Flying with Baby

I was so so so incredibly unbelievably crazily SCARED out of my mind about flying with Carson. He already made a round trip to Minnesota last summer, and he did just fine, but that did not calm my fears. Not one little bit.

We managed to check our massive amounts of luggage and make it through security without a hitch, which was the only thing Sean was nervous about. What? Why was he only nervous about that?

Why wasn't he nervous about entertaining a small child at the airport for an hour before we boarded (Sean was nervous about traffic so we got there reeeeaaaalllly early) and then on the plane for two and a half hours??? Why?

I'll tell you why.

He knew I'd be the one doing that part.

The big turd sat down and got out a book!!! I was chasing Carson around the airport for an hour, and then entertaining the poo out of him for nearly the entire flight while Sean read a book.

I was getting pretty peeved about it, so I handed him the baby and said "Here! You do it!" And about 30 seconds later... this is what I see...




Yeah. Not cool.

When he woke up about 30 minutes later, Sean handed him back to me and I proceeded to entertain some more. Thank God for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coloring book with STICKERS that I bought for the flight. And the many, many snacks. Otherwise, I might have lost my mind.

All in all... Carson appeared VERY VERY well behaved on both his flights to and from Minnesota because I was VERY VERY busy keeping him busy. He didn't annoy any other passengers (I can only assume from lack of eye rolling and loud, obvious sighs) but he sure did annoy me! And so did his father.

Proof I'm Crazy

(Oh. My. I'm having major mommy guilt right now... it's baby's first night without a pacifier. Yep. COLD TURKEY. I'm fReAkInG oUt!!! He's in his bed just talking away right now... I wonder how long it will be until he starts screaming bloody murder?)

So... Sean, Carson, and I have just returned from a two week vacation to visit family in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It was really, really lovely. I kind of had a little freak out this morning when I realized that I was home. Just me and Carson. No aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents to help entertain my kid. No husband to guilt into helping me because he was off golfing all morning. And, most sadly of all, most definitely not pregnant. Sigh.

(Oh, geez. "Mama!! Mama!! Mama!!" coming from baby's room. I can't take the guilt. I'm going in.)

(I'm back. I can't believe I only lasted 5 minutes. I rocked him for a minute until he was calmed down, and laid him back down. My heart aches.)

I guess that's really to be expected since not much baby-making can be done while staying in a guest room with your baby in a pack-n-play right next to you and your grandparents mere feet away from you separated only by a paper-thin wall. What? You don't find that romantic?

But still, it's disappointing. I know it's only been three months, but it seems like a flipping eternity and since last time wasn't a cake walk, I'm now starting to doubt that it's ever going to happen.

Pair that with turning 30 in just eeeeeek!!!! 4 days, and after gaining at least 5 pounds on vacation (I went with three pairs of shorts, and came back only fitting in two of them), and now I just feel FAT. OLD. NOT ON VACATION. And NOT PREGNANT.

And that's pretty much what my pity-party was all about this morning. It wasn't until Carson had been sleeping two straight hours (his sleeping/napping on vacay was AWFUL!!) that I realized I was totally wasting this precious nap time and I got my butt in gear.

After Carson woke up (and stayed up... he slept three hours this morning, so there was no afternoon nap), I accomplished the following:

bank
dry cleaners
dentist (to pick up my new night guard- more on that later.)
grocery store
unloaded my whole freaking car (that's nearly the hardest part of grocery shopping, right?!)
prepped dinner
cleaned kitchen
finished dinner
went on walk- stop at playground for the little man
bathed baby
put baby to bed
annoyed husband by asking for probably the 23rd time today to take the dog out and play with him (he still hasn't.)

(OMG. I think the kid might be asleep. He's quiet now. Fingers crossed, people!!!)

(Oh skittles... if I actually do break him of his night-time paci, does this also mean I have to break him of his car paci? And if so... GOSH DARN IT!! UGH! Barf! Poop on a stick!!!)

(I am trying to clean up my language since the kid is starting to repeat everything.)

(And sorry about all the parenthesis. I can't seem to stop.)

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for being a good wifey and mother and getting so much done... and now I'm just beat. Vacation wore me out!! Can't wait to share some pictures and stories with you... will do soon!

Land of 10,000 Lakes

It's absolutely beautiful here in Northern Minnesota. Gorgeous.




So while we've been up here relaxing I haven't been doing a bunch of blogging. Well, take that back, I've been mini-blogging over at www.grouchymuffin.com. Check it out- my crazy friend, The Cribkeeper, will have you in stitches, no doubt.

I have so so so many pictures and stories to share and I can't wait to! But first I'm gonna relax my now-five-pounds-heavier-from-all-the-beer-I've-been-drinking butt off and enjoy my family for a few more days.

I'm feeling relaxed and very, very blessed. And very happy that my hubby will take two weeks vacation and spend the entire time with my family!

