Amber Dusick: sleeping (or not)

what it is like to (not) sleep at night - illustrated with crappy pictures™

INTRO: Here is installment #2 in my "real life parenting" series.  I draw crappy pictures because I don't have actual photos of these experiences.  Here goes...

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I've always been jealous of my husband's ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. It isn't his fault that he is a deep sleeper.  But I can't help it.  It totally pisses me off.  

We climb in bed at 9:00PM...

By 9:03 my husband is completely asleep.

I'm nursing my youngest and haven't even begun to think about sleeping yet.  I lay there motionless, pretending to be calm and relaxed so he'll fall asleep. Anyway, I'm cold since the blankets aren't on my top half.

So I pretend to be sleeping but really I'm going over the "to do" list or re-winding conversations from earlier.  Or having pretend conversations that might happen in the future.  On a good night the baby settles pretty fast.

Finally, around 10:00PM he is asleep.  Success!  He rolls over and my body is my own for the first time all day.  I can pull up the blankets a little.  I close my eyes for real.  Start to relax and let go...

Until I hear a noise.  

Becoming a mama has given me heightened spidey senses.  A tiny noise a mile away wakes me up like a mama bear, ready to protect her young.

My husband did not inherit this quality with parenthood.

Wide-eyed, I strain my ears to hear.  This particular noise is one I'm all too familiar with.

Enter 4.5 year old.  I thought he was asleep by now.  He has no concept of being quiet while people are sleeping, so he barges in loudly asking for random shit.  I have to jump out of bed and rush him out of the room so he doesn't wake the baby.  This attempt is successful about 50% of the time.  Lets assume it was successful tonight.

So now I'm in the hallway, hearing my 4.5 year old's demands and bargaining with him.  Water, bathroom or covers on or off, etc.  I have no real power here, I'll agree to anything to get him back in bed quietly.  When he has exhausted all the standard stuff, he finishes by needing to tell me somethingvery important, like "I saw a rock today on the ground and it had dirt on it and I forgot to tell you! " and I steer him back to his room.

By the time I head back to my bed, the baby has turned into a starfish.  Legs and arms stretched out, taking up my whole side of the bed.

I slide next to and under him being careful not to wake him.  I can't move.  I'm scared to breathe.  This is a very delicate situation.  I have to move him.  I have to risk it.

The first attempt to move him just makes it worse.  He swings both arms and legs on top of me.  He is stirring now so I can't move a muscle.  I'm like a statue while I listen to his breathing to hear when he is in a deep sleep again to move him.   

Finally, it is midnight and I've successfully moved him.  I haven't heard my 4.5 year old in a while so he must be asleep too.  I fall asleep for the first time!

Until I'm woken by a foot in my eye.  I try to ignore it.  A foot in the eye is a sign that he is starting to move into a lighter sleep.  This means he'll wake up completly to nurse soon.  

So we're nursing again.  I'm half asleep but not mostly just feel like a zombie. My mind wanders to weird stuff.  I close my eyes and see flashes of people and places like a dream except I'm awake.   

Finally he settles again and rolls away.  It is 2:30AM and I can finally get somereal sleep!  It is very unlikely that either kid is going to wake me up again. Sweet sleeping bliss.

Until the two cats come in at 5:00AM and announce that they are hungry.  They continue make this announcement every 15 minutes or so.  I ignore them.  But they know.  They know I'm their target. They know I'm awake no matter how hard I pretend.  They finally settle on my feet so that they will be alerted the moment I stir.  I get a few more minutes of sleep.     

Only to be woken at 7:00AM for a new day.  My 4.5 year old skips into our room and gleefully sings, "Morning!  It's morning time!"  Which wakes up the baby who replies with "Mownin!"  Then they start jumping on our bed.  

Even this doesn't wake up my husband.  He is sound asleep. Sometimes I look at his chest rising and falling with his breath to confirm that he is alive before unleashing the kids on him.  

"Go see Papa" I grumble. 

They have to poke his head and repeat "Papa!" over and over and he finallywakes up.

And what is the first thing out of his mouth?  The one and only thing I DON'T want him to say?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

relax

Quick weekend recap - a very much needed restful and relaxing weekend. Stayed in & got to bed early both nights...It was the first weekend in a long time we had no big plans and it was wonderful. We looked at cars on Saturday (yes, we are trading in for a more family sized SUV:) and putzed around a street fair where I snagged these cute new dish towels:

Today (Sunday) we went to church & listened a great message. Check out other amazing messages here & here (they're lengthy but so worth watching). Then we went outside to bask in the sun and watch some baptisms in the pond and Landon started (really) standing all by himself. It was kind of a big deal. 

 you can really just fast forward to the last 10 seconds (1 min 50 sec mark).

i know...he's pretty cool.

my sweet baby boy is one ....

