And she's up

I thought for sure Lily would stay asleep since she only took one nap today. But sure enough we are up, for the fourth time since she went down at 7. I wish I knew what she wanted.

Mommy doesn't feel great is not in her vocabulary.

I've fallen slightly behind on this blogging business

My school work got a little crazy because it's almost the last week of class so it trumped my blogging time. I did get the Blogger app on my phone though so it's always at my fingertips :)

The last week has been crazy busy, or at least it seems like it now. We had a Sounders viewing party at the house, with a few more people than the week before. I was so worried I wasn't going to have enough food! I made this concoction that I am now calling potato nachos (potatoes, taco seasoned ground beef, and cheese) which seemed to be a big hit, baked ravioli, quesadillas, and sandwiches...I guess it was quite a bit of food. I also made cake balls, my first attempt!!! They turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I used strawberry cake mix and chocolate butter frosting with some coconut flakes added rolled in sugar, instead of candy coating. They flew of the table in comparison to the other desserts.

Jeanette and Jared's parents stayed the weekend with us. I was good to see them all. And Lily didn't get too cranky with anyone, I think she's getting better about seeing other people now. Her sleeping schedule is not getting better though. She was doing so well for a while only waking up once or twice a night. But it seems like since she got sick with that crazy cough of hers everything is up in arms! She's waking up every hour or two, which means so am I. Some people say let her cry, but I'm just not comfortable with that. I can't sleep through her crying, and I really don't want her to wake up Jared. I want him to get as much sleep as possible since he's the one getting up in the morning going to work and school. Up until about midnight I can usually

just pick Lily up, pat her back and she'll go right back to sleep. But after midnight she won't go back to sleep without nursing, and then she'll only stay asleep as long as she feels skin. So from midnight or 1 I move out on to the couch with her, sleep for a couple hours then its up for the day at around 5 or 6. Sometimes she'll go back to sleep with me for an hour, which keeps me slightly more sane. I've started a journal for her, keeping track of when she is sleeping and eating...hopefully I can find a pattern and it will help me to get her on a better schedule. We will see though.

I've been feeling crazy old lately! I just saw on Facebook that Lani just turned 7! I remember when Jessi was preggers with her! Lily is sitting up on her own now, starting to roll over and scoot on the floor. It's only a matter of time before she is walking, talking, and turning 7 too! I guess I'm feeling old too because my birthday is just around the corner. 24, When did that happen?! I had a plan of where I'd be at 24 in high school...I am far from that plan, but everything happens for a reason. At this point I'm struggling with future plans. I don't know if it is just because I don't want to get any older, or because I don't want to move on, maybe it's just fear of not following my plans again. Oh well, just gotta keep moving forward and not living in the past.

I made it to the end of the day with a smile on my face. Lily has been in bed since 830, so far so good. Hopefully she sleeps for at least another couple hours, rest is good and probably what I need. Tomorrows agenda...laundry...even though I swear I just did it :P... homework, cake balls, get the house ready for Friday, and maybe see Alyssa in the afternoon :) Dreaming of happy things and good moods!

One step forward two steps back

The second I start feeling better something triggers the negative feelings and thoughts again. My lenten resolution was to be more positive and productive. Today this is not working out so well. Maybe if I could just get my mind to stop for a while. Yeah that would be nice.

Baking mood :)

So I was looking for a recipe to use my strawberry cake mix and coconut, but I came across this one and think I'm gonna try it tomorrow :)

No Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls
adapted from allrecipes.com

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar and cocoa. With clean hands, mix in the water, vanilla, butter and peanut butter to form a dough.

Wash hands, then roll the dough into balls 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Roll balls in confectioners' sugar until thickly coated.

Chill 20 minutes before serving.

Self image after baby...

