To put you in the holiday spirit!
Merry Christmas to all!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Travis's First ER Visit
For me, Thursday should have been Friday because it definitely went down the way you would expect a Friday the 13th to occur...
Wednesday was Blake's company Christmas party, and we didn't get home until 11pm - which means the kids weren't actually in bed until 11:30pm, and we weren't in bed until midnight. Not terribly out of the ordinary for us, but it was for the kids. At 1:45am, we were woken up to a crying baby, but this was not just any crying baby - it was our baby for one - and he was crying more than ordinary and with slightly labored breathing and he was burning up. Normally he will cry for a little bit, and go back to sleep, but he didn't do that this time, and since he sounded so bad, I went in to get him. A little bit of snuggling got him back to sleep for a bit by around 2:15am, and then it was more difficulty and up again at 3. I turned on the humidifier, and held him by it for a little bit, and then let him fall asleep on top of me. Unfortunately, he just started sounding worse and worse. At 4:30 I decided that we needed to do more than just comfort him, and we got dressed and called the hospital.
The hospital next to us is a full emergency room, and hospital, but does not specialize in anything so far as I can tell, so I called to make sure that they were equipped to handle a baby who was coming in with breathing problems which sounded Croupy to me. When Jake sounded this way at about a year old, I took him directly to Dell Children's, but I know the local hospital is WAY faster to get into, and they have been able to handle everything else we have thrown at them over the years, so I was hoping they could handle this too. I called because I didn't want to go in just to have to transfer to another hospital... They told me to come on in.
We arrived at the hospital a little after 5am (I have been basically awake since 1:45 - because who can go back to sleep when their baby is having a hard time). I walked into the ER, which was empty, and the lady behind the window took one look at us, came through the door and escorted us back to a room without making us fill out any paperwork. I guess when you come in with a baby who can't breathe well, that they take you more seriously.
What we looked like - Travis has bloody boogers all over his face because he jammed his nose into the boogy sucker in his struggles to get away from it earlier - my shirt has bloody boogers on it from him snuggling. He is sweaty from the fever, and from crying. He is making a high-pitched wheezing/whistling sound every time that he breathes (strider breathing), and his chest is caving in on breathing in (retractions) because he can't get enough air. So, it makes sense that they rushed us back.
Travis was hooked up to the little thing they wrap around your toe to tell your pulse-oxygen level, or something, he got a blood pressure cuff, and his temperature taken - 102.6. They immediately got one of those smoky-breathing things, and had him inhale that for about 15 minutes. Travis was so miserable that he basically just laid on my chest and let them do what they wanted to him. The breathing treatment didn't really help much, he still was wheezing horribly, and having the retractions. They gave him an oral steroid to help open up his airways, and ibuprofen for his fever. Then they told me that they were going to transfer us to Children's across town because he wasn't improving enough, and they didn't have the specialized care which we could receive at Children's. (Oh joy, just what I was trying to avoid).
While we were there, I swear that every person who was on duty in the ER was in our room. There may have been one other person in the ER, but we certainly received all the attention - about 12 people in and out of the room in all with 3 or more present at all times!
It is 6:30 at this point, and Travis is still awake, been awake most of the night, but is so miserable he is just laying on me not moving very much. While waiting to be transferred, they do chest X-rays to check for pneumonia, and they take snot samples to check for RSV and for the Flu. He was not particularly happy about either of those because it meant not being able to lay on me with his head on my chest for a couple minutes each. By 7am, the paramedics arrived to take us by ambulance across town.
The paramedics were very nice, and they loosely strapped me to the gurney, and I continued to hold on to my sick little boy. Of course, going across town, we hit ALL the morning traffic, and what is about a 20 minute drive took an hour. Travis was stable though, and sound asleep finally, so the emergency lights and sirens were not used - probably would have freaked him out if they were used, which would have set him back into breathing difficulties.
We arrived at Children's a little before 8 am, and were put into a room in the emergency department there. They hooked up a bunch of monitors to Travis - another foot pulse monitor, and three chest monitors which did different things. Basically then they just monitored us. While Travis slept, he would just wheeze lightly, but if he started crying, he would go back into full retractions and strider. Around 10am, the Dr. told me that it was kind of a 50/50 toss up for her on whether to admit him, or to send him home. She said they would monitor him for a little longer and then make a decision.
Travis woke up and started to play a little bit, and one of the nurses brought in a few toys for him to try to keep him entertained. He of course threw them off the bed several times, but at least he was starting to act more like his normal self. At 11, they told us we would be able to go home - albeit they warned us of the MANY things we would have to come back in for: strider and retractions when he was not worked up, inability to swallow, paleness or blueness, and excessive drooling (really,drooling in a teething infant?).
Since we had arrived by ambulance, I had no car to get home, so I had to call Blake (who had stayed home with Jake who was still asleep), and have him drive to the first hospital, get into my car, and then come and rescue us at Children's. At 11:30 we checked out.
The rest of the day, I worked on keeping Travis calm, and allowing him to sleep on me as he had been doing at the hospital. He fell asleep at night Thursday pretty easily (who wouldn't after being up all night the night before) - but woke up scared, and ended up sleeping on me for the remainder of the night after 10pm. He is doing better, but I am still not letting him get worked up about anything since his breathing is still labored, and sounds so scary when he cries (think small kitten gasping for breath).
