Sleep

Since Aaron has been gone this week, I decided now would be a good time to help Sophia learn to self soothe at night, and start sleeping in her crib. Lately, Aaron has been mentioning more and more about not getting enough sleep, sometimes moving to the couch, or Sophia's floor. What a nice surpise it'd be for him to come home to a baby that sleeps in her crib!

Just to make a note for myself... Never, ever, bring the baby to bed with you! Yes, it's sweet, and so special, but it is one hard, mean habbit to break!

Sophia started sleeping 8+ hours a night when she was about three months. Wow! Yes. It was awesome. We'd put her down in her bassinet (then later in the crib) while she was still half awake, and she'd peacefully drift off to sleep. She'd wake for an early, early morning feeding on the couch with momma, then back down for another few hours. When she got her first ear infection at seven months, we (ok, I guess it was me...) started bringing her to the bed because it was so much easier for us both to fall back to sleep while she nursed.

She's had a few ear infections on and off since then, and we still haven't bounced back. Now, don't get me wrong, she's slept some good hours alone in her crib, but it's usually after we nurse, lay, and sometimes after Aaron walks around with her for an hour or so. Sometimes it's easy. Easy peasy. Other times, not so much. Like, I fall asleep before her. After she's asleep, if we're lucky, we move her to the crib without her waking up. If we're not lucky, she sleeps with us. Sleeps horizontally. Sleeps with feet in our sides. Sleeps with little hands that smack our faces. Sleeps with her sweaty little body pressed against ours. But she sleeps! Ha. And we don't.

Ok, she actually does sleep way better alone, just getting there is hard.

... I knew it was too good to be true. Three months. Pff. ;)

Anyway, so Aaron has been gone.

The first night, was surprisingly easy. Nursed, bottle, sang, snuggles, laid her in the crib, said "I love you and it's time to go night night." She cried HARD for about five minutes. Then, on and off for just a few more. My plan was to go in there every so often, stretching each time out a little bit longer than the time before. I'd give paci, tell her I loved her, and time to go night night, then leave. But baby girl worked it out before I even go started. Awesome!

Then there was the second night. Poor Sweet girl. She cried on and off for almost two hours. It seems like I would make it even worse by going in there and checking on her. It was awful!!

The third night, well... the third night, I got her to bed, she started crying, then I got a little spooked. I hate staying here alone. I love being alone. I love my alone time. As long as it's not at night, or there's someone else in the house. heh. Anyway, Dad came over and we packed up to stay at his house for the night. Another note to self... Be consistant! Night number 3 did not help! We undid everything we had worked for already.

The fourth night was worse than the second. I'm so glad Sophia didn't just scream the whole time. I wouldn't have been able to handle that. But, I almost wish she would have. What she did was worse! Baby Soph would just sit in her crib, starring into the dark. If I peeked in her room, she'd see me and get upset. Sometimes, I'd watch from down the hall, and she'd be nodding off, but wake herself back up before she fell over. So sad!

Tonight was easy. Well, so far. We called it an early night since she hardly napped today, and had such a long night last night. We nursed/bottle at 7:00, fell asleep in my arms, put her in the crib, she whined while I was walking out, but it only lasted a minute. She's been quiet ever since.

Part of me feels mean. Just plain mean. I'm afraid she'll think I don't care about her, or won't come for her. But Aaron came first. I want him to know that he's still first.

It's funny, because when she was first born, Aaron and I swore we'd never bring her in the bed to sleep. I mean, that was crazy. Ha! We also didn't support the whole "cry it out" method. I know there are many different definitions of crying it out, but for the most part, I thought I'd never get to that point. Actually, I don't even like to call it "crying it out." I mean, I'm there. I check on her often. I just want her to be able to learn to fall asleep in her crib, alone. And I'm doing it with a loving, and tender heart!

The main reason I want her to sleep in the crib (at least for the first half of the night) is for me and Aaron. He usually gets home later in the evening, and with baby girl being so difficult to get to bed, I feel like that takes up my time to spend with Aaron. Sometimes, it even just makes both of us frustrated. Who wants that? I want to be able to have that time with Aaron. And as sweet as Sophia is, I'm just ready for her to not be in our bed 24/7.

