cathryn

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-21T22:00:00

2009-12-22T03:00:41Z

Why is my child constantly fussy? The four month pamphlet from the doctor says, "Your baby now spends most of her time in a good mood." This is not true for us. There are so few things that make her happy, and it lasts for only a minute or two.

Maybe she's bored? Or tired, because she doesn't sleep more than 20 minutes at a time now.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-21T17:29:00

2009-12-21T22:29:05Z

I keep thinking we're ready for Christmas, but there's always more to do. I still have to get the rest of the Christmas Eve groceries. I'm serving dinner that night. Our's shopping is now OFFICIALLY done.

Denver is still nursing for hours all night. She used to be at a point where she'd wake if she was hungry. Now she wakes if she's not nursing. I'm getting very little sleep because of this. Is this still the four month sleep regression? Am I doing something to encourage this? I'm so lazy about the sleep situation. I want to get her into her crib more, but it's too much work. There are times when I'm happy snuggling with her all night, and times when I'm so over it.

My BIL has this newer girlfriend. His ex is in basic training. She's home for Christmas, and stays with my in laws. His new GF is out of town this week. I'm secretly hoping they get back together. I feel horrible for not appreciating the ex when she was around.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-20T01:46:00

2009-12-20T06:46:21Z

Today we brought in more boxes from the garage that we never unpacked. Both our cars are in there now! It's been snowing all day but it's all wet and slushy. I also worked on the third bedroom, organizing my sewing and craft and painting stuff. This house is three bedroom "plus den." which is AWESOME. The old rented house had three bedrooms, so I had a piano room and Chris had an office. Then we combined those two because we had Denver. Not that she's ever slept in her room. The den is a smallish room without a closet. I really want to put some built-in shelving in there and have it be a real office. And maybe a futon or something.

I started to sew some little skirts for D to wear with tights, but she had other plans.

From lolacat

2009-12-20T01:47:13Z

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Had a baby.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't usually make them. Maybe I'll resolve to be less passive aggressive.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
no.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No one close, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
South Africa.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More education?

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Denver's first smile, because I was about to quit being a mom moments before it happened.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Pushing out a child.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not working hard enough in my marriage.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No.

11. Favorite Purchase?
Our white leather couch. And our house, but Chris bought that. Actually Chris bought the couch, too.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine, because I learned patience this year. And my mom, for organizing ,y wedding and helping me with the baby.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My brother.

14. Where did most of your money go?
I don't remember.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Baby and house.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2009?
Rainbow Connection.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Fatter.
iii. richer or poorer?
I am personally poorer, but our family is richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? How about New Year's Eve?
Three days of celebration with both families, and our new little family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
No.

22. How many one-night stands?
None.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
LOST

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Glenn Beck. It's a renewed hatred.

25. What was the best book you read?
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
RC and the Tin Stars

27. What did you want and get?
A house. A husband. A car.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
District 9

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25. We went to Adelino's and I got a Snuggie and a new tv stand.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I did just about everything this year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
A little bit of vomit on everything.

32. What kept you sane?
Chris. My mom.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Said from LOST

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Public Healthcare.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
Denver.

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
There are always consequences to my actions.

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year
Midwestern confusion.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-18T16:25:00

2009-12-18T21:25:24Z

What's your favorite music to have on around the holidays? My all time favorite is the Charlie Brown Christmas album, particularly Oh, Tannenbaum and Greensleeves, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-16T15:19:00

2009-12-16T20:19:31Z

Now my brother can't come to our family Christmas because he has to work. I'm trying to rearrange things. We've already added yet another day of stuff to appease Chris's parents. I'm getting seriously depressed. Of course, my family keeps saying it's ok and we should just do what we want. I feel like they always get the short end of the stick because they never demand anything. I really want my family to have a nice time because my dad was laid off a couple of weeks ago and they're really worried. My mom told me he was selling stuff on craigslist to bring in some money. I feel like shit because they bought me a car, wedding, five months of diapers, and most of Denver's stuff earlier this year. My mom said it was their fault - my dad's job was going so well, and they were so excited to be able to be generous. I have a small amount of personal money saved. Maybe I could figure out a way to give it to them without it being returned immediately.