Friday he slept through until 6:20 am - yeah! Hopefully he'll be long over this by Christmas!
Wednesday was Blake's company Christmas party, and we didn't get home until 11pm - which means the kids weren't actually in bed until 11:30pm, and we weren't in bed until midnight. Not terribly out of the ordinary for us, but it was for the kids. At 1:45am, we were woken up to a crying baby, but this was not just any crying baby - it was our baby for one - and he was crying more than ordinary and with slightly labored breathing and he was burning up. Normally he will cry for a little bit, and go back to sleep, but he didn't do that this time, and since he sounded so bad, I went in to get him. A little bit of snuggling got him back to sleep for a bit by around 2:15am, and then it was more difficulty and up again at 3. I turned on the humidifier, and held him by it for a little bit, and then let him fall asleep on top of me. Unfortunately, he just started sounding worse and worse. At 4:30 I decided that we needed to do more than just comfort him, and we got dressed and called the hospital.
The hospital next to us is a full emergency room, and hospital, but does not specialize in anything so far as I can tell, so I called to make sure that they were equipped to handle a baby who was coming in with breathing problems which sounded Croupy to me. When Jake sounded this way at about a year old, I took him directly to Dell Children's, but I know the local hospital is WAY faster to get into, and they have been able to handle everything else we have thrown at them over the years, so I was hoping they could handle this too. I called because I didn't want to go in just to have to transfer to another hospital... They told me to come on in.
We arrived at the hospital a little after 5am (I have been basically awake since 1:45 - because who can go back to sleep when their baby is having a hard time). I walked into the ER, which was empty, and the lady behind the window took one look at us, came through the door and escorted us back to a room without making us fill out any paperwork. I guess when you come in with a baby who can't breathe well, that they take you more seriously.
What we looked like - Travis has bloody boogers all over his face because he jammed his nose into the boogy sucker in his struggles to get away from it earlier - my shirt has bloody boogers on it from him snuggling. He is sweaty from the fever, and from crying. He is making a high-pitched wheezing/whistling sound every time that he breathes (strider breathing), and his chest is caving in on breathing in (retractions) because he can't get enough air. So, it makes sense that they rushed us back.
Travis was hooked up to the little thing they wrap around your toe to tell your pulse-oxygen level, or something, he got a blood pressure cuff, and his temperature taken - 102.6. They immediately got one of those smoky-breathing things, and had him inhale that for about 15 minutes. Travis was so miserable that he basically just laid on my chest and let them do what they wanted to him. The breathing treatment didn't really help much, he still was wheezing horribly, and having the retractions. They gave him an oral steroid to help open up his airways, and ibuprofen for his fever. Then they told me that they were going to transfer us to Children's across town because he wasn't improving enough, and they didn't have the specialized care which we could receive at Children's. (Oh joy, just what I was trying to avoid).
While we were there, I swear that every person who was on duty in the ER was in our room. There may have been one other person in the ER, but we certainly received all the attention - about 12 people in and out of the room in all with 3 or more present at all times!
It is 6:30 at this point, and Travis is still awake, been awake most of the night, but is so miserable he is just laying on me not moving very much. While waiting to be transferred, they do chest X-rays to check for pneumonia, and they take snot samples to check for RSV and for the Flu. He was not particularly happy about either of those because it meant not being able to lay on me with his head on my chest for a couple minutes each. By 7am, the paramedics arrived to take us by ambulance across town.
The paramedics were very nice, and they loosely strapped me to the gurney, and I continued to hold on to my sick little boy. Of course, going across town, we hit ALL the morning traffic, and what is about a 20 minute drive took an hour. Travis was stable though, and sound asleep finally, so the emergency lights and sirens were not used - probably would have freaked him out if they were used, which would have set him back into breathing difficulties.
We arrived at Children's a little before 8 am, and were put into a room in the emergency department there. They hooked up a bunch of monitors to Travis - another foot pulse monitor, and three chest monitors which did different things. Basically then they just monitored us. While Travis slept, he would just wheeze lightly, but if he started crying, he would go back into full retractions and strider. Around 10am, the Dr. told me that it was kind of a 50/50 toss up for her on whether to admit him, or to send him home. She said they would monitor him for a little longer and then make a decision.
Travis woke up and started to play a little bit, and one of the nurses brought in a few toys for him to try to keep him entertained. He of course threw them off the bed several times, but at least he was starting to act more like his normal self. At 11, they told us we would be able to go home - albeit they warned us of the MANY things we would have to come back in for: strider and retractions when he was not worked up, inability to swallow, paleness or blueness, and excessive drooling (really,drooling in a teething infant?).
Since we had arrived by ambulance, I had no car to get home, so I had to call Blake (who had stayed home with Jake who was still asleep), and have him drive to the first hospital, get into my car, and then come and rescue us at Children's. At 11:30 we checked out.
The rest of the day, I worked on keeping Travis calm, and allowing him to sleep on me as he had been doing at the hospital. He fell asleep at night Thursday pretty easily (who wouldn't after being up all night the night before) - but woke up scared, and ended up sleeping on me for the remainder of the night after 10pm. He is doing better, but I am still not letting him get worked up about anything since his breathing is still labored, and sounds so scary when he cries (think small kitten gasping for breath).
