3rd floor Christmas tree disposal

This is how you do it. Jason told me that my one job was to warn anyone walking down the sidewalk but I sort of forgot because I was too busy capturing this amazing footage.

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Two amazing things

Last night, for the first time in 5 months, I cooked dinner. I mean, REALLY cooked: made a list, went to the store, bought my ingredients, prepped my mise en place, etc etc. Jason was not due home until 6 so I put Ashton in the bjorn (facing out now of course so he could see) and he watched me chop my peppers, mince my garlic, etc. I was so excited about my dinner that I had already planned to title my blog post something like: "Behold! Chicken Cacciatore!" with a glamour shot of my beautiful meal but in all my excitement I actually, uh, forgot to take a picture of it. Regardless, it came out great. All of the real cooking took place after Ashton went to bed and after Jason came home but I still did it all by myself (mmmm, 95% of it by myself, I have to give Ashton sous chef credit where sous chef credit is due! :) You may recall his previous experience helping Jason with breakfast several posts ago. Also Jason did cook the pasta now that I think about it, so, 90% by myself).
Anyway! I have made a few things here and there but nothing so complete as last night. I felt really good and Jason took my picture to mark the occasion:

See what my apron says? IRON CHEF, that's right. 

So my chicken cacciatore is amazing thing #1. Amazing thing #2 is that I got the iPhone 4S today, wow! Is it cool. I am used to getting Jason's hand-me-down phones so this is a big deal. I love it. 

Good news is now over. Tonight is night #2 of our cry-it-out strategy with Ashton. He has been waking too many times at night and I just simply can't go on like this. He needs to learn how to put himself back to sleep. Although it takes about 10 minutes total for me to hear a peep on the monitor, go in, pick him up, let him essentially comfort nurse back to sleep and then put him back in his crib, it has to stop because I'm exhausted. Getting up 4 times a night is beyond draining- when you're pregnant people joke about the sleep deprivation but it is real and it truly affects my wellbeing. Now that Ashton is 5 months, I am fairly certain he is not waking because he is hungry, it's time. I'm dreading tonight - last night he woke up at 1 am and cried for an hour, and then again at 5 am - at that time I went in to feed him as I felt 11 hours was enough time to go without eating. But that was good, usually he is up twice before the 5 am one so I'm praying I don't have to sit through two bouts of wailing tonight. As awful as it is to hear him cry, it is more awful to imagine him not sleeping through the night for months to come, so I have to remember that this is for the best/tough love/etc. So tonight when I put him down and shut the door at 6:30 pm, I resolved not to go back in until 5 am as long as he was crying but otherwise okay.  I never thought hearing my baby cry would be so gutwrenching. Last night when he cried, I cried. All I wanted to do was scoop him up and rock him and tell him everything was okay. My plan for his first wakeup is to focus my energy on my new iPhone and learning Siri...

Okay I'm stalling. I have to sign off, put on my pajamas and go to bed. Wish me luck.

Baby's First Christmas

Merry Christmas!! We just got back from visiting Jason's family in Long Island for the holiday, we had so much fun! We didn't get down there until late Friday night because Jason had to work but of course there was plenty of pizza and wine there waiting for us. I think the best part of the couple days that we were visiting was that no one had anywhere else to be- we all just hung out, relaxed and enjoyed Christmas music, the tree, and plenty of yummy food and drinks! I'm bummed I don't have a picture of Ashton in his church outfit from Christmas Eve, he was in an argyle sweater, corduroys and bucks, SO cute. It was the first time he had really worn shoes and he got lots of compliments :) Anyway, after church, dinner and Ashton's bedtime we had QUITE the dance party...we have about 200 pictures and several videos, none of which are in any kind of focus but this one can give you an idea:

We were playing the music so loud I can't believe Ashton didn't wake up. He was clearly resting up for Santa because come Christmas morning he had a LOT of opening to do. Here he is, ready for action!

First one of the day...this was a new Santa outfit from Grandma, you'll see the hat in the next picture and later he did a full wardrobe change.

One of his favorite gifts was from Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Stone, the wiggle worm!

