Baby Love

The things that keep me up at night.

Erin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:59:44 +0000

It is now just a little bit after 5AM and I am awake.

I have gotten a total of ONE HOUR of sleep tonight.

It took me over three hours to fall asleep and then once I was asleep, a really weird dream shook me out of my peaceful slumber (I dare say that it was weirder than the night I dreamt that the Jonas Brothers were in love with me and semi-stalking…..SERIOUSLY!), and I never fell back asleep. I have noticed the over the past two weeks or so, my ability to fall asleep is diminishing.

I know that there are a lot of factors that go into this, and my sleep problems are nothing new. Years ago, I could sleep through anything. House shaking thunder, lighting and hail, I slept through it all. However, once I deployed to Iraq, my ability to fall asleep disappeared. I had the hardest time falling asleep and then once I was asleep, I couldn’t stay asleep. Everything seemed to wake me up. It wasn’t unusual for me to wake up in a panic, convinced that I heard the CRAM (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) going off. In the below video you can hear the alarm in the back ground. I was in Iraq when this attack happened on February 18th, 2008. You can read more about this specific attack here. I happened to actually be off of work and in my trailer when the alarm went off. Needless to say, after the rounds continued falling after 60 seconds, I booked it to the nearest bunker.

W A R N I N G:
Video contains adult language and rocket explosions. This video is not recommended for children, mothers/fathers/husbands/wives of troops in Iraq/Afghanistan, or anyone with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is not a video that I recorded.

Unfortunately, the CRAM did not engage during that attack. Here is an example of the CRAM at work:

So that is just one of the reasons I have a hard time sleeping now. That and my type-A, control freak, worry wort personality. I have medication that I can take, but if I don’t take it early enough in the evening, I wake up in the morning VERY groggy. Plus, with Ash not here, I worry that I won’t wake up if Reagan starts to cry in the middle of the night for some reason. Therefore, medication is out of the question when Ash is not here.

Back to tonight. Part of my problem is that I have a hard time getting my brain to slow down. I worry and think about EVERYTHING. Like:

Reagan’s birthday party
School starting
If I made the right decision about going back to school
How Reagan will adapt to being in daycare full time
Juggling school, Reagan and taking care of house and home when Ash is gone
All the pretty felt flower tutorials that I bookmarked today (I’m not kidding……someone slap me now)
All the blog posts that I could write (which I never do because when I wake up the next morning I can never remember)
If I locked the door and if the garage door is shut
The things we need to get done around the house this weekend, to include putting up the baby gates, hanging pictures and fixing the fence.
How I can get the TORTUROUS ringing in my ears to go away (Tinnitus be damned…..)

That list is just the stuff I can think of now. I KNOW that there are more things. Once my brain actually got tired, I fell asleep somewhere around 3:45AM. I woke-up suddenly from a really strange dream in which I was in a group of people that included a girlfriend from Korea, a hockey player from college and an ex-boyfriend (sorry Ash!!! Love you! XOXOX). We were being held hostage in an old run down school. That’s all I can remember. I woke up and was awake for about 20 minutes. I started to fall back asleep and the DAMN DOGS decided to start barking. At 5 o’clock in the morning. For no apparent reason. Awesome……

So here I am, 45 minutes after I started to write this post, still awake. The early bird gets the worm right? I guess we will see.

Oh…..and the dogs are barking again……look for a listing on Craig’s List (I kid…..maybe).

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Don’t forget to vote for Reagan! You can vote once a day for the next month! I think she would be the perfect Gerber baby, but I’m probably biased!!

44 Week Old Picture

Erin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:49:49 +0000

I can’t believe that Reagan’s 1st birthday is just around the corner. I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to get things together for her party since once school starts, free time will be at a premium. I decided to switch things up this week and take Reagan’s picture on Ash’s rocking chair. This chair was his farewell present when he left Honduras.

This week has been a little on the rough side. Ash has been gone for training and Reagan and I have been sick. I think that Reagan is pretty much over it and only had a runny nose now, but I am still feeling pretty horrible. I actually felt better yesterday for some reason. It must have been the FroYo!!

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Don’t forget to vote for Reagan! You can vote once a day for the next month! I think she would be the perfect Gerber baby!!

Introducing…….

Erin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:58:22 +0000

…..the next Baby Spice!!!

This is the first time that I have been able to catch her dancing on video. As soon as she caught on that I was taping her, she stopped!! She’s such a little bugger. I also had to play a few songs before she decided THIS was going to be the one she wanted to dance to. I’ve had it stuck in my head since. You’re welcome!

Project 365: 207-213 (July 26th – August 1st, 2010)

Erin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:03:47 +0000

207 (July 26th, 2010)

Holding her own bottle!!! It’s about time!

208 (July 27th, 2010)

Awake from her nap. I am still not used to seeing this when I walk into her nursery!

