What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I'm supposed to be working on a talk for church this sunday.

The topic is Christ before his mortal ministry

(basically what can we learn about Christ in the Old Testament and how that has impacted my life).

I'm at a loss. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

So,

rather than reading conference talks and the scriptures,

I'm reading about parenting (hey, at least I'm not reading tabloid websites),

and I came across this great article!

Quirky Discipline Rules That Work

(You should really just read it, she says it better than I could)

But, quick glance for those who don't want to read the whole article:

1. You can't be in the room when I'm working unless you work too.

-Brilliant. They either really want to be with you and will help, or they'll leave you to get things done.

2. I don't work past 8 p.m.

-If they want bedtime stories and what not, no dragging their feet. Ahh I forsee watching Grey's Anatomy in peace...

3. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit

-Basically a more pleasing way to say life's not fair

4. Take that show on the road

-As a mom you really don't have to watch/listen to them perform hours on end or try to talk over them, they can continue playing in another room.

5. We don't argue about money

-Stop begging before it begins. If you say you're not buying something, end of discussion. Two sided though, you have to allow your children to spend their money how they choose.

6. I can't understand you when you speak like that

-Validate feelings, but don't tolerate whining, screaming, rude or otherwise unacceptable language.

7. There's no such thing as boredom

-Encourages kids to entertain themselves, use their imagination, etc.

I represent an entire generation

When you get pregnant the waves of advice never seem to stop.

Everyone's opinion about baby essentials was especially confusing.

I mean, some people were telling me to buy baby wipe warmer's (how ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned a little cold wipe on the tush should be incentive to not wake me up in the middle of the night ;)) to my parents saying all I needed were diapers, onesies, carseat and a crib.

And, though there is a lot of truth to my parents opinion, there have been a few other items that have been fabulous with zoey and made my life so much easier.


Como tomo bottles- absurdly expensive, but they make switching between nursing and bottle seamless, which according to friends is amazing, and according to me worth the money.


















Bouncy Chair, or anything really that will hold the baby that they will sit in, because sometimes you need your hands free and they don't want to be on the floor.





















SwaddleMe- Straightjacket for babies. It keeps babies from waking themselves up during their more active dreams. For a baby who moves a ton--it really does make a big difference in how long she will stay asleep.





















Snowsuit- Ok, this one is probably purely a Zoey thing... but the kid will not stay swaddled in a blanket. She hates to be confined. So a suit covers all her limbs, getting her toasty warm and she falls right asleep. Don't judge me--but we have nights where I'm desperate and put her to bed in her snowsuit because it worked.















Nursing cover- I just sewed one (from this pattern), but it's so much easier than fumbling with a blanket.

Oh and of course the boppy (or as Cary likes to say, my breast friend)... baby is conditioned so when I grab the pillow she calms down because she knows she's getting fed. Also, I'm able to write these oh-so-informative blogs because the pillow frees up a hand!

Anyhow, I'm not saying any of these items are neccesities, simply that to this tired mama these are worth every penny, buy again in a heartbeat items.

What are your baby essentials?

Lala how the life goes on

Stories of Nary

Wow, life got the better of me and killed my blogging momentum, but what better way to get back to business than with a Nary story.

One night during Christmas break, I am up feeding Zoey and my nose starts to run. Generally trying to be considerate of Cary sleeping (why do we both need to be sleep deprived?), I try to get through the feeding, but eventually decide I desperately need a tissue. So I nudge Cary and ask him to hand me a tissue (he was sleeping next to the tissues).

This is where Nary enters.

I ask for a tissue, and Cary hands me March of the Penguins on dvd. Then rolls over and goes back to sleep.

I stare quizzically at Cary and attempt to finish feeding Zoey, but within 5 minutes the snot is about to drip down my face and I am forced to again wake up Cary.

I say "Cary, I really need that tissue."

NARY responds "What the crap! I already gave you a tissue."

Me: "Ummm no, you handed me March of the Penguins"

Nary: "Why would I hand you March of the Penguins?"

Me: "That's a great question. No idea, but I need a tissue. NOW"

Nary: exasperated tone "Oh my gosh. Geez, here's your tissue"

Again... the hilarity factor definitely increases once my nose is wiped and morning comes when I can tell Cary about his late night alter ego.

Oh Nary...

Children behave, that's what they say when we're together

Baby is going through another growspurt, which means she eats every 2 hours, which means I'm not sleeping.

Yay.

I find it slightly less miserable if I pass the hours by reading random blogs (material that generally doesn't require much thought).

Anyhow,

Cary is trying to be supportive, and since Nary is no help, he goes ahead and takes the baby after the 7-9ish feeding and lets me get a nap before she eats next.

So this morning after I finish feeding the baby,

Cary offers to take the baby and I keep reading the blogs on my ipod.

He then tells me "put the ipod away you're supposed to be sleeping!"

I slide the ipod under my pillow.

Cary: "Just like a kid (scolding look), you're just gonna pull it right out when I leave"

Me: "No, I'm not"

Cary: "Yeah you are, give it to me"

Cary then lunges for the ipod, me: "NO I won't" as I throw it across the room

Yeah...

Mmmhmmm...

We're totally ready to be parents.

All the other kids with the...

Sometimes a laugh can fix a rough morning...



Thank You Ellen!

