Monday, January 13, 2014

Swaddles

If you are not a parent, you likely don't know what I'm talking about.  But if you are, you understand how comforting and frustrating swaddles can be.  When my first child was born six years ago, I was taught how to swaddle my baby using a receiving blanket.  She would always come loose and crying.  Finally I just gave up and put her in sleep sacks.  It's safer than risking a blanket covering her mouth.

Next came my son in 2012.  He hated swaddles.  Before he arrived, we registered for these sleep sacks that have velcro wraps, which pin the babies arms to their sides.  I know it sounds terrible, but many babies find it soothing to be restricted.  In the womb, they don't have much room to move and they are wrapped up in warm amniotic fluid.  Outside in the world, it's cold and there's nothing to stop their jerky movements.  Babies aren't really that coordinated, plus, being born with the moro startle reflex doesn't help things.  Couple that with their shorter, lighter sleep cycles, and you have one very disturbed night of rest.  Trust me, we had many nights of disturbed rest with our first son.  Even as a toddler, he sucked at sleeping through the night.  He's just extremely active.

My newest son loved being swaddled from the beginning.  Now he's outgrown our favorite swaddle.  We got a larger size, but the velcro has worn out from all his squirming.  We tried letting him sleep un-swaddled.  That was a disaster.  Granted, we moved him into his big boy crib in his own room around the same time, but this little boy had been sleeping through the night and now he had no swaddle for us to safely swaddle him in.  Luckily, I found a swaddle that barely fits that we never used (since my other son had no use for it).  It works for now, but it won't for long.  Enter the Woombie.

I've found that entrepreneurial moms create the best products.  You want something done right, you do it yourself.  This mom created a swaddle that stretches and zips up.  Baby isn't too restricted and it won't wear out.  Just bought one and I am so excited for this thing to arrive.  I'll update when it does, but for now, just making due with what we've got.

This is what I ordered. It's convertible!
Bug in his current swaddle


Sunday, January 5, 2014

The seven-year plan

On our trip back from Florida, my six-year-old was coloring in one of those activity coloring books (because we can't just have coloring books, they must have other activities) and came across something that said to write your wish so she asks my mother-in-law, who is sitting next to her, how you spell baby.  After she spells that out, she asks, "how do you spell sister?".  Ha.  She's got some time to wait.  Welcome to the seven-year-plan.

We bought a house in a great neighborhood next to an elementary school.  My daughter just started there this year.  We live within walking distance, which is nice, or will be in two years when my daughter no longer requires an adult to walk her there.  Yep, we discovered that children must be accompanied by an adult until second grade.  I was pretty frustrated until my daughter started school and I realized she is nowhere near responsible enough to walk the 100 yards or less to the school.  It has, however, proved to me that I don't want more kids until my two younger children are old enough to walk themselves to school.  This I have learned after waking my sons up from naps so we can walk about 100 yards to get my daughter at the end of the day.  I'm hoping I will have a mom-friend or a babysitter that can pick my daughter up next year.  But this dilemma of walking kids to and from school is where the seven-year-plan comes into play.

In seven years, my youngest will be in second grade, which is when he can walk himself to school.  Not that he'd be alone because at that point, his older brother would be in third grade and able to accompany him.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Well, besides that happiness, I will hopefully have been working full-time for at least two years at my new job, which had better not be retail. Let me tell you how that's happening.

I'm on pace to transfer to Uva in three semesters tops.  That equates to a year and a half from now so I'm thinking a target date of fall 2015.  Two years there and graduation with a degree in biostatistics.  I'd love an internship at the university to fit in there somewhere.  If not that, I could maybe find a teaching job at the school my husband works at (can you say "carpool"?).  In any case, two years might be enough to establish a good relationship with my employer and enough pay to justify going back to work for them after a baby is born.

The last factor in the seven-year-plan is my age.  Things start getting dicey in terms of creating and carrying a baby after the age of 35.  I'm not trying to be a jerk or judgmental, it's a scientific fact.  In seven years, I will still be short of 35 and my husband short of 40.  Biologically speaking, I'd still be within my birthing prime. 

All together, seven years seems like a good time, assuming we even want another baby at that point, which my husband currently doesn't.  In all fairness, our most recent addition is a perfect little angel who arrived in the most perfect delivery one could hope for so it's tempting to quit while we're ahead.  Judging from the last seven years of my life,  a lot can change in seven years...

I'm just a dreamer

I'm in the car with my family (passenger seat) driving back home from Florida.  Florida is my kind of place: warm.  I love the trees, the style of the houses, the attractions, and most definitely the temp.  The downsides are that we are soon to have no family down here as the grandparents (husband's side) are moving, hurricanes, alligators, hurricanes, lack of employment plans, and hurricanes.  I do like the idea of living here someday and I'm just sitting here dreaming of how to make it happen.  I'm thinking about how much I would love to write.  I have this book about my motorcycle in mind for children, an autobiographical short stories compilation, a play about schizophrenia (in the same style as the play AML that I was in about Acute Myeloid Leukemia), and whatever else I think of in the meantime.  I used to think I'd paint while I was on maternity leave since I love painting oils.  I thought about developing some film I shot years ago but left in my camera. I think I have a good eye so I was hoping to make some money selling some prints.  This is just the artistic stuff I dreamt about working on. It doesn't include my academic pursuits, which include earning a degree in biostatistics.  All I need now is the time to do everything.  Intellectually I know it's about making the effort every day, just a few minutes everyday, but for now I just dream about having the time to devote to my dreams.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Automation by Amazon Prime

So, I read an article awhile back about Ebates, which gives you cash back for using their site to link to other sites to shop online.  For real, I've gotten checks for them that are legit.  I've also spent the same amount or less by using their site to link to shops I visit frequently.  Christmas shopping was a breeze thanks to them and I made some money back (can you say "rewards credit card" plus cash back from Ebates?).  Anyway, through Ebates I got hooked on Diapers.com which gave 5% on every diaper and wipes purchase, in addition to the 2% or more back from Ebates.  Well, Diapers.com changed their policy to 10% off on autoshipped items like diapers and wipes (some paper products counted too).  Free two-day shipping was a nice bonus.  I got an email the other day stating that they will no longer be offering a discount on autoshipping.  Enter Amazon.

A few months back, my husband signed up for Amazon Prime so we could access their instant video collection, probably to watch Downton Abbey when season 3 was exclusive.  Well, we kept the subscription after the trial ended.  I love it.  Two-day shipping!  Besides that, I learned that Amazon has a program called Amazon Mom (kinda sexist, but whatever), which offers 20% off when you subscribe to five eligible items (with Prime).  I opened my autoship shipments from Diapers.com on one tab and compared the prices to the same items on Amazon that are "subscribe and save" eligible. Totally cheaper.  Goodbye Diapers.com, hello Amazon!