Friday he slept through until 6:20 am - yeah! Hopefully he'll be long over this by Christmas!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Looking at lights
Mostly in an attempt to keep Jake good through the evening, I told him that if he was good, ate all his dinner, and didn't whine, that he would get a special surprise at bedtime. Seems like it worked, he was an angel all night! So after bath time, we made hot chocolate, and got dressed for bed - kissed Daddy and Travis goodnight, and we hopped in the car to go look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood.
Apparently he is exactly the right age for doing this, because we drove around for 20 minutes, and he kept asking to see more lights, and he oohed and ahhed at all the lights that we drove past, and we called the long stretches of houses without any lights scrooges. His favorites are the color changing lights, and the blinking ones, but the blow-up Mater Car was pretty cool that we saw too!
We got home after, and he said "thank you Mom for my surprise", I told him Thank you for coming with me to look at lights, and he said "you're welcome" - aww, sweet little boy!
Happy Monday!
Apparently he is exactly the right age for doing this, because we drove around for 20 minutes, and he kept asking to see more lights, and he oohed and ahhed at all the lights that we drove past, and we called the long stretches of houses without any lights scrooges. His favorites are the color changing lights, and the blinking ones, but the blow-up Mater Car was pretty cool that we saw too!
We got home after, and he said "thank you Mom for my surprise", I told him Thank you for coming with me to look at lights, and he said "you're welcome" - aww, sweet little boy!
Happy Monday!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
How to un-light your pre-lit tree
When we moved into the house, at our first Christmas, we bought a pre-lit Christmas tree. Pre-lit = easy, right??
Year 1 - tree was perfect!
Year 2 - tree had 2 branches which were no longer lit, turn tree toward wall, still almost perfect!
Year 3 - still just the 2 branches out, still almost perfect!
Year 4 - closer to 4 or 5 branches out, mostly on one side of the tree, decent enough.
Year 5 - still close to 4 or 5 out, maybe a few more, decent.
Year 6 - OVER HALF THE LIGHTS ARE OUT - no longer okay at all!
So, cue figuring out how to un-light a pre-lit tree, because there is no way that I am going through the season with that much of the tree not working! And before you judge, yes I tried replacing fuses, didn't do anything, and adding enough additional strings of lights to get it to look decent seemed like it would be a fire-hazard so I wasn't going to do that.
First off, what is not the best way to go about un-lighting a tree: Start on the top section of tree at the end of the plug, and unwind from the back of the branches to the tips until you get so frustrated that you get out the wire clippers to make it go faster. Did you know that they actually loop the wires around EVERY SINGLE piece of green sticking out on the tree!! (and apparently starting at the plug end is doing it backwards - which you will see in the "better way to go about it)
Better way to go about it: Go to the end of one of the branches, find the single light which is attached with a clip instead of wrapped around the entire branch. Pull off the clip, and then you can unwind the light string back to the base of the branch (yes it wraps around EVERY single little branchy thing on there). When you get back to the end of the branch, that string will connect up to the next string along a much shorter wire which - thank goodness - is not wrapped additionally around the tree. Do this about 100 times, and the tree is finally done.
So, about 6 hours of unlighting later, and some seriously scratched up arms (I recommend gloves and long sleeves to anyone elsestupid enough wanting to undertake this challenge), the tree was back to the state it would have been in had we originally bought a not-pre-lit tree (which it now is).
We wrapped the lights, hung the ornaments, and now it is beautiful, and all the lights work - so yeah!!
Maybe I'll be able to just fold it up with all the lights on and can consider it pre-lit again next year....
Year 1 - tree was perfect!
Year 2 - tree had 2 branches which were no longer lit, turn tree toward wall, still almost perfect!
Year 3 - still just the 2 branches out, still almost perfect!
Year 4 - closer to 4 or 5 branches out, mostly on one side of the tree, decent enough.
Year 5 - still close to 4 or 5 out, maybe a few more, decent.
Year 6 - OVER HALF THE LIGHTS ARE OUT - no longer okay at all!
So, cue figuring out how to un-light a pre-lit tree, because there is no way that I am going through the season with that much of the tree not working! And before you judge, yes I tried replacing fuses, didn't do anything, and adding enough additional strings of lights to get it to look decent seemed like it would be a fire-hazard so I wasn't going to do that.
First off, what is not the best way to go about un-lighting a tree: Start on the top section of tree at the end of the plug, and unwind from the back of the branches to the tips until you get so frustrated that you get out the wire clippers to make it go faster. Did you know that they actually loop the wires around EVERY SINGLE piece of green sticking out on the tree!! (and apparently starting at the plug end is doing it backwards - which you will see in the "better way to go about it)
Better way to go about it: Go to the end of one of the branches, find the single light which is attached with a clip instead of wrapped around the entire branch. Pull off the clip, and then you can unwind the light string back to the base of the branch (yes it wraps around EVERY single little branchy thing on there). When you get back to the end of the branch, that string will connect up to the next string along a much shorter wire which - thank goodness - is not wrapped additionally around the tree. Do this about 100 times, and the tree is finally done.
So, about 6 hours of unlighting later, and some seriously scratched up arms (I recommend gloves and long sleeves to anyone else
We wrapped the lights, hung the ornaments, and now it is beautiful, and all the lights work - so yeah!!
Maybe I'll be able to just fold it up with all the lights on and can consider it pre-lit again next year....
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Thankful for...
