35's not so bad. . .

. . . As long as I don't actually THINK about it!  Blah!  35~that's half of 70!! Waaah!  ::sniffle::

Ok, pity party is over.  Honestly, I have never been happier in my life.  I have a beautiful home, an amazing husband *who cooks!*, an absolutely PERFECT little boy, amazing friends and wonderful family.  No matter how old I am, I am one lucky cookie!  For my birthday this year, the 3 of us went to White Tank Mountains for a picnic!

  
  
I got a brand new camera from my boys! (which I needed, desperately) 
My lovely and amazing sister got me a Pandora bracelet with the cutest charms.  A cupcake and a Mama and Baby Monkey.  I love it so much! I can't wait to add charms to it!
My beautiful friend Jenn got me a bunch of pretty purple things, all in a pretty purple bag.   I just wish I had some pics of the bag before I opened it!  She got me a new, awesome wallet!  Purple flip flops! A Friends frame with my favorite picture of us in. An Audrey Hepburn calender! And Urban Decay "All Nighter" (I think that's the name!) Soooooo exciting!  Can't wait to use it, hopefully this weekend!  Jenn's beautiful Mama got me a necklace I had been eyeballing.  An "R" in glittery stones.  Sooo pretty.  So, as I said, I am one lucky cookie! 
I'm looking forward to going out dancing with Jenn this weekend, if all works out anyway.  It will be so much fun! Hopefully I will be feeling better by then.  I have a head cold that won't go away. 
::sniff sniff:: I think I smell me some lentil soup!  Crossing my fingers that it comes out yummy.  Put it in the slow cooker 2 hours ago and it's starting to smell yummy in here!  If Dominick likes it I will be beyond excited.  The little stinker is a bit more finicky than usual lately.  What he loves today he spits out tomorrow.  No rhyme or reason!

Oh man! The little booger is up from his nap and I never put my face on! Phooey!
Gotta run!

Sleep Savvy

It seems like the theme of my days lately is SLEEP!  Ever since (and even before) we started "sleep training" Dominick he has been sleeping from 830 til 10 or 1030 ... AM!  On top of that he takes 1-3 hour naps every day.  I am completely in shock by this.  I mean, he never really got up super early like some kids, but to be sleeping until 10 am is strange.  As far as I knew ALL babies were early risers.  I thought it was something ingrained into them!  Hey, if it ended tomorrow and he all of a sudden started getting up at 7am I would not be surprised.  I feel like this is just some sort of phase that he will grow out of, because sleeping until 10 AM is truly too good to be true!

Anyway, as of Sunday we started to let Dominick "Cry It Out"...it was a rough night for me because I didn't set out to do that night in particular.  I knew we would do it in the next coming weeks, but that night I was rocking, and rocking, and rocking and ROCKING.  I just couldn't rock no more!  So my nerves got the better of me and I made a very spontaneous decision to lay the suckler down and let him fall asleep on his own.  Within 10 minutes (more like 1 minute) I regretted it.  Not because I didn't want to hear him crying, which of course is heart-breaking, but because I wasn't fully prepared to make that my last official night to rock him to sleep.  He cried big time for about 30 minutes, we went in every 8-10 minutes.  By the 40 minute mark he finally passed out.  The rest of the night I spent with a knot in my stomach and a heavy heart.  I couldn't shake the feeling.  I was not ready to say goodbye to watching my little baby drift off to sleep.  WHY did I make such a big decision!?  I didn't want to revert back to rocking and confuse the poor booger.  By the time I went to bed I couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a huge meltdown.  After getting it all out I realized I don't have to totally give up our routine, I just have to tweak it a little bit.  We still sit in the rocker, we read our ni ni book, I rock him for a few minutes and tell him how much I love him and even sing a song or two.  If he's particularly silly, we even still play our silly night night games: Get The Tickles Out and Baby Monster/Monster Baby.  I feel much better with my decision now.  He only cries for the few seconds it takes for me to lay him down, kiss him and walk out.  By the time the door is closed behind me he has tapered down to a slight whimper then he is out like a light!  I am so proud of my little man.  He is such a good little boy.  He adapts to every and any situation like a pro! 

OK, that was a long story, sorry!

