Guess what? Lily isn't sleeping well. Again. She is the most sensitive little lady I know (and trust me- I know A LOT of sensitive ladies!) I have read that things like vacations, schedule changes, really any kind of change can affect a child's sleep. And all those things and more affect my little Lilster. Obviously our two-part-month-long move has affected her some. I will give her that. Then she's had to sleep in different beds on a few different occassions- like when the Malloys were here last weekend. But I feel like she has had to deal with so much change in the last couple of months, that it should be normal by now, and exhausting, and therefore she should be sleeping like a champ. But alas. Not the case here.
So we have been here for almost four weeks now. And Lily has crawled into bed with Chris and I every night except once. Which is not that big a deal to me, for the most part, I just thought it would bother Chris, since sometimes she sleeps like a fish out of water, and he doesn't always get a ton of sleep when he is working. But he says it doesn't bother him, and he would rather that she just 'grow out' of wanting/needing to come to our room, rather than us locking her out of it. Fine by me. For the most part.
So Chris' schedule has been a bit hectic recently. And by recently, I mean the last six monts or so. But Lily is kinda acting like this is a new thing. So she is extra clingy when he is around, and will not go down to sleep if he puts her down for a nap or sleeping at night. She just follows him around like a little lost puppy. It's kinda cute, and kinda ridiculous. But then when I put her down for sleep or a nap, there isn't as much attachment, which honestly doesn't bother me at all. I need my space girl! Go ahead and adore your dada. But I guess with the lack of consistency, she has not been wanting to go to sleep when I put her to bed at night now. And since we live at an apartment now, I don't feel that letting her scream at the top of her lungs for over an hour is much of an option anymore. For the sake of people not calling the cops on me.
I have read tons of parents' articles on different methods of getting kids to sleep, and there is a 'no-cry' book out, that lists lots of different 'tricks' to try on your kids. I can't remember if this one is from the book, or just froma nother articla I read, but I am going with the 'sit at the open bedroom door of your child's room so they can see you and wait for them to fall asleep.' I was never interested in this one cause it seemed so time consuming before, but I have come to the conclusion that parenting is time consuming, and what's an extra ten minutes to an hour sitting in front of Lily's door gonna hurt? I've actually gotten some reading done the last few nights!
So we've been doing this for three nights, and it's going pretty well. I think that eventually the kid is supposed to just be ok with sleeping in their room and not needing you to sit there till forever and a day. We'll see if and when that happens. But for now, this is the new 'game plan' we are working on with our sleep-detesting daughter.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday's Thing- Lexus vs. Toyota, or Great vs Very Good Diapers
Today's topic of discussion is diapers. Lots of moms have their favorite brand and will only stick to that brand. That's ok, but I just have to say don't knock it till you've tried it. And I have tried plenty of diapers, like wipes. I don't actually have a favorite diaper, but since one of my favorite things is money, I try to keep mine by buying the cheapest thing available. This is easy to do since my kids are older and not prone to blow-outs the way they were as wee little things. But to be honest, I really love the Pampers swaddlers for newborns and infants. Once my kids got into the Size 2 diapers, they had a bit more control of their bowels (read:less explosive diahrea) and so the kind of diapers they wore became a lot less of an issue. Their butts just needed to be covered, and if I could do it for less than 20cents a changing, that was good enough for me!
So for the sake of efficiency, I am going to share with you my thoughts, and the prices of size 1 and size 4 diapers from my three major shopping locales: Target, Walmart, and Costco.
Pampers Swaddlers Diapers-
These are THE BEST diapers for newborns, and infants. I LOVED these diapers so very very much when my kids were babies. They use them at the hospital, so you are already sucked into using them, but they use them at the hospital because they are awesome. They are soft, and have a nice and faint baby aroma to them. Nothing too abbrasive, especially since newborns being as cute as they are manage to make the nastiest messes. First you have the black tar poop, then you have that psychotic yellow-curry juicy-grossness mess. But the sweet Pampers keeps all that crap on the inside, as best as it possibly can.
And Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends grace these wonderous diapers, giving you an encouraging smile while you change your newborn for the 15th time in the same hour, and the hour happens to be 3am.
Size 1:At Target- 216 diapers for $42 puts you at 19.4cents a butt-cover. They are $2 cheaper, according to the Walmart website, which puts you at 18.5cents a diaper.
