Top Ten Tuesday--Top Ten Goals for 2011

It's that time again, folks--time for another Top Ten Tuesday list.  This week, it's Top Ten Resolutions...but I'm just going to call them "goals."  Let's face it, I don't have much resolve, so this is more like a list of things I hope to accomplish, but I definitely won't beat myself up if it doesn't happen.
 
Doesn't sound like I'm setting myself up for success, huh?  Well...hmmmm...you're probably right.  Nonetheless, my top ten goals are:
 
1. Be able to run a 5k, minimum.  Running has previously been, as my friend Miranda would say, something I only do if chased.  This year?  It's something I'm doing for my health and for a healthy self-esteem.  I'm determined not only to get to the Disney Princess Half-Marathon/5k Weekend, but also to lower my risk of heart disease by improving my cardiovascular health.  And also, I don't mind if my saggy booty gets a little pick-me-up.
 
2. Learn to knit.  I know that immediately you thought, "That is one boring old lady."  And I am.  Boring, not old.  I like to be able to sit and do things in bed (oh, so your mind went there...), although I'm already preparing myself for leaving a knitting needle on my pillow out of sheer absentmindedness and having it poke through my ear or something. 
So maybe knitting isn't for me.  Or it's for a more responsible me (maybe that should be a goal?).  Katie wants to knit, too, but I'm willing to bet she doesn't get stabbed by her knitting supplies.
 
3. Keep my house somewhat tidy.  I want people to be able to drop by unexpectedly and only be shocked to see how wrecked I look, not how wrecked my house looks.  I've already done a huge toy clean-out downstairs and in my kids' rooms, and now I'm working on the upstairs playroom, which will eventually be Sawyer's room when he decides he doesn't like bunking in with his parents.  My carpets have been shampooed, and I'm doing my best to actually hang up the laundry that I get clean.  I'm making a valiant effort to get the dishes into the dishwasher immediately since we no longer have pets to lick them clean for us.  (Joking.  Kind of.)

4. Get that freakin' leak fixed.  We have a leak of some sort.  It started in the kids' bathroom, and now it has spread to include the upstairs playroom/Sawyer's future bedroom.  It just keeps getting worse, and I'm tired of clumps of sheet rock falling on my kids while they're bathing.  Plus, I can't decorate and paint the room for Sawyer until that wall is fixed, and that means his toys and clothes and furniture will be perpetually stuck in my room until we fix this (Sawyer can sleep with us for as long as he wants,  but the million baby items need a home).  And by we, I mean Brandon's dad.  I have no shame in admitting that my husband and I have pretty much no handyman skills.

5. Pay off those medical bills.  They don't seem to be disappearing on their own.  Sigh...

6. Get some sleep.  I really could go to bed much earlier than I do now.  I have a tendency to stay awake "just until Sawyer nurses the next time."  That's my excuse for staying up, but the truth is that I really just enjoy the quiet time when all three kids are resting.  I want to soak up enough quiet to get me through the next day when chaos inevitably ensues.  And I want to watch television with adult humor and talk to my husband about his day and eat snacks without them being stolen by little grubby hands.  The problem is, I am a person who NEEDS sleep.  Lots of sleep.  Add two or three night feedings to my late bedtime, factor in my kids all waking with the sun, and you've got one grumpy mommy.  Coffee helps some, but not much.  Something's gotta give, and it can't be Sawyer's food.

7. Keep on breastfeeding!  I think it's always wise to have breastfeeding goals, not just when it's resolution time.  I always start out with small goals--get a latch, get my milk to come in well--and then they get bigger-- nurse a week, six weeks, 3 months, 6 months, a year, two years.  Three days from now, we'll be hitting our goal of 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding.  I love knowing that my chunky baby has been grown only on mommy milk thus far.  Soon we'll be introducing solids, and I want to make sure to keep it up through that.  He'll be turning one in July, and I want to keep on going through that.  We made it 16 months with Julia and two years with Brynn, and I'm hoping to make it that long with Sawyer.  My boobs are pretty awesome, and my goal is for them to keep up that level of awesomeness through at least the next year.

8. Get some blog followers.  Lots of people visit, and many keep coming back.  But only a few are following, and I don't know how to change that.  So I guess I should do some research.  You know, in my "free" time...

9. Learn to take a picture that doesn't suck.  Sawyer learned to sit up today, and my picture of it?  Kind of sucked.  My husband is great at photography, but he's not here during the day to capture all those moments.  I can do the point-and-shoot route, but I'd rather take a photo I'm proud to display.  I guess I'll learn in all that free time people think I have...

10. Tell my family that I love them every. single. day.  And then tell them again.  And then show them.  This one, I think I can accomplish.

Who Needs Sleep??

Uhm...me!

Miranda and Kimberly are doing Secret Mommyhood Confession Saturday today, and as that seems right up my alley (cause, let's face it, I've got tons to confess!), I'm jumping on board, too!

