A Reflection on the Boston Marathon

Yesterday, a very terrible thing happened in Boston.  Not only were two people killed, but many were injured.  Many of these injured were people who were, just minutes earlier, completing a 26 mile run.
As disturbing and sad as it is, events like this really make you appreciate those who step up in times of need. 

When I left work last night and got into my car, I heard the news of the bombs that went off in Boston.  My local NPR station was streaming the coverage by the Boston NPR affiliate. At that time, all they knew was that two people were dead and about one hundred injured. Soon a report rolled in that one of the people killed was an eight year old boy.  Next the station went "on the scene" to the near by hospitals. Reporters stated that it was still a bit chaotic, but they received word that many of the injuries were amputations.  

The marathon was still in progress when the bombs went off. People who trained for months in order to complete this 26 mile run were crossing the finish line. I've never completed a marathon, but even after I trained and ran my first 5k, I felt a tremendous amount of pride and accomplishment. A feeling I'm sure many of these people felt. Sure, they were tired, dehydrated and maybe had an ankle sprain, but they did it! Then, suddenly, none of that mattered anymore. They needed help.

And that's when the reports detailing the first responders started to come in. While most people were trying to get away as fast as they could, a sea of green vested police officers, EMTs and even doctors rushed directly into the bomb blast to help people. They tore down barricades like salmon swimming against the stream, even before they knew exactly what was going on.

So when I think about how sad it is that someone did this, I try to think about the good.  It's not fair that an eight year old's life was cut short yesterday, that another person was killed and many injured. It's sad that people who were, just moments before, completing an amazing athletic feat, may now be double amputees. In fact, thinking about this stuff makes me feel a whole range of emotions: sadness, rage, anger, defeat. But try to restore faith in the human race and remember all those people who didn't think about anything but running towards the disaster and helping anyone they could.

If you know one, thank a first responder today! Also give your little ones a hug and appreciate every moment you have with them!

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Boston. It's one of my favorite cities to visit, and I know the people of Boston will get through this.

*Due to the graphic nature of most of the photos, I won't be posting any here. However, if you are interested, there is an excellent collection of shots at Boston.com's Big Picture Blog.

Who Needs Sleep?: When a Sick Baby Keeps You Up

Norah’s been sleeping through the night since the 2 month mark. In the book of babies, that makes us extremely lucky. Sometimes we forget that, though, and she keeps us up all night.
This past weekend was one of her "reminder lessons". On Friday night, she was fussy and wouldn't eat. She screamed when I changed her diaper, cried when I tried to play with her, and resisted bedtime like a cat to water. Where did our happy baby go? She'd clocked out, and angry baby had checked in.

Where did THIS happy baby go?

That night, she woke up screaming several times. We rocked her back to sleep. Then she woke up around 3 am and vomited everywhere. She also rolled around in it, so it was all over her. While hubby cleaned up the sheets, I cleaned the baby. A half hour later she was sleeping again and stayed that way until morning. Hallelujah!

On her first diaper change after waking, we found a bright red diaper rash that was bleeding, so off to the doctor we went. Upon examination, the doctor concluded that the antibiotic she was on for her ear infection last week proceeded to give her a fungal infection. We needed prescription ointment, stat.

Diaper changes for the rest of the weekend were awful. The rash stung, so using regular baby wipes was torture of the worst kind, keeping her from sleeping most of Saturday night. Luckily, we were able to give her some baby Motrin to get her through.

Sunday she was in better spirits, but mom and dad were beyond tired. With all of our weekend errands yet to be completed, we shipped Norah off to her grandparents' house where she spent the afternoon with Mom-mom, Poppy, Uncle Joey and Andrea.

So what do you do when the baby gets up over and over again? In the moment, you grin and bear it because there's nothing else to do. The next night, you go to sleep as soon as the baby goes down and hope for the best!

Keeping Up With Baby: A Sample Routine at 10 Months

We all know that expression, "New Year, New You". Well, lately I've been feeling like it's more "New Day, New Obstacles" around here. I'm really enjoying all the fun changes that Norah is experiencing, but every once in a while, I just feel really overwhelmed.

