That’s not some clever title about some project we’ve been working on. It’s a literal description of what’s going on on our house: nothing. That’s not to say we’re doing nothing, it’s that nothing is being worked on on our house. We made a little bit of progress on the bed this weekend (we purchased the drawer material and I finished the last 3 coats of poly on the fronts) but other than that? Nada.
You see, I’m a ball of stress at the moment because we’ve got too much going on. I’ve said it before – I like being busy and find that I get more done – but right now, things are a bit ridiculous. Even for my taste.
While I love Zoe to death and she is super happy and turned into a giggle monster during the day, the nights have been incredibly difficult the last several weeks. I talked about it before and thought it might be teething or sleep regression or something. I still don’t know what it is, but it sucks. She wakes up all the time, can’t fall back asleep, can’t stay asleep. It’s tough. It’s tough for her and it’s really tough for us. The crazy thing is that with the lack of sleep at night, she still seems very pleased with herself during the day. But her nice, long naps? Those are a thing of history now too. For example: yesterday from 7:30am – 7:30pm she decided to sleep for only 1 hour and 20 minutes. Oy vey. You can imagine trying to get anything done has been hard
Then there’s the fact that Chris and I got completely sick. For the last 2 weeks one of us or both of us has been snotting all over the place, coughing up a lung or had a headache so bad it hurt to cough. We were miserable. Chris got it first and got it bad and had to stay home from work a couple days. And he never stays home from work. I tried to disinfect everything in the house, he volunteered to sleep on the couch and we prayed Zoe and I didn’t get it. Well, I did. And it sucked. I didn’t get it as bad as he did, but because he had already taken off days from work and there was a lot going on when we returned, he couldn’t take any more off to help relieve me of Zoe, work and house duty. So there I was sick as a dog trying to take care of a baby who won’t sleep and constantly wants you to do something with her. Oh my god that sucked. We’re still coughing up a lung (Chris especially), but amazingly Zoe has yet to get sick. Fingers fucking crossed on that one
Then there’s handyman/design work. The goal of starting your own business (at least for us) means turning it into a full time job. And right now, besides the handyman/design business Chris I and already have 5 jobs between us. So that means pretty much every waking hour that we’re not working on our “day jobs” we’re trying to grow our business but accepting basically every single job that comes our way. We started our business (formally) last year and things were super slow, but this year things have picked up. That is super exciting, but it also makes the decision of when to really jump really hard. We get our healthcare from Chris’ day job and so while we have a lot of work now with the handyman/design business (several jobs a week on average done on nights and weekends) making the jump and pursuing it full time is a really hard decision because it means we’re giving up health care, retirement matching and a hefty, steady paycheck we can rely on. But by not turning anything down to keep us growing, it also makes us incredibly busy.
Then there’s just the stress of regular life. Being self employed is great, but sometimes it makes also tackling keeping up the house and now taking after Zoe a challenge. And I’ve been tired and stressed out lately. I’ve had eczema my whole life and sometimes it’s stress induced and right now my left had has so much eczema and skin irritation from stress that my skin is splitting and my middle finger feels like the skin is being ripped off. I’ve gone to the doctor, been prescribed different medication, but still no dice. It’s highly annoying
I didn’t mean to turn this into a pity party and I kind of feel like an asshole for writing this annoying complaining post, but I just wanted to explain to you awesome readers that I appreciate so much why there has been a lack of exciting posts: we just haven’t had time. We’ve got a ton of stuff we’d like to do, should do, and need to do, but we’re just being stretched thin. My mom came over last night and gave me the advice (that Deb echoed): we need to take time for ourselves. She offered to babysit some nights so that Chris and I could get away together and see a movie or just go out to dinner. I found that very thoughtful and I was incredibly appreciative. And we may just have to take her up on it.
But for the time being, there’s a waking baby that needs to play and breakfast to be eaten. Godspeed.
Bunny @ 86n It says
Hugs.
I agree take time for yourselves. And if you figure out the baby sleep thing please let me know. I'm at my wits end too.
Cheryl says
Don't worry about us – the blog should be the first thing to go when life gets stressful/busy – we love you and will be excited to read whenever you are able to blog.
So glad you have your mom nearby – and that she is willing & able to give you a break. Go have some Chris & Meryl time – even if you sit at a restaurant and make lists about everything needing to be done while you eat rather than something romantic.
No ideas about babies and sleep – my kids were 8 & 9 when I married their dad so I had different problems as a new mom!
Cheryl
Deb says
Have you tried putting her in her crib to sleep and see if that helps? Maybe you guys are waking her up 😉
Glad your mom offered to keep Zoe – TAKE HER UP ON HER OFFER.
Anonymous says
Hang in there, Keep repeating: this too shall pass. It will, eventually!
Margaret
Carrie @ Hazardous Design says
I've been living under a rock and have yet to congratulate you on Zoe's birth. So despite your current challenges, a belated congratulations to you!
Btw, I get eczema on my hands too. It just started in the last 5 years or so. Torture. You'll have to let me know if you ever find something that works.
meryl rose says
Thanks everyone!
Deb – we've tried to put her in her crib a couple times, but she usually just cries and screams and cries and screams 🙁
Carrie – stupid eczema. My derm has me using Cerave hand cream (cream, not lotion) basically every time I wash my hands. It definitely helps the smaller spots. But I've got REALLY bad spots that so far nothing has really helped (Cerave, no dairy, change in medicine, etc.) I'll let you know if things improve though because as I know you know, it totally blows.