I just want this all to be over.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-15T17:03:00

2009-12-15T22:03:12Z

Our Christmas shopping is finished! Well, aside from the massage gift certificate for Chris's father, (NO MASSAGES FROM A GUY THOUGH OMG) it's finished.

I usually love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. I can't help wishing it was all over, though. I'm worried about planning holidays for the rest of my life to give equal bits of time to both families without offending anybody.

The other night:

Me: I'm not used to being guilt-tripped.
Chris: Well, get used to it.

Thanksgiving worked out well...I wonder if we'll end up hosting more holidays in the future to avoid these issues.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-14T16:19:00

2009-12-14T21:19:54Z

I fell guilty, so I'll announce this: I gave D apple today. It was a giant piece of peeled apple that I was eating, and she sucked on it. I'm usually the biggest nazi about not giving her solids. She kept trying to chew on her teething toy and was upset. She didn't want to nurse, had been changed, and she wasn't wanting to play with me. She was making little chewing motions while I was eating. So I let her suck on this piece of apple.

I hope the sugars don'y give her an upset stomach.

The chewing motions are a new thing. My baby is growing up! It's on of the signs that develop as a baby nears being ready to try some solids. I can't believe her six month birthday is six weeks away! I'm having a hard time imagining what it will be like next year when she starts trying foods that aren't from me.

Anyway...she isn't showing any of the other signs, but man...she loved that apple. Maybe the frainy texture felt good on her gums.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-14T14:16:00

2009-12-14T19:16:26Z

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-12T22:22:00

2009-12-13T03:22:52Z

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-12T19:56:00

2009-12-13T00:56:11Z

I'm lame, so I'm actually worried about the new Duggar baby. At 25 weeks I could still look "not pregnant." I hope she's ok.

Chris will be home in a few minutes!

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-12T11:48:00

2009-12-12T16:48:51Z

The four month sleep regression is hitting us hard. Denver woke up every hour last night. She was WIDE AWAKE each time. We were both up early this morning and she won't go down for her nap. I'm exhausted, but she has so much energy. I don't feel like playing or cleaning the house. I just want some sleep. I feel like I did when she was a week old.

I'm going to push her around the house in the stroller. For the next few months it'll be too cold here to take her for walks outside, which sucks. A walk will usually put her to sleep.

Chris is coming home tonight, which is the only thing that's making me feel any better. I'm sick of doing this alone. Tomorrow I have to finish up Christmas shopping. I was considering sending Denver with Chris to my in laws' house while I do it, but now I think I'd like the company after a week of being alone.

I Post Constantly Because I Have Nothing Better To Do

2009-12-08T04:11:10Z

I guess I could clean out the garage. It's still got some unpacked boxes and empty boxes and a freaking wet saw and scraps of tile from the kitchen back splash project. Unfortunately, D freaks out if I leave the room. She's in a phase that involves her needing to be held all the time, and she whines constantly. I don't know what's going on. She hates her swing, she hates playing on her blanket, she hates her crib, and she cries if I even go to the bathroom.

But dammit, I want to put my car in the garage. It snowed a little today.

I guess I could put her in the baby sling and try to do some of the work.

I also decided that I like D's doctor's nurse practitioner a bit more than I like the actual doctor. We saw the NP today and she was really supportive of delaying solids and whathaveyou. I also found out that one of the hospitals is going to be providing midwifery services soon, which is new in our area unless a homebirth is involved. Awesome!

4 Months

2009-12-07T18:15:19Z

Denver had her four month appointment today. She's 13 lbs, 12 oz. and 24 3/4 inches long. Exactly 50th percentile for everything! I thought she'd be heavier, but I think our breastfeeding has evened out and normalized, and she's settled into a regular growth curve. When we were supplementing I believe she was overfed. Bottle feeding was so hard for us...I never knew if she'd had enough or not, and her growth curve jumped around. Now she's just perfect!

She can'r roll over yet. I didn't think I'd be so sad about that, but people in my due date community keep bragging about their babies rolling. Oh well. We'll do extra tummy time. Maybe it's because all she wants to do during the day is nurse and snuggle? Or maybe I haven't been encouraging gross motor activity as much as I should be. She also only laughs once every few days.

