The Posts Are Appearing

I'm slowly getting all my posts recovered. I have completed through part of 2009... only three more years' worth to go. It's taking longer than I expected to go through every post to make sure the links and images still work. I still can't believe so much of my journal went poof. So glad I had a back-up!

All It Took

Well, if I had known that would be all it would take to get him to sleep through the night, I would have done it a year ago! What, you ask? Well, I just told him to go to sleep.  

Haha, riiiiiight.

No, really.  

Not possible.

Let me explain... as he was drinking his warm milk before bed, I set him on my lap and told him that his sleep schedule has been completely crazy lately. Even the night I finally got some sleep, he still got up with Daddy for a bit. I informed him that Daddy had to get up early in the mornings for work, so we can't be keeping him up with crying. Then I reminded him that we go to the gym during the week and we need to be well-rested... Mommy has to be energized for a hard workout so she can get fit and healthy and he needs to be ready to play with all of his new friends that he's made in the daycare.

After he finished his bottle, I did the same nightly routine of changing his diaper, reading him a story in the rocking chair, gave him a big hug and kiss, and placed him in his crib. Instead of instantly crying, he rolled over on his belly, sighed, and fell asleep. That kid will even wake from sound sleep and start screaming as soon as I place him in his crib, so this was huge! He never cried last night... that was a first. He's still asleep. I had to check and make sure he was still breathing! Haha.

Not-So-Healthy Post-Workout Snack

While I toiled away for a few extra minutes in the gym, Mom and Xander enjoyed some breakfast in the car. Glazed donuts are not exactly what I would have chosen for a post-workout snack... but it makes for a sweet video of my son.

Restful Night

Finally got some sleep last night! Xander slept from 10:30pm until 8:30am. I was woken temporarily when Ross' alarm went off at 3:00am for work, but I fell back asleep quickly. Xander even took his nap on time and slept well through that. It was after 10:00pm when he got to sleep tonight and of course I'm now weirdly wide awake. Guess I'm not used to getting all that sleep now. LOL That's okay... it gave me some time to work on some knitting in peace. I should try to get some sleep, though. Night all!

Gym Does Not Equal Trauma

You can definitely tell Gold's Gym is running a special the past few weeks... it has been insanely busy there. I was hesitant to join a gym in the first place because I felt so uncomfortable with the idea of working out in public. If the gym had been like it is now, I would probably have not signed up. That would have been a shame.

I'm here to say that working out at the gym is not the horrific experience I had expected. It's highly unlikely anyone is watching you. Most people are too caught up in their own music, book, or conversations with friends that they don't notice what you're up to. If I'm looking at anything, it's with a blank stare of concentration... I don't actually see anything.

I have had a few people ask me how to use a machine. That was a major confidence booster! There's something empowering about discovering you look enough like you know what you're doing that a new member asks you for advice... especially when you're a hundred pounds overweight.

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm addicted to the gym! I hope those who think they could never work out a gym will at least give it a shot. I'll see you there!

Should Be In Bed

I got something resembling decent sleep last night... over four whole hours! I'm still not sure what eventually got him to sleep, because I did the same routine as every other night. I started him out with his usual Claritin dose, warmed his final bottle before bed, gave him some semi-frozen berries to gnaw on for his teething (finally found something that works for that!), and made sure his pajamas and bedding were as clean and comfortable as possible.

He wouldn't stay down in his crib, so I tried holding him and rocking him. He just squirmed and sobbed and kept wanting down. He started to get gassy again, so I patted him for a bit. When that didn't help, I tried the gas drops the doctor suggested... I think the gripe water was more effective. Some point after 1am I got so tired that I just couldn't even hold him anymore without far of dozing off and dropping him. I put him in his crib, he cried for about ten minutes, and finally fell asleep... he's still asleep six hours later.

I woke up as Ross was leaving for work. We still maintain our morning good-bye ritual through all the odd hours. Today, though, I couldn't fall right back to sleep. So here I am blogging to clear my head and hoping I can sneak in a few more minutes of sleep before Xander wakes up. 

