What things can you not live without? For me, it's always been my chapstick. I've always got to have a tube in my pocket or purse. How about splurges? I enjoy really good coffee. I am an admitted coffee snob, but that comes from working at a family-owned coffee shop for years, and learning (and tasting) what really makes a good cup.
While we have our splurges, hubby and I are really good at living thriftily. It's not our favorite way to live, but we can do it when we have to. For me, that means no clothes shopping, no eating out, eating all the leftovers. We lived this way at the beginning of our marriage, and throughout the college years. More recently, we've been able to indulge a bit more, but The Prince has certainly changed the breathing room in our budget.
All that to say, when something breaks or runs out, it's weighed in level of importance for the replacement timeline. A few weeks ago, Daddy and The Prince were sitting in the recliner, and Mommy decided to squish in with them. CREAK-CRACK. Uh oh. I said, "Did I break it?" Daddy said, "Yes." Sigh. (I suspect the crack may have been started several weeks ago by visiting family members getting very comfortable in the chair...at least that makes me feel better. It was a Wal-mart special to begin with. I was impressed it lasted as long as it did.)
A few days went by, and we tried to live with it. It sorta worked, just leaned very much to the left when reclined. But, you see, The Prince is still not sleeping through the night, and is apparently part shark with all the teeth that are coming in, and the recliner is key to getting through those nights. If it's not time to eat, Daddy sits and rocks in the recliner with baby, and everyone can rest again. It's actually quite crucial to getting any sleep.
Daddy put his foot down and went on a quest for a new recliner. We couldn't live without it.
Two stores, several test sits, and one emotional breakdown to a bewildered sales lady later, and we are the proud owners of a new rocking recliner. It's big, dark brown, sorta fuzzy, and oh-so-comfy. It feels like it will live longer than the Wal-mart Special, and it may just hold all three of us. But I'm still nervous to try.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Life Changing Experiences
Since my experience at Yogurtland was life-changing (sorry for the inconsistent use of the hyphen. That inconsistency will probably be consistent throughout this post), I thought I'd spend some time coming up with other life-changing events.
1. My first taste of spaghetti. I don't remember it, but it must have happened at some point, because spaghetti is now my favorite food.
2. Band girl that I am, I decided to quit band senior year of HS (for fairly childish, but perfectly valid reasons). I was able to focus on singing and choir, and realize how much I love that, which eventually led to my degree in voice.
3. My decision to leave my freshman year of college early, because of family and money challenges. I was able to transfer to Colorado Christian University the following fall. It was absolutely where I needed to be at that point in my life, and it helped me more fully pursue my faith.
4. Saying "yes" to the date offer from the strangely intriguing boy with the yellow glasses in my freshman theater class. The day I married him seven years ago was pretty life changing, too...
5. The day The Prince was born...well, from the day we found out we were pregnant...but boy, I had no idea how much life would change! I can't believe what an amazing little gift he is. He's incredible!
6. Yogurtland.
That's all for now. I'd love to hear others' biggest (most memorable, favorite?) life-changing experiences.
1. My first taste of spaghetti. I don't remember it, but it must have happened at some point, because spaghetti is now my favorite food.
2. Band girl that I am, I decided to quit band senior year of HS (for fairly childish, but perfectly valid reasons). I was able to focus on singing and choir, and realize how much I love that, which eventually led to my degree in voice.
3. My decision to leave my freshman year of college early, because of family and money challenges. I was able to transfer to Colorado Christian University the following fall. It was absolutely where I needed to be at that point in my life, and it helped me more fully pursue my faith.
4. Saying "yes" to the date offer from the strangely intriguing boy with the yellow glasses in my freshman theater class. The day I married him seven years ago was pretty life changing, too...
5. The day The Prince was born...well, from the day we found out we were pregnant...but boy, I had no idea how much life would change! I can't believe what an amazing little gift he is. He's incredible!
6. Yogurtland.
That's all for now. I'd love to hear others' biggest (most memorable, favorite?) life-changing experiences.
My Unexpected Afternoon
Whoops, it's been almost two weeks since my last post. Sorry! But, this morning, The Prince is taking an extra long nap, so we'll see how far we get.
Last week, an unexpected work snafu left me with some free time (yay!), and here's how I spent it:
I went to a magical place called Yogurtland, which was life changing. More on the life changing things later.
It didn't take long to plow through my cup of deliciousness, so I went to the library. They have a big paper crane display, which tugged at my elementary-school memory of a book, and sure enough, the label for the display talked about Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes. The display was beautiful. Highly recommend it, at the Southglenn Library. I picked up a few children's books, and a novel I couldn't resist - a mystery - The Skein of the Crime, about a murder in the college town of Fort Connor, CO.
