FAQ?

So I have been getting a lot of requests lately for an FAQ page.... Except I have no idea what I would put in an FAQ page.

Its the same reason I avoid doing an "about me" page.

I feel like everyone else has it pretty cut and dry:

Hi my name is _____. I'm married to my best friend _____. He is the most amazing man in the world. We have an amazing baby named ____ born on _____. We have the most amazing life ever and I couldn't be happier.

Thats the basic format for like 99.62% of "about me's" in the blogger world.

I don't really know how to sum up my life in that small amount sentences. I feel like it would just leave people with more questions then answers.

I digress. FAQ Page.

So if those of you who have inquired about the FAQ page could be so kind as to clue me in on the kind of questions you would like answered I would be ever grateful!

(If you have any questions that you aren't comfortable posting, but wanted to chat about, feel free to email me!)

LASTLY---- Today is the last day for the Posh Green Goods Giveaway! ENTER ENTER ENTER and the winner will be announced later this week!

You Can Totally Vote for Us if You Want

Wordless Wednesday...Blue is his best color

I Needed a Change.

You know when your just stuck in rut. Around everything.

Well I have been like that, more or less, since Cruz was born.

Like I've said before, I get dressed (out of my PJ's) like once, MAYBE twice a week.

Makeup? Ha. I wear that even less then I shower, which is not as often as I would like (or care to share).

So, yesterday I decided I just wanted a change. I needed to get out of this year long style rut.

And at 9:00pm I decided to dye my hair. In my bathroom. By myself.

It was...messy to say the least.

But I kind of love it.

I hate, hate, hate taking pictures of myself. With Cruz in them, its fine, but when I'm all alone I just feel a little vain. But for demonstration purposes, I did. Using photobooth on my computer. In starbucks. Just a little awkward. I tried to make sure nobody knew what I was doing...

So forgive the very awful, awkward facial expressions.

 I know that you really appreciate looking up my nose....

 

 Here is a picture from when it was blonde... and Cruz was very, very little. Its funny, in my mind, he is still this little. Sad face. 

 And just cuz he was so cute (still is)

 

Also, thanks to everyone for the wonderful advice and encouragement on my little dilemma. You ladies have given me some fantastic ideas as well as reassurance in my self and my son. 

Also, also, dont forget to enter the POSH GREEN GOODS GIVEAWAY. It ends in a few days!

Dilemma

Since Cruz was 4 days old he has slept in my bed with me. We didn't co-sleep in the hospital or on our first night in our home. But that quickly changed as I realized how much more sleep I got when I could just roll over and stick a boob in Cruz's mouth vs having to get up, nurse him back to sleep, gently, gently try to place him in his bassinet and then do the whole thing over again in 45 minutes.

So co-sleeping has always been what worked best for us. And people have always had VERY mixed reviews on it. Actually, most people I know where pretty against it. Papa's family warned us of all the people they knew that had rolled onto their babies in the night. Others told me that I was setting up a terrible sleep pattern and that he would never be able to sleep without me. And I worried like crazy in the beginning. I was sooo afraid that I would roll on him. Or he would suffocate in the pillows. I used to limit Papa to one pillow and a compilation of thin sheets that had to pass my rigorous "breathing" test (basically I would wrap the sheet around my face in as many ways as I could think of and make sure that I could still breath in case, heaven forbid, Cruz ever got one over his face.)

And, actually, it was Papa who was my greatest comfort in co-sleeping. Neither of us had planned to do so before Cruz was born. And I was constantly wracked with fear of hurting him while we slept. But Papa always calmed my nerves and told me not to listen to his families stories if they scared me. Cruz was our son and we were doing what we thought was best for him. And even though Papa did give several attempts at getting Cruz into the crib, they never lasted long. Papa is a total softy when it comes to sleeping with Cruz. When we used to live together, I would always nurse Cruz to sleep and then lay him in our bed while I finished up chores. Every night Papa would go to bed before me. And every night, about 5 minutes after he had gone to bed, I would hear him call "Cassie, Cruz is awake." Because every night Papa couldn't help himself when he would crawl into bed next to our sweet sleeping baby. He would snuggle up to him, wrap his arms around him, smell his hair, kiss his little ears, and inevitably wake him up almost every night.

But I digress. My original intent of this post was to ask advice. Cruz has slept with me every night and I love, love, love it. But the only way he will fall asleep is if I lay next to him and nurse him. He has to nurse to fall asleep. Nothing else works. And since he sleeps in our big bed with no railing and I dont even have a crib, I have to stay with him until he falls asleep otherwise he will just crawl off the bed and come find me (its actually kind of cute because he can crawl up and down the stairs now so he follows me all over).

