lately [tidbits + pics]

I was recently reminded that I haven't blogged in three weeks (thanks KAYCIE). Life has been busy and hectic and fun and OMG SUMMER. So here's what we've been up to - in bullet point form, naturally.

- Our house is officially on the market! As exciting as it is to plan our future in a new home (details to come on that in another post - I don't want to jinx it), it's pretty overwhelming in a lot of ways. 

First of all, we have a TON of last minute projects to wrap up before we have showings... you know those little things you've been putting off for years... like un-cluttering the empty bedroom and repainting the outdoor stair rail? We've been busting our asses (meaning, Sean has been busting his ass) getting all this stuff done. 

Also, it's a little emotional to think about leaving this place and starting over somewhere else. This was our first home we owned together and we have a ton of memories here. But I'm so excited to start fresh in a home that ISN'T 60+ years old. So yeah, that shiz has been a little crazy. 

- Ronin loves the pool. Granted, we've only been a handful of times, but he loves the water and that makes me such a happy Mama. We spent a few hours at the pool on the 4th of July and it made me so excited to spend his first Independence Day doing something fun. We had a little cookout at our home to celebrate the 4th and sadly, I took zero photos. But trust me when I say we are certainly enjoying our summer so far!

water baby :)

- My Arbonne business has been such an eye opening experience, and I'm really enjoying everything I'm learning about network marketing, our products, and building leadership skills. I'm bound and determined to move up in rank by the end of the year, and it feels extremely empowering to have a goal like that in mind. 

- I have yet to take Ronin's 10 month photos and he'll be 11 months old next week. I also sent his birthday invitations out this week and I may or may not have cried in the parking lot of the post office. This kid is looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby by the day, y'all. And I just can't. 

Ronin's birthday invite - designed it myself, blocked out the address for privacy reasons, duh.

-  I'm currently reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (author of the infamous Gone Girl), and I cannot put it down. It's been a long time since I was so into a book that I finished it in less than a week. We're reading it for our book club and it's going to be so hard to wait until August to discuss! 

- I'm thinking that we may have a slight intolerance to fruit going on with Ronin - either that, or I'm just giving him too much of it and he can't handle all of the fiber. He's been in disposables for about 10 days because he's been pooping SO MUCH, and he also had a nasty diaper rash that lasted for almost 4 days. It seems to be getting better (the poop frequency AND the rash) now that I've cut back on the fruit at meals, so let's hope that's all it was. 

I just talked about baby poop on my blog. I think I'm officially a mom blogger now? 

Happy Hump Day!

we sleep trained at 9 months. and we lived to tell the tale!

Let me preface this by stating that we seriously have the easiest baby on the planet. If I knew that we could duplicate his laid back personality and ability to adapt to change, I would seriously have 12 more babies in a heartbeat. Thankfully, this made helping him learn how to self soothe a breeze. I'm aware that many of you probably want to punch me in the face, and that's fine. But remember that my next kid will most likely be a fucking nightmare. And then you can laugh.

I mentioned before that we were following the SleepEasy Solution sleep learning program. We began the crib transition by sleeping in the room with him (on a blow-up mattress) for a week before forcing him to stay in the room by himself. I felt that it helped him to know that we were still in the room with him, especially since he's only slept without us on a few occasions. 

For the most part, he did exceptionally well being in his crib at night. We would do his nightly routine like usual (diaper change, baby massage, jammies, book, song, and rock to sleep), and then place him in his crib and try not to wake him up. He would sometimes wake after his sleep cycle, but was pretty skilled at putting himself back to sleep. Occasionally, he would be pretty upset, and that's when I would just go up to comfort him and go to bed myself. There were a few times that I just brought him to bed with me on the air mattress - I felt it was better to do that than fall asleep rocking him in the glider. I also may or may not have wanted to really soak up those last nights of snuggling and smelling his sweaty little head while he sleeps.