We've given this a shot a few times before, and it just hasn't worked out. Last night I caved and brought her in our room after a couple of hours. I'm going to continue trying to put her in the crib, awake, but if it doesn't work every night, then that's ok. She's just a baby.. ok, technically a toddler. I guess if she's not ready, she'll let us know. And that's ok. But for now, I'm going to keep trying.

I've been reading a bunch of stuff online, and it seems like we're the only culture who puts their babies in another room, and makes them learn to sleep by themselves before they're ready. There's even some articles about crying it out causing brain damage! Not that I'd ever let it get to that point. But still. Seems like there's so much pressure to have your baby sleeping alone at night.

Anyway, Ashley, when baby number two comes, and you look back on this, remember how incredibly hard (for you and Sophia) it was to help her learn to fall asleep in her crib. Think twice before you bring that sweet baby into your bed. And even though you support co-sleeping, and it was precious bonding, and worked for a while, if it's really that important to have your time with Aaron, then never bring that sweet baby into your bed. :)

Still loving life!
Even if it's a sleepless one. ;)

What a week! Phew.

Well, this was the weekend Aaron and I were supposed to go out of town.

Aaron was hit with some crazy stomach bug Monday/Tuesday, I woke up Tuesday with a horrible sore throat that turned into nasty pus pockets the whole week, and poor Sophia threw up twice Thursday, and now has a cold (on top of her double ear infection, which hopefully is almost cleared up).What a week it has been!
The training Aaron was supposed to go to in Dallas ended up being canceled, and rescheduled in Arlington for this next whole week. Boo.

Sophia basically stayed with my mom for the past four days, while Aaron worked, and I slept the days away. She did spend the nights with us though. Mom offered to keep her, but I just couldn't do that to my mom. Sophia has been having such bad nights. Will we EVER get back to where we were 5 months ago? Sleeping through the night... Anyone have any tips? Maybe once her ear infections clear? Clear for good! Ok, sorry, got off topic.

Poor little Soph. I'm glad we didn't actually spend a weekend away from her. As ready as Aaron and I are, Sophia is not. Mom had a hard time getting her to nap, eat, and drink. When I picked her up Friday night, she seemed to be back to herself by the time she went to bed. I really think she just missed us, and me. Shes only been away from me a few hours at a time, once or twice a week. After this week, I'm glad we decided to take her with us on our family cruise in March. We may miss out on some things, but it's definitely the best decision. Actually, I take that back. I don't think I'll feel like I'll be missing out on anything. I'm excited about Sophia coming along! :)

Before mom picked Sophia up one day, Sophia and I camped out in her room while I laid on the floor and she played. She's started this really hilarious babbling baby talk. I love it! Here's a little video I caught on camera.

 

Since the switch to mostly formula (she'll be on toddler formula, along with some nursing, for another month or so since she's so tiny), and all the medicine for her ear infections, we haven't used cloth diapers in about two months. Just too messy. Anyway, I sent Sophia with my mom one day, with no diapers, wipes, or baby food. So mom went out and bought some. Sophia didn't really like any of the baby/toddler food mom offered, so first thing I did yesterday when I started feeling better was make a yummy vegetable soup for my sweet girl.

 

And let me tell you, it was good! We both snarfed a bowl right then. I plan on making a bigger batch for Aaron and I tonight.

Here are a few other cute pictures from the week before.

We went to The Garden to visit my mom, and Sophia had a blast paying the the kid's room. I've never seen her so curious. She was climbing on everything. Big girl!

We also went to the library so I could check out a few books. This is our little spot on the second floor. I surrounded her with chairs, the coffee table, and stroller, and let her play. She loved looking down at all the cars and people.
Isn't she so sweet? Wow.


Well, so here's what I learned this week...
Being a parent is hard.
Being a parent with a sick child is hard.
Being a sick parent, with a sick child is really hard.

But still loving life! So glad we're all feeling better.

Me

And so the journey to getting back in shape has begun!

