Family Musings

Last night was better in some ways and not in others... I finished the book when we got home yesterday afternoon and then talked with Bruce to make a bedtime and routine for Charlotte that we could both participate in. We decided an 8 pm bedtime would be best for her so that she could get ~10 hours of sleep to go with her 2-3 hours of naps during the day. Here is the plan: 7:00 pm - Bath 7:15 pm - Dress in pjs and play in bedroom with daddy 7:30 pm - Book time until she loses interest 7:45 pm - Quite playtime with mommy and nurse 1 more time 8:00 pm - Rock/nurse until she is almost asleep A key component to making night time sleeping work, according to Pantley, is getting enough daytime sleep. Before reading the book, if Charlotte fell asleep while nursing after school, I would try to keep her awake so she would sleep at night. Apparently, this was hurting and not helping. So, when she fell asleep at 4, I laid her in her crib and she slept for an hour. When she got up, we played and ha...

I work in the nursery during the early service at my church on the first Sunday of every month. Until about 2 months ago, Charlotte was the only baby in there. Then, we got to meet Trenton. He is about 12 weeks old and such a cute and compliant little baby. One thing I realized this past week as I picked him up out of his car seat is that I had already forgotten how tiny Charlotte used to be. She is so good at sitting up and since holding her head up isn't even an issue any more, I forgot that she hasn't always done these things. She used to be all squirmy and floppy-headed too. Even though its only been 5 months since she was Trenton's age, my mind has begun to move on and look forward to what she will be doing next week, next month, and even next year. I remember when Charlotte was about that age, I couldn't even THINK about her growing big enough to walk, go to school, or even get married. Now that she is learning new skills it is fun to think about those things. Wel...

It finally arrived! Last night I got my hands on a used copy of The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantely. While I haven't had time to read books hardly at all since Charlotte was born, I somehow managed to find time to read the first 125 pages of this one, all in one afternoon. The basic premise of the book is that there has to be a way to teach a baby to fall asleep without using a crutch and without forcing them to cry-it-out. I knew early on in Charlotte's life that letting her cry-it-out was not an option for our family, so this book seemed like it would be a good fit. After reading that much of the book I wasn't willing to wait one more night before trying some of the solutions it presented. I have been so tired and sleep-deprived these last few months especially that it is taking more and more caffeine each day to help me function. I cut myself off by 2 pm, but I know it has to be affecting Charlotte in ways...

Since you bore with me and read my previous post and because today is Charlotte's 8-month birthday, I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits about my sweet daughter with you. She points her finger at everything. Charlotte likes to poke at stuff with her tiny, right pointer finger. Her future as a break dancer is secure. The way she can spin around on her belly at such a young age is sure to give her street cred when the time comes. Her boot-scootin' ability is also increasing. So if break dancing doesn't work out, then maybe she can have a future as a line-dance instructor. For now, it takes her a little while, but she can move about 3 feet in 30 minutes! When playing with her new favorite toy, a shape sorter, she likes to clap the shapes together, just like her daddy taught her. While nursing, she likes to talk to me. It is kind of funny to hear her grunts and moans as she carries on a conversation wit her momma. While she isn't crawling yet, she has fig...

I have been thinking recently about ways that I can turn the time I spend on-line into a money-making venture. Does that sound awful? It's just that, I have put a lot of work into this and think it might be worth something. I enjoy writing product reviews and have done a few already. I've even done a few movie reviews . All of those were written for the love of a particular product or for fun. And I've got several more in the pipeline... just need to find some time. While I was looking into ways to monetize this blog, I came across PayPerPost. This site offers opportunities for me to talk about other websites and services and get paid for it. After looking at the opportunities, I am not sure how many I will actually take advantage of. I mean, seriously, how many of you want to read about police gear or hot new sales leads. However, there are some services that I think I would enjoy personally, so I'll definitely be reviewing them to bring in some dough. I'll always...

Bruce and I had a chance a few weeks ago to get out on our first date in a very long time. My friend Tess, along with her wonderful extended family, graciously volunteered to watch Charlotte for us while we enjoyed a luau theme dinner in town. Apparently while we were gone, Charlotte demonstrated her propensity for sweets. At least that is a Diet Coke! I do have some pictures of us at the luau and as soon as I pick up the cd from Walgreens I will share the limbo love with you! Yes, I did the limbo, and was pretty good at it too!

Just call me four-eyes. I've needed vision correction for about 11 years now, and after a brief stint with contacts, I made the switch back to glasses a few years ago. It was a good choice except that I am horrible at picking out a pair that looks good on me. Because of that, I've always chosen very simple, tortoise-shell frames. My last pair of glasses came from Wal-Mart, and while they fit my style idiom, I was not satisfied at all with the quality or price. I have fairly decent vision insurance, but Wal-Mart does not have a decent selection, at least not for people with the same face shape as me. I knew I wanted new glasses but there was no coverage for new ones until sometime in 2009. And I am not a patient person. So I lost those glasses. Not on purpose, though my husband might disagree. They fell out of my bag while we were playing at Disney recently. I felt bad, but not too bad. Now that I needed a new pair, I could finally use that cool $8 glasses site I had read about ...