We had Thanksgiving dinner this year at my aunt and uncle's house. Being we didn't have to be there until after 5pm, we had fed and bathed Carter and put him in his pjs before we left the house. I also had packed my bag to be ready to go shopping with my friends at 10pm. Instead of grabbing the diaper bag, I grabbed my bag for shopping. We didn't realize this mistake until after we had already got there. Whoops! Luckily my smart thinking parents remembered that Walgreens was open, so we were able to avoid making a 45 minute each way trip back to our house to get diapers and formula. I can't believe I did something so stupid!
Shopping was great! The outlet mall opened at 10pm Thursday night, so we hit that first. I got some good deals on clothes for myself at the Gap outlet, a new winter coat from the Columbia outlet, and some great deals at the Carter's outlet for Carter (50% off storewide +10%off + 20% off coupon. Love it!) We shopped there until 3am. And then we drove back to the cities and did Herberger's (never again, their coupon was a joke!), Kohl's (Longest line ever!) and Best Buy (we drove to a more obscure one and it was dead.). I ended up getting 90% of the Christmas shopping completed.
After I got home from shopping Tim and I packed up and headed down to his parents house to spend the weekend/for my niece Lauren's baptism. I went to bed at 7pm, since I was so tired from not sleeping the night before. Tim took care of Carter's night feedings and let me sleep. I so needed it!
We are learning how difficult it is to travel with small children. First of all, packing is a pain. At 4 months old he still needs a million things packed. Bottles, diapers, at least two outfits a day in case of spit ups/accidents, and toys and other items to keep him entertained. Now that he's started food, we also need rice cereal, bowls, spoons, and a little cooler packed with his baby food. I can tell we'll definitely need a bigger car before we have a second baby. Second, now that Carter is somewhat on a schedule, he hates change that schedule. If we eat dinner at my parents house and he's not in his jammies by 7pm, he freaks out. He's a definite homebody and does not sleep well when he's not at home. Lack of sleep=crabby baby= crabby mommy who has to get that baby back onto a schedule again.
I'll probably write more about our weekend on Monday when we're home again.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Weekend update
As usually we had another busy weekend. Saturday we drove down to Harmony, MN (close to the Iowa border) to visit Tim's grandma. We've been meaning to get down there since Carter was born, but with how high gas prices were this summer, we didn't make it down there until now. It was her first time meeting Carter. On our way back, we stopped in Rochester to see one of Tim's friends. Carter loved meeting the kitties there. He is definately going to be an animal lover.
Carter and I both ended up catching a cold. (Possible from Grandma, she was just getting over one.) It been 3 really bad nights for the two of us.
Sunday we hung out at my parents' for most of the day.
Monday I had to go and do my volunteering for class, so Carter spent the day with Grandpa Mike. They went to BRU to pick out a high chair for Grandma and Grandpa's house and also did a few laps around the mall.
Carter and I both ended up catching a cold. (Possible from Grandma, she was just getting over one.) It been 3 really bad nights for the two of us.
Sunday we hung out at my parents' for most of the day.
Monday I had to go and do my volunteering for class, so Carter spent the day with Grandpa Mike. They went to BRU to pick out a high chair for Grandma and Grandpa's house and also did a few laps around the mall.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday Night Reflections
Well I survived another long day with Carter. Tim worked from 6am to 2pm and then went out to volunteer from 6pm to midnight, which makes for a long day for him and an even longer day for me. I love being able to spend this much time with Carter, but the days do seem a lot longer now that it's cold out. I'm trying to come up with a list of places/things Carter and I can do for free or almost free during the day. Right now we have MOPS on two Thursdays a month and I think I might add ECFE on Wednesday mornings starting after Christmas.
We've also been trying to go and hang out with my grandparents a couple hours a week too. They love seeing Carter and it seems to keep their spirits up during this difficult period. My uncle Mark is dying of brain cancer. The one good thing that has come out of it all is to see how many peoples' lives he's managed to touch. One of his friends who had been battling a drug addiction, has been clean since my uncle was diagnosed with cancer. Another one of his friends who struggles being bipolar is taking his meds regularly now. In his many years teaching art in the Minneapolis schools, he has touched so many of his students' lives.
And I can certainly say that our holidays will never be as exciting without Mark. He was always the one to come up with something interesting to do. And nobody else will be a cheese plate tour of the world (and spend a couple hundred dollars which he probably shouldn't have on cheeses).
