My Mama Bear Hour

The internet is suddenly out, so it seems like the perfect opportunity to write a blog post. When I’ll be able to post it is another matter entirely, but we’ll deal with that later. For now, the dogs are in their crates (because they weren’t mindful of the baby), the baby is sound asleep (though for how long is the ultimate question), the husband is at work, and I’m enjoying this extremely comfortable couch in absolute silence [save for the clicking of my keyboard and the humming of the baby monitor].

Last week we went to Oklahoma for my sister’s graduation from Basic Training for the Army. Even though traveling with a baby is something I strive to always avoid, it was wonderful to be there with the family. My parents flew to the states for the occasion, so we all got to be together for three days or so.

[What the heck? First, I type that my husband is at work and then thirty seconds later he texts me that he’s on his way home for dinner. No problem, I like it when he comes home. But then, two minutes after typing that the baby is sound asleep—a sleep that took all of one minute to happen a mere 15 minutes ago—he’s now awake and standing in his crib and crying. I don’t even know what to say. I have got to learn to stop typing these things! It’s too risky! Now I’m just sitting here, staring at my laptop.]

OK, the husband is back at work. Our internet is working again, but I can put off watching Gilmore Girls for the umpteenth time until after I finish this post. Hah.

So back to Oklahoma and my sister’s graduation. Overall, the trip was great! We discovered that Logan is quite the extrovert and knows no strangers. (He literally reached for a random woman at the graduation ceremony and sat on her lap for a good ten/fifteen minutes. No joke.) No matter how little sleep that baby got, as long as there was a room full of people, he was the happiest baby on the block. He made me look like a crazy new mom for insisting that he needs two naps a day, because even after missing one or both of his naps, he was still smiling and having a blast. He was exhausted—but happy. It wasn’t until we got home and all the people were gone that his exhaustion caught up with him and he suddenly became quite fussy and inconsolable. We got back to Waco on Saturday afternoon and that night, he slept for nearly 15 hours. (Not straight through. Don’t get too excited.) Speaking of baby sleep, since I’ve been so obsessed with the topic lately, it only makes sense that my very first “mama bear” moment came as a result of baby sleep—or lack thereof. Thursday morning at 10:00 am, we attended Fort Sill’s Family Day. Well Logan typically naps right around ten most mornings. So he had to skip his morning nap. Once Brittany could leave base with us for the rest of the day, we went out for lunch. It was a long wait because we had a big party and the food took a while to come out, but Logan was doing fine, so we just took his lead. Once he started getting a bit fussy, we decided to leave the restaurant a bit early and get him down for an afternoon nap. Once we got to the hotel, he was asleep within two minutes of being in his pack n play. Two minutes! Poor baby was exhausted! Then twenty minutes later, because everything in the entire world conspires to ruin baby sleep, the fire alarm in the hotel started going off. It was LOUD. However, after five minutes of continuous alarm-ing, my sleeping child still hadn’t woken up. It was amazing! I was about to go deaf, and he was still asleep. I called the front desk to find out if it was a fluke or if we actually needed to evacuate the building to which the receptionist said that we had to leave the building. I had to WAKE MY BABY UP because there was a supposed fire. I was a bit cranky about it, but you know, fires are bad. After the fire alarm was turned off, we went back inside and I tried in vain to get Logan back to sleep. I knew he wouldn’t put himself back to sleep, but I had hopes that I could nurse him to sleep in the bed. Just as he was dozing off, the fire alarm went off again. I was no longer cranky. I was livid. He eventually sat up and was far too awake for any more napping. I called the front desk again only to find out that they had only been testing the system all along. It was just a test. I yelled at the woman on the phone, informing her that I wasn’t paying good money to stay at a hotel where I couldn’t even let my baby nap! But even after yelling on the phone, I was still on fire. I decided to go yell at them in person (Travis went with me just to make sure I stayed relatively calm) in the lobby. The general manager told me there was nothing she could have done because when the fire marshal says they need to test the system, they have to test the system and she told everyone at dinner the night before and breakfast that morning that it was going to happen. My response? I WAS AT DINNER AND BREAKFAST! NO ONE TOLD ME ANYTHING! If I had known, I would never have left lunch early to get my son down for a twenty-minute nap! She apologized. I left still angry. Logan was smiling with the family upstairs. I looked like a lunatic. Eventually I got over it. The manager gave us an apology gift and I felt pretty bad. But I experienced my first mama bear moment. I don’t know that I want to experience many more. Hah.

