Uplifting Words, Positive Reminder

Sometimes it's hard to put complete trust in God. There are times when problems come up in life - problems that are emotional, financial, relational, whatever. I look back on my life, though, and I've been blessed beyond what I could ever imagine. We've always been able to pay our bills, we've been blessed with good health, and we have wonderful friends and family. We don't deserve any of it, and yet God still continues to bless us. How awesome is that?

I read a great blog about this today. You can read it by clicking here.

Gas Leak - Rants and Raves

Some issues going on behind the scenes during our gas leak ordeal:

• I had to pee SO BADLY! I was about to pee my pants BEFORE we left our friends' house, but decided to hold it until we got home because our daughter was so tired and so fussy. Little did I know I wouldn't be able to go into my apartment for quite awhile. A kind neighbor drove me to a bar on the corner, and the kind bartender let us use the bathroom without buying any drinks :)

• My poor baby was so tired. She was beyond tired. She had reached the point of no return, where nothing could comfort her, where she would burst into inconsolable crying for no reason at all. Instead of putting her to bed, we got to stand outside, sit in cop cars, or sit in ambulances. Luckily, after breastfeeding her in the ambulance, she went to sleep on the ambulance bed. They even let her keep her ambulance blanket and teddy bear!

• This brings me to my next point: The police, firemen, EMT, and ambulance driver were AWESOME. They were SO, so sweet, and kind, and caring. I can't say enough good things about the way they treated us.

• Was everyone sweet and caring? No. Our neighbors were SO upset that they had to leave their apartments, and they openly were upset with US for it. They did nothing but complain and talk badly about us (in front of us). I'm sorry, would you rather I let you die in your sleep from inhaling natural gas,  or allow you to blow up if you decided to light a candle? Come ON! Yeah, it was late, but it wasn't that late, and it was a Friday night. And yeah, it was cold, but it wasn't that cold - it was in the 40's! Honestly, what should I have done? 

• There was some uncertainty as to whether I should have called the police or whether opening the windows and running fans would have been enough. In my opinion, when a problem involves a gas leak, there's no reason for a person to try to fix it themselves. It's not worth the potential risks.

• Our landlord and maintenance man were both notified, and both showed up. Maybe now they will believe us that that old gas stove needs to be replaced! We've complained about it before, and nothing ever gets done.

• I've felt nervous that we don't have a carbon monoxide detector in our home. Hopefully this will be the push my husband and I need to go pick one up.

Gas Leak - The Story

The three of us got home around 10:00pm yesterday after spending time with friends. The second I stepped into our apartment building, I smelled strong natural gas. When we opened the door to our apartment, the smell got about 100 times stronger. Our stove is a very old gas stove, and I knew that that's probably where the gas was leaking from.

My husband went inside and saw that a burner was on but not lit. He turned it off, I immediately went outside with our daughter, and he followed. I wasn't sure whether I should call someone or not or whether we should air the apartment out ourselves. I decided to call 911. We live in a very small town, crime is very low, and I figured it wouldn't be a huge problem if I called 911 and they directed me to someone else if they decided I hadn't called the right person.

Turns out they were glad I called. One cop car showed up, and they could smell the gas from the outside. They must have notified a bunch of people, because within minutes, I could hear sirens coming from all over the place. More police cars showed up, a couple of firetrucks, and also and ambulance. They got everyone out of the building (4 people, 6 including us), and got to work ventilating and testing the air in the apartments. 

It was cold outside, so they gave me permission to sit in the back of the police car with my baby. Her first (and better be last!) ride in a police car! After awhile, we moved to the back of an ambulance, which was more comfortable. 

I have no idea how long this whole ordeal took, but they let us know when the coast was clear and everyone could go back in. They told me it was good I had called (I still felt unsure as to whether I had done the right thing).

I'm glad everything turned out alright and no one was hurt!

My Baby: The Sleep Pro

There's a new baby living in our house these days. The old one was fussy, fought nap and bedtimes, and was hard to figure out. The new one goes to sleep without any sort of fight and is cheerful when she's awake.

I'm not sure why this change took place in her. A big part of me thinks it's because we let her cry herself to sleep a couple of days ago. It was after that that the big change took place in her. I let her cry for about 10 minutes before each nap, and by bedtime that night, she didn't put up any fuss anymore. For the last two days, she goes to sleep easily, and naps for much longer periods of time.

We all know the old saying,"The grass is always greener." Back when my baby was fussy and didn't sleep well, I wished she'd sleep for hours. Now that she takes long naps and sleeps well at night, I miss her and wish she needed me more!

Crying It Out vs Crying To Sleep

Crying it out and crying to sleep: is there a difference? To me, there is. My interpretation of these phrases probably won’t match every other parent’s interpretation, but I’m going to tell you about it all the same.

To begin with, I am not a supporter of the “cry it out” method. I never have been, and I don’t think I ever will be. Sure, there are times when I am really tired, feel like I have no patience left, and put my daughter in her crib, thinking, “I don’t care how long she cries – she’s staying in there until she goes to sleep!” Once I’ve calmed down, however, I usually go back and get her. Do I think badly of parents who let their children cry it out? Of course not. It’s just not for me.

There is definitely wisdom in knowing when to put a child down and walk away when you are at your wit’s end. I definitely DO support allowing a baby to cry when the alternative is worse. However, I don’t like the idea of putting my baby to bed at the same time every night, regardless of whether she’s ready to go to sleep, and letting her cry as long as it takes for her to fall asleep.