I am not interested in weaning yet which is a whole other can of worms as Cruz nears his first birthday and people somehow always associate that milestone with the start of the weaning process. I get asked about weaning all the time as well. In all honesty, I have no plans to wean yet. I have been blessed with a fantastic milk supply and I have never had any issue with breastfeeding so I don't really see a need to wean.

Except for at night!!

I just feel like it would be great to have another way of getting him to sleep aside from nursing. Everyone else seems to be able to do it. My mom was babysitting Cruz the other night while Papa and I went to counseling and she was able to walk him to sleep (I was only gone 1 1/2 and he just passes out on me!) And he goes to sleep at his Papa's all the time. Granted his Papa does hold him the entire time he sleeps (because he says if you put him down then he wont stay asleep long. Really he is just a softy and likes to fall asleep holding Cruz!) And obviously Papa and my mom don't nurse Cruz. But with me he just refuses to go to sleep if I dont nurse him.

And he still wakes up 4,5,6 times a night to nurse! He doesnt really wake up, he just stirs around and starts to cry so I roll over and nurse him and he usually falls right back to sleep. But at 1 year old (almost) I feel like he should be sleeping through the night entirely without waking up to nurse.

I sometimes think that if we didnt sleep in the same bed that he wouldn't wake up. But even if I put him down to bed and then leave the room, he still wakes up within an hour or 2. I dont think he can sleep more than 2-4 hours without waking up to nurse. I'm not positive because its the middle of the night and I dont really look at the clock, but I do know that I wake up a lot during the night to nurse him.

Sorry for the longest post in the history of man, but does anyone have any suggestions for getting him to fall asleep without nursing/ staying asleep all night? I dont want to wean him or move him to a crib. I can't stand the "cry it out method." But any other suggestiond would be greatly appreciated.

P.S ENTER THE POSH GREEN GOODS GIVEAWAY. IT ENDS SOOOOOON!

Splish Splash I was Taking a Bath.

 This was his face the whole time

 "Mom, dont you know how amazing baths are?!"

Home Sweet Home

Since I havent been blogging regularly for the last couple of weeks, I have an overload of photographs! I wanted to just throw them all into one post because they are all so cute, but I will pace myself.

As I have mentioned, we just moved. So I will start with a few pictures of the view around our property as well as some I shot while on a walk down the lane with Cruz and Nanny today.

None of these photographs were edited.

View from the window

Cruz checking out the view

 

 My favorite

 What I drive through to get home every day

Oh and a Cruz sized sombrero. He is 1/2 mexican after all.

And don't forget to enter the Posh Green Goods giveaway!!!!

Murphy's Law

If you didnt know, my last name is Murphy. And its only fitting that Murphy's law haunts me.

No sooner then I get my computer fixed and the internet set up at my new house, my power cord dies and I am back to staring at a blank copmuter screen, willing it to work (except right now, obviously, b/c I borrowed my dads computer.)

We have a love hate relationship, my computer and I. I love it, it hates me. And really, when you put that much money into something, it shouldnt hate you.

Guess it just goes to show that you can't buy love.

And in keeping with my theory on my haunting by the law of Murphy, I got in a car accident today.

Not a bad one. I just rear-ended someone.

But I've never been in an accident before and it was sooo scary.

And I'm scared to even post this because I know my grandma is going to yell at me. And probably my mom, except I dont think she reads my blog that often so I might be safe there.

And of course I hit THAT lady.

You know the one that gets out of her car like I just t-boned her doing 102mph in my army tank while driving across a Nascar raceway.

Really, we were stopped at a traffic light. There was no damage to her ratty old car. Or mine.

She called the cops before she was even out of her car. She was already complaining about her neck.

Come. On.

So of course when the cop gets there he gets all pissy with her because there was no need for him to come out. No one was hurt. No damage was done (not real damage anyways). Nobody was drunk. We were wasting his time. He tells her as much so she gets all snipitty in return. Really I wish he would have just been nice to her because she is just going to take out that anger on my insurance policy. Fantastic.

I could have given a shit about any of it, I was just worried about Cruz. He cried as soon as I hit her and I couldnt tell if it was because he was hurt or just scared. I parked right where I was and ripped him out of his carseat in fear that I hurt him. He had stopped crying before I even got him out of the seat, so I think he was just scared. But of course then I start to notice every little thing. "Is he being too quiet?" "Why isn't he crying?" "Is he in shock?" "My neck hurts a little, does his?" "Should we go to the Dr.s? Hopsital? "Am I overreacting? "I think he's ok."

