The new "New Moms" thread!

[beckmrk04]

Bethany- that just sucks. I know what you mean about the "single parent" thing, since for the first year + of V's life my DH worked from 3:30 pm - midnight. We never saw each other. But you're right about looking at the positive- so many people are laid off or their jobs have moved or shut down. It's scary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I figured out why I'm cranky- last night I ended up with a 102.3 fever- I was shaking so bad I thought I'd puke.

I called my boss this morning and I told him I'd come in long enough to help set up for the day (I have all the keys to the money, which is important ata bank), but I am coming back home.

DH offered to stay home and take care of me. I was like- thanks, but no thanks. I just want to be left alone so I can actually sleep. I made him take V to my mom's house. Bleh.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Oh by the way....

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO SAM AND ZOE!!!!!!!!

 

[Villain-lover]

awww, thanks!

 

[DMickey28]

Bethany - I hear you on the 'single parent' thing as well. It's tough when sometimes we just need the break too. My DH leaves the house around 7am and gets home between 6:30-7:30pm. He also ends up working from the house every night, either just with email or with phone calls as well. We went on vacation a few weeks ago and he had the blackberry, computer and satellite phone. He had to do something for work everyday, it was annoying.
But we have to be thankful as well ...

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I hear you all on the single parent thing. DH and I both work 24 hour shifts, so one of us is home with Christopher for 24 hours while the other is at work. Then we trade. On a good week, we should be home 3 days together. Never seems to happen though. I just went back to my PT job for some extra money, so that really takes away from my time with DH and Boo. In the end, it sucks for a while, but it works out well. There's no way we could find 24 hour daycare, and the jobs we have come with great benefits, and are really fun!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'M SO EXCITED! I just got back two replys on Mo's birthday party! And one of them forwarded to a friend who's email I didn't have and that friend and her two sons are coming too! So as it stands now, I've got 7 people coming for sure to Mo's get together at the zoo and all but 2 are also coming for cake and ice cream. I think daddy might stay behind but meet up with us for cake and ice cream...and I'm okay with that. I think it will be cool to have a mommy and child day....don't you ladies?

 

[ashjohnson80]

do they make anything to lock desk drawers? that won't ruin my desk? Ellery keeps pulling out my microphone and firewire cable....

 

[beckmrk04]

So, I ended up in the dumb ER last night. My fever would not go down and it eventually got up to 103.4, and I knew I was really dehydrated. So, I went to the ER and got IVs and antibiotics for my throat infection. I actually feel a lot better today, but once my fever broke last night, I was sweating like CRAZY. Seriously- on the ride home from the hospital I soaked through my clothes- I took a shower at 12:30 am when we got home.

Luckily, though, there was no kidney infection (that's what I was more worried about. I had a kidney stone once and that is not something I'm itching to go through ever again.

Ash- my SIL has some little locks that you drill inside the drawer that you can't see from the outside. I need to get some for the bathroom vanity- Vaylie keeps taking off with my makeup. I can just imagine when she figures out how to make herself "pretty."

Denise- Mo's birthday sounds great. It's a little chilly to go to the zoo here.

We're supposed to get flurries this weekend!! (I'm one of those snow-loving people. Most people around here hate snow). It's so pretty when it has just fallen and is all clean and white, and it makes everything look so peaceful. I just love it.

Well, I sent DH to get Chinese food (from a particular restaurant 25 miles away, which I know is silly but it's my favorite and it's the only thing that sounds good). And I am home watching "Elf" which is one of my favorite Christmas movies (I'm not usually much of a Will Ferrel fan, but I love him in "elf").

I don't know about you guys, but I am in the Christmas mood way early. I guess since it's fun to buy presents for little ones, and now I have V and my nephew, I get so excited shopping for them! I'm not going overboard, but it's still fun looking.