I’ve also now experienced the “grandparents/aunts/uncles/etc. will feed your baby anything” thing. Logan ate chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate, ice cream…we’re limiting his sugar now. Hah. He also ate some fruits and veggies every once in a while. J We have some great pictures of him eating a huge strawberry. He loved it and he was a complete mess.

For the rest of my Logan news, I’m switching to bullet points. It’s faster. 

• Logan is now very adept at walking with his walker. It makes me nervous that solo walking is right around the corner. 
• Despite all the fun animal-shaped bath toys Logan has, the only toy he wants to play with now is the water dipper. The one bath item that’s for me to use is now his favorite. Figures. 
• He waves now! Not so much at appropriate times, but he loves to wave and loves it even more if you wave back! 
• We had our first “poop in the bathtub” experience. Could have done without that one. 
• Today was like a flying unicorn kind of day. Logan hardly fussed all day. He took two 1 hour, 15 minute naps. He sat on my lap for about ten minutes and giggled every time I said, “Puh-puh-poof!” [What can I say? I’m hysterical.] He sat in his high chair happily for over half an hour while I made his and my dinner. He ate some yellow curry with rice and seemed to like it. The dogs ran into him while going through the doggie door and he only cried for a little while—scrambled eggs and some bites of a biscuit made it all better. He loved my “Zaccheus” song and didn’t cry when I took him out of the bathtub. And for the first time maybe ever, I didn’t want it to be bedtime yet. Flying unicorn days may not be very frequent, but I sure loved this one.

In other news, we had to get our AC fixed in our good car, so I’ve had no car for the last two days. I had to drive Travis’s awful car this morning and couldn’t seem to get it into gear. I have no clue how or why, but I kept maxing out at 40 mph even when I was in fifth gear. Travis says I obviously wasn’t in fifth gear, but I don’t know what else I could have been in. Fifth is the furthest gear you can be in. I’m not saying that “user error” is an impossibility, but I drove that car for a year to and from work every single day and I never had this problem. Granted it’s been a couple years since then, but driving a stick is like riding a bike, right? Anyway, we get our car back tomorrow morning. Yay!

If you like chocolate, you should make Pioneer Woman’s chocolate pie filling recipe and eat it as chocolate pudding. [Same same.] I made a whole recipe on Sunday and finished eating it this afternoon—and I’m not even sorry. UH-mazing! 

When "Naps" Fall into the "Miracle" Category

I have cookies in the oven. We discovered that we had four containers of oats, so I decided to make some chocolate chip/raisin oatmeal cookies. I spent a lot of time researching how to make the best thick, chewy amazing regular chocolate chip cookies—and we now have a wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’ve shared it with my mom and sisters, and they agree that the cookies are out of this world. But see, I don’t have a wonderful amazing oatmeal cookie recipe… and I hate making bad cookies. I actually hate making bad anything. It makes me hate cooking, but I’m working on it. Anyway, moving on.

