untitled...

...simply because I haven't written in so long! It really makes me feel terrible and I know writing is a great stress reliever and stress is something we are never short on here!

I'm thinking I need to carve out a chunk of time everyday for writing. But I barely take the time to check my email everyday, so how will I manage that? I've thought about getting up earlier, I've started getting up at the same time everyday-or at least waking up at the same time (more on this later) so if I actually force myself to get up and write before Meghan wakes up then I can start the day fresh. Hmmmmm, I'm liking this!

Meg went through this weird sleep pattern over the last weekish. She usually wakes at 7-730am, naps after lunch from noon-2pmish and then goes right to sleep at 7pmish and sleeps through the night without waking up. Well, her vampire teeth (I don't know the right name for them, I should probably look it up) started coming in and seemed to bother her more than any of her other teeth-including her molars. She got the most ridiculous diaper rash that we are still battling and her sleep went all wacky. She stopped napping all together and refused to go down at night without a fight, an-I-think-the-neighbors-are-calling-cps-right-now fight. She would scream bloody murder. And it didn't matter if I went in there to comfort her, nurse her or rock her. She would not sleep and she would not be consoled. So she would cry for a bit, fall asleep and then wake every hour for hours into the night and cry for a bit and then go back to sleep. On New Year's Eve, she went down with a fight at 730pm, woke up every hour after that until 1230am, was awake a solid 2 hours until 230am, when I got her up and changed her diaper-thinking that maybe she couldn't sleep through a soaked diaper, nursed her again and even let her come in my bed in an attempt for her to get some sleep. DID. NOT. WORK. She just laid there and played with my face until I put her back in her bed where she promptly fell asleep at 430am and slept until 1130am and then was wide awake for New Year's Day! It was nuts!

But, I think it's finally getting back to normal, She went down asleep last night at 730 and slept through until this morning around 8. Still not napping though, I do put her down like a nap and she cries a bit, but then settles down and rests in there I guess. I hear her talking to someone right now ;) She babbles or lays down until I go in and get her after an hour or so. At least she's resting, these types of nap-less days are the ones she goes down easily at night-I don't know how I feel about the trade-off!

As you may or may not know, we've been using cloth diapers since Meghan was 9 months old and I love most of it. This latest rash is really testing my patience. Meghan got a potty seat for Christmas, so we've been making good use of that! Most of the time we get to the bathroom before she has a major accident. #1 only though, #2 she is failing at miserably :)

I try and keep her bottom half naked as we battle the rash of the year. The best part is that I know the teething set it off and the cloth just seems to blow it out of control. One morning we wake up and her ENTIRE booty is red and angry. Makes me sad that she has to deal with all this pain, but she doesn't mind being semi-naked, she refused to put on a diaper for naptime today! We've been using coconut oil when she has cloth on (best discovery ever) and the oil makes a noticeable difference. I was using Boudreaux's butt paste when we were using disposables and I literally coated her diaper area with it until it looked like I painted her booty with cream paint and it made no difference with this rash. I've been putting Meg in dresses and tunics during this rash to keep her modest, but her feet and legs get cold, so I add socks, leg warmers and use tights when she has a diaper on. She also has some slippers that a mite too big, but fit ok when she has thick socks or tights on.

It always seems chilly in here now that we finally have SNOW! Yup, I live in the snowbelt of central New York and we barely had snow for Christmas. No snow on Christmas just makes the whole day sad.

Speaking of the Christmas season, I ate too much, drank too much and generally failed in the weight loss/lifestyle change area of my life. I stopped doing c25k and I'm upset about it. I know I'm only human, but I really wanted to finish it. I might start it back up, but my friend Angie in Massachusetts mentioned doing p90x over skype. She's dealing with her own craziness, so it wouldn't be for awhile. I'm hoping to go visit her in February! (super excited for that!) I tried to eat well in December, I even skipped mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving! December just felt really rushed, so we ate a lot of quick meals which included a bunch of processed junk and I baked like a mad woman for Christmas. I can say that I did not eat a lot of the Christmas goodies I made, so that's one small victory! Drew thinks we should only eat chicken and rice or steak and rice for dinner. Sometimes a vegetable. When he told me that, I just looked at him sideways and laughed. I did get a George Foreman grill for Christmas from my Dad and a duplicate from my Grandma. We have used it a few times, I grilled up some leftover pot roast with Montreal steak seasoning on it-yum! Needless to say, I don't think I'll be doing the crazy crash diet. I'll just watch what I eat and make good choices and eat more fresh than boxed food. Our projection tv blew a lamp, so I haven't been able to do WiiFit, but that was only a couple weeks ago-there's no excuse for not doing it in December. I'm going to get back on the exercise bandwagon as soon as the tv's fixed, replacement lamp should be here any day ;)

I have some great motivators for wanting/needing to get in shape. Firstly, we are still trying to conceive our second child. I just assumed too much when I thought we would get pregnant right away after my period returned. And you know what happens when you assume ;) We've been actively trying since August and my period's been fairly regular since then so everything is working right, I assume. (look where that got me, ha) I started taking my temperature orally and charting it over at fertility friend. Hopefully I'll be able to tell when I'm ovulating and then up our chances for conception. Secondly, my friend Angie is also very overweight and she has PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) She has been working on her diet and exercise as well. Now that I sort-of have a partner, it's definitely easier as I can text her whenever I need to, plus we skype on most Fridays. Thirdly, my 5 year college reunion is in June. If that's not a motivator, I don't know what is. I do not want to look the same as I did in college. I already weigh more now than I did then, I think. I didn't really weigh myself in college and gained a ton of weight in 4 years. Guesstimate about 40 pounds. ick. Not that I really care what any of my classmates think, but it'll be a great bonus if someone notices ;) So, I've got about 6 months to get my booty in gear, no problem!

My latest crochet project is calling name and my tummy is a-rumblin', I hope to not be so much of stranger.