I am amazed at just how far a pacifier can fly when a baby spits it just right and it bounces.
Year: 2009
ARGH!!!!!
Sometimes, you just want to scream. Mostly when a bunch of little things irritate you within a short period of time.
Like today.
- It was raining, which was a pain in the butt for running errands with the boy. Normally no big deal, but it was the start of things.
- The sections of couch will NOT stay in place, and I am constantly moving them back where they should be. We thought the carpet piece would help, but it doesn’t. Again, this is not a big deal, but it happens day after day after day after day after day…
- Things are constantly falling in between the sections—today, it was my cell phone (twice) which I try to keep near me at all times. Sometimes I put it in the basket (which houses most of my day-to-day essentials) but I had just set it down because Tom had called.
- Charlie, my lover lap kitty, wanted attention at the same time I was feeding Owen, and she would not leave me alone.
- Of course, when I say “feeding Owen” I mean ATTEMPTING to feed Owen, because he was being supremely fussy and wiggly and although he was hungry (he was giving me the snorting cry) he would not settle down enough to actually eat.
- I decided to try and watch a Netflix movie that has been sitting here for over a week—and normally it’s no big deal to watch something on TV. I mean, I watch TV on a daily basis with the kid awake and/or feeding him or whatnot. But not today, apparently. After having to rewind the movie three times in the first five minutes…I gave up.
- Oh, and I have kept forgetting to reprogram the remote, so when you hit “watch DVD” everything changes correctly EXCEPT the receiver, which doesn’t get the correct sound input…normally not a big deal, except I had JUST sat down to feed the boy, and he was being cranky and the cat was nudging me for attention and I had just dropped my phone between the couch sections…so I got up (keeping the bottle in his mouth—a feat in itself!) and fixed the sound, got myself reseated on the couch, and then noticed…
- I had dropped both burp cloths AND the boppy (both of which I need during feeding).
- In the meantime, Owen has cranked it up two notches and was SCREAMING but REFUSING to eat.
- And on top of all this, I have apparently forgotten how to deal with a period and I will leave it at that.
ARRRRRGH!!!!!!
So I put the boy in his crib (well, pack-and-play), gave him a pacifier, turned his mobile on…and that seemed to be the answer.
In the resulting quiet, I was able to clean up the kitchen a bit (including put away most of my Target bags from this morning), change the laundry, and just sit and enjoy the silence.
And I just realized I could have been watching the movie this whole time. |-|
A Weekend of Firsts
There were a lot of firsts for Owen this past weekend…
First (hee!) was his first long car ride—three hours north to Gramma Jean’s for his Grayling baby shower! (We tried to have it before he was born, but time just got away from us, plus it was winter…and we thought people would like to actually see him instead of just seeing me pregnant!)
Second, daddy took care of Owen during the night!! Tom and I slept in different rooms (it’s just very hard for us to both sleep in a double bed when we’re used to a king bed)…so one of us got Owen and one of us got Maggie. Tom was generous and took Owen, since he could sleep in! YAY!
Third, Owen got his first sitting-in-water bath (instead of just being soaped up and rinsed off):
Fourth, Owen had pictures taken outside! With ALL his grandparents! And his Grantie Marge (the name we came up with for Marge, since we couldn’t decide between Grandma Marge and Auntie Marge!)!! And his parents, of course. Since everyone was there for the shower—and it was SUCH a gorgeous day out—we decided (well, I strongly suggested) that we should take pictures outside!!
Grantie Marge Len, Grandma Marsha Hudson, Jen, Owen, Tom, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike Smith, Grandpa David and Gramma Jean Schwalm
Fifth, gramma Jean took care of Owen during the night!! I innocently asked if she wanted to and she said sure (that she could nap Sunday)!! OMG! YAY! So we moved the pack-and-play in there (where there was more room anyway :P) and mom and dad both had the chance for a good night’s sleep! Gramma confirmed the next morning that Owen is a little chatterbox all night long…well, not chatterbox so much maybe as a noisebox. 😀
And sixth, after a few weeks of maybe only pooping once every few days, Owen pooped THREE TIMES today! 88|
I had a first, too…after almost a glorious year of no periods (minus about the four weeks of post-delivery bleeding), my period started this morning. XX( Technically I should have been expecting it at any time, even though the books say if you are breastfeeding, it might be a LONG time before you got your period back… but I had just gotten SO used to not having it that it was a big surprise.
