Now A Mom

Happy Halloween!! I thought today was as good a day as any to upload all of our halloween fun pictures. There may be more to come after today, since today is halloween, but here’s what we have for now…

Mia didn’t last carving pumpkins for very long, she wouldn’t stop eating all the stuff inside and we were worried she’d choke on a seed, so we put her in her chair and gave her the lid of the pumpkin, all ncie and cleaned off. I figured that couldn’t hurt her, and of course, it went straight to her mouth.

Still enjoying her slice of pumpkin. 

Mine and Jason’s pumpkin. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out whose is whose. 

Mia with the pumpkins after we were all done carving. 

Mia, Minnie, at this little place called Gardner village with my niece and nephew, Cinderella and a Ninja 

The other kids didn’t want to go near this thing, so we took some pictures of Mia by it. She didn’t really care, she just wanted to look at it, not at us.  

Gardner villiage decorates for some of the fun holidays and halloween in one they really do up. They have witches like this all over the place and do lots of activites, it’s such a cute little place!Anyways, I hope everyone has a fun night of trick or treating. as for us, we’re a bit lucky that our only child is to young to care what we do, so she’ll be trick or treating at Jason’s work, in doors, then spending the night sitting at home, handing out candy if anyone comes, and she’ll be in bed by 7 as usual. I love my little good sleeping Minnie Mouse!  

          Jason and I finally got our night out to go and see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. It the new story of Batman versus Joker staring Heath Ledger, and my favorite, Christain Bale as Batman. Christian Bale has proven to be a great Batman in this movie as well as the last Batman movie, Batman begins. Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the joker, truly showing the dark and disturbed side of a character meant to be so evil and undoubtedly corupt. This was the last movie that Heath Ledger completed before his untimely death, and what a role to end it on. It truly showed the amazing talent that he had as an actor to make this character truly come to life, he was completely believable, and lets be honest, TOTALLY creepy!

           I had heard a lot of mixed reviews prior to going to see the movie. Quite a few people said it was great and that they really enjoyed it, some said that they found it disturbing but still enjoyed it, few said it was just dark and disturbing and should have been rated R. After seeing it, I would have to say that I just enjoyed it. I think it all depends on how you look at the movie. You can, of course, tell that the Joker is meant to be a character that is in some way disturbed. Someone who doesn’t live by the rules, but that believes every human is corupt in one way or another. Of course, he is proven wrong at some point, but still never gives up on the task of proving it. He spends his time testing people and proving to the mob that they are more corupt than anyone for all the wrong reasons. While all of this bad is happening, I felt that it was balanced by enough good. People  trying to stop the evil do-ers. People who would put their lives on the line to help people they loved or in some cases, people they had never even met. The majority of the people in the city prove they are good people. Of course, you have your every day hero’s and your hero’s in the public eye who put their lives on the line to help bring the evil people to justice.

             It was a lengthy movie, but honestly never felt that way. They did a great job at holding your interest through out the movie  to keep it from feeling just long and dragged out. It was a movie of action, as promised by most super hero movies these days, but I felt, not as cheesy as Batman movies of the past have been. In some ways, it was a bit more realistic as we all know there are people out there who want nothing more than to hurt people and reak havok on everyone around them. They have no real motive for doing what they do, other than to hurt people, just as one of the main character in this movie. I definately give this movie two big thumbs up and would definately recommend it to those of you that enjoy a little bit of action. I would also say, if you do want to see it, this is a movie that is worth paying to see it on the big screen.

      Recently, I was at a BBQ with a friend in the ward and a few other people. While there, we all began discussing our differnt soda habits. She went on to say that she likes Diet soda’s, but tries to buy the caffeine free kinds, especially with the news of a new study done. Recent studies show that caffeine may boost risk of miscarriage. Something that I have never before heard. Of couse, you can read in some places not to consume more than somewhere around 8 cups of coffee worth a day, which of couse, for a majority of people is no problem. I was quite sick while I was pregnant and Dr. Pepper or Diet coke are two things that I rather enjoyed that would also help to calm my stomach. I was even told by my sister and a few other people, that their OBGYN’s had told them to drink these soda’s while pregnant if it was all they could keep down, as long as they were drinking something.

                 Now, with this new study, I think that I will do things differently the next time I’m pregnant. Perhaps I’ll actually listen to my husband when he tells me that if it’s not good for me, it’s got to be a lot worse for a baby. Of course, even this study shows that 2 cups or more of coffee a day is to much caffeine, and as I don’t even drink coffee, I’m sure an occasional soda won’t really do any harm, but why take the chance it will? Especially when most every soda is available in a caffeine free version that tastes virtually the same. It will still have the same effects on your stomach, as it is more the carbonation and not the caffeine that has that effect.

