So.
Last night my daughter was full tilt boogie at 8pm with no nap. Mind you, she looked like a drunk frat boy!! Haha She was all over the place. Volume on 10. Coordination at 0 (maybe a 1....maybe). Everything she saw made her "excited" and she just had to tell us every detail--a couple of times! By 8:30 she was still rarin' to go! I on the --other hand-- was not. I had had a very long day and at 24 weeks pregnant had little energy left in the reserve. I took her upstairs, put the TV on to "let her relax," and proceeded to conk out by 9/9:15pm. No clue when she went to sleep, but I will say she didn't try and wake me up. And for that I love her immensely! haha
Again, I am 24 weeks pregnant. It is difficult to get to sleep some nights. And impossible to stay asleep most nights. Up until last night though, that was only because my belly would get in the way when I tried to roll over. Or my Restless Leg Syndrome would wake me up. Or I would be unbearably hot from the bed sheet being on my. And usually I can get myself back to sleep within an hour or so. Last night/This morning, didn't happen.
My soonish-to-be-born son is (well WAS) a creature of habit, even at this stage. He likes to play at 6:30am and 10:30pm. He starts doing "laps" in my belly like a swimmer in a pool, pushing off one side to get to the other, then flipping, pushing off again, and repeat. Then he sits in the middle and gets his Tae Bo on like Billy Blanks is on channel W-WOMB or something!
Today though. Well today he was up at 3:30am. Which means, so was I. And today I wasn't able to go back to sleep. Needless to say it will be another long, long day.
Now back to the title of the post: Why you should love 3am wake ups.
Because I have been up since the ungodly hour of 3:30am, I decided to try and do some of my around-the-house things. Dishwasher? Ran. Trash? Out. Living Room? Tidied. Playroom? Nevermind, she'll just destroy that 4 minutes after she wakes up.
Moving on...
Mail? Sorted and put away. Today's To Do List? Written out and on the kitchen table. The things I'll need for today are on the dining room table by our front door so I don't forget them. My daughter's clothes for the day are laid out. I put the newest baby items received in the nursery. Looked over the things I've bought for my mom and FMIL for Mother's Day to make sure they are good to go. Piddled around on social media for a bit.
And I have written another blog post.
So see? Getting up at 3:30am can be a good thing. Now I'll be able to actually style my hair today, as opposed to just spritzing water on it and saying it's the "beachy waves" look. I might actually make it out the door by a decent time today. And I won't be too stressed doing that. Hopefully.
I have no intention of doing this again for a while, but --occasionally-- a 3am wake up can be a good thing. Now I'm going to go downstairs, make my iced tea, and be UN-productive for a bit.
It's all about balance!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
"Oh Just Piss Off!"
What am I thankful for today? The ability to communicate! Because being able to tell someone who has irritated you beyond belief to just piss off is one of the best feelings in the world!!
I've had a rough day. Can you tell? It started with a toddler who wanted candy for breakfast. I said no, of course. (Only I am allowed to have junk food for breakfast. I am the mom after all.) From there it was one thing after another.
I'm grateful I am physically capable of saying "Oh go piss off!!!" to someone. Doesn't mean I actually go and say it. No. I'm more of the type to say it on repeat in my head and just stew about it. Maybe write a blog post or two about it. But I can't bring myself to say it. Wish I could. But can't.
So instead, I made diner. I made the baby shower invite inserts. I will next do laundry in my room with a British chick flick on while the fiance and kiddo are downstairs. And I will de-stress because today is almost done.
HEY! Maybe that's what I'm thankful for: A done day! haha
I've had a rough day. Can you tell? It started with a toddler who wanted candy for breakfast. I said no, of course. (Only I am allowed to have junk food for breakfast. I am the mom after all.) From there it was one thing after another.
- We were thinking about buying some land and building our "first dream house." You know, the house you build that has just about everything you want in it, but isn't the actual dream house--because you wait until you retire to get that one? Yeah, that's the house we were trying to make happen. But it seemed like every step of the way, we had a road block of some sort. Some piece of vital information was missing which would have totally made our lives easier. The fiance spent hours this weekend looking for plans with what he wanted (a wrap around porch) and what I wanted (a breakfast nook) and what we wanted (4 bedrooms, lots of storage, etc). Finally found one at 10pm last night. Found out today we can't use *that* plan unless we want to shell out 5G's!! Seriously? No thanks.