My confession is this:  I like sleep.  I like sleep a lot.  In fact, I'd say I'm in love with sleep.  It probably ranks number three in things I'm in love with, right behind my husband and kids.  See, the problem is, I have three kids ages four and under, so sleep is always a goal and not a promise. 
And here's my even bigger confession:  This love of sleep is why we co-sleep.  I would really love to say that I fully understood the benefits of co-sleeping when we began practicing it with our oldest daughter nearly five years ago.  I would love to take all the credit and say I researched it and decided to do it because it is shown to help babies regulate babies' respiration (it does) or keep their levels of cortisol low (yep) or encourages them to sleep on their backs or sides more than on their stomachs, which helps reduce SIDS deaths (that, too).  I wish I had been that cool of a mom, but honestly, I wasn't. 

When Julia was born in 2006, we had her nursery all set up months before her arrival.  We put a Pack-n-Play next to our bed, but we just thought that'd be where she would sleep when she first arrived home from the hospital or where we could put her for naps occasionally.  Imagine our surprise when we got home and she showed absolutely no interest in sleeping anywhere besides our arms or her car seat.  Almost immediately, she began bed-sharing with us.  This is obviously not for everyone, but it worked for her.  She later moved to the Pack-n-Play, and then a few months later would take naps in her crib and spent part of the night in there.  Once her little sister came along, she wanted nothing to do with sleeping in our bed anymore.  Cause that baby was LOUD.

Brynn was born in 2008, and she just didn't sleep.  Period.  She was colicky from the start.  I wish I could say that co-sleeping helped her, but nothing did.  We still had her next to us, but that's just because she woke up so often we would have been exhausted toting her from her nursery (which, again, we set up months before her birth) to our room, and we're lazy like that.  At about 18 months, when my kidneys were sick of being bludgeoned by her several times a night, we put her in her nursery, and (GASP!) she only woke up one time that night.  She liked the crib.  And since that gave me more sleep, I went with it.  We put an AngelCare monitor in there so I could be assured of her respiration from another room, and then we slept mostly through the night.

Enter Sawyer four months ago.  This time around, we didn't even bother with a nursery.  We knew better! (Side note: he will get a room of his own when he's ready, so don't feel sorry for him!)  Sawyer is a great baby.  He only wants to wake up to eat and then go back to sleep.

And did I mention that I'm lazy?  So he totally shares the bed with us. 
I have gotten more sleep with this kid than any of the others.  Before he can even fully awaken, I pop a boob in his mouth, he chows down, and we all settle back to sleep within a few minutes.  No getting out of the warm bed.  It.  Is.  Heaven.  (And also, this feeding on demand makes for chunky, healthy babies--Sawyer is 19 lbs. at 4 months!--and a great milk supply.)

When I want to check on his breathing, I just open my eyes or listen closely.  I have suffered from Postpartum Anxiety (PPA) with all my kids, so this actually helps me sleep, too.  Instead of convincing myself that I must stay awake and watch him sleep every second, I can allow myself to drift off knowing that it's easy to check on him and knowing that our breathing and sleep cycles will most likely be in sync.  Calm nerves are a good thing.

I must say that we are super-safe with our bed-sharing, and it works for us.  That means minimal covers on the bed, and they stay tucked in below a level where he can get to them.  That means pillows are kept far away from him, as well.  And obviously, parents can't be intoxicated and sleep with a baby, but that's not an issue here.  Believe it or not, we all have our own space in the bed.  When he becomes more mobile, we'll have to revisit where he'll sleep.  I'm guessing he'll move into the Pack-n-Play that we have situated next to our bed now (it did have a cradle piece in it that he liked, but alas, he outgrew it).  People sometimes get confused and say, "Hey, that's not co-sleeping!"  Yes, it is.  Co-sleeping just means within reaching distance.  Bed-sharing is actually sharing a bed.  Clever name, really.  And, as a disclaimer, I'm adding that THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!  Nor is it up for debate.  It is what it is.  I'm a mommy in the middle, remember?  I don't really care where you put your kid to sleep.  Honestly.  I just wish you good sleep.  And if you decide bed-sharing is for you, please be safe about it.

Now, when kids are older, sleep problems change.  Case in point: 

This is Julia's bed, which has now been transformed into a tent.  The tent is the only way she will stay in her bed at night.  It's a kind of a combo bribe/threat.  We bribed her by setting up the cool tent, and we've threatened to take it down if she doesn't just GO TO SLEEP, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

And Brynn?  The one who gave us the most trouble and the least sleep?
Well, she's a precious-darling-princess-of-a-sleeper now.  We lay her in her bed, cover her with her three favorite blankies, give her her Dumbo, and she's asleep within moments.

So, there's my confession.  I'll do anything for a few minutes of shut-eye.  We've got Julia's tent, Brynn's blankies and lovey, and Sawyer curled up next to us.  And in the middle of the night, everyone's quiet and happy and calm, and that's just how I like it.