You can't see it but he was actually smiling behind the worm in this one :)

Playing with his new toy with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Stone, and excited that they are expecting his first cousin on 5/5/12 ... Ashton will have lots of clothes to share! ;)

Uncle Chris got him a cool new sled:

And it didn't stop there. Grandma and Grandpa got him a new truck, lots of books, clothes... and plenty of kisses of course.

Reading a new book

In case you are wondering what Tate was doing, he was busy in the other room shredding all the wrapping paper he could find. He looks guilty in this picture don't you think? Like, who - me? What?

A few more in his new outfit and baby Uggs...

And one last group shot before Christmas dinner :)

Just want to say thanks to Grandma and Grandpa B for a wonderful Christmas holiday and for everything you do for us while we are visiting. We love you so much.

p.s. this is mainly for all the grandparents as I'm sure I am going to be asked about ordering prints :) The complete photo album (with way more pictures) is on snapfish.

Merry Christmas!

My my, we certainly look fancy today!

I thought about putting this up on Facebook but wondered if everyone was tired of me posting pictures of Ashton ha ha. At least on the blog it is expected!!


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Somewhat boring medical updates and a few new pics!

The usual medical updates first. We had a followup dermatologist appointment at Children's Hospital on Tuesday. The timing was actually perfect because Ashton was having a minor eczema flareup and I wanted to make sure to get some prescription refills on his creams. In general he is doing great, except he clearly has a hard time being around our dog Tate. If I feed him on the couch (which is where Tate naps and sits to look out the window) Ashton's eyes get really red, watery, and itchy- he rubs and rubs them. Same thing when we are playing on his playmat - the playmat goes on the living room rug which clearly Tate walks on, rolls on, etc. So there has been an obvious connection and while I am mostly successful at keeping Tate out of the nursery, our condo is simply too small to keep Tate out of everywhere else; we only have one main living space and it makes no sense to put baby gates up everywhere and keep Tate confined to the kitchen. Not fair to Tate. On the other hand, it has been really difficult to watch Ashton suffer. I spoke with the dermatologist about this and she suggested finding someplace for Tate to go for a couple weeks to see how quickly and how fast Ashton's allergies cleared up, just to make sure it truly was a dog allergy (which he has tested positive for). This morning I was supposed to drive to VT and back as my dad had offered to watch Tate until New Year's. A) At 7 am this morning, I simply could not conceive of driving 3 hours each way and B) I got out Tate's little Christmas present last night - I wanted to wrap it and make sure to give it to my dad for Tate to open on Christmas and I just about lost it! I was like there is no way I can leave Tate up in VT, he's part of our family! Admittedly he's been in the (figurative) back seat since Ashton was born but I still make sure he gets a walk and park time every day that the weather cooperates. And after Ashton goes to bed every night he's right there with me on the couch to snuggle. It's like he knows that he has to be patient during the day and he has to survive on a few less ear scratches and belly rubs because I have my hands full with the baby. Awww Tate. So the good news is, Tate isn't going anywhere. The bad news is, I have to get some kind of air filter and figure out another way to keep Ashton comfortable. The other bad news is that I have just completely wasted your time by making you read that whole paragraph. Talk about an anticlimactic story. Sorry about that.
After we got home from Childrens I made myself a sandwich on the Joseph's wraps that I like to eat from time to time. I was reading the back of the bag ("Contains flax and omega 3's for a healthy heart!") and then skimmed down to the ingredients and stopped mid-chew: sesame flour. No wonder Ashton had been having an eczema flareup- I had eaten three of these in the past two days! Poor baby. I spit it out immediately and threw the rest out. How did I miss that? Sigh.
OH, and then lastly, when I begged the dermatologist to give me a prescription for something for his cradle cap, that it had become totally unmanageable and I've tried everything short of napalm, she goes, "Well, you could try to put the cream you have been using on his body on his scalp and see if it works." She said it like it was a throwaway, no big deal comment, and in ONE NIGHT it worked!! Like MELTED the cradle cap scales away,  you couldn't even tell it was ever there! I was totally amazed and completely annoyed at the same time- couldn't she have maybe suggested this six weeks ago?! Or couldn't my pediatrician have mentioned it? Or the allergist? I mean for pete's sake I've only been asking about this for, oh, almost Ashton's entire life. Who would have thought that the cream I have had this whole time would be the answer.
Let's see what else. Morning naps are going great, afternoon naps, not so much. I've been putting him to bed earlier, by 6:15 pm, because he's cranky. We have Auntie Katie's big holiday party on Saturday night so we'll see what happens when he misses bedtime, I'm a little nervous.