This year I am thankful for (in no particular order):
1. My loving, and seriously understanding husband without whom I would be a total disaster.
2. Two wonderful children who daily remind me how lucky I am to get to be their mother.
3. My mother who comes over and distracts Jake 2 days a week so that I don't go crazy when he isacting like a little $#!& displaying his less than perfect child behavior.
4. Daycare which distracts Jake 2 more days a week - and is turning him into a very well rounded little boy.
5. The ability to stay home with my 2 little boys while they are little, and be around for all the firsts, seconds, and more.
6. A 3 year old who out of the blue frequently tells me that I look pretty (think his daddy is coaching him?)
7. Nap-time which finally lasts longer than 30-45 minutes!!
8. My health, and that of my family.
9. My parents - who helped me survive my childhood, and are helping me survive my adulthood too; who offer love all the time, and who don't criticize my parenting techniques (even when I have a bad day).
10. My sister -who I survived my childhood in-spite of, who is the best sister in the world, not kidding, all the rest of them fall sub-par to her!
11. My in-laws - who I can count on for anything that I need.
12. Our family dynamic - who else has Easter and Thanksgiving with both their sets of parents, and siblings, and there is nothing but happiness the entire time!!
13. A 3 year old who apparently occasionally wakes up at night and turns on his sleep sheep to go back to sleep without coming out to get us! (discovered this last night).
14. A love of, and talent for cooking, which most of the time keeps my family eating more healthy than I think we otherwise could be.
15. Shoes on my feet, a shirt on my back, a roof over my head, and a big comfy bed.
16. Coffee (which my 3 year old prefers to assist in making each morning).
17. Chocolate.
18. Being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a friend (and all at the same time).
19. Friends who see when I am having a rough week, and initiate a girls night to lift my spirits.
20. My 3 boys who always keep me laughing and smiling.
21. A baby who can not yet crawl (even though that will change probably by next week).
22. Children who like to play with each other.
23. Having had a boss who told me recently that he was totally spoiled having me as an employee (talk about make me feel awesome about myself, nothing like positive feedback about how well I had been doing).
24. Being able to understand everything that Jake wants, needs, and otherwise talks about - even when he thinks that there are fish in his bed for no rational reason (a story for later). Not sure if he is advanced in the language department or not, but I am going with yes because the Dr. asked if he could put together 3-4 word sentences at his 3 year old appointment... well, yes he can, or he can tell you a detailed story for 5 minutes...
And finally...
25. Being Mama to the smartest baby in the world - pretty sure Travis read my blog post, figured out I was complaining about him, and decided that he would sleep from 8 to 7 without a peep, just to prove me wrong! I am enrolling him in kindergarten tomorrow because clearly we are not challenging him enough. :)
1. My loving, and seriously understanding husband without whom I would be a total disaster.
2. Two wonderful children who daily remind me how lucky I am to get to be their mother.
3. My mother who comes over and distracts Jake 2 days a week so that I don't go crazy when he is
4. Daycare which distracts Jake 2 more days a week - and is turning him into a very well rounded little boy.
5. The ability to stay home with my 2 little boys while they are little, and be around for all the firsts, seconds, and more.
6. A 3 year old who out of the blue frequently tells me that I look pretty (think his daddy is coaching him?)
7. Nap-time which finally lasts longer than 30-45 minutes!!
8. My health, and that of my family.
9. My parents - who helped me survive my childhood, and are helping me survive my adulthood too; who offer love all the time, and who don't criticize my parenting techniques (even when I have a bad day).
10. My sister -
11. My in-laws - who I can count on for anything that I need.
12. Our family dynamic - who else has Easter and Thanksgiving with both their sets of parents, and siblings, and there is nothing but happiness the entire time!!
13. A 3 year old who apparently occasionally wakes up at night and turns on his sleep sheep to go back to sleep without coming out to get us! (discovered this last night).
14. A love of, and talent for cooking, which most of the time keeps my family eating more healthy than I think we otherwise could be.
15. Shoes on my feet, a shirt on my back, a roof over my head, and a big comfy bed.
16. Coffee (which my 3 year old prefers to assist in making each morning).
17. Chocolate.
18. Being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a friend (and all at the same time).
19. Friends who see when I am having a rough week, and initiate a girls night to lift my spirits.
20. My 3 boys who always keep me laughing and smiling.
21. A baby who can not yet crawl (even though that will change probably by next week).
22. Children who like to play with each other.
23. Having had a boss who told me recently that he was totally spoiled having me as an employee (talk about make me feel awesome about myself, nothing like positive feedback about how well I had been doing).
24. Being able to understand everything that Jake wants, needs, and otherwise talks about - even when he thinks that there are fish in his bed for no rational reason (a story for later). Not sure if he is advanced in the language department or not, but I am going with yes because the Dr. asked if he could put together 3-4 word sentences at his 3 year old appointment... well, yes he can, or he can tell you a detailed story for 5 minutes...
And finally...
