For those of you who don't have kids...when you do, you will understand. Obviously before I had Charlie, I "understood" that I sleep would not longer be calm and uninterrupted. I knew I would be up multiple times a night, even well into the middle of his first year of life.
What I didn't realize was to the extent that sleep became a luxury, and a privilege. For so long, I have been getting up 1-2x a night...At least since Charlie was 3 months old. Usually only one time, anywhere between 2 and 4, and I sleep walk through the routine. Hear Charlie cry. Look at the clock. Register the time. If between 2 and 4, get up. Go to the bathroom. If still crying by the time I get out, go get him. Pick Charlie up. Find paci and giraffe in the dark. Take Charlie to the chair. Attempt to finagle clothing, Charlie, paci, and giraffe, in order to get Charlie to nurse. Attempt to adjust Charlie in order to angle body in order to attempt to snooze for 10-15 minutes while he eats. Be unsuccessful. Drop paci at least once. Attempt to retrieve with feet, 50% of time successfully. Realize Charlie is finished and napping. Pop in paci and gently move him to the upright position, to attempt to burp. Burping usually unsuccessful. Gain sense of peace having him sleep on my chest for a few minute. Move him to the crib. Stumble back to bed. Lay in bed for 5-10 minutes listening for his cries. Curse the fact that I am now more awake than I was 15 minutes ago. Finally fall asleep in 30 minutes.
Needless to say, anything more than 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep is amazing. So imagine my surprise when Charlie slept through the night, not one, but two nights in a row. I have not felt so refreshed in the morning in so long. It was an amazing feeling. To sleep til 8am would be almost sinful, but sleeping from 11pm to 6am is blissful.
I know parents tell parents to be and people without children, "enjoy your sleep now," etc. But it is true. I guess I just thought I would get it back sooner. Jason has, but not me. And so I am reveling in this new sleeping through the night. Even if it only happens a couple times a week.
Elizabeth
June 24, 2008
June 19, 2008
One More Week Almost Done...
Just popping in to say hi! I am doing pretty well, as are Charlie and Jason. Jason is still in limbo about France...which is a royal pain in the rear for him. I am walking/running 4x a week, and losing some inches, which is awesome. And Charlie is beginning to sleep better in general. So Jason and I are happy about that.
Work is going pretty well...I have my evaluation next week. Finally. And I am looking forward to discussing what is going well and what I need to work on, as well as my concerns about my position and things happening at the company.
Jason and I are going to Sacramento this weekend to visit some friends and Jason will be playing golf, while I do something else, I suppose :) No definite plans, but it will be nice to see our friends. And then Sunday we will visit Charlie's "surrogate" grandparents (LOL) at Les Chenes Winery. They have a new release on Saturday, as does the winery we are member of, Tamas, but as we will be out of town, Sunday will be wine tasting day.
On a sad note, I heard a program on NPR yesterday about military men (women were not mentioned) that come back from Iraq and basically are not given any support. They are trained to fight in Iraq, but not "trained" to come back into the "real world." They have no support, no structure, and do not know how to handle being thrown back into this life. I don't have to agree with the war, to be 100% supportive of our military. And I am. And I think these guys (and gals) should be treated better than this. I guess what makes this more sad is that I knew a guy like this. He couldn't talk about what he saw and dealt with while he was gone, and gave into drinking, being violent, and it ended up destroying his marriage. The whole situation just bothers me. Anyway, if you want to listen to the story...Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91587715
Elizabeth
Work is going pretty well...I have my evaluation next week. Finally. And I am looking forward to discussing what is going well and what I need to work on, as well as my concerns about my position and things happening at the company.
Jason and I are going to Sacramento this weekend to visit some friends and Jason will be playing golf, while I do something else, I suppose :) No definite plans, but it will be nice to see our friends. And then Sunday we will visit Charlie's "surrogate" grandparents (LOL) at Les Chenes Winery. They have a new release on Saturday, as does the winery we are member of, Tamas, but as we will be out of town, Sunday will be wine tasting day.
On a sad note, I heard a program on NPR yesterday about military men (women were not mentioned) that come back from Iraq and basically are not given any support. They are trained to fight in Iraq, but not "trained" to come back into the "real world." They have no support, no structure, and do not know how to handle being thrown back into this life. I don't have to agree with the war, to be 100% supportive of our military. And I am. And I think these guys (and gals) should be treated better than this. I guess what makes this more sad is that I knew a guy like this. He couldn't talk about what he saw and dealt with while he was gone, and gave into drinking, being violent, and it ended up destroying his marriage. The whole situation just bothers me. Anyway, if you want to listen to the story...Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91587715
Elizabeth
June 11, 2008
A New Me...Maybe?
So, I have joined Sparkpeople.com to help me organize and complete my goals for being more healthy and losing my "charlie" weight. This website is awesome. First of all, it's free, and it really leads you into the whole "dieting" thing instead of making you jump in the deep end with no swimmies. I start in the shallow end with an intertube, and gradually lose my help.
