Baby Tents

Joe took off work yesterday and Bayley was in her crib watching tv. Joe had just opened his Ecology notes and heard a muffled thump! then Bayley started crying. Joe, terrified, ran back to her room to find her standing next to her crib -- on the outside of it. Almost two years of baby jail and now my baby is an escape artist.

I posted this on Facebook and a friend suggested a Crib Tent. She said it has saved her sanity and her child still sleeps in the crib. I googled it and lo and behold, it appears I can prevent the toddler bed for another year! It looks like a white mesh tent that attaches to the top of the crib and zips from the outside, so I can lock her in there for another year.

I know this is really selfish, but I think every mom (and dad) will totally understand my reasoning. I love sleep. I really, really love sleep. And I like to sleep in on the weekends. I like to sleep at least 8 straight hours without worry, interruptions, or strange noises. If Bayley were to transition to her toddler bed now (her crib converts to a toddler bed then a twin bed), then I would be up worrying that she's destroying her room, found a way to open her bedroom door (she's still a teensy bit too short), and is roaming the house or found something that will harm her. This means I get NO sleep. Not a good way to go.

So, all that said, has anyone tried this Crib Tent? What are your thoughts on them? Am I just really selfish?

*The photo below is not Bayley's room. It's just a photo from the internet.

Me time.

Yesterday during the beautiful weather, Joe and I worked on cleaning and organizing the garage. He got onto me for not using my sewing machine. He said, "Use it or get rid of it!" It's been in a container in the garage for 2 years, untouched. So I drug the container inside and cleaned it off. I am going to put it on my antique sewing table that he got me for Christmas. I use it as a nightstand, but I am going to really use it for crafts and whatnot. I don't ever use it because I don't know much about sewing and I think I've forgotten how to thread it. I suppose now I can google it and get instructions on the internet. I also feel guilty doing crafty stuff now that I'm a mom and in school. There is always housework, homework, or Bayley wants my attention. I seriously need a girl room like Shannon, but since I can't have that I'll just have to figure something else out.

That being said, I've decided that I'm going to give myself some "me" time each day. It may only be 30 minutes a day, but it's going to be "do what I want guilt free" time. I can do crafts/sewing, self mani/pedi, watch tv, etc. But I can tell you it will NOT include:

• house work
• homework
• taking care of anyone/anything except ME

It dawned on me last night that I put off doing fun stuff because of that mountain of laundry waiting to be folded and put away, dishes needing to be loaded/unloaded from the dishwasher, clutter to be put away, Bayley needing to be played with, homework that is screaming at me to get done, etc. I never have time for it all if I want to be in bed by 9:30pm.

So I'm going to start ME time tonight after Bayley goes to bed. Joe has to study for a test so I can't do it during the time Bayley is awake.

I need to start getting up earlier and working out in the morning before I shower. That will take a miracle from God because honestly, I just would rather sleep. Would sleep count as ME time? I guess it would. Guilt free nap. :) That sounds realllly nice.

Bill Binder

A year or so ago I felt overwhelmed by our bills and all that I have to try to keep up with, so I created a Bill Binder. I took an ordinary 3 ring binder and put dividers in it. I have 5 sections:

• Living Expenses
• Medical (Joe, Jenn, & Bayley)
• Z (because we are required to pay half of all incurred expenses)
• Credit Cards
• Misc

I keep the original of all bills and write on them what I've paid, when, and how (check, bill pay, etc). I keep this in there and staple the newest bill on top and repeat the process until something is paid off (this applies to the big bills like hospital, etc). It goes to the back pocket when it's paid off. I keep that for a few months then retire it to a folder called "Paid/Completed Debts" that I keep in my desk drawer.

Even if I can only afford to pay $10 on a bill, it's nice to have it marked as paid and it shows me that I'm closer to paying something off. Keeps me motivated to get it paid off.

I have neglected my binder for a few months and am now back on track. It feels good.

Blahs and Shoes.

I'm kinda down lately. Financial struggles are exhausting me. The bad news is that our big tax return is gone and we were going to use part of it to build a new deck. That will have to wait now. We've wanted to tear down our old one and build a new one to enjoy our backyard more. Right now we don't ever really go out there much.

The silver lining to some of the struggles is that some major bills will be paid off by the end of April if all goes well and our house payment may go down by $200 a month because of a loan modification. I'm trying to see the silver lining of it all.

