Greatest Mother's Day Gift Ever

Last night Mike gave me the GREATEST belated Mother's Day gift ever. I slept in the guest room with ear plugs and Mike took care of Eli all night.

B.L.I.S.S.

Most mornings, Mike wakes up and says, "Eli had a great night last night, didn't he? I think he slept through the night!"

Oh my. While he's correct in the fact that Eli "had a great night" - a great night equals Eli waking up two times, not six. When I proceed to tell Mike that Eli woke up twice and I took care of him, generously not waking Mike up in the process (Mike's a heavy sleeper if you can't tell), Mike will question if Eli "really did wake up" and if I'm "remembering correctly."

Those words make me want to breathe fire.

So I told Mike I'm going to start shaking him awake every time Eli and I are awake to make sure Mike knows that Eli did not in fact sleep through the night.

That shut him up pretty quick.

Anyway, I had been lamenting about how nice it would be to get a full night sleep, particularly coming off both Eli and I being sick last week, I was really in need of a solid chunk of uninterrupted sleep. So on date night last night, Mike offered to take all the feedings and let me sleep in the guest room as a belated Mother's Day gift.

DONE.

I then suggested that very night would be the perfect night for such a gift.

His eyes then bugged out of his head and he began to backpedal.

I then told him he couldn't back out and since he didn't have to work the next day, it was the perfect night for it and if he didn't, I would go back to my original threat of waking him up every time Eli was up for at least the next two months.

He then agreed.

Mike and Eli, catching some z's. For the record, we choose not to co-sleep, but sometimes in the morning, when you just need an extra five minutes, snuggle time is the answer. Also, for the record, this photo makes my heart burst with happiness. 

I slept like a rock, only having to get up to pump once out of sheer necessity. Then this morning at 6:45 a.m. Mike wakes me up and tells me he has to go into work.

Whoops. Sorry honey. But I feel good, so isn't that great?

Mike also got me Taylor Swift tickets for Mother's Day. They came in the mail on the Friday before, addressed to him, but in an envelope that said "URGENT, OPEN IMMEDIATELY" in big red letters.

So I opened it.

I mean we're married. We share bank accounts.

Whoops again.

We later had a conversation about shipping gifts for me to a friend's house.

He also got me Fritos and Mountain Dew. Which I promptly ate and drank in about 10 minutes and comptely gained back all the weight I had lost since I delivered Eli.

Okay, so maybe not, but it felt like I was bursting out of my jeans and tee the rest of the day.

Icky.

You know the feeling. Don't deny.

Okay, it's time for me to sign off. Be back Monday. Hopefully. Maybe Tuesday.

I have a hard time with commitment.

DIY Tutorial: Ruler Growth Chart

This post is a bit of a long time coming. We actually completed these DIY Growth Charts in time for Christmas, but I haven't gotten around to writing a post about them until now.

Terrible, terrible.

For Christmas this year, Mike and I wanted to make something fun for our nephews, but since they were both under a year and a half old, we knew they really wouldn't "get it" - aka - "appreciate all the work Uncle Ike and Aunt Yaya put into a DIY project." So I quickly began thinking about something I could give my brothers and sister-in-laws that could be used for their kiddos, but that they would appreciate and something that Mike and I would want too. We live a few hours away from my family so I thought it would be fun to have something similar in each of our homes that when the cousins visit each other they'd see the same thing in all the homes.

I had seen a few DIY ruler growth charts floating around blogland, and after showing them to Mike, we deemed the project worthy of our Christmas gifts and something that with the arrival of lil' Wif we would want too. Growing up, my parents marked my height on a wall in the basement, but we moved around a lot, so we always had to start over at each new house we lived in. I love that these can go with you wherever you move and you can even move them around the house if you like.

So we looked at a few photos for inspiration, and put our own spin on it. We ended up with two different versions:

But of course, like any project I attempt - it wasn't completely smooth sailing from there.

 At first, I wanted to do a "triangle" take on the growth chart. The one on the right above:


On this growth chart, the large triangle points mark each foot, the mid-sized triangles are every 6" and the small ones are every 2". But after completing the first one, I was incredibly frustrated. I created a template from cardstock, but the paint kept bleeding under it so in the end, I free-handed all the triangles and the numbers, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but the white paint required three coats to get saturated coverage, and I don't know about you, but I cannot trace a line perfectly three times in a row with a paint brush - even if I did grow up under the tutelage of a professional painter.

Not What I Thought It Would Be

Gettin' a bath before I left.

