Operation: Sleep Schedule

Two nights ago, I finally got fed up enough with how we've been sleeping (or, not sleeping, as the case may be), and I decided it was time to enforce a sleep schedule. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Well, I do know why. When my son was smaller, I hated letting him "cry it out". He's so stubborn, he'd cry for two hours straight and still not be tired. However, two nights ago, I decided that it was time, even if it meant he'd need to cry it out. Around 10 pm when he was still very much awake, I put him in a fresh diaper and jammies, tucked him into his toddler bed (which is still in our bedroom), read him a story twice, and said goodnight. There were many tears and loud protestations and banging on doors from his side of things. He managed to get out of the room once, so I calmly walked him back in and put him back in his bed. I had the baby monitor on, so I could hear the whole thing. At one point, I had to hold the door closed, so he could get the idea that he was to stay in the room. I felt equal parts guilty for shutting him up like that and glad that I was finally doing something I should have done a long time ago. Amazingly enough, he quieted down after about 45 minutes. I came into the room later to find him asleep in our bed. Apparently, he'd climbed into it during his crying fit. I moved him to his own bed and went to sleep. He woke up and came over to our bed twice in the night, and both times, I walked him back to his own bed and explained that that was where he was to sleep from now on. He stayed there until about 9:30 in the morning! Yesterday night, with some help from my husband (who'd been gaming with friends the night before), I enforced the ten o'clock bedtime again. And, again, there was much crying and banging on doors. Actually, I think there was more, and it was much louder! However, he did manage to quiet down and go to sleep, again, in our bed. We moved him to his own, and although he woke up a couple of times last night, he never moved from his bed. Also, over the last few days, he's been taking pretty consistent naps. What a difference it's made in my little guy! He seems to be happier, and though he still has the cough from a lingering cold, it doesn't seem to be as bad as it was before. Since we've had such success, we did it again, this evening. He started showing signs of being sleepy at around 9:30, so I decided to start the routine a little earlier. I changed his diaper and clothes, helped him brush his teeth, tucked him into bed, and read him a story. From the first mention of "night-night time" from me, he started crying, but he went along with it. He even lay down in his bed, even though he was still pretty upset with me. He only listened to the story half-heartedly, and it when it was time for me to kiss him goodnight, the tears flowed again. I closed the door and stood in the hallway to make certain he'd stay in the room. I heard a lot of "Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy" over and over, but no banging on doors. I think he actually stayed in his bed this time! I guess B and I will find out when we go to bed in a little bit. We've had the monitor on, and he has awakened at least once crying and coughing, but it hasn't taken him long to settle himself back down. I feel the need to go and check on him, but I really want him to learn to fall asleep on his own and stay asleep through the night. I think it'll make a world of difference for all of us. I know it was a big mistake not to start him on a sleep schedule earlier in life, but hey, I'm not a perfect mommy, and it's never too late to learn from our mistakes! Hope you're all getting more sleep, too.
Best,
Amanda
P.S. B just came down to tell me that V's asleep in his own bed! He also told me that I may need to turn one of our bathroom lights on low, so V has a little light in the room when he goes to sleep. I guess I didn't realize how dark it gets in there with the door closed, because we always keep it open with a nightlight on in the hallway. Oops! Poor little guy. No wonder he hates "night-night time". Well, now I know.

Ride 'Em, Cowboy!

My sewing teacher asked me last week if I wanted to make something for my son during my next sewing lesson. She had a cute pattern for a denim cowboy vest, and I was immediately excited about finding the fabrics and notions, because it included adding fringe and fun buttons to the front. Like my last sewing lessons, I was able to get the vest finished with help from my teacher, and I added the fringe and buttons at home this evening. V immediately put it on and posed for pictures. He thought it was great fun to pretend to be a cowboy, though the only thing I have remotely close to a "horse" for him to ride is my moose-shaped footstool. The outside of the vest is a lightweight denim. The inside is lined with a blue calico fabric printed with darker blue stars. I'm not sure what the fringe is made of, but it looks like faux suede and feels like very thin velvet. I really loved the buttons when I found them. They look like old-fashioned star badges. I had some extra fabric before I went to my lesson because I'd found a great calico fabric with a bandanna print last Friday. I decided to sew some of that fabric into a small square that, when folded in half, can be worn as a bandanna. It was a little too small for V's neck, but it fit my moose just fine!