We celebrated Landon's First Birthday last Saturday @ our place and had SO MUCH FUN. Thank you to everyone who came by to celebrate with us and for making his first birthday one to remember :):)

beautiful baby blues <3

 i was very proud of these little hoots

fun straws & sand bucket goodie bags for all his baby friends

aunt lizzie

party babies

Uncle Kevan

party mumma

baby Tristan :)

Steven :)

my homemade cake topper & cake which turned out to be a total mess...
but I taught Landon it is the thought that always counts

favorite photo of the day 

What's a First Year Birthday party without beruit?

@ his One Year doctor's appt (pre-shots and blood taken)

messin' around with my new instagram app (get it)

Onto Toddlerhood.

Dear Landon, 

This is bittersweet for me. I miss you as my little baby and I still can't believe how fast your infancy went. But I am excited for you to start walking and talking and very excited for your growing personality. 

Thank you for giving me the best year of my life. 

All my love, 

Mumma

cake!

Unfortunately I was way too busy having fun and severely lacking in picture taking at landon's birthday party. thanks to chris who captured this footage early in the evening - our little one year old getting down & dirty (okay not so much) with his homemade smash cake 

a shrimp dish

Since my last food post was a big hit I am back with another yummy vegetarian recipe. Enjoy!

What You'll Need:
- 1 bag of shrimp (preferably jumbo or large)
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- White rice
- 1 large onion
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can tomato paste
- lemon juice
- salt & pepper

Feeds about 4 hungry people.

Prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: 20 minutes.

Directions:
1. Thaw frozen shrimp & peel shells

2. Chop large onion

3. Saute shrimp in butter or olive oil over medium heat.
4. Add garlic, chopped onion, salt & pepper.

5. Cook 4 servings of white rice.
6. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to shrimp.

6. Combine cooked rice with shrimp. Drizzle as much lemon juice as you like over dish and salt & pepper to taste. 

7. Voila:

An ode to the best man I know on Father's Day

 

Today is not only the day for us to celebrate Fatherhood - It is also happens to be the one year anniversary of Chris becoming a father.

I always knew Chris was going to be an amazing dad. I could tell this even when we first started dating because of the way he treated me. He was sensitive, caring, sweet, funny, active, protective, and he possessed such strong morals and sense of character that I looked up to and sincerely admired. Even in our early dating days we would talk excitedly about building a family together. But none of those preconceived ideas or dreams even cast a shadow on the life we have now.

When Landon was born, my love for Chris seriously (somehow) reached a deeper level. I would always hear people say that having a baby will put stress on and strain your marriage. This couldn't be any farther from the truth - We grew even closer than we ever were before through Landon and our relationship got even better. All I can say is that watching the man you love interact with and care for your child fills your heart with a type of love and joy that is truly indescribable and I am so proud and blessed that this man is my husband and that I get to spend every day of the rest of my life with him.

This year, Chris has undoubtedly been consumed with the launch of his company, Fanfound. He has been working extremely hard at bringing Fanfound to success and a lot has been riding on his shoulders. I know all he wants to do is be able to retire early, move to a warm weathered climate and spend all his days with me and Landon & any other little rugrats we make. I know that it pains him to wake up every morning and be out the door and sometimes come home when we are both sound asleep. But I know he doesn't work to get away from home - he works to have a home. He provides for our family and does this work to allow me the joy, satisfaction, & ability to raise our son.

Even with his crazy work schedule, he never complains when I ask him to help me out with Landon. He has so much fun hanging out with that little guy & Honeybunny is always SO happy and laughs like a crazy baby whenever he sees him. (I am a little jealous of this).
Even with coming home past midnight or working at his computer until 4am, every morning around 6:00 I bring Honeybunny into the bedroom to say good morning & Chris will wake right up with his gorgeous smile and gives us both a kiss and he is happy to start his day all over again.
I simply could not have imagined a better father to my children than him. Landon doesn't realize it yet, but he really is the luckiest little boy to have such an awesome dad. I know that he will grow up and look up to him for everything. He is the most self-sacrificial person I have ever known, the most beautiful person I have ever met, outside and in, and every day I thank God for bringing him into my life.

home inspirations

I kind of can't wait til we own a home someday...........a few sweet ideas for my dream house:

our future kitchen

for landon's baby brother...Yes, I already have baby fever again (bad)

or baby sister. (love round cribs for little girls!)

when landon can sleep in a big boy bed

i love white space with lots of bright colors

my garden

& of course, a salt water pool in the backyard

and a wicked cool treehouse for the kiddies :)

[All images found via google images]