Reading Frustrations

It takes a lot for me to not finish a book. It has to be a pretty bad book. That said, that was not the case this week.

I was reading I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass and was really enjoying it. ***SPOILER ALERT - I am going to ruin the book for you***

***
Then with like twenty pages left in the book, one of the main characters dies. That was upsetting, but not that big of a deal. The part I couldn't handle was that for the rest of the book, it seemed like anyway, all they did was talk about the death and what was she thinking before she died, and just examining all the horrible things about death. Now, I was reading this at midnight right before I was supposed to go to sleep. And I do not deal well with death. I don't like to think about it, because once I think about it, it is all I think about it. And when you think about it, it's not fair, is it? Who came up with this system?? Love your life, have a great time, oh by the way some day you're going to die. If I was guaranteed to live to 90, fine, I could handle that. But I can't handle the thought that I could walk out my door and get hit by a bus. Or just fall down dead while doing the dishes. That is not fair. NOT FAIR.

Oookay...so I couldn't finish the book, because it kept me up all night THINKING HORRIBLE THOUGHTS. Thanks a lot, book.

So, I need to find a new book. I have two more from the library, but after re-examining the book jackets, one contains "an unthinkable tragedy." No, thanks. This is why chick lit is so popular.

In other book-related news, I took Aggie to the library today and we picked up:

Parents in the Pigpen, Pigs in the Tub

Babar's World Tour

There's Something in My Attic

Madeline and the Gypsies

Good choices, Agatha!

Sleep!

I hope I am not getting ahead of myself, but the last three days have been so wonderful sleep-wise with Agatha.

Our routine before was just waiting for Agatha to fall asleep. During the day this meant she would normally fall asleep after nursing or while we were rocking or bouncing her. Then we would lay her down and she would inevitably wake up twenty minutes later. Or I would put her in her bouncer chair and she would continue to sleep, but I wanted to break that habit.

At night, she wouldn't fall asleep until sometimes two in the morning, and only after being walked, bounced, sat in front of the stove fan, sang to, etc. It was very frustrating. She would sleep for 3 to 5 hours at a time once she fell asleep, so that was fine, but the timing was not acceptable. Or the amount of time it took to get her to fall asleep.

I read a few books on sleep and they all said to put the baby down and let her fuss and cry. I could check on her every so often but she would have to learn to soothe herself and would have to "cry it out." I tried it one night for about five minutes. It just wasn't for me. First of all, Agatha is still very young and I want her to trust me. Chris and I are her whole world right now and she looks to us for all her needs. I thought there had to be a better way for all of us.

I heard about The No-Cry Sleep Solution and requested it from the library. I started reading it the first night I had it and immediately had a few major breakthroughs. That night around 12:00, I laid with Agatha on the bed for awhile and just spent some quiet time with her. When she started to get quieter and looked drowsy, I moved her to the Pack n Play and swaddled her with her arms in. (We had stopped doing this several weeks ago because she seemed to fight it.) Then, I stayed in the room with her and soothed her by putting my hands on her when she started fussing. I also gave her a pacifier to suck on. When she started to look like she was about to fall asleep, I took the pacifier away, to try to encourage her to learn to fall asleep without sucking. It took about ten minutes total and she slept for seven hours straight!

The next day I started doing the same thing for naps. And I did the same thing that next night. That night she slept from 10:45 to 3:45 and then from 4:00 to 8:30, nursing in between. Last night she slept from 10:30 to 2:20, then 2:30 to 5:30, then 5:50 to 9:30, nursing at wakings. Every nap I have done the same thing and it takes her about five minutes to fall asleep.

I know it has only been a few days, but I am amazed. Instead of waiting for her to fall asleep, I pay attention to when she looks like she is getting tired and get her ready to sleep. Maybe this is a big DUH! thing to other moms or more experienced moms, but it was like a light coming on for me. There are lots of other great tips and insights in the book that I am looking forward to utilizing as she gets older.

Hopefully, we will continue to have success.

