Weirdness at night

It happens pretty often... 

I wake up and I think that the baby is in the bed.  And the baby isn't in the bed!!!  It's so vivid that I have to get up and check that she's in her crib.  

It was happening more often when Evelyn first came home.  I guess I was dreaming that I was feeding her, then I went to burp her.  I then woke up and thought that my pillow was her.  It has stopped for 2 weeks then last night, it was back...

I know it's crazy, but has anyone else had this experience?  It feels so real...

New Show Alert!!!

Barry and I came across a new show by complete accident last week.  I think we were watching hockey and the game finished so we began to look for something else to watch.  We came across a show called "The Reaper."  It's about a 21 year old guy (Sam) whose parents sold his soul to the devil. On his 21st birthday, Sam is visited by the devil and he explains that Sam will now be his bounty hunter.  Sam has to find souls who have escaped from hell and then banish them back there.  The main characters are HILARIOUS!!!  Sam has a best friend who is the funniest guy on tv right now.  I highly suggest you check it out.

www.cwtv.com/shows/reaper

Dangerous Chemicals

My sister works for the health department in Ottawa.  She is very aware of health and wellness issues.  After I had Evelyn, she directed me to a website that lists ingredients in beauty products. If you haven't noticed, no beauty products list the ingredients...  Why not, I have no idea.  But this website is very interesting because it lists safe products and "unsafe" products. Now, as an adult, I have a pretty strong immune system.  I can fight off things.  Babies immune systems are not yet fully developed.  I was interested in looking at the wipes, shampoo and soap listings for babies.

Much to my surprise, many of the old favourites are not all that safe.  As a general rule, there are not all that many wipes that are safe to use.  This caused me to look into alternatives to wipes.  I figured I could just use water and a face cloth, but this didn't take away the germs. After much research on the internet, I found a recipe to make wipes.  It's super simple and cheap.  In an air tight container, put two cups of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of baby soap, 1 tablespoon of baby moisturizer, 1 tablespoon of baby oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.  If you like you can add essential oil to make it smell nice.  Lay the face cloths in the solution and let them soak overnight.  I have been using this for the last week and Evelyn has not had a bad reaction to it.  It cleans well and is easy to make.  I make a new batch every two days.  

Check out the website.  It's an eye opener...

www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Schedules

Being an organized person, I started to keep a journal of baby Evelyn's day.  What time she naps, how many diapers she goes through, when she feeds and the like.  I figured it would be easier to write it down than to try and remember it all.  It's been great and I have realized that she is on a "schedule."

Although the "schedule" is still plus or minus an hour or two, I can tell when she should be awake and asleep.

Last night I put her down around 11:30pm.  When I heard her cry, I figured it was about 2:30am. When I checked my watch, it was 1:15am.  This was not good, it was too early.  She was awake on and off for 3 hours.  She'd nap for 30 minutes and then start crying again.  I'd just fall asleep and she's call for me.  

I had come to terms that I have to wake up once in the middle of the night and once in the early morning (around 6:00am), but this business of staying awake all night is not good on my spirit.  I can't take it...  

I know I have it easy.  Other moms have kids that don't sleep at all.  I just needed to vent...

Let's hope that tonight is better.

The best time of the day

This will be a short post cause I'm typing with one hand...

The best part of the day is when Evelyn is relaxing in my arms and she's just looking up at me with her big, blue (for now), eyes.  I just think she's so beautiful.

(Adding to the bestness would be to have Blue sitting on the couch with us, cuddling up.)

Life doesn't get any better!!!

Walking the dog

Since the baby, I have been unable to walk Blue.  This is heart-breaking to me.  He is MY dog, he is a momma's boy.  Because of the cesarian, I have to be careful not to do too much.  I followed the doctor's advice for two weeks, that's all I could handle...

This week has been very mild - temperatures on the plus side.  This means that there is a lot less snow and ice on the sidewalks and streets.  I took this opportunity to get the baby in the stroller and get the dog on the leash.  Although it was a little challenging to get Blue to walk on the proper side of the street, it was wonderful.  He was a bit scared of the stroller at the beginning, but as the walk progressed, he got used to it.  He didn't pull at all and stayed next to the stroller the whole time, like a protective older brother.  Usually he is the leader on walks and walks a few steps ahead of me (I know I shouldn't let him do that, but I do...), but this time, he knew that he had to be a good boy.

Even though I know this weather is a bad thing (global warming), I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.  It is allowing me to do the one thing I love doing, walking my dog!

I'm glad the holidays are over...

Between giving birth, Christmas and New Year's, I'm glad the holidays are over.  For the past 3 weeks, there has been someone in my house other than my direct family every single day. Ordinarily that wouldn't bother me, it's usually like that around here anyways.  The fact is that I'm trying to get to know a newborn and with 6 other people around and it's not easy.

My sister came in from Ottawa the day after Evelyn was born.  She stayed with us every day for almost 2 weeks.  For that I am blessed.  She was my saving grace.  The day we came home, she was making chili for the family in my kitchen.  When Stew opened the front door and I smelled onions cooking, I thought I would cry I was so happy.  She helped by cooking and cleaning and taking the baby when I just couldn't.  I can never repay her...  I just love her so much and appreciate her more than she knows.  The thing is that she would do it all over again.  I'm not sure I can repay her the favour when she has kids.  I guess it will depend when they get around to it.  If it's possible, then I will do my best to be there for her as much as she was for me.

So now it's back to normal.  It's now the actual Life of 6 starting...  Am I ready?  I don't have a choice.  All I know is that when I look at Evelyn, I can't believe she was in me.  It's amazing... 

But I'm still glad the holidays are over!