And I Danced Him To Sleep

Lance was so sleepy. The eyes were drooping, mouth opening wide in gigantic baby-yawns, and he was squirming in that way sleepy babies have. Too awake to settle down, too sleepy to settle down. You know the stuff.

I rocked him. It didn't work.

I bounced him on my knee. It didn't work.

I put him in his crib and turned on his lullabye CD. Didn't work.

I lifted him out of the crib, held him close, and started to dance him to sleep. We swayed together in the middle of the nursery to the beautiful music of...my singing voice. :) We sang "Hushabye Mountain" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella, and "There's Always Tomorrow" from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Am I the only woman in the world who takes her lullabyes from children's movies? I've only got a couple that come from actual music artists, and even those were given to me from friends.

But I digress.

It was so sweet, dancing my small boy to sleep. Sleep has been a bit of an issue around here lately, what with Hubby being gone (he's back now, yay!) and working late nights and band practice and bible study. The little guy has had a hard time getting back on his routine.

Hubby was working late so it was once again up to me to get him to sleep. This is usually a challenge for me, since it's usually Hubby who puts Lance to sleep, so that's what he's used to. I had gotten quite depressed and down on myself, thinking that I was a bad mother because I couldn't get my baby to sleep. After all, oughtn't a mother to be able to get her child to sleep? I was dreading the next hour or so, knowing that it would take me that long. I was surprised.

The little guy was sleepy.

And I danced him to sleep.

10 Reasons Why I Have Not Been Good At Blogging This Week

1. Hubby was out of the country, leaving me and Lance alone for a week and a half.

2. I spent a good portion of that week and a half at my parent's house, and their internet was on the fritz each time I tried to get online and blog.

3. Lance decided that since Daddy wasn't home to put him to sleep at night that he would just cry. And cry. A lot. And once he fell asleep every night, he would wake up. Multiple times. Just to see if Daddy was home yet.

4. Daddy wasn't home yet.

5. Hubby arrived home on Sunday afternoon. Yay! Daddy put Lance to sleep and all was well with the world again.

6. On Monday (today,) Hubby had to stay at work late because the computers decided to crash. 20 of them. At the same time. And he had to rebuild them. As I type this, he is still rebuilding them. (11:30 p.m.)

7. So once again, Lance was waiting for Daddy to come home to put him to sleep. The little guy is so confused. When he gets confused, he gets loud and just won't go to sleep. Until he is so exhausted that he literally has to scream himself to sleep.

8. Now it's late and Daddy still isn't home. Mommy is exhausted. She wants to read all her friend's blogs but she's just too tired.

9. Mommy isn't mad at Daddy because it's not Daddy's fault that his grandfather passed away and he had to go out of the country, and it's not Daddy's fault that the computers broke tonight, and it's not Daddy's fault that Lance only likes Daddy to put him to sleep.

10. But Mommy IS mad. She just doesn't know who or what to be mad at.

So that's why she hasn't been great at blogging this past week.

It's a Good Thing I'm Not Afraid of Spiders...

...because last night as I was walking through the house turning out the lights, there was a brown spider on the wall right behind the switch for the lamp. It was the last lamp of the night. All the other lights were out. Lance was asleep, I had finally gotten the kitchen in some semblance of cleanliness and put his toys away and was eagerly heading to bed. As I switched off the last lamp in the dining room on my way to the bedroom, there it was.

A little brown spider. He was just a little guy, not even an inch long.

(Remember, I'm home by myself because hubby is out of the country attending his grandfather's funeral. It's just me and Lance. No strong protector man to kill spiders and get things off the top shelf for me.)

And I remembered.

I was in high school. In the hallway outside of the band room. Band kids were wandering around in various stages of undress, some with uniforms half on and half off, hats hanging down their back, undershirts and boxers poking out, instruments casually tossed about in an effort to GET THE HECK OUT OF THE HOT BAND ROOM AND OUT FOR BURGERS after the football game.

There was a teeny, tiny, barely visible spider.

Clarinet player Tiffany saw it. She shrieked. The sea of band kids in various stages of undress parted, allowing her a clear path to run to the door and out of the building.

And I laughed.