Last night…
Owen fell asleep about 9:30 and got up at…well, technically he didn’t get up. But he was making lots of noises in there that were keeping me up from about 4am…so when Tom’s alarm went off at 4:30, I decided it was time to go feed the boy. More of a preemptive feeding so he didn’t get to his snorting “I’m hungry” cry.
Unfortunately, Owen wasn’t really into it, and only ate about 2 ounces in 30 minutes—when he’s really hungry, he can finish a 6 ounce bottle in half that time! So, at about 5:15 I put him back down and he fell asleep again until about 7:15! (Unfortunately, I was wide awake, so I’ve been up since 4:30.)
BUT YAY OWEN! Let’s keep this up!!
Home for lunch!
Daddy surprised us and came home for lunch!
7.5 hours!
So Owen decided yesterday to take his regular naps…and of course, compared to the day before when he took none, it seemed like he was taking even more naps than normal! So we were worried that I would be up at all hours.
But I wasn’t!
Tom put him down and he was out by about 9:30. I woke up at 4am and he wasn’t up yet! I did turn on the video monitor to make sure he was still breathing :>> and then went back to sleep.
I got up a little before 5 when Tom’s alarm went off, and I pumped while Tom went in to get Owen (because by that time he was up and hungry). Then Tom was off to work, and Owen was back down by 5:30…and he slept until 8!!! (Of course, I went back to sleep, too! I had debated staying up, but figured I deserved more sleep after two months of sleepless nights.)
Knock on wood, I hope this lasts…
No naps = a good night!
The boy didn’t take any naps yesterday—well, none more than 10 minutes and then he only did that maybe twice. So, he was getting very sleepy about 7:30 so Tom started to feed him his bottle and he was OUT.
Of course, as usual, he woke up for a bit after the bottle—spitting up, not wanting to eat, totally wide awake—so Tom brought him into our room. After about 15 minutes with us just hanging out, Tom decided to try to feed him the rest of his bottle…and he was completely out before he could even eat an ounce.
Then, he slept…6.5 hours!!! When I got up at 3am with him, he quickly ate his 6oz bottle and was OUT again…and then slept another 3 hours!!
I guess nights work better when he stays up all day! Now, it will be interesting to see if the same thing happens today…on it’s own (or if I have to try to keep him up).
Happy Easter!
Owen’s first Easter! In little man clothes!
First Overnighter
For mom and dad, that is. :>>
Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda were here for a few days, and Linda offered to take the night shift…and since there is no way I would get any sleep if I was in the same house and could hear him, we decided to get a hotel.
We wanted something close to home with an in-room jacuzzi for less than our monthly grocery budget (LOL). Seriously, most rooms I called about were upwards of $140! 88| So when we saw the marquee at Knights Inn saying a jacuzzi room was $69.95, we were in. We needed some “alone time,” some muscle relaxation, AND a full night’s sleep—so this place seemed perfect.
Unfortunately, it was much less than perfect.
It started with them not having our reservation—they mistakenly made the reservation for the night Tom called, not the night we requested. (The place was nearly empty, though, so it was no big deal. They also assured us they hadn’t charged us for that night. Um, good thing.) Then, I asked Tom how much it was (we got a military discount) and when he told me I said WHAT? They had quoted me less on the phone and charged him more than that. Ugh. But we were just excited to be out so we let it slide.
We could tell from the first moment entering the room that it was old and run down: the main light switch had a burned out bulb, there was an old room smell, and it just looked, well, cheap. Which is not what we wanted since we were paying almost $100. We had brought beverages for later, and were surprised to see no refrigerator—something we didn’t think to ask about since every jacuzzi room we’ve ever had has had a refrigerator (hell, most hotel rooms these days regardless of price have refrigerators). So we thought well we will just get ice and put everything in the sink. It’s a one-story drive-up-to-your-room hotel so we wondered where the ice machine was. I had to call the front desk. Oh, it’s IN the lobby. So Tom got in the car (yes, the car, it was quite a distance from our room) to get ice. The jacuzzi seemed just fine, and that was my major concern. We were going out to dinner so didn’t look much beyond that.