 

[Pollito916]

Bethany - sorry to hear about your DH's schedule - it sounds like a lot of us are "single parents" at times. Does anyone really have a "normal" life - I always find myself a little jealous of that, but it probably doesn't really even exist. DH & I only have 1 day a week off together, and lately I find that I have meetings on that one day that I can't get out of, so I feel like we haven't had quality time together in over a month.

Becky - that's scary, but I'm glad it's not a kidney infection. That was sweet of your DH to drive 50 miles for chinese food for you. When I was pg with Alex, there was a Sonic commercial on late at night when DH & I were watching tv, and I mentioned that it looked good. DH offered to go get it for me, even when I told him the nearest Sonic was in Champaign - 2.5 hours away!

Denise - sounds like a fun party!

Ash - I think they do make drawer locks, try BRU or Lowe's, Home Depot.

 

[ashjohnson80]

Becky- hope you feel better soon! Being sick sucks.

I want to be into the Christmas spirit early but it sucks because I want to go and buy stuff for Ellery and plan being Santa and everything and we have for the first time since I've been married seriously no money. I put some of Ellery's things that she's outgrown in the paper like her baby swing, exersaucers, mobile, gym... But no calls yet. I was hoping that if I sold that I would be able to afford to buy a few Christmas presents.

I put part one of her birthday video on my blog if anyone would like to see, http://rocknrollmcmama.blogspot.com

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Ash, I love the video! That's so fun - now I'm inspired to try and do something like that for Owen.

And I saw some drawer locks in the One Step Ahead catalog that are attached with magnets so there's no drilling or screwing anything into the drawers themselves. I have no idea how well they work, but I've liked everything else I've ordered from that catalog/website so I'd guess they work well.


Becky, how scary! I'm glad you're doing better and it wasn't anything too serious. I'm with you on liking snow! I miss it so much out here, and everyone says "oh, that's just because you don't have it anymore", but honestly I always loved it for the 30+ years I lived in MN & WI. My favorite was when we'd get a huge snowstorm overnight and I'd wake up in the morning and I could just tell by the change in the sounds that we'd had snow - you know how all the sounds are sort of muffled? And then to get up and go out into that beautiful white world...sigh....always so lovely and peaceful and I miss it. DH hates snow. He always talks about "frozen water falling from the sky...ew!" and insists that you could die just going out to get the mail in the winter in colder climates. He's a nut, what can I say.

I am really debating putting up christmas decorations this year. DH really dislikes Christmas decorations (such a grinch...), but I've always done it anyway. Last year I didn't decorate because I was enormous and tired of being pregnant and didn't have the energy to lift a pinecone, much less decorate. Plus I figured that when it came time to take down the decorations I'd have a newborn and would be too wiped out to put anything away (I was soooo right on that one!). So this year I have an almost 1-yr old who is into EVERYTHING and puts it all in his mouth or else tries to climb on/over it. I'm thinking that Christmas decorations might not be so safe or smart this time around. What did/will you guys do with 1yr. olds and decorating?

 

[ashjohnson80]

Thanks Bethany! I'll get parts II & III of the video on the blog before her birthday. I love the ending.

 

[beckmrk04]

Pollito- we are 2.5 hours from Champaign now, just in the opposite direction. And sonic- oh so good. Junk food at it's greasy finest. Yum.

Ash- I'm sorry to hear things are so tight with the money situation. We have definitely been there. But, Ellery is so young that she will never know the difference, and the main thing you need at Christmas is love and family, and you have both. Maybe try the stuff in Craigslist?

Bethany- I can't imagine NOT decorating for Christmas! It would kill me. I love it. I love burning Christmas smelling candles (you know- Mistletoe, Cinnamon, hot chocolate...) I love playing Christmas music and watching Christmas movies. I love wrapping presents! (Really!) I love baking cookies and hanging stockings and decorating the trees (we have 4!! 3 small ones and 1 large tree. I have a Mickey and Minnie tree, DH has a Star Wars tree and Vaylie has a Disney Princess tree, then the large tree is our family tree- a mishmash of all sorts). Vaylie was pretty good with the tree last year. She loved looking at the lights and pushing the buttons on ornaments that moved or played music. We're accustomed to not putting any ornaments on the bottom because of the dog and cat. Last year Vaylie couldn't walk yet (she was 10 months at Christmas) so we didn't have to worry about her really getting into things. But, this year I just plan on making sure that we put the breakables up high, and keep some stuff down low for her to play with (like our stuffed snowman and such).