We've also been trying to go and hang out with my grandparents a couple hours a week too. They love seeing Carter and it seems to keep their spirits up during this difficult period. My uncle Mark is dying of brain cancer. The one good thing that has come out of it all is to see how many peoples' lives he's managed to touch. One of his friends who had been battling a drug addiction, has been clean since my uncle was diagnosed with cancer. Another one of his friends who struggles being bipolar is taking his meds regularly now. In his many years teaching art in the Minneapolis schools, he has touched so many of his students' lives.
And I can certainly say that our holidays will never be as exciting without Mark. He was always the one to come up with something interesting to do. And nobody else will be a cheese plate tour of the world (and spend a couple hundred dollars which he probably shouldn't have on cheeses).
We broke the cycle!
Last night Carter was only up at midnight. I actually got some sleep last night. Life is good. My smiling little man is looking at me with his big blue eyes. My favorite part about being a mommy.
We didn't end up getting our high chair. Stupid BRU wouldn't let us combine our 15% off and free shipping. So we're waiting right now to see if we can find it for a better deal somewhere else. Right now we've been feeding him from his bouncer chair. It'll probably be okay to continue with that for a few more weeks.
Last night we also made apple sauce. Let me just say that it's amazing. Granted, I love apple sauce in general. But it was even amazingly good after I put it in the blender for baby food. I made it a rule that anything that I feed Carter, I have to be willing to eat myself.
We didn't end up getting our high chair. Stupid BRU wouldn't let us combine our 15% off and free shipping. So we're waiting right now to see if we can find it for a better deal somewhere else. Right now we've been feeding him from his bouncer chair. It'll probably be okay to continue with that for a few more weeks.
Last night we also made apple sauce. Let me just say that it's amazing. Granted, I love apple sauce in general. But it was even amazingly good after I put it in the blender for baby food. I made it a rule that anything that I feed Carter, I have to be willing to eat myself.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sleep deprieved
I didn't fully appreciate those nights where Carter slept from 8pm-6am. And I really didn't appreciate the nights he was only up once. It's now day 5 of him getting up twice a night in a row. I really need to look more seriously into different methods of sleep training.
He's the happiest baby right now. Just talking and kicking on the bed next to me. I love it! I'm hoping to get some laundry done today because after all of yesterday's wardrobe changes, I'm out of clean pants that still fit.
He's the happiest baby right now. Just talking and kicking on the bed next to me. I love it! I'm hoping to get some laundry done today because after all of yesterday's wardrobe changes, I'm out of clean pants that still fit.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Longer post time
Carter is swinging right now, which will hopefully lead to a longer nap. Last night was not a particularly good night for us. He went to bed at 7pm, was up at 11:30pm, and then was up at 4:30am, and then up for the day at 7:30am. I'm hoping he'll take a short nap because I would love to do some errands later, but not if he's a crabby boy.
I'm so excited that BRU and TRU are doing free shipping today and tomorrow on almost everything. We've been meaning to order the Chicco high chair we want, but the color I wanted was only online and the shipping was $18, something I just couldn't justify at this point.
Is it time for Tim to come home yet?
It's 9:10am, Carter and I are both covered in baby puke and need a wardrobe change. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day. And Tim is doing a 12 hour shift. Motherhood is so glamorous sometimes!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
4 month wakefulness and more
Carter has started to go through the dreaded 4 month wakeful period. Basically he'll wake up in the middle of night and want to play. I guess it's suppose to be a good thing since it means he's developing cognitively and is attached to us enough to want to be around us 24/7. Most of the methods of sleep training he's still way too young for. So I've been trying to let him talk in bed and only go check on him if he's crying. He usually wants to eat then. I'm also trying to slowly cut down how many ounces of formula he gets in the middle of the night.
Our other major Carter news is that he talks all the time! It definitely sounds like he's saying "hi" now. I don't think it really counts as a first word though yet because he will say it whenever. I think all the positive reinforcement we've been giving him whenever he says anything that sounds like "hi" guarantee that he will continue to say it.
Since it's been a while since I've updated I'll just go through the highlights of the rest of last week.
Thursday I put Carter in the nursery at MOPS. The old ladies loved him. He only cried when he got hungry, otherwise he was perfectly behaved. I was a brave mommy and didn't cry. (But I did check on him i the window every half hour or so)
Friday my dad watched Carter so that I could get some of my volunteer hours in for class. Carter and Grandpa had a good time together. Carter saved his poopy diaper for me as soon as we got home (changing a poopy diaper was my dad's biggest fear of watching Carter).
Saturday we worked on cleaning and organizing the house. Tim is determined to move in the near future, but we have a whole lot of work that needs to be done first.