When we got back, we went to brush our teeth, the first thing I noticed was the splash of something (god knows what) on the wall. Ketchup? Blood? Soy Sauce? Egads. |-| But I figured as long as I didn’t have to touch it or go near it, I could live with it.
Then I noticed the sad state of the lights in the bathroom area—the plastic panels were bowing and coming out, and the support beams were rusty. Ick. But I could still live with it (see pics).
Then we went to brush our teeth and I noticed…no cups. Hmmm. Okay. I can’t say as if I’ve ever been in a hotel that didn’t have at least plastic cups, but whatever. We then went to spit in the toilet (since the sink was full of ice and beverages) and…lifted the lid…and…YUCK. Dirty. It looked like cigarette ash (it was a non-smoking room, though, so who knows—I didn’t want to get that close to check it out).
Okay, I was getting more upset, but still, not too bad. I hate to complain and/or make waves, so I can overlook a lot. That is, until I pulled back the shower curtain to use that faucet. There were pubic hairs in the tub. And not just one, like oops, I happened to miss that one in a far corner…but multiple hairs. GAG ME. It was at this point that I said no way am I staying in this room. Tom was out the door within moments, and back with a new room key.
In a totally different section of the hotel now, we entered our second room. And what a world of difference. Different smell. A mini fridge AND microwave! All light bulbs worked. No hanging and rusty light panels. No splashes of any unidentifiable substances on the walls. And no dirty toilet or pubic hairs. THANK GOD.
The room still wasn’t perfect—the wallpaper was bubbling in one area by the jacuzzi tub and the bathroom counters were a little sketchy, but no sanitary issues. So we stayed.
Unfortunately, the beds were extremely uncomfortable and the pillows were laughable (there were only two flat pillows for a king bed)—had we not been exhausted when we were ready for bed, we would have called for more pillows… And lastly, the room did not seem designed for a jacuzzi…meaning that there was no fan (aside from the small fan in the separate bathroom) so basically the entire surface of the room—walls, doors, windows, tile floor, etc.—were covered in condensation…even through to when we got up in the morning!
So, we didn’t sleep great, but at least we did get to sleep. The next time, we definitely get a nicer hotel…
First Overnighter
For mom and dad, that is. :>>
Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda were here for a few days, and Linda offered to take the night shift…and since there is no way I would get any sleep if I was in the same house and could hear him, we decided to get a hotel. (That didn’t end up being the greatest experience, but it was nice to have a little break.)
Tom had to go to the exchange at Selfridge Air Force Base, so our time away started pretty early. Then we ate an early dinner and hit a few stores (including Buy Buy Baby—we had attempted to not do anything baby-related while we were out and about, but we just couldn’t resist since we were driving right by it).
I tried not to think too much about being away from Owen, because if I did, I would get a little sad. Not that I was worried or anything, it’s just that I have never had to leave him…while Tom, on the other hand, technically leaves him every day. Tom, sweetie that he is, took a short video of Owen before we left—and then brought the camera with us—so I could have a baby fix if I needed it. 🙂
We made it back home about 8am the next morning. (We would have stayed at the hotel longer, but we had to get ready to go to Reese for Easter.) We got the report that Owen pretty much kept the same sleep schedule (about 5 hours, then one hour, then one hour), so Grandma Linda got to experience the real deal. 😉
So, overall, I’m glad we did it—and we certainly wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again. 😀
Yelp ROTD–Jade Tiki
Like father, like son…
Homeowners Insurance – UGH – Part 4
This is STILL a nightmare, going on—what??—six months now? Seven? Eight?
A few weeks back, we got notice that Farm Bureau was cancelling our insurance because we hadn’t paid something (I think it was). Well, we had paid, but they hadn’t received it or the agent had to confirm something or whatever. Whatever it was, we received a cancellation notice. So we got that taken care of and thought we were done. We received the “cancellation rescinded” notice and thought great, we’re REALLY done.
Then we received our mortgage escrow analysis…with a new mortgage payment about $400 more a month! 88| Yeah, turns out they still had the incorrect insurance premium on there. I guess it was confusing since it was our primary residence, then it wasn’t but it was empty, and then we got renters…so actually I should have been surprised if there WEREN’T problems with the statement.
