7 Quick Takes (Mostly Good Decisions Edition)

--- 1 ---

Last week, I did a quick take about how we were starting cry-it-out with our baby, based on a method in a certain book. The method uses check-ins at certain intervals that increase in time each night. I go in there and confidently but softly say the same phrase. I say, "Your mommy loves you and knows that you can get yourself to sleep. Goodnight, sweetheart." Then I walk out and start the timer again (stopwatch on my phone so we don't have to hear the microwave beep).

It worked. I've been tweeting about our success all week. But now I see why CIO is so popular. Because it freakin' works. And rather quickly, at that. I feel so much happier and less stressed and just a better person all around. I also have all the tools ready for weaning since we changed up her nursing schedule to when she wakes up (and before we put her in pj's for night time). She nurses 4 times a day now, and she's still waking at night, but I just do the method and play this game on my Kindle during it. She goes back down, and then I do too.

Best parenting decision I've ever made. I wish we would have done this 3 months ago. Really.

--- 2 ---

Here is a picture of her sleeping during one of her naps. Hooray!

--- 3 ---

Last week I also posted about how I bought the invitations to her first birthday party through Shutterfly because they sent me a $20 credit. I feel like such an idiot because I didn't look at a calendar. The party is a week from tomorrow, and the invitations still have not made it to me. And then I still have to send them to the guests. And there's a government holiday on Monday. So basically I made sure everyone invited already knows the details. Good ol' PPP draggin' me down again. The least I could have done was have Shutterfly send them to the recipients. Lesson learned.

--- 4 ---

Who has two thumbs and finally joined the 21st century? This gal. Only 13 years late. I got my first-ever mp3 player this week.

I had never felt the need for one before, as my car has a 6-CD changer and no auxiliary plug (or tape deck, since that's what my husband uses for his). Oh, and I don't do smartphones because I don't want to pay for it. But I wanted something to take to the gym here (my old gym back in FL had TV on each machine, so I just brought headphones and watched Say Yes to the Dress or whatever). But now I have the real deal that I can listen to audiobooks, music, and even FM radio on. My Kindle wasn't exactly very easy to deal with while running around the track (not like I ever tried).

I even downloaded all the rosaries!

--- 5 ---

In the same order from Amazon, I also got some real gloves that may actually keep my hands warm out in the snow.

I know they sell these in stores, but all the stores I checked only carried boring black. This gal needs some pink!

I haven't needed them yet, since it was a very pleasant 40ish degrees yesterday. Soon, though.

--- 6 ---

Did you catch my blog post earlier this week about the best thing I've ever won? It involves five thousand dollars. Yeah, you read that correctly. Go check it out for yourself.

--- 7 ---

How 'bout another picture?

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

What Would You Do?

What would you do if you won $5,000?

Now what if you had to use all of that money to help others?

And what if all of it had to go toward helping teachers in public schools?

I ask this not because I'm really all that keen to hear your answers (sorry), but because it happened. To me. Yes, thanks to Bing Rewards I won FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, all of which had to be spent on DonorsChoose. DonorsChoose.org is a website where public school teachers can post projects and request materials for their classrooms and anyone can donate to them. I had found this site a year or two ago, and my sister who teaches second grade at high poverty school back in Georgia has posted a few projects, which have been funded in various ways. When I won this, I was so excited to call her up, and I told her to post a few more!

I apparently only had a limited time to use the money, or else DonorsChoose would pick random projects to fund. I posted on Facebook to see if my friends had projects. I gave to friends, friends of friends, people on  internet message boards, and a handful of completely random strangers. I went through all the places I've lived before and picked projects to fund in each. There were none listed for any schools I have actually attended, so I picked some others in my hometown. And then I gave my sister-in-law very large gift card for the site at Christmas. I think she got an iPad for the Special Ed. kids she teaches, and I'm sure it will be a great tool for them.

For most of the projects, I gave as "Anonymous Donor," and I'm pretty sure the recipients saw me as:

But I felt more like:

I've won some cool stuff in the past, even blogged about one of the best ones here, but I think this one tops them all. It was so fun helping all of those classrooms!

7 Quick Takes (Sick and Not in Bed Edition)

--- 1 ---

Last night I decided to ask B to start doing the first wake-up with the baby so I could sleep and hopefully she would start night-weaning. At 11:30pm, all I heard was screaming. Creaking floors. And then screaming some more. After about 20 minutes, B came in and said, "Maybe we shouldn't start this night-weaning thing when she's sick?" I nursed her back to sleep in about 10 minutes.
Point taken.
(We've all had a case of the sniffles this week, but I think we're almost recovered.)

--- 2 ---

So as much as I didn't want to, I think we may be starting a cry-it-out soon. (Yes, I just said a whopping 2 days ago that I don't do this.) I probably wouldn't do it on a baby less than 6 months old, but she's 11 months old and I have so many regrets on how we've been getting her to sleep for the past 8 months or so. I mean, she only napped in her swing for 6 months. Just...yikes.

I was trying to find a different book on the library website and stumbled upon this one:  5 Days to a Perfect Night's Sleep for Your Child. It was available for the Kindle, so I figured why not? We're going down to Indy for the weekend, but whatever this book says will be implemented starting Monday.

I have already read No-Cry Sleep Solution, and honestly, that one just looked like it took too much work. Between having visitors/teething/staying at the in-laws' house for the week of Christmas/teething again/being sick, it was impossible to start logging for 10 days to see any consistency. Also, No-Cry made me feel like I was ahead of the game since it talked a lot about co-sleeping babies who wake like 8 times a night. We have 2 wakings, but some of those we're up for over an hour, and that's when I start losing my mind.

--- 3 ---

Okay, enough about sleep. Baby Cora started swim lessons this week. Okay, I guess we BOTH are doing them, since she's not even a year old. We learned about "kicks and scoops," blowing bubbles, and I learned lots of fun things to do with her in the water. She did really well for her first lesson. She loved the pool down in Florida, so I had no doubts about this.

--- 4 ---

B gave me a belated Christmas gift (yes, it was beyond Epiphany at that). He originally got me us a heater for our bedroom since it's so cold in there, but he said that I deserved a gift for myself, too. I think it has to do with his commute. The exit where he works only has two things on it: the GM plant where he works, and the Vera Bradley headquarters. Since he wasn't planning on getting me a truck, I guess he thought this was a good idea:

a wallet, and it's in Georgia colors!

For what it's worth, I never actually asked him for Vera Bradley anything, so this was a neat surprise. (I had mentioned going to the big outlet sale they do here every spring though, to stock up on gifts or get some deals for friends. Still looking forward to that!)

--- 5 ---

I'm going to see Jersey Boys tomorrow! My in-laws had an extra ticket for the matinee, and they knew I'd be interested. B will be doing his Reserve thing, and baby will be left in the hopefully-capable hands of B's littlest brother and his girlfriend. Yes, my babysitters are high-schoolers. I'm sure they'll be fine. If anything, B gets off work at 4ish and will be home to rescue her.

--- 6 ---

I'm starting to plan my little princess's first birthday party! I've settled on a pink and brown 'theme' and even got one of B's relatives to let us use their house since our apartment is too small. I had an invitation made up on Wal-Mart's website and was about to get it printed, but then my friends at Shutterfly sent me a $20 credit in my email. Jumping ship has never been so easy!

--- 7 ---

She looks so classy in her blazer.
She was also rocking skinny jeans with a big cloth-diapered booty.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!