Luvs Premium Stretch Diapers-
These diapers are 'pretty good'. They are made by the same company as Pampers (Proctor&Gamble), so think Lexus when you are using Pampers, and Toyota when you are using Luvs. My beef with Luvs is that I find them to be a bit too thin, which is kind of one of their selling points, though I don't really understand why. Are we, as a society, already trying to get our babies to be body-conscious? A big diaper does not help or hurt a baby's blob of a frame. They are just a blob with a giant head on top! And another thing that kind of gets to me is the smell. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. But some people buy Luvs cause they love the smell the most. To each his own. And if you happen to be a big Blues Clues fan, then these diapers will have you coming back for more.
At Target- size 1s are 264/$39. That puts you at 14cents a diaper, which is great, but I actually prefered to pay 5cents more for the Lexus of newborn/infant diapers. size 4s are 21cents, since you pay the same price for the box, but you only get 180.
At Walmart they are.. I don't know cause the Walmart website is still sucking... But look for coupons people! Cause P&G is pretty good about putting those out there.
Huggies Snug & Dry-
You can't go wrong with Huggies products, but they are so far superior that I ever go out of my way to buy their products. And even with coupons, and when they are on sale, they are not cheaper than the cheapest kind out there. Sure these are cute, with little Mickey Mouse characters on them, but if my kids want to see Mickey Mouse, I will just turn the tv on for them since we pay to have cable.
For size 1s- get them at Target cause they are 228/$39, which puts you at 17cents a diaper, as opposed to 18cents at Walmart. For Size 4s though, go to WAlmart for 140/$35, which puts you at 25cents a diaper. It's the same price per unit, but if you go to Costco you can get a box of 200/$50.
Parents Choice-
Again, only at Walmart. And I know I really hated on them last week for their sucky wipes, but I am all about their diapers. They are cheap and they do the trick. The only trick they don't do is tell you what size they are. This truly stinks if you have two kids who are a year apart and not wearing the same size. (Lots of people do that, right? Have kids reallyclose together? It's the cool thing to do, right!??)... Anyway, that was annoying, but Topher and Lily have both been wearing size 4s for a while now, so that's no longer an issue. These daipers also have no cute characters on their package, which is probably why they are cheaper than the rest, and that's fine for me cause I pay enough for cable, I don't need to pay more for characters that my kids can pee on.
These diapers are about 15cents a piece, which is why they are my diaper of choice. I don't have exact figures for you, but I believe I a box of 82 goes for about $14.
So for the sake of efficiency, I am going to share with you my thoughts, and the prices of size 1 and size 4 diapers from my three major shopping locales: Target, Walmart, and Costco.
Pampers Swaddlers Diapers-
These are THE BEST diapers for newborns, and infants. I LOVED these diapers so very very much when my kids were babies. They use them at the hospital, so you are already sucked into using them, but they use them at the hospital because they are awesome. They are soft, and have a nice and faint baby aroma to them. Nothing too abbrasive, especially since newborns being as cute as they are manage to make the nastiest messes. First you have the black tar poop, then you have that psychotic yellow-curry juicy-grossness mess. But the sweet Pampers keeps all that crap on the inside, as best as it possibly can.
And Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends grace these wonderous diapers, giving you an encouraging smile while you change your newborn for the 15th time in the same hour, and the hour happens to be 3am.
Size 1:At Target- 216 diapers for $42 puts you at 19.4cents a butt-cover. They are $2 cheaper, according to the Walmart website, which puts you at 18.5cents a diaper.
Luvs Premium Stretch Diapers-
These diapers are 'pretty good'. They are made by the same company as Pampers (Proctor&Gamble), so think Lexus when you are using Pampers, and Toyota when you are using Luvs. My beef with Luvs is that I find them to be a bit too thin, which is kind of one of their selling points, though I don't really understand why. Are we, as a society, already trying to get our babies to be body-conscious? A big diaper does not help or hurt a baby's blob of a frame. They are just a blob with a giant head on top! And another thing that kind of gets to me is the smell. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. But some people buy Luvs cause they love the smell the most. To each his own. And if you happen to be a big Blues Clues fan, then these diapers will have you coming back for more.
At Target- size 1s are 264/$39. That puts you at 14cents a diaper, which is great, but I actually prefered to pay 5cents more for the Lexus of newborn/infant diapers. size 4s are 21cents, since you pay the same price for the box, but you only get 180.
At Walmart they are.. I don't know cause the Walmart website is still sucking... But look for coupons people! Cause P&G is pretty good about putting those out there.
