Zzzzzz......

So, I think I mentioned that we were doing sleep training with Sawyer again. We had a couple of rough nights, and about a week of rough days with figuring out naps, but WOW, what a difference I have seen in my son! After reading about a billion books on sleep (ok, not a billion, but I would say that I probably did read between 15-20) I found one that worked and I loved. The Sleepeasy Solution is what we used, and it worked for us. I think we timed it just right for Sawyer, and he is now a sleeping CHAMPION. He goes to bed between 7-7:30 at night and stays in his crib until 6:15-6:30 in the morning. He does not nurse to sleep for naps or night time, which is a HUGE step for him. He has been taking two naps (morning nap has been 2.5 hrs! afternoon nap 1.5) and he is a whole new baby. Happy ALL the time. He has been walking everywhere. I think talking is just around the corner. He has been eating so much better. And, I really think it all is due to the fact that he is getting enough sleep. Now that we are all getting enough sleep, being a mom is fun again. I look forward to Sawyer getting up and playing with me. It's amazing.

So, what made this book so different? A few things. First off, it had worksheets to fill out. I was diligent and did every one (there were only about 4, but still, I didn't skip a step).  It also told you step-by-step how to get your child to sleep. Other books make suggestions or give you ideas to try, I feel like this had actual directions. It told you what to look for if you are having trouble (is your child teething? separation anxiety? etc.) and broke down each problem by age group. It was great to see what problems Sawyer will be facing later and how I can help him cope.  It also told me what to look for with teething. Every sleep book I read said not to start training if your child is sick or teething. Well, great. But, how do I know if his fussiness is due to teething or just lack of sleep? This book helped me figure out the difference. Also, this book had a chapter to read for when the sleep training was tough (ie. your child is crying). While I didn't read that when I was up at night, I did read it multiple times before I started the training with Sawyer and really appreciated it.

Honestly, I am probably going to take all my other sleep books to the used book store and only leave this one on the shelf. It goes through age 5, so I feel like it will continue to be useful should any problems arise.

I am just so proud of my little boy.... and myself, for sticking with things even when they were tough. While I do miss my morning baby cuddles, I am now teaching Sawyer to give kisses and hugs, so that is fun and cute. Better sleep for everyone is worth it!

Black Friday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We went to dinner at both my parents and Weston's parents houses, so it was a busy day.... Sawyer was very well behaved and ate a lot of food! It was fun.

Today we decided to do a bit of shopping... We went to Fred Meyer and I bought myself some wool socks, and we got Sawyer a duplo set and Santa pjs. (I really wanted to get him a Santa suit, but apparently if you are over 9 months old, they don't make cute holiday clothes for you...)

We also went to Lowe's and got Weston a few tools, which are on crazy sale today. He is hoping to build me a sewing table and Sawyer a nice bookshelf for his toys. He is pretty handy, so I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

So, we got some good deals on things we needed.... that is always a good thing. Now off to get lunch and enjoy the rest of our snowy Friday!

Destash!!

What?!? Two posts in one day. Unheard of. Anyway, as I mentioned before (maybe... ) we are doing a deep clean of our house. There is a huge pile of things by the door that will be making its way to goodwill soon, and I have been going through my craft corner. There are a few quilts that I have started that I will not finish, and I'm looking to pass them on to someone who might want them. Even if you don't want to make the quilt I started, they include quite a bit of fabric... let me know if you are interested! I will probably also have some yarn soon as well....

All fabrics come from quality quilt stores (no chains). If you see something you like, but don't like the price, make me an offer. I would really just like to see these go to homes where they can get used. You can leave a message here, or email me through the blog (click on view my profile, then contact me). Thanks!

Stitch and Split Applique quilt. (Applique is not my thing....) This includes the book (24.95 cover price) and fabric to make the top that is the heart quilt. There are 5+ finished blocks, and many hearts cut out for other blocks. $40 including shipping.

Seeing Stars: Includes the book (24.95 cover price), and the fabric to make (most of) the cover quilt. I was making this quilt in all batiks. There is quite a bit of fabric here. I have the center of the quilt done, which would make a nice table topper if you didn't want to finish the whole quilt. $40 including shipping. 

Twinkle quilt: Includes the pattern (10.99 cover price), three finished blocks, all of the center squares and star points cut out, and many half finished blocks. My plan was to use my scraps to finish this quilt, then I got rid of all of my scraps! $10 including shipping. 

