Celebrate the Small Victories

As I sit and type this post, our daughter has been asleep for 50 minutes in her crib. The title of this post was easy to write. And as Dave is (at long last) staining the bathroom door, it only reinforced the thoughts of the title.

But as I thought about how happy I was that the door was getting stained, I stopped to think about if it was really that important. Like, if I found myself in a situation like Jai Pausch, would it really matter to me that the door wasn't finished? And even more so, wouldn't I want it to stay unfinished?

Jai Pausch is the wife of now world known Dr. Randy Pausch; unfortunately now she is also a widow. As most people have heard, Randy succumb to his pancreatic cancer on Friday July 25th. That news made me truly sad. I know that Randy lived his life as full as possible, but the world needs more people like him. I felt compelled to read his book "The Last Lecture" as it was sitting in our bookcase. (Corinne had given it to Dave for Father's Day this year.)

All I can say is wow - what a read. I hope everyone reads this book. And I hope I can follow through with some dreams I've promised myself I'd attempt at some point. The point is that there is no time like the present.

On the left I've added some things I promise to do for myself, and I'm going to really follow up on them. As time moves forward, I invite anyone who reads this blog keep me in check by asking what I'd done thus far to see them through. I'll probably be adding to it as I realize things, and I believe that Dave may want to add some things as he finishes the book too.

• I promise myself that I'll take up piano lessons again. I played until I graduated high school and then I stopped. Truth is that I hate to work hard for anything; I am lazy about many things. A lot of things come naturally to me which I take for granted, and I don't like that I have to work to keep them tuned. That is how it was / is for me & music. The ability to read music and play came so easily to me, but I hated to practice. (Heck, that kind of describes my attitude of studying in my college years!) And now I've forgotten how to play. I've gone from winning awards in high school for my abilities to struggling to read 2 lines of music together. And I really miss music; so many nights I dream I am playing the piano or viola or saxophone again and I'm part of a symphony. And I am so happy! I want to try and make that happen - no, I don't want to be a musician, but I guess I just want to get back that love and feeling I had while playing music.
  
• I am scared to death to sky-dive, yet I really want to experience it. I think I should just do it.
  
• The phrase "Jack of all traits, master of none" comes to mind when I think of my hobbies. I have a few, but my favorite is gardening. I didn't do any of it this year knowing that our little girl would occupy so much time. But I miss it, and I want to cultivate more knowledge about this my favorite hobby.
  
• I want to work out to feel better and to live a healthier life - for my daughter as well as myself. I've been thinking about joining a gym in the next month or so, which kind of makes me laugh since I barely have time for myself now. But I think I need this time to myself, to work on myself and strengthen who I am inside and out. I talked to Dave about it and we think we can make it work. It's long overdue.

I hope that today you can take a moment to find real joy in something simple and small, and maybe even celebrate a small victory!

100 out of 100

Today was Corinne's 2 month check-up, and our sweet girl is growing like a weed (except much cuter!) The doctor is really happy with how she's doing. Have I said how much I love our pediatrician? She is down to earth, takes a ton of time to answer questions, and is great with Cori. But today I was honest about how Cori seems to prefer sleeping on her tummy, and she didn't make me feel bad at all. She listened and gave me some tips and said that while she can't endorse sleeping on baby's tummy, sometimes parents know best and you have to do what you have to do.

Corinne's stats:

• weight = 13lbs (100th percentile!)


• height = 23.5 inches (85th percentile)


• head circumference = 40.3 cm (75th percentile)


• received an oral vaccine and 2 shots of vaccine (we opted to split them up)

Corinne did great! She cried when she got the shots but recovered quickly thanks to her favorite pink pacifier. She's been actually less fussy than usual (go figure) and is just sleeping and eating.

Time is ticking until I return to work (August 13th) and summer seems to have flown past. Fall will be here before you know it; I know Dave is looking forward to taking his little girl to her first Big Knob Fair!

Fascination

Cori's newest fascination is her bouncer seat - she will stare at the musical fish for up to an hour! It seems to be the only "toy" that holds her interest for longer than 5 minutes. Maybe I can get some things done with her in this contraption! Maybe you're thinking that I should be getting things done while she naps on her belly, having figured that out. Well - our kid is so smart, she is on to us! While the first day we got 2 hours from her, the time has been decreasing daily. We're now down to about 5 minutes. Sigh.... back to the drawing board!

Her 2 month check up is this Thursday and I can't wait to see how much she weights. I am betting around 14 pounds - at least that is what my back is telling me!

Not much else has been going on. Dave and I had a date night on Friday night and we were some of the millions of people who went to see the new movie "The Dark Knight". I was honestly surprised at how good the movie was! It's more Dave's cup of tea than mine, but I really enjoyed the story line, the social implications it brought up, and truly, Heath Ledger's performance was outstanding. People aren't just speaking well of the dead.

We also got to see a lot of Dave's family this past week and they got to meet Cori. We always enjoy spending time with family!

Tummy time..

I can't believe that I have to go back to work in a month. It just seems unreal - August 13th I report back for duty. Part of me is really looking forward to going back and slipping back into somewhat of a schedule. I think I'll be a better parent to Cori when I'm back at work. I enjoy my work, am happy to have a job, and think I'm fairly good at what I do. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I also miss the pay! ha ha But I dread catching up; I've already had to log on 2x since my inbox was overflowing past the 1 GB of mail limit.

As time is going by, and Cori is in her 7th week, she is smiling more, cooing and laughing a bit. She's really alert and active in the morning (which is also why we've not yet captured this on film - it's too early to be fully functional!) But we ***may*** have solved the sleeping only when being held issue.

