Archive for the ‘other people are awesome’ Category

Mama had a night out.

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Posted 16 Jun 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category I am awesome, other people are awesome, paparazzi

Last Saturday night, my mother-in-law was kind enough to have Abby stay overnight so I could go out one night for adult beverages and some much needed time with my lady friends. We had so much fun, and I had my first hangover in a REALLY long time the next day. (McDonalds helped.)

We had sushi and then headed to a bar called Cafeteria in Uptown. It was much douchier than I had imagined, but we made the best of it. And then I posed on a diaper station.

This is what 2 glasses of champange and 3 beers will do to me.

 

Oh how I love my Martini.

2 Comments
Posted 15 Jun 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category Abigail, blog bidnass, motherhood, other people are awesome

I’m talking about my bestie, of course.

Please read her post about her weekend with Abby, the toddler:  They Grow Up So Fast These Days

Alpha Test: Complete.

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Posted 17 May 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category baby business, motherhood, other people are awesome

Welp – we survived the weekend away from home (read: AT A HOTEL) with Abby. She really handled the everything well. Even if the hotel provided a mini-pack-n-play as a “crib.” (Don’t try and call this a crib, people. If Abby had been 2 inches taller she would have been TOO LONG for this thing. RIDIC.) I pulled a mom-fail and left one of her blankies at the hotel (thank god her blankies come in packs of four) when we left, but other than that…no real issues!

SO, today I booked the rental car for our trip to San Francisco in NINE DAYS. I’m simultaneously getting more relaxed about it and yet continuing to freak out.

Example: I’ve made the decision (thanks to my Uncle Greg’s advice and others) that we will bring Abby’s carseat with us. And we’ll gate check it. I think.

See? See what I did there? I know we’re bringing the car seat but I’m still TOTALLY STRESSING about whether to check it with our bags or at the gate. Regardless, we’re going to be lugging our bags, carry-on(s), a toddler and a car seat through the airport.

Abby woke up at 4:30 this morning and I stayed awake after that thinking about it. About what to do with a car seat. Nine days before we leave. I’M LOSING SLEEP OVER CAR SEATS.

Tonight I’m being a baby-boomer-in-training and going to see The Cars at First Avenue. Where I will more than likely be hearing Ric Ocasek sing “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” while contemplating whether my back can handle toting a 26lb baby down Haight Street in an Ergo.

Song Obsession

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Posted 03 May 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category other people are awesome, RAD

I can’t get this song out of my head. It’s just gorgeous. It’s “Our Hearts Are Wrong” by Jessica Lea Mayfield. She’s so vintage looking, and this kind of reminds me of the Twin Peaks theme…which we all know is rad.

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The interwebs pull through again.

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Posted 12 Apr 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category house stuffs, I am awesome, other people are awesome, retail therapy

So, remember a few weeks ago I ordered that sassy bamboo dry erase board from CB2? And then it got here and was HUGE and I had to send it back?

Gwen, the designer of said bamboo boards and owner of Three by Three Seattle contacted me to let me know there’s only a billion (exaggeration) different sizes and options of their bamboo dry erase boards. I checked out their site and found THE PERFECT one for us. Gwen was kind enough to provide me with a discount code in exchange for a Facebook “Like” and I proceeded to add to cart.

My perfect little bamboo board came yesterday.

The Bamboo Butler

It came with mounting screws and a little dry erase pen. So, I went to the workbench downstairs, grabbed my drill & level and got to work. And after only one cut to the knuckle (who the hell knows how I managed to do that) it’s up and AWESOME.

 

View from the kitchen sink.

Up close.
Hell yeah I watch Idol.
And you are not invited to the makeout party.

It’s really everything I needed when I ordered the original one, and more. Now we have a place to put our keys that we will A) remember and 2) not have Abby be able to reach them and hide them in her play kitchen. She’s a sneaky one, that Abbers. It’s even got a little slot in the back to put mail or other documents you need to pay attention to. (I’m looking at you, hubs.)

Long story kind of long, I love it. It was super easy to hang and it looks killer.

Gwen is also being kind enough to extend a discount to you guys! Either “Like” Three by Three Seattle on Facebook or shoot me an email and I can whisper the secret code to your email. But, you should probably just “Like” them on Facebook anyway because they have cool, modern looking products that I know I want to keep tabs on…and you should too. You ARE my readers. I assume you have style.