Cloth

As you know if you read my blog often, Sawyer wears cloth diapers. He has a stash mostly made up of Rumparooz and a few Bum Genius diapers. I love them.  I know the people will look at the cost of one diaper ($23.50) and gasp. How could I spend so much on diapers. Well, I don't. First off, cloth diapers are an investment. Sure, I had to drop around $400 to get all of my diapers, but since then I have spent $0 on diapers. And, if I care for my diapers properly, they will easily last through multiple children. They also have re-sale value. (I bought some of Sawyer's diapers used to save $)

When we were at Costco, I was doing some math and realized that depending on how many diapers you went through, you would spend about $400 on diapers in one year! And, I don't know many 1-year-olds that are potty trained. Which means, I am saving money.

People will also claim that I'm not really saving money because I have to do more laundry, making my water and electric bill go up. Well, in Anchorage, I pay the same for my water no matter how much I use, and I have a HE machine, so it costs very little to run.  We have not seen any change in our bills due to washing diapers. Even if I did pay more for that, I wouldn't care. For me, it is still a better choice. Sawyer looks so cute in his CD bum. And, he has some extra padding when he falls! Plus, like I mentioned before, they are an investment.

I was reminded of another reason I love my CDs yesterday. We went to a friend's house who has a son that is three weeks older than Sawyer. When we walked into the baby's room we were hit by a distinct smell..... dirty diapers. It was a little gross. Sawyer's room doesn't smell. And, on the rare occasion that it does, it doesn't smell like that.... just like baby pee.

Anyway, just a quick post to remind people that I love CDing, it is easy, and people should look into it. Happy Tuesday!

Ups and Downs

Sawyer has been doing ok at night. Naps are a whole other story... typical of him. But, I don't really want to talk about sleep.... I feel like all I do is talk about sleep. I once joked with Weston that we would have nothing to talk about if Sawyer started sleeping.

Here are some more positive things going on:

*It is 0F outside. Much better than the -8 it has been lately. I would prefer it to be 15 and snowing, but I will take what I can get.

*My wintertime shower curtain has finally gotten hung up. Halloween decorations are packed away

*We cleaned out the kitchen last night. We got rid of things we don't use or eat, so now we have a workable kitchen not filled with junk.

*We bought Sawyer a long underwear suit at REI yesterday to wear to bed. It is adorable on him, and now I feel like he is warm enough at night.

Alright, Sawyer is up from his nap. Off to go play with my little baby.

New header

Every now and again I get a wild hair and decide to change the header. Tonight Weston mentioned the font in my blog description was hard to read.... so, new picture, new font color, and TA DA! All pretty. The knitting is a shawl I knit (my first lace) that was intended to be used as a nursing cover. Once having my child, I threw decency out the window, and never covered him or myself up.... so this pretty lace shawl has been unused. Sad. I should dig it out and wear it like a scarf. 

Tonight is night one of sleep training for little Sawyer. He has reverted back to his old ways, and is sleeping with me again. Which is as much my fault as his. So, this will be a tough week for me. I always struggle with having him sleep alone. I love sleeping with him (minus the hair pulling and occasional face poking) but I don't think either of us gets the sleep we need when we are together. Hopefully things go better than I expect them to and we are a well rested family by Wednesday! 

I went to a friend's baby shower today! It was so fun. I had some nice conversations with other moms (turns out Sawyer isn't the only non-sleeping baby in AK) and enjoyed some yummy finger foods. It was a really nice afternoon. I'm lucky to have such sweet and caring friends.....

Alright, off to go eat something and maybe head to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Organize my life

Maybe I should hire someone to do it for me.... If anyone watches Parks and Rec, my house isn't as bad as Leslie Knopes, but my craft "area" is... I do need professional help.

Weston and I have decided to do a full overhaul of the entire house. We have too much stuff, we don't know where it all is, and it drives us both nuts. (Him more than me, but when I lose stuff, I lose my mind very quickly and hate that I let the house get so crazy) We started last Sunday with the TV cabinet and Sawyer's toy box. Took about 30 mins, but that corner looks way better! I went through Sawyer's toys and put them into three categories: things he plays with every day, things he has never played with, and things he kind of plays with. The ones he plays with every day stayed in the living room toy box. The toys he has never played with made it into a donation bag (which made them very appealing to him) and the ones he kind of plays with got put away into his room.  Some of those toys he just isn't quite ready to play with yet. I also rotated his books so he had some new ones to read out in the living room. My goal is to rotate all the books and toys twice a month so that he has new things to explore. And, he has enough toys that I think I can do this without buying anything. (Especially with Christmas coming, which means even more toys)

The cleaning was derailed by me being sick, but hopefully this weekend we will get back to it. (And, yes, I am feeling much better. Tuesday Weston took a half day off and my mom came and helped in the afternoon, so I was able to sleep/rest all day. That did the trick) I'm thinking of putting everything in my craft space that doesn't have a home into a pile and if I can't find a good place for it, it has to go. I'm just so overwhelmed at the amount of things and projects and lack of space. I never feel like doing anything because I walk in there and just feel exhausted. So, I would like my area to be a place where I can get things done.

