It’s the little things that make me happy…

I’m not going to lie, the last week or so has been tough and I’m not going to go into why because one, there’s no point in complaining about it since I’ve done that already and it doesn’t really help, two, it’s a bit personal and three, it’s time to move on and focus on the positive. Being negative just doesn’t make things any easier or better. 

With that said, what I’ve figured out is that it’s the little things that make me happy and that dawned on me a few nights ago when Ryan and I were playing on the living room floor. He was doing what he does best, being all cute and junk, flailing his little legs and arms around like nobody’s business. It was hilarious! Then during tummy time, he kept lifting his head up and looked all around the living room with a big, huge grin on his face. Occasionally, he would try to crawl and when he wasn’t making any headway, he would pout, which was equally cute since it wasn’t real pouting. It was more like him not being able to do what he wanted to do and it would only last for about five seconds because he would start grinning again and he even giggled a few times. Our play time was so much fun and to see him so content was completely rewarding as a parent. At that moment, I realized it’s the little things that make me happy. Seeing him grin during our play time for example, just something as small as that grin made me melt inside and it was more than enough to help me forget my troubles and be positive again. Thanks little guy for how much you help me and to mark the occasion, I snapped some photos. At one point, him and the dog were even getting along!

Ryan and the Beave! :)

The thing is, I think I’ve known all along that it’s always been little things that make me happy and it just took me seeing Ryan be his fun little self to remember that. Looking back, it’s always been those moments, even before he was born, like when he kicked for the first time or when he had the hiccups for the first time and Dave and I would watch my belly jump, laughing the whole time. I guess I just didn’t put two and two together for whatever reason. I had another moment last night when Dave and I were feeding him. We gave him some baby food mixed with formula. It was apples and cinnamon I believe. I was holding him and every time Dave gave Ryan a spoonful, the little man grinned and couldn’t get enough of it. The fact that Ryan was so happy with his food made us both smile. It was cool!

Now that I get it, I feel pretty good again and I’m going to start holding onto those little moments like I did before. It’s those moments that make life worthwhile and I’m going to do my best to never forget that again. :)

Oh, the joy of eight straight hours of sleep!

So, for the past two nights, my dear husband did something that was completely wonderful, he got up with Ryan the entire night and let me get eight straight hours of sleep. Actually, I think it ended up being nine straight hours of sleep both nights and all I can say is that I feel like a completely new person. Typically, we will split up the night and take turns taking care of Ryan. However, the last two nights, Dave went above and beyond and let me sleep, it was heaven! I don't know how he does it and for him to let me sleep a whole bunch has been completely wonderful, thanks honey, I love you!

Super Dad and Ryan...I don't know what I would do without Dave! :)

Now, what I've learned during Ryan’s first three weeks of life is that sleeping and taking care of a newborn do not go hand in hand. Like, not one bit, not at all and one piece of advice that I want to debunk in this post is that whole deal about you need to sleep when your baby sleeps stuff.  In the last two or so months, I think I’ve heard that comment from more than 20 people and guess what, it doesn’t work. I’ve tried on numerous occasions to sleep when Ryan sleeps and it has yet to stick. Why? There are a variety of reasons. One, I need to eat and when he’s asleep, it gives me a prime opportunity to do so. I mean come on, it’s not like I can make a sandwich with one hand while I’m holding him with the other. Thus, when he’s snoring away, I can head to the kitchen and get some fuel to keep going. My favorite foods to snack on are Golden Grahams, string cheese, carrots, and peanut butter and jelly. They are all really fast and easy to make. Oh, and I really enjoy being able to drink as much coffee as I want too! :) When I was pregnant, the caffeine intake had to be limited, yet now, I can go nuts if I feel like it!

Anyway, another reason why I can’t sleep when Ryan sleeps is I like to stay clean. When he’s awake, he needs my soul attention and that means, no taking my eyes off of him. Sure, it’s not like he’s running all over the place, but I can’t let him sit in his crib or in his swing for 20 or so minutes (Yes, I take long showers now because that’s my relaxation time) and expect him to stay happy and occupied. He needs to be watched when he’s awake, even when he’s in his crib or swing, so, the only time I have to shower is while he’s snoozing.  Even then, I have his monitor in the bathroom with me to make sure he’s okay and if he starts to cry or whatever, I cut the shower short. That’s only happened on one occasion, so, I’ve been lucky.

