Toy Takeover! What happened to my living room?

Now that Easton is 5 months old he loves to play!  He is learning to use his hands and his coordination is quite entertaining to watch.   He often looks at his own hands as he opens and closes them, scratches at things and tries to shove his entire fist into his mouth- Delicious!

For Christmas he got loaded up with new toys.  I thought, "how cute" and bought and assembled a special shelf for his room to display the toys on (true Carly fashion right there!).  What I didn't take into account is that lugging the toys from the "cute shelf" out to the living room every five minutes is super annoying.  Thus the toy takeover has begun!

I remember 5 months ago when my living room was spotless (if my own mom is reading this she probably is picking her jaw off the ground, shaking her head and thinking ya right, it's only spotless if she cleans it, but hey I have a "selective" memory lol).   Now every nook and cranny is packed with toys.   It started off innocently enough.  I would bring out A (singular) toy for Easton to play with.  Then I would put it back.  Then it grew into a small toy area on the fireplace next to the box of doggie toys.  Shockingly Otis knows the difference between his toys and the baby toys.

Next, I was able to get rid of the swing but swapped it for a bouncy seat.  Then Easton grew into his walker toy, so that gets parked next to the bouncy seat, across from the fireplace toybox.   Then we moved his pack and play into the living room which is squeezed next to the tv, next to the bouncy seat.   Did I mention he also has a little baby playmat jungle gym too?!  Ahhhh! 

In addition to all of his "gear"- we often store the baby carrier on the dining room table next to the high chair which is home to several bibs and toys to occupy his during dinner.  My favorite is when I'm laying on the couch and am like, "ooh what's stabbing me from under the cushions?!"  Oh of course a set of baby keys! LOL

Every night I have to do an entire sweep of the house to help with the toy takeover.   Clear the coffee table of bottles, pacifiers, a bib or two, check the cushions, push the walker and bouncer back to it's corner parking lot and shove the basket of clean baby laundry to it's hiding spot next to the couch.  AND of course put all of the doggie toys away.  They love the "Baby Stuff" (see pic below!)

 Funny thing is- though I miss my "aspiring pottery barn" style living room I can't imagine it any other way than littered with Easton stuff.  I mean look at him?!  Hugging his little moose toy- god he is so cute!  I'm sure in 20 years when I get my living room back, I'll be wishing it was still covered in his baby things :-)

Meet the Modern Day Mommy

I got the chance to sit down with the hosts of eightWest to talk about my baby boy, my blog and my new role on WOTV 4 Women as the Baby Expert.

Blog Confessional: Mommy Mistakes- Whoops!

I'm learning that little "Mommy Mishaps" simply happen.  A good mommy friend and I just had a vent session over how easy it is to feel like the worst mom in the world.  So in order to clear my conscious I'm going to have a little blog-confessional. Here goes:

MOMMY MISTAKE: Over-achiever attitude

I'm rushing out the door for work.  I've got the stupid heavy baby carrier in one hand with my laptop bag slung over my shoulder and my purse in the other hand.   Right on cue the over-excited bulldog shoves his way past my feet and tries to escape out the backdoor.  As I yell at him and try to use the baby carrier as a barrier my laptop bag slides off of my shoulder and lands (you guessed it) directly on the baby's lap.    I scream a blur of cuss words and drop to the ground to make sure little man is ok.  I think the swearing scared him more than anything because he looked startled but thank god- unhurt.

MOMMY LESSON LEARNED: Make two trips.   Always ignore the dumb dog.

MOMMY MISTAKE: Bundling blunder

I wasn't so crazy about bundling up the baby at first until my mom finally sternly looked at me and said, it's cold and this kid needs to be in his snowsuit/blanket ect.  I think I may have taken it too far.   I started putting Easton in his fuzzy bear suit (hooded snow suit type thing),  a winter hat AND covering him in a blanket. (writing this now I think I sound like a crazy Eskimo mother!)  I take him to the Dr. for his checkup and they are like- he has a fever!   What?!  Come to find out they recheck him again and I had bundled him soooo much that his temperature temporarily spiked.  


MOMMY LESSON LEARNED: It's west Michigan, not Antarctica.  A coat and hat is suffice.

MOMMY MISTAKE: Hydration Overload

So when Easton got his first cold the Doctor recommended keeping him warm (see "bundling blunder") and hydrated.  Since he only drinks to begin with I thought my best bet was to give him a little bit of a bottle every hour or two instead of a few larger feedings every three hours. But Easton was a little piggy and kept trying to chug way more than he should have.   To say the least the poor little guy got sick 2 times in the night.


MOMMY LESSON LEARNED: Don't put 4 ounces in a bottle when you only want him to eat 1-2.

Bulldogs and baby baths.

 I don't know what it is about baby baths that our bulldog loves so much.  He personally doesn't enjoy his own bath nearly as much as he loves Easton's.  Maybe it's the lavender scented water that he tries to slurp, or the blue whale bathtub that he wants to soak his giant paws in.

Here is a little look into our most recent bath night...

Me: "Adam can you get Easton's bath ready?"

Otis- Ears perk up.  "Did she say bath?!"  Otis jumps up from his cozy spot on the couch (where he is NOT supposed to be), leaving his half chewed rawhide behind and trots behind Adam to the bathroom.

Otis takes his big bulldog head and shoves the door open and bullies his way in as Adam fills the blue whale baby tub with nice warm water.  "oooh a bath, perfect ending to a rough doggie day of barking out the window and running around the backyard barking at the neighbors," he likely thinks.

Adam grabs the baby soaps and bubble bath while Otis hovers in-between his feet.