Sunday we went to Pine Tree to get some more apples. Then we hung out at my parents.
Monday we did a quick to MOA trip with my grandparents. That was an interesting experience!
Our other major Carter news is that he talks all the time! It definitely sounds like he's saying "hi" now. I don't think it really counts as a first word though yet because he will say it whenever. I think all the positive reinforcement we've been giving him whenever he says anything that sounds like "hi" guarantee that he will continue to say it.
Since it's been a while since I've updated I'll just go through the highlights of the rest of last week.
Thursday I put Carter in the nursery at MOPS. The old ladies loved him. He only cried when he got hungry, otherwise he was perfectly behaved. I was a brave mommy and didn't cry. (But I did check on him i the window every half hour or so)
Friday my dad watched Carter so that I could get some of my volunteer hours in for class. Carter and Grandpa had a good time together. Carter saved his poopy diaper for me as soon as we got home (changing a poopy diaper was my dad's biggest fear of watching Carter).
Saturday we worked on cleaning and organizing the house. Tim is determined to move in the near future, but we have a whole lot of work that needs to be done first.
Sunday we went to Pine Tree to get some more apples. Then we hung out at my parents.
Monday we did a quick to MOA trip with my grandparents. That was an interesting experience!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Make your own baby food
So I decided to venture into the world of making your own baby food since Carter started eating it two weeks ago. It was something I've wanted to do since I was pregnant. So far it's been great! I started with a sweet potato. All I had to do was steam it and then put it in the blender and add a tiny pit of water to get it to the consistency of baby food. And then we've been pouring it into ice cube trays and freezing it. Our web resource we've been using is www.wholesomebabyfoods.com. Check it out!
Now I know no everyone will agree on giving a 4 month old baby food. We decided it would be much better to be able to pull Carter off his acid reflex meds and have him start food. So far this has been a success.
Now I know no everyone will agree on giving a 4 month old baby food. We decided it would be much better to be able to pull Carter off his acid reflex meds and have him start food. So far this has been a success.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Baby Stuff
Now that I know more and more friends having babies for the first time I have been trying to think of my baby gear shopping advice.
First of all the book Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields was super helpful. It reviews most commen baby products. All the the products that we bought based on the reviews, we love. And there's some advice that they gave that we didn't follow that I'd have to agree with now.
My recommendations:
1. Get a sturdy crib. We bought a Munire and love it. We probably could have found a less expensive one, but I hated how most of the cribs had screws showing in the front.
2. Get a good mattress. We got ours at BRU. We played with almost all of them there before deciding on one.
3. The ultimate crib sheet is a life saver. We have two and only have to change the regular sheet every couple weeks.
4. Bedding set, while adorable, are pretty much useless. We use the bumper and crib skirt. We hated the sheets that came with our set and ended up replacing them with softer carter's sheets.
5. The best gift we got was our rocker/glider and ottoman. It definately makes the 3am feedings much more comfrotable.
6. Have atleast two changing pad covers. Especially if you have a boy. In the early days we'd sometimes use both in one day.
7. The baby papasan chairs are cute, but they're not very exciting after about the first month. We ended up being one of the crazy music and lights FP ones after trying it at a friend's house.
8. Check out ECFE and Moms of Multiples sales. We got some great deals on some used toys and gear. Even if used stuff some what creeps you out, most of it can be washed. We got our FP aquarim swing for $25. The fabric part pulls out to be washed and the rest was like new with a lysol wipe.
First of all the book Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields was super helpful. It reviews most commen baby products. All the the products that we bought based on the reviews, we love. And there's some advice that they gave that we didn't follow that I'd have to agree with now.
My recommendations:
1. Get a sturdy crib. We bought a Munire and love it. We probably could have found a less expensive one, but I hated how most of the cribs had screws showing in the front.
2. Get a good mattress. We got ours at BRU. We played with almost all of them there before deciding on one.
3. The ultimate crib sheet is a life saver. We have two and only have to change the regular sheet every couple weeks.
4. Bedding set, while adorable, are pretty much useless. We use the bumper and crib skirt. We hated the sheets that came with our set and ended up replacing them with softer carter's sheets.
5. The best gift we got was our rocker/glider and ottoman. It definately makes the 3am feedings much more comfrotable.
6. Have atleast two changing pad covers. Especially if you have a boy. In the early days we'd sometimes use both in one day.
7. The baby papasan chairs are cute, but they're not very exciting after about the first month. We ended up being one of the crazy music and lights FP ones after trying it at a friend's house.