Today I used an ottoman, two laundry baskets, a toy box, and Logan’s toy/walker to block the fireplace and dining room. There are only so many times I can chase that kid down and he’s beyond obsessed. And he thinks putting dog food in his mouth is incredibly funny. I think he actually just thinks my reaction is funny, but I’ve been dealing with that my whole life. I’m an easy target because I react so dramatically—and the louder/more high-pitched I sound, the bigger his smile. He also got to try mashed potatoes today and loved them. And he ate enchiladas for dinner. Hah. We’ve discovered that he prefers grown-up food to his baby food. He’s thrown a bit of a fit here and there when we won’t give him more of our food. It starts when we let him taste our food, and then don’t give him more…he gets upset. Silly babies. He’s also decided that naps are beneath him, so his naps only last about half an hour or so. On special miracle days he’ll take a one-hour nap, but those are few and far between. On the upside, he now falls asleep in his own crib by himself within four minutes. He doesn’t stay asleep all night, but it’s much better than holding him down in my bed while he screams and tries to get out of my grip for forty-five minutes just to get him to sleep, and then we have to stress about him crawling off the bed and…it wasn’t going well. And you want to know how we did it? We let him cry. I gave in. I got to a point where he was screaming when I tried to put him down and he was screaming if I left him by himself. It was horrible for a few days and then suddenly he just started going to sleep all by himself. And it was kind of magical. Am I a big cry-it-out advocate now? Not necessarily. But if you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked, then I’d say it’s worth a shot.

OK, so it’s a new day now. Last night got late and sleep became more of a priority. On the upside, I can now tell you that my cookies actually turned out pretty good! They’re better today than they were fresh…which works out well since they’re only fresh for a very short time. I know you guys were on the edge of your seats. You can rest easy now.

Logan woke up at 6:45, nursed for half an hour, and then played with my eyelashes and eyebrows for about twenty minutes. Then he fell asleep. He absolutely loves playing with my eyelashes. I have no clue why or how he even picked out my eyelashes over everything else on my face. But it’s sweet and cute. I can’t for the life of me figure out what I used to talk about before Logan was born. My dogs?

My sister graduates from basic training next week. A bunch of family will be there, and we’re excited to all be together. A nice four-hour drive with a 9 month old should be fun. Hah! But we’re driving in the evening, so hopefully he’ll sleep as much as possible. He’s going to have a blast being around family and getting a lot of attention. He loves attention. You should see him in a restaurant—he tries to stare people down until they look at him. He’s a goof. J (There I go again! I can’t even go one paragraph without circling back to Logan. Goodness gracious.) My other sister visited us this past weekend. It was so wonderful having her here. We've tried to convince her to transfer to Baylor and live with us, but she's a bit resistant to the idea. I haven't given up all hope though. Logan and I are very persuasive. ;) 

You know how I said one-hour naps are few and far between? Well Logan has now been sleeping for an hour and fifteen minutes. Sometimes BIG miracles happen just when you've given up on them. [And he just woke up. Hah. Never speak (or type) your miracles out loud.]

PiYo, a TV, and Mommy-Fails

It's only 8:46 and I'm exhausted. I would go to sleep, but this is my main "do whatever I want" time. Logan is sleeping. The dogs are sleeping. Travis is at work. I've already cleaned the floor and the kitchen. Laundry can wait till tomorrow. (If I started the laundry now, I'd have to stay up at least till it's finished washing. And I don't like putting time restraints on myself like that.) It's so peaceful. 

Less than a week ago, I up and decided that I was tired of my post-baby belly. I may have lost the pregnancy weight, but there's no denying that a baby once lived in my midsection. I can deal with the stretch marks. Mostly because I don't have a choice. But I know there's something I could do about the extra jiggle in my middle. SO, I joined a PiYo class. And I have only one word to say about it: ouch. My entire lower half feels like a car ran over me. [Disclaimer: I don't actually know what that feels like. It's probably a lot worse than what I'm feeling now. Sometimes I dramatize things.] But the thing about starting a new workout (or any workout, in my case) is that once you start, you really have to keep going if you want the soreness to go away. And oh boy yes I do. So I've gone twice. It's been painful twice. But I'm going to power through. Whether my midsection tones up a bit or not, at least I'll be able to touch my toes by the end of the class. [I better be able to touch my toes by the end of the class.] I had to buy a sports bra. I never truly appreciated my bra-buying life before. They make you pay more for bigger sizes. And when you've gone up a couple cup sizes, you can't just buy the cheap sports bras at Walmart. The ones in a two-pack. No no. You have to buy fancy ones. That cost a ton of money. Because if you don't, you can't jump. Or move in any vigorous fashion whatsoever. Sigh. 