She developed this horrible whine over night. It's not a cry, just a high pitched whine.

The two shots went well - she only cried briefly. What a relief.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-07T02:28:00

2009-12-07T07:29:06Z

When I was in fourth grade some kid brought a Ouija board to school for board game day. I had never seen one and I told my parents about it. They're pretty religious, and were opposed to me playing with it because they believed it encouraged thought and activity having to do with the occult (or something.) I was also a VERY sensitive kid - jumpy and easily startled and constantly scared at night. I was probably scared of the thing. They called the principal and complained. The next day the principal came to our room, took the child out of the class room and asked him to take that game home and bring a different one.

The kid came back to class blushing and very embarrassed. He told everyone what had happened and then said, "But how would he even know? God, this is so stupid." The teacher also made some comments about it being ridiculous.

I sat there feeling like the biggest idiot in the world for having anti-Ouija parents. That said, I really don't know how I feel about having that board game in the class room. I guess I'd rather not have any religious or supernatural activities in my child's school setting.

Furthermore, I now laugh at the idea of my educated parents believing in the Ouija board. Heh.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-06T14:16:00

2009-12-06T19:16:36Z

Since Chris is away and I'm alone, I called my parents and sent them an email inviting them over. The didn't even respond! I'm such a loser. Even my parents don't want to hang out with me.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-06T11:51:00

2009-12-06T16:51:27Z

Chris left for another business trip this morning. He won't be back till Saturday. We went out yesterday and chose frames for his glasses and bought a birthday gift for our friend's daughter. We went to drop it off and Denver freaked out. We should have just gone home but it was the only chance we were going to have to get a tree as a family. She cried all the way to the hardware store. She didn't want to eat once we got there, but she was ok after I walked her around. She seemed to like breathing the cold air?

Anyway. She was still asleep when I woke up, so I left her in bed. Now she's awake and talking to herself quite happily. I'm listening to her from the other room. Cute.

cathrynapple @ 2009-12-02T15:54:00

2009-12-02T20:55:02Z

Today I went to Macy's because I had a gift card from my birthday. (I turned 25 last week - boo) I got something that was $50, but they gave me this coupon and I paid only 30, so I went through the clearance rack and got some adorable things for Denver. Then a different person gave me another coupon, so those were 25% off, too. I was tempted to just keep buying things, because my money seemed to have a weird half life. Every time I thought I'd empty the gift card, there was a little more left. Denver was sick of shopping, though, so we came home.

Thankskgiving

2009-11-27T04:37:30Z

Well, we pulled it off. With tons of help from my mom and MIL, we hosted Thanksgiving for about 18 people. My turkey was even MOIST.

(the results of cooking and decorating till 4 am)

(Four of our eight pies. One never made it to our house, but we still have several untouched.)

(Denver talking to Grandpa Pat)

(All dressed up.)

(Denver and her future husband, Dace.)

(Three men and a turkey.)

(Denver with my mother in law)

cathrynapple @ 2009-11-23T17:30:00

2009-11-23T22:30:31Z

Denver has a toy - the octopus from the Wiggles. She's terrified of it.

Hanging out in the new backyard

2009-11-23T20:07:24Z

cathrynapple @ 2009-11-21T20:21:00

2009-11-22T01:21:14Z

I just watched a kid I know from KCAI on COPS!! So weird.

cathrynapple @ 2009-11-20T13:12:00

2009-11-20T18:13:01Z

Hubby and two good friends have a new music blog. They share an excellent taste for new and interesting albums and songs. Check it out:

Theosony

cathrynapple @ 2009-11-18T16:57:00

2009-11-18T21:57:24Z

There is a person in our extended family who refuses to user Denver's name. This person has decided to only user her middle name. She sends cards with the middle name written in them multiple times. Different people have told her that D goes by her first name, bur she's decided to not use it.

It's so weird! Yes, I'm kind of offended, but mostly I just think it's strange. Has anyone else experienced this?

3.75 months

2009-11-18T18:48:57Z