I laughed a lot.

It was just a little spider. This girl was freaking out. It was ridiculous.

Then last night, a similar spider was on my wall. I remembered Tiffany and smiled, grateful that I'm not afraid of spiders.

Popsicles and Planes

Wow. I haven't written a *real* blog post in a long time.

I wish I could say that I've been busy doing exciting and adventurous things, like parasailing or going for hot air balloon rides.

But I haven't. I've just been busy being a mom. Can I hear an amen??

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I just love it when little things make me happy.

Last night, I shared a popsicle with Lance. It was so wonderful! Hubby was sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating popsicles. Lance was playing on the floor, watching intently. So, Hubby let him have a taste. The little guy just LOVED it! After Hubby took it out of Lance's mouth, Lance looked Hubby straight in the eye, and very plainly instructed him to give the popsicle back. He did this by opening his mouth wide open, looking very much like a baby bird awaiting a worm from it's mother.

I was literally rolling on the floor laughing at this. There Lance was, sitting on Hubby's lap, and though his communication was entirely non-verbal, we both plainly knew what he wanted. So, Hubby decided to let me feed Lance the rest of the popsicle and he went and got another one.

So we did. I held Lance and we took turns licking the popsicle. (I'm sure some of you think that is gross. Of all the bodily fluids that a mother and baby share, I seriously doubt that the saliva exchanged in the sharing of a popsicle is in any way significant.) It was so sweet!!

I discovered something else, too. Popsicles are great for teething babies. I'm going to find some of the 100% fruit bars to keep for him. He can't choke on the popsicle because even if he manages to "gum" off a little piece, it'll melt before causing any harm. Maybe some discomfort, but he won't choke, and he seems to love the coldness of it.

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Hubby is currently on a plane. Over the Atlantic Ocean. His grandfather passed away yesterday morning, and he is on his way to South Africa for the funeral now. (Hubby is from South Africa. He came to the US in 2001 and hasn't been back to see his family until now.) While the reason for his trip is sad, he is very happy to go see everyone. I wish Lance and I could go with him, but we don't have a passport for Lance. Isn't it just ridiculous that babies need to have a passport??!! Seriously, what kind of security threat is a 7-month old????? I'm glad I don't work for the government.

It'll just be Lance and me for the next week and a half. Well, not totally. I'll be going to spend a week with my parents and sister. This will be the first time Hubby and I have been apart since Lance was born. I'm glad this didn't happen sooner, because in those early days I could barely get through the day on my own and I eagerly watched the clock until Hubby arrived home. He couldn't dare work late, let alone be away overnight! Now I know that I can handle Lance by myself, but it'll be a little creepy to be alone in the apartment.

Please pray for safe travel for Hubby, and also protection while he is in South Africa. I hear that the crime is getting much worse, and Hubby's mom's house was recently broken into. I'm a little nervous with him being over there, but it *is* his home country and I know he can handle himself. I just hate the thought that if something were to happen, I'm half a world away! So pray for me, too, please!

* * * * * *

Tomorrow is party time!! Woohoo!!!! Damselfly had the brilliant idea of hosting a "swap party" in which the attendees bring items from their home that they no longer want. It'll be like a big yard sale but everything's free. Isn't that a great idea? I'm bringing some clothes that will no longer fit me, a set of candle holders that don't match my home's decor, some very tacky plastic Christmas plates, and some earrings that I can't wear. (Because I don't have pierced ears. Because apparently my body is allergic to earrings. Because this is the second time I have attempted to have pierced ears, and both times the infection never went away and the darn things just grew back.) Hopefully I will return home with some treasures!!

Have a great night everyone!

Note To Self

Sorry this is going to be a short post- just making a quick note to myself so I won't forget.

Thursday, July 5th, evening: Lance crawls for the first time!!

Friday, July 6th, late afternoon: Lance stands up in his playpen.

Hang on, it's gonna be a wild ride!

Terrific Tuesday

OK, I've got quite a few things to write about on this Tuesday. Let's begin!

