This One Involves Puke . . . Sorry (7QT)

1. I know I keep apologizing for posting about poop, but I am in the throes of early motherhood without anyone around anymore to share the harrowing experiences with. Sometimes it's too good not to share. And sometimes it involves puke.

If that photo doesn't capture the essence of motherhood, I don't know what does.

I know I make it look good.

Dirty. All dirty.

2. Speaking of poop, I'm working on an epic cloth diapering post. I post a lot of pictures on Instagram of diaper-clad baby Brez (e.g., see above), because seriously, what's cuter than a chubby baby in only a diaper? I get a ton of comments from friends and family to the tune of,

• "HOW DO YOU DO IT?" 
• "CLOTH DIAPERS?!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?" 
• "I wish I had it in me to do cloth! Very impressive!" 

And surprisingly enough, my dad was enamored with all of it on his visit, pledging to start a stash for my sister if she wanted to. Now, I put myself at about a 5 out of 10 on the crunchy scale, and that's pushing it, but I exclusively cloth diaper. I just hate the idea of throwing things away, roughly 15 times a day. That, and I don't even like eating off paper plates, using plastic utensils, etc. Disposable diapers feel the same way to me. Flimsy and icky. That's my personal quirk.

It's a brave new world when you're first learning about it, but once I just bit the bullet and picked out a type of diaper to buy (too many options can be oh so paralyzing) and started doing it - it's so easy. I would like to share my 3+ weeks of cloth diapering (us in the biz, we call it CD-ing) wisdom with you.

3. Early last week, before the major sleep meltdown of 2014, I baked cookies to send to Will at JAG School. Flash forward to now:

Those are the last of the cookies . . . and I just ate them during those first two takes. Sorry, Will.

Anyway. I am NOT an oatmeal raisin cookie fan. Cookies with healthy stuff in them? That is for crunchy people! I am not. But these are delish. My mom made them when she was here and we had all the ingredients leftover so I made more. And ate them. All of them.

The recipe is on the lid of the Quaker Oats oatmeal box, I kid you not. I added a teaspoon of baking powder because my mom told me to. So go make some. And send them to meeeee.

4. Or not. Because I've been spoiled already. Some kind stranger had CUPCAKES delivered TO MY HOUSE this past week. The woman from the local bakery who delivered them told me that the sender specifically asked to be kept anonymous. In this day and age of social media and grandiose public gestures, this is practically unheard of.

I think it's so appropriate that this happened during Lent. Remind anyone of the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading?

"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."

I've been eating them for breakfast with my morning cup of coffee ever since. It made my day for four days straight! (There were four cupcakes in the box.) I would publicly like to say (again) THANK YOU, KIND STRANGER! Your Father who sees in secret will repay you, even if I can't! :)

5. I know I said things got hairy on the sleep front with little Will, but I didn't really explain. Early last week, the night I baked the cookies, actually, Will did not sleep for more than 15 minute increments from the times of 2 in the AM to 6 in the AM. That means I did not sleep for more than 15 minute increments from the times of 2 in the AM to 6 in the AM. I hadn't slept for more than two hours at a time for a few days, and I was a wreck. I'm talking loud, audible sobs that scared the dogs. I do not function well under these circumstances, obviously. I don't think anybody does. At the advice of some other moms, I resolved to be a little more intentional as to the structure of Will's day, and wake him after 3 hours between feedings to get him sleeping better at night. Well, Janine casually mentioned in a random blog post that her daughter was a good sleeper, so I practically begged her to write a sleep tips post. And she did.

Janine recommended Secrets of a Baby Whisperer. I'd heard of this book before, but I'd never heard of E.A.S.Y., but that's exactly what we were doing. I immediately downloaded the book (less than $6 on Amazon) and devoured it in two days. I've been implementing her tips the past few days, mainly working on naps, and Will slept FIVE hours straight last night. I woke up after 4 1/2 uninterrupted hours of sleep to nurse him, and I couldn't fall back asleep, I was so rested even though he went right back down. I don't think I'd slept that long in months thanks to frequent trips to the bathroom when I was pregnant. Even if it was a total fluke and he only does this one day a week, I am a happy happy mama.

6. Take 6. I had my 6 week postpartum checkup Thursday where I got the official all-clear to run. I'd been running for a couple weeks already because I'm a vicious, vicious rebel, but now I can really start pushing it. Or not. Yesterday, feeling all fresh and fancy free I set out with my William and BOB and ran my first sub-10 minute mile! And then I crashed hard at a mile and a half and walked the rest of the way home.

If you are looking for accounts of level-headed injury-free postpartum running, you should probably check out Kallah's blog and ignore any running posts by me. I just wing it and do what I feel. I've never injured myself running beyond common aches and pains, but this is my first time getting back into shape after birthing a human through my hips out of my abdomen, so maybe I should start taking it a little slower? Despite what I just said, I'm really considering signing up for a fall marathon, even though it's a recipe for getting pregnant in my limited experience.

7. Anyone have any suggestions for a running playlist? I have seasoned faves that have the perfect beats per minute for my stride, but listening to the same songs over and over for the past, oh, seven or eight years, can get a little dull. I just added Happy by Pharrell (I don't think I can get sick of this one) and Hey Brother by Aviici (I do think I can get sick of this one), but I'm looking for more newbies!

Have an awesome Saturday! Head over to Jen's blog for more random quick takes.