After having a baby everything changes. Your attitude toward life and how to spend your day, your sleep patterns, your daily routine, and even your self image. I've never really had the best self image, but now i struggle with it even more. I thought my biggest issue would be getting the baby weight off, but that was the easy part. Now I'm dealing with losing my hair and stretch marks. I'm dreading summer! I usually wear shorts with my bathing suit anyway because I'm not A big fan of my thighs. But now I'm nervous about even taking off my shirt because of the lovely stretch marks pregnancy left behind. I'm sure I'll deal, but its not easy.

Wakeful 4 month period...

So I had read that at 4 months babies tend to spend a lot more time awake...but a thirty minute nap is just pure craziness! I had plans to get the house back in shape after Tuesday's party and get back on top of the laundry. Lily has had other plans apparently. She was hard to get to bed last night, woke up a few times, then was up at 5 and wanted to be entertained, didn't go back down until 7 then slept until 9. She has taken two naps today, both of which were long enough to get a whole lot of nothing done. She's finally fallen back to sleep but whether she stays asleep or not I lose. Either I continue to get nothing done and have a cranky baby the rest if the day, or she takes an awesome nap and wakes up when its time for bed. At least Alyssa and grace are coming over in a little bit, hopefully they will help me regain some of my sanity...well that was short lived, awake again. Thankfully I've got an awesome sling she's going to be spending some time in.

SLEEP!

Lily totally made up for the other night. She wad a little harder to get down last night so she didn't go to sleep until 1030. That is fine with Mr though because she slept until 6! Almost 8 hours hours of sleep, I haven't had that since before my last month of pregnancy. She ate at 6 and went back to sleep for two more hours. As much as I loved getting the sleep it was bitter sweet, she's sleeping longer because she's getting big. Pretty soon she'll be crawling and walking. It's crazy how quickly the last few months have gone by.

What a night!

Lily went to sleep at nine like usual. I could hear her coughing through the monitor and knew it was. Going to be a long night. Sure enough she let out this shrill cry shortly after going to bed, and since I had been listening to her coughing I hadn't fallen asleep at all yet. I went in to get her and she was still asleep while she was crying. I laid her with me and patted her back till she fell asleep. I put her back in her crib. That lasted an hour or so. So I got her again. She slept until 4, then she decided it was time to be awake. We Hung out in the living room with the Disney channel on. I laid her on the couch and she started having a coughing fit, it was the saddest thing ever! She coughed so much she gagged then threw up all over herself and all the blankets. Bath time at 530 in the morning? I guess that's what being a mom is all about. After her bath she was up for a little longer then ate and back to sleep about 630. So we slept together on the couch til almost nine. Hopefully tonight will be better.

The internet is an amazing thing

So after my last post I was clicking on all kinds of tabs, just to see what this blogging thing is all about. I found "Stats" which has a map of where people are that have read your blog...Belarus and Czech are part of my audience! Wow that's kinda crazy...I better get more interesting if people are actually reading this thing! Haha

Getting started...

Getting started is always the hardest part right?! Well I sent out "launch" emails to friends and family to pass around, put up a craigslist ad...even though I don't think they are supposed to be on there...and posted a link on facebook too. Hopefully this will open a few doors and start a client list. I had my first sale today, even though it was from my mom :P She's always been great about supporting my adventures! I'm excited about this, hopefully I can stay excited I think that helps in generating business!

Determined to work from home...

Well, I went back to work...and now, a month later, I am back at home. After much thought and consideration I decided that the stress and anxiety both Lily and I were experiencing being away from home and each other wasn't worth the little bit of money I would be bringing home. Now I am determined to find away to work from home. I spent the morning looking at different direct sales companies. Direct sales has never really been something I saw myself being a part of, but now I think it is the best business! Well, we'll see how it goes anyways still trying to decide on a company to really dive into. I signed up with Barefoot Books, http://Stephanie-Ansell.barefootbooks.com, today. There are no start up costs and I get to sell children's books! Hopefully it works out. I am also looking at Dove Chocolates, and a wine tasting company too. I'm just trying to keep in mind what will be the best saleswise. As long as I stay focused I can do this :P