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Weight Loss Challenge: Week 8

I lost a pound this week!! ALL RIGHT!! However, you'll notice that my weight has actually gone UP since last week. Well, it went up, but went down again, so although I have a net gain for the week, I successfully lost one pound from my highest weight of the week until this morning. I refuse to be disappointed that my weight is higher than last week. Instead, I choose to congratulate myself on losing that pound! (I wonder just how many times I've lost that particular pound? Is it just me, or is this whole weight-loss thing a gigantic game of "two steps forward, one step back?") I'm choosing to look at the positive side of things! I would image those four pina coladas from last weekend contributed to the gain, but then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I worked extra hard and took that pound right off again. So here are the numbers thus far:

Starting weight: 157
Last week: 152.6
Today: 153

Here's hoping for better self control this week!

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I am honored to be the recipient of the Rockin' Girl Blogger award! Thanks, Damselfly!

Hm. Who can I pass this on to?

1. Jessica at Don't Give Him Crackers! She rocks because she gives great tips for things like saving money at CVS and Target without sounding like she's writing an advertisement for them!

Side note: I'm getting real tired of reading blogs that have become gigantic advertisements for products. If you find a great product, sure, share it with us, but come on! I read blogs for the wit and brilliance of my fellow mothers. I want to read their stories and share in their experiences. I want to glean from the wisdom and mistakes of others, and know that I'm not alone in this journey called Motherhood! If I want a product review, I'll go to ePinions.com

Wow. I went totally off-topic there. Oh well, it's my blog and I can digress if I want to! hee hee!

2. Anne at Life in the Ketchup Bottle. How can you NOT rock if you live in a ketchup bottle??!! (Anne, I saw a t-shirt the other day and thought of you...it was a red shirt and said, "I put ketchup on my ketchup." LOL!)

3. Susan at Learning For A Lifetime. She is a teacher, and all teachers rock. Well, not all of them, I've had some pretty bad ones, but being in training to become a teacher and the experiences I have gained from my field studies have given me a MUCH greater appreciation of all my teachers, even the bad ones. Anyway, Susan writes about a plethora of things including her faith, her family, and she always is reading a good book that she's happy to share with us!

This is a caveat to my earlier "I don't like product review blogs." One of the FEW exceptions to this is book reviews. Susan often shares books she has read, and since the title of her blog is "learning for a lifetime," book reviews fit in with her "theme."

4. Horseymama at A Day in the Life of a Stay At Home Mom. She's a real-life friend of mine, and she just rocks!

5. Kelli at Holding the Mirror Up To My Soul. This gal was blogging within DAYS of having her little baby! I was impressed. It took me a couple of months to get back into the swing of things! Her little guy is four months old now. You rock, Kelli!


Those of you who have won the award, please find the "Rockin Girl Blogger" button on my sidebar. It's not a functioning button because the day I received the award from Damselfly, I had a devil of a time trying to snag the code to post it, so I did what any honest person would do. I right-clicked the image on her blog, saved it to my computer, and then posted it as a picture. Since I don't have the code, I can't provide it to you, but I'm happy to let you "lift" your award from my sidebar! (There are a lot of people who have this award already, if you find the code from somewhere else, you could snag it there, too!)

Crouching Mama, Sleeping Baby

It's official.

I'm loony.

Nuts.

Desperate, perhaps.

Yesterday, while settling my precious young man-child to sleep in his crib, POP open his eyes went! I quickly dropped to all fours by the side of his crib thinking that maybe just maybe he wouldn't see me and would go back to sleep.

There on the floor I hovered, breathing as silently as I could and trying very hard not to shift my weight not even by an ounce lest the floor creak beneath me.

I felt like I was in a scene from Mission Impossible. I heard the theme music in my head as stealthily I remained in my crouched down pose.

Crouching Mama, Sleeping Baby.

It was yet another episode of Baby Recon. I find myself doing this frequently.

Breathlessly I remained, awaiting the telltale sign of a sleeping baby: silence in the room. As I heard his tiny body settle in amongst the crib linens, I let out a slow, long, breath. Sleep had come.

I didn't dare stand up and risk awaking the small babe. I crawled across the room, down on my hands and knees, and gingerly pressed the "on" button on the baby monitor. Once safely outside the nursery, I slowly stood up and pulled the door shut.

Oh, sweet relief.