It Has Begun...

A little while back, I posted about a crazy idea I had rattling around in my brain. Well, today, I made it happen! I had a little more time on my hands, since V woke up not feeling the best, and we decided to stay home instead of go to the scheduled meet up event for my moms' group. While cleaning the house, I started thinking about what I might do, and then, I just did it! Behold: "Ask The OB's Wife"! I've already posted the answer to the question, "Why Do Men Become OB/GYNs?", since I wrote a guest post on the subject recently. If you have any specific questions or comments you'd like to send my way, feel free to leave them in the comments section of my new blog or email them to me at asktheobswife@gmail.com. I'll continue to update this blog on all things related to my little family. Thanks for reading!
Best,
Amanda

Little Suzie Homemaker

At the risk of turning this into an "All About Sewing" blog, I'd like to share a couple of my more recent sewing projects. I've mentioned my great teacher before. Her plan for my lessons has been really wonderful, because I've come home after each session with a completed project. Last week, she wanted me to learn some "precision" cutting and sewing. I made a 4-in-1 place mat, which is basically a cloth book with four pages and no spine, so it can lay flat. Each time you turn a "page" of the place mat, it represents a different holiday/season. You'll have to see the pictures below to understand what I mean. There was no pattern for the project. She had seen someone sell something similar at a craft fair and came up with her own design. I made the place mat out of some nice looking cotton fabric I found in a holiday fabric clearance sale at Hobby Lobby. I learned a lot from this lesson, especially about how I need lots of practice in the cutting and sewing straight departments! My seams aren't always the greatest, but they just remind me that I'm still learning. I'm also learning about patience and about how nobody's perfect. Basically, I'm learning to forgive myself my imperfections and to live with my flaws (in my projects and myself)! How freeing that lesson can be! I was only able to make one complete place mat during last week's session, but I have a second one pinned and ready to sew whenever my sewing machine is available (I've been leaving it at my teacher's home, so I don't have to lug it back and forth every week). My teacher told me it usually takes her seven or eight times before she gets a project down perfectly, so I felt good knowing that even with all her experience, she still needs to practice. My lesson for this week was sewing in "tunnels", or, basically, hems. I made a pair of VERY baggy pajama pants out of an awesome camo fleece I found on sale at Hancock Fabrics. I went ahead and made them size medium instead of small because I never know if I'll shrink something too much in the washing machine. Plus, pajama pants are supposed to be comfy and baggy! Again, I learned I need more practice with cutting straight and sewing straight. My hems are quite wonky, but really, I can only tell if I look really closely at them. The main thing is the pants came together just fine, and I can wear them around the house with pride! My teacher used a pattern for beginners, but unfortunately, I didn't get the name of it to share with you. Next week, my teacher wants me to make a raglan top from another pattern she owns to go with the pants. I have lots of the camo fleece left for the sleeves, so I just need a contrast fleece for the bodice part of the top. I can't wait to get to the fabric store to see what I can find! I think sewing has become my new obsession! And, just as an aside, I've noticed so many young, modern women getting into the "textile arts" recently. I read on a friend's blog that she's taken up knitting along with some of her other mommy friends. Also, my moms' group has scheduled several different crafty events this month. Some of the moms got together to learn how to crochet last week, and in a couple of weeks, we'll be having two different sewing meet-ups. I'm really looking forward to working with (and possibly helping) the other moms.

The following pictures show the four "sides" of my place mat. I can use it for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter/Springtime.





And, here are the back and front of my lounge pants. The camo fleece has a surprise within the pattern: butterflies! It's so much fun!



Hope I've inspired you to create something new!
Best,
Amanda

Il Divo and "Amazing Grace"

If you've never heard the group Il Divo sing, then here's your chance:

Four hot guys with beautiful, operatic voices singing at one of the most breathtaking venues ever. What's not to love? (Thanks to my MIL for e-mailing me the link, this morning.)
Have a great day!
Best,
Amanda

My New Crazy Idea...