We bought a TV. We're no longer that strange couple without a TV. When we lived in our rental house last year, the maintenance people would come by occasionally, and one of the first things they noticed was our lack of a TV. And now we've caved. Hah. But it's nice. :) And once we get the DVD player hooked up, I can watch some Gilmore Girls. It's been far too long. Tomorrow, Travis is going to put the TV on the wall 'cause we're fancy like that. 

We came up with a sleeping solution for the little guy. A few nights ago, I woke up to Travis lunging across me and Logan screaming. I couldn't find Logan in the bed, so I screamed... only to realize that Travis was already picking him up off the floor. He'd crawled off the bed. My heart was pounding. I desperately reached for my baby boy to comfort nurse him--all the while crying my eyes out--until he was calm. Travis checked him for any signs of broken bones or a head injury, while I frantically searched online for what to check if your baby falls off the bed. He was fine. He had a little bump above his eyebrow, and was smiling and climbing all over his daddy within a few minutes. But I felt like the absolute worst mother in the world. I had fallen asleep nursing him on the opposite side of the bed--Travis's side. And even though I had a big body pillow blocking my side of the bed, he'd crawled right over it. I slept the rest of the night only on my side of the bed, simply leaning over a bit more if he needed to nurse on my other side. Needless to say, our co-sleeping arrangement was no longer the best option. I tried cry-it-out again the next night to no avail. I tried moving him to the crib after he was asleep--he just woke up screaming immediately. Finally, I turned to my trusty friend: Google. I read a few co-sleeping mommy blogs for some advice. It turns out that true blue dedicated co-sleepers will go as far as to put their mattress straight on the floor to prevent falls. I'm not a dedicated co-sleeper. I'm a co-sleeper by necessity. [Though I will admit that I've grown quite accustomed to sleeping with my little man and don't hate it as much as I once thought I did.] The mommy blog suggestion I liked best (though obviously not from a dedicated co-sleeper) was to put the baby on their own mattress on the floor. So we did! We moved his crib mattress to the floor, against one of the walls in our room. He sleeps! It's amazing! I can still nurse him to sleep without having to move him, and he won't get hurt if he rolls or crawls off. (We put pillows around the edges to ease the transition.) He's crawled off a couple times now with no problem. The only [recently discovered] problem is that if he wakes up quietly from his naps and crawls to the bedroom door before I hear him, I can't get in the room because he's pulled himself up against the door. It takes a little while to slowly inch in the door open so I don't knock him over. But other than that, it's wonderful! Yay for helpful mommy blogs! :) And bigger yay for no more crawling off the bed!! 

Owning dogs is expensive. Possibly more expensive than a baby. Though I'm sure the baby will start costing us more eventually. For now, these two fur babies are money drainers. Hah. Between food and the vet and baths and heartworm prevention... these guys are crazy expensive. Although I will admit that the "baths" part is an optional expense. It comes from my complete refusal to bathe them--they're really strong!--and Travis's distaste for bathing them in the winter. We [and when I say "we" I really mean "Travis"] bathe them outside with the hose because Sabre has some kind of claustrophobia fit if he has to get a bath in the bathtub. He handles it like a champ...well, like a whiney, difficult champ--if it's outside. Tatum doesn't necessarily like her baths either, but she's not the problem child. So, in the winter, we prefer to have them bathed elsewhere. The water from the hose, despite this being Texas, is still pretty cold. I'm telling you this because they need baths. Our usual groomer is all booked up this week. I better call and make an appointment for next week. I was hoping they'd be bathed before then, but it's not looking likely, folks. 

