for anxiety and she practically eliminated her anxiety by cutting those two things out of her diet. After talking to her I realized why I so badly needed to change my eating habits. Sugar was a HUGE part of my diet. I have a giant sweet tooth and candies and sweets were apart of my daily life...caffeine not so much, but sugar, definitely. I talked with her about some ideas and plans and one week before I started on my lowest dose of meds, I cut out any sugar that doesn't come naturally in foods (basically honey and fruit are the only sugar I intake now).
I thought it would be INSANELY difficult, but it's one of the easiest things I've ever done. I'm sure a big part of that is the Lord giving me a giant helping hand, but I also have excellent motivation. Cut out sugar and I can quite possibly eliminate anxiety? Sign me up! So for almost a month I've cut out caffeine (which meant I had to cut out the occasional soda and chocolate) and all unnatural or processed sugar.
A website that I found really helpful is THIS. It lists 50 other names for sugar. Did you know sugar hides in almost EVERYTHING WE EAT, under names that sound nothing like sugar? I practically have this list memorized so now I never read nutrition labels (I think they're kinda crap) and I just read ingredients. I am a lot pickier about the things I buy, but because I'm not eating sugar I end up avoiding a lot of processed junk as well. The really great part is I'm still able to enjoy a WIDE variety of foods. I still eat chips and salsa, bread (great harvest has some delicious, sugarless breads and the ingredients are on the labels), popcorn, smoothies, and the list goes on. I just have to be more specific about what brands I buy. The other thing that's really great about this? I usually end up eating foods with under 5 ingredients all of which I understand!
My sister's friend also suggested I start a food journal and write down briefly what I eat and how I feel before and after and that will teach me to listen to my body better and be aware of what it's telling me. For the first couple days I realized every time I ate I started out not hungry. Sad huh? So that tells me that I eat most the time just cause I'm bored or for other reasons, but not because my body needs nourishment.
Now this isn't the easiest time of year to make these big changes, in fact the day before I decided on this I went to Costco and bought a yummy salsa (sugar added), Costco's amazing muffins and a giant bag of rolls (luckily friends were more than happy to take those items off my hands) but I've still been able to be successful. There have been two times I've allowed myself sugar. On Thanksgiving I ate everything on the table including pumpkin pie, and a slice the next day for breakfast. But my sister's friend helped me to look at these moments as learning experiences. She said to me, "I haven't had cake in a long time, but I know at some point I will have a piece and when I do I know it will make me feel like crap and it will just prove to me why I'm doing this". I like thinking of those lapses in nutrition as learning experiences rather than failures. And at Thanksgiving I paid for those sweets in dizziness, a little anxiety and headaches. The 2nd time I had sugar was tonight on a Christmas drive to look at the lights with Dane and Boss. I got a Starbucks peppermint hot cocoa. It was tasty, but I immediately felt nauseous and now have a headache and feel flu like and It may cause me some anxiety.
The thing is I don't regret the times I've decided to have sweets, but when I do I kinda see it's not that worth it. Sugar doesn't taste as good as it used to and my body feels like crap when it has it. And I don't feel like a failure, because I remember that this is my new life style, not a speed diet. At Christmas I probably will allow some sugar in some of my favorite Christmas treats, but then I'll just hop back to it like I've done. I've been to lots of Holiday events with treats galore and I've just opted out and i've felt great about it. Sugar doesn't have as much a hold on me. It's really just not that big a deal anymore to not have it. This time of year I enjoy making holiday treats, so when I get the urge I bake them, leave a couple for Dane and then send him off to work with the rest to give to his co workers. It's a win-win!
I've also lost a few lbs in the process (which isn't my ultimate goal with this sugarless thing, but a wonderful side effect).
Oh! And a great substitute for hot cocoa is tea! My friend sent me a list of delicious teas. I also have some relaxing sleepy time teas on hand in case I do have anxiety, that might calm me a bit. And I've heard passion flower (in a pill or tea) can be GREAT for anxiety as well.
In other news, Dane lead a wonderful family home evening tonight. We read THIS article and then took the gratitude challenge. Together we came up with 200 things (in specific categories listed in the article) that we're grateful for. We had Christmas music playing, and Boston climbing all over us while we thought about all of our many blessings. It was a really touching experience and I got all teary eyed as I looked at this giant list of blessings that only BARELY skim the surface of our MANY blessings. I suggest you all read this article (Mormon or not) and take the gratitude challenge. It makes for a really pleasant and humbling night.
Wow this is a long post! Hope this helps someone. :)
PS If you want our Christmas letter and picture card this year leave a comment below or send me an email (jillbradbury@yahoo.com) unless I already have your address. :)
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