And to make matters worse, I was driving to meet up with Papa to drop Cruz off, so I cant even be with him to watch for signs of pain or discomfort or fear for the rest of the day. I am so worried about him. I dont know if I should take him to the Dr. Can they even tell anything just by looking at him and examining him or do they have to do x-rays? Or something else? I don't know and it scares me.

I feel like all I write lately are so-sad-poor-me-life-is-lame posts. I promise to try and be a little more upbeat from here on out.

INTRODUCING & GIVEAWAY: Posh Green Goods

I know that every time I introduce a new sponsor I say that they are my favorite. But honestly, ladies, I dont think it gets much more original then this! I bring you, THE BABY BURROW from Posh Green Goods:

"The benefits of carrying baby close don't have to end when cold weather is upon us. The Baby Burrow babywearing poncho was designed by a mama with the desire and need to carry her baby, even in cold weather."

 Are you in love yet? I've mentioned before that I wear Cruz all the time and I think this is just the most ingenious creation ever.

1. How long have you been creating?
I have always been a dreamer, literally, falling asleep with visions of clothing I wanted to wear. But since they were imagined in my own mind, and didn't really exist, the only way to actually get to wear them was to create them myself. I didn't do much sewing at a young age, and instead found creative expression in the one of a kind vintage garments I would spend hours hunting for at local thrift shops as a teenager and young adult. In my mid twenties, at the same time as I was starting my vintage clothing company, Classic Girl Vintage, I was also raising my first child, a little boy. I was always on the go, commuting by bus, and walking around the city a lot. He was in a baby carrier all the time. He was a summer baby, but as cooler weather approached, I found it difficult to fit him in the carrier when he was wearing his coat, and then the carrier over my coat. It was bulky and uncomfortable. In an effort to reduce the bulk but keep the warmth, I began wrapping shawls, blankets, or whatever else would fit over us. Then, while drifting off to sleep one night, the idea for my Baby Burrow filled my dreams.

2. What inspires you?
I am inspired when thinking about how I can be a contribution to friends and family, and on a larger scale of humanity and this planet. My most meaningful creations have risen out of my desire to make a difference. For example, the original Baby Burrow, before it even had a name, was created with the comfort, warmth, and shelter of my sweet baby in mind. Once I began wearing the poncho and I began getting requests from others to make and sell them, I began thinking of how I could provide this product to other people in a responsible, functional, yet fashionable way. This is why my Baby Burrows are made from recycled eco-fleece, are super cozy and easy to wear, and are aesthetically pleasing, each enhanced by the addition of vintage jacquard ribbon trim.

 Cute right? I would wear this without Cruz!

3. What is your favorite thing in your shop? Why? When I first created the shop Posh Green Goods, my vision was to provide many different affordable high end products that were socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. The Baby Burrow was actually the first and only product created, as I quickly began putting a lot of time into my vintage clothing business. I haven't given up on the idea of Posh Green Goods offering other products, but as of right now, the Baby Burrow is Posh Green Goods' one true love.

Vintage Trims

4. Anything else you would like my readers to know about you and your products?
I am a very open and honest person. I love to talk, share stories, listen, and learn. I am available if anyone has any specific questions for me regarding my shop, my Baby Burrow, or anything else. My birthday is this month, and although it is nice to receive gifts, giving gifts is even better. I am excited for the chance to give away a Baby Burrow to one of your very lucky readers!

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That's right ladies, you heard correctly, Posh Green Goods is giving away a Baby Burrow to one lucky winner. Thats a $95.00 value!!!! What could be better for this crazy, cold winter months? Especially for how unseasonably cold its been lately (well at least in California).
The giveaway starts today and goes through until the end of January. The winner will be chosen on Feb. 1st (more like Feb. 2nd, because the 1st is Cruz's 1st birthday!) via Random.org.
Rules:
Comment (1 entry)
Become a follower (1 entry)
Check out Posh Green Goods and tell me about it in a comment (1 entry)
Like the Baby Burrow on Facebook and tell me about it in a comment (1 entry)
Tweet about the giveaway and the Baby Burrow and tell me about it (1 entry)

So that gives you tons of chances to enter and win! Get on it!

Cowboys & Indians

I finally decided on Cruz's birthday theme:

Cowboys and Indians.

Vintage style.

Here are the invites. I am in love!

 

 Picture from Belle & Boo

 

Now I need to figure out the decor. Its easy to find cowboy related decorations. Indian? Not so much. 

On an unrelated note: Hopefully my wifi is up and running when I get home and I can get back to regular posts!

I Need a Better Alibi

I have spoken about our dilemma with car before.

11 months in and Cruz still HATES it.

I mean HAATTESSS it. Like red-face-arched-back-about-to-pop-a-blood-vessels-slash-cause-a-27-car-pile-up hates it.

