Five Favorites vol. 1

Joining up with Hallie at Moxie Wife for Five Favorites on a cloudy Wednesday morning.

1.

My pillow.  Yep, dorky as a favorite five, but, so, so, so comfortable.  I used to get neck pain from sleeping..but no more!

2.

They're not much to look at, but they taste, so, so good.  My recipe for homemade, gluten-free, peanut-butter patties (or tagalongs) made with both milk and dark chocolate.   I'm keeping the recipe a secret..for  now.

3.

Melaleuca Oil.  I'm fighting some sorta of allergy/cold congestion and bit of Melaleuca Oil rubbed on my nose/over my sinuses really helps.

4.

I LOVE this salt.  I cook EVERYTHING from scratch, so we don't eat hardly any foods that already contain salt.  I add this liberally to everything..and it makes everything so yummy!  Plus, it's healthy!

5.

Magnesium Oil...because I love getting my vitamins (er...minerals) while I sleep.   I spray this on at night before bed and it does help me sleep better. 

No go visit Moxie Wife, for more 5 Favorites.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Best. Catholic. Meme. Ever!

--- 2 ---

Monopoly is getting rid of the iron and replacing it with a cat.  This is incredibly good news, because who the heck in their right mind would want to be an iron?  I mean..an iron?  Who came up with that.  That's about as dumb as being a thimble.   Who wants to be reminded of work while they play.  Not that I would know anything about ironing as work...because I don't do it.

--- 3 ---

I just found this on facebook.  This is me...so totally me.

--- 4 ---

I must admit, I'm jealous of all my Rhode Island/Massachusetts friends that get to a experience a historic blizzard of crippling proportions.  I've never experienced  a blizzard. ..and down here in FL, we're all just like So, is it going to be warm, hot or super hot today?    I miss not sweating. 

--- 5 ---

CNN did a piece where mothers (and fathers) can share their stories about abortion.  The stories are very interesting and sad.  A few are just maddening and are only about abortion in the strictest medical sense (same as a miscarriage is a "spontaneous abortion."  Anyway...you should check it out.

--- 6 ---

Lent is right around the corner, and I still haven't decided what I plan to "give up" or do this year.  I always find Lent so hard with a new baby....I'm all like...Well, I already gave up sleep..and going anywhere by myself for the next year and being able to do ANYTHING without being interrupted, isn't that enough.   And, I already don't eat sweets (except for ice cream on Sundays and dark chocolate...but that's a health food...really it is...it lowers my risk of heart attack or stroke, so I HAVE to eat it.) or soda, or any of those things. So, I really don't know what to do.  Any ideas or suggestions??  I'd love to hear what others are doing this Lent!!

--- 7 ---

 For number 7, I'll just leave you with our miracle of the day.  Elsa slept ALL BY HERSELF in her bouncy chair DURING THE DAY.  This is A BIG DEAL.  Here is the cute, photographic evidence.  She slept in there for like a whole TWENTY MINUTES.  WOW!  Keep it up babe...pretty please?

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

The Christmas Season is almost over ...but not yet.  It's STILL Christmas until the Epiphany, which means I'm totally, completely justified in writing about a line from a Christmas Carol on January 1st, right?

Lately, I've been musing a lot about the last line from Silent Night ....you know, the one that goes "Sleep in Heavenly Peeeeace.....Sleeeeep in Heavenly Peace."

What I want to know is exactly what is heavenly peace?  And, how come my baby isn't sleeping in it?

You see, with a young baby, the topic of sleep seems to come up a lot in conversations.  And, I'm never quite sure how to answer the question on "how is she sleeping".  I just want to say "like a baby" and leave it like that, because well..she sleeps like a baby....which mean she wakes up a lot and doesn't like to be put down.

The thing is, Elsa spends a good portion of the day,  NOT napping..she is basically a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad napper.

This is how a typical Elsa nap goes..she is tired, she fusses, she nurses, she falls asleep and sleeps..oh...typically about 8 1/2 minute before *something* happens to wake her up.   That something could be like

I dare to shift her in my lap..she wakes up

.I try to put her down...she wakes up.

Someone whispers near her...she wakes up.

A butterfly flaps its wings in China...she wakes up.

The only way she really naps well is if she is in the sling, and I'm basically running walking a marathon.  Don't get me wrong...I love walking with her in the sling..but I generally can't do that more than twice a day (once in the morning during *my* exercise and once in the evening when I take my kids.)   Of course, if I did, I might be a lot skinnier.  Alas, I have other duties I must attend to and other children that must do important things...like school..so I end up just holding her for most naps..which isn't so bad because they only last about 8 1/2 minutes anyway and I can happily sit and surf the 'net for 8 1/2 minutes.



And, that's okay..because she is only 3 months old and a baby needs her mama..and that's the way it's supposed to be.

But nighttime on the other hand...nighttime is different.  Nighttime sleep is glorious.  We sleep cuddled up together and Elsa frequently goes 6 hours or so without waking up.

Ten years ago, when Heidi was born, someone gave us a beautiful bassinet. We set it up in the bedroom and that first night home from the hospital, I laid her in it and then  went to bed and tried to go to sleep.  Thirty seconds later, I popped out of bed and had to peek at her...just to make sure she will still breathing.  I lied down again and tried to sleep...only to do another breathing check about a minute later.

Then I realized, I've never get any sleep that way, took her into bed with me and have been co-sleeping with babies ever since. (my kids typically move into their own bed  and room sometime around age 3).  There is nothing more delightful than cuddling up in bed with a sweet infant and falling asleep together while they nurse.  That is what heavenly sleep must be like...snuggled up safely next to your most, very favorite person in world (and since I have the "nana" I'm obviously the most very favorite person in the world).

When I took Elsa to the doctor when she was only a few days old, the pediatrician asked where she slept and  if she slept with me and when I answered in the affirmative she was all "oh, well, I did that too, but we don't recommend it and I have to advise against it, even though I also co-slept with my kids".   At least she was nice about it.

I realize other people manage to get their babies to sleep in a crib and different sleeping arrangements work better for others..but co-sleeping always just felt so natural to me. Or maybe I'm just lazy and will do just about anything not to have to get up out of bed again (okay, no maybe about it..that is a definite).

Thankfully however, she does, on occasion, sleep by herself...here is photographic evidence...sometimes she even does this for up to 9.5 minutes at a time..which is what let me write this blog post.



But, now she is about to reach the 9.75 minute mark..so I best be off.

Blessings,

Amelia

p.s Isn't that hat just too adorable...I call it her "granny hat."