25. Being Mama to the smartest baby in the world - pretty sure Travis read my blog post, figured out I was complaining about him, and decided that he would sleep from 8 to 7 without a peep, just to prove me wrong! I am enrolling him in kindergarten tomorrow because clearly we are not challenging him enough. :)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The Gripe List
I figure it is easier to be thankful for all that we have after getting the griping out of the way first - so here is my gripe list - thankful list to follow:
1. Potty training a toddler
2. Regression in a potty training toddler
3. An almost 8 month old who has gone back to NOT sleeping through the night
4. An almost 8 month old who when he does wake up in the middle of the night will easily fall back asleep, ONLY as long as I am holding him, and wakes back up the SECOND his head is laid back down on the crib mattress
5. An almost 8 month old with 5 teeth who feels the need to use them on Mama while nursing
Okay, so that list is really short, (I guess it just feels longer between the lack of sleep and the mounting load of wet underpants), but it is really all I can complain about - the thankful list should be awesome since I have so few gripes!
1. Potty training a toddler
2. Regression in a potty training toddler
3. An almost 8 month old who has gone back to NOT sleeping through the night
4. An almost 8 month old who when he does wake up in the middle of the night will easily fall back asleep, ONLY as long as I am holding him, and wakes back up the SECOND his head is laid back down on the crib mattress
5. An almost 8 month old with 5 teeth who feels the need to use them on Mama while nursing
Okay, so that list is really short, (I guess it just feels longer between the lack of sleep and the mounting load of wet underpants), but it is really all I can complain about - the thankful list should be awesome since I have so few gripes!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Up all Night
Well, I thought we were past the worst of the sleeping troubles with the little one. And Sunday night did well to reinforce that thought, he slept from 8pm until 6:20 am - Score, life is finally good again after a month of teething...
Cue last night... put Travis down at 8, he was up at 9 but back down in 5 minutes, up at 10 but back down in 5 minutes, up from 11 to 12, at which point he came and slept with us because it clearly wasn't working to lay him down in his crib between 11 and 12, and I know, because I tried 3 times to do it! He was happy about sleeping in Mama's arms, but was back up again at 2 am, and put back into his room (because seriously, I don't sleep well with him in my arms). Not surprisingly, once back in his crib, he screamed until at least 3:15 when Jake came in to sleep with us - not sure if he heard Travis, or was cold (he claimed cold this morning, I think it was a little of both). Travis was back up again from 4 - 4:30 am, and at that point finally slept until 8am (of course Jake stayed in our room, and was up banging around and getting into trouble at 7:20).
Got him down for a nap at 10 today, and so far have almost an hour and a half (which makes sense since he didn't sleep at all last night).
So yeah, I'm tired - try not to piss me off today!
Cue last night... put Travis down at 8, he was up at 9 but back down in 5 minutes, up at 10 but back down in 5 minutes, up from 11 to 12, at which point he came and slept with us because it clearly wasn't working to lay him down in his crib between 11 and 12, and I know, because I tried 3 times to do it! He was happy about sleeping in Mama's arms, but was back up again at 2 am, and put back into his room (because seriously, I don't sleep well with him in my arms). Not surprisingly, once back in his crib, he screamed until at least 3:15 when Jake came in to sleep with us - not sure if he heard Travis, or was cold (he claimed cold this morning, I think it was a little of both). Travis was back up again from 4 - 4:30 am, and at that point finally slept until 8am (of course Jake stayed in our room, and was up banging around and getting into trouble at 7:20).
Got him down for a nap at 10 today, and so far have almost an hour and a half (which makes sense since he didn't sleep at all last night).
So yeah, I'm tired - try not to piss me off today!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Sticker Incident
Being a good American, I went and voted on Tuesday - with Travis in tow, because that is what you do when you have a baby at home. I got my sticker, and they asked if he wanted one too - I said, No, not a good idea because he would just eat it. So I walked out safe with only a sticker on me.
We went and picked Jake up from school, and went on to the Grocery store to get food for the week. Jake of course saw my sticker, and decided that he needed it. Makes sense, he is 3, so I gave him my sticker, and he put it on his shirt - pretty typical, he frequently comes home from school with stickers on him.
We get to the grocery store - it is HEB so you can fit 2 kids in the cart - and both boys go into the cart. We start shopping (this is typically as exciting as my day gets). We are about half way through our shopping experience, and Travis starts gagging, and then pukes all over the shopping cart cover. At this point, I figure I didn't burp him well enough after I last fed him, and for some reason it just was a lot. A minute later - more puking, and now he is covered, the cart cover is covered, and it has leaked out the leg holes and landed in my diaper bag, and all over my Coach wallet (YUCK). So I start thinking, oh geez he got a stomach bug.
I tell Jake that we need to hurry up and finish our shopping so that we can get Travis home and start getting him to feel better. He does it 2 more times, and I have used up all the things I can find to cover the yuck which is now everywhere - burp rags, nursing cover, etc., and then I see this tiny white thing in his mouth, and fish it out...
It was my "I Voted" sticker - oh joy, I knew he would eat it - and he peeled it off Jake's shirt and ate it, just like I knew he would if he had gotten his own sticker.
So we finish our shopping, without any more puking thank goodness. Not sure if it makes me a good mom or a bad mom for finishing my shopping after all this, but we needed food so oh well.
We went and picked Jake up from school, and went on to the Grocery store to get food for the week. Jake of course saw my sticker, and decided that he needed it. Makes sense, he is 3, so I gave him my sticker, and he put it on his shirt - pretty typical, he frequently comes home from school with stickers on him.