The last 20 months have been the best months of my life! But, I just haven't felt like me. When Aaron and I first got married, I didn't feel like doing anything with my pregnant self. When Sophia came, I was too afraid to leave the room without her. Then, I just got lazy. Real lazy. Everyone has always told me breastfeeding burns so many calories, and I'm sure it does, but why didn't I lose the majority of my baby weight? I mean, I breastfed for a year 24/7, and still do two times a day. And I didn't even get that big while pregant! And then, a few months ago, I found out my birth control doesn't usually allow for weight loss. Great.

Anyway, I've been trying to squeeze into my old clothes for the past year, and have had no luck. I don't think I'm overweight by any means, just 30 lbs heavier (30 lbs you say? yeah, I was pretty thin). I just don't feel like me. Like I used to. And I miss my old clothes.. and buying a whole new wardrobe is expensive, ha ha.

About a month ago, Aaron and I were motivated by Benj and Mary Beaver to try cutting out all artifical sugars. Talk about hard. We decided to use up everything we had first (still working on it), and go from there. It was basically impossible at first because of all of the painting/moving/organizing going on, but now that we're getting settled in, I'm feeling more positive about it. I kinda feel like I'm not ready to cut out all sugars, but maybe I'm just sad to see my Root Beers go. :(

We're really just starting to dip into all of this "natural" kinda living. There's just so much information, that it's hard to get started. Like, what do we start with first? But, we are interested! Now I feel like we should change the way we eat, and for me the way I've been living. We want to teach Sophia to eat, and live healthy, and we need to start with ourselves first!

Right now, we're pretty much just trying not to eat so many processed foods, and really just crap food. After seeing Jimmy and Heather Hill's garden, I feel like that's all we talk about. We're so excited to have our own, but that'll have to wait until next spring.

Yesterday, I packed up Sophia's diaper bag, made sure she was well fed, put on my tennis shoes, and headed to the YMCA with Aaron.

I've always thought "oh, I don't want to put Sophia in the child care at the Y. What if they don't watch her well? What if it's not clean? What if she doesn't like it?" But really, it was fine. More than fine. You'd think after working there myself, and Aaron working there for 5+ years, that I would know the child care ladies, and what everything looks like. They actually just added on a whole new section to the child care area, and got all moved in a few weeks ago. It looks great!

So we signed Sophia in, put her bag up, shoes off, and brought her over to a big play mat with some toys. She LOVED it. After we walked out the door we watched her for a minute, and she was so adorable. So excited to be there. I also checked on her in the middle of our work out (to make sure she was alright.... ok ok, because Aaron was kicking my butt and I needed a break! ha), and she was happily playing with a little boy around her age. After about an hour and a half, we signed her out, Aaron got to work, and Sophia and I went home for some lunch and her nap.

(Insert cute picture of Sophia in child care room. Gotta get this whole picture/blogging thing down. Heh.)

I've always prefered swimming as my work out. I hate sweating. But let me tell you, it does feel good to sweat! I felt great yesterday. Well, minus the fact that by the end of the night it felt like my legs were going to fall off.

Aaron was so patient with me, and all of my complaining. He refreshed me on how to use certain machines, encouraged me during my jogging, and showed me some new things with weights.

Today, we got up and around, and did the same thing. After 8 weeks of having no schedule, I feel like this is going to become routine for us. Feels gooood!

I've also been doing to crafty things lately. In our old house, the only room we had for my crafting/sewing stuff was packed up in our closet. Now that we have an extra room, I've started to organize and set all of my stuff up. Oh, and I also pulled out some stuff while staying with dad. I had his whole kitchen table covered for about a week. So I've just enjoyed getting back into what my heart loves to do so much. :)

Finally finished Sophia's shaddow box, and made Soph a cute birthday shirt. The scraps of fabric above are my inspiration for Sophie's room. I'm planning on making a quilt out of them soon.

 



 

I also repainted some of Sophia's letters, and made two fabric banners for her windows.

My mom, the ultimate bargain finder, found this big picture at Goodwill for a couple dollars. I think it's from Traget, and probably at least $20. It originally had a yellow background, so I painted it blues to match Sophie's room.

 

Right now, I'm excited.