The Fine Print: Gwen and the folks at Three by Three Seattle didn’t pay me or compensate me for this post. I don’t get anything if you get a discount code for yourself, except knowing I made your home that much more awesome.

For Getty.

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Posted 05 Apr 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category other people are awesome, please and thank you

As my friend Morgan put it, The internet is magic. Morgan, so are you.

Morgan and her pals in the band The Damnwells put together this album for a little baby girl named Getty, who has been diagnosed with SMA1, or spinal muscular atrophy. SMA is the number one genetic killer in children under the age of two. Beautiful Getty just turned one, the best birthday ever.

ALL proceeds of this album, Sweet Water Child: Lullabies for Getty will go to The Getty Owl Foundation, a newly established non-profit which Kate and Mark Storm set up in their daughter’s honor.

I’ve listened and really enjoy this album. I hope you’ll do the same.

It’s April 2nd. I’m not pregnant.

2 Comments
Posted 02 Apr 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category blog bidnass, I am awesome, other people are awesome

Oh interwebs. Pretending I was sparkle pregnant for a day was funny for me. I appreciate all the responses. Especially you, Mandy – because you were the first person I thought of when I posted this. :) Consider us still to be the official weathergals of BlogHer ’11. OOO. We need t-shirts. And The Weather Channel to be our sponsors.

I planned on putting a picture up of a smoking & drinking woman to prove my jokiness…and strangely enough, the majority of results are of smoking & drinking pregnant ladies. Uh, what? I’m not about to put one of those up. Unless it’s a picture of smoking & drinking pregnant me. Because HILARIOUS. ::side-eye::

Anyway – to sum up:

  • Not pregnant
  • I’m hilarious
  • I love you

My therapist made me do it.

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Posted 18 Mar 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category Abigail, house stuffs, I am awesome, marriage, motherhood, other people are awesome, retail therapy, TheRapists

I bought something online.

But it was necessary.

I visited my therapist this week and unloaded on her.  She agreed that the culmination of the past month’s events would be enough to send anyone over the edge, no less someone who’s very familiar with PPD/A.

Sometimes it just takes hearing it from someone else’s mouth to make it all the more easy to deal with.

I can’t control a lot of things, like when Abby gets sick, or when scary stuff happens at work. I CAN try to control other things, like how much sleep I get, or stopping myself from feeling overwhelmed.

So, we devised a plan which I later shared with the hubs about how we as a family can help me, the mama, not go off the deep end. One plan is how we handle our sleep situations when Abby’s sick (like alternating having someone sleep on the couch (and that person gets the uninterrupted sleep) every other night). Another is assigning chores and days to complete them for the house.  I left her office feeling optimistic; still on-edge, but optimistic. Once I finally got enough cojones to talk to the hubs (like I said before, I have communication issues) and we discussed things, I feel better.

Immediately, I knew what I had to do.

I had to buy this:

The bamboo dry erase board by CB2. I had the remnants of the gift card left after making our combined birthday purchase of this duvet. So, after docking the $35 I had left on there, this only cost me about $35 (with shipping).

I know, I broke my month long online shopping hiatus. But I really feel like this will be SO VERY HELPFUL in our kitchen so we’re both reminded of our daily chores. If we know I’m only going to do laundry on certain days of the week, I know it should all be downstairs near the washing machine or it’s not going to get done. And if the hubs sees that it’s Sunday night and he should take care of the recycling & garbage, then I wont’ have to be a nag. Hopefully, it’ll turn our house into a well oiled machine, instead of being on OSHA’s watch list with a manic, chocolate & wine inhaling micro-manager at the helm.

Not to mention this so much prettier than those ugly white dry erase boards. Am I right? Can I get a witness?

In any case, I will not buy anything else this month. And if I don’t, I’m still $165 richer than I was last month.

In other news? SNOW IS MELTING. ABBY IS GETTING BETTER. LIGHT AT THE END OF THE WINTER TUNNEL.

And I think this weekend we’re going to finally replace the point & shoot camera I lost on the way to Mexico earlier this year. (Hence the lack of cute Abbers videos lately.) Get ready to be bombarded by the cute.