I have a team consisting of women who had a baby in 2007. We are really supportive of each other, and motivate each other to exercise, eat healthy and drink our water. So, I have been drinking my water, organizing my meals, and walking on a regular basis. Although I think I have a long way to go, and I am not thrilled with the way I look, I do feel that I am on the right track!
On to other news...Jason and I are just watching the finale of Top Chef, and are on the edge of our seat (or bed) about who is going to win....We think Richard is not going to win. We are so sad.
Well, it's tomorrow (Thursday), and Steph won! Whoot! Charlie's faux hawk was not adquate enough to steer Richard to the win (you can thank Jason for that)...but we are thrilled that Stephanie won and not Lisa. What a relief.
So, as part of the "new me," I got a new haircut today, and I love it. Once I get it colored in a few weeks, and get some major waxing done, I will feel 100% better!
It is hot as heck here..I think about 95 today, and supposed to be over 100 tomorrow. The pool sounds mighty good right about now. We are heading up to Davis on Saturday though for Jenna's graduation from UC Davis, and it will be great to see Aunt Donna and Uncle John, and Lauren and Jenna. I know that Donna is spoiling to hold Charlie.
Well, that's enough from me...
Elizabeth
By the way, I was irked to no end to find out that with the rising cost of grain, which in turn means a rising cost of beer, bars are trying (and succeeding) at cheating patrons out of 2 oz of a pint of beer (16 oz), by serving it in 14 oz glasses with thick bottoms so dumb consumers THINK they are getting 16 oz. It's time to move to England where it's a government STANDARD to serve an Imperial Pint (19 oz). And has been for centuries. Those Brits GET IT!
Check out the story at NPR: Beer Scandal
I have a team consisting of women who had a baby in 2007. We are really supportive of each other, and motivate each other to exercise, eat healthy and drink our water. So, I have been drinking my water, organizing my meals, and walking on a regular basis. Although I think I have a long way to go, and I am not thrilled with the way I look, I do feel that I am on the right track!
On to other news...Jason and I are just watching the finale of Top Chef, and are on the edge of our seat (or bed) about who is going to win....We think Richard is not going to win. We are so sad.
Well, it's tomorrow (Thursday), and Steph won! Whoot! Charlie's faux hawk was not adquate enough to steer Richard to the win (you can thank Jason for that)...but we are thrilled that Stephanie won and not Lisa. What a relief.
So, as part of the "new me," I got a new haircut today, and I love it. Once I get it colored in a few weeks, and get some major waxing done, I will feel 100% better!
It is hot as heck here..I think about 95 today, and supposed to be over 100 tomorrow. The pool sounds mighty good right about now. We are heading up to Davis on Saturday though for Jenna's graduation from UC Davis, and it will be great to see Aunt Donna and Uncle John, and Lauren and Jenna. I know that Donna is spoiling to hold Charlie.
Well, that's enough from me...
Elizabeth
By the way, I was irked to no end to find out that with the rising cost of grain, which in turn means a rising cost of beer, bars are trying (and succeeding) at cheating patrons out of 2 oz of a pint of beer (16 oz), by serving it in 14 oz glasses with thick bottoms so dumb consumers THINK they are getting 16 oz. It's time to move to England where it's a government STANDARD to serve an Imperial Pint (19 oz). And has been for centuries. Those Brits GET IT!
Check out the story at NPR: Beer Scandal
June 3, 2008
Back from San Diego
Whoosh! That was quite the trip. Very busy, and great to see so many people, but I am happy to be home. Sharing a room with an infant is NOT easy. I remember why I moved Charlie from our room to his nursery so quickly. Charlie did really well considering he slept in several different places, and was shuttled around, poked at, and held by so many people. He was normally a happy, smiley guy, but by yesterday afternoon, he was done! Needless to say, we had a tough night last night. But again, he did pretty well on the drive back, and it was over 7 hours!
Although these long trips are draining, there is one thing I savor about them. Driving in the car with Jason. We really get an opportunity to just talk. Not that we don't get to do that anyway. After all, I am from the loud family, and can't shut up. But, it's good to have a significant period of time to vent, bounce ideas off of each other, and plan. We usually do this every day...it's just the abbreviated version. We sing songs together, laugh about silliness we see while driving, and discuss stories we are listening to on NPR. It's relaxing and comfortable. Some may see that as a downfall of an "old" relationship, but I definitely see it as a perk :)
Elizabeth
Although these long trips are draining, there is one thing I savor about them. Driving in the car with Jason. We really get an opportunity to just talk. Not that we don't get to do that anyway. After all, I am from the loud family, and can't shut up. But, it's good to have a significant period of time to vent, bounce ideas off of each other, and plan. We usually do this every day...it's just the abbreviated version. We sing songs together, laugh about silliness we see while driving, and discuss stories we are listening to on NPR. It's relaxing and comfortable. Some may see that as a downfall of an "old" relationship, but I definitely see it as a perk :)
Elizabeth
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