Huggies Snug & Dry-
You can't go wrong with Huggies products, but they are so far superior that I ever go out of my way to buy their products. And even with coupons, and when they are on sale, they are not cheaper than the cheapest kind out there. Sure these are cute, with little Mickey Mouse characters on them, but if my kids want to see Mickey Mouse, I will just turn the tv on for them since we pay to have cable.
For size 1s- get them at Target cause they are 228/$39, which puts you at 17cents a diaper, as opposed to 18cents at Walmart. For Size 4s though, go to WAlmart for 140/$35, which puts you at 25cents a diaper. It's the same price per unit, but if you go to Costco you can get a box of 200/$50.
Parents Choice-
Again, only at Walmart. And I know I really hated on them last week for their sucky wipes, but I am all about their diapers. They are cheap and they do the trick. The only trick they don't do is tell you what size they are. This truly stinks if you have two kids who are a year apart and not wearing the same size. (Lots of people do that, right? Have kids reallyclose together? It's the cool thing to do, right!??)... Anyway, that was annoying, but Topher and Lily have both been wearing size 4s for a while now, so that's no longer an issue. These daipers also have no cute characters on their package, which is probably why they are cheaper than the rest, and that's fine for me cause I pay enough for cable, I don't need to pay more for characters that my kids can pee on.
These diapers are about 15cents a piece, which is why they are my diaper of choice. I don't have exact figures for you, but I believe I a box of 82 goes for about $14.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Apartment Living- The Not-So Good...
My main problems with the apartment are mostly found with the appliances. I know I need to call the apartment people and I am sure they will fix our problems, but let me just blog about them before they are no longer issues!
First of all, our dryer has a weird thing where it grabs onto minimally one unlucky item during the cycle and gets it stuck somewhere above the door. This has caused there to be a black burn/grease mark on one, sometimes two items every time I have used the dryer- and if you read my previous post- I have been a laundry doing fiend! It has only caused one hole, but of course it was my newest shirt that I bought pre-shopping fast.
Secondly, our gas oven is crazy. Mostly because Prometheus lives in there with the ball of fire that he stole from the gods. I suddenly cannot bake anything to save my life. I have to cover everything with foil, so that it doesn't burn on the top, cause the ball of fire is actually more like a strip of fire on the top of the oven. But there is no heat coming from anywhere else in the oven, so getting things to cook and bake evenly is a joke. A not-funny joke. If you have a gas oven and have any helpful hints for me, I would really appreciate them! I cannot go a whole year with burnt yet uncooked cinnamon rolls, cakes, brownies, lasagnas, etc...
And I guess my last issue with the apartment is that we live on the first floor, so it's hard to keep the windows open. One for privacy sake, but also for safety reasons too. Lily could easily crawl out of her window if we left it (and the flimsy screen) open. (Obviously we wouldn't open the screen too, but you understand what I am trying to say, right?) And someone could also crawl in. All bad thoughts. Plus people are out talking and walking their dogs while the kids are sleeping, so it already sounds like there is a party in their rooms even with the windows closed. That's a shame since it's so nice and cool out and I would love to have the windows open! But I demanded that we have a first floor apartment because I could not imagine having to go up and down a flight of concrete stairs with Lily, Topher, and groceries. I guess living with stuffy quarters is easier to live with than a cracked skull or broken legs (which crazy Topher would surely have if we lived upstairs.)
First of all, our dryer has a weird thing where it grabs onto minimally one unlucky item during the cycle and gets it stuck somewhere above the door. This has caused there to be a black burn/grease mark on one, sometimes two items every time I have used the dryer- and if you read my previous post- I have been a laundry doing fiend! It has only caused one hole, but of course it was my newest shirt that I bought pre-shopping fast.
Secondly, our gas oven is crazy. Mostly because Prometheus lives in there with the ball of fire that he stole from the gods. I suddenly cannot bake anything to save my life. I have to cover everything with foil, so that it doesn't burn on the top, cause the ball of fire is actually more like a strip of fire on the top of the oven. But there is no heat coming from anywhere else in the oven, so getting things to cook and bake evenly is a joke. A not-funny joke. If you have a gas oven and have any helpful hints for me, I would really appreciate them! I cannot go a whole year with burnt yet uncooked cinnamon rolls, cakes, brownies, lasagnas, etc...
