With Lent comes a need for me to get rid of lots of stuff.
Yesterday I looked in my closet for something to wear and realized that over half of my clothes haven't been worn in over a year. They're either too big, too small, or something I just don't like.
So I went to town. By the end of the day, Jeremy and I had filled 5 large trash bags full of clothes/shoes/purses that we haven't worn or used in over a year. In addition to that, we had two trash bags full of trash.
It's amazing how much stuff we had that we don't need. And I'm one of those people who gets rid of stuff all of the time. I feel lighter today.
And when cleaning out my purses, I found an "old" wallet that I must not have used much because it looks brand new. My current one is falling apart at the seams. It was nice to find a "new" wallet for myself and I didn't have to leave the house or spend any money!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Happy 1st Birthday, My Beautiful Girl!
How do I put into words how joyful I am to celebrate today?
Or how wonderful it is to wake up every morning to her hugs and kisses?
Or how lucky I feel to be her Mama?
Is it really possible to express how much gratitude I have for her birthmom?
We are so thankful for our daughter. We cannot imagine life without her. She makes us smile a million times a day. There is something about her that people just can't resist. It's the same trait that will hopefully make her a very strong and very holy young lady.
I simply have no words to express how blessed I feel to be able to say "Happy 1st Birthday, Anna". God is so good.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Typical day...
Toddler playing in the dishwasher with a spoon in her mouth...
It's a good thing the dishwasher is already broken! Our tax return can't get here fast enough!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday Quick Takes (14)
Anna's sleeping is back to normal. And we're all in much better moods because of it. Now if only she could be that consistent for naptime...
This week I cut Anna (and Luke) down to one nap. It was becoming quite the pain to get her down twice. And she was only sleeping like two 30 minute stretches anyway. At least now she's giving me an hour to an hour and a half straight. And I still have them rest in the mornings. I put them both in their cribs and have them lay down for a few minutes. I have to keep Luke's light on or he'll fall asleep, but I make Anna's room dark, she needs that or she would just be crazy in her crib. It's working really well so far...
--- 3
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We had Anna's one year pictures taken on Saturday. Of course that morning she was running in the basement and ran into the corner of a wall, giving herself another black eye. This one looked the worst of the few she's had. She is so clumsy and has NO fear. Despite the black eye, I'm excited to get them back and see them!
While we're on the topic of Anna, can you believe her birthday is here? She turns one on Tuesday!
I found Anna reading a story to her baby yesterday. It was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.
We fly through eggs at this house. We've eaten approximately 5-6 dozen eggs in 23 days. Anna loves them, I eat one every morning for breakfast and Jeremy likes them hardboiled for any meal. I feel like that's a lot of eggs and I haven't really even baked this month!
I could really use a dose of extra patience today...
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ash Wednesday
We were reflecting yesterday about last year's Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday 2011 was a rough day.
I mean, Ash Wednesday is supposed to be a rough day. A day to reflect on the upcoming 40 days of prayer and fasting. But it's especially rough because mybody doesn't handle fasting well, I usually end up with a super headache and I get light-headed and extremely dizzy. And cranky. I try not to let it affect me, but it's out of my control.
So anyway, last year was definitely the toughest. That evening, I went to pick up Jeremy for Mass. I had to wait in the car for like 10-15 minutes while Jeremy finished stuff up at work. That resulted in us being late for Mass. If there's one thing that pushes my buttons faster than anything, it's being late.
So I was mad at him for making us late to Mass. I "lectured" him on the way there and I stewed all through Mass about his inconsiderateness. Then my cell phone rang in Mass. It never rings, I hardly ever use it, so I don't think to silence it. Well, at that point, I was jumping at any and all phone calls because it may be "the one". It was my mom, not my caseworker. So I was mad, embarassed, and basically frustrated with the world on that day.
That evening I resolved to have a very fruitful Lent. I was going to pray more and offer up this time of waiting to God. I was going to walk with Christ through these 40 days as my own personal days in the desert. I was going to come out of it with a renewed hope and greater patience in our adoption wait.