Okay cute picture time, Jason took this one this morning:

Jason wanted to try and capture how tiny Ashton was compared to the tree:

Ha ha gotta love his pink bumbo seat :)

And then some from him trying solids the other day (which by the way, we are holding off on. He hated it and there really is no reason to start this early so I'm going to give it another couple weeks).

Watching dad mix:

and looking a bit nervous...

Btw, if you click on this picture and open it up full size, you can see part of the yellowish cradle cap I've been talking about. It really got bad and it was less about how it looked and more about his discomfort, he rubbed his head back and forth all the time and now is almost completely bald in some spots from trying to itch it :( Also, his lymph nodes behind his ears/on the nape of his neck have been swollen so hopefully with the cradle cap gone and eczema under control they will shrink. 

Lastly, a bit off topic but saw this today and for other moms I think you'll get a laugh:

http://thefeministbreeder.com/massive-recall-of-2011-version-of-babies/

Not sure about the website name itself. Ignore that and just read the article, it's funny :)

I picked out an ice cream at the grocery the other day that has no egg in it. Right now I am going to go sit on the couch and eat it. Can't wait and can't think of anything else I'd rather do. Talk to you soon!

Weekend recap!

Let's seeee...where to begin. I have finally emerged from the funk I have been in the past couple days. Truth be told, I was getting very spoiled having Jason around all the time for his 10 days off and felt very sorry for myself when he had to go back to work. Thankfully all is back to normal and we are getting into a new, good routine. Our focus this week has really been napping. Most babies don't work things out consistently until 6 months but it never hurts to get a head start. It truly is amazing, the days that Ashton has good naps he is sooo much happier, alert, content and pleasurable to be around. It's so funny, before I had a baby I was like, "what is the big deal about naps?" and it turns out they can be pretty hard to come by even when they are so important. When Ashton is napping, our house is very much like a library. If one of us makes a noise, the other follows with a quick "SHHHH!!!" even if it's accidental. If you happen to call and I whisper and sound like I am trying not to wake a baby up, chances are it's because I'm trying not to wake a baby up haha. We talk very quietly like this and sometimes even quieter like this - it's that important to me that his sleep does not get interrupted.

Anyway, here is the big announcement for tonight: I am officially on Ashton's schedule. The first few months where I could tote him anywhere and he'd sleep and be fine are over. I've lately had to say no to many wonderful invitations (walks, dinners, parties, etc.) because they interfere with his nap schedule (ideally three 1.5-2 hour naps every day, with bedtime beginning at 6 pm). I am now free between 2 pm and 3:30 pm every day and that's it haha. But really, um, seriously. Oh, and after 7 pm and that's if you come to my house because Jason's usually at work. If I'm going to have an easy go of things later on, this is the time to be vigilant. Ashton needs to learn how to sleep on his own, without nursing, without rocking, etc. He will be a much happier baby because of it and much more secure. So it's my top priority right now and I'd just like to say to everyone who is kind enough to ask me to do things, if I ever have to say no it is certainly not because I don't want to go to brunch, come over for football, or go shopping. I would love love LOVE to, but often it might not work out timing wise :-/ Luckily I have such wonderful friends who I know understand this but I just wanted to say it for the record.

In other news, Ashton tried solid food today! "Solid" "food". It was basically rice dribble and I admit I tried it and it was terrible. I actually had to go get a drink of gatorade to take the taste out of my mouth. No wonder he spit most of it right back out, couldn't blame him. Hmmm. We'll try again tomorrow but I might do a bit of research to see if there's anything else we could give him. And then we went to Kings for Berg's birthday (happy birthday Uncle Berg!). I didn't bowl (out of courtesy for the others, I am THAT good ;) ) but we were there for a good two hours (3-5 pm) before Ashton turned into a pumpkin. There was no late afternoon nap and it became quite obvious why he was cranky! Our time was up and we headed home. Jason is off today so right now we are having my favorite kind of night: the tree is lit up, football is on (go GMEN in another half hour!), the baby is asleep, the house is toasty and warm and I'm about to get into my pj's and have a glass of wine. Merry Sunday night everyone. xoxo

First Bite!

