Naps?? What naps??

So, the newest thing in our life right now is that between our vacation, me being gone for a weekend, and us trying to get back into some sort of schedule, Connor is completely off his nap routine. It really doesn't sound like that big of a deal, admittedly. In fact, let me preface our little predicament with this: when I used to read those parenting books when I was pregnant and newly a mom, I would swear I was never going to be the kind of parent who pushed a schedule on my kid. I mean, we all have days were we could sleep in ALL day, and nights when we can't sleep or just don't want to. There are days that noon feels like 9 at night and where 9 at night feels like 2 in the afternoon. So, why would I try to make a baby, who is a selfish, survial oriented being, adhere to a schedule? When he's sleepy, he'll sleep... when he's not, well, no one will sleep ... haha (but seriously).

So, he we are 10 months into motherhood and I GET IT! I GET IT! It's like I have a little ticking time bomb on my hands. He no longer falls asleep easily in the car, and as soon as he senses we are slowing down, he immediately wakese up. His crib, the Pottery Barn Kids haven we used to pray he would eventually, one day, actually want to sleep in is now the ONLY place he will sleep. We bascially can't leave the house until I can get him to sleep at least on hour in the morning. (There was a rececnt episode at the gym where I had to be pulled out in mid-cardiosculpt class because he was inconsolable in the playroom ... that was a morning he did not nap ... this is the result ... not good... although I did get to skip the last half of my workout with an actual excuse, so not all bad I guess.)

All this to say, I'm already becoming the parent I said I wasn't going to be ... already! We are not even one year into this dance and I'm begining to see the beginings of my own mom (not a bad thing by-the-way). I'm hoping this does not eventually lead to shopping only at Talbots instead of J Crew, owning a tan mini-van instead of an SUV, and going to bed at 8:30 with a glass of water instead of at 11:30 with a glass of wine... but if it does, don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Weekend Without Connor

This past weekend I packed up and headed to Nolin lake with some friends to have a little R&R / mommy time! This was the first time Jamie and Connor spent even one night alone, much less an entire weekend! I knew everything was going to be fine for a couple reasons, 1.) because Jamie has always been really involved in caring for Connor - from diaper changes and bath time, he's a pro and 2.) He's always up for a challenge, and this was one he was sure he could tackle.

I was a bit concerned that I might come back to the house-from-hell ... but the house looked about like it did before I left. Phew ... everything went so well .... maybe too well, I told Jamie "Now I can go on a mini-vaca like every other weekend!". Of course I was joking, but I think Jamie was kind of wishing some minor had gone wrong so I would feel like maybe I should never leave again!

It was hard leaving both of them for 2 days. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be looking forward to coming home and getting back to baby duty, but I really was! I guess things change. Three years ago we went to the lake and I did NOT want to leave come Sunday afternoon. It's weird when your priorities change without you even noticing. All of the girls on the trip this time were married or engaged (except my sister, lucky, she had the best time of anyone!! plus, I'm secretly jealous b/c she's still in school ... who doesn't want to go back to sophomore year in college???) meaning we appreciate sleep a lot more and were anxious to get home and get all our boring chores done before going to bed and getting up for work the next morning!!

Well, I'm already looking forward to next year .... but until then, home isn't a bad place to be, either :)

Sometimes People Just Tick Me off

Let me just tell you about the rockstar customer service I received today while running errands. Sometimes, I just cannot understand how businesses can keep running with the kind of characters they have running them.

1.) I had an entire basket full of items at Target (typical, and yet, unavoidable) and the guy at the checkout (who was so new his nametag read: New Team Member) packed all my things in THREE bags. Three. I have never seen anything like this before. He was literally catapulting my items into the bags. The only info I seemed to get from him is that he was from Shivley and was only getting eight hours per week and really couldn't even afford gas or car insurance (good to know) on eight hours a week. This guy sucked. I'm pretty sure he's not going to make it long enough to get a nametag with his actual name on it.

2.) There were some random items that Target didn't have, so I was forced to go to Walmart. The mear idea that I was thinking the service here would be an better is laughable, but .... anyway. The lady at the checkout only handed me half my stuff!!! When I got home, I realized the item that I actually went there to buy was not even in the bag (although the random $1.88 crap that I didn't even need but picked up anyway because it was $1.88 of course did make it home with me). Jamie saved the day and went back with the reciept to get the stuff I left... he was probably nicer than I would have been.

oh yes, the best for last ...

3.) I was getting gas at the Kroger gas station and the pump I pulled up to was leaking gas. A steady trickle of flamable, liquid gold was streaming into the parking lot. I, as a not-that-concerned-but-rather-annoyed-because-this-is-the-only-pump-open-citizen informed the guy working in the little outdoor kiosk that there was gas leaking into the parking lot. You would have thought I was speaking latin. He just looked at me and then, after about 5 seconds, says "Oh, well, I'll walk over there and check it out." He remains sitting.
hmm
ok
Once again, there is a flamable, expensive liquid leaking into the parking lot. Maybe he didn't understand what I was saying. So, in response to his less than concerned reaction I said
"Were you already aware of that?" Another pause.
"No."