So anyway, since they hadn’t gotten the updated insurance amounts, they said we would have like a $3,000 deficit, which would raise our mortgage payment by like $400. I called to request an escrow REanalysis and they ended up having to call the insurance company to get the correct premium amounts.
So, we did get it figured out, but we still have a shortfall that increases our monthly payment like $150. Which is better than a $400 increase, but still…instead of being in the hole $250 each month like we are now (since we couldn’t rent it for what our actual mortgage was), we will now be in the hole $400 a month.
WHY COULDN’T THE DAMN HOUSE HAVE SOLD? Ugh. XX(
Look how cute!
Owen decided to be extra cute after waking up from a nap… Of course, I was there with the camera snapping away! Here are a few of the best ones!
No, he’s not suddenly tan in that one photo on the last line—I adjusted for a too-dark photo in Photoshop and it deepened the regular colors. 🙂
Which Peanuts character am I?
Everyone loves you! Your imagination takes you many places. You are outgoing and get along with almost everyone but that one “cat” next door. You love your food and friends and they help guide your life.
Two-month checkup
So Owen had his two-month checkup this morning. I was most intrigued to find out just how much weight he had gained—the doc had said last month that she wanted to see him gain one pound by this appointment. While I was CERTAIN he had gained at least two pounds (or more), Tom was CERTAIN he had maybe gained the requested pound.
Want to take a guess who was right? :>>
Mr. Piggy gained—are you ready?—3 lbs. 12 oz. since his last appointment! He went from 8 lbs. 1 oz. to 11 lbs. 13 oz!!! 88|
HOLY WAH!
Does a mom know or does a mom know? 😉 (Although, granted, even I underestimated how much he gained.)
He also gained about 1.5″ in length (although I joke that I swear he grew about eight inches!). If I recall correctly, he is currently in the 25th percentile for head size, 50th percentile for length, and 75th percentile for weight.
Then came the NOT FUN part…vaccinations. All five of them. XX( The oral one went perfectly fine—it’s apparently sweet and babies like it. So, one down, four to go. The next was a twofer (combination of vaccinations) in one shot in one leg and then two individual shots in the other leg. The nurse was wonderful and could not have been nicer or done the shots more quickly…but of course by the time she got to the second leg, he was SCREAMING. I have never seen his little face so red. She said it wasn’t really the needles that bothered them so much, but rather the actual medicine that hit their system. Poor little guy.
It actually wasn’t too bad on me, either—thankfully. But then, his screaming didn’t last all that long, and soon he was back in his carrier with his pacifier and then he was out cold. The doc warned us of all the possible side effects—including major crankiness and a potential 102° fever for the next two (TWO!) days—but so far, knock on wood, he’s just been sleeping. He did wake up long enough to take a bottle, but now he’s sleeping again:
I certainly hope this is his only side effect…
Owen’s Official Birth Story, Part 2
https://www.hudson2001.com…ial-birth-story
I have finally written Part 2 of the Official Birth Story—but have included it in the original post. You can get to it by clicking the link above.
I thought it was appropriate, writing it on his two-month birthday. B)
Two months old!
The best laid plans.
Ugh.
Two nights.
Two nights is all the 6+ hours of sleep lasted. I even knocked on wood—a few times—but it apparently didn’t help.
You see, I thought “Since he has slept 6+ hours for two nights, I will keep him up a bit later, then put him to bed around 11 or so, which means he will sleep until 5 or 5:30, at which point I could technically get up for the day (about the time Tom gets up).”
Ha.
Ha ha.
Nothing went as planned. XX(
Owen fell pretty sound asleep, downstairs, after his 7:30 bottle (which was about 8:30, the time we’d normally start putting him to bed). So I let him nap, thinking that he wouldn’t sleep that long, and even if he did, it would really only be a nap—he takes naps all day and doesn’t sleep that long.
So come 9:30 ❗ I started waking him up, because we had to start his last bottle—remember, the process takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Well, he woke up, but he wasn’t really UP up. So I go up to his room to feed him his bottle and he did pretty well…for a while. He was being a little cranky—squirmy, not wanting the bottle, crying, etc. and I was still dealing with him when Tom went to bed at 10:30.
The next hour was spent trying to feed him, burp him, and calm him down, all while getting clawed with those little baby daggers people call fingernails. It was 11:30 when I was finally getting to bed. It took TWO HOURS to get him to sleep.