When I started this blog way back when, I wanted to make it a forum for other spouses of physicians and their thoughts and questions about married life. Well, things change as they always do, and it's now become a blog about my personal life with my son and husband with an occasional aside about living with his career. After I wrote my guest post for my friend Momma Bear recently, I received an e-mail from another mommy friend telling me I should save this blog for my personal life stuff and write a completely different blog entirely on the subject of being married to a male OB/GYN. Both of these moms are currently doing something similar. Momma Bear has her personal blog and another on potager gardening, which is one of her passions. My other mommy friend, who blogs about her life at Glass of Whine, just started a second blog all about things to do in Columbus, Ohio, with your kids. You can check it out at cBus Mom. After K sent me the e-mail with the idea of writing two blogs, I've spent some time pondering it and wondering if there are other people (especially other women) who would be interested in what I have to say and would actually read it. My guest blog post on the subject seemed to go over fairly well to my surprise. I told K that since B became a doctor, and particularly, an OB/GYN, it has become such a common place thing to me that I never really thought about what it must look like from someone else's point of view. So, if I do decide to start another blog on life as the wife of a male OB/GYN, I'd like to get some ideas from all of my readers here. What types of questions would you want me to answer? What types of things would you want me to discuss? Please leave your questions in the comments section of this post, and if I have a good response, I may just go ahead and start a second blog. Thanks in advance (especially for reading this blog)!
Best,
Amanda

My First Sewing Project

I started taking sewing lessons over two weeks ago, and I've been having a blast with it. My teacher is just amazing, and we were able to finish my very first sewing project during my second lesson. It helped that we had gone over the pattern during my first lesson, and that I had laid it out and cut out the pieces at home before the second lesson. I was surprised at how everything from high school Home Ec class and 4-H came back to me, though it still took me about four hours to lay out everything and cut the fabric pieces. I was a little nervous doing it on my own at home without my teacher there to answer any questions, but I managed okay. Once I got to my lesson, we looked over the instructions, and while I pinned and sewed pieces together, she helped iron seams and pull some pieces inside out. We managed to get the project completely sewn when we realized that the pillow part of the project had been sewn onto the blanket backwards! I'm such a perfectionist sometimes, and I worried that I would have to leave it that way, forgetting that there are ways to fix such things. Luckily, my teacher's pretty laid back, and she asked if I wanted to stay late, so we could rip out the seams together, pin the pillow onto the blanket the correct way, and sew it again. I'm so happy I did stick around because in the end, I was so proud of the finished product and of myself for actually finishing what I had started--something I haven't done in a while! Below are some pictures of the "quillow", as my teacher calls it. It's a fleece blanket that folds up and tucks into an attached "pillowcase", so it looks like an over-sized pillow when it's all put together. For those interested, we used Simplicity Pattern #4745--Fleece Blankets and More. Though the pattern and instructions were a little confusing to us (and it's called a "Sewing for Dummies" project, for goodness sakes!), I still think the whole thing turned out great! I made Blanket D from the pattern.

The front of the pillow. There's a big surprise hidden inside!


The back of the pillow, which is actually the back side of the blanket.


V helps me demonstrate how to pull the folded blanket out of the pillow.


If you turn the blanket over, look what's on the other side...


Kitties! Lots and lots of kitties! And, yes, the blanket covers the entire front of our recliner!


Here's a closeup of this awesome fleece fabric. Some of the cats are vicious!


My teacher and I have discussed a plan for my upcoming lessons. I'm going to work on my sewing skills by making such items as place mats, lounge pants, and other "easy" projects. Hopefully, by the time summer rolls around, I'll have enough experience to tackle something like a "Lord of the Rings"-type costume (an Elven cloak and dress) for Gen Con Indy. My teacher makes capes, cloaks, and costumes and sells them on eBay, so with her help, I think I'll actually be able to do it!
Best,
Amanda