When he is having a bad day, things get dangerous.

On numerous occasions we have come dangerously close to side swiping the center divide. Or that one time I almost killed a road side construction worker. Come on, they wear bright orange vests, I would have had no "I didn't see him" excuse. And I'm pretty sure that "My infant son was having a mild conniption fit, causing me to bump the windshield wipers thus smearing bird feces all over my windshield resulting in my accidentally bumping that thing that changes your gears and causing my car to change from automatic to manual, therefore rendering it impossible for me to accelerate wherein I panicked and thought my transmission was falling out on the freeway so I closed my eyes (cause thats what you do in serious, life threatening situations right?) and accidentally almost killed that guy in the oversized, fluorescent, blinking, orange, safety outfit" would not hold up in court.

So in an effort to avoid that scenario (again) I had to act fast.

I did what any sensible mother would do.

I pulled into a gas station, hopped around oustide the car until I could get my boot back on (unsolicited advice: don't try to take too tight, knee high boots on and off whilst operating a vehicle), hiked up my slouchy maternity leggings (nothing sexier then baggy leggings that makes it look like your crotch ends just barely north of your knees) grabbed a bag of Funyuns and a pack of Rolo's and stuffed them into the carseat around Cruz so that he could enjoy them at his leisure and thereby saving all innocent bystanders from the havoc I am capable of wreaking during a backseat meltdown.

Moral: Next time your on the road in California, avoid any and all white Mazda's...Maybe all white cars, just to be safe.

Wine in my Sippy Cup

I haven't blogged in over a week. It feels like its been 2 years!

I never realized how much I enjoy my blog or how much I think in terms of blog. All day, whenever something happens, I instantly start to write a blog post in my head. Like about everything. EVERY THING.

Needless to say, my brain is about to implode.

The day before Xmas eve, I decided I was going to install the newest Iphone software on my phone. I backed EVERYTHING up because I ALWAYS do. I charge my phone via USB on my computer (because I lost/Cruz chewed through my phone charger). So it automatically backups every time I sync. Feeling secure with this information, I installed the new software. Then when I went to restore everything to my phone after the update...it was gone. All of it. Gone. Forever.
I Freaked!

FREAKED.

Now people keep texting me and I dont know who they are, but I dont want to hurt any ones feelings so I just play along until one of their texts reveal who they are. Its an enticing game. And it really shows how well I know (or dont know) some people.

All the pictures are gone. Since the day Cruz was born. Because my backup to iPhoto failed. I was devastate. I still am. I was able to locate the folders from the syncs deep inside the realms of my computer but since they are encrypted I can't read them. But I duplicated them like 1,000 times, swearing up and down that once Christmas was over I was going to backup my whole, entire computer because I couldn't bear to loose another thing.

So fast forward to Christmas eve, I go to log onto my computer to post my "Merry X-mas eve" post. I turn my computer on. It starts making a clicking noise. A not-good-I-dont-know-or-understand-this-noise kind of noise. And then the screen goes grey and a blinking question marks pops up on the screen...

How fitting. Because on the grey screen of my overwrought brain their was already a blinking question mark.

I tried again. Same thing. And again. And again. And again.

I googled it on my sisters computer.  The results? "Sucks for you, your hard drive died. F your life."
What? Does that even happen? How does a hard drive die? Does it go to hard drive heaven where it rests peacefully, waiting for me to retrieve the years of information off of it?

Not according to the Internet. Basically all feedback said that I was SOL.

COME ON.

You cannot be serious.

I didnt even get mad.

I just laughed. Because obviously the universe was playing tricks on me. Or Cruz's Papa became a computer expert over the last 2 months and some how figured out how to wipe out my entire life via my hard drive after I refused to sell him my computer last month.

In an attempt to unwind last night, I decided to have a little glass of wine. During the move (Oh ya, did I mention that I moved the day after Christmas aka the most hectic, unproductive day of the entire year!) all the cups somehow went MIA. Like every single one. So I have currently be borrowing Cruz's sippy cup (not that he uses it anyways). I borrowed myself some wine and plunked down on the couch.

Not five minutes later my mom asked "Whats wrong with your face. Its really red and blotchy."

Upon inspection, it sure was. I was having an allergic reaction to the wine.
Really?

How did I manage to make it through high school/college in a fuzzy, drunken haze, but I couldn't sit down on my couch and enjoy a much needed glass of wine out of my Winnie the Poo sippy cup?

Figures.

So this is the reason I have not posted, responded to emails, contacted the winner of the giveaway, etc.
I apologize to all my sponsors. I plan to respond to/contact everyone within the next 24 hours. My new house doesn't have Internet yet, so bare with me!

Missed you guys!