Finally, after a week of killing my back on the air mattress, we decided to start the full program on May 31st. We did everything the same, except that I took the time to tell him while we were doing our routine that we were going to be leaving him in his room all night, and that he was ready to sleep in his crib all by himself. Also, instead of rocking him to sleep, we put him in his crib awake. I just rocked him for a minute and sang "you are my sunshine" to him, and laid him down. As I was walking toward the crib, I said "alright buddy, it's time for you to learn to self soothe. you're a big boy and you're going to do great!" 

Of course, as soon as I shut the door, I could hear him start to cry. As instructed by the book, we went in after 5 minutes of crying. I just walked halfway to his crib so that he could see me and I said, "I know this is hard for you, Ronin, but you're such a big boy now that you have to learn to sleep by yourself. I'll be back in to check on you in a few minutes. night night!" I was in the room for less than 30 seconds. They really encourage you to sound confident and not weary at all, and I think that's important. Babies can totally sense if you are nervous or hesitant and if you aren't comfortable with what you're doing, they certainly won't be either.

Anyway, so there was more crying. Sean did the second check 10 minutes later, and we figured we'd take turns. Oh, and Ronin had also just gotten over a bit of a cold, so he was still kind of congested and his nose was a little runny. The book suggests NOT beginning sleep learning while a baby is sick or teething, but I knew if I didn't start it then, I would just keep putting it off. He wasn't running a fever and had been playing like normal, so I knew he'd be okay. At least... I knew that in the very back hidden corner of my mind. 

After 10 minutes of crying, I was thisclose to saying "fuck it" and going upstairs to soothe him. I just kept picturing his little face covered in snot and tears and it broke me. There is no doubt in my mind that sleep training is WAY worse on Mamas than it is on Dads. Sean assured me that he was fine, that he needed to learn how to soothe himself. I still protested and tried to come up with excuse after excuse as to why we should just "wait until next weekend." At that point, he just flat out refused and didn't try to comfort me because he knew I was being ridiculous. I then found myself crying in the bathroom with the fan on to drown out Ronin's crying. With a beer, of course. 

Sean continued to do the check-ins at the suggested intervals (every 15 minutes after the first two at 5 and 10 minutes). For instance, if Ronin was placed in bed at 8:00 and continued to cry, he would be checked on at 8:05, 8:15, 8:30, and every 15 minutes after that until he fell asleep. On the first evening, it took 56 minutes for him to finally self soothe. It was probably the longest hour of my life. The second evening only took 24 minutes, and by the fifth night or so, he was down to 6 minutes and zero crying. The time it took him to fall asleep dwindled with each passing night, which was wonderful to witness. It made me SO proud.

It was incredibly heart wrenching to listen to him cry, but I knew he was okay. He was only upset because he wanted me to help him sleep, even though I knew he could do it on his own. He first soothed himself to sleep around 4 months, so I encouraged him to do that for a while in our bed. Once he became mobile though, it was impossible to put him in our bed for a nap by himself, so I think he forgot how to do it. 

Do I miss co-sleeping? Yes and no. Obviously, I miss having the snuggly, warm little body next to me at night, and I definitely miss helping him to go back to sleep in the middle of the night by rubbing his back or playing with his hair. However, it is SO nice to have our bed back and not having to prop pillows up along the edge of the bed when I get up to pee in the middle of the night. The freedom of being able to take a nice long shower while he naps is more amazing than I could ever describe. I love that I don't have to worry about making too much noise and waking him up - either at night or during naps, which means I can get things done around the house instead of tip-toeing around and watching the monitor like a hawk. It's so awesome watching him play in his crib and talk to his blankie when he can't sleep. I think it helps him to become more independent, even though he's still so young.

Nine months is a long time to wait to sleep train for some people, but it ended up being perfect timing for us, including Ronin. He adapted so quickly and I think he sleeps better in his own room than he did in ours. He's doing so well in his crib now and it's hard to believe I ever doubted that he'd be able to sleep in there. Buuuuuut I do still nap with him in our bed occasionally when I really miss the cuddles or it's a rainy day and just feeling like snuggling. We are so thankful to have such an easy going baby - if only I could clone him! 