I am a supporter, on certain occasions, of letting my baby cry herself to sleep. I know it probably sounds like I’m contradicting myself when I say this directly after saying I’m not a supporter of the cry it out method. Yes, both involve placing a baby in a crib and allowing the baby to cry until she falls asleep. To me, though, there is a huge difference between letting a baby cry it out and letting a baby cry herself to sleep.

Let me explain my rationale.

To me, crying it out is supposed to serve the purpose of teaching a drowsy baby to go to sleep without help. Parents who do this want their child to learn independence at bedtime. This method can involve a baby crying for quite long periods of time before drifting off to sleep.

In contrast, crying to sleep serves the purpose of letting a baby who will clearly fall asleep within a short amount of time cry for a bit, if necessary, before falling asleep. To me, this method isn’t used to teach a baby anything. It’s used when a baby needs to sleep and no other method – whether it be rocking, shushing, or nursing – is working.

Let me give you an example. This afternoon, I could tell my daughter was exhausted. She was rubbing her eyes, snuggling her face into anything near her head, and was crying very easily. I put her down for a nap, and she closed her eyes almost immediately. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and began to cry. A few seconds later, she closed her eyes again. This scene repeated over and over.

I could tell by her cry that nothing was wrong. It wasn’t a panicky, hungry, or scared cry, and it didn’t escalate. It was a tired cry. I knew she was tired, and I knew she needed a nap. I decided to wait 15 minutes before picking her up to see what would happen.

Her tired cries came and went for about 10 minutes, each time growing further apart, each time getting softer. By the time the 15 minutes were up, she was asleep.

Had her cries become louder and more hysteric-sounding, I would have gone in to get her. If she cried past the 15-minute mark, I also would have picked her up. It’s not worth it to me to have her cry for 45 minutes, or cry to the point of vomiting. It is worth it to me, however, to let her fuss a little when I know sleep is about to come.

Some of you might be reading this and thinking that my descriptions of crying it out and crying to sleep are the same thing. To me, there is a difference. I want to have children who are good sleepers, but I also want them to know I’ll come if they need me, even if all they need is comfort and security.

Reasons to be Glad it's Winter!

It seems like all anyone in the Midwest can think about this time of year is when spring will arrive. Now that it’s March, you might you might mistakenly expect spring to begin making its entrance. It might be happening other places, but it’s not happening here in the good old Midwest of the United States.

It’s one thing to survive a long, cold winter as an adult. It’s another thing altogether trying to survive it with a baby. An adult can handle a long walk in 20-degree weather to maintain her sanity. A baby can’t. If you happen to be in charge of a baby, you can pretty much kiss extended periods of time in fresh air goodbye.

And yet, as I strive to look on the bright side of things, there are aspects of winter that are quite nice with a baby. Aspects that even make me happy spring hasn’t arrived yet. Don’t believe me? Read my list:

• There are no mosquitoes in the winter. Sure, it’s cold outside, but when we go for walks, I don’t have to worry about my little one getting bitten to death. I don’t like the idea of putting bug spray on her, and it’s nice not worrying about it.
• The chance of my baby getting a sunburn is quite low. Not only is most of her skin completely covered with warm clothing, the sun doesn’t shine as much, and it isn’t as intense as in the spring and summer.
• If I don’t shave my legs, no one knows. Sure, some days I have the leisure of taking a long shower. More often than not, however, I’m sudsing and rinsing as fast as I can in case my baby decides she wants me.
• Heat is free in our apartment building, and air conditioning is not. We’ve been cranking the heat all winter long to keep it comfortable for our little sweetie. It’s very unlikely that we will crank the A.C. quite as liberally since it will mean a hefty electric bill.
• And last, but not least: Some days it’s nice to have an excuse to stay home all day. “It’s cold outside,” always works as a reason not to go out with your baby. I love that people want to get together with us and that there are always things to do, but my life is much slower-paced since giving birth, and I have to admit that I rather like it that way.

So, Warm Weather, I’m excited for you to be here, but Winter and I aren’t quite finished with each other yet. See you in April (hopefully!).

Curtained Storage: My First Attempt

As my daughter becomes more and more mobile, I am increasingly aware of all of the hazards in our apartment. There are exposed outlets, breakable knick knacks, and garbage cans within reach.

A major hazard is our TV stand. There is a big pile of electric cords and wires under it, easily within reach of a curious baby.

I wrote about a solution I read about online. It’s called curtained storage. I decided to give it a try, and am pretty happy with the results.

First, I measured the height and width of the spaces I wanted to cover with curtains. I went to Joann Fabric and picked out some black and white fabric. I used a 40% off any regular priced item coupon from their weekly ad, and ended up paying about $6.00 for the fabric.

Next, I went to Target and picked out three tension rods. The total came to about $7.00.

When I got home, I got to work sewing. I’m not an accomplished seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, and basically made up my own way to make the curtains. I folded all four edges of the fabric over, ironed them to give a nice crease, then used my Grandmother’s old sewing machine to stitch the hem. (To be honest, I have no idea if I’m even using correct sewing lingo! If you aren’t sure how to make curtains and my writing makes no sense to you, either try to make it up, like I did, or look it up in an internet search engine.) I stitched the top hem about an inch from the crease to leave room for the curtain rod to slide through.

I think it looks much better, and I’m also hoping it will keep our baby from getting in to all of the cords and wires. Either way, it was a cheap fix, and very doable for anyone.