Both Reagan and Kaia are looking for Ash. How cute!

209 (July 28th, 2010)

Messy spaghetti! She really liked it, but she made QUITE the mess.

210 (July 29th, 2010)

Toy in hand. CHECK

Toy in mouth. CHECK

Playing with toy. CHECK!

Reagan loves being thrown in the air. Lots and lots of laughing!!

211 (July 30th, 2010)

Who needs toys when you have lots of boxes?!

She still loves Sesame Street!

212 (July 31st, 2010)

Run through #2 of using the big cupcake pan for Reagan’s birthday. I really wanted to do this to try out another icing recipe. I think that I am getting there!!

213 (August 1st, 2010)

Rotating the tires!!

44 Week Old Picture

Erin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:48:36 +0000

It took both Ash and I to get a semi-decent picture. Reagan is so squirmy and always wants to eat the paper sign! Here is the half-way decent picture:

And here is what most of the pictures looked like:

Apparently, holding her arm so that she didn’t grab the paper WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE. She’s so silly!

All the random stuff…

Erin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:08:52 +0000

There’s been a lot going on this week, but nothing that I feel requires its own post, so this is going to be a big mish–mash of stuff. SOOOOOO here we go!!

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Since I am starting school in a few weeks, Ash and I were really starting to get worried about nailing down day care for Reagan. When I was pregnant with her, I put her on the waiting list for a few places, but we definitely had our favorite. She has been on the wait list since the middle of July 2009 and even though a year has gone by, it was still looking like she wasn’t going to get into the facility we preferred. To make a long story short, I stopped by a few days ago and talked to the owner’s daughter. She clarified a few things for me, and we decided that Reagan would be much happier in the pre-toddler room rather than the infant room. I paid the registration fee and we are locked in for the daycare center we really liked! This is good news, but it still makes my heart hurt to know that she will be going.

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I’ve spent the last few days working on a few crafty things. Yesterday I used this tutorial for my inspiration. I have so many cute earrings and necklaces that I never wear because they are all unorganized and hard to find matching sets. This is what I came up with:

Not only does it keep everything organized, but it looks really cute and fits in with our bedroom decor REALLY well. Other than the bottom row drooping, I think it turned out really well. I used lace instead of wire, and now I know why wire was used for the hanging part….it doesn’t droop!

I also made a cute tutu wreath for Reagan’s birthday party. I got the idea from Party Like a Kid/Baby Rabies and just knew it would look great in pink and orange. I used a foam ring instead of straw and needed about 10 yards of tulle. It was really easy but did take a while. I plan on hanging this on the front door, but that might change. I love the way it came out!!

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Before I was able to get started on the above projects, I had to head to Hobby Lobby to get the necessary supplies. When I got home I realized that I didn’t pick up one of the bags and had left the foam circle for the tutu wreath at the cash register. Ash came home to go register my car (since the car is in his name, he has to register the car) so I asked him to stop by Hobby Lobby on his way home and pick it up for me. Apparently, he had some fun with it, because these are the text messages that I got from him….

So in case you missed that. He used the foam circle as a floatation device, halo, steering wheel padding and a hemorrhoid donut. When people ask me how many children I have, I always say one, but sometimes I wonder…..

Needless to say, I got a good laugh out of it!!

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ZUUUUMMMMM-BA!! I finally got to go again! I really missed it while I was up in NH. I actually went once while up visiting my parents, but the class wasn’t worth $10. The classes on post are A.MA.ZING!! Unfortunately, you have to show up an hour before hand to make sure there are tickets available. They only sell 65 tickets and when I showed up on Monday (30 minutes before class started) the tickets were already sold out! Since I was gone, they put up three crazy disco ball lights. During class they turn all the lights off and have the four disco balls and tons of black lights on. It is really the most fun I have ever had exercising and I am glad that I have been able to get back to going. You sweat your butt off and burn about 800 calories. It was so hot in the room today that the windows were dripping. Now I just have to figure out a way to make it to a class during the week when school starts….

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And the biggest news is that I am officially on military orders transferring me from Reserve duty to the IRR. It isn’t effective until the end of August, but at least the paperwork is in and processed and I have orders IN MY HAND! For those of you military people out there, you know how important actual orders are! It is a big chapter of my life that is coming to a close, but I am getting ready to start another chapter. I am really excited about what the next few years have to offer!

Annapolis, MD

Erin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:03:44 +0000

Even though we have been back in Tennessee for a few days, I still want to write about all the fun things we did while we were in D.C. There was Georgetown Cupcake, Eastern Market, Alexandria and Arlington. And we can’t forget about Maggie getting paw-smacked by Miles. Now we can add Annapolis, Maryland to the list. One of the main reasons we wanted to go to Annapolis was to visit the campus of the United States Naval Academy. Ash’s cousin attended the Naval Academy and Ash always had great things to say about how pretty it is. But, before we headed to the Naval Academy, we had to get some lunch.