Don't you blink you might miss it

tidbits about zoey

3. Zoey is 2 months old today! Happy 2 months baby girl. She is almost out of newborn clothes, starting to vocalize more, sleeping better, getting cuter by the day, and... a pretty advanced baby ;)

yeah, yeah, yeah every new parent thinks their kid is advanced, but let's check out the milestone chart at babycenter.com

Advanced Skills for 2 months
Holds head steady-check
Can bear weight on legs- check
lifts head and shoulders during tummy time- check

Emerging skills for 3 months
Squeals, gurgles, coos- check
Recognizes your voice- (well mine, cary, and grandma) check

Advanced Skills for 3 months
Turns toward loud sound- check
Can bring hands together and bat at toys- check

Holding her own bottle!

So for the record baby girl... you're advanced! (Nevermind that she was 2 weeks late (and yes, I reserve the right to hold that against her for as long as I want))

It doesn't matter as long as we got eachother

Sometimes being in the student phase of life isn't always the greatest...
and then around comes Christmas break.

Cary has been home for a whole month! It has been glorious!

I LOVE having him around. We're definitely not a couple who gets tired of each other or needs our own space. I wish he could stay home all the time. We often ask ourselves why we didn't pull a bieber and make millions in our teens so we could stay home and raise our baby (maybe babies in the future) together, then open an ice cream shop as our retirement from parenting.

All I can say is
he has a pretty flexible schedule and gets to be home more often than most husbands/fathers...
but Zoey and I already miss having him around. Hurry up Spring Break!!!

Just look over your shoulder

tidbits about zoey

2. Zoey is already my little social butterfly. She loves going to crowded places and constantly looking around. She will let anyone hold her. And she's especially happy being held up to your shoulder so she can look over and see what's going on...

And he don't know...

Stories of Nary

Nary is Cary's alter ego, also known as Negative Cary. He only shows up in the middle of the night when awoken from a deep sleep. You would think after being married over a year, I would have encountered Nary before recent events... but I didn't often get up in the middle of the night before recent events.

The discovery of Nary

About 2 weeks after Zoey was born, I was getting up every 2 hours to feed baby girl and one night in the rush to calm the crying kiddo I forgot to grab the extra pillows at the end of the bed to lean against.

So, even though I try to avoid waking Cary up in the middle of the night (I want him to be rested for school, so he can get good grades, graduate and make lots of money), I tap him on the shoulder and ask him to hand me the pillows that are literally 3 feet from his hand.

Cary, turns, stares at me, and then with a voice of exasperation states "I'm too tired," and rolls over and falls back asleep.

Oh, was I steaming at that point. I was so angry--he's tired!?!?!

About an hour later as I'm rocking HIS baby back to sleep, he wakes up a little and asks a question which I answered in a snappy, irritated manor. He then asks why I'm so angry, and I refresh his memory of the previous encounter and he claims he has no recollection.

Hence, the realization that Cary has an uncontrolled, rude, alternate personality between the hours of midnight and 6am.


Stay tuned for more Nary stories... they're funny (once I get over the initial anger)

Play the music low

tidbits about zoey
(for those who aren't close anymore to get to know her yourself)

1. Zoey will not fall asleep on her own. She requires rocking, which the first few weeks of life nearly killed my back (rocking while standing, she knows when you're sitting and screams in protest)... until I discovered her love of music. She will almost always fall asleep within 10 minutes if you rock her and sing her to sleep.

Cary and I have decided she's destined to be a great singer with regular exposure to some of the greats at such a young age. She's also destined to write a novel titled "My life is a bad musical" because Cary and I are the worst singers you've ever heard....

She still gets a look of suprise when we burst into song... someday she'll just hang her head in shame.

December never felt so wrong...

No posts about zoey's first christmas.

I'll confess, december didn't go how I had planned, ok hoped. I was just trying to stay on top of the basics and didn't really touch on christmas celebrations/traditions at all.

C'est la vie.

It's a new year and I am getting a fresh start!

A few years ago I finally discovered a few keys to successfully completing my new years resolutions. First, keep it to 3 or 4 (generally, a spiritual, physical and intellectual for me) this keeps you from getting overwhelmed. Second, the goal has to be measurable (i.e. lose 10 pounds, not just "get in shape"). Third, you have to be accountable--whether to family, friend, cyberspace, whatever works.

My spiritual goal this year is to actually have Family Home Evening every monday. Before Zoey, I was great at dismissing FHE because every night was Cary and I at home... (if you ever need excuses I'm really good at them).

Anyhow, now that I'm a parent I figure there's a few things I should at least try to do ;)

Monday, we discussed our goals for the year, broke them down for the week and will report back next week on our progress. We also discussed President Monson's new years message, specifically attitude--a key to success in any area.

“Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” -Charles Swindoll

At least she has grandma's that buy her christmas ornaments and outfits :)

We're gonna party like, like it's two thousand and twelve

Happy New Year!

Baby girl slept while we rang in the new year...



In true mormon fashion, sparkling juice and all



Cary even has the drunken stupor down


And then we called it a night at 10:30... yup, yup we're majorly sleep deprived newbie parents. We don't sneer at the opportunity for sleep even if societal norms mock us for tunring in early.

It's been quite the year! Lots of fun times and good changes, but also probably the first since I was 11 years old where I didn't think "where has the year gone, I can't believe it's already New Years!" Eh, pregnancy can do that to ya...

Here's to a new year, full of parenting adventures, warmer weather, new friends in our new town and whatever else comes our way!