We got Ryan a play pen!

We got Ryan a play pen, or playard as the trendy people like to call them,over the weekend and I must say, we should have gotten him one sooner. It was actually a hand-me-down from one of my mom’s friend, which was totally cool and the first thing I want to say is thank you to the Glysch family for letting us use it. It’s been a godsend from the standpoint that I can put him in it and focus on something else for a second instead of following him all throughout the house making sure he doesn’t hurt himself. I mean, the kid can motor!

It gets a bit taxing at times trying to keep up with him because he hates sitting still. One second, he’s over by the Xbox under our huge flat screen TV that could fall on him and kill him in an instant, then he’s over by Beaver’s cage trying to stand up, and then he’s in the kitchen wondering how to open up the refrigerator. It’s really crazy how mobile he’s becoming! Just yesterday he was playing basketball with his sports discovery toy and in a flash, he was trying to rip down the curtains that where six feet away. What’s even crazier is how beat I get after watching him for an entire day. It almost rivals how tired I get after doing a brick workout (which is stacking two workouts on one, like biking for an hour and then going for a run afterwards). I’m hoping that I can build up my endurance so I’m not so wiped out after trying to keep up with him. Hopefully, that happens sooner rather than later.

So, now that I’m able to put him in something for a short while without having to worry about him, it’s a bit of a relief. However at the same time, I kind of feel like a bad parent because I put him in the play pen instead of having to deal with him. I know that from time to time, we all need a break, yet it still makes me think that I’m a bad mom. The way I justify it though is by seeing how much fun he has when he does play in his play pen. The other day, he was giggling up a storm while teasing the dog through the mesh with one of his toys. It was super cute, especially since Beaver was pretty upset that he couldn’t get the toy that Ryan had! I found myself smiling and laughing at them both for about five minutes, something that happened in the video below!

Anyway, play pen or not, Ryan is growing up pretty quick and I can’t believe he’s almost nine months old. Not sure where the time has gone? The only thing I know is that I’m trying to enjoy it all as much as possible! :)

I wish there was a laundry fairy!

Ryan's clothes pile-up from yesterday!

I’ve always had a lot of laundry to do because I work out and that means each day, I accumulate not only the work clothes I wore that day, but the stinky workout clothes that I used as well. So, I’m used to doing a good amount of laundry. The thing is, now that I have a kid, the piles of laundry that I have to clean never seem to end and I wish I had a laundry fairy to help me out. I mean, it would be so awesome, so, so very awesome to go to bed at night and wake up to all of my laundry done, nicely folded and sitting atop my couch! That would be incredible! Simply INCREDIBLE! 

However, the laundry fairy has yet to make and appearance, leaving me with all sorts of wash to do. What’s been eye-opening about it all is how much laundry one little boy can produce. Yesterday alone, he went through two crib sheets, two sleepers, two outfits, two blankets, and one changing pad cover. It was insane since every time I cleaned him up or cleaned up his crib, he would get it dirty again! And no, he’s not super sick, just has a cough at the moment, but, the culprit is the fact that he’s teething and I’ve mentioned that before. So, he’s pooping a bunch and since he sticks his fingers in his mouth so much, he occasionally makes himself sick. It can get a little frustrating from time to time when he gets everything all dirty. What gets me through is his little smile though, when he flashes that grin, it makes it all worth it.

From all the laundry that I’m doing, I have come up with some laundry tips on how to save money and time. Here’s my list: 

• Coupons, coupons and more coupons – For example, the detergent I use when washing Ryan’s laundry is Dreft, which is really expensive. So, to make sure I don’t buy it at full price, I use coupons. Target has some good ones and there are some online too.
• Buying items on sale – When I do get detergent, Dreft or otherwise, I try to make sure it’s on sale. That also holds true with dryer sheets and pretty much anything else that I buy.
• Don’t go the name brand route – Generic and off brands typically work just as well as name brands and despite name brand laundry detergent makers saying otherwise, it’s true. What’s nice is they cost less and do the same thing as the name brands.
• Multi-task – This is the biggest time saver for me when I’m doing laundry. Like, after I throw a load of clothes in the dryer after taking out a load, I fold the one load and when I’m done with that, I get another load started. It may sound pretty simple, yet, it does save me a lot of time.
• Don’t let the laundry pile up – I learned this one the hard way when I decided to not do any laundry for a bit. I ended up doing laundry for an entire day and it was not fun. Now, I do a little laundry each day to keep on top of it!
  

This is what my grandma used to wash clothes!

In the end, laundry is a pain in the butt and when you have a kid, just realize, like I have, that it’s going to accumulate faster than ever. So fast that you might not be able to keep up with it and that not being able to keep up with it is probably going to make you fume a bit. Well, it has me anyway! :) And also realize, like I have, that laundry fairies don’t exist, they really, really don't! :) As much as I wish they did, they don’t, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and keep plugging away, washing and folding clothes! 

At least, it’s not the 1950’s with the hand crank washing machines like my Grandma had to use. (Check it out on the right, she actually used a machine like it still when I was growing up!) Not to mention having to hang all the clothes outside, or indoors, to dry. Now that wouldn’t have been much fun and I applaud her for her hard work. Love you Grandma!

Thus, I’m going to stop complaining now and be thankful for the advancement of technology! So until next time, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

I want to be able to provide for my son.

Okay, the last few weeks have been tough for our family, reason being, I was recently laid off from my job. This is the third time in my professional career that I’ve been laid off for budgetary reasons and what’s worse, is that it’s the second time I’ve been laid off during the holidays.

Being laid off is not a fun experience and now that I have a child, it’s even more stressful. I want to be able to provide for my son and give him everything that he needs to be successful in life. But, now that I don’t have a job and have had to file for unemployment, I feel like a complete failure and that I’m not a good parent. My family and friends have told me that I shouldn’t feel that way, yet, for some reason I can’t stop beating myself about what has happened. None of the lay-offs that I’ve been through have been my fault and despite knowing that, I still feel pretty down about it all.

So I guess you could say, I’ve been in a bit of a funk since I’ve lost my job and that’s why I haven’t really been blogging as much as I have before. Being able to be with Ryan day to day has cheered me up, however, at the same time, it makes me sad since I should be going to work to get him what he needs. It’s a catch-22 to say the least and given that it’s challenging to look for a job with him around sometimes, he’s still been going to day care so I can scour the Internet to find places to apply and submit resumes to. Nothing has popped up yet and I’m trying to stay positive that something will. It’s hard though, it’s hard to stay positive due to the fact that during this time of year, no one really hires. I’m going to keep plugging away though in hope of that my hard work will result in a new opportunity. Fingers crossed.

On a fun and happy note, yesterday was Thanksgiving and I was able to enjoy it with Ryan and my entire family. My husband Dave, my mom, dad and brother, and Dave’s kids and grand-kid. It was a nice break from the job hunting pressure and I’m thankful for having all of them in my life.

In the end, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and that’s how I’m approaching this recent lay-off. I keep telling myself that it will all work out and that something good will come out of this challenge set before me. God works in mysterious ways and I can’t wait for what’s going to happen next!  :)