So Thursday I woke up, prayed my rosary, spent a lot of time in prayer and thought, hey I can do this. One day at a time.
That day was Thursday, March 10. At 11:00 I got the phone call about our Anna. I remember it all so vividly. It was like on Wednesday and early Thursday time had stood still. Then with one phone call, time began to fly. It's still flying today. I can't believe that was already a year ago. And sometimes I can't believe it was only a year ago.
My personal Lent was very short last year. I had a hard time being somber and fasting when my life was so utterly joyful. I got my Easter early last year. My goal was achieved in that short time as I had given my struggles to God. And He blessed me abundantly. More than I could ever imagine. This year, I'm setting out again to deepen my relationship with God. It will be easier to fast this year, as we're once again in a time of waiting. But I can't help but feel overjoyed at the same time. God has done great things in our lives in a year. Our whole world has changed.
This year I thank God more than ever for giving us seasons. The season of prayer and fasting holds a special place in our lives. It's necessary. It creates in us a desire to know God better. It creates in us a desire to celebrate His Resurrection more fully. I had a hard time thinking of one thing to give up this year and I realized that Lent doesn't call for us just to sacrifice one thing. It calls for us to give everything in our day to Christ. So that's what I'm doing. I'm giving everything a purpose. I'm giving up little things each day to make my whole day point to Christ. And I'm giving myself in prayer. Not only myself, but my family as well.
I mean, Ash Wednesday is supposed to be a rough day. A day to reflect on the upcoming 40 days of prayer and fasting. But it's especially rough because mybody doesn't handle fasting well, I usually end up with a super headache and I get light-headed and extremely dizzy. And cranky. I try not to let it affect me, but it's out of my control.
So anyway, last year was definitely the toughest. That evening, I went to pick up Jeremy for Mass. I had to wait in the car for like 10-15 minutes while Jeremy finished stuff up at work. That resulted in us being late for Mass. If there's one thing that pushes my buttons faster than anything, it's being late.
So I was mad at him for making us late to Mass. I "lectured" him on the way there and I stewed all through Mass about his inconsiderateness. Then my cell phone rang in Mass. It never rings, I hardly ever use it, so I don't think to silence it. Well, at that point, I was jumping at any and all phone calls because it may be "the one". It was my mom, not my caseworker. So I was mad, embarassed, and basically frustrated with the world on that day.
That evening I resolved to have a very fruitful Lent. I was going to pray more and offer up this time of waiting to God. I was going to walk with Christ through these 40 days as my own personal days in the desert. I was going to come out of it with a renewed hope and greater patience in our adoption wait.
So Thursday I woke up, prayed my rosary, spent a lot of time in prayer and thought, hey I can do this. One day at a time.
That day was Thursday, March 10. At 11:00 I got the phone call about our Anna. I remember it all so vividly. It was like on Wednesday and early Thursday time had stood still. Then with one phone call, time began to fly. It's still flying today. I can't believe that was already a year ago. And sometimes I can't believe it was only a year ago.
My personal Lent was very short last year. I had a hard time being somber and fasting when my life was so utterly joyful. I got my Easter early last year. My goal was achieved in that short time as I had given my struggles to God. And He blessed me abundantly. More than I could ever imagine. This year, I'm setting out again to deepen my relationship with God. It will be easier to fast this year, as we're once again in a time of waiting. But I can't help but feel overjoyed at the same time. God has done great things in our lives in a year. Our whole world has changed.
This year I thank God more than ever for giving us seasons. The season of prayer and fasting holds a special place in our lives. It's necessary. It creates in us a desire to know God better. It creates in us a desire to celebrate His Resurrection more fully. I had a hard time thinking of one thing to give up this year and I realized that Lent doesn't call for us just to sacrifice one thing. It calls for us to give everything in our day to Christ. So that's what I'm doing. I'm giving everything a purpose. I'm giving up little things each day to make my whole day point to Christ. And I'm giving myself in prayer. Not only myself, but my family as well.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Thanks for the sleep Anna!
