A month, condensed

JG | 1:45 PM | , | 0 comments

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so here is my life over the past month, via bullet points (because I'm extremely wordy and bullets help make me more concise ... sometimes):

  • My husband is home and has no plans in the immediate future to travel again for work. He is working a lot lately, though, as is the case for most people in retail this time of year.
  • Halloween was a blast. We carved pumpkins, the little guy was the cutest elephant ever, and I got to take him trick-or-treating for the first time.
  • I had another round of meetings in Chicago for work. The days were long and hectic, as usual, but the last day ended with an early holiday lunch for the office at a fancy restaurant, which was fun.
  • We finally bought a car that allows someone to sit in front of the little guy's car seat without forcing their knees into their chin. It's shiny and pretty and we love it. The little guy enjoyed checking out all the new buttons as well.
  • I realized that neither of my goals for the summer--potty training and moving the little guy into a twin bed--were accomplished. We're still working on the potty training, though, and we have a twin bed frame waiting for a mattress.
  • I booked a trip to NYC for my dear friend's bachelorette party. It should be a blast, but it will also be the first time I'm leaving the little guy overnight in more than a year. The mommy guilt has kicked in a little bit.

As for the rest of this week, I'm hoping to rearrange some things in the garage so I can dig out our Christmas decorations. I started decorating the day after Thanksgiving last year and I'm hoping to make it a tradition. And of course there's Thanksgiving. I'm a pretty lucky lady this year--I have a wonderful husband and son and I get to work from home so I can spend as much time with them as possible. Even on the days when the little guy is throwing things out of drawers and D is working from sunrise to sunset, it's a pretty good life.

Getting back to normal

JG | 10:51 AM | , , | 0 comments


After a month of being three hours away from home Monday-Friday, D is finally home. It was harder than I ever expected. Three of the four weeks, the little guy and I made the trek out to visit D (hence my staying-in-a-hotel-with-a-toddler post). Because he had to work overnight shifts, the little guy and I had to stay out of the hotel during the day before naptime so he could sleep. So we still didn't get to spend a whole lot of time together. I know the time away was hard for D, too, because he really hates spending time away from the little guy.

We did manage to get in a family trip to a zoo while we were out there, which was a lot of fun. I also took the little guy to an apple orchard, playground and wildlife preserve while D was sleeping during the day. I felt bad that he couldn't be with us for all the fun, though. I have to say, my hat goes off to those who have spouses who travel all the time for work or who are deployed. I don't know if I could handle being separated from D all the time.

Working was interesting as well. The hotel had wireless Internet, but as I mentioned before, the connection was less than stellar. The little guy took a nap every afternoon while we were visiting D, but I had to go hide in the bathroom until he fell asleep since being able to see me was too distracting. However, I did manage to get in my normal hours, even though my seat on the floor was a bit uncomfortable.

The photo above, by the way, is the result of me having to be on the phone for work for 30 minutes while the little guy was awake. Obviously he's figured out that he can't really get in trouble when I'm on the phone. Like I said, things are getting back to normal ...

Sometimes I think my life should be a sitcom

JG | 1:31 PM | , | 0 comments


This morning I found out I had to be on a conference call at 10:30. Those are always difficult when the little guy is awake and running around, but it's more time I can bill for, so I always call in, no matter how last minute. Of course, the little guy and I happened to sleep in this morning, so I didn't have much time to prepare.


In the hour and a half that I was on the conference call, I filled up the little guy's cereal bowl three times, cleaned off a highchair and toddler coated in Rice Krispies, had to go searching for my phone charger when I got that lovely "20% battery left" notice, got the little guy cookies, dealt with a 15-minute potty trip (we're beginning potty training, and the little guy is VERY enthusiastic, so it's a lot of up and down off the potty), and broke a mirror. My cell phone, on speaker and mute, followed along the whole time.


Just another day working from home ...

Road warriors

JG | 8:24 PM | | 0 comments

As I mentioned in my last post, D is working away from home during the week for the next four weeks. So the little guy and I packed up and hit the road to go visit D for a couple of days. All I needed was my trusty laptop so I could work while the little guy napped. The Internet connection was a little spotty, but it worked well enough.

This mini road trip has helped me learn some lessons about traveling with a toddler, which will hopefully help our next family vacation:


1. The suite life. A simple one-room hotel doesn't really cut it once you have a toddler. Even though it costs more, we will be reserving a suite on our next trip. The little guy won't go to sleep in a hotel room unless it is absolutely quiet, as dark as possible and he either can't see us or thinks we're asleep. Being able to put the little guy to sleep in a separate room means I don't have to sit on the floor in a dark corner just to be able to check my email during naptime.


2. Play day. Finding the best playground in the area before you go can be a lifesaver on a day when the weather is nice and you don't necessarily have anything planned. A friend who lives near where D is working right now recommended a fantastic playground (pictured above) and the little guy spent two very happy mornings playing there. Plus, it's free!


3. NAPS. Maintain your toddler's normal nap schedule as much as humanly possible. The little guy got preoccupied playing in the car on the way to the hotel, so he didn't sleep long enough (I planned our departure to be around his naptime). That lead to tears that evening and a wonky sleep schedule the next day. Trying to get a 2-year-old to sleep in a new place is hard enough--don't add overtired to the mix if you can avoid it.