Sometimes I'm Dumb

This past week, I've found myself thinking lots about things that are dumb. Things that only make me sad and aren't worth any time thinking about and yet I sometimes can't stop myself. And, then, I find myself semi-wallowing in self-pity (I say semi-wallowing because with a small child, I cannot enter into full-wallowing mode since it's not really OK to curl up in a ball on your couch for days in a row when you have to take care of another human). It's not pretty.

These things include, but are not limited to:
body image
feeling left-out, unwanted, unappreciated
wondering why everyone else is having so much more fun than I am

You know, really dumb stuff.

Last night it happened again... I was feeling pretty darn good after a date to Outback with my honey, and a stop afterwards at TuttiFrutti for some frozen yogurt that I've been OBSESSED with lately... and then I did a little perusing on good old Facebook. And then saw a little reminder that sometimes, people get together without me. (I know, criminal, right?!? How dare they? Yeah. I said I was dumb.)

It made me start longing for the days when I was free as a bird and was always out socializing, heck, WORK was social hour for me before I began staying home with Carson. I'm kind of a social person. (Probably why I share my life with all of you Internet people.) I loved that. I loved the feeling that I was very, very cool and lots of people wanted to hang out with me.

Now that I'm home with Carson... not so much. Things just change. People have to move on and do new things and I get it, and I accept it, but sometimes I just have a hard time with it. Being around people day in and day out led to impromptu get-togethers... now I have to take a much more aggressive role in getting out to socialize. It doesn't just happen without me pursuing play dates, or inviting people over for dinner, or going out to visit friends... it's just very, very different. And to be honest? I don't like this part of staying at home. Nope. Not so much.

After a little pity party, and yet another confession to my hubby that I am indeed, not perfect (like he needed me to tell him that) and I was a little... jealous.... he reminded me that I have nothing to be jealous of or sad about and that I have LOTS of great friends, even if I don't see them all as often as I used to. (I believe he actually just said: "JoDee. You know who your friends are." But I'm pretty sure that I elaborated on his idea the way he would have if he were more of a "talker.")

And not minutes after that, I got a call from one of my favorite friends ever, inviting me (with or without baby or husband- cause she's that awesome) to her house tonight for nachos and a movie! It perked me up right then... but it really perks me up now, this morning, when I've had a chance to sleep on it and realize that I am a very blessed woman. I'd like this feeling to stick around for a while... I mean, how long will it take before I truly get over the fact that my life is different with a baby? And mostly, different-GREAT! I love that little bugger. He's so bad, and yet so cute at the same time. Hopefully this little Internet confession will take me a step closer to being not-so-dumb anymore. That would be great.

(I've got some seriously cute Carson videos I'm going to post just as soon as I can get Sean to help me with a little editing... stay tuned for some adorableness!!)

Embrace the Camera: Beach Edition

Memorial Day weekend we went down the the beach house to spend a little time relaxing... it was so much fun! We did a little playing on the beach, some sunbathing, reading, card playing... it was a really nice weekend.

Here are a few pictures my Mother-in-law took when we brought Carson down to the beach to play. He loved the sand... the water? Well, those waves were rough, and he wasn't really into that (me either)!!

First Steps

It only took him about 16 months... but Carson finally took his first real steps!

Bapron for Carson

I love sewing! And, sadly, I am usually drawn to sewing girly little projects like bonnets and ruffle diaper covers... and Carson is only my size tester before passing them on to our little girl friends. (He doesn't seem to mind, actually, he likes wearing the bonnets! It's funny!)

But when I recently saw my friend Amanda pin this cute little baby bib/apron, hence, bapron, on her pinterest board, I knew I had to make one for Carson!




It's a great design and tutorial by Jess from Craftiness is not Optional. I think it's pretty genius.

I used some scrap fabric to try it out for the first time, and the pattern worked out great! I may enlarge it slightly for the next few as my little man is a little bigger than the sweet baby in the picture above, but it does fit him just as is. My photos are terrible as usual, but I think you get the idea.



The bapron has little arm holes and ties in the back so that it stays put!! Carson's other bibs are a joke- his shirts are usually completely covered anyway.

We went to a rehearsal dinner last night and I decided to put it to the test... Carson impressed everyone with his HUGE appetite (bread, strawberries, goldfish crackers, then nearly an entire bowl of mac and cheese, and topped it off with a cookie, cheesecake, and an ice cream sundae)and would you believe his shirt stayed clean?!? It was great! My husband's response: "We need more of these."



Another cool thing about the bapron- it's reversible! I used the navy side at dinner last night because it looked nice with his shirt.







(Of course all my pictures are blurry... the combination of a wiggly baby and a crappy point and shoot camera produces nothing less.)

I am definitely going to make more of these beauties- quick, easy, and very, very useful!

*Just linked up to the Help a Momma Out Link Up Party at J&M's Eye Candy... check them out! Great ideas for mommas!!