Weekend Fun

My weekend was awesome:

• Impromptu visit from my mom. She can't stay away from Agatha and I can't blame her. I love when she visits!


• AMK in town from Orange County! We shopped (but somehow did not buy anything) and gossipped and had an all-around fab time.


• Chris and I finally left the house to see Harry Potter 7 Part 2. AWESOMENESS.


• Agatha slept SEVEN hours straight Saturday night. Amazing. She woke up at 7:30 and went back down at 8:00 for another three and a half hours.


• I found a great dress at BCBG but the $250 price tag was ridic, but I found it on eBay for $106. Sweet!


• My scale told me I only have 2.5 pounds to lose to get down to my pre-baby weight. That means 5 or 10 to get down to fightin' weight, but I'll take it.


• Finally learning how to recognize that Agatha is getting tired and put her down so she'll sleep in her Pack n Play instead of my arms.


• Donuts from A Baker's Wife. Yum.

Uh oh

I get to spend a lot of time on the internet while on maternity leave - there isn't much else to do while nursing, although I have recently learned to hold a book while nursing - Go, me! So, I have discovered the online world of baby clothes.

Dangerous stuff.

Sweet and Sassy by amyehall featuring scarves

Shoes
$33 - trumpette.com

Scarve
$13 - smallable.com

Bunny Baby T-shirt - Smallable
€38 - smallable.com

Gap Swing Cardigan
$35 - gap.com

Gap Corduroy Bubble Shorts
$27 - gap.com

Old Navy Ruffledwaist Dresses For Baby
$18 - oldnavy.gap.com

ICE CREAM & DRIP TIGHTS (CHILD)
$6.75 - polarnopyretusa.com

Baby Node Blouse - Smallable
$99 - smallable.com

Splendid Littles- Girls Tops- Trendy Girls Clothing-Lilswanky.com
$56 - lilswanky.com

Courtyard Tile Dress - Stucco by Tea Collection, 6M-12
$49 - pacifieronline.com

Appaman-Appaman Girls Skirts-Trendy Girls Bottoms-Lilswanky.com
$32 - lilswanky.com

Metallic Mocs by Trumpette. - Trumpette
$32 - trumpette.com

Excitement Abounds

We got to enjoy a lovely weekend with Chris' family this weekend. His mom, dad, aunt, brother, sister-in-law and their two kids came up from Omaha to visit. We took Agatha to the pool at their hotel and she splashed around for a few minutes before remembering she was hungry. At least I got to put her in her suit (below).

Chris' new band played their first show on Friday night and his mom and aunt watched Agatha so I could go support him. It was the longest I had been away from her and I was told she did really well. I, however, should have pumped before I left and I would have saved myself some pain. Trying to express milk by hand in a dingy bathroom stall is not my idea of fun. The band was great and it was awesome to see Chris on stage again. He is so talented!

Today, our friends Noah and Michel are visiting from Brooklyn, with their one-year-old daughter, Margarita. We haven't seen them since before Margarita was born, so we are very excited to meet her and to catch up with them.

My goal this week is to take photos of my cards and actually put them on Etsy. I can't believe I have procrastinated this long. I did take some pictures about a year ago, but I didn't think the quality was good enough. I am thinking of getting a beginner DSLR camera, I think it would be nice to have some nicer pictures of Agatha, instead of just snapshots.

This coming weekend, we are planning on taking our first road trip. We'll be going to my brother and sister-in-law's cabin for Labor Day. It is ab out a 3.5 hour car ride, which I'm sure will be made longer with the baby. It should be good practice for a trip to Omaha we'd like to take before I go back to work. I'm excited to show her off and to see my family. My dad hasn't met her yet, so I am looking forward to that.

Bathing beauty

The darling Agatha in her bathing costume.

In other news, I cannot wait to start working on her Halloween costume. I saw the pattern THREE years ago and wished I had a tiny baby to dress it in then. I finally have my chance!

A Weekend in the Country

Feeling like I need a little getaway.

Weekend in the Country by amyehall featuring a cutout dress