Ashton's pediatrician said we could start solids...although of course we use the term "solid" loosely. In this case, it means rice cereal made runny by breastmilk. Yummm...

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4 month checkup and a finished tree

Our Christmas tree is officially up and decorated! I admit Jason picked out the best tree we have ever had, it is really full and after putting all our lights up and ornaments on there is still room for more!
The tree by day (note Tate in his favorite spot on top of the couch):

 and by night (oooo!!)

In the daytime picture Tate was not looking as enthusiastic as I hoped he would be so we stuck his Santa hat on him haha:

Also, Ashton went for his 4 month checkup yesterday and is doing great! Besides the shots which he didn't like one bit, but who does? His weight is a bit in question- last week at the allergist he was 15 lbs 10 oz, yesterday (different office and location) he was more than a pound less? Who knows. He's not the biggest baby but he's not the smallest either so I'm happy :) The nurse told me that he was so soft and moisturized, not realizing it was the best compliment she could give me considering how much time we spend lathering him up/managing his eczema, which is in remission right now. Yay! We have hit some fun 4 month milestones too- we were told that Ashton can officially start solids! WHAT?! My baby! Solids! I went to Babies R Us this afternoon and got those itty bitty spoons and some rice cereal, I just can't believe it's time to try it. Not that I am wishing breastfeeding would go on forever, believe me. And today we went to playgroup down the street and Ashton got his first try in a Baby Einstein jumper. For those not familiar, it's basically a ridiculous looking contraption that may or may not be suited for outer space travel:

[note: baby pictured is Ashton's stunt double. Don't tell him I told you he has one.] Not visible is the little piano and three big buttons that light up when pressed, Ashton was so focused on the flashing that he looked like he was playing a slot machine. Anyway, this jumper, combined with a bumbo chair we got from Grandma are our two new additions:

(Yes, it's pink, but it's a hand-me-down so who cares! ;) ) After we set up the Baby Einstein we will officially have our first big colorful plastic noisy baby thingy that is not hideable. His playmat, bouncer, etc. all fold up nicely for closet storage. This will not and I have a feeling it's all downhill from here...I know one day our dining room table will become a fort and there will be baskets of toys everywhere. But most importantly, Ashton is starting to grow up and get bigger and it is so cool to watch him concentrate on toys, reach out and grab his rattle, etc. That's way better than keeping our house free of clutter :)
Jason is back at work right now after his long 10 day break, I miss him already. It's 9:20 pm, Ashton's been asleep since 6:45 pm so I think I'm going to go take a shower and sit by the tree for awhile. Good night!

Ashton's first Christmas tree

So Ashton's first tree ever was the one in Rockefeller Center last Thursday. Today we went to get his first very own tree, the one that will go in our house! Jason has had the last 9 days off (goes back Tuesday night) and it has been soooo amazing to have him home like this. He took about two days off when Ashton was born so this is the longest vacation he has had since we went to Block Island for a week in July 2010. Anyway, we have been all over the place, up to VT, down to Long Island, into NYC...lots of driving and we are ready to stay put for a while. Tomorrow's goal is to get all of our decorations up and the tree lights and ornaments on, we really have the spirit of Christmas in our house! So far Ashton's favorite carol seems to be Sleigh Ride even though I sing the same verse repeatedly because it's the only one I remember: "Just hear those sleigh bells ringing, ring ting tingaling tooooo...come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with youuu..."  I'm a very poor singer, I think I've mentioned that here before. Anyway, here we are shopping for our tree:

{editors note: this is not the actual tree we ended up picking. Too short!}

Pics tomorrow of the one we chose, all decorated and waiting for Santa to come!

Rockefeller Center

Ahhhh New York. Last Thursday we headed into NYC to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. We really want to do Ashton's first Christmas properly and seeing the tree is the best way I know how to do it. Uncle Chris came with us and of course KN managed to do some shopping but here are our best photos!