At this point, Norah needs constant attention. So from the time I pick her up from daycare, until she goes to bed, me or my husband are with her. This makes it hard to make dinner, clean the house, exercise and do laundry (and keep up with all our TV shows - the DVR is just about to explode). I'm willing to forgo the cleaning, but this family does have to eat and leave the house with clean clothes.

Over the past few weeks, I've developed a routine that seems to be working somewhat (or at least until Norah decides to change her bedtime unexpectedly). I thought I'd share in case there are any other new moms out there struggling with this.

5:15 am - wake up before baby, brush teeth, change into workout gear
5:20 am - grab clothes from bedrooms and throw in a load of wash
5:25 am - feed cats, start workout dvd
5:50 am - switch clothes to dryer, eat breakfast
6:00 am - shower, dress and dry hair
6:45 am - dress Norah, pack bottles, take out clothes from the dryer so they don't wrinkle
7:20 am - drop Norah off at daycare, go to work
5:30 pm - pick Norah up from daycare
6:00 pm - let Norah play independently while I throw all the bottle parts and dishes into soapy water
6:10 pm - play with Norah until dad comes home
7:15 pm - cook dinner
7:45 pm - bottle, bath and bed for Norah
8:15 pm - put away laundry from the morning, clean for 15 minutes, prep bottles for next day
9:30 pm - read for at least 15 minutes, or until I fall asleep

It's a totally exhausting day from start to finish, but when the weekend comes, most of my cleaning and laundry is done, so it frees me up to spend some quality time with Norah and her dad. Here are a few tools I have found helpful in keeping to this schedule:

1. Libman Freedom Spray Mop - this mop is a total time saver. There is basically a spray bottle that you can fill with any solution attached. When you want to mop, you just hit the sprayer and the solution squirts out onto the floor. The cloth is machine washable, so when you're done mopping for the day, you can just toss it in the wash.
   
2. Rocktivity Music Skool Table - this is one of Norah's favorite toys. It keep her busy for ten minutes while I do some quick chores when we get home.
3. Elfa Closet Organizers - We have an elfa closet in my room and Norah's. It makes picking out clothes in the morning really easy.

I'll Never Do That.....and other annoying things I've said regarding child rearing.

When Norah was first born, there were things I swore I'd never do.  Things I saw other parents do that horrified me. So I made my mental list and kept reminding myself of it. Until Norah got here, and it was clear that everything I ever thought about parenting was off the table. As she grows, I'm beginning to realize that parenting is like the Wild Wild West. Anything goes and all the grand fantasies I had for how she'd grow up were just that.

Here are a few of my "I'll Nevers":

I'll never let Norah run around with a snotty nose. Ha! Good luck with this one past-self, because it's virtually impossible to keep that thing from gooing out all over the place. In any given weekend, we must go through a whole box of tissues, and she still has constant boogies leaking out.

Jar food? That stuff has too many preservatives to be good for her. I'll make all my own food. Ahh...what a novel concept. There has been many a time when I open up the freezer only to realize we are completely out of home-made food. We can't very well let her starve, so store-bought food it is! The one thing that turned me off was the smell of the foods I was giving her. The brands I've found to like the best are Earth's Best and Sprout. She pretty much gobbles up anything I feed her from those brands. We've had a lot less luck with Gerber offerings.

She'll never watch TV before she's two. At first I tried to justify this one by saying that we were the ones watching TV, but the fact of the matter is, if it's on, she's looking at it. Thankfully, now that she's grown a bit, she doesn't like the TV that much. Crawling around and biting wires is much more interesting.

So what's the moral of this little post? Flexibility is key. If you can't be flexible and bend the rules you made for yourself, you simply won't survive. Don't be too hard on yourself and always remember that you're being the best parent you can be, and that's about all you can do.

Anything you've said you'll never do and ended up doing it? I'd love to know I'm not the only one out there that caved!