We get to the grocery store - it is HEB so you can fit 2 kids in the cart - and both boys go into the cart. We start shopping (this is typically as exciting as my day gets). We are about half way through our shopping experience, and Travis starts gagging, and then pukes all over the shopping cart cover. At this point, I figure I didn't burp him well enough after I last fed him, and for some reason it just was a lot. A minute later - more puking, and now he is covered, the cart cover is covered, and it has leaked out the leg holes and landed in my diaper bag, and all over my Coach wallet (YUCK). So I start thinking, oh geez he got a stomach bug.
I tell Jake that we need to hurry up and finish our shopping so that we can get Travis home and start getting him to feel better. He does it 2 more times, and I have used up all the things I can find to cover the yuck which is now everywhere - burp rags, nursing cover, etc., and then I see this tiny white thing in his mouth, and fish it out...
It was my "I Voted" sticker - oh joy, I knew he would eat it - and he peeled it off Jake's shirt and ate it, just like I knew he would if he had gotten his own sticker.
So we finish our shopping, without any more puking thank goodness. Not sure if it makes me a good mom or a bad mom for finishing my shopping after all this, but we needed food so oh well.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Painting Party
For Jake's 3rd birthday, we decided to do a painting party - a bit ambitious, but it turned out WAY better than I could have hoped for.
It was cold outside, so all painting happened in our breakfast room, but we only had one paint accident hit the carpet, and that came out entirely and with no problems.
Not a ton to say, but here are the photos!
It was cold outside, so all painting happened in our breakfast room, but we only had one paint accident hit the carpet, and that came out entirely and with no problems.
Not a ton to say, but here are the photos!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Three years of parenting
Three years ago, our lives were forever changed when Jake came into the world at 10:19 pm via C-Section.
We found out the day before that we were going to get to meet our little angel when the hospital called at about 4pm and told us that they were scheduling an induction for us the following morning, and to be at the hospital at 5am. We were so excited that we couldn't sleep that night (probably not great for us, but oh well).
4 am rolled around, and the alarm went off to get us out of bed and to finish getting ready to go to the hospital. Then we drove through McDonald's to get breakfast for Blake so he could make it at least part way through the day. We got to the hospital and checked in through the ER as we had been directed, and shortly were sent up to L&D and put into the triage room since all the delivery rooms were occupied at the time.
At 7:30, my Dr. arrived and broke my water, and the real fun started. By 10am, I was asking for the epidural - and it took the Dr. a LONG time to get there to hook it up - like 45 minutes long time, and when you are having labor pains, 10 minutes is a long time. (Oh well, long in the past now). He did a good job (at least we thought he did), and it took effect very quickly. Unfortunately, starting in the mid-afternoon, about every 2 hours, pain would return and he would have to super dose the line in order to remove the issues.
At around 4 pm, we were still in the triage room, and I was progressing well at the time, so they started to move baby warmer equipment into the room. (I am guessing that I stopped progressing right about the time they started setting up for the baby). They did discover that the baby was not entirely in the "head toward exit" position, and so they were flipping me from side to side every 30 minutes in an attempt to rotate the baby into the correct position.
At 7 pm, we moved into an actual delivery room - which is significantly larger, and nicer (not just fluorescent lighting) than the triage room. We were pretty tired by this point though, so we didn't care too much what the surroundings were, but there were more comfortable chairs for Blake at least. Also at this time, my Dr. told me that she had to leave because she was on-call the entire weekend - fantastic, because I really wanted a stranger to deliver my baby. (again, oh well, long in the past)
Pretty sure that we in total dilated to an 8 - but not entirely sure. I know that the Anesthesiologist had to re-work the epidural 3 times before we went in for the C-Section, when I kept maxing out the button, and was still feeling shooting pains. I also know they didn't check me before actually doing the C-Section, so there is no way to really know how close we came to a more "normal" delivery route - oh well.
At 9:30 pm, the On-Call Dr. showed up, and asked if we had considered a C-Section since it had been hours since any progress had been made. We discussed it, and with some (unwanted, but considered) input from the nurse in the room, in the end we decided to go with the C-Section, and end the laboring experience.
At the point that we told them our decision, things began to move very quickly. I was prepped for surgery, Blake was put into a surgical gown and mask, and then they made him leave. He was not allowed to walk beside me back to the operating room - so I cried the entire way back there. (Can you really blame me though, I was scared, and they wouldn't let me have my husband with me).
I remember them prepping me, and everything for the surgery at the same time. I most recall them counting out the towels and tools prior to surgery (I don't recall the same procedure afterward, but I was distracted by a wonderful new life, and am pretty sure that it happened, and that they ended up with the same counts). The anesthesiologist, and a good friend told me what to expect, thank goodness, the feeling of a C-Section is so NOT natural. I must have a high tolerance to anesthesia though, because it took the Dr. asking about 5 times, and me saying "No, I can still feel that" before we were finally numb enough to begin. Not sure what she was doing that I could feel, hopefully not poking me with a knife though.
By the time Blake got into the room, they were likely already into the surgery (which is the way they intend it, but not exactly my favorite aspect of the whole process). Surgery itself took only minutes, so the oddness of it at least didn't last long.
At 10:19 pm, on October 29, 2009 Jake was born. He weighed in at 7 lb. 0 oz., was 19 inches long, and immediately stole our hearts away.
Blake went with him to get the bath, and all the newborn testing done, while I was sewn back together. I didn't get to actually see or hold my baby until nearly 2 hours later - and I couldn't see him very well because they made me take out my contacts. The first viewing of my baby I actually got was on a picture on Blake's phone because they didn't bring him close enough to me to see in the operating room (I have really bad eyes, so I could tell he had hair, that was about it though.)