Logan's newest interests are: 1. Trying to climb out the doggie door. This morning he got about halfway out. Travis encourages his endeavors. 2. Pulling himself up on the dog's food bowl container and grabbing handfuls of dog food. He smiles really big when I tell him "No!" and peel his fingers back to get rid of his fistfuls of kibble and wash his hands. I'm really starting to think he thinks he's a dog.

my living room smells so good

The baby is sleeping. Probably for about two more minutes now that I'm actually trying to do something. We're going on two days in a row of only two naps! While it may seem like more naps is better, it's not. I mean, if my child was an easy napper and stayed asleep, it might be nice. But when I have to lie down with him for half an hour to get him to sleep only to have him wake up twenty minutes after I left, it's not worth it. However, this two naps a day thing is rockin' my socks off. He's already been asleep for over an hour! That was wishful thinking mere days ago. And tonight I'm going to be strong. I'm going to resist his cute little sleeping face snuggled up next to me... and I'm going to move him to his own crib. He will probably wake up. And I will simply do everything I can to get him back asleep... in his crib. Whether he'll sleep in the crib all night long has yet to be determined. But he'll at least start there. I waver in my determination much more when it's the middle of the night and I'm not fully awake. [Two minutes! Told ya!]

OK, so now that I'm writing this with an awake baby crawling around my house, you may want to lower your expectations for coherence and organization and not-repeating-myself. I'll do my best though.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'm saving my floor-cleaning for tomorrow. Today is the last day the dogs will be going in and out of the doggie door [tracking in dirt and leaves, etc.] for a few days, so I don't see any reason to clean the floor today. It's only going to get worse before the day is over. Logan loves to eat the leaves the dogs track inside. I've offered him a myriad of [mostly] age-appropriate human snacks... but he wants the leaves! I also have a whole mess of lovely toys for him to play with... but he wants plastic bags and power cords. Oh babies.

And here's a concise-ish list of the other things going on in my life:

• My sister is at basic training for the army right now. We finally got her mailing address, so we can now communicate with her. Yay! [Logan's been wearing a lot more camo in honor of his aunt. It's also adorable on him.]
• Last Saturday we bought new furniture. It was delivered this morning. It's leather. Our living room smells gooood!
• The hubs let me buy new throw pillows for the living room. And curtain rods and curtains. He had more restraint than I did and vetoed a few things. Unless I try to wear him down another day. Hah. ;)
• Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs are cooking in the crockpot! All I have to do is heat up some rice and open a can of green beans. (And heat up the green beans, but that just goes without saying...) I love dinner that involves so little work!
• My wonderful husband made the most amazing Fajitas for dinner the other night. I mean really though. He was worried my expectations were too high... which may have been a good thing, because he really kicked it up a notch. If it weren't for the fact that he has the good job that brings in all the money, I might let him be the stay-at-home-parent. He's already the better cook! But my English degree leaves much to be desired by way of job opportunities. 
• No matter how many times I try to divert Logan away from the hearth [because it's brick and I have horrible visions of his face meeting the brick], he will crawl back to it every. single. time. No toy is more exciting than pulling himself up on the hearth. Joy of joys.
• Sleep training is hard. I absolutely can not do "cry-it-out" for anything in the world. I've tried. [I've only ever lasted about three minutes.] I've failed. I just have to come up with a less heart-wrenching method. For now, we're getting sleep and that's what matters today. 
• We might get a TV. It's in the talks. Hah. 

When Logan gets excited, he starts panting. He also tries to chase [a very slow chase] the dogs around and eat their rawhide bones.

Three Countries, Three States, and Back Home

We were gone for three weeks. And you know what I learned during those three weeks? Traveling is exhausting. And when you have a baby with you? Three weeks is a really. long. time. Don't get me wrong! It went by really fast and was so much fun! (The flights, not the best. But I expected that one.) But babies change so much. When we left Waco, Logan was [mostly] immobile. He liked pulling himself up (but was still a novice at it) and could only kind of crawl backwards. He had no teeth and only a little bit of hair. Oh. And his pants were all a bit long on him. Every single thing I just mentioned has changed. He is an expert at pulling himself up. He crawls forwards very well. He has two teeth (not all the way in, but they're still there) and lots of much-lighter-than-when-he-was-born hair. His pants are the perfect length now. And he's started blowing raspberries. And drinking from his sippy cup [yesterday]. And eating solid foods without gagging at each new texture. How can so much happen in such a short time? We have to get him a bigger carseat too! Crazy growing, changing kid.