This is how Ashton rolls in NYC:

Family picture on the front porch in HB:

Off to NY!

Ashton sleeps in his crib every night but likes to come into our bed for some family time before we all officially get up. When I came back inside from taking Tate out, Jason had made the bed and had started to pack for our trip to NY today. Ashton wanted to watch so Jason made the bed with him in it:




And just to give you a frame of reference on how little he is/how cute he looked:




Aw! Anyway we went to the allergist this morning, didn't learn too much I didn't already know. He said it looked likely Ashton would outgrow everything, including the eczema, by age 3 or at the latest elementary school. However, he is so allergic to sesame seeds that that one may be life long. We won't go back until he is 1, not much to do until he starts eating solids regularly. For now I will continue to watch what I eat and make sure to manage his eczema during flare ups, which can happen from food or from environmental triggers. Today he is a happy little man and we are on our way to see his Grandma and Grandpa in long island, head into NYC to see the tree, etc. Will blog more when we return! xo

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Baby's first haircut

Just got back from a quick trip to Vermont - two very important things happened. First, I ate something that triggered a relapse in Ashton's rash/eczema, I have retraced my steps over and over and I can't for the life of me figure out what it was. I'm wondering if I had something new altogether somehow that he reacted poorly to. Thankfully we are seeing the allergist on Wednesday. For now, he had all his special lotions and bath and is sleeping, I could tell earlier though he was cranky and rubbing his face so was likely uncomfortable. Second, we buzzed his head! What little newborn hair he had left was so long and wispy, it  was hard to scrub his cradle cap and also tended to get knotted, Ashton would pull it out with his little fists on the sides of his head, etc. So...BZZZZZ!! It actually looks much better and we now have his first little locks to put in his baby book.

Here is the before picture at Thanksgiving:

During and after:

He has a big bald spot too where he rubs his head against the mattress. At least with this new haircut it is a little less...pronounced :)

Looks like we are going Christmas shopping tomorrow, hopefully Ashton can sit on Santa's lap for the first time!

Dad's on vacation!

So today was the last day Jason had to work until a week from Tuesday! He has a solid 10 days off and we have trips planned to VT and NY to see lots of grandparents :) Hopefully everyone had a great thanksgiving, we were home, Berg and Karen came over and Ashton was a star. He wore his little plaid shirt with corduroys and sat like a big boy at the dining room table. My beets were a little chewy (overdone or underdone?) but all in all we had a wonderful evening.

And then today was a perfect 10 in terms of weather. 60 degrees and sunny, we went for a couple of long walks, played on his playmat and took Tate to the park. Ashton is really warming up to the world, he stares up at the trees and clouds from his stroller when we walk, turns his head when Tate and all the dogs bark, and sometimes I think there is just no way he could open his eyes wider. Totally taking it all in and he concentrates so hard on reaching for toys and watching his rubber ducky every night in the bathtub. He is thisclose to rolling over back to front and is just getting so big! We have an appointment with the allergist on Wednesday next week and will hopefully learn more about whether he will outgrow his egg/sesame allergy, etc.

Lastly, for whatever reason, I have taken to singing "Take me home, country road" whenever I am rocking him and giving him his bottle before bed and I think it really relaxes him. We are working hard on a nap schedule (definitely not there yet) but just this week I have found that the more sleep I am able to help him get, the happier he is. It seems crazy to put him down for a nap less than 2 hours after he has woken up in the morning but that's what he needs so that is my goal: to help him nap! He is far less portable than he used to be and I've had to say no to lots of plans because his bedtime is so early, but such is life as a mom! Every day that he grows, every day that his little legs get chunkier and his cheeks fill out more and he gets (another) chin (haha) I feel like I am doing a good job and doing all the right things. Jason's mom used to always tell me that after you have kids, "Your life is not your own." Boy was she right! My life is not my own anymore because Ashton shares it :) He's my little companion every day (well, and Tate) and we have so many adventures in store. Stay tuned!

Turkey day!

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Correction

In my last post, sometime during the time Ashton was crying, I wrote that I sat in the kitchen thinking about how much I hate my life. This is, of course, not true at all! It was just an emphasis on my frustration (it's called being dramatic, Mom ;) ). It is not easy being at home with a baby all day but it has nothing to do with how much I love Ashton :) Just wanted to "print a retraction" on that one. Happy thanksgiving all! Cute video to follow :) xo!