I started my period yesterday so we're not pregnant - again. My best friend pointed out to me what I was already thinking but didn't want to say out loud: it's probably for the best that I'm not pregnant right now because of the financial struggles. Yes, very true. I just hope for a positive pregnancy test within the next few months. In the meantime, I need to focus on school, finances, and losing some weight.

The shoes I mentioned in my previous post are, by far, the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. They make me want to walk and jog. Last night I took Bayley to Target (retail therapy for my blues) and it was cold so I ran and pushed the cart into the store. Then after waiting to buy her a smoothie for a few minutes, I realized I had left my wallet in the car so I RAN back out there to get it and RAN back in. Bayley thought it was exciting and fun to be whizzing across the parking lot in the cart, but it felt good to run. The best part? No shin splints or hurting feet. I realized I had gotten a decent mini workout (I had parked pretty far out) because I felt it in my lungs. It was a good feeling.

I haven't watched the dvd that comes with the shoes nor have I watched any videos on youtube or anything about them, so not sure what I'm supposed to do. I just wear them and am LOVING them. I just wish they had some dark brown ones too. I am wearing my black shoes with brown pants and a sweater with pink and brown. Shhh... don't tell! My pants cover them up pretty well, but I hope no one notices. I just didn't want to go back to my regular shoes.

So... my review so far...is that they are EXTREMELY comfortable and I bet running in them would be awesome. With my mini jog, they were fabulous. I hope to try them out for real (like really jogging in my neighborhood) this weekend.

Tightening my booty and calves one step at a time.

I bought a new pair of shoes last night that I've had my eye on for a while. They are the Sketchers shoe that promotes weight loss, better posture, higher IQ, and wealth beyond imagine.

The above pair is the one I got and I am wearing them with my slacks and blouse at work today. We'll see how it goes.

Has anyone tried these? I figured I need all the help I can get, so I am going to make myself get up and walk around the hospital every couple of hours today. So far it feels like I'm walking on marshmallows.

My main motivation to lose weight is obviously for me, but we've been trying to get pregnant for several months now and I hope that dropping some weight will help speed things along. And if I am blessed with another pregnancy, I hope to find some marshmallowy shoes to keep walking on.

What happened to adjustable waistbands in kid clothes??

I'm mad at Old Navy and their jeans. Bayley has outgrown the 12-18 month pants in length. She needs an adjustable waistband; however, Old Navy no longer offers adjustable waist band jeans until they are a size 2T, which is way too long for her right now. She needs the 18-24 month size. WTH? I'm mad at Old Navy for this. So Bayley is now wearing dresses and tights until she can grow even MORE. Ordinarily I'd be thrilled to have her in cute dresses with tshirts underneath, but I just spent $300 on dresses, tights, and a couple of jackets and sweaters for her to wear in the meantime. Yes, she can wear the dresses this spring and summer, but that's not my point.

BRING BACK PANTS WITH ADJUSTABLE WAISTBANDS FOR LITTLE KIDS!!!!

Yadda Yadda Yah.

Not much news as we've been iced in for the past few days and today is my first day back at work. I have a whiny, screaming toddler who wants to go "potty ni ni" every few minutes. She has peed in her potty twice, though, so that's good.

Bayley and Z played like crazy yesterday since we got him for several hours before he had to go back to his mother's house. She took away all of our "extra" visitation back in October so that has been really upsetting for Z and Bayley both. Yesterday they had so much fun and Bayley looks up to Z so much. He loves doting on her. It's really cute.

I'd post photos, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to get them off my phone to my computer.

Joe is prepared for Valentine's Day this year. He told me he already ordered my gift and it may not be here in time, but he is excited. Part of me thinks it's a stand for my bike so I can ride it as a stationary bike in the garage, but I'm not sure.

I guess I need to decide on what to do for him. He's really easy to buy for and I'm a great gift giver, so I'm not too worried.

What I AM worried about, however, is Bayley's 2nd birthday is in 6 weeks and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I want to rent somewhere that has a big place for Joe's family and mine to come, but I don't want to shell out $400. Her 1st birthday party was too crowded, as we were in our house and I didn't expect many people to show up. Joe's entire family showed up and he has a BIG family. EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON showed up. And then some neighbors, some of my family, and a few friends showed up. Holy cow. My little house broke some fire codes that day, I'm pretty sure.

I think I am going to use the Elmo theme (or as she says "Memo!" ) and go with that. I'm just too tired to think today. Gonna hit up another cup of coffee then drink a gallon of sweet tea. :)