But more happened on our trip than the ever-changing Logan. To start with, Indonesia was wonderful. Even though it was the first time I've gone back to Indonesia and didn't think of it as "home," it was still familiar and comfortable, even though so much has changed in the last six and a half years. If possible, it's more crowded and less organized than before. Hah. But it's also wonderful. I had KFC nearly everyday. [At least I tried to.] I didn't get a picture of my KFC, because once I had it in front of me, I had no self-control. Every time. We had KFC for breakfast (chicken strip and scrambled eggs on a tortilla), for lunch & dinner (two pieces of chicken and rice). I wish American KFC could figure out how to make their chicken as good as Indonesian KFC. We also got sate (satay) with sweet soy sauce (I'm not a peanut sauce fan); mie goreng (fried noodles); kue putuh!! (steamed rice flour filled with brown sugar and topped with shredded coconut); roti cane/canai susu (fried bread (?) dipped in sweetened condensed milk); Chinese noodles made by a good friend of ours; and nasi tumpeng (yellow rice shaped into a pyramid surrounded by chicken, eggs, potatoes, and other such sides). We took Logan to the women's prison in Bandung. They loved him! He met new people everyday and seemed to love it! He really liked all the jilbabs (head coverings the Muslim women wear)! They were so brightly colored and had pretty patterns! Hah. He did not, however, like the call to prayer. There are so many mosques that it seemed extra loud and long each time it went off (five times a day)... the worst one being the 4:15 am. Thankfully, he got used to it after the first few days and didn't wake up every night.

I would also like to talk about the wonderful pampering I experienced. One creambath, one full body massage, one 45 minute foot massage, and one 1.5 hr foot reflexology (that also included a back/head/shoulder segment). And I spent $10 or less for each of those things. And then Travis and I got to go out on a date to watch Night at the Museum 3 at the "Velvet Class" theatre. It was a bed, you guys! We got to watch a movie at the theatre on. a. bed. With pillows and a blanket! And food service, if we so pleased. It was the absolute best way to watch a movie. I don't know that I can ever watch a movie in a regular theatre seat ever again. I've been far too spoiled. Oh. And did I mention that it was only $12 for both tickets? For a bed!!

Oh yes. And Logan survived all the plane rides without a single blowout! Yay!

Here are some lovely pictures from our trip:

Nasi Tumpeng! It was so good! (My mom was given the honor of cutting the top off and presenting it to someone. Traditions.)

Logan on Christmas morning! He was as excited about his stocking as the gifts inside.

Logan with Daddy on Christmas morning! He always smiles for pictures with Daddy...

And with Mommy! In case you can't read his shirt, it says, "Gift to the Ladies"... isn't he though? Hah!

This was my dad's first time meeting Logan--his first and only grandchild! It was fun to see them together!

The kue putuh man came by on Christmas day to give me kue putuh! I told him to come back and he only came back once. Sad. But still delicious!

I was really terrible at taking pictures while we were gone. We basically took pictures on Christmas day and the day we left. Pathetic. Hopefully my dad and sisters took more pictures that they'll be happy to share with me. :) After Indonesia, we spent almost a week in Wisconsin with Travis's family. It was freezing! We went from tropical weather to bitterly cold weather in a matter of days. And it's no secret that I prefer the tropical. Hah. But we survived. There was snow. Lots of snow. I was hoping to get a picture of Logan in the snow, but the windchill was often in the -20s, and I didn't feel like torturing my poor baby boy. Or myself. Hah. We'll have to get snow pictures another year. (Unless it snows in Waco this year... which would be pretty crazy, but it can happen.)

Our dogs have been surprisingly mellow since we got home. I think Sabre is sick. If he doesn't start acting like himself soon, I might just have to take him to the vet. He threw up last night and has been lying in his crate most of the day. Tatum hasn't seemed sick, but she's also just sleeping all day. Silly puppies. I can't tell if they're just recovering from all the fun they had while we were gone, or if they don't sleep well when they're not with us. They've done this before after we board them (not the sick part, just the sleepy part), so who knows. But on the positive side, it rained a lot a few days before we got back, so our backyard is a bit muddy. Usually that would be a terrible thing, but with sleepy, lethargic dogs, it's quite manageable.