And, yes, most people clean in the spring.... but, I find I am constantly cleaning. I have bad habits that I have yet to break.... plus, when it is -3 outside, I want to bundle up, stay inside, and be productive. So there it is. My goal. A clean house. Go.

Craft Fair and Recovery

I had a booth at a craft fair on Saturday, with a friend, and it was a lot of fun! I didn't sell a ton of stuff, but I made a little bit of $$ (enough to buy Sawyer a cool wooden truck at the next craft fair and maybe take another cooking class). More importantly, I had fun.

Last night I came down with some sort of stomach bug, so I am desperately trying to recover quickly from that. Being a mom of a very active child, I do not have the time to be sick. Sawyer has been surprisingly accommodating though, even took a 2.5 hour nap today! Which means tomorrow will probably be a no nap day.... meaning I really need to get better!

Alright, off to rest and play catch on the couch.

Reflections and being thankful

A lot of bloggers are blogging every day of the month.... clearly, I won't be doing that. I am just too busy right now to take the time to write every day. Something I can do is tell you what I am thankful for. Some bloggers are doing that every day, so I will write down ten things I am thankful for.

1. My family. I am very thankful that both my family and Weston's family lives so close and helps us out so much. I think I would have had a much tougher year without their love and support.

2. My husband. He is amazing. He puts up with my craziness, supports me, and surprises me. I couldn't ask for a better partner.

3. My son. As crazy as he makes me, he is amazing. Right now he is pulling every book out of his toy box, flipping through it, and then tossing it to the side. Too funny, that kid....

4. My dogs. I am very thankful to have two crazy dogs. They also drive me nuts, but it is nice to have someone always excited to see me come home (Sawyer normally bursts into tears when I come home....)

5. Being able to stay home. I am very thankful that I am able to be a stay-at-home mom. Even on days where I want to pull my hair out, I know that it is a choice I will never regret.

6. The snow!!! It is shaping up to be a wonderful winter. I am watching the snow fall right now and I am so excited!

7. The rec center. I am very thankful for all of the activities the rec center puts on. If it were not for Toddle Time twice a week, I may be a bit crazy! It is nice for Sawyer to get to play with other kiddos and I get to talk to other moms....

8. Knitting. I am thankful that I have the time and means to knit. It helps calm me down and allows me to make things for people that I love.

9. My house. I love my house. We are very lucky to be able to own our own home and love it.

10. Moose. I love seeing moose in the neighborhood. Sadly, they didn't eat our pumpkins this year....

Alrighty. Sawyer is now sitting in my lap banging my oatmeal bowl on the table.... So I guess that means it is time to play. I hope everyone is enjoying the snow and staying safe!

Cooking

I have been cooking a lot lately. I took a cooking class last month about how to cook chinese food and learn to make sweet and sour chicken and beef broccoli... both were quick and easy! I couldn't believe it. That kind of spurred me to look into cooking more things from scratch and I have been loving it. I have enjoyed cooking for a while, but I get stuck in ruts and tend to cook the same few meals. I am taking another cooking class tomorrow about casseroles, and I can't wait to see what I learn. I am really interested in meals that I can make in large portions and freeze part of them for later. That way, on nights that I have to teach, I can still "cook" and have dinner with Weston and Sawyer, without the stress of actually having to cook and eat and get things together. (While I do enjoy cooking, sometimes cooking with a toddler in the kitchen is a bit stressful. He has realized it is fun to hang on and almost open the stove and open even the high drawers in the kitchen now, so he is dangerous!)

A few websites I really enjoy for recipes and such are allrecipes.com and foodgawker.com.

For Sawyer's birthday, I made quite a few things from scratch.  I made marinara sauce for the dog bone breadsticks, onion dip, taco dip, and cookies. (I linked to the recipes I got online, the others were my own) All were a hit, and were gobbled up. In total, I spent probably 2 hours cooking, and most of that time was on the cookies! The dips and sauces took probably 30 mins total. Delicious, quick, and easy. My favorite things with cooking!

Another favorite meal recently is spinach lasagna roll-ups. These are a favorite of everyone in the house, especially Sawyer.  I never have frozen spinach (it never really occurred to me that they made frozen spinach until I started reading more recipes....) so I just cook down a bunch in the skillet before I start. It might not be the "right" amount, but it works! I love spinach... I can get it at Costco (and it is organic), it is inexpensive, and very good for you. Again, three things I love when cooking!

I will try to blog about more things that I make as it happens.... I love hearing what others are having for dinner!