And I guess my last issue with the apartment is that we live on the first floor, so it's hard to keep the windows open. One for privacy sake, but also for safety reasons too. Lily could easily crawl out of her window if we left it (and the flimsy screen) open. (Obviously we wouldn't open the screen too, but you understand what I am trying to say, right?) And someone could also crawl in. All bad thoughts. Plus people are out talking and walking their dogs while the kids are sleeping, so it already sounds like there is a party in their rooms even with the windows closed. That's a shame since it's so nice and cool out and I would love to have the windows open! But I demanded that we have a first floor apartment because I could not imagine having to go up and down a flight of concrete stairs with Lily, Topher, and groceries. I guess living with stuffy quarters is easier to live with than a cracked skull or broken legs (which crazy Topher would surely have if we lived upstairs.)
Apartment Living- The Good
We are now at week 3 of apartment life- and we are still loving it! Last night Chris commented on how I have been the laundry champ. Laundry was not my job at the other house, because Jeehon called it, which meant I was the dishes lady. It all worked out pretty great. Except when Jeehon would go on vacation for weeks on end. Then I would have to do the laundry. Boo. So I would pretty much procrastinate till Chris had no boxers, socks or undershirts. And this is pretty pathetic since Chris has a drawer full of undershirts- I think there's almost twenty in there. But living at the small apartment has given me more time to do stuff- I do laundry more frequently, the dishes don't pile up as high as they used to, and I even have more time to blog!
And even though it's a lot smaller here (just a hair under 1200 sq ft), we had our first weekend guests here, and no one killed anyone else- success! Because of good ol' Columbus Day, James had a 4-day weekend, so the Malloys came up on Thursday and left yesterday. They slept in Topher's room where there is a queen size bed, and Topher's crib, and still room enough on the floor for a mat for Sungu. Then Topher was supposed to sleep in a pack n play in our room, but the first night was a disaster and he woke us up at 3am and was excited to have roommates so he just wanted to play. We moved him into Lily's room and that's where he stayed. Lily has been crawling into bed with us still, so she is a pro at sleeping on our bed, so we kept her.
The weekend was filled with much eating, and hanging out, and going to the zoo, and even watching movies. It is so great to have live-in babysitters! Friday night James and Jeehon went on a date, and Sunday night Chris and I went out to watch 'Couples Retreat'.
Here are some pics of our weekend together:
Here are the Malloys posing while we were on our walk/bike ride around the apartment complex.
Lily and Topher on thier bikes like big kids! Even if Topher is being 'guided' by his dad.
Topher guiding his own dang bike thank you very much!
Chilling on our patio. Eating frozen Gogurts.
Lily trying to feed the giraffe at the zoo, but wimping out at the last second. That is a gross looking tongue. Sungu fed his giraffe and so was not ashamed to pose for a picture afterwards. Not so for Lily.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving Canada
today is columbus day here in the great u.s. of a. it is thanksgiving in canada. and it is my oldest brother's 30th birthday all over the world. though he is celebrating this momentous milestone birthday at home with a bunch of turkeys (read:my younger brothers and yummy turkey) in toronto.
i just wanted to wish my fellow canadians out there a happy thanksgiving. thanksgiving in canada is celebrated on the 2nd monday of october. it is a celebration to mark the end of the harvest season. something like that. and happy columbus day to my american friends and family. this day commemorates christopher columbus' arrival in america in 1492.
there's a little trivia for all y'alls.
i really feel like eating turkey today, but i do not feel like making one. but in my heart i am celebrating this holiday with canada and find myself overflowing with thanks for lots and lots of great things and people in my life. have a great october 12th folks, no matter what you may be celebrating today.
i just wanted to wish my fellow canadians out there a happy thanksgiving. thanksgiving in canada is celebrated on the 2nd monday of october. it is a celebration to mark the end of the harvest season. something like that. and happy columbus day to my american friends and family. this day commemorates christopher columbus' arrival in america in 1492.
there's a little trivia for all y'alls.
i really feel like eating turkey today, but i do not feel like making one. but in my heart i am celebrating this holiday with canada and find myself overflowing with thanks for lots and lots of great things and people in my life. have a great october 12th folks, no matter what you may be celebrating today.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday's Thing- Wipes
Once a week (hopefully on Thursdays) I am going to try to put up a post of my favorite kids things. Today I am going to talk about Wipes. The kind that you use to wipe babies' butts. And occassionally to clean the floor. I am a fairly cheap woman, no, Frugal, that sounds better, so I have tried quite a few different kinds of wipes cause 1. they are always having a sale on something different! and 2. i have come accross a wipe or two that I have not enjoyed, so I am going to share that with you today!