I've suspected for a while that she may be a tummy sleeper like her mom. She no longer enjoys the cradle position of being held in your arms. She much prefers being held upright (like when you'd burp her). She usually falls right asleep. I think it's the warmth of the chest to chest and the pressure on her tummy (as she is prone to gas). So yesterday afternoon I said a prayer and laid her down on her tummy. Low and behold she slept for 2 whole hours! She slept through her feeding time even.

I thought she may have slept from being over-tired (as she had a mild meltdown in Target yesterday). Well, I tried it again this morning and 40 minutes later, she is still sleeping. Granted I am checking on her every 5 minutes to make sure she is still breathing, but she seems fine. I don't trust it enough to do it at night, so we'll continue to co-sleep or hold her, but for the daytime, we may have found our answer!

Tagged - 2x!

Oh man, I thought I felt something... I got tagged twice! On the same day by Michelle and Melissa!

The criteria:
Name five things that you can't live without. It can't be a person, it has to be something material that actually makes your life easier. It can't be something in general, it must be exact. Hmmm

1. Heated seats - without a doubt. May not make my life easier but sure makes my butt warmer! After having them in my first Jetta, I will not purchase a car without them. I've been researching cars / crossover SUVs recently as we're considering a purchase. I will not even consider one that doesn't have this as an option!
   
2. my dishwasher - call me lazy, but I hate drying dishes, and seriously, I don't think I could ever live without this invention. At times I don't mind washing dishes, but I **hate** to dry them!
   
3. MAC pressed powder - with Corinne's birth and the past 7 weeks, I haven't been wearing much make up at all. But just putting this on my face takes away the shine and makes me feel human again. And when you can't get out of your PJs some days, you learn to really relish the days that you have a reason to put on any bit of make up!
   
4. Haircolor - at the risk of sounding now both lazy AND vain, I have to admit that I'm not a real blonde. Shhhhh! I used to be. Honest! But I think the teenage hormones did something as all that lovely blonde hair was replaced with a very ashey color with splashes of red undertones. It's just awful. I'd be richer if I didn't color my hair, but I'd be miserable for sure. I've worn every color of hair from fiery red (which looked smashing with my hot pink junior prom dress) to very dark brown / almost black. I think I'm happy with my current status.
   
5. Online banking - I hate going to the bank. I never have time for it. I hate writing checks. And two things I never have on my are cash or stamps. Online banking really solves both for me. Being the control freak that I am, online banking let me set up all our payments ahead of time; knowing I'd be a bit busy with the baby in May-July, I set up the payments prior. I could then "set it and forget it"... I hope this never goes away, even if one of my good friends works for the post office and they lose money from no more bills being paid via stamped envelopes!

So those are my 5 boring things. I really wanted to post my love of the DVR, which is true, but more than a few people said that and I already copied the "heated seat" answer!

I now tag Sara and Suzi!

Like a kid in a candy store

Have you ever had so many options that you just didn't know what to choose?? Today I'm like a kid in a candy store- endless options before me. So many in fact, I'm just kind of mentally standing around going "duhhhhh" and not sure what to do first. See, Cori is with her pap-pap and grandma Kathy today and I'm free all day! (Well not all day but for 8-9 hrs) Don't get me wrong - I will miss my kid. Heck, I almost shed a tear as she went out the door. But I am smart enough to know that a big dose of "me" time will make me an even better parent.

So what did I do first? I ate a big piece of DQ ice-cream cake left over from my mom's birthday cookout this past weekend. I'm not sure what they put in the middle of the cake, but those chocolate crunchies are like crack to me! And let's face it - I'm a smart girl. Breakfast is THE most important meal of the dal - you don't want to skip that!

Next I caught up on some friend's blogs and my email. I love my child but I miss technology! Then I proceeded to vacuum under the couch and chair cushions. Though it needed done in a big way (what was under there totally skeeved me out), it was a moment where I said "what the heck are you doing?!?! You have free time and are vacuuming under cushions? Pathetic!" I stopped. Whew - that was close.

Intending to go outside into the sunshine and garden (wow, I really miss gardening) I put on my tennis shoes. My first thought was " wow! they fit again!" since they didn't fit for a long time due to the massive swelling known as 'the 3rd trimester'. That thought was immediately followed up with "you really need to put these shoes on more often and exercise!" I filed that thought away for future consideration.

Before I head out into the sun, I thought about how infrequently I've been blogging and decided I should take the time to post. Things really have been going okay. This past week Corinne has been sleeping for longer at night, though still needing to be held. We're willing to not complain too loudly for a few more weeks, but we'd sure love to get her into her bassinet or crib! She just won't cooperate for longer than 15 minutes. Last night I tried cosleeping again and it worked much better. 4 hrs straight of sleep, waking only to eat. So that may solve the night-time situation but not naps during the day. All in time I guess.

We had a lovely holiday weekend. Grandma Suzie came over on Friday to watch Cori while Dave and I prepped the house and food for the Saturday cookout. We even went to see the movie Wall-E, which was wonderful! Highly recommended. We watched the fireworks on TV Friday night. Saturday was out family cookout and Sunday we hung out at Aunt Kelly & Uncle Dave's house while my husband and brother toiled in the hot sun digging a fire pit.

We'd gotten back the pictures we ordered from Cori's 1 month photo shoot. We didn't order a ton due to finances, but this one is probably one of my favorites. It won't be on the birth announcements so I won't ruin any surprise by sharing it here.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day! Hope you're enjoying yours!!