Sunday, April 18, 2010

I need your advice

Cousin Nathan with Brennan

We've had such a fun weekend!! Friday night was MOPS and POPS at The Met's student building. Saturday we signed up for a Y membership for the summer, which I'm really looking forward to when it's too hot to do anything outside. We also went to our neighbor's pizza party (grilled pizza on the grill, so yummy) and Jon's cousin Nathan came to stay the night with us.

But in order to not think about how hungry I am, I'm now blogging. Well, that's kind of an exaggeration. Today's just the first day and honestly, it hasn't been that bad at all. I just spoke to Joel, my health coach and he told me days 3-5 tend to be the worst. So if you would like to call, email, text, whatever Tuesday-Thursday, that'd be so sweet of you. :) And maybe send some loving to Jon those days too. Haha.

Anyways, I'd love to get some blog advice from you guys concerning two areas: Living room/TV storage ideas and Babies sleeping advice.

1) TV Solutions. We have a really old entertainment center- from the days of Jon working at Best Buy in college. And Brennan decided to start tearing the fake finish off. It looks terrible. Please see exhibit a:

We are thinking of buying something like this:


With shelving on either side like this:

Or this:


I'm wondering if it would look better to get some bookcases on both sides? Or maybe leave it plain? Thoughts? I'd love cute decorating ideas for TV storage solutions if you have some!!!

2)Baby's sleeping soundly.
I really cannot complain. Truly. Brennan has slept through the night from 6 months on (as soon as we put him on the prevacid, I love prevacid almost more than I love my life). But he's not a very sound sleeper when it comes to noise. I always thought I'd raise my babies to sleep through noise. But I've sucked at it. He slept in his bassinet the first six weeks and slept out in the living room just fine. But ever since we put him upstairs in his own nursery, he awakes anytime there is a loud noise (usually). For example, last night, Jon, Nathan and I were out on the patio grilling and hanging out late at night. We came inside and were talking and putting dishes away and Brennan woke up screaming! And I stress anytime we were home to Michigan because there is usually a lot more people around and door's slamming and kids laughing and he usually doesn't sleep that good.
So, any hints on how to teach your baby to sleep through noise?

Thank y'all so much ahead of time!! :)

Chaeli

13 comments:

Erin said...

I'm a huge fan of the simple... http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1151&f=33206 this is one that I'm thinking for us after we move. If you need storage, get it. If you can do without it, then bypass it. There's no need to clutter up your space if you don't need too.

About the sleeping... have you thought of getting a white noise machine? Something that says on for a while... I know our kids sleep with music to put them to sleep and drown out the other noises in the house. But I wonder if perhaps he needs something a bit longer than a typical lullaby to carry him through a couple of sleep cycles. The other question that I have is are you sure he's waking up because of the large noise and being startled? Can he calm himself back down from being woken up, or does it always require you to return and put him back to sleep?

Chaeli said...

Erin- I love Crate and Barrel! We have a big, empty wall that our TV is on so I like the idea of some sort of unit/storage. But I agree with you- I hate clutter! It's a hard call.

My mom mentioned getting him a box fan or a sound machine- I just hate for him to have a prop to get to sleep and have to "need" it to get to sleep. But now that I think about it- he needs quiet to get him to sleep so one way or another, it's a prop. Maybe I'll buy one before we travel again. Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Erin Zubert said...

We've got the center console and two skinny shelves set up and I love it. I was worried that it would make our tiny living room look tinier but it makes it feel more spacious and warm. For your big of a room, you might want to go with the full bookshelves since you have that big wall to fill up. Just make sure you've got some fun stuff to put on the shelves, that or enjoy shopping for stuff like I did.

The Feitl Family said...

On the sleep issue- sounds like he is mostly struggling when his normal routine is different. Many kids will do that... we as adults tend to also. I like the idea of the music or white noise machine. I think "props" like that are worth it if it gives you more freedom to live normally without fear of waking him.

On the TV issue...we saw an entertainment center last week that housed a flat screen TV in the back part...the TV raised out of it when you wanted to watch. Then the whole front part was storage. It was a descent size so you wouldn't do shelves too. I loved the idea because I don't like having our TV look like the center of the living room. I am all for simply...less to dust. I like what you are looking at, but wouldn't do shelves unless you need the storage.

Chaeli said...

Erin- I'd love to see your new TV set up!
Carrie- You're totally right- he just doesn't sleep well in new environments or when loud noises occur- which I'm sure is VERY normal. I'm becoming more convinced of the sound machine idea.

Chaeli said...

P.s.- Carrie- that TV console sounds awesome- do you have a photo of it?

The Feitl Family said...

A quick web search brought me to these...it at least gives you an idea.
http://www.importadvantage.com/tv-lifts?gclid=CJ-R15K1k6ECFQUeDQodMUsdOQ

Jennifer said...

I like the furniture you're thinking about and like the idea of the bookshelves too.

We've always used a sound machine with Hannah and Noah. I think it really helps to drown out the outside noise. It's also not that big to pack up if you go out of town. Brian has a travel one that he uses when he's at hotels.

Trisha said...

We use a fan in Owen's room, and it seems to work well. I like using a fan b/c when we go home, we don't have to take it with us. Almost every house has a fan you can use!

Katie said...

1. Are you saying ya'll on purpose because you are a Texan now, or are you really getting yourself a little accent?? :)

2. Don't ask me how I know this, but I've heard people talk about this thing as a "baby crack machine". Yep, that's right. Not sure if you want to go this extreme, but it's nickname seems to suggest that it does it's job!

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14643125

Chaeli said...

Katie- I'm saying it for the mere fact that I'm a Texan now. It kind of makes me chuckle. And thanks for the link- I'm checking it out!

C said...

B is a pretty good sleeper when it comes to noise, because we purposely talked in normal voices while she slept on my chest when she was little, and would talk in normal voices while she slept in her bed in our room for the first 6 1/2 months of life. Even so, as time went on, she started to get more sensitive to it.
Jay's coughing has ALWAYS woken her up, even if it's in a different room -- she would sleep through me having an entire phone conversation while she slept on my chest 2 inches from my mouth, and he would cough in the other room, and she'd wake up:)
But unfamiliar noises (i.e. loud voices when we're traveling, squeaking doors at someone else's house, anything not usual) will wake her up.
We don't use anything at home, but when I was just in Dallas, I had a fan in the room with us that I set on high...made a TON of noise which didn't bother her and kept her from hearing Ellis yelling in the next room.
I think the white noise idea is a good one, especially for traveling -- I'm a fan of the fan:), cuz then you don't have to lug a sound machine with you everywhere you go, like one of my friends does:)

KO said...

we just bought a white noise cd.I thought it'd be easier for us as it's not much to pack. I'll let you know how we like it! We may not use it every nite but for sure when we travel. Great for at Mom's where the crib is a wall a way from the bathroom!
Brennan is too funny! I can't believe how much furniture he's damaged but it's a good excuse to buy new!