BUT! I thought… at least he will sleep for 6 or so hours, right?
Ha.
Ha ha.
If only.
I heard him stirring around 1:30 but let him fuss a little and he was fine. At 3am I could no longer ignore it, and got up to feed him.
He sucked down the bottle pretty well, but then…spit up. Quite a bit. Wonderful. (We have almost gotten rid of that for the most part, with more-often burping while feeding, but it’s not foolproof.) So that was frustrating. Then he was fussy and didn’t want the bottle. Then he wanted to eat more, but he was still so squirmy it was hard to give him the bottle. I tried to burp him and that didn’t work. Finally he took most of the bottle and I burped him and he calmed down…so I swaddled him (fighting through the first few minutes where he doesn’t like it), rocked him, and put him down. He looked so dead tired, sweet, and innocent.
If only.
Then I started to pump (I only need like 10 minutes) and I think I got to maybe minute 6 before he was squawking and too restless for me to ignore (of course, I can’t see him, so all the noises he makes sounds ever more wretched and I imagine the worst—like he’s spitting up gallons or choking or something). So I hurriedly quit pumping, put myself back together, and retrieved him. Now he got the hiccups. And wouldn’t give me a burp. But wanted more milk. But was still almost too squirmy.
ARGH!!!! >:XX
And just when I thought things were going well, and he was calming down? He’d spit up. Then he pooped. (He hadn’t pooped all day so I was kind of expecting it, but it still was something I didn’t want to deal with in the middle of the night, as it requires more light, LOL.) So I let him go for maybe 10 or so minutes, to make sure he was done…so I changed him. Fed him some more…got him calmed down…and damn if he didn’t POOP AGAIN!! THE DEVIL!
When all was said and done, between all the spitting up and poopy diaper changes and everything else, I was up for TWO HOURS with him. I made it back to bed just as Tom’s alarm was going off. He apparently thought better than to ask me how the night went (which he usually does). |-|
So, the sweet little thing that slept for 6 and 6.5 hours the previous two nights—and who had gone to sleep fairly easily in the first place—had decided that 3.5 hours was plenty.
He did end up sleeping about another 3 hours after that, but two stretches of three hours each is NOT the same as one long stretch of 6 hours. So I will be MUCH more cranky today than I have been the past two days.
More Facebook Updates
- Jennifer Hudson has the oven preheating and oil, egg, and water in a bowl waiting for brownie mix…but someone decided he was hungry NOW.
- Jennifer Hudson can’t get anything done today. Apparently sleeping through the night means no naps during the day.
- Jennifer Hudson says holy crap, 6.5 hours last night!!!
- Jennifer Hudson can’t believe Owen slept 6 straight hours last night. Of course then he was cranky after that.
- Jennifer Hudson wishes Tom was home tonight instead of at an overnight work thing.
- Jennifer Hudson just made all the bottles for overnight.
- Jennifer Hudson just walked out of the post office because I did not want to wait behind 20 people.
- Jennifer reviewed Baby Depot At Burlington Coat Factory on Yelp.
- Jennifer Hudson just visited with a college roommate I hadn’t seen in almost two years .
- Jennifer Hudson is enjoying cheesy scrambled eggs, courtesy of her wonderful hubby.
- Jennifer Hudson is watching her cat’s love affair with my furry slippers. I’ve got to get a video of this!
- Jennifer Hudson got a notice for an interview next week. Except I don’t know if I want to go back to work or not. I love being at home with the kid.
- Jennifer Hudson is catching up on Phil’s Amazing Race video diary episodes.
- Jennifer Hudson found the perfect job, except it’s too far away for the salary (pittance) they are offering.
- Jennifer Hudson says YAY, Tropic Thunder is next in my Netflix queue.
- Jennifer Hudson hates when the baby cries and I think he’s up for the day so I get up and…he falls asleep again. So now I am wide awake.
- Jennifer Hudson is measuring her hair to see if she has (or is close) enough to 10″ for Locks of Love.
- Jennifer Hudson is making brownies again. No nuts.
- Jennifer Hudson loves napping with Owen on her chest…it’s not sound sleep but it’s something.
This can’t be legal.