In other news, he is almost ready to take off! He glides around the house, holding on to any and everything and even takes a step or two on his own.  No official walking yet, but I can see it in the very near future!!

Well, off to get some rest, watch a show or two then get some sleep.  Tomorrow is a big day. We get to see Auntie Jenn :) We haven't seen her since New Year's Eve!!!  So, it will be fun!!

So Big!

 

 

 

 

At The Doctor's - About To Get Weighed!!

 

 

 

 

 

So, yesterday we finally had our 12 month check up.  As I already knew, he is doing wonderfully! Still in the 80+ percentile for height at 31 inches long, which means he will be taller than Mama and Dada.  I couldn't help but immediately picture him as a teenager, towering over me.  Made me tear up right in the dr's office!  He's weighing in at 22lbs 5ozs!  My little monka man is getting so big!  He's learning new things and imitating me constantly, it's hilarious!  The bigger he gets the more grateful I am for my life, our lives.  He is the sun in my sky!

The little munchkin sure does love to sleep! He sleeps in until 9-10am every morning and will still take a 2-3 hour nap every day.....sounds like he takes after his Mama!  He is sleeping as I type, I am anxiously waiting for him to wake up so I can give him lunch and get going.  We are going to visit the library at the foot of the White Tank Mountains.  It's beautiful there!


We went to the grand opening a couple months ago and Dominick loved it.  They have a cute kid's area with some play tables that he really liked.  We are going to show our NY visitor the lovely scenery and just to get out of the house.  After, or before, the library we are also going to go to the park! It's been too long since he's been on the swings (weee)!!! So, wake up baby! We're ready to go!!  So far this nap I've actually managed to :
1) cook lunch (bean/cheese/tomato quesidilla)
2) eat lunch
2a) prepare munchkin's lunch (fruit, yogurt, homemade hummus, sliced tomato) ( i had to add this one in when I started thinking about all the things I've done)
3) watch a whole episode of Breaking Bad
4) eat dessert
5) make another quesidilla for our guest
6) read all my BAM threads
7) write this blog!
WOW.....this is some crazy nap!

OK, I have to go check on the monka man ~ maybe he will sense my excitement and wake up!!
Have a great day everybody!!

A New Year

Happy New Year!  A friend of mine who also has a December baby made a point yesterday that I thought was interesting.  Dominick is only 1 year old, but this is the 3rd year he's seen.  I thought that was really cool!! 
I haven't posted in a while, I was so busy with my brother and sister in town for the baby's birthday party, then Christmas, now we have a friend of hubby's in town for a week.  The only good thing about so many visitors is it forces me to keep the house clean.  I don't mind, I need the extra push sometimes and I actually enjoy cleaning once I start.  It's the starting that bogs me down most of the time. 
I'm so sad the holiday season is over and my little baby is officially a toddler.  I know this upcoming year will bring with it many, many wonders and joys, but I still feel heavy hearted about saying goodbye to my itty bitty.  He is becoming more and more like a little boy by the minute!  He's a little happy ham!!  I'm so proud to be his Mama.  I am looking forward to his first steps (I think) and his first sentence and all the firsts that follow!!
I have a prayer for the new year that I send out every night, and often during the day as well.  I pray that my puppy, Reggie is ok and that the seizures he's been having are not a sign of something more serious.  The dr's don't think it is epilepsy this late in his life, but they aren't ruling it out.  They say it is more likely cancer/tumor, but that's not 100% either.  In order to try to find out I'd have to take him in for extensive, and expensive tests.  Reggie is too much of a wimp to put him through all that, especially if in the long run nothing can be done for him anyway.  He has panic attacks if I try to brush him or cut his nails.  If it is something more serious, the last thing I want to do is traumatize him even more with all sorts of blood tests/doctors/xrays/mri's. 
Munchkin is sleeping and I have laundry to fold!
HAPPY, HEALTHY 2011~!!

Psyched!

