Mom Achievement Unlocked

Mom Achievement Unlocked: lame things become awesome I'm preparing to travel again with NTH. This time my husband is joining us! I'm so happy he's coming (and for the extra hands)! via GIPHY It takes two plane rides to get to our destination on the other end of the country and since NTH's last flight we've started EC (elimination communication, or early potty training) & to be honest I'm a little nervous about it on the plane. NTH definitely doesn't like a wet diaper & we are all getting better at using either his potty or the toilet when he signals. So, even though he's got a diaper backup he will "fuss" before he goes. Normally this is great because that's my signal to potty him. On a plane however, that seatbelt sign doesn't really care about him fussing. Also, the last time we flew I ended up changing him on the seat beside me because the lines to the bathroom were always so long.  Hubby & I hummed and

Mom Achievement Unlocked: survived a full day at work via GIPHY NTH is 5 1/2 months old and i got offered a day of work on a commercial.  i do makeup and one of my contacts asked if i was available, but it was a full day - 7am to 7pm on the call sheet. I hummed and hawed...do i really want to do this? can i afford not to do this? i called my husband and he said 'go for it, we can make it work.' so i asked mum to watch him, i am so lucky to have my mum around, and she was able to so all was settled. i had to have my phone on silent on set (full disclosure: my phone is always on silent anyway) so mum would message me if she needed anything or had a question.  the nice thing was i would check my phone when i could, but i wasn't always thinking about it.  i had told a group of friends i wanted to be able to focus on the task at hand and not be constantly wondering/worrying about how NTH was doing and they said they'd pray for me.  and i actually had a wonderful day!

Mom Achievement Unlocked: getting organized Organization is not my strong suit. I'm a very go with the flow kinda person. But, as a new mom I'm seeing the need for, and even liking(!), having more structure in my life. For instance, when a friend told me it's normal for NTHs to nap every two hours it was a revelation. I could plan around that 2 hour window. I suddenly started noticing sleep cues! NTH went from random 20-40minute naps to on average 1.5 - 2 hour naps every 2ish hours. Life changing. Because I'm bad at remembering on my own I have fallen in love with my dry erase marker. It has restored hope and balance in my life. You see, I simply put an empty picture frame on my kitchen counter and use the dry erase marker to keep track of naps/feedings/poops so I can notice trends and plan more efficiently in my day. Not to mention keep NTH from having a meltdown because his bottle isn't ready or he's gotten overtired. the paper inside

Mom Achievement Unlocked: oversharing about my child's bathroom habits peeps, i can't help it; i'm really pleased with this whole EC potty thing! NTH is very good at it.  he never pees on me while i get him on the potty and i'm consistently catching something at least 80% of our potty visits. i've even held him over our big toilet and he's gone in there!  yesterday we were at my parents' house and he started to squirm and fuss so to the bathroom we went and he did all his business!  my mum was pretty impressed too. this morning i put him on to pee and he ended up spitting up right in the potty, lol. it was a perfect catch!  the benefits just keep on coming, lol

Mom Achievement Unlocked: got poop stains out of a white onesie first try   My son's first explosive poop (aka not able to be contained by a mere diaper) happened while he was wearing this white onesie. I must say, I'm counting it a win that his first explosive poop happened this late in the game. To be honest I've lived in low key fear of a messy diaper blow out for a long time. I used my filled away Pinterest info to peel his onesie down instead of up over his head and then soaked it in some oxy clean for a few minutes before throwing it in the wash. And voila! No stain! Yay!!

Mom Achievement Unlocked: my child finally has his own room you guys, this is a feat, a FEAT.  i was looking through my calendar and every single weekend since june i've had "paint nursery" written in.   of course "paint nursery" sounds way more simple than what was actually required. NTH's room was my craft/junk/hide the mess because guests are coming/extra closet room.  there was a lot of stuff in there to lug out, sort out, donate, and find a new space for (still finding a space for stuff!) and then it had to be patched and sanded and wiped down and THEN we could paint.  well my friends, last week it happened.  HALLELUJAH.  i was getting really stressed about it. he's almost 5 months old, i felt like we both just must be bad people for not having it done already, but honestly we only have so much time and energy each day (also, if you speak enneagram hubby & i are both 9, so, like, heaven help us). indulge me, let me give you a tour, sta