Next, I took a short stroll around the Streets at Southglenn to discover things and stores I'd like to further investigate with my mom or good girlfriends, but which hubby will certainly not appreciate (Overpriced but fabulous mani/pedi experience at Allie Katz, anyone?)
A short stop at the luxurious bathrooms (really, they are. And they are one of The Prince's favorite changing station in the metro area), and off to browse at Target to complete my free time.
Aahhh, yogurt/library/windowshopping. Smile.
Last week, an unexpected work snafu left me with some free time (yay!), and here's how I spent it:
I went to a magical place called Yogurtland, which was life changing. More on the life changing things later.
It didn't take long to plow through my cup of deliciousness, so I went to the library. They have a big paper crane display, which tugged at my elementary-school memory of a book, and sure enough, the label for the display talked about Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes. The display was beautiful. Highly recommend it, at the Southglenn Library. I picked up a few children's books, and a novel I couldn't resist - a mystery - The Skein of the Crime, about a murder in the college town of Fort Connor, CO.
Next, I took a short stroll around the Streets at Southglenn to discover things and stores I'd like to further investigate with my mom or good girlfriends, but which hubby will certainly not appreciate (Overpriced but fabulous mani/pedi experience at Allie Katz, anyone?)
A short stop at the luxurious bathrooms (really, they are. And they are one of The Prince's favorite changing station in the metro area), and off to browse at Target to complete my free time.
Aahhh, yogurt/library/windowshopping. Smile.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Eating my Words...and We're All Getting More Sleep. Sort Of.
Gosh, it's hard to know what's the right thing to do in this parenting adventure. Like, what's not going to scar (totally wrote "scare" first; guess that's a concern, too) this precious child for the rest of his life? What will serve him best as he grows up?
Remember my first post? I'm not sure how to link it right now, like some of my other favorite bloggers, but I'll work on that. Anywho, it was all about how The Prince isn't sleeping through the night, and how I just can't let him "cry it out"...
I changed my mind. I think the first time we tried this, neither Daddy or Mommy could go past twenty minutes or so, and The Prince was so upset that it took a long time to get him relaxed enough to go back to sleep. The thought with "crying it out" is that you let the child figure out how to get himself back to sleep, instead of rocking/feeding/whatever, so he won't be dependent on you to sleep. With this early attempt, it just didn't seem like he was getting any closer to sleeping.
Fast forward to a week when I'm at my wit's end. We'd gone back to every two hours, and I know that he doesn't need to eat that much. The final straw was that it was affecting The Prince. He was tired all day, very different from his normal, cheery self. So, at the 9:30 waking, I took a big breath, and let him cry. It lasted for...three minutes. Yep, that's all it took. I couldn't believe it. The night was still pretty long, with more wakings, but they almost all went for only five minutes or so. I did feed him again at midnight, when the cry was longer and especially urgent.
So, we're making progress. Baby boy is still waking a couple times each night, and usually needs fed two times. This is a big improvement from five or six times. Throw in a few obstacles - three more teeth coming in, an very exciting visit from out-of-town relatives, the dog jingling her collar - and we move backward. The encouraging thing is that The Prince sleeps consistently well for the first half of the night. And that he still smiles at me in the morning.
Remember my first post? I'm not sure how to link it right now, like some of my other favorite bloggers, but I'll work on that. Anywho, it was all about how The Prince isn't sleeping through the night, and how I just can't let him "cry it out"...
I changed my mind. I think the first time we tried this, neither Daddy or Mommy could go past twenty minutes or so, and The Prince was so upset that it took a long time to get him relaxed enough to go back to sleep. The thought with "crying it out" is that you let the child figure out how to get himself back to sleep, instead of rocking/feeding/whatever, so he won't be dependent on you to sleep. With this early attempt, it just didn't seem like he was getting any closer to sleeping.
Fast forward to a week when I'm at my wit's end. We'd gone back to every two hours, and I know that he doesn't need to eat that much. The final straw was that it was affecting The Prince. He was tired all day, very different from his normal, cheery self. So, at the 9:30 waking, I took a big breath, and let him cry. It lasted for...three minutes. Yep, that's all it took. I couldn't believe it. The night was still pretty long, with more wakings, but they almost all went for only five minutes or so. I did feed him again at midnight, when the cry was longer and especially urgent.
So, we're making progress. Baby boy is still waking a couple times each night, and usually needs fed two times. This is a big improvement from five or six times. Throw in a few obstacles - three more teeth coming in, an very exciting visit from out-of-town relatives, the dog jingling her collar - and we move backward. The encouraging thing is that The Prince sleeps consistently well for the first half of the night. And that he still smiles at me in the morning.
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