I am sitting here, literally on the edge of my seat (my bed actually), anxiously waiting for the clock to say 8:00 so we can all hop in the car and head to the airport! Uncle Eddie arrives at 8:52!! It's been a looooong time coming.  It is going to be an amazing weekend watching my brother meet my son for the first time.  I cannot wait to see them play together! I wish Aunt Jaime could be here this weekend for his birthday party also!  We spent the past day clearing out the cobwebs in the guest room and doing some MUCH needed dusting in preparation.  We also got a Christmas tree that we will all decorate Friday.  It's going to be an awesome weekend, ending with Dominick's First Birthday Bash on Sunday!! I am all prepared and all I have to do now is decorate and have fun!!!  I will post pics of tree trimming and birthday celebrating next week! 

YAAAAAAAAY!!! it's 7:49, almost time!!!!

Phew!

Whoa, it's 9pm and I'm actually ready to sit down and veg on the couch.  Sure, the kitchen is a bit messy, but the dishes are clean...at least.  I can quickly get it straightened out in the morning, easy peasy.  I spent the past hour FINALLY decorating the front of the house.  I feel so good to have it done.  The only thing missing now is the tree.  We will be getting one Tuesday and decorating it Thursday with my brother.  That will be so much fun.  It's cutting it a bit close to Christmas, but I really love the idea of trimming the tree with my munchkin and my big brother.  I plan on making Tiffany's candy cane cookie special for the event! I really look forward to it.  I actually found out today that my brother will be staying until Tuesday the 21st, which is Dominick's actual birthday.  I am psyched about that.  He will be here to open presents in the morning and have a birthday breakfast with the little man!!!!  YAAY

Well, my coffee is brewed and hot and the donuts in the pantry are calling my name.  Time to lounge on the couch and chilllllllllllllll

Time Flies

First of all, I have been getting way too spoiled by the little man.  He hasn't gotten out of bed before 9am in at least a week.  Today he was up at 8:30, was singing and talking to himself and must have fallen back asleep.  Meanwhile, 2 hours later I get a phone call and realize it's 10:30! 10:30!  So I send hubby in there to check him.  This is what he finds:

(by the way, this was supposed to be a picture, but we had it on the wrong setting)  Dominick had fallen asleep with his face mashed between the bars of the crib! My poor Monka!  He had indents in his face for at least an hour after waking up.  I am still in shock that I got to sleep til 10:30! this morning.  Fascinating! haha.  We'll see what happens tomorrow morning!

I've been so stressed these past few days.  So much to do before my brother comes next week.  Finally got my Christmas decorations out and managed to decorate the front windows.  I still have to do outside, but it's after midnight and this is the first time I've sat down since I rocked Dominick to sleep at 8.  Why is it that every year I feel like I don't have enough decorations? Last year I must have spent about $300 on decorations and I can't figure out where they all are.  It doesn't help that half of them are either staying in the box or just thrown in random places because they can't go anywhere within reach of the Monka-Maniac!  We, well I, decided to put the tree in the front game room instead of the living room.  It will still be up, but it will be out of the way of the monster.  Also, I always loved the look of a Christmas tree through the window from outside.  Now I get to do it!

We FINALLY got a gate for the stairs.  I bitched and complained, whined and moaned about it for so long and now that the one I "had to have" is finally here and installed....I hate it. haha Well, hate is a strong word.  It's just slightly pissing me off.  The molding on the bottom of the wall is in the way of opening and shutting it smoothly.  They sell a spacer for such things, but we didn't order it.  On top of that, because it's mesh the top seems a bit flimsy to me.  I knew it would have a little give - but this seems like too much.  Maybe I'm just too nervous?  Here, take a look for yourself.  :

So Far, So Good..Right?

 

Maybe Not?!

 I called the company and they said it's "normal" to have some give.  I guess I expected more for $150.  I read a hundred reviews and they all were great and none of them mentioned this problem.  Maybe it's only a problem for me.  I do seem to be stressing way easier than usual lately.  I have a hunch it's because I stopped nursing.  Dang hormones can really mess with ya!  Now, I just wish someone would explain it to my hubby.  I have been freaking out about any little thing that goes wrong or not as planned and then the freaking out makes him react defensively, which stresses me out even more.  I should just start my morning with a swig or two of wine, that would help.  Ha, I kid, but I would be lying if I said I didn't think about it!

Ok, hubby is sick and in bed.  He actually called in to work for about the 2nd time in 7 years.  It will be nice to not go to bed alone tonight.  

Sweet Dreams Friends!