So I wanna know:

What method did you use for sleep training? How long did it take? How many cases of beer (or wine) did you go through during the process? :)

RRQ: nine months!

super late on this month's update. so hard to take photos when dude is ALL over the place. I had to practically hold him down for this picture and he's not even looking at me. oh well. only three more to do! eeeeks!

um, I took a LOT of photos between months 8 and 9. photo overload ahead!

that time karma bit me in the ass. oh, and sleep training.

remember last week when I mentioned that Sean was sick again and that he was being a big baby? 

yeah. that was dumb. Friday morning I woke up feeling congested and by Saturday, I had a fever of 101.4 that was kicking my ass. you know what sucks worse than being sick? being sick while you're trying to transition your kid (who is ALSO sick) to his crib at nine (!!!!) months old. 

we're following a modified version of the SleepEasy Solution, since they have a good plan on moving baby from your bed to his own. we're stretching the whole "sleep with baby in his room and soothe as you normally would" thing for a whole week (they recommend 2-4 nights) since Ronin is older and is aware of his surroundings. we'll start the actual sleep learning program this weekend.

we began the transition on Friday night, and Sean started off by sleeping on the floor in the nursery right next to the crib. Ronin was only asleep for an hour or so before he leaked out of his cloth diaper (ugh, SO frustrating) and we had to put him in a disposable and change his jams. and then Sean ended up coming downstairs to our bed at about 2AM because his back was killing him. naturally, when Ronin woke up crying, it was Mama to the rescue. so now I'm sleeping on the floor next to the crib, but he still didn't want to sleep. he would be passed out, but as soon as I laid him down, he'd wake up and stand up in his crib. finally, I pulled him out of the crib and onto the floor with me and we both fell asleep... until the fever crept up on me and I went from comfortable to freezing in about 20 seconds. we spent the last few hours of night one all huddled up in our bed downstairs. well, I guess I was the only one huddling since I was the one with the chills. Friday night was a shit show. 

1) yay, he's sleeping! IN HIS CRIB! 2) well shit. 3) aw, best Dad ever...
4) not pictured: my fevered ass bundled up on the floor with a baby on my chest.

Saturday, we wised up and moved an air mattress up to the nursery so we could avoid sore backs by sleeping on the floor. I went ahead and volunteered to take the second night of wake ups, even though I was exhausted and still feeling like total shit from the virus. we had our first wake up at about 10:00 or so, but he was quick to get back to sleep. he woke up a few more times and was to the point of standing up and not laying back down by about 4:30, so I brought him to the air mattress with me and he slept until around 7:00. 

Sean took nursery duty on Sunday night. we actually stayed up later than usual and watched the first two episodes of the North America special on the Discovery Channel. Ronin didn't have his first wake up until close to midnight, woohoo! Sean went up to comfort him and I was SO relieved and excited to get a good night's sleep. except Sean brought Ronin down to our bed at almost 5:00 - apparently he couldn't get Ronin to sleep with him on the air mattress and he was coughing a lot. so once again... Mama to the rescue... even though I didn't go to sleep until about 1AM. I finally got him to fall back asleep at around 6, only to have him wake up for good at 6:45. eff. my. life. 

so needless to say, we had an early bedtime of 7:00 tonight. we're going to take turns sleeping in there with him this week and then we'll put him in his crib awake and start sleep training on Friday evening. 

I wish liquor stores had loyalty programs for frequent customers. #beerme

tidbits.

- um, my kid is mobile (!!!!). thus, I can no longer sit him down to play independently without having to immediately chase him into the other room. baby gates are comin' soon, but until then, blogging has to wait until nap/bed time.

chasing the cats is his #1 favorite thing to do. 

- I am working on a little venture of my own as a way to bring in a little extra income. I'll wait til things are official, but I can't wait to tell you about it! I'm pretty excited.