- Went to the craft store to try and find some fun paper to put in the baby shower invites. Nothing. Ended up with plain white card stock I had to finagle to make look fun and festive. (Took a few tries at home, but ultimately I am happy with the turn out.) But while I was there, I asked the person working in the "papers" aisle if she had any idea of what paper would be best. Blank stare followed by, "Ummmm, we have this paper in this aisle." REALLY?!? No Kidding!! The paper in the paper aisle?!? Go friggin figure! What I was asking is: What paper would be best for a photo on one side and a fun note with baby shower theme on the other? What types of paper to avoid? Would some make the photo too bright, too dark, bleed to much, not get enough ink?? You are the crafts store; know your crafts!!
- Dealt with a toddler who desperately needed a nap but didn't want to take one after that. Made the next stop of the day real fun. Hormones and stress kicking in at this point. Didn't have the patience to deal with person(s) who say one thing but get mad when you do that, because obviously I am just supposed to know what they really meant. Yeah, that's always a fun thing to deal with.
- Got a call. Building a house now--at this exact time--is probably a no-go. I say: "That makes sense. We have hit every road block since we breathed the words 'Let's buy and build.' So for now, let's put it on the back burner." His response, "Well let me meet with so-and-such one more time. Let's see if they can do anything." Okay. So you didn't actually want to know what I thought, you just wanted to say the words and do what you were going to do anyways. Got it. Just start the conversation with that next time. So I can zone out and get more work done. Thanks.
I'm grateful I am physically capable of saying "Oh go piss off!!!" to someone. Doesn't mean I actually go and say it. No. I'm more of the type to say it on repeat in my head and just stew about it. Maybe write a blog post or two about it. But I can't bring myself to say it. Wish I could. But can't.
So instead, I made diner. I made the baby shower invite inserts. I will next do laundry in my room with a British chick flick on while the fiance and kiddo are downstairs. And I will de-stress because today is almost done.
HEY! Maybe that's what I'm thankful for: A done day! haha
Thursday, April 21, 2016
So seriously? Why now?
Yesterday I did my first post with this blog. It was all about why I'm doing it and what motivated me to start.
Most of you are probably sitting there thinking: "Well yeah. That's all well and good, but what made you kick it into gear and actually write a post?" My kick start was simple: My daughter was driving me NUTS!! I needed to start the blog because I needed a reason to force myself to be grateful. Otherwise I was going to lock myself in the bathroom for a scream/sob fest. Boy was she just rotten yesterday!! I had to put her in timeout 4 times before her dad even got home. She fought me on every thing I said, every thing I asked her to do. She found a reason why that was "not the rules" or why her idea was better.
I hate the terrible two's BTW.
Another thing was I had on Windy City Live while I let the world of toddler-dom cave in around me and there was an author on there talking about her new book "I Want My Epidural Back: Adventures in Mediocre Parenting." (Karen Alpert) Her take on parenting is simple: Don't take it too seriously. You will never be "World's Greatest Mom." Your kids will hate you at some point. And you will NEED a glass (or two) of wine/vodka/preferred adult drink to get through some nights. And all this is fine, acceptable, and necessary to get through those rough --oh I don't know-- 18 years! Alpert's reading these lines on the TV as I mumble profanity at the mess building upon itself in my living room kind of like one of those fungi-creatures in old-time scary movies. Just feeding on itself and absorbing anything that dares cross its path. I knew I would have to get up in the next 15 minutes if the mess was to ever be manageable; just as I knew my toddler would recreate the disaster zone faster than most people can do simple math. (Unless your kid is learning Common Core. Then I pity you and this saying will make no sense any longer.)
The other half of you are wondering: "But real question--Have you actually started your gratitude project?" Truth? NOPE!! haha I did add two new books to my Nook that I hope will give me motivation to really and truly start on my project.