Ok, at this point, I have encountered enough idiot to make George W. Bush look intelligent ... thank goodness this was the end of my day. I was tempted to go back to the guy at Target and suggest he apply for a job at the Kroger gas station since you apparently don't really have to do anything on the job ... but who am I kidding? I'm not using my $4 leaky gas to help out "New Team Member".

To further my annoyedness (is that a word?) the "<," button on my computer broke this morning so I have to push a little mushy stub to make that button work now until Dell sends me a new KEYBOARD - yeah, that's right, not a new button (that would be WAY too easy!) ... at least it's under warranty.

It's bedtime - it's been a long day ;)

All Is Well That Ends Well

We just got back from seeing the new Batman movie - very intense, but good. I will have to see it at least 2-3 more times in order to actually understand what is happening, who is on who's side, who is good, who is bad, all that kind of stuff, but it was very good.... kind of like the Mission Impossible movies, I never really understood what was going on, but it still had good entertainment value (and Tom Cruise also helps).

It's kind of weird to see Ledger in a movie now (although not as weird as seeing him in Broke Back Mountain ... haha) and the performance he gives in this movie is truly Oscar worthy.

Back on the home front, our first babysitter experience went very smoothly. The house looks exactly as it did when I left it and Connor is sleeping - in a new outfit and everything, which makes me feel bad, because normally he wears the same outfit to bed as he wore all day (mental note, next week's Things To Do list should include "Make sure Connor wears actual pajamas to sleep in a night" ... remind me.

It's bedtime .... until tomorrow, peace

Babysitting 101

Tonight we are having a true babysitter for the first time so Jamie and I can go see Dark Knight. I'm really not nervous at all - in fact, I'm sure she's got her stuff together better than I do, so I have complete trust... maybe more than I should, but for those of you who are scare freaks, please do me a favor and let me be peacefully ignorant at this point.

The obligatory cleaning has been done, bottles pre-made and sat out ... to be honest, short of giving her the "How To Use Our Crazy TV's With 16 Remotes 101" course, it's really that easy. Connor is at the stage where, if he's not sleeping or eating, you just have to follow him around closing all the doors, cabinets, and drawers he opens and rummages through. Yes, I know we need to baby-proof the house better (see list: Top 5 Things I Need to Do This Week) but at this point, we're still hoping the word "NO" will start to have more meaning to him... hmm, here's to hoping.

As I'm charging my cell phone before we go out, I can't help but wonder what our parents did without cell phones when they left us with sitters. It almost seems unconscionable to leave the house without that 24/7 connection to your baby. Nonetheless, our parents did leave us with sitters, along with a list of the 3 places they'd be going (so much for secretly hitting up 4th Street after dinner!! haha) and the approximate times they would be at each place. That said, I guess I'll still take mine with me tonight... maybe prop it up in the cup holder next to the movie seat and put it on 'vibe' so I can see when it rings ... annoying, I know.

Is it sad that I'm thinking about all the millions of things I could get done while we have a babysitter instead of sitting through a 3 hour movie? (once again, see list: Top 5 Things I Need to Do This Week) Oh well, I do want to see what all the hype is about and Jamie has really been wanting to see this, and we have tix for the IMAX screen, so I'm trying to get jazzed about it!!

Well, I hear little man upstairs waking up from his nap - good thing he's cute, doesn't he know I'm busy?!? (I'm kidding ;)
Gotta go

My First Time

Oh yes, this is my first time blogging. Kind of unbelievable that I made it all the way through nine months of pregnancy and Connor's first nine months of life before I had time to do this. It feels like when you used to write in a journal when you were little, but way cooler with pictures and spell-check ... and you actually don't mind if others read it.

We just returned from Myrtle Beach, our first "beach" vacation with Connor. This was the most time Jamie has spent with Connor on a 24-7 basis since he was born and I think he really enjoyed it (especially seeing as how Connor now takes 2 consistent naps AND sleeps at least 10 hours at night - there is a lot more to like about that schedule than his schedule at 3 days old!). Anyway, Connor LOVED the sand and the ocean which was such a relief ... we should have known with my love of the sun and pool, and Jamie's love for the ocean and sand, there really wasn't going to be an issue.
We made our presence known every morning on the beach as we came trudging along with a jogging stroller, pack-n-play, beach bag, boogie board, cooler, beach chair, diapers, swimmer diapers, 3 towels, sun screen, two hats for Connor (2 because he will definitely throw the first one in the water), and a truck load of toys.... ok, I'm exhausted just from writing all that, but once we were on the beach, it was amazing (after double-sunscreening Connor, lotioning ourselves, setting up the pack-n-play, laying out the towels, and making sure Connor doesn't get too sandy because, of course, it's alraedy time for his first nap!!!) It did help that our condo was on the first floor right off the beach, but when you're carrying that much crap, even 100 feet seems like forever!!!

It's good to be back and Connor is SO much happier in his sweet, cozy nursery here than in the crappy metal crib in the hotel.

It's Connor's bedtime (ok, an hour past) so I'm going to go help with that. Meantime, here are a few of the BEST pics from the beach.