Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

I know every baby is different and so some things will be easy for some babies and hard for others and vice versa. Sleep has always been hard for us. We went to Hawaii and our friends' kids adjusted to the time difference in 2 days. My Bub? He finally adjusted on day 9... The day after we got back home from LA.  Some babies can be put down for a nap early or late and they'll still take a luscious nap. Homeboy? Put him down too early and he'll sleep for 20 minutes. Put him down late, he'll wake up after 30 minutes crying bloody murder.  One year out, I've finally accepted that my Bub is a sensitive sleeper and God made him that way for a reason (to keep me humble?).

But for every hard thing, God has given us something easy. For example, homeboy began drinking out of a straw at 5 months. When it was time to start transitioning him over to cow's milk, he easily took cow's milk out of a straw cup on day one. We've been at it for a week and he takes all of his milk in a straw cup and we're about halfway done with weaning off formula. Hopefully the transition will finish as smoothly as it began. 

I'm trusting that my Maker knew what he was doing when he made my beautiful

 baby!

Blog? What blog?

I have a blog? Oh yeah. But I also have a baby that has taken all of my energy and time which is why my blog has been totally neglected.

First off, Baby J is one. We made it to a year. Wait, how many years left? :)

It's been a really hard year for me. My best friends are exhausted of listening me talk about our sleep woes. But after a full year, I've figured out that Boo Boo is just a very light sleeper (he gets it from Chris because I sleep like a log) which is why naps have been a real struggle for us. But this week, magically, we've had great naps. It's either his gift to me for carrying him for 9 months or a fluke or something has just clicked. I don't know but I love it.

He's also full of energy. At our 12 month we'll check, the doctor said, "wow! He is REALLY active!" It's hard for us to go out for long for this reason because he needs to crawl, stand, sit, climb and move!

He's hilarious. I don't know. I'm sure all mommies find their babies adorable and hilarious but this kid will hear music and begin bopping his head and moving his hips and sometimes he'll hold his hands up in the air (and wave them he just don't care). He makes me laugh.

So it's been a hard year but a very rewarding one. I love when he crawls up to me and comes in for an open mouth kiss. I love when he puts his head down on my shoulder and just melts into me. I love his big buck teeth when he smiles and when he does silly things like this!

Post Partum Insomnia

It's incredible the different things that can happen to you after you give birth. Ive discovered so many different after effects in the post partum period either through personal experience or that of friends and family.

Currently, dealing with insomnia. I'll be exhausted, get into bed and I can literally lie there for hours before I finally can fall asleep. And even through Justin has been sleeping through the night for well over a month, I still wake up a couple times a night. 

It's 1:10 am and my baby is going to wake up in 5 or 6 hours and I am still tossing and turning.

It's seriously a cruel joke. My baby is finally sleeping through the night, but I can't!  Hope you aren't reading this at 1 am because it means that you might be suffering from insomnia too!

Major Handmade Cuteness

I love handmade things. So much love, creativity and thought goes into every handmade piece.  However, handmade generally comes with a heftier price tag because of the time and effort that goes into each piece. I know this first hand as I use precious nap time to work on my goods. So, for now, we ooh and aah until this momma saves up enough to buy some of these handmade goodies for baby J.

Liz Taylor Handmade Etsy Shop

Liz Taylor Handmade Blog

Really? These are amazing. She also makes pandas and bunnies and owls and birds. And how ridiculously awesome is that chevron quilt? I think quilters are amazing people. 

Such Great Heights

If I had emoticons on here, it would be that yellow happy face with hearts for eyes. I've seen a lot of different handmade teepee's, but this one probably is my favorite one. If our house were bigger, this would be in Baby J's room already. I wouldn't be opposed to putting a mat inside and letting him use this as his bed when he's older. 

Kokokoshop

I don't know about Justin, but I need one of these on my bed and on the couch and maybe up on a shelf  somewhere. This pillow is perfection.

   

Juniper Wilde

Okay, I know I just said that handmade goods are expensive and so we're saving up, but I have to admit that I bought these when they went on sale. They're still pricey, but they're super soft organic cotton and the prints are to die for and even though I'm on a SAHM budget this year, I.could.not.resist. We have the goodnight pillow which Justin loves to chew on and that lightning blanket is so reminiscent of Harry Potter that I could not, would not resist it's awesomeness.

Hookaway

I'm crafty, but crocheting and knitting were never my thing. I didn't have enough patience to practice and so when I see things like this, I am baffled ...and slightly jealous. I would love to add one (or many) of these to Baby J's wall. 

Hope you're having a beautiful Thursday!

And all of a sudden...

He's a week shy of 7 months. Where did the time go? When Bub was first born, I knew exactly how many weeks/days old he was. In my sleep deprivation, the time could not pass fast enough. Now that things are more settled and predictable, time seems to be moving at the speed of light. My little Boo is becoming his own little person and growing up so fast.

Sometimes I'm baffled by the idea that God is not bound by time. No schedules, no routines, no gotta-be-here-by-this-time. Such a foreign concept since my life ran on bells as a teacher and nowadays, I have to keep a schedule for Boo.  I think we get glimpses of eternity. i sense it most when I want to cherish a moment forever. When I am holding the baby and he rests his head on my shoulder, feeling safe and content, I want to hold onto that moment, but memories, videos and photos only offer a glimpse and doun't fully capture the tangible and non-tangible details. It reminds me that this world is not our home. We were designed for another home where we are not bound by the limits of time. I can't wait to experience that freedom, but for now, I'll cherish each and every special moment I have with this guy.