             The study went on to say that they have hopes that various organizations will begin to change the guidlines they currently state for caffeine intake while pregnant. I know that everyone is so very careful about what medications they take while pregnant, so sure to not consume anything that will be harmful to your unborn child; yet there are so many people with a dependancy on caffeinated drinks that they disregard the warnings thinking simply that they’ve seen someone drink way more then them while pregnant and their child was fine. If we had that outlook on all things, we’d be able to rationalize doing just about anything OBGYN’s advice against, things that can be harmful to our unborn children. Anything from working out to much, to drinking, to smoking, to taking medications.

           After hearing this study, I know that I will do things differently the next time I have a child. Although Mia is healthy and perfect, why take a chance that the next one might not. Nothing is worth taking that extra risk of hurting my baby, especially when there are so many alternatives to having a caffeinated drink.

             Someone recently told me that I’ll know when I should let Mia cry herself to sleep because I’ll get sick waking up all night just to give her her pacifier because she can’t get asleep without it. Well, I hit that point. I’ve wanted so bad for her to sleep through the night and for us all to be able to get the rest we all very much need. She has had those occasional nights where she won’t wake up once, but they are few and way to far between.

         After she had a little bit of a stuffy nose and a week of waking up between 4-6 times a night, I hit my breaking point. I decided I’d let her start getting her self to sleep. I’d put her to bed with her pacifier and if she went to sleep, great. If not, if she spit it out and started crying, I’d leave her for 20 minutes before I went back in the room in hopes that she learn to get her self to sleep without it. So far, it’s working GREAT! She has always been good to get herself to sleep, so that part of it has been a fairly easy transition. She’s a good little sleeper when she’s ready for sleep.

             It was the other part that I was at a loss for what to do. The waking up multiple times during the night. I knew that she was waking up out of habit, she didn’t really need anything at all, but how do you break that habit in a 5 month old? I had no idea where to even begin. The only advice I had been given was to give her about 5 minutes to fall back asleep on her own before I went in to her room. That didn’t really do anything for us, but wake both Jason and I up rather then just one of us. So, I turned to my main source of information to do a little research on the subject, the internet. I found some forums where women were discussing this very issue. One of the women suggested the 5-10 min wait to see if she’d get herself back to sleep along with not using monitors to hear her. Simply to leave your door and hers open and you’ll hear her if she really needs you. This solution has worked wonders with Mia.  One thing we had noticed before we began this was half the time we heard her whinning and went in to her room, she was moving around a bit, but her eyes were still closed. I believe she wasn’t fully waking up until we went in there and started to try to help her. By not using the monitor, we don’t hear her when she’s not awake, and when she’s awake and really needs us, she’ll let us know.

         This has really worked wonders for us.  We just finished our third night of attempting these and she slept through the night! It was amazing and I think that this time, she will actually repeat herself. The first couple of nights she woke up once, only needing her pacifier put back in her mouth and went right back to sleep. Now to just be sure we keep this up, and hopefully, she’ll continue to sleep through the night and we’ll all get the much needed sleep we all want.

         One thing that I have never found a place to list is birthday deals that different places offer. It makes it a fun and inexpensive way to celebrate, so why is there no where really that just lists all of the places that have good dealsand what they offer. I’m sure that if you really looked, you’d be able to find the information somewhere online, or you could do like I did and just visit the website of all the different restaurants you enjoy and see if they have anything to offer. Well, my plan is to incorporate all of the searching I have done here to make it easy for you to enjoy the same great deals. I’ve found a number of things from free appetizers to free meals or a free dessert. All enjoyable if it’s to a place you like.

          I’ll start off with the smaller things and move up to the larger. All of the offers that I do list do require you to either 1. fill out a card while at their location or 2. signing up online. I can assure you as I have signed myself and family up for all of these deals, that it is a simple process and most do not fill your mailbox or email with lots of spam. To begin, we’ll start with the free appetizer. The one location I have found that will send you something like that is texas roadhouse. You have to sign up to be one of their ‘VIP’s’ and they’ll email you the coupon close to your birthday and various coupons for deserts or appetizers throughout the year.