Not a Great Day

Today was not a great day. Xander is teething big time. I ate like crap. The house is a mess. The Yule tree is getting destroyed. I haven't set any of my Spark goals. I'm feeling disorganized and discouraged.

Xander has five molars coming in at once... three on his left and two on his right. It is making him very irritable and he is not sleeping. We have tried everything from teething gel to teething rings to icy fruit. We have even risked serious bites to rub his achy gums. I've given Tylenol with no effect. I've eased the gassiness it's causing with gripe water... but the gas comes back with diarrhea in tow. I hope, for the sanity of all of us, that those little buggers cut through soon.

Pots and pans have become the latest thing in toys in our household. It wouldn't be quite so bad, but Xander seems to favor anything and everything glass. I want to allow him to play, express himself, and be creative... I'd just like him to do it without leaving shards of glass all over and making my kitchen look like we were looted! It is testing my patience. I get a bit OCD about the house sometimes and the mess is making me want to scream.

Speaking of messes... the tree. The cats and the kid seem to think it is there to amuse them. They pull the ornaments off and play with them. The bat at the branches. Pandora likes to hide in it, Selune likes to sleep under it, and Xander likes to play peek-a-boo from behind it. The tree skirt has had hairballs puked up on it, dirty diapers leaked on it, and leaky sippy cups spilled on it. I don't think the poor thing is going to survive to Yule.

I've been reading The Spark and have reached the point where you need to begin writing down your goals. I have no idea what I want those goals to be. I feel like I should have more and bigger goals, but it's hard enough to think day to day!

My short-term goals:

1. Lose 10 more pounds before the holiday gatherings the week of Christmas.
2. Get the birthday thank-yous out... they're a month overdue.
3. Write up and send out Yule cards.
4. Finish another lesson in my bridal consulting course.
5. Finish Cody's pink socks in time for gift exchange.

I should have been sleeping by now... back to the gym tomorrow. Mom and I are moving on to stage two of our workout schedule. We'll be moving from one set of 15 reps to two sets of 12 reps. I'm hoping we have enough time to get in the same amount of cardio.

Black Friday

Yesterday was a pleasant evening at Mom's. It was ourselves, Mom and Grandma... everyone else had other plans... but I think that is largely the reason for it being so nice.

As always, there was too much food and it was very yummy. Amazingly, though, I didn't over-eat! It may have helped me that I finally got back into a pair of jeans that hadn't fit for several months. When I ate they got a bit snug, so it encouraged me to forgo the second helping.

We're right back to our workouts today, but we're going a little later than usual. Ross is home to watch Xander, so we aren't limited to the time the daycare is open. I'm hoping to get in a little extra cardio to make up for yesterday and maybe explore a few new machines for future reference.

Ross and I had considered going out for the Black Friday sales, but opted to stay home once we looked at the sales ads. We were not really feeling inspired for gift ideas for Xander. We are planning on getting family board games for each of our siblings families and that is hard to do when you are being rushed by other shoppers... I didn't really do my research ahead of time. The parents are probably getting digital photo keychains. Best Buy had a great sale on them, so it cost less than we originally budgeted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A very happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you have many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my beautiful family, our health, our home, and our continued prosperity.

Feeling Accomplished

I'm feeling very accomplished today and it's only halfway through. It was my cardio day at the gym and I burned 750 calories between the treadmill, elliptical and bicycle. I could have gone longer, but I ran out of daycare time for Xander... it's an hour and a half limit.

Black and Silver Yule Tree

The ornaments for our Yule tree arrived while we were at the gym... black and silver on a white tree. They were even nicer in person than they looked online. I debated waiting until tomorrow to put them on the tree and take a nap, but decided to just go for it. I'm glad I did... I got over the tired feeling I get after a workout and ended up finishing the tree (so pretty!), folding the rest of the laundry, dusting, vacuuming, doing dishes, and washing windows.

I've think I have earned the time to kick back until Xander wakes from his nap.