- Sean is sick. AGAIN. he's been sick like 49 times since Ronin was born. men are the biggest babies when they're sick, amIright? I mean damn, I wish I could just lay on the couch all day when I'm sick.

- last weekend I went to Wine in the Woods. it's an annual event that showcases local wineries - there's yummy food and local music too. all in all, it's a grand ol time, and this mama got white girl wasted for the first time in what seems like forever (probably at least 2 years). it was a blast and I'm already looking forward to next year's festivities. 

- I'm supposed to be reading The Night Circus for my monthly book club and I'm still only like 20% into it. and I PICKED THE BOOK. we're meeting in a little over a week, so I need to start dedicating my evenings to reading instead of other shit.

- I cannot even fathom that I will be putting together Ronin's 9 month post this weekend. CAN'T. EVEN. how do you mamas do it? it kills me that he just keeps getting bigger and smarter and more like a little boy than a baby. and the fact that we are only 3 months out from his first birthday is enough to make me crawl in a hole and drink heavily, while crying uncontrollably. 

- oh yay, Ronin is up from his 30 minute nap. gotta go! 

Insta-Ronin v.5

just some photos of this cool dude from the last couple weeks. SO much personality oozing out of this guy. I mean, he fake coughs, you guys. he's hilarious!  8 months may just be my favorite age so far.

xo.

my first mother's day.

since my mother passed in 2003, I haven't had a reason to celebrate Mother's Day. meaning that Sunday was the first time I'd even acknowledged the holiday in 10 years.

and even though I didn't really "get the day off" from motherhood, I still had a pretty fantastic day. I got to sleep in a little bit and I received an amazing gift from Sean & Ronin. they got me a sweet little personalized necklace. it has two silver discs and a little peridot (August birthstone) gem - one disc says "you are my sunshine" and the other disc says "ronin." I just need to find a better chain for it - can't wait to wear it!

we didn't really do anything special for the day - we just kinda laid low and did some housework. my dad stopped by later on in the day to drop off some fresh Maryland rockfish that he'd caught. he also schooled my ass on my veggie garden that I put in a few weeks ago - apparently my plants are WAY too close together. so I guess I'll be transplanting some of them next weekend, haha. 

I did, however, get to spend an hour or so outside on the patio planting all my new flowers into containers. I'd been collecting pots and planters for a few months, and on Saturday, I finally went to our local nursery to pick out some annuals. 

I'm pretty excited to watch as those pots get more and more full and start to overflow with gorgeous blooms. 

Ronin and I also got to nap together, which is one of my absolute FAVORITE things to do. 

all in all, it was the perfect first Mother's Day. I got to spend the whole day with my mini and that's all I wanted. it's incredible how full my heart feels when I so much as think about him. he has taught me so much about myself in a mere 8.5 months. being a mom is taxing and difficult some days, but it's also so rewarding. it is the only career that requires you to be completely selfless, to put yourself second and your family first. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't realize just how heartwarming it would be to be a mother. 

I now have a new appreciation for everything my mom did for us and it makes me miss her that much more. I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her what an amazing mother she was, and how lucky we were to have her.  I just want to tell her, "I get it now." and I do. I totally get it. the feeling of your heart walking outside of your body. the desire to educate them and raise them to be good people. the worry and fear that comes with the realization that you can't always keep them safe from the world's evil. the want... no, the NEED... to be a better person for your child. I get it. and I love every minute of it. 

thanks for makin' me a mama, dude. 

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, and to those of you that are moms - I hope your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine was. 

baby Q: first birthday planning!

I am a planner. I am also very type A and sorta-kinda definitely OCD when it comes to being organized and having all my ducks in a row. therefore, I am already ankle deep in planning Ronin's first birthday party. 

I decided a few months ago that our favorite bedtime song, "You Are My Sunshine," would be the theme of his first birthday party. naturally, I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and found a few other parties with ideas similar to mine. 