Until then I will be content with the TWO new blog posts I have managed to generate. And I will sip my iced tea while imagining it to be a super cold Pomegranate Margarita. I don't drink much when not pregnant --and obviously not at all while pregnant-- but those are a tasty concoction!
Most of you are probably sitting there thinking: "Well yeah. That's all well and good, but what made you kick it into gear and actually write a post?" My kick start was simple: My daughter was driving me NUTS!! I needed to start the blog because I needed a reason to force myself to be grateful. Otherwise I was going to lock myself in the bathroom for a scream/sob fest. Boy was she just rotten yesterday!! I had to put her in timeout 4 times before her dad even got home. She fought me on every thing I said, every thing I asked her to do. She found a reason why that was "not the rules" or why her idea was better.
I hate the terrible two's BTW.
Another thing was I had on Windy City Live while I let the world of toddler-dom cave in around me and there was an author on there talking about her new book "I Want My Epidural Back: Adventures in Mediocre Parenting." (Karen Alpert) Her take on parenting is simple: Don't take it too seriously. You will never be "World's Greatest Mom." Your kids will hate you at some point. And you will NEED a glass (or two) of wine/vodka/preferred adult drink to get through some nights. And all this is fine, acceptable, and necessary to get through those rough --oh I don't know-- 18 years! Alpert's reading these lines on the TV as I mumble profanity at the mess building upon itself in my living room kind of like one of those fungi-creatures in old-time scary movies. Just feeding on itself and absorbing anything that dares cross its path. I knew I would have to get up in the next 15 minutes if the mess was to ever be manageable; just as I knew my toddler would recreate the disaster zone faster than most people can do simple math. (Unless your kid is learning Common Core. Then I pity you and this saying will make no sense any longer.)
The other half of you are wondering: "But real question--Have you actually started your gratitude project?" Truth? NOPE!! haha I did add two new books to my Nook that I hope will give me motivation to really and truly start on my project.
Until then I will be content with the TWO new blog posts I have managed to generate. And I will sip my iced tea while imagining it to be a super cold Pomegranate Margarita. I don't drink much when not pregnant --and obviously not at all while pregnant-- but those are a tasty concoction!
P.S. My computer isn't making this goal achievement very easy or stress-free. It managed to "zone out" no less than every 15 seconds of typing. So I will add another pat to the back for not throwing the damn thing across the office.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
How This Even Came About
Okay moms (and dads) out there...
How many of you are stressed? Like to the point you want to SCREAM when you walk in the door. Lordy-bee help me if I am the only one. I can't be, right?
I have an almost three year old. She has gotten into a phase that I am just not digging. The "I do it myself" and "This is the rules" stage. Everything takes a million times longer to do than I'm used to and that stresses me out. When she wants her own way she will look at me and say "You say no but I say yes. And I'm the baby and that's the rules." No clue where she got that from but MAN can it cause a meltdown. Hers or mine, depending on the day.
And soon we will be adding a little man to our home. So I'm a hormonal mess right now. Into the 6th month (technically 23 weeks, so however you determine that in pregnancy language) and spring is peeking its head out of those cruddy North-Midwestern clouds. One day we have 85* and the next we're lucky to top out at 60. Ugh. After all my years up here and I'm still not mentally ready for the crazy changes in weather.
I just recently got engaged too. We're planning the wedding for next year, but I am trying to get everything done or prepped as much as possible now, before the baby gets here. I know me: I won't have a ton of time once the little guy gets here. And I won't be happy if I have to settle on a lot the closer we get to the day. So I'm scheduling tastings for the food and cake, visits with the florists, meetings with the DJ people... And freaking out that I might forget something vitally important! I could have hired someone to do all this for me, but that seems like a waste of money when we are staying on a budget.
Okay. So that's my back story. The cranky toddler, the pregnancy hormones, the wedding planning, the "I'm stuck in the house almost all day every day" lifestyle. It was all adding up to make me really frustrated.