Tuesday afternoon was my first day away from Eli. My mother-in-law generously offered to babysit and I had finally built up enough of a milk "stash" to leave him for a few hours without needing to rush home to feed him. Before I left, I found myself imagining what it would be like to leave Eli. I kept thinking that I'd send a longing glance his way, we'd look into each other's tear-filled eyes. He'd cry out when I leave and I'd tearfully shut the door behind me, crying all the way to the mall. I'd think of nothing but him the entire time and feel like a piece of me was missing as I walked the mall.

No.

Not even close.

Here's how it really went: My mother-in-law arrived, we chatted for a bit, me giving her the download on when he'd need to eat, when he'd probably nap and all that other stuff that was oh-so-boring to me before I was a mom and is now all that I think about.

Then I left.

Then I went shopping.

I thought about him a bit. Wondering what he was doing. Then telling myself he's probably hanging out and tooting. Or burping.

Both are sure signs he's feeling good and let's be honest, he's really good at both.

Then I kept shopping. I bought some sandals. Looked at a picture text from my mother-in-law of him sleeping. He looked the same as he always does.

If there had been sound, I'm sure he would have been tooting.

The Search is Over: How I Found the Elusive Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree

If it's possible for a house plant to be trendy, the Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree is the trendiest of trendy. I started seeing them around a few years ago, but because they're so popular, they're near impossible to find and if you do, one plant is going to run you about 200 bones - and since I've had some not-so-good luck with indoor plants - Mike told me I needed to work on my green thumb for a solid 10 years and have proof of my successes before I'd be allowed to spend that kind of cash on a plant.

Touche. 

Do you all know what I'm talking about? Have you seen them? Check out these pics: 

Worth Sharing

Have you heard of Photostream? Now that I have Eli I'm thinking of trying to test it out. Basically, it allows you to share a photo with a group of people, without having to send a mass text or blast all your social media profiles. Brilliant.

Love these 100 Rules of Dinner. Read them now.

Already I've found myself stressing over Eli's sleep schedule. Let's just put it this way: I WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET HIM TO SLEEP DURING THE HOURS OF 10 P.M. AND 7 A.M. Heck, I'll even take Midnight to 6 a.m. - but seriously, who am I kidding, really I'll take anytime when it's even semi-dark out. JUST GIVE ME SLEEP SON. I'm quite sure I was sent this link from no less than seven people on the same day about one mother's take on expert sleep advice. All I have to say to this article is AMEN.*

Did you read "The Unlikely Disciple"? If so, you might find this article, "Being Gay at Jerry Falwel's University" interesting. Even if you didn't read that book, I'll bet you'll still find it interesting.

Been hearing great things about this fast-drying top coat for nails. Has anyone ever tried it? I'm all about speeding up the drying-time on my nails, but I hate spending any money on a product that I'm not absolutely positive will work. I mean, that price is equal to a latte and a half ...

Speaking of nails, have you heard of Jamberry Nails? It's a sticker that you put on in lieu of polish ... if this works then I suppose I could skip that top coat. Please, pretty please somebody try out these products and report back!

Sorry, the two above comments were super selfish of me. I don't want to potentially waste my money, so I tell you to potentially waste yours. I take it back.

But you can still try out the products if you want to.

And then tell me how it was.

But only if you want to.

I would really like it if you did.

Okay I'm done.

*Apologies for all the capital letters. I know you're not supposed to use them because it sounds like you're yelling, but what if you actually are yelling? Then can you use them? Because I'm yelling up there. That's what I'm doing.

Eli - One Month Photoshoot

My little man turned one month old last Friday! Mike and I celebrated his birth by going to the dentist and making Eli suffer through a bath and preform at photoshoot. Yes, we party hard in the Wifler house.

For the photoshoot, I'm actually not even sure I can really call it that because I wouldn't even label Mike and I "amateur" photographers. More like "point and shoot" with a "wish and a prayer." It basically goes like this: 

"Honey, call to Eli. Make him look at the camera."

"Move your foot, I think it's in the shot."

"Eli, Eli, Eliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Your shadow - now it's in the photo. Aww dang, the camera strap was in that one."

"Eli, Eli, Eliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Series of finger snaps. 

"Let me try, I can do it better."

"Nope, that wasn't better. Give it back."

"Your hand is in the frame!"

"Hang on, I think he's pooping. Eli, that is not a good look for you."

"Eli, Eli, Eliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

So fun for everyone.

I had originally attempted to make Eli the monthly onesies using iron-on transfers, but apparently I can't read directions and I pre-washed my onesies before ironing them on and they didn't take. (I've heard most transfer paper is not like this, just the one I purchased.) After ruining three onesies, I gave up and figured I'd try my hand at photoshopping the number on. 

Violia:

If you don't look too close, I think it looks like the real thing. I figure I can now save my pennies by not having 12 onsies that he'll only be able to wear one day a year ...