When in Maryland, you eat crab. We heard that Cantler’s was the place to go.

I had never eaten crab before so I was ready to try something new. Reagan liked playing with the crab hammer.

She was also very curious about the crabs.

She wasn’t very sure what to think about it. We ordered a dozen crab and some corn. I was ready to dig in. Me and crab don’t get along. After the fourth cut on my thumb and my stomach still growling I gave up. The Old Bay seasoning was getting into the cuts and burning. I was getting frustrated. Eating a meal isn’t supposed to be frustrating. Oh well, I tried!

After lunch, we headed to the Naval Academy.

The campus was BEAUTIFUL!! Right on the water and beautiful architecture.

Reagan loved being in her baby carrier. Unfortunately she couldn’t stay in it too long because it was so hot out and we didn’t want the sun beating down on her, so she spent the time we were walking around in her stroller.

After our time walking around the Naval Academy we headed down to the center of the town. Of course we had to go the The Black Dog Store, in honor of our BBD, but not before getting some ice cream!

And walked around the docks.

After a long day out in the sun and walking around for a few hours it was time to head home. It was a great day and we had so much fun!

10 Months!

Erin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:57:36 +0000

Posting a picture late again! Reagan had her 9 month well baby check-up today. Since she wasn’t getting any immunizations at 9 months, it was ok that we had her appointment late (due to us visiting our family up north). Everything looks good. She weighed in at an even 20 pounds, is 27.5 inches long and her head measures 46.5 cm. She is pretty much at the 50% for all measurements.

She had her toe pricked for her hematocrit test, which tests for the level of iron in her blood. Once I am done with my schooling I will know ALL about this stuff! Her iron came back a little low, so we are starting her on a daily vitamin drop and I have to make sure she is drinking at least 24 ounces of formula a day. Tomorrow I have to take her to the big lab down the street form her pediatrician’s office to have her blood drawn. Her nurse practitioner isn’t too concerned, but just wants to make sure everything is okay. Since she has to get poked and prodded, I am going to take her out for her first cupcake afterwards at The Sweetest Batch Cupcakery with Alena and her cutie pie daughter Sophia. Any excuse to eat cupcakes right?!

Chlorine free is the way to be!

Erin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:07 +0000

At least for Reagan it is. For the last two months or so, Reagan has gotten a pretty bad case of diaper rash about every other week. We tried everything. Blow dryer, Butt Paste, Triple Paste, Aquaphor, naked play time, and epsom salt bath, among various things. Nothing seemed to keep it from coming back repeatedly. I would love to try cloth diapering (these are not your mother’s cloth diapers), but the the initial upfront monitary commitment is just too much for us right now. With school starting, buying all my text books and a new computer, we just can’t put forward that much money, even though it saves money in the long run.

Our next best bet was to try chlorine free diapers and wipes. We first tried Earth’s Best Chlorine Free diapers and wipes.

These worked really well for us. Reagan hasn’t gotten a diaper rash with these since we switched over. Since we came back to Tennessee three days ago, we started using the regular diapers here and there because we were running low on the chlorine free. Lo and behold, Reagan woke up this morning with the start of ANOTHER diaper rash.

Thankfully, last night I went online and ordered two cases of Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Diapers from diapers.com. We are all out of the wipes as well, but decided not to buy them. They are SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than regular diapers.

The Seventh Generation diapers are significantly cheaper on diapers.com versus the Earth’s Best. We will see how they work. Hopefully just as well as Earth’s Best!!

Project 365: 200-206 (July 19th-25th, 2010)

Erin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:28:46 +0000

200 (July 19th, 2010)

This is Caroline and Mark’s cat. He spent most of his time while we were visiting, sitting on the back of one of the big living room chairs. He would always look at the dogs with such disdain. We imagined that he was thinking something along these lines:

201 (July 20th, 2010)

This is one of the boats at the United States Naval Academy.

202 (July 21st, 2010)

President Washington’s tomb at Mount Vernon.

203 (July 22nd, 2010)

Back on the road. Reagan was so good on our drive back to Tennessee. She is quite the little traveler. You can read about some of our travel tips here.

204 (July 23rd, 2010)

Our little sleeper!

205 (July 24th, 2010)

Standing all on her own!!! She did this over and over today. She only stood for a few seconds, but we are on our way to walking!

I spent most of the day unpacking and organizing from our long trip up north. When I was in Reagan’s nursery putting all her stuff away, I couldn’t keep Reagan away from her doll. She really wanted to play with it, but unfortunately she needs to wait about two more years until she can play with it!

206 (July 25th, 2010)

Reagan has figured out the she has to put her hand in this box to pull out the little toys. This is a great toy made by One Step Ahead, one of my favorite toy and baby gear companies! I am glad that she has figured out how it works now!