 

[kpm76]

I am really debating putting up christmas decorations this year. DH really dislikes Christmas decorations (such a grinch...), but I've always done it anyway. Last year I didn't decorate because I was enormous and tired of being pregnant and didn't have the energy to lift a pinecone, much less decorate. Plus I figured that when it came time to take down the decorations I'd have a newborn and would be too wiped out to put anything away (I was soooo right on that one!). So this year I have an almost 1-yr old who is into EVERYTHING and puts it all in his mouth or else tries to climb on/over it. I'm thinking that Christmas decorations might not be so safe or smart this time around. What did/will you guys do with 1yr. olds and decorating?

Oh, I love to decorate for Christmas I am considering doing the unthinkable and decorating before Thanksgiving this year since turkey day is so late...haha. As for decorating and small kids, I might be a mean mommy but Abby is not allowed to roam freely in our house. We have a fairly sizable family room that we now use as her play room as well. It is fully childproof and has all her toys in it. So, I have the rest of the house to decorate

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I love decorating for Christmas, too, but our house is small and there just isn't much space as it is, so bringing in a tree means moving furniture out to the shed to make room, and I'm worried that Owen is just going to get into trouble with it. Since I married DH I've scaled back what I used to do, largely because his cats eat everything and then barf it back up. And DH is paranoid about candles (a friend's house burned down because of a candle they forgot to blow out), so I only burn them when he's not home. (although we do have a deal that if a candle is lit he doesn't have to say "excuse me" when he farts! Sometimes he'll tell me that I'd better light a candle, which usually means we're in for a stinky night.)

Anyway, as much as I love it I'm wondering if I should still go ahead with the full blitz this year. DH has said that he wants to put up a string of colored lights in Owen's room (the grinch has a heart after all!), and he always puts up lights around our bedroom window for me. I'd still like to get my advent wreath out, and hang stockings on the wall (no fireplace here). But the tree is a big question mark for me. Just not sure...

I'm also trying to convince DH that we need to get rid of the coffee table and the piano and rearrange the living room so there's more space for the boy. I love the piano, but I'm not very good (I can play vocal warm ups and pick out chords, but that's it) and I rarely open it up. It's more a place to display photos than anything else at this point, and if Owen does take piano lessons we can get a keyboard that will take up half the space of the piano and be put away in a closet. (Can you tell I'm preparing my argument? ) We'll see...if he doesn't get laid off next week (his boss told him there will be layoffs next week, but obviously didn't say who would or wouldn't be cut) I might be able to persuade him to spend the money on rewiring the living room so we can move the TV. (it's an old house - only 2 working outlets in the living room, and neither one of them is near the good wall for the TV.)

Totally rambling tonight...sorry...it's been a long week!

 

[beckmrk04]

Oh, I love to decorate for Christmas I am considering doing the unthinkable and decorating before Thanksgiving this year since turkey day is so late...haha. As for decorating and small kids, I might be a mean mommy but Abby is not allowed to roam freely in our house. We have a fairly sizable family room that we now use as her play room as well. It is fully childproof and has all her toys in it. So, I have the rest of the house to decorate

I don't think it makes you a mean mommy... Our house is just way too small to limit V to one room (we only have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen- I'm not counting the basement because she can't get down there), so we generally keep her in the living room and her room and we gate the kitchen off (that's where the dog spends a lot of her time).

I decorate the whole house- bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, living room.

