Hi...it's been awhile

Hi there. Have you missed me? I have missed you. I haven't been on in a while, because, in case you didn't know, I have and ALMOST 2 Year Old and an ALMOST 4 Month old. My hands are full. Better full than empty! At least that's what I tell the old ladies that look at me at the grocery store with that look of longing and pity all in one. Other moms...you know the look. So here I am. I am here today because I need you Internet. I need you to bend your ear in my direction and let me vent.

I know today is Love Monday and I will get there today, but not yet. If you just want to hear the fluffy stuff, then feel free to scroll down. Okay, now the warm fuzzy folks are gone. Let's get down to brass tacks. Life as I once knew it is gone. Now, I am not talking about Thursday evening Martini's at the Rossi or even Friday nights at the Mynt Lounge. I am talking morning outings and having more that 1 hour daily to run all of my errands. But WHY? you ask. JACOB.

For the past few days, Jacob has been a general cranky pants during the day. He is happy when one of the following is occurring: 1) he's eating, 2) he's riding in the car, 3) he's asleep. Other than that he is just generally whining at me. So....I started to realize that he never burps. Not all that uncommon in breastfed babies, you say? You're right and his sis was the same way. However...he toots like a mad man. He is constantly letting them rip and he only has one good poo a day. This all leads me to believe that he has some bad gas. I called the pediatrician this morning to inquire about the Gripe Water thing. Nurse Chloe says GO FOR IT! It won't hurt and it could help. Then she asks my why I might want to try it. I begin to explain the grumpy factor and bad napping and then I start to talk about how tired I am and that Maggie is now in the "MINE" and "NO" phase and how my socks feel funny and how I never quite get my oatmeal to the right temperature (add an ice cube? nope now it's too cold. okay in the microwave...dang too hot...argh...) and how....well you get the idea. After about 5 minutes of general venting, therapist Chloe begins to ask leading questions about Jacob's daily napping. Am I putting him down in the same place (no) at the same time (mostly) for EVERY nap (um.....NO...did I mention I have a 2 year old?) Well, in that case. DUH...."mommy you are doing all of this to yourself. Jacob needs sleep training. I bet he will even start sleeping through the night if you fix his daily naps"

Sleeping through the night you say? Okay, I'm listening and as I am listening I am realizing that this is all the stuff I was adamant about with Maggie. Jacob needs it too and I am doing both of us a disservice by not sticking with it. So, no more outings in the morning. No more Friday playgroups. No more life. I know this is a mere blip in the grand scheme of things, but now I have to figure out how to keep Maggie (and myself for that matter) from climbing the walls.

Sleep training began with this afternoon's nap. I put him down happy and awake 10 minutes before the desired sleep start time (1pm). I am to let him cry for as long as I can stand it (in this case I was going to wait 10 minutes) HEY INTERNET!! GUESS WHAT....he was quiet in 6 minutes. YAY! I didn't go up once. Now that's pretty good progress so far. What? It's only the first nap you say. Shut up. I am looking for silver linings. And those of you out there that think it's wrong to let them cry it out. Good for you....head on down to Love Mondays.

Usually he begins to cry after about 45 minutes of sleep. Guess what? Yep. I am going to have to wait another 10 minutes before I go soothe him. I am not sure what the best way to soothe him is. I don't want to pick him up. The nurse discouraged the paci because once it falls out we are back to square one. SO...I guess I will use my mommy instinct and see where we land. Hopefully he just falls back to sleep and I don't have to come up with a plan.

So...same nap time....same nap channel....tomorrow my friends.

I need to get some sewing done. I have 10 nursing covers done. 11 dresses in progress. 12 belts in progress. shew...I am a busy seamstress. If you interested you can shop my wares at www.the.abbeygiftshop.com. My stuff isn't on the site (yet) but you local folks can jot down the address and head on over. I think she is planning on opening the shop sometime in September.

If you landed hear to order a nursing cover or other such baby gear....don't worry I will have more fabrics soon. In the meantime you can send me an email at ForYourPeanut (at) gmail (dot) com.

Okay...

Love Monday

• LOVE that Bruce and Amy are expecting there "Cheetah" in February. His/Her big brother "Cooger" will be awesome!

• LOVE that Maggie will be TWO next month. ELMO birthday here we come. If anyone has any good Elmo birthday sites to send me to, please feel free!

• LOVE the Internet love. I love that 40+ people look at my blog daily. What keeps you coming back? Or....are you all just spam bots trolling for email addresses?

• LOVE the garden. So far I have some green beans and a couple of good handfuls of cherry tomatoes. There are lots more things on the vines though. Please send ripening thoughts.

• LOVE all of the blogs on my blogroll. I keep reading things at 3am, when I am feeding Jacob, and it's keeping me sane. All you bloggers out there....keep it coming!

Lastly....really.....what does keep you coming back. Of the 40+ readers out there, I only know who a handful of you are. WHO ARE YOU? Please tell me 1 (or more) interesting thing(s) about yourself in the comments. And for those of you I already know....tell me something I don't. :)

LOVE,
Amanda