So, things didn't go the way we had planned, or really wanted, but in the end we did have a healthy baby - and really that is all that we could have hoped for.
Three years later, I still remember all this, but thought I should probably write it down before I do forget.
Happy birthday to my love!
Jake first birthday
We found out the day before that we were going to get to meet our little angel when the hospital called at about 4pm and told us that they were scheduling an induction for us the following morning, and to be at the hospital at 5am. We were so excited that we couldn't sleep that night (probably not great for us, but oh well).
4 am rolled around, and the alarm went off to get us out of bed and to finish getting ready to go to the hospital. Then we drove through McDonald's to get breakfast for Blake so he could make it at least part way through the day. We got to the hospital and checked in through the ER as we had been directed, and shortly were sent up to L&D and put into the triage room since all the delivery rooms were occupied at the time.
At 7:30, my Dr. arrived and broke my water, and the real fun started. By 10am, I was asking for the epidural - and it took the Dr. a LONG time to get there to hook it up - like 45 minutes long time, and when you are having labor pains, 10 minutes is a long time. (Oh well, long in the past now). He did a good job (at least we thought he did), and it took effect very quickly. Unfortunately, starting in the mid-afternoon, about every 2 hours, pain would return and he would have to super dose the line in order to remove the issues.
At around 4 pm, we were still in the triage room, and I was progressing well at the time, so they started to move baby warmer equipment into the room. (I am guessing that I stopped progressing right about the time they started setting up for the baby). They did discover that the baby was not entirely in the "head toward exit" position, and so they were flipping me from side to side every 30 minutes in an attempt to rotate the baby into the correct position.
At 7 pm, we moved into an actual delivery room - which is significantly larger, and nicer (not just fluorescent lighting) than the triage room. We were pretty tired by this point though, so we didn't care too much what the surroundings were, but there were more comfortable chairs for Blake at least. Also at this time, my Dr. told me that she had to leave because she was on-call the entire weekend - fantastic, because I really wanted a stranger to deliver my baby. (again, oh well, long in the past)
Pretty sure that we in total dilated to an 8 - but not entirely sure. I know that the Anesthesiologist had to re-work the epidural 3 times before we went in for the C-Section, when I kept maxing out the button, and was still feeling shooting pains. I also know they didn't check me before actually doing the C-Section, so there is no way to really know how close we came to a more "normal" delivery route - oh well.
At 9:30 pm, the On-Call Dr. showed up, and asked if we had considered a C-Section since it had been hours since any progress had been made. We discussed it, and with some (unwanted, but considered) input from the nurse in the room, in the end we decided to go with the C-Section, and end the laboring experience.
At the point that we told them our decision, things began to move very quickly. I was prepped for surgery, Blake was put into a surgical gown and mask, and then they made him leave. He was not allowed to walk beside me back to the operating room - so I cried the entire way back there. (Can you really blame me though, I was scared, and they wouldn't let me have my husband with me).
I remember them prepping me, and everything for the surgery at the same time. I most recall them counting out the towels and tools prior to surgery (I don't recall the same procedure afterward, but I was distracted by a wonderful new life, and am pretty sure that it happened, and that they ended up with the same counts). The anesthesiologist, and a good friend told me what to expect, thank goodness, the feeling of a C-Section is so NOT natural. I must have a high tolerance to anesthesia though, because it took the Dr. asking about 5 times, and me saying "No, I can still feel that" before we were finally numb enough to begin. Not sure what she was doing that I could feel, hopefully not poking me with a knife though.
By the time Blake got into the room, they were likely already into the surgery (which is the way they intend it, but not exactly my favorite aspect of the whole process). Surgery itself took only minutes, so the oddness of it at least didn't last long.
At 10:19 pm, on October 29, 2009 Jake was born. He weighed in at 7 lb. 0 oz., was 19 inches long, and immediately stole our hearts away.
Blake went with him to get the bath, and all the newborn testing done, while I was sewn back together. I didn't get to actually see or hold my baby until nearly 2 hours later - and I couldn't see him very well because they made me take out my contacts. The first viewing of my baby I actually got was on a picture on Blake's phone because they didn't bring him close enough to me to see in the operating room (I have really bad eyes, so I could tell he had hair, that was about it though.)
So, things didn't go the way we had planned, or really wanted, but in the end we did have a healthy baby - and really that is all that we could have hoped for.
Three years later, I still remember all this, but thought I should probably write it down before I do forget.
Happy birthday to my love!
Jake newly arrived
Jake first birthday
Jake second birthday
Jake third birthday
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Pinterest Dinner Week Review
With the exception of Tuesday's dinner, the week was very successful!
Monday: Mushroom Soup - Oh my goodness, so delicious; tastes a lot like the Mushroom Soup du Jour which La Madeline serves (which means I LOVED it). Blake liked it, and Jake ate some of it too.
Tuesday: Cod and Zucchini Cakes - well, slightly disappointing on both fronts. There wasn't anything wrong with either one, but I have had better fish and better zucchini preparations. Oh well, no need to repeat either of these.