(And I'm thinking about decorating early too! Don't tell my DH! He is absolutely against early decorating! )

 

[beckmrk04]

I love decorating for Christmas, too, but our house is small and there just isn't much space as it is, so bringing in a tree means moving furniture out to the shed to make room, and I'm worried that Owen is just going to get into trouble with it. Since I married DH I've scaled back what I used to do, largely because his cats eat everything and then barf it back up. And DH is paranoid about candles (a friend's house burned down because of a candle they forgot to blow out), so I only burn them when he's not home. (although we do have a deal that if a candle is lit he doesn't have to say "excuse me" when he farts! Sometimes he'll tell me that I'd better light a candle, which usually means we're in for a stinky night.)

Anyway, as much as I love it I'm wondering if I should still go ahead with the full blitz this year. DH has said that he wants to put up a string of colored lights in Owen's room (the grinch has a heart after all!), and he always puts up lights around our bedroom window for me. I'd still like to get my advent wreath out, and hang stockings on the wall (no fireplace here). But the tree is a big question mark for me. Just not sure...

I'm also trying to convince DH that we need to get rid of the coffee table and the piano and rearrange the living room so there's more space for the boy. I love the piano, but I'm not very good (I can play vocal warm ups and pick out chords, but that's it) and I rarely open it up. It's more a place to display photos than anything else at this point, and if Owen does take piano lessons we can get a keyboard that will take up half the space of the piano and be put away in a closet. (Can you tell I'm preparing my argument? ) We'll see...if he doesn't get laid off next week (his boss told him there will be layoffs next week, but obviously didn't say who would or wouldn't be cut) I might be able to persuade him to spend the money on rewiring the living room so we can move the TV. (it's an old house - only 2 working outlets in the living room, and neither one of them is near the good wall for the TV.)

Totally rambling tonight...sorry...it's been a long week!

Re:candles- I almost burnt down my family's house when I was 14 years old because I had candles lit in my room and I forgot about them. LUCKILY, my stepdad is a firefighter and we lived DIRECTLY across the street from the fire department, so they quickly put it out, but I lost everything in my room. But, at least my family still had a house. Not one of my smartest moments. However, now I am hypervigilant to only use candles in glass containers and always blow them out! Lesson learned.

I say- get a small-ish tree, sell the piano and use the $$ to re-wire the living room, put up lights, hang the stockings on the wall (we do too!), and light a very smelly candle (my favorite is Christmas Wreath by Yankee Candle Co. because it makes my house smell like a real tree, even though I sold out and bought a fake one). TA-DAAAAAA!

And, lastly- I am impressed- your DH says excuse me when he farts? Mine laughs.

 

[ashjohnson80]

I'm hoping to put up a small tree in the corner behind the sofa. We keep Ellery blocked off so she can't go behind the sofa anyway. The only problem is that I let my sister borrow our smaller tree last year and I' afriad that she's lost it or thrown it away. And we can't put up the 10 ft tree with Ellery that would be a disaster. Plus we just don't have the space now with the way that I have the furniture arranged.

 

[beckmrk04]

I went back to work today and felt all day. I should have stayed home, but I already felt bad about missing 2 days (if someone calls off at work it leaves us completely short-handed).

Luckily today was a short day- I was out of there at 4, and I have Sat, Sun, and Mon off!

I *should* clean my house. It really, really, reeeeaaalllly needs it. But DH and I only have a whole day off together once in a blue moon (ok, once a month when I have a Saturday off) and I want to do something more fun than cleaning the house. But, we're also trying to save money, so I don't know. I'd like to start Christmas shopping, but I don't even know where to start.

 

[beckmrk04]

Ladies- if you have itunes or some other way to listen to her, I am proudly declaring Elizabeth Mitchell my new favorite children's music artist- her voice is velvety and soft and everything lovely, and the music isn't jarring and scary, it's wonderful. I just downloaded a version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" that she did with Lisa Loeb (remember her?), "You are my sunshine" and a GREAT cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds."

I love itunes. And I love kid's music that doesn't trigger my gag reflex.