Monday, March 22, 2021

Currently: March

Greetings from the land of the sleep deprived. :/ William is going through his 4 month sleep regression so I am feeling pretty bleary eyed. He was up nearly hourly on Saturday night. Last night was a bit better as we got one 3-hour stretch but then he was up every 1.5-2 hours after that. Thank God for coffee! Here's what's going on in my world!

Reading: A Gentleman in Moscow. I've been meaning to read this for years, but was compelled to read it when I saw that Kae was reading and enjoying it. I'm really liking it so far!

Loving: the spring weather we've had recently. I know we are probably not done with snow for the season - Minnesota is cruel like that - but I'm glad we've had some warmer temps! I try to go for a walk with Will in the baby carrier when the weather allows and we've gone to the park on the weekends which Paul of course loves! 



Masked up for a walk with friends around a local lake. Will is covered up in this photo so he'd stay warm (it was very windy that day!).

Feeling: tired. Phil and I joke that parenting is a young man's game. I'm 40 and he will be 40 in August so we are on the older end of the parenting age spectrum. Sleep deprivation is hard for anyone but I think it's harder the older you are! 

Anticipating: a visit to my parents the week after Easter! We haven't seen them since Will's birth! They are fully vaccinated so we feel safe visiting them. Plus, I will be fully vaccinated by then, too!!!! They will be here in late April to help with Will during my first 2 days back at work. We are having his baptism that weekend, too. I'm glad we'll see them twice in April! 

Struggling: with this sleep regression. I vividly remember going through this with Paul. We moved Will out of the snoo in our room and into a crib in his room so it's probably making the regression even worse, but it was time for him to be in his own space. We are planning to sleep train him when we get back from visiting my parents. We won't sleep train to sleep through the night - it will be get him to learn how to fall asleep on his own. It's not a fun thing AT ALL but it worked well for Paul and I know it will make a big difference for Will, too.

Grateful: that I was able to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine a couple of weeks ago! Minnesota expanded their eligible criteria and I qualified due to my immune compromised status. I had to drive over an hour to get it but it was so worth it! I get my 2nd dose next Wednesday. Hopefully Phil will be eligible by May. Minnesota has done a great job with the vaccine roll-out!

Working: on setting up Will's nursery. It's a work in progress as Phil uses it as his office on days when he works from home so it won't really be fully finished until he is back to working at the office full time. I need to frame some prints to hang on his wall and buy a bookcase. That's the extent of the decorating we will do, though. We are not the types to have really cutely decorated nurseries. Our boys are only in their rooms to sleep so I figure we will put more effort into it when they are in big boy beds - which is probably around the corner for Paul!

Listening: to podcasts as usual and loving my air pod pros! That was the perfect birthday gift to myself and I highly recommend them! 

Watching: March Madness basketball games. I am dead last in Phil's work pool as 2 of my final 4 teams are out, but it's still fun to watch. Plus I love a good upset, even when it busts my bracket. My championship team is still in, though, so I still have a shot at winning. Besides basketball, we are watching the show "Baskets" on Hulu. It's a light comedy featuring Zach Galifianakis. 

Wishing:
that spring would arrive for good. It does wonders for my mood to feel the sunshine. I will say this winter was really not all that bad. We had one long cold stretch in February but besides that it hasn't been bad. The last several years we've had huge snowfalls in late March/April so I'm bracing myself for a return of winter but maybe we will luck out and spring will stick around for good!

Bonus Will photos:

Everyone likes to see a cute baby, right? So here are some extra photos of our little cutie.


We do lots of reading during the day!

He has quite the comb-over going on! 

Big brother showing little brother how one of the toys makes different sounds. Paul continues to be a sweet big brother. If William cries, he will say "Are you ok? Mommy is coming!"


What are you reading, watching and grateful for? Have you been vaccinated or do you know when you may be eligible? I lucked out and had zero side effects, although that might be because of my immune suppressing drugs. 

12 comments:

Carolina John said...

We're getting the first shot tomorrow! I can't wait to get down to visit my parents again. the countdown is on. Have a great trip!

katielookingforward said...

It sounds like you have great plans coming up, your maternity leave sure flew by! I'll be very curious to see what kind of April weather we will get, march has been pretty good over all (and knock on wood!).

Gracie said...

It's so encouraging you got that first vaccine dose! Isn't it great to be able to start making plans again? Here's hoping Will gets better with his sleep soon, and that sleep training goes well - I'm a big fan myself. I don't really understand the controversy but some people are like, OH I COULD NEVER! He's just a baby! And I'm sitting here thinking, precisely...a baby who needs to learn to go to sleep!