Overhaul

When I had the baby, I knew I'd have to shut down my Etsy shop for a little while. I was sad take a hiatus, but at the same time, the baby was my first priority. What I thought was going to be a 2 month shut down, turned out to be 6 months as we battled (and are battling) with short naps. However, I reopened to shop thinking it'd be quiet for awhile and I could take some time to create some new sashes, rephotograph and just overall do a little overhaul of my little corner of the Internet. But on the day I reopened my shop, I started to get orders!   This is happy news for a stay at home momma!

I have a long to do list of things I want to do, but I am hoping to use a little more social media with my shop. Although people general have a separate Facebook page, I know a lot of people merge their personal and business Instagram accounts!  So, I got to thinking... how would I merge a personal and business IG account? What would I call it? Just keep it as joanteng22? Change it to whenlovehappens? Or best yet... change it to when Joan happens?!

Visit to the City

Chris has the travel bug and will go anywhere I'm willing to go, but with baby in tow, traveling is more work than fun at times!  I saw this in the cyberworld this week and it made me laugh.

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But, we did plan a trip to San Francisco. It was hard and tiring, but lots of fun. Here are a few snapshots of the weekend.

  Dinner with Michelle, Geoff and Tim at Le Colonial

The view of SF from our hotel on the 39th floor.

Guided tour of the top floor with a 360 degree view of the city.

Twin Peaks! Haven't been there since Frank and Kathy got engaged!

The Painted Ladies at Alamo Square.  

What ever happened to predictability? The milk man, the paper boy, evening tv.

And what happens when you ask your husband to put some sunblock on the baby.

Hope you had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

Mother's Day

Happy belated Mother's Day to you all! It's my first Mother's Day and I wasn't expecting to really do much except our traditional lunch with my Mom and aunt and our families. After all, it's my privilege to be Boo Boo's Momma!

But Chris rose to the occasion and planned a staycation down in Huntington Beach. It was the perfect weekend with lots of sunshine and love!

The first order of business was a 90 minute full body massage while Chris watched Bub. We had a beautiful dinner at the Californian. We hung out at the pool with piña coladas (virgin of course! Just like our dating days!). Loved spending the weekend with my boys.

Still Alive

Yes, we are still alive! I know you were worried, but we are here. Everyday is so busy and it's hard to find time to myself to do things like blog, craft or shower.

I used to shower twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. But since I've had the baby, I've had to adjust to taking one shower a day. I know. First world problems.

Anyway, with J in our lives, it's been crazy, tiring, fun, frustrating and overwhelmingly beautiful. I'm head over heels for this little boy and it's just like they say, I don't know how I ever lived without him.

Honesty

I love my little boy. I really do.  Even when I have to carry him for all of his naps during the day so that he isn't cranky. Even when he wakes up a million times at night.  Even when I have to clean up poop explosions.

But, to be honest, there are times I miss my old life. You know, the one where I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. The one where I could stay out past 6 pm. The one that didn't revolve around a 3 hour schedule. I think that this is one of the biggest adjustments I've had to make (aside from not sleeping through the night).  No more near daily trips to Target. No more leisurely shopping at the mall. No more driving out to visit friends for dinner. I miss hanging out with my friends whenever I want. I miss working on my Etsy shop.  I feel selfish even saying it, but sometimes, I miss it. There are a few things that will hopefully happen in the next few months that will make things a little easier including teaching Baby J to sleep through the night, teaching Baby J how to nap on his own and just letting him have time to grow up a bit.

In the meantime, I'm trying to enjoy where we are...his fat little thighs, his soft skin, his little coos, the way he wraps his arms around me when I hold him, the way he's learning so much, so quickly. It's rough right now, but I know he's going to grow up so fast and then I'll miss how little he is now.  Like Chris often says to Baby J before he leaves for work, "Don't grow up too fast. Okay buddy?"

Baby J and his milk belly.

My Favorite Month of the Year

Yes, February has arrived and it is my favorite month of the year!  Two of my favorite big days are here -- Valentine's Day and my birthday (ha!).  My husband is NOT a romantic, but he knows I love special occasions like this and he tries.  He's been asking me everyday what I want for my birthday and Valentine's Day. So here it is -

A new Mom on leave of absence can dream can't she?

Because you can never have to many good black flats!

Remember these from my Christmas wishlist?

Perfect for our trip to Maui!

This really cute belt!

Happy February!

How Disneyland is Forever Changed

I love Disneyland. I still feel the magic when I walk through the gates and under the bridge to Main Street.  Not to mention the killer churros.  Chris and I went to Disneyland pretty frequently when we were dating and even spent our first New Year's Eve there.  We went to Disneyworld for our honeymoon.  Needless to say, we really enjoy spending the day at Disneyland together. We didn't imagine going to Disneyland with Justin in tow until he was much older, but when a couple of friends who work for Disney offered to take us for free, we had to jump at the opportunity.

I love Disneyland, but Disneyland is forever changed.  With Justin in tow, we went on ONE ride in the 8 or 9 hours we were there.  Most of the hours were spent feeding, burping and changing him.  The leftover hours were spent buying him his first set of Mickey ears, lining up at guest relations for his 1st Visit pin and eating.

Disneyland is forever changed, but not necessarily for the worse...just different.  Yes, we need to forgo Space Mountain and Matterhorn and spend our time instead at Carsland and Toon Town, but we couldn't imagine life without our new little guy. We can't wait till he's older and can love Disneyland as much as his Momma and Daddy do!