I'm really hoping we're back to our normal. The last week has been rough. It is overwhelming chasing two toddlers all day off of two hours of sleep. I know, I know, people do it all the time. And I respect them a great deal more after this week!
What worked? Heres's a way more lengthy than I intended post on what worked. I can look back and see how silly it seemed to be so upset over just one week of bad sleep :-)
Well, I was pretty much at my wits end with her in the middle of the night. After being asleep only 2 or 3 hours, she would wake up and scream (a "I want to poke my ears out" kind of blood curdling scream) for 1-3 hours until she finally gave into exhaustion, slept for an hour and got up again. Repeat until morning...
We tried it all. Rocking, back patting, me sitting in the room. She just kept screaming (unless we were holding her). As soon as we thought she was asleep and tried to lay her down, she screaming began again. It was overwhelming to say the least.
No one was getting any sleep.
So we talked to her doctor yesterday (Friday). Here's what her opinion on the matter was. Anna probably woke up the first few nights from constipation (my original thought) from the whole milk. They are very habit forming at this age especially. She said it only takes one or two nights for them to pick up bad habits. She said most likely, especially with Anna who learns very quickly, she's getting up with the intention of getting us in her room, to snuggle. I LOVE to snuggle my baby, but not for 2 hours in the middle of the night...
So she suggested we stick with something, being very consistent with whatever it was. If we didn't mind her in our bed, we could do that (I mind...). If we didn't mind her being rocked every night, we could try that. If we didn't mind her crying for a little while, we could try that.
Let me back up one night... Thursday night I had hit a breaking point. I couldn't continue this. When Anna got up the first time, I let her scream. We've let her cry it out once or twice before, but what I really mean is we let her play it out in her crib. Never before has she screamed like that during the night. I'm not a propnent of that method of sleep training, but sometimes you have to resort to the last resort. So we did. And she cried. For like 45 minutes. But during this time, she'd stop, look around, see if we were responding, and then continue crying. She knew exactly what she was doing and how to get us to rock her. She definitely had an agenda with all that crying. So after her screamfest, she calmed down and sat in her crib for an hour or so until she fell asleep. There was no crying though. She was calm, playing with her giraffe, and evening talking happily at one point.
I was worried she'd hate me. I was worried that I'd scar her for life, making her scream like that and that all the bonding we've done her whole life would be washed away in one night. Sleep deprivations causes me to fear the worst... I think it depends on the child and on what's bothering them. In Anna's case, she's strong willed. She needs clear boundaries or she will take advantage of them.
So after talking with her doctor, determining that there's nothing else wrong, she's just gotten into a bad habit, we said that last night we'd let her cry it out again if we needed to. Hubby agreed and we went to bed expecting the worst.
She got up once. She fussed for 5 minutes (notice, I didn't say screamed!). Then she played with her giraffe, laid down and fell asleep. 30 minutes after she woke up, she was sleeping soundly again. She didn't get up again until 6:45 which is perfectly normal.
I know people feel strongly against letting them cry it out. I'm not saying it's the best way, for me it was a last resort, that we desperately needed. And after a praying a sleep-intention rosary last night while putting her to sleep, I felt at peace about sticking with my gut. She woke up as happy as can be this morning, ready to love on her mom and dad. She woke up without bags under her eyes which had become the norm. And so did we. Just in time for her 1 year pictures today.
And as a reward? Two Gee-Gees! She pulled them both out of the dryer this morning...
What worked? Heres's a way more lengthy than I intended post on what worked. I can look back and see how silly it seemed to be so upset over just one week of bad sleep :-)
Well, I was pretty much at my wits end with her in the middle of the night. After being asleep only 2 or 3 hours, she would wake up and scream (a "I want to poke my ears out" kind of blood curdling scream) for 1-3 hours until she finally gave into exhaustion, slept for an hour and got up again. Repeat until morning...
We tried it all. Rocking, back patting, me sitting in the room. She just kept screaming (unless we were holding her). As soon as we thought she was asleep and tried to lay her down, she screaming began again. It was overwhelming to say the least.
