grouchy mama.

Dear stay-at-home moms who live a few minutes from grandma and have a housekeeper and a part-time nanny and whose babies sleep through the night and take great naps during the day,

What do you do with all of your free time? I'm very curious to know.

As for me, I'll be trying to fit in some Etsy shop work time once my overly tired baby finally goes down for a nap instead of screaming her head off in the nursery, then washing a counter-full of dishes since we don't have a dishwasher (wouldn't that be nice, too?). Maybe I'll sneak in washing several loads of laundry, scrubbing the bathroom, or dusting (when was the last time I did that? Was it 2011?) if I have the energy, which isn't likely since I was up every hour last night. And then I guess I'll drag my darling daughter along to do the grocery shopping when she wakes up, since it won't get done otherwise.

Okay, done with my bitter tirade. Here's a happy picture to brighten my spirits and yours:

Yep, still love those two even in my cranky sleep-deprived state.

Here's to a relaxing weekend for all of us!

adventures in motherhood: loveys.

Meet Miss Bunny.

She and an old silky nightgown of my mom's (named Cuddle, if you must know) were my two "loveys" growing up, though I never knew that word until about this time last year. I couldn't go to sleep without them tucked into bed with me for companionship and comfort. And though she doesn't come to bed with me anymore and is looking pretty old and tired (how many times did I bite her nose off? Poor thing!), she will always have a place of her own somewhere in our house. (My husband's childhood bestie, a stuffed sheep named Rammy, is equally honored here.)

For the first 10 months of her life, our little L has spent the night in a sleepsack with no other blankets, toys, or cuddly comforts whatsoever, thanks to all of the scary warnings about SIDS. Now that she's pretty much past the danger zone, though, I'm curious: how do you introduce a lovey to a child? Our pediatrician recommended that we start giving her something as a comfort at night besides us, so we'd like to find something soon. Plus, this post over at Naptime in Suburbia has made me have loveys on the brain this week.

We have several darling options, all in that head-with-blanket-body style that seems to be popular at the moment: a frog with a silky layer for baby fingers to stroke, a cuddly lion, and an owl from a German toy company with big eyes L likes to poke. Baby girl loves her pacifiers more than life itself, so I've also thought about trying one of these.

So far, though, she doesn't seem to have a particular preference for anything -- and when we put one in bed with her at night, she either plays with it (which keeps her awake) or throws it away from her in frustration. Do we have to wait until she chooses one of her own? And how does that happen, exactly?

Tell me about your lovey experiences -- your own or your child's! Inquiring minds want to know.