Wednesday: Crock Pot Ribs and Cumin Carrots- Another success. I left out the jalapeno in the ribs, because me and jalapenos do not get along, so it was probably lacking a little zest, but we liked them just fine! The bones completely fell out of the meat - who doesn't love that. Jake picked up the meat and gnawed on it like it was still on the bone though. :) The carrots were good too, very zesty with the lime. Definitely will make crock pot ribs again, maybe try another sauce (my favorite part was the tenderness of the meat)
Thursday: Chicken Marsala - Raving success. I didn't have Marsala Wine though - so I substituted Pinot Noir (I know but it was all I had, need to make a wine run!), and added in Chicken Stock. Blake told me to always make it with the Pinot because it was so good.
So overall a very successful food experimentation week.
Monday: Mushroom Soup - Oh my goodness, so delicious; tastes a lot like the Mushroom Soup du Jour which La Madeline serves (which means I LOVED it). Blake liked it, and Jake ate some of it too.
Tuesday: Cod and Zucchini Cakes - well, slightly disappointing on both fronts. There wasn't anything wrong with either one, but I have had better fish and better zucchini preparations. Oh well, no need to repeat either of these.
Wednesday: Crock Pot Ribs and Cumin Carrots- Another success. I left out the jalapeno in the ribs, because me and jalapenos do not get along, so it was probably lacking a little zest, but we liked them just fine! The bones completely fell out of the meat - who doesn't love that. Jake picked up the meat and gnawed on it like it was still on the bone though. :) The carrots were good too, very zesty with the lime. Definitely will make crock pot ribs again, maybe try another sauce (my favorite part was the tenderness of the meat)
Thursday: Chicken Marsala - Raving success. I didn't have Marsala Wine though - so I substituted Pinot Noir (I know but it was all I had, need to make a wine run!), and added in Chicken Stock. Blake told me to always make it with the Pinot because it was so good.
So overall a very successful food experimentation week.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Pinterest Dinner Week!
So I already admitted to having an addiction to Pinterest (probably to an unhealthy level, but oh well). I pin LOTS of things, but hardly do anything with the things/information which I pin - hopefully this is typical of all the people who use Pinterest... This week though, we are doing Pinterest dinners all week so that I can prove to myself that I am not crazy for all the time I spend surfing Pinterest. :)
Here is our dinner line-up:
Monday: Mushroom Soup from Season with Spice's blog, with Salad and some sort of bread (Also a side of baked chicken because Blake doesn't believe soup on its own constitutes a full meal most days - unless it is Tortilla Soup).
Tuesday: Roast Cod with Garlic Butter from Myrecipes.com, with Zucchini Cakes from Life's Ambrosia blog, and Oven Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Crock-pot Ribs from City Girl Chicago's blog, with Cumin Carrots from familystylefood.com, and leftover roast potatoes from Tuesday's dinner
Thursday: Chicken Marsala from Passthesushi.com, over some type of pasta, with salad
Friday we have other plans, so it will just be 4-days of pinterest food. Will let you know how it turns out!!
On the other things I said I would update on:
The car - battery seems to have fixed the issue, at least for now - hopefully will not have any continued electrical problems.
The Pumpkin Patch photos:
Happy Monday!
Here is our dinner line-up:
Monday: Mushroom Soup from Season with Spice's blog, with Salad and some sort of bread (Also a side of baked chicken because Blake doesn't believe soup on its own constitutes a full meal most days - unless it is Tortilla Soup).
Tuesday: Roast Cod with Garlic Butter from Myrecipes.com, with Zucchini Cakes from Life's Ambrosia blog, and Oven Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Crock-pot Ribs from City Girl Chicago's blog, with Cumin Carrots from familystylefood.com, and leftover roast potatoes from Tuesday's dinner
Thursday: Chicken Marsala from Passthesushi.com, over some type of pasta, with salad
Friday we have other plans, so it will just be 4-days of pinterest food. Will let you know how it turns out!!
On the other things I said I would update on:
The car - battery seems to have fixed the issue, at least for now - hopefully will not have any continued electrical problems.
The Pumpkin Patch photos:
Happy Monday!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Electrical issues
So I got a new car last February. I love it. However, in the last couple months, it has started having some electrical issues...
It started small - the radio would blink off and then back on, or when I would turn off the car, all power would be out to it, and the powered side step wouldn't come out, so I would have to hop out of the car.
We took it in to the dealership in August, and they kept it for a couple of days (during which I got to drive a Cadillac SUV - FUN!), and they of course could not duplicate the issue - everything worked great for them. We noticed for a while it seemed to only do it when the gas would get low, but not anymore.
Last week, I picked Jake up from school, and had the car parked on the street - we were walking out to the car and all of a sudden a car alarm starts going off, and low-and-behold, it is mine. (I swear I didn't hit the panic button on it, it has done it in the driveway at home too once or twice). Of course it looked like I hit the panic button on accident or something, ugh, I don't like it when people look at me like I am "that person". Embarassing, but oh well.
Yesterday, Mom and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch to get our Haloween pumpkins, and some photo ops (to post soon). When we got back out to the car, it wouldn't unlock - oh joy, the clicker is linked in to the electrical system too! I got the key into the driver-side door, and got that unlocked at least. The door-unlock buttons for the rest of the car are linked to the electrical system though, so they wouldn't unlock. A few minutes of frustration though, and I was able to turn the car on, and get all the doors unlocked. Phew!
Then, this morning, I drop Jake