No one was getting any sleep.
So we talked to her doctor yesterday (Friday). Here's what her opinion on the matter was. Anna probably woke up the first few nights from constipation (my original thought) from the whole milk. They are very habit forming at this age especially. She said it only takes one or two nights for them to pick up bad habits. She said most likely, especially with Anna who learns very quickly, she's getting up with the intention of getting us in her room, to snuggle. I LOVE to snuggle my baby, but not for 2 hours in the middle of the night...
So she suggested we stick with something, being very consistent with whatever it was. If we didn't mind her in our bed, we could do that (I mind...). If we didn't mind her being rocked every night, we could try that. If we didn't mind her crying for a little while, we could try that.
Let me back up one night... Thursday night I had hit a breaking point. I couldn't continue this. When Anna got up the first time, I let her scream. We've let her cry it out once or twice before, but what I really mean is we let her play it out in her crib. Never before has she screamed like that during the night. I'm not a propnent of that method of sleep training, but sometimes you have to resort to the last resort. So we did. And she cried. For like 45 minutes. But during this time, she'd stop, look around, see if we were responding, and then continue crying. She knew exactly what she was doing and how to get us to rock her. She definitely had an agenda with all that crying. So after her screamfest, she calmed down and sat in her crib for an hour or so until she fell asleep. There was no crying though. She was calm, playing with her giraffe, and evening talking happily at one point.
I was worried she'd hate me. I was worried that I'd scar her for life, making her scream like that and that all the bonding we've done her whole life would be washed away in one night. Sleep deprivations causes me to fear the worst... I think it depends on the child and on what's bothering them. In Anna's case, she's strong willed. She needs clear boundaries or she will take advantage of them.
So after talking with her doctor, determining that there's nothing else wrong, she's just gotten into a bad habit, we said that last night we'd let her cry it out again if we needed to. Hubby agreed and we went to bed expecting the worst.
She got up once. She fussed for 5 minutes (notice, I didn't say screamed!). Then she played with her giraffe, laid down and fell asleep. 30 minutes after she woke up, she was sleeping soundly again. She didn't get up again until 6:45 which is perfectly normal.
I know people feel strongly against letting them cry it out. I'm not saying it's the best way, for me it was a last resort, that we desperately needed. And after a praying a sleep-intention rosary last night while putting her to sleep, I felt at peace about sticking with my gut. She woke up as happy as can be this morning, ready to love on her mom and dad. She woke up without bags under her eyes which had become the norm. And so did we. Just in time for her 1 year pictures today.
And as a reward? Two Gee-Gees! She pulled them both out of the dryer this morning...
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tired (Updated)
Update: We took her to the doctor today after a really terrible night last night. There's nothing wrong (no ear infections, sore throat, or anything) which I was pretty sure of anyway. But our doctor did say that she was probably fine with the milk, it just constipated her and since she's way big for her age, it's best to do 2% for a while to keep her bowels clear. And it was also good because we asked about her bow-leggedness. She's always been bow-legged, as most babies are. But Anna's has gotten worse and now her feet are turning in and one leg is more turned than the other. The doctor noticed it before I even mentioned it and referred us to a pediatric orthopedist. So hopefully we can help her be more balanced! Because this girl loves to RUN!
We're having severe sleep issues around here. I know I shouldn't complain. Anna has slept 8-12 hour stretches since she was 4 weeks old. I've never had to deal with sleep deprivation.
Until now, that is...
Last night she was up for hours. Screaming. And before that it took her over an hour to fall asleep.
That's not like my baby. Normally she goes to sleep peacefully after being laid down awake. She sleeps until 7am when she wakes up happy and smiling.
Not screaming and screaming and screaming. She finally went back to sleep after two hours of rocking, patting, hand holding, and me laying on her bedroom floor.