I know you can turn right on red (unless marked otherwise). However, I was recently stopped at an intersection in the right-hand lane at a red light. I wanted to go straight. A car pulled up on my left, stopped, and then turned right–crossing in front of me. Sorry, but that cannot be legal.
I hate stupid drivers.
Who do you see first?
Morphing technology is cool! Who do you see first?
I saw Obama.
Six hours?!?!
He’s technically eight weeks old today (the two month photo will come on April 3) and he slept for…SIX HOURS STRAIGHT last night! 88|
Except after that, he was a major crankpot fussbudget and was hungry every 20 minutes—well, I suppose he was continually hungry, but how could I have known he would want SEVEN OUNCES?—so I was up with him on and off for almost 2.5 hours. XX( (I hate it when I’m up so long with him, that I cycle through dead tired, wide awake, then back to dead tired again.)
When he finally went back down around 5:30am, he was soooo quiet (and it happened SO abruptly) that I was sure he had stopped breathing. Of course he hadn’t—he had just finally crashed. I got another two hours of sleep, and he was up and smiling at 7:30!
Anyway, knock on wood that this actually happens on a regular basis from now on.
Mom’s first night alone!
So Tom is off on some work (team-building) thing overnight out-of-town, so this is my first night completely alone with the little one. (Well, I was alone with him the very first night at the hospital, but there were, of course, nurses just a panic button away, LOL.)
And I am not looking forward to it. Not that I can’t handle it (Tom is usually only home/around for a few hours a night anyway), but I see Tom so little anyway that I cherish my few hours a night…and it’s nice to be able to hand Owen off for a little bit so I don’t have to spend every minute worrying when he’s out of my sight.
Oh well. I just hope this is a completely random occasion and doesn’t become repetitive…
Tom’s job. Ugh.
So it’s no secret I don’t like his job. The hours suck and he gets maybe one Saturday off a month. He really can’t take any time off because every time he tries, he has to work. Which is exactly what I just found out…
My Grayling baby shower is scheduled for Saturday, April 18. I told him this almost a month ago when we first picked that day. He said he would have no problem getting it off. Cool.
Fast forward to this weekend, when I reminded him about the date. So he asked today and…guess what?
He has to work! Of course!
As it so happens, the big boss is going to be out of town…and someone else is going to be at training…and someone else has some other issue…so Tom will be the only one able to be there—and someone has to be there.
>:XX
So, really, it wouldn’t have even mattered if Tom had requested the day way back when—because the other guys aren’t available due to work things…Tom would have had to work anyway. Even if he had already been cleared for that day.
So now I get to travel to Grayling—with the baby—alone for the weekend.
I am sure I will be just fine, but I am irritated as all hell that Tom can’t go. I mean, it’s not like this is the first set of plans that has been screwed up due to his job.
Oh yeah, did I mention? The big Schwalmlette & Smithlette family reunion this summer? Where the entire family will be together at one time (which hasn’t happened since before we moved to NC, I think)? That we are dying to go to? That Tom assured me he would have no issues getting time off for since we knew MONTHS in advance?
Yeah, he just found out he has training in South Carolina the week before, and it overlaps the vacation time by a day or so. So we either don’t go at all, or pay for the entire week’s share of vacation (not cheap) and are only able to use like 3-4 days of it, or I go alone. What options, eh?
>:XX
Statewide Search for Child Day Care Centers and Homes
sNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOw
This is what’s going on right now. Yuck. YUCK!
Michigan weather. Ugh.
Family photo!
First face scratch!
I never knew baby’s nails grew with lightning speed.
I file them just about every day, and by nighttime, they are like little claws again—which I feel as his jazz hands flail about while feeding (no tank tops for me at night—I need to cover as much skin as possible).
And today, he managed to scratch his own face.
Poor kid.
At least it’s not TOO bad.
Friendly visit—finally!
Angi and I have been trying to get together since we moved here. She just had kid #2 (Ashdon) in December, and Sienna is 18 months. I was excited to see her, as we haven’t seen each other since before Sienna was born…and because they are moving to Baton Rouge in May. (Of course, shortly after we FINALLY move back to Michigan, they move away! :()
So, we had a good visit for a few hours (not nearly enough, though), talked a lot about motherhood and the accompanying issues, and then it was time for her to go! At least we remembered to snap a photo of the occasion!