Just excited.

High on life.

Rock and roll.

 

Ok, enough of that.

But really, things are going great.

It seems like this past year has gone by so, extremely fast. Yet somehow, I feel like we've been a family forever. What a great year this has been! On August 19th, Sophia officially became a toddler.

After being a little worried that Sophia wasn't hitting any milestones like she should be, the last month and a half she's been hitting them all together! I know every baby is different, but I was most concerned why Sophia hadn't started crawling yet? She learned to crawl around 10.5 months, and by 11 months was walking along every wall in the house. She also started dancing when she hears music, and cut her first tooth this week. 

Here are a few pictures from when we were living at my dad's, waiting to close on our new house. Sophia especially loved getting into Papa's plants. :)

      

 

 

Speaking of my dad... Wow! How awesome is he? We lived with him for a little over 6 weeks. Not that we're very messy, but let me tell you, my dad is clean. He likes the kitchen clean, his bedroom clean, bed made, washes every dish right after its used - clean. Poor dad. There were always dishes in the sink, crumbs under Sophia's high chair, toys strung out in every room, crying baby in the middle of the night.. and the list could go on. But he never seemed to mind. Infact, I think he liked having us there. ;) I know I enjoyed it. Micah-Ray also enjoyed seeing Sophia so often. Why don't families live together any more? And hey, dad always offered to watch Sophia. I thought it was great! Aaron didn't seem to mind too much either. Although, I'm sure he likes having his own space again. I guess I do, too.

Here's a picture dad snapped of us the day we closed on our house. How exciting!

I'm so incredibly proud of my husband. Going from being just a single guy, doing what he pleases, to married with a baby all in a month, he's done awesome! I don't think I've ever met anyone as patient as Aaron. He has been such an amazing help with Sophia. Every day. And I love the attention, and affection he continually gives her.

He's the Aquatic Coordinator at the YMCA, and has been working hard this summer. Lots of 10+ hour days. He is about to be gone for three weekends in a row. I forgot exactlly what he'll be certified as, but the Y is sending him to Dallas to get some certifications that he can use at our Y. I want to say it's to be able to certify his own lifeguards, instead of the Y hiring someone to do it for them, and maybe a certification to where he can certify all the staff for CPR or something? Anyway, go Aaron!

Oh, and speaking of his weekends away, guess who is going with him one of those weekends? Alone?! Yep, you guessed it. Me and Aaron are going to Dallas for 3 days/2 nights, without Sophia. What?! Yes. My mom offered to keep Sophia those days while we take a trip for ourselves... That the Y is actually paying for... haha. I'll just be bored while he's gone during the day each day. Maybe I'll bring my sewing machine. Or go shopping. Heh. Anyway, we've never really done anything together without Sophia, so this is huge! To me, at least.


So we're all moved into our house. Yay! When we figured out the closing date (August 15th), I had this bright idea that we should have Sophia's first birthday party at our house (Aust 19th). Well, that was a little crazy. But we did end up having it here on the 24th.

Sophia was immediately attracted to all the window sills. They're the perfect height for her to stand and play on.

 



Dad helped babysit Sophia many times, while mom helped me paint. And let me just brag on my mom for a minute...

I don't even know how many hours of painting my mom did for us, but it was a LOT!

 

Well, I tried to make these pictures a little smaller so they'd be closer together, but I can't figure it out. Basically, my mom did trim/painted two coats to all of this. Not to mention, she helped paint the kitchen, and bathroom. Thank you, mom!!

I'd love to post more pictures of the house, because I love our house, but that'll have to be another time.

Sophia's first birthday party went well. It's not often that Aaron's side and my side of the family get see each other, so that was fun. Sophia woke up from a nap not feeling well, and was kind of cranky for the first part of her party. I mean, if this next picture doesn't say enough, I don't know what will.

 

Haha, poor baby Soph.

 

 

But after she got a little bit of cupcake in her (which wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it'd be), and started opening presents, she perked right up!

 

 

 

 

By the end of the night, Sophie was left sitting in a big pile of presents. She was so sweet, playing with all her new toys. Now we just need to figure out how to fit them all in her room!