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A day in the life

Ashton is 3.5 months old and it's about time to start really enforcing a daytime sleep schedule/routine. Naps have been inconsistent up until this point and lately, nonexistent, as he is way more interested in the world around him than sleeping in his dark, quiet, boring crib. I admit we have a cranky, overtired baby on our hands and it's my fault because I have been busy, out doing things, having visitors, etc. Today was pretty bad, even though I had nothing to do besides devote myself to getting Ashton down. I am going to type all this out to illustrate just where my day goes and why, when I say that I don't have time for anything, I mean it. I type all this out on behalf of all moms like me who can never get anything done but can't explain it to non-moms and other people in general. It went kind of like this.


10:30 am - Jason leaves for work (everything was okay up until this point- he left while I was feeding Ashton on the couch)

10:30 -11 am: Ashton is half asleep in my arms after eating, which usually happens.

11 am-11:30 am: Ashton's in his bouncer, off and on fussing but okay as long as I am paying attention to him for the most part, I am on the phone with Comcast, on hold of course, Ashton poops like crazy. This was something I was waiting for because he did not poop at all yesterday (a big deal). 

11:30 am: Haul ass to the nursery with Ashton dangling at arm's length. Peel everything off, realize poop is pretty much everywhere. Say "GROSS" a few times, decide the entire outfit is unsalvageable. It goes in the garbage along with his diaper, a new record for wipes, and (you'd think) his dignity. I also quickly change my shirt.

11:45 am: A bath is necessary after what's just happened. First I dump olive oil on his head and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then I scrub his crusty cradle capped head, comb it out, wash him down, rinse hair and then do his shampoo and rinse that. 

12:05 pm: all three eczema lotions, new diaper, new clothes. Swaddle.

12:15 pm: Sit in rocking chair and feed him.

12:35 pm: He is asleep quickly, not really hungry and I put him in his crib. I manage to write a couple emails.

1:10 pm: Wakes up crying. I go in and try to give him his pacifier back and leave. Three times. Doesn't work, still crying. At this point, I know he is still tired - I can tell by his cry and his face. He needs to sleep more.

1:30 pm:  Pick him up, back in the rocking chair. He falls asleep in my arms till 1:55 pm. I manage to write another email on my phone with one hand.

2:00 pm: Put him in his crib, asleep.

2:05 pm: Wakes up crying, still tired.

2:05 pm - 2:15 pm: try to rub his belly, give him paci, nothing works to get him back to sleep. I am not going to pick him up again.

2:15-2:30 pm: he wails. WAILS. I sit in the kitchen staring at the wall, listening to him and thinking how much I hate my life. 

2:30 pm: Silence. I go in, he has fallen asleep with his head wedged between the teddy bear legs, the only thing in his crib. He had scooted all the way over to its corner, unbelievable! His face is covered/pressed up against it, which is obviously not safe so I have to move the bear. He wakes up and cries.

2:35 pm: Stilllllll crying. I do not go in and prepare to listen to him wail some more.

2:37 pm: Silence. Much quicker this time! He's asleep. I clean up the kitchen and make my grocery list, in hopes I will actually get there today.

3:10 pm: Wakes up crying. I decide to settle for the little fragmented naps he has taken and call it a day. I unswaddle him and feed him. While I'm feeding him I think about all the things I did wrong during the past 2.5 hours in terms of nap protocol. Nursing him to sleep for one. Continually replacing his pacifier for another. Whatever. 

3:30 pm: Time to go to the grocery store to get all of our thanksgiving stuff. Of course, I forget my list, so I wander around looking at everything trying to remember whether I was supposed to get it (and how many). I did pretty well and I would say from 3:30 - 4:15 pm was the happiest 45 minutes of the day. Ashton was awake, happy and quiet. I felt good enough to make a joke to a little old lady who stopped to look at him. Now, Ashton rides actually IN the cart in his carseat amongst all the groceries, leaving little room for the food but I don't trust propping him up on the handlebars. So the lady goes, "Oh how cute!" and I pretended to look at my cart and be shocked : "Wait! Who put THAT in there?" Ha ha. She laughed. 