When one day I was in the car with my toddler and I looked at her in my rearview mirror. She was just sitting there -quiet- and I realized that I take my life for granted. I am very lucky to have my toddler. She is feisty and smart and physically capable of so much. Even when she is fighting me, I am lucky that she is cognizant enough of what's going on around her and what I am saying that she can make HER point, even if I don't LIKE her point!
I decided in that minute that I would force myself to find something to be grateful for EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And yes, I am well aware that some days it will be an act, a force, a decision to be grateful. Because life is stressful and who knows how my hormones will react to things. Heck, a change in wind direction could ruin my day!! You just never know!! So I walked my little girl into the bookstore and grabbed a journal. I spent quite a few minutes choosing just the right journal for this new venture.
When I got home, I grabbed a book I have already read 2 or 3 times. The Happiness Project was one I read before I started dating my fiance and I really enjoyed it. It was fun and funny and informative. It made me rethink how I do things and why I do things. So I decided to go back there and re-read it. I thought "Well, heck, I'll feel even more accomplished when I can fly through this book since I've read it once before!" Eh eh
I put the book and the journal in my purse. That way it's a constant reminder to get my butt in gear and get grateful! Today I decided that I'm going to (try to) write once a week on a blog about what crap hit the fan, and why I am grateful for it. So today was blog prep day.
And.. CHECK! Totally feel accomplished now! Haha
How many of you are stressed? Like to the point you want to SCREAM when you walk in the door. Lordy-bee help me if I am the only one. I can't be, right?
I have an almost three year old. She has gotten into a phase that I am just not digging. The "I do it myself" and "This is the rules" stage. Everything takes a million times longer to do than I'm used to and that stresses me out. When she wants her own way she will look at me and say "You say no but I say yes. And I'm the baby and that's the rules." No clue where she got that from but MAN can it cause a meltdown. Hers or mine, depending on the day.
And soon we will be adding a little man to our home. So I'm a hormonal mess right now. Into the 6th month (technically 23 weeks, so however you determine that in pregnancy language) and spring is peeking its head out of those cruddy North-Midwestern clouds. One day we have 85* and the next we're lucky to top out at 60. Ugh. After all my years up here and I'm still not mentally ready for the crazy changes in weather.
I just recently got engaged too. We're planning the wedding for next year, but I am trying to get everything done or prepped as much as possible now, before the baby gets here. I know me: I won't have a ton of time once the little guy gets here. And I won't be happy if I have to settle on a lot the closer we get to the day. So I'm scheduling tastings for the food and cake, visits with the florists, meetings with the DJ people... And freaking out that I might forget something vitally important! I could have hired someone to do all this for me, but that seems like a waste of money when we are staying on a budget.
Okay. So that's my back story. The cranky toddler, the pregnancy hormones, the wedding planning, the "I'm stuck in the house almost all day every day" lifestyle. It was all adding up to make me really frustrated.
When one day I was in the car with my toddler and I looked at her in my rearview mirror. She was just sitting there -quiet- and I realized that I take my life for granted. I am very lucky to have my toddler. She is feisty and smart and physically capable of so much. Even when she is fighting me, I am lucky that she is cognizant enough of what's going on around her and what I am saying that she can make HER point, even if I don't LIKE her point!
I decided in that minute that I would force myself to find something to be grateful for EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And yes, I am well aware that some days it will be an act, a force, a decision to be grateful. Because life is stressful and who knows how my hormones will react to things. Heck, a change in wind direction could ruin my day!! You just never know!! So I walked my little girl into the bookstore and grabbed a journal. I spent quite a few minutes choosing just the right journal for this new venture.
When I got home, I grabbed a book I have already read 2 or 3 times. The Happiness Project was one I read before I started dating my fiance and I really enjoyed it. It was fun and funny and informative. It made me rethink how I do things and why I do things. So I decided to go back there and re-read it. I thought "Well, heck, I'll feel even more accomplished when I can fly through this book since I've read it once before!" Eh eh
I put the book and the journal in my purse. That way it's a constant reminder to get my butt in gear and get grateful! Today I decided that I'm going to (try to) write once a week on a blog about what crap hit the fan, and why I am grateful for it. So today was blog prep day.
And.. CHECK! Totally feel accomplished now! Haha
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