This post has taken most of the day to write. The joys of a mobile baby. And a baby that will only nap if I nap with him. Sometimes, when he's actually distracted by something and enjoying himself, I avoid eye contact. Because if I look at him, he often decides that he's no longer having fun and we have to find something else to do. Something less calm and more work. Hah.

And it's time for a diaper change. Happy New Year, friends!

I'm never going out with the baby again. [or until tomorrow, at least.]

On those days when you're about to leave the house with the baby [alone, I might add] and you only grab a onesie as you're walking out the door--no pants because you're just sort of planning for the "worst case poop scenario," you're basically asking for it. You're asking for that not-well-planned-for worst case poop scenario to happen while you're at Old Navy. And you know what? It did. Literally as soon as we got there, I had to go straight back to the bathroom to change my precious little boy. But what did he do as soon as I placed him on the changing table? He screamed. And not like, "I hate having my diaper change" crying... it was "I'm dying/in pain/being tortured" screaming. And of course, as soon as I take his pants off, poop is everywhere. Everywhere. [OK, not everywhere. But in the moment it felt like it.] I have to strip him down [more screaming] and somehow get all the poop cleaned up. And guess what? I'm down to about seven wipes. Why? Because this exact same thing happened yesterday at the bank. And I was, as previously stated, ill-prepared for another similar situation. I was miraculously able to conserve my wipe usage and had just enough to clean everything. I put the thank-goodness-I-grabbed-it onesie on him, and put him back in his carseat which resulted in--you guessed it!--more screaming. I quickly and not efficiently at all rinsed his clothes, washed my hands, and picked him back up. Then I proceeded to push a stroller with one hand and hold a very sad baby with the other while trying to find inexpensive short sleeved t-shirts as quickly as humanly possible. I found three t-shirts and two pairs of pants for Logan [because clearly we're lacking those], and hightailed it out of there. We're home. Logan nursed himself to sleep and I'm praying [truly genuinely praying with all my heart] that he will sleep for at least an hour and a half. It was a rough day... and this particular part of it was less than an hour long.

Just for the record, I've rinsed out three poop-covered onesies and pairs of pants since yesterday. My husband, just yesterday morning, said, "He really doesn't have poop explosions that often..." And I officially beg. to. differ. But you guys. We leave for Indonesia on Saturday. We will be traveling for over twenty-four hours straight. It's bad enough imagining that Logan will scream for a good part of our rather long flights. It's something else all together to imagine endless poop explosions on an airplane. Please pray that my sanity will still be in tact by the end of this week. I've imagined so many horrible scenarios for this trip, I don't know that it's good for my health to travel too much with this child. Sigh.

On a side note, I really love being a mom. And I love my son. I just don't like poop. Rather, I don't like cleaning poop off of clothing.

I've packed one bag. It can still hold about fourteen more pounds, but I don't know that we can fit that  much more in the bag. Nor do we have that much more stuff to pack... and still two and a half more suitcases we can fill. This week is kind of dragging on. It's only Tuesday. I really need to not be anticipating this trip anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond excited about visiting my family and my childhood "home" [by "home" I mean country]! And I can't wait to get some amazing Indonesian KFC and roti canai and kue putu. And possibly go to a movie for less than in a movie theater that puts American theaters to shame. [Most Indonesian movie theaters are so incredibly nice. Only a select few American theaters are nice. True story.]

So much for an hour and a half nap. He's awake. But at least he's happy and awake. :) And he's pretty cute. Hah.

You know what sounds incredibly wonderful right now? A big glass of cold water. Ah. Merry Christmas to all!