"Get out of the way OTIS!"  Adam Screams.  Otis who is unfazed patiently waits for the show to get underway.

I enter the bathroom baby in hand.  I attempt to spread the towel out onto the floor to get Easton undressed.   Just as I get it- Otis flops onto the fresh towel like he's utterly exhausted from all of the excitement.

"Get out of the way!  Adam get Otis!"

Adam grabs Otis by the collar but Otis bobs and weaves to escape his angry grasp.  Finally too frustrated to care Adam lets him slip away while I continue to undress Easton, hoping he doesn't decide to take aim at me while his diaper is off.

Just as I get him settled into the tub I feel a big bulldog head plop onto my leg accompanied by a big "SNORT".  I just roll my eyes and we continue.  Adam always is the "washer" and I'm what I like to refer to as, "The Entertainer".  I get to try and make Easton laugh, splash his hands in the water and shower him with "rain drops" (coolest bath toy ever).  Before I know it Otis is involved.

He is helping to clean the baby by licking his hair.  "OTIS!"   He then points his sad puppy eyes at me as to say, "what? I'm just trying to help."   Then he's slurping lavender scented water as a little mid-bath cocktail.  "OTIS!"  Next he's trying to soak his paws by stepping into the baby tub with Easton in it.  "OTIS!"

Meanwhile Easton is just cooing and squealing in excitement watching this circus unfold.  He splashes Otis and tries to reach out to touch his puppy face (which is seriously a centimeter from his own).  Easton grabs at him while Otis licks his baby hands trying to clean him and enjoy a few more drops of bath water all at the same time.  "Thank god I'm here," he thinks.  "These two have no clue how to clean this kid!"

Otis exhausted from his hardwork heads back to his cozy couch to get some much needed rest and chew his bone.  "What would they ever do without me?" Otis thinks as drifts of to doggy dreamland.

Baby Milestone: First Feeding

We got the green light from the doctor to start Easton on rice cereal.  I was so excited.  We went to Meijer and bought him a baby spoon and bowl and of course the cereal.   We took the highchair out of the basement closet and got that put together.  I'm a little frustrated (and feel dumb)  that we can't figure out how to lift up the tray.... seriously why do they try and make it so tough for new parents with this baby gear!

I of course had to video his big moment so here it is!  I thought I'd share because he's really into and making some cute faces that I thought you might enjoy.   Overall he ate the whole portion that I mixed up and seemed to LOVE it.  One step closer to being a big boy!   Check out the video and enjoy Easton's milestone moment.

4 Months of "Ah-HA!" moments...

1.  Baby poop doesn't smell THAT bad.

2.  Baby poop WILL smell worse later (i.e. solid foods) who knew?! 

3. Breastfeeding is a MAJOR commitment that no one prepares you for.

4. Babies are bendy and their arm will not break when you try to squeeze them into their winter coat.

5. Babies hate when you bend their arm to squeeze them into their winter coat.

6.  Baby Einstein videos will entrance a baby for exactly 32 minutes (or anyone on drugs)

7. A "Sleep Sheep" is not just for babies it puts parents to sleep too.

8. Watching your baby on a video monitor is like your own personal version of reality TV.

9. Sleep is for wussies.

10. If you hated doing the laundry before having a baby- just you wait!

11. Don't kid yourself- your food will get cold before you ever get a chance to eat it.

12. A growing baby gets to wear a new outfit a total of 3 times before they grow out of it.

13. If you are excited to dress your baby in a new outfit- he/she will poop or pee on it in the first 5 min.

14. Grandparents RULE!

15. "We have a kid?"  seriously?

16. Babies ARE expensive! (when people want you to have a baby they say, " it's not that expensive"- liars!)

17. We have the CUTEST baby on earth.

18. Easton will of course be the most popular boy in school ;-)

19. Easton eats like his dad and Uncle Derek.  I'm in serious trouble!

20. Being a mom is pretty awesome.

My Momzilla Moment of the Week.

There's no real training to prepare you for motherhood.  You just get thrown into the mix the day they hand you the baby and it's go-time!  Your life becomes a three-ringed circus and you are the new ringmaster.  Before you know it you can tackle any task with your right or left hand, you find your normally wimpy self being able to lug a 30 pound baby carrier in high heels and somehow, by the grace of god, you can even get dinner on the table most nights. 

It's all a big juggling act and I never want to "drop the ball"  as a mom.  In turn I think I'm turning into a momzilla obsessing over every little thing. This proves it...

My Momzilla Moment of the week:  

     Easton wakes up from his nap the other day and feels a little warm.  Perhaps it was the fleece blanket or the snugly pajamas, but I immediately jump into momzilla mode and decide it must be fever and I need to take his temperature. (I often think this and take his temp. all the time).

If you have a baby you know they hate the thermometer and trying to get it perfectly placed under his arm (because I'm totally uncomfortable putting it elsewhere) and keep it there is a nightmare.   I manage to get him undressed and pull his little baby arm from his long-sleeved onsie all while he has a total screaming meltdown.   I try to sing all sorts of weird made up songs that you find yourself singing as a mom while trying to squish his arm to his body and not move the thermometer.  After several minutes of waiting (can't these things beep?!) I go to check it, fully expecting the worst.  The first reading came back normal, instead of being relieved I totally questioned it and thought- "it's broken- I know it!."

So..... I took my own temperature to see what it said.  Huh- came back normal.  Was I satisfied? NOPE!  I took his temperature, and my own, with 3 other digital thermometers!  Needless to say he and I both are both perfectly healthy physically.  I might be mentally losing it ;-)