For the most part I will be comparing wipes on the cost (and I will do bulk sizes, since those are more cost effective anyway) and ability to get the job done (read:remove poo from the crime scene.)
BEST WIPES-
"Up&Up Sensitive Skin Baby Wipes". This is the Target brand wipe and it is currently my favorite! You can buy a box of 704 wipes for $11.49. That puts you at 1.63 cents a wipe. They are not too thick, and not too thin, and have no scent, and are also wet enough to get the job done. They are amazing for what you are paying for! Plus you have to go to Target to get them, and any reason for me to go to Target is awesome. If this post were actually a high school yearbook, then I would vote these wipes: "most likeable, most likely to succeed, and best dressed."
WORST WIPES-
"Parents Coice Unscented Wipes" This is a brand that they carry at Walmart and these wipes suck. (I really like their diapers so I am not hating on 'Parents Choice as a whole, just in part because of their wipes. Diapers will be my post for next week!) They seem thick at first, until you are REALLY wiping poop off of a kid's butt. Then your finger pokes through the wipe and all of a sudden you have a poop-popsicle finger. DISGUSTING. They just feel dry and gross- and I've never even used it on my butt- just my fingers. They are legitamitly 'unscented', which is a bonus, but that's pretty much all they have going for them.
And my girlfriend Erin was just complaining about them to me today, and her issue with them is that the next one doesn't pop out to greet you when you need it. Bad wipes! Rude and ineffective. I would tell you how much they are per wipe, but I am also having a fight with the Walmart website and can't find that information. Another big 'x' on you bad wipes.
here are some other wipes that have come through the Watson door, and therefore accross some Watson bottoms:
-"Kirkland Unscented Signature Wipes". These are the Costco brand wipes and they are also a personal fave. BUT, they seem to have raised their price, and that kinda stinks. You can get a box of 900 wipes for $27.99, which puts you at 3.11 cents per wipe. These are, again, truly 'unscented', which is nice cause you usually have a lot of other scents going on when you are using wipes. And they never seem to lose their moistness. I used to leave some of these in the car as emergency wipes, and they were always still wet. So kudos to the packaging folks. Though these wipes are kinda expensive, they are so good at getting the job done (read:wiping up poop) that you really use less of them, as opposed to the cheaper ones where you have to use a bunch of wipes to clean up the poop on the baby bottom and your finger.
-"Huggies Naturally Refreshing Baby Wipes". I find that as a mother, I just want to buy Huggies, cause it's a name you know and trust. But that trust comes at a price folks. And that price at Costco is 1000 wipes for 34.97, which puts you at 3.49 cents a wipe. Kind of a hefty price for something that you use to smear feces all over. Huggies is really good about sending out coupons, but even with a dollar, or even two dollars off, that's still over 3cents a wipe. Huggies wipes are thick and moist, but I actually find them to be a bit TOO thick. And the scent of the 'refreshing' wipes are a blend of cucumber and green tea, which seems nice. Until your kid has chronic diahrea, or you have three kids butts that you are constantly wiping, and then all of a sudden you associate cucumbers with poops, and then you have ruined eating salads for yourself for the rest of your life. Or until you switch wipes.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Zoe Lynn Watson
pretend with me, if you will, that it is 09.18.09, or sometime closer to that date than it is right now... i have a new niece! and her name is Zoe Lynn Watson! and she is so cute! and i am a TERRIBLE aunt!... no. that's enough self-loathing... i am a 'busy' aunt. i cannot believe that i have not yet written a post about this precious new addition to our family yet. but better late than never! (wait, so should i still be working on thank you cards for my wedding gifts?...)
Zoe is Justin (Chris' brother) and Jen's (my beautiful sister-in-law) precious gift from Jesus. she was born at 5:47pm via planned c-section, because she just did not like the idea of hanging out upside down, waiting to fall through the birth canal- can't blame you little one! your cousin lily had a SERIOUS cone head for the longest time!
the beautiful little family is doing really well- including their 2 grayhounds, german shepherd, and 90 cats (ok, i think they might have 3. but if you have 3, you might as well have 90 in my allergic-to-cats opinion.) Zoe has the most beautiful hair color- light brown with blond highlights, and already has her mother's sweet and quiet disposition. she also fortunately looks nothing like her father (just joking Justin!), though she has the classic Watson dimpled chin! precious!
here's the newest little Watson!
What a beautiful family!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)