We've tried it all. I was convinced it's seperation anxiety. Like an extreme form of it. I felt like an awful mother. Until I really thought about it this morning (quite the accomplishment since I haven't had any sleep). I think it's the milk. We transitioned her to whole milk in the last two weeks. She hasn't had any issues with it, still drinks it fine, never throws up, no rashes, obvious reactions, nothing. Until about a week ago when she started this terrible sleeping. I didn't attribute the waking up and screaming to the milk, since she hadn't had any reaction prior.
But the formula is out of her system at this point. She went from having many stinky diapers a day to having just a few. They went from (sorry, TMI) pasty to rock solid. She's having gas in the middle of the night. She's refusing to eat. After consulting Dr. Goo.gle, I wanted to plant a hand on my forehead and say "duh".
The night screaming can be explained by the milk. The gas, the change in diapers, the lack of napping, the exhaustion on all of our parts can be explained by the milk.
I hope she doesn't have a milk allergy. I think maybe we just transitioned her too quickly since she seemed to do so well. We were ready to be paying $12 a month instead of $40. She handles milk products really well. She LOVES ice cream, pudding, cottage cheese, cheese of any kind, yogurt, etc... In fact, milk products are her favorite foods and never before has she had a reaction. I think her body just needed longer to transition.
So it's back to formula for this little lady. And a trip to the store for some gas drops. And lots and lots of pears and oatmeal. And maybe some prunes...
I'm ready for some sleep. I'm tired. I've never been tired like this before. I don't know how people do this for months on end, they're saints. I'm so thankful for Anna's (previous) sleep habits. I'm so thankful for my hubby's support. And boy will I be thankful if naptime lasts for longer than an hour this afternoon. And I'll be really thankful if that's all it is. And we get a good night's sleep sometime in the near future. Prayers would be greatly appreciated.
We're having severe sleep issues around here. I know I shouldn't complain. Anna has slept 8-12 hour stretches since she was 4 weeks old. I've never had to deal with sleep deprivation.
Until now, that is...
Last night she was up for hours. Screaming. And before that it took her over an hour to fall asleep.
That's not like my baby. Normally she goes to sleep peacefully after being laid down awake. She sleeps until 7am when she wakes up happy and smiling.
Not screaming and screaming and screaming. She finally went back to sleep after two hours of rocking, patting, hand holding, and me laying on her bedroom floor.
We've tried it all. I was convinced it's seperation anxiety. Like an extreme form of it. I felt like an awful mother. Until I really thought about it this morning (quite the accomplishment since I haven't had any sleep). I think it's the milk. We transitioned her to whole milk in the last two weeks. She hasn't had any issues with it, still drinks it fine, never throws up, no rashes, obvious reactions, nothing. Until about a week ago when she started this terrible sleeping. I didn't attribute the waking up and screaming to the milk, since she hadn't had any reaction prior.
But the formula is out of her system at this point. She went from having many stinky diapers a day to having just a few. They went from (sorry, TMI) pasty to rock solid. She's having gas in the middle of the night. She's refusing to eat. After consulting Dr. Goo.gle, I wanted to plant a hand on my forehead and say "duh".
The night screaming can be explained by the milk. The gas, the change in diapers, the lack of napping, the exhaustion on all of our parts can be explained by the milk.
I hope she doesn't have a milk allergy. I think maybe we just transitioned her too quickly since she seemed to do so well. We were ready to be paying $12 a month instead of $40. She handles milk products really well. She LOVES ice cream, pudding, cottage cheese, cheese of any kind, yogurt, etc... In fact, milk products are her favorite foods and never before has she had a reaction. I think her body just needed longer to transition.
So it's back to formula for this little lady. And a trip to the store for some gas drops. And lots and lots of pears and oatmeal. And maybe some prunes...
I'm ready for some sleep. I'm tired. I've never been tired like this before. I don't know how people do this for months on end, they're saints. I'm so thankful for Anna's (previous) sleep habits. I'm so thankful for my hubby's support. And boy will I be thankful if naptime lasts for longer than an hour this afternoon. And I'll be really thankful if that's all it is. And we get a good night's sleep sometime in the near future. Prayers would be greatly appreciated.
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