I love the bubbles + pinwheels for favors. so cute for the kiddos, and budget friendly too! 

this food table display is beautiful - the banner, the jars of candy, and the striped straws. perfect! I will be make a lot of the party paper goods myself - the banners, decor, favor packaging, etc. 

poms and garland. need I say more?

white smash cake + cupcakes for the guests. and I absolutely adore the cupcake wrapper, which I'm sure I could DIY with scrapbook paper. also from this party: 12 months of baby photos displayed as decor. 

a simple invite. yes please. 

an end of August birthday definitely calls for homemade popsicles. 

I'm so excited to really get started with the planning. I may or may not have (hint: I have) already designed the invitations. I'll most likely just print them at home, as long as we have printer ink, ha! I'm hoping to get them out by mid-July so that people have time to make plans. I'm thinking that the menu will just be mostly BBQ type food - burgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, etc. plus a bitchin' dessert table. can't wait to see it all come together!

our long weekend (in photos).

we had such a great weekend! Sean took off work on Thursday and Friday to get some things done around the house since the weather was supposed to be perfect. 

on Thursday, we spent most of the day outside - he cut the grass and dug out my garden bed while I hung out with Ronin on the patio and built our raised bed for fruits and veggies. we've had this thing in our garage since the fall of 2011. I wanted to plant vegetables last year, but since I was pregnant, I knew that I wouldn't have the energy to tend to the garden, so we put it off until this year. I was pretty proud of myself for putting it together solo... even if it did take me a few hours since I was working with an 8 month old's schedule. ;)

raised garden bed

outdoor rug

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Friday was spent cleaning around the house and finishing some indoor projects. we did get out of the house to go to lunch with Sean's dad and run to Target for a few things. we had lunch at Gordon Biersch, so a beer was necessary. I mean, when is it not?

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I co-hosted a baby shower on Saturday for one of my friends and it was SO much fun. we've been planning for months and I've been busy with DIYing a lot of the decor for the past few weeks. it was a wonderful day, and baby Tucker is surrounded by love already. 

also? it felt amazing to get all dolled up for once. and to be baby free for an entire afternoon, ha!

striped dress
nude heels

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today was a productive day around the house. Sean finished painting the trim and touch ups in the nursery (yes, the nursery. the room where Ronin is supposed to be sleeping. he is 8 months old and we're finally finishing it) in the morning, and then he took over baby duty while I got the fruits & vegetables planted. I had to run out for more soil, but once I had enough, it only took me maybe 2 hours to get everything planted. I chose veggies based on what we would actually eat and what seems to do well in our area (according to recommendations from friends & family). I planted cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, bell peppers (yellow, orange, and red), tomatoes, strawberries, and cantaloupe. can't wait to see how they do! 

oh, and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo by drinking beer while gardening. naturally. 

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I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I'll be back this week with a post detailing the DIY baby shower decor (hopefully) and a Mother's Day wishlist. 

round up: summer style for baby boys.

I started stocking up on Ronin's summer wardrobe before he was even born. I couldn't help but picture my little seal decked out in khaki shorts, little tanks, and one piece rompers. now that the weather is finally starting to warm up on the East Coast, I'm adding even more summer staples to his closet. 

I love to pick out styles that I would wear myself - in fact, I may have chosen a few of these items based on the idea of matching outfits with me, haha. I have a neon yellow striped shirt that I can''t wait to throw on while dressing him in the first romper. 

I've also been eyeing up some swimwear for pool days with our BFF and the beach trip we're planning for late summer. so here's a peek at what I'm loving this season... a few of which I've picked up for my dude. 

one : two : three : four : five : six

one : two : three : four : five : six : seven : eight

one : two : three : four : five : six : seven : eight : nine

am I the only one who LOVES dressing a little boy? don't get me wrong, I definitely swoon at the little dresses every time I peruse through Target. but honestly, I prefer skulls and sharks over pink bows any day. who says dressing a boy isn't fun? not this mama!