La La Love You

4 Comments
Posted 15 Feb 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category marriage, other people are awesome, The Hubs

While most of my day yesterday was spent chasing after a nearly 16 month old with a kleenex and drool rag, the hubs and I did have reservations at a great restaurant called Spill the Wine. I had a delicious viognier hybrid of sorts while the hubs had a wine pairing for all 4 courses of his meal. It was an awesome night. The in-laws kept Abby overnight, which essentially resulted in me sleeping until 2:30am and then tossing and turning for the next 3.5 hours until my alarm went off. *sigh*

But dinner was good. As are the gorgeous roses the hubs surprised me with.

Yes, I am wearing a blanket & the hubs has a sweatshirt on his shoulders. We are classy. (photo from mexico)

Love you lots, my dear. Nine years of Valentine’s days. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Paging Dr. Ferber. (Nights 1 & 2)

3 Comments
Posted 29 Jan 2011 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category baby business, other people are awesome, paparazzi, RAD, The Hubs

Last night was the dreaded first night of sleep training. I’m not going to lie, I had butterflies in my stomach the minute I walked in the door after work.

Day One.

At 8:15, we got Abby ready for her bath where she played with her Yo Gabba Gabba bath toys, and got in her jammies. We sat on the couch, I read her Goodnight Moon, fed her a bottle and she was close to snoozing. I quickly got up and put her in her crib. (I admit, at this point I panicked because I just wanted it over with. In hindsight I would have read a book or two to her in her room in the rocking chair.) The minute I lowered her into her crib, it was hysterics turned up to 11. I said “Night night, I love you, time to sleep” and left the room with the door nearly closed.

I sat on the couch and looked at the clock. It was 9:03. I couldn’t go back in until 9:06. She was screaming “MAMMA! MAMMA!!” and crying harder than I’ve ever heard. I waited a bit and looked at the clock again. It was still 9:03. ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME. Tears started welling up in my eyes and I started posting on Twitter to distract myself. FINALLY it was 9:06. I went in, she got more hysterical for a moment, kept reaching for me and saying “DOWN! DOWN!” so I leaned into the crib, hugged her and laid her down again (which was a joke cause she was back up again in 2 nanoseconds), told her I loved her and left the room again. That’s when the gag-crying started. I knew it was going to happen. (She didn’t barf, THANK GOD.)

The hubs announced he wanted to take the next one, which was good since she’d given up on asking for MAMMMMAAAAAAAAA and had moved on to DAAAAAADDDAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! It was 9:08…he had to wait 5 minutes this time. It was still horrible, but then she started getting quiet. We’d peek on her video monitor and she’d be down. We’d look at each other in anticipation, and just like that she’d stand up and start screaming again. Then down & quiet. Then up and screaming. It got to be 9:13 and she was still crying sort of but not really. The hubs went in and it started up all over again, except when he left, she was quiet and asleep within 5 minutes. It was 9:20.

Abbers after a good night's sleep

She stayed asleep all night and didn’t wake up until 7:30 this morning.

Day Two.

"you have no idea I'm not going to get a good nap today."

Abby did not nap much today as we were out running errands during her prime nap times, resulting in a couple cat naps totaling maybe 25 minutes. It got to be about 5:30 and she was passing out, so we reluctantly let her catch a couple z’s WAY later than normal.

getting ready for bathtime

I made dinner, the hubs gave Abbers her bath around 8:30, she had her bottle in the living room and instead of getting sleepy like she did last night, she asked to be put down. NOT GOOD. I picked her up and brought her into her room, where I had a stack of books waiting, along with dimmed lights and a glass of coping medicine for mamma (read: wine).

The setup.

I read books to her for 25 minutes until she FINALLY seemed tired, kissed her, said goodnight and laid her in her crib. She immediately stood up and started screaming, but before I could even get the monitor from our room to ready myself in the living room, it was quiet. SHE WAS ASLEEP. WITHIN 15 SECONDS.

It’s 11:21 and she’s still asleep.

Now, I fully expect a relapse night or something because (and by saying this I’m sealing our fate) this was WAY too easy. And/plus/also WHY DIDN’T WE DO THIS SOONER? It went a lot like people said. The first night was the hardest and also why didn’t we do this sooner? I mean, I know we didn’t because of holidays and being away…but we really should have done this MONTHS ago.

I’m so glad we did it. Even if the next few nights are hard…I’m so very glad.

Thank you everyone for words of encouragement and advice over the past few weeks.

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