        Next, we’ll move on to free meals, my favorite of the deals. We’ll start with one that almost everyone likes. That is Red Robin. You do have to sign up to be a member of their e-club to recieve their birthday deal. The one nice thing about their site and the way you sign up is you can sign up your entire family for the birthday special under one account, unlike some places that require you attatch each birthday to a different email. You can even sign up your kids. For adults, you recieve a coupon for a free gourmet hamburger. It does not list any max price the burger can be, nor does it say you are required to buy another meal to get the free burger, simply bring the coupon in within 14 days of your birthday and you’ll recieve the free meal. For you kids, they get a free kids meal with no other meal purchase required. Not a bad deal. Red Robin is a good choice for someone who doesn’t want to spend much money, and also doesn’t want to celebrate alone as they have many meals under $10 including some amazing hamburgers. This is one of my favorite places to go for a good burger. BTW the coupon does say to bring ID. I haven’t used this one yet, so I’m not sure how good they are about checking. Next, we’ll move on to Tucanos. Now, this isn’t a restaurant that is available in to many places, I believe just Utah and New Mexico, but it is very worth it if you are around one near your birthday. This is a brazilian restaurant where basically there are servers who walk around with various types of meats and grilled pineapple on a skewer and will give you some if you want, or move on if you don’t. Don’t worry, they don’t just come around once, so you get a few shots at the kinds you like best. They have wonderful meat and a delicious salad bar, that also includes a few side dishes such as pasta, potatoes, and veggies. You can sign up for their e-club and will recieve a postcard in the mail the month of your birthday, or you can sign up if you are at the restaurant to eat. One nice thing about it is, they don’t care if it’s really your birthday or not. Actually, one of the times that I ate their, they brought us a stack of cards and told us to fill them out for friends and family as well. They proceeded to say that if they can’t use the coupons, we can. So they encourage you to. What the birthday deal entails is a free meal. At Tuscanos, the coupon does say with the purchase of another meal. This is still a good deal as Tuscano’s is a place that you wouldn’t want to go to alone and the meals are expensive. So, to get 2 meals for around $20 rather then $40 and they’re 2 really good meals, sounds like a good deal to me. The last place I know of that does a free meal for your birthday is Black Angus. Great place if you like steak. They have some really good food. They offer a free meal, sometimes the value of that meal seems to vary depending on the location you live by. Here, we could, before it closed, get one for up to an $18.95 value. No other purchase necessary. The largest steak I could find for that price was a 12 oz prime rib! TONS of meat. The meal also includes a soup or salad, all you can eat bread (SO good), and 2 sides. So good. You do have to enroll in their prime club and an email will be sent to you near your birthday. I think the birthday emails and maybe 2 other in the year are the only I ever recieved from them.

           Last but surely not least are free desserts. Of course there are various restaurants you can go to and just mention a birthday and they’ll sing and bring you dessert. Places such as Macyo’s, Macaroni Grill, Wingers, and I’m sure many other’s you’re familiar with in your area. There is only one place that I know of that you have to enroll in their birthday club to get the free dessert. Most likely this is due to the fact that all they serve are dessert’s. That is Cold Stone Creamery. Similar to Red Robin, this is one that you can enroll your entire family, children included, in to the club on the same account. With that, you will recieve one free ‘Love It’ size signature creation. I’m sure you’re all familiar with cold stone and the delicious ice cream they have. For those of you that aren’t, at Cold Stone, you choose a flavor such as chocolate, white chocolate, vanilla, even cake batter, and many more, along with a topping such as oreo’s, various berries, cookie dough, various candy bars, and anything else  you can imagine. They then will take a scoop of the ice cream flavor chosen along with the toppings and mix it right there for you to make a delicious creation. It’s a great treat, especially on a hot summer day.

            So far these are the only birthday deals  that I know of, at least the ones you need to sign up for. Try them out, see what you think, and if you know of any more, let me know. I’ll add it in and perhaps try it out myself In the mean time, enjoy!

            Day to day, my life is relatively the same. Wake up when my little girl wakes up, feed her, try to get her to sleep so I can finally eat and get dressed(which isn’t usually til about noon), then just continue the cycle of feeding her, getting her to sleep and changing her all day while trying to get things like the dishes, laundry and making dinner done somewhere in there. I’ve learned to comprehend why so many women loose their identity when they become moms, there’s no time for us to be ourselves, or at least the person we use to be. Our priorities change, our hobbies and interests are put on the back burner while we spend all of our time doing just that… being a mom.

             Through this I am beginning to realize the importance of finding at least one or two people you feel comfortable leaving your baby with, even if it is just for an hour or two every couple of weeks or once a month so you can get out and spend some time being you. Not only do you need time to be yourself, but time to be a wife. I’ve had the privilage of having parents who always understood the importance of leaving their lives of mom and dad for a short time every week and becoming yet again husband and wife. I’ve seen them grow and progress together because of this time they’ve taken not only with eachother, but also to pursuesome small hobbies or have an afternoon with a good friend. I’ve also had the privilage of seeing family and friends that dont’ take this time. That can’t leave their jobs as moms and dads to spend some time on themselves. The people who have strictly been a mom and a dad seem to strugle when their kids grow up. They feel their kids ‘don’t need’ them anymore, or at least not in the way they’re use to and they completely loose touch with themselves. They don’t know what to do with themselves and with all this time they suddenly have and it can cause a strain on their relationship as husband and wife.

          Finding time for myself has been a struggle with a newborn as she does need me more then a young child would. She’s not quite old enough for play dates or school or things that would leave me with time for hobbies. While she is young, I have learned however, that there is time to let us be just a husband and wife. Even if it just means spending some time talking or watching a show we both like while she naps, it’s important that we take that time, to leave the topic of being parents, and work on our relationship to be sure it is always growing stronger. To be sure that it’s a relationship that will always last through whatever may come our way in the future.