I also can’t sleep when he sleeps since things need to get done around the house. People always say, “Oh, just leave the housework and take care of yourself.” Well guess what, that’s definitely easier said than done due to the fact that if it doesn’t get done, then things get chaotic and extremely messy. For instance, as soon as Ryan goes to sleep the first thing I do is check to make sure he has enough formula to eat, if not, then that needs to be made and if his bottles are dirty, then those need to be cleaned so he has something to eat out of. That takes about 15 or so minutes to get done. Then, if he has dirty laundry, that needs to be started and that takes another 15 or so minutes to get done. After that, there are our dirty dishes to take care of and if the Beaver our dog doesn’t get some attention at some point, he freaks out so I need to play with him.

Poor dog hasn't been adjusting well. :(

When I’m done playing with Beaver and have let him out outside, which takes about a half an hour, then it’s time put Ryan’s laundry in the dryer, and in a blink of an eye, an hour, hour and a half has gone by and that leaves me about an hour to take a nap before Ryan starts to wake up for his next feeding. That may sound like enough time to get some sleep, yet it really isn’t because more often than not as soon as I fall asleep, he wakes up and I feel worse than I would have without even going to sleep at all. So, I would rather just kind of veg out for that time, like play on Facebook or watch TV, and wait until I need to get Ryan’s laundry done and then eventually get Ryan to change and feed him. It’s just easier than falling into a deep sleep only to wake up 30 or so minutes later.

Basically when it comes down to it, sleeping when your newborn sleeps just doesn’t seem to work for me and it’s not advice that I would pass along myself to new parents. What I would suggest to new parents would be to simply take turns taking care of your little guy or gal with your partner. If you split up the duties, then, everyone will get some rest and for me and Dave, there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel with Ryan’s sleeping habits. Last night, Dave told me that Ryan slept from 10:30 pm till a little after 4 am straight. Dave stayed up to check on him once and awhile to make sure that he was okay and tonight, we have our fingers crossed that Ryan will sleep through the night again. All I know is that we just have to stay the course and if we do, we’ll all end up getting all the rest that we’ll need at some point! Sweet! And yes, Dave is taking a well deserved nap right now and I have every intention of doing something nice for him for all the support he has given me! There will definitely be some eight or nine straight hours of uninterrupted sleep for him in the future! :) Just saying!

Well, that’s about all I have for today. I’ll let you know what happens with Ryan’s sleeping in my next blog post. So stay tuned and until next time, it’s Carla the new mom and tomboy signing off!

I wonder about my pooch…

The Beave!

So my pooch Beaver is pretty much attached to me at the hip when I’m in the house and I’m wondering how he’s going to react when little Billy Bubba makes his way into our lives?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Beaver is going to be extremely jealous for awhile because instead of having all of my attention like he does now, he’s going to have to take a backseat to little BB. As it is, the furball gets mad when Dave and I sit next to each other sometimes, so I can only imagine how it’s going to be when I’m rocking little BB back and forth instead of petting him. There are other times when he's even worse, like when I go upstairs and leave him in the living room. He'll cry and have a fit if I'm not around him. My mom suggested that we train Beaver how to be around a baby by purchasing a baby doll, however, I’m thinking that’s only going to end in catastrophe since Beaver will probably rip the doll apart in like three seconds without us ever getting the chance to tell him no!

I did a little research online to find out how to make the transition easier for my dog and little BB. There was talk about setting up boundaries, hiring a private trainer to get him on track, teaching him to be obedient with treats to not jump on people or the baby, and getting him used to infant smells along with the noises that an infant might make. I’m not quite sure how we’re going to go about getting Beaver ready for little BB, but I do know that it’s something that has to happen given that if it doesn’t, it’s not going to be a good situation.

I guess my fear is that Beaver isn’t going to get used to little BB and then we’re going to have to give Beaver away or something. That would be completely devastating to me, even though Dave would probably be okay with it since the pooch can be annoying, due to the fact that we’ve been through so much with this dog. Not only training him mind you, but nursing him through a hip surgery along with an infection that almost killed him. So, if we had to let him go, I would be super sad and for that reason, I’m going to do everything to make sure Beaver and little BB coexist nicely. If you readers out there have any suggestions on how to make things work, please let me know!