4. Video games have their place. I'm not a big fan of kids playing video games in general, but sometimes they can be a lifesaver. The little guy's Vtech MobiGo made for a very pleasant car trip (although I had to take it away from him so he would sleep) and my iPhone kept him occupied while trying to find my way through a new city. However, beware of letting a toddler play with your cell phone when you can't see what he's doing. My little guy set a password on my phone on this trip and the only way to get rid of it was to restore my iPhone to factory settings.


5. Have toys, will travel. Bring whatever toy or toys your toddler currently loves to play with for the most amount of time. No matter how big or awkward--unless it won't fit in your car (or a suitcase, if you're flying)--bring it. You can't be on the go for every waking moment during a vacation, so odds are you'll spend at least a little time hanging out in the hotel. Unless you want your toddler climbing into closets, opening and closing the room fridge dozens of times, pushing all the buttons on the hotel phone, and flipping all the light switches off and on (because it's all NEW), pack a bag with just toys. The little guy's big bag of Mega Bloks gave me the longest moment of peace I had the whole trip.


Now I'm just hoping we can put these lessons to use in the somewhat near future.

Last week in review

JG | 12:40 PM | , | 0 comments



Although I work from home 95 percent of the time, every few months I have to go into the office for a day or two of meetings. Last week was that time again, so for two days I got up before the sun was up, put on actual grown-up clothes and left the house with the little guy still sleeping to board a train for Chicago (pictured above). Although getting to spend time with grown ups for a couple of days, along with actually getting to see my coworkers in person, was lovely, I'm so thankful to work from home.


Anytime I have to go in for meetings, I feel like I get a glimpse of another life, a life I could still be living had I stayed at my job in a Chicago suburb instead of leaving to work closer to home nearly two years ago. There are times that I miss the "adult" time and the actual work of being a magazine editor, which I so enjoyed. That morning cup of Starbucks brought back memories as well. But I know now that working from home was completely the right choice. Just the two days of commuting left me exhausted and missing the little guy. I felt like I was barely home and then it was time to get him ready for bed. No job is worth missing that much time with my son. I will admit, though, that the paycheck from last week with all the extra hours will be great.


This week my husband is out of town for work and will be gone during the week for the next four weeks, so I'll be playing single mom. Kind of a funny opposite from last week. However, another plus of working from home is that the little guy and I will be able to visit D for at least part of the time that he's gone--I just need to bring my laptop.

We're now a movie-going family

JG | 9:18 PM | | 0 comments



For several months, D (that's my husband, btw) and I have been debating when to attempt to take the little guy to his first movie in a theater. I said that we should wait until he was at least 2, so then D got online, did a quick search, and discovered that Toy Story 3 would be out during the summer following the little guy's second birthday. After his mild obessesion with the Pixar shorts DVD, it seemed like Toy Story 3 was the perfect choice for a first movie.


We did a trial run at home with the first Toy Story movie, which we borrowed from my parents (trying to buy a copy the week that the third movie came out was a bust). The little guy seemed interested at first, noted that it looked like his Pixar DVD, but probably only paid attention to a third of the movie. However, he asked to watch the second one, so I took this as a good sign.


This week, we decided to go for it and headed to the theater. One of the pluses of my current work-from-home schedule is that we can do things together as a family when D is off during the week (he very rarely has an entire weekend off) and I can still get some work done when the little guy is napping. Thankfully the 11:15 show was almost empty and we got there after all of the previews were over, cutting down the amount of time required for the little guy to sit still. He sat on my lap enraptured by the big screen when that familiar Pixar intro came on, then pointed to the Toy Story characters when they appeared. Between the characters, the popcorn, a box and a half of M&Ms (which I shared with him to avoid a major toddler sugar rush), and sips from my Sierra Mist, he pretty much sat still or stood in front of me or D for an hour and a half of the roughly two-hour movie.


For the last half hour or so, I stood in the aisle at the bottom of the theater holding him. He was starting to get antsy and not even the action-filled climax of the movie could distract him from trying to pick up all of the popcorn and other bits of garbage off the floor and disposing of them in the row in front of us (which was thankfully empty). It was also approaching naptime, so he spent a good chunk of the time I held him laying his head on my shoulder. So when it was time for Andy to leave for college (I don't think I'm spoiling anything here), and the mom grabbed her son in a sad hug, as I'm holding my son, well ... let's just say some tissues would have been nice.


However, we made it through the whole movie without any screams, tears (from the little guy, that is) or need to leave the actual theater. And after not really wanting to watch the last part of the movie, he sat still in his own seat and insisted on watching all of the credits (he has a weird thing for credits on any TV show or movie). Then at the end, he asked for "more." So I'd say it was a successful outing. I wonder what other kid movies are coming out soon ...

Sometimes it's the little things

JG | 3:05 PM | | 0 comments

Watching the little guy gently offer our crazy beagle an animal cracker.

Reruns of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (what can I say, there's a dorky girl inside this woman).

My husband getting home in time for dinner.

The little guy running up to the door yelling "Dada!" the second he hears my husband's footsteps on the porch.

Singing along with Britney Spears in the car (judge all you want, but I bet you've at least hummed along to "Toxic" once).

The little guy still giving me a kiss and hug whenever I want.

It may not always be an exciting life, but the little things make it worthwhile.

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