Grateful Kae said...

Oh, I'm so excited that you're reading A Gentleman in Moscow! I finally just finished it the other day. It took me quite a while to get through it, but I'm sure you'll be able to read it a lot faster than I did! For some reason I just felt like I had to read it slowly- as you are maybe seeing, there are lots of little almost "riddle" like phrases throughout it and I felt like I had to read it carefully to make sure I caught all of the full meaning in some parts. You'll have to let me know what you think. I'm glad I read it!

Sorry to hear Will is going through sleep regression. I'm "only" 37 (haha...and 1/2...) but I still absolutely feel that having to be up with a newborn would be KILLER now, compared to when I did it at 24 and 26!! I have been having some intermittent sleep issues myself- just waking up and not able to fall back to sleep 1-2 timers per week- and I swear, I just cannot even handle it. I feel exhausted! So I really sympathize with you. :)

I love that you just freely admit that you aren't the "nursery decorating" type. I think some moms feel pressure to go all out with that. We kind of did, and I thought our nursery was cute, but it was nothing like what people do nowadays. It's funny how the trends have changed even in the last 10-12 years since mine were born. We had a cutesy frog themed nursery- my work friends bought me all the matching pieces I registered for for my shower, so it was pretty easy. I feel like now, everyone's nurseries have to look like they are from the pages of Pottery Barn or something, with all the fancy colors and cool wall art and rugs, etc. Hahaha!

Also, yay for seeing your parents! I feel a big sense of relief too now that my parents are fully vaccinated and I have had 1 out of 2 so far. My husband should be able to get it relatively soon I think too.

Marlys said...

We are so cited to see you in a couple of weeks! I miss the boys so much, and can’t get over how Will has changed since the day he came home from the hospital! That is so sweet that Paul is such a sweet big brother. They will be great friends in a few years.
I’ve been slow to check your blog lately so I’ll have to catch up!

Jeanie said...

So glad to get such an upbeat report (except for the sleep -- that's a bummer). And the bonus Will photos, too! How wonderful to finally visit your family again. And good news on the vaccine. I want to read "A Gentleman In Moscow" too -- seems like everyone has read it but me.

I just finished another Donna Leon "Brunetti" mystery and a wonderful book called "The Lost Manuscript." I've been watching "Schitt's Creek" and so grateful that I am vaccinated (fully) and can now be with others who have been!

Stephany said...

The sleep regression stuff seems SO tough! If I have children, I'll also be on the older end of the spectrum (eeks), so I am not looking forward to that! Haha. It does seem like a young person's game.

I'm so glad your parents are vaccinated and that you will be fully vaccinated soon, too! My mom is finally eligible so that's good. (Although she's been like, "Eh, I'll get it whenever," and I'm like, "NO GO IMMEDIATELY AND GET IT!" Sigh.) Hopefully, eligibility will be open to everyone soon but I'm really grateful those most at risk have (mostly) been able to get their shots! Hooray for that!

I'm currently reading As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner, which is about a family going through the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic so it's hitting a LITTLE too close to home, lol. I'm rewatching Schitt's Creek and watching season 2 of The Crown. I'm grateful for everyone getting their vaccine - woohoo! Hopefully we hit herd immunity sooner than expected! And I am SO READY to get my vaccine. I can't wait!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Aw, sleep deprivation is so hard! I had to check your blog to see how you’re doing and I’m so impressed you’re still blogging and reading books so regularly! Pete and I got our first Covid shots this week, which was exciting. Good to see you all are doing pretty well (minus the lack of sleep).

Shoshanah said...

I believe next week Louisiana is opening up eligibility to everyone over age 16!

San said...

So excited about everyone who's already vaccinated. I am glad you get to see your parents for Easter.

Jon has his first appointment next week and I hope I'll be getting mine soon, too.

Anne said...

So glad you'll get to see your parents - and soon! and two visits in such a short time frame will be even more wonderful.
Even better is knowing you are vaccinated. I am sure that's a huge relief.
Now if the sleep regression would just, well, disappear...

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I'm glad to hear you got vaccinated. They are doing it by age category here and are currently on 55+. I am thinking I'll get mine closer to June. But, once everyone in the US has been vaccinated, we'll start seeing bigger shipments here, so it could be May ...

I totally understand the sleep deprivation. I often have insomnia, and have gone through weeks and weeks of getting only 2-3 hours a night. Not good. Fortunately the past little while I've been sleeping better. I definitely think it is stress/anxiety related.