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

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.

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!  

And the award goes to....American Hustle

My husband and I decided to see American Hustle tonight.  We planned on either that or Anchorman 2, but went with American Hustle since it was barely earlier and more of what I was in the mood for.  Lately, we haven't been able to get time away from our kids so we wanted to make the most of it.  Our youngest is sick with a viral infection known as RSV.  It's like a cold, but mostly just for babies.  It sucks.  He isn't sleeping well, he's unusually fussy, and his poor nose is all snotty.  Worst of all is his terrible cough.  He gets so red in the face and starts wheezing if you don't clear his nose out.  He's been to the doctor so we know that the only real thing we can do is use a saline spray and give him baby Tylenol if his temperature gets too high.  That and wait it out.  Seriously, there is almost nothing more pathetic than a sick baby.

Anyway, back to my original point.  This film is different than you might expect.  The characters are impressively well-acted and the writing turns out to not be so much writing as improvisation and it's also impressive.  Christian Bale is so much better than a lot of people probably realize.  Anyone remember a little movie called American Psycho?  Yeah, that's right, Batman used to be a serial killer.  Seriously, it's easy for the better roles to be overshadowed by the more publicized cheesy roles.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Batman movies.  I don't even mind Christian Bale's Batman voice.  Kevin Conroy, from the animated series did the same sort of thing, creating a separate sound for Batman versus Bruce Wayne.  That's right, Superman, Bruce uses more than glasses and a cheap suit to disguise his alter ego.  

But seriously, Christian Bale is incredibly talented.  Jeremy Renner doesn't look like Jeremy Renner and even Robert De Niro looks dissimilar to Robert De Niro as we know him (although he plays someone intimidating, which is just like De Niro).  Bradley Cooper is one of the only people that comes off much like his other roles, most notably Silver Linings Playbook.  

You know who was a surprise, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence.  Every time I see Jennifer Lawrence in a movie, I think the same thing.  She is Katniss.  She is seventeen.  Then we saw her in Winter's Bone.  Her character is tough as nails, rough, yet protective of those she loves.  Sounds like Hunger Games, right?  Still, she is really good in Winter's Bone and proves she can make you believe she is someone other than Katniss.  When I saw she was in Silver Linings, I kept thinking, no way, she's seventeen, and then I saw the movie and she was completely believable as her character.  She really commits to her roles.  You wonder at the end of her movies if it's really the same girl that was in Hunger Games.  American Hustle is a lot like that.  When you see who her character is and how she relates to the others, you think, Jennifer Lawrence?  Really?  The answer is yes.

Amy Adams.  We see her in Enchanted and Muppets and think that's all she is.  Song and dance, which she's really good at by the way.  When she was cast as Lois Lane in Man of Steel, I thought that was perfect.  Somehow it made sense.  Seeing her in the movie proved that to be true.  But this, this was acting.  Her character is alluring, charming, smart, and broken.  I really wanted her to save herself.  I was just so sad for her.  I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say that I came to see Amy Adams in a new light.  I always liked her, but now I can really respect her acting as well as her singing and dancing.  It was nice seeing her less made up, less pretty.  Good for her.

Christmas Eve

Here we are watching Modern Family, relaxing after getting Christmas ready.  Kids are in bed asleep (even the babe), Santa has come and gone, stockings are stuffed, cookies have been eaten.  This has been a good, comfortable Christmas Eve.  Most of the time, I haven't had time to wrap anything because I've been working from Black Friday on, but not this year.  This year I worked the day before Christmas Eve.  NOT Christmas Eve.  This is the first year I've been completely off from Christmas Eve since my daughter was born six years ago.  SIX YEARS.  I know it's silly to complain, but nothing kills your holiday spirit like working retail.  I have kids.  I'd like to appreciate them during the holidays.  This year is that year.  I even wrapped some stuff ahead of time and shared tasks with my husband.  Amazing, right?  Yeah, I know.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care

We are celebrating our first Christmas in our new house and I'm over the moon about it.  I'm in my living room, TV on, baby asleep on dad, wine glass emptied, and I'm looking at our new Christmas tree.  Six feet tall, white, pre-lit (which apparently means someone twisted lights around every set of branches), with ornaments spread out haphazardly.  You can tell what sections my daughter did because there are ornaments clumped on top of each other, including candy canes.  This is the most chaotic tree I have ever had and I LOVE it.

The other exciting thing about our Christmas tree is that we actually have one.  I got to use ornaments that have never been opened before because I didn't have a tree to put them on, nor a place to put a tree to put ornaments on.  Let me take you through the last few Christmases I've had.

The year is 2005 and I'm living at my boyfriend's during my senior year of high school.  I don't remember a tree, but if there was one, I damn-sure had nothing to do with it.

2006- College.  My parents had a tree that they put up while I was at school.  Side note: My dad died a month later.

2007- My new husband's father's house.  The first live tree I have ever lived with.  It is so beautiful, next to an active wood-burning fireplace with stockings hung on the mantle.  Presents are settled on the floor beneath the tree, just waiting to be opened on Christmas Day.  My newborn daughter has just come home from the hospital two weeks prior after spending two weeks in the hospital from being born prematurely.  We watch A Christmas Story and eat eggs over easy that my amazing first father-in-law has cooked. Side note: He died nine months later.

2008- Staying with my mother during my separation from my husband.  I was a store manager then so I doubt I helped with the tree since I was busy selling Christmas presents.  Retail....

2009- I'm in my own apartment, but spending all my time at my crazy then-boyfriend's house.  His family comes down from New York.  We end up going there at some point as well.  His mother and stepdad are super sweet and everything is perfect, except him.  His Christmas tree is all his decision, just like everything in our relationship (except our break-up, BAZINGA!).

2010- Back at my mom's?

2011- First Christmas with my new husband.  We're expecting our first child together in April.  We get a two foot tree and stick it in a tiny box instead of a fake pot.  It's still in that tiny box, with the lights and ornaments we selected to put on it, currently occupying our mantle.

2012- Christmas at my in-laws because we were waiting to hear back about our short sale home purchase.  Very cozy with our daughter and six-month-old son, but no tree of our own.

2013- THE YEAR OF THE TREE!!!!!!!!!  Oh, and stockings that I hung on the mantle...