8. Check out ECFE and Moms of Multiples sales. We got some great deals on some used toys and gear. Even if used stuff some what creeps you out, most of it can be washed. We got our FP aquarim swing for $25. The fabric part pulls out to be washed and the rest was like new with a lysol wipe.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Freaking out
My unemployment runs out in the end of December. I'm not sure what we're going to do then. We have been pretty much been needing that to get by since I was laid off back in May. Today it just seemed to hit me that I really don't know what we're going to do then and I've been panicking and can't sleep. There really haven't been a lot of jobs posted in the last two months. I've been applying for anything thing that I'm even remotely qualified for. It does make things much more difficult having to take into consideration the location and pay because of daycare costs.
I saw on the news tonight that the unemployment rate for the country is 6.5%. In some areas it's closer to 9%. And that doesn't even include people who have been unemployed too long to collect, like soon to be me. And it's only suppose to get worse.
Sorry for all the doom and gloom. I'm having a bad night.
I saw on the news tonight that the unemployment rate for the country is 6.5%. In some areas it's closer to 9%. And that doesn't even include people who have been unemployed too long to collect, like soon to be me. And it's only suppose to get worse.
Sorry for all the doom and gloom. I'm having a bad night.
Update
We had Carter's 4 month appointment yesterday. He's 16 lbs 8oz (90%) and 26 inches (90%). He also got all of his 4 month shots. We were worried that we would have a bad night, but he actually slept 8pm to almost 8am. It was great! Today he's been a little bit crappy and not feeling the best.
I can't believe it's only 3 weeks until Thanksgiving. Our plans are to spend Thanksgiving day with my family, me going shopping with Liz and Meaghan for the overnight and early morning deals, and then driving down Friday afternoon to visit Tim's family and celebrate Lauren's baptism. Tim and I are going to be Lauren's godparents. We're very excited!
No new news on the job front. I had an interview this week for a para job at Chippewa, that I didn't get the position for. It would have been a great position, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Hopefully there will be some new positions posted soon.
I can't believe it's only 3 weeks until Thanksgiving. Our plans are to spend Thanksgiving day with my family, me going shopping with Liz and Meaghan for the overnight and early morning deals, and then driving down Friday afternoon to visit Tim's family and celebrate Lauren's baptism. Tim and I are going to be Lauren's godparents. We're very excited!
No new news on the job front. I had an interview this week for a para job at Chippewa, that I didn't get the position for. It would have been a great position, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Hopefully there will be some new positions posted soon.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting, ect.
Carter and I went to vote this morning. We went at 8:30 because I figured the early morning beforw work people would be done. The voting people were saying that 260 people were there when it opened. It's exciting that the first election of Carter's life time is a big one.
Our other exciting news is that Carter got a playhouse for free. My parents' neighbor's had it in their basement and their kids barely ever played with it. It's in mint condition.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween
We had a great first Halloween. Carter was the cutest little penguin. We did have a minor wardrobe malfunction with his costume when I first put it on him. I bought it on sale last year after Halloween, not knowing I was pregnant yet, so I guessed on the size and ending up getting a 3 month sizing figuring it be big enough for a baby that was born in the late summer early fall. Carter is a big boy and is wearing 3-6month clothes right now. As soon as I zipped it up, the zipper split. I tried to fix it, but it just wasn't happening. But I was determined to still have him be a penguin. I decided to sew Velcro on. It didn't look quite as cute, but it definately work. And Carter was much more comfortable.
Our sweer neighbor lady, Pam, got Carter some Halloween "treats"; a cute baby toy and some rice cereal. This is definately Carter new favorite toy.
Today we scored some excellent deals on toys at the kids garage sale at the Shoreview Community Center. I hadn't been to it since I was a kid, but I had remembered it having some good deals. We got probably a couple hundred dollars worth of Duplos, a toy lawn mower, and a dump truck for around $50. I can't wait until Carter is big enough to play with it all.
We also went over to my grandparents to help them get their lawn ready for winter. They love having Carter over.
Our sweer neighbor lady, Pam, got Carter some Halloween "treats"; a cute baby toy and some rice cereal. This is definately Carter new favorite toy.
Today we scored some excellent deals on toys at the kids garage sale at the Shoreview Community Center. I hadn't been to it since I was a kid, but I had remembered it having some good deals. We got probably a couple hundred dollars worth of Duplos, a toy lawn mower, and a dump truck for around $50. I can't wait until Carter is big enough to play with it all.
We also went over to my grandparents to help them get their lawn ready for winter. They love having Carter over.
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