Learning to Crawl: Not as fun as you may think

Time is absolutely moving at a faster pace than it ever has before. My baby is already six months old. We've been living in this house for almost that same length of time. Thanksgiving is over. We're going to Indonesia in less than a month. [Less than three weeks, actually.] And 2014 is coming to a rapid end. What happened? On January 1st of this year, I felt Logan's little kicks for the very first time. How can that have already been nearly a year ago? It was a big moment for me because after a horrible first trimester, I needed to be reminded that I was carrying a brand new, precious life. I needed to feel the little flutters to help me realize that it was all going to be worth it in the end. And it was worth it. I mean, I saw a picture of Travis and me a year ago, and I'm pretty sure we look a lot older now, but it's been fun. Exhausting. Crazy. Wonderful. I was anticipating so many things this year... it's hard to believe they've [almost] already happened.

On a less serious/contemplative note, we went to our first family football game last Saturday. I was really excited about it up until we hit the game day traffic. And the stairs. And more stairs. Really steep stairs. And the absolutely repulsive smell of beer. (I would apologize to those of you that like beer, but it really truly smells horrible.) People were in our seats, so we had to ask them to move. Logan lasted about an hour before he was exhausted. I took him to the family restroom to nurse him (less for modesty's sake, more because he's so easily distracted and will, therefore, refuse to nurse) and he fell asleep in my arms. The toilet didn't have a seat cover, so I was standing up, holding a rather heavy sleeping child. (Nursing standing up is not as wonderful as you may think either...) And since he fell asleep nursing, I was still completely exposed, with no extra hand to cover up. Plus, I knew it would be infinitely louder outside the bathroom. But once my arms felt like jello, I carefully texted Travis to come help me. Logan woke up as soon as I handed him off. He took a twenty minute nap during halftime. We opted not to park at the stadium for $50, so our cars were two miles away at my sisters' apartment. (They dropped us off before the game...) Long story short, we didn't get home till almost 9:00, and Logan screamed for the last ten minutes of the drive. Sigh. Needless to say, next time we'll pay for parking, we won't climb to the nosebleed section but will, instead, sit at the lovely couches on one of the main floors, and never ever again will we take a six month old baby to a college football game. Of course, I'm not sure there's much of a chance I'll be going to a game again period. Watching football on TV at home is better in nearly every way. Some might disagree, but you're wrong. Hah! ;)

Other than the game (which was still a good experience to have under my belt), our Thanksgiving was lovely. Logan is a hit with the extended family--and he loves to be around lots of people. We're thinking he might be an extroverted baby. Does that change? Could he be an extroverted baby and then an introverted kid/teenager? Who knows. Oh yeah, and I'm just going to put this out there: if your baby doesn't poop for three days while you're on vacation, be prepared for a lot of diaper changes when you finally get home. And stain treatments. Hah.

I no longer babysit. Logan wasn't a big fan of missing his afternoon nap and made sure we all knew it by screaming for the entire 2+ hours I worked each day. I tried leaving really early and just driving around town for thirty minutes so he could fall asleep... but he never would. No nap for Logan made for a stressful afternoon for everyone involved, and an even more stressful evening for me. As much as I wanted to make it work, it was definitely for the best that I stop. He naps every afternoon right around when I would need to leave for work. OR he's still sleeping and I'd have to wake him up. Tatum woke him up today with her way too loud squeals of excitement about playing outside and it was a long hour and a half before he'd go back to sleep. Oh yeah, and this whole "learning to crawl" thing is one cruel joke. Logan falls on his face so many times, I'm thinking of having pillows installed over our floor. Not really. But the face-plants really are hurting my heart. His poor painful cries are a bit more than I can handle. Why didn't anyone tell me that crawling was so heartbreaking at first? Here I thought it was going to be cute and fun and we'd laugh and take videos. All lies. He loves to try to get to Sabre. (Tatum used to be his favorite, but then Sabre let him grab his fur and nose and paw. His love is rather conditional.) He desperately tries to crawl to Sabre... it's precious. I genuinely believe he'll start crawling just to get to that dog.

I have an affinity for passive voice. My apologies to those of you who don't like it. ;)