4:30 pm: Home. Four trips up the stairs and baby and groceries are in. I put Ashton in the baby carrier facing forward, and proceeded to tell him everything I was unloading and where it went: "This is butter and it goes in the fridge. You can buy it salted or unsalted, in sticks or in tubs. These are sticks. It's very yummy when used in cooking and baking but generally is not believed to be heart healthy. Not many yummy things are." "These are raisins, they are shriveled up grapes and they go in the pantry." And so on and so forth. You can see how this took some time. I had a lot of groceries. Then I did it for the clean dishes in the dishwasher. "This is a knife, they are used for cutting and are very sharp. You will not get to use one of these for a very very very very long time." 

5:15 pm: Jason calls and is coming home from work early (as opposed to 9 pm). This is good news. Ashton does some tummy time, rolls over a few times and then before we know it, Jason walks through the door. I basically hand him the baby, say I'm off duty, and sit down to write this blog. My break is now over though, time to start Ashton's bedtime routine. If I'm lucky he'll be asleep in 20 minutes and then I can do fun things like laundry. And tell myself that tomorrow is a new day. 

Well, it's happened.

Part of Ashton's eczema treatment in the beginning was a chlorox bleach bath every night. Since his skin cleared up we still do the bath but without the bleach. We don't use soap either so it's essentially a warm little soak before he gets into his pj's and goes to bed. I have been waiting and waiting and it's finally happened. Ashton pooped in the tub. And it was every bit as gross as you would think. And this was his face mere seconds before the big event:

I was thinking oh how cute, he is sucking his forefinger instead of his thumb! And he was thinking, "Just you wait."
Moving on! This was a busy week. I think. Well, it must have been because I haven't blogged. Either that or there's not much to report. Ashton's been pretty fussy the last couple of days and I'm sure it's my fault. I have toted him with me to my new mom's group yesterday, and today on a couple of very long walks and to see another friend's baby for the first time. I'm starting to feel guilty; I'm thinking I should be home trying to get him on a nap schedule but instead I am being pretty selfish :-/ There are only so many days left where it's going to be nice enough to be out and about that I'm trying to take advantage, or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Right now it's 6:45 pm, Jason's trying to put Ashton to bed and I hear him fussing in the other room (Ashton, not Jason, ha ha) so I'm going to go help. Sorry for the brief blog, I'm around all weekend so hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!

Weekend Recap

We had a really great weekend in the Nill household! Ashton's skin has cleared up 100% and he has that soft squishy baby skin for the first time basically since he was born. Even his cheeks glow :) He has a couple little spots/scratches left though, I'll take it!

 You can tell he is a much happier baby and I have felt so relieved. He gave me the best present ever for my 31st birthday yesterday, SLEEP!! He went down at 6:30 pm, woke up once at 1 am to eat, and then back down from 1:23 am to almost 7 am. Amazing. I feel as if we have turned a corner.
So back to the weekend overall! Jason's parents came up for a visit and Friday night we went to dinner at Anthem with Katie. Ashton was a little star, I was worried about him being out past his bedtime and therefore melting down in the middle of the restaurant, but he did great. Saturday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day. I worked at the bridal shop until about 5:30 pm, sold lots of dresses and it was a very high-energy, busy Saturday. Came home to presents, wine, and a set of grandparents very eager to babysit so Jason and I could go out! So, we went on a date :) Dinner at City Table in the Lenox (where I was careful and glad I asked about sesame seeds, eggs, and nuts being in things because they sneakily were) and then City Bar for a nightcap and back home by midnight. It felt so good to get dressed up and have a reason to do my makeup for once haha. Today was much more lowkey and we just hung out. Ashton played in his swing for awhile and I did laundry, which is just neverending. Looking forward to this week, Katy Perry concert on Tuesday which will be a fun night out too! I feel more and more like my old self and in general like I have it together now, I hope it sticks! Good night everyone xox
oh p.s. for those that have asked, at his pediatrician appt on Friday he weighed 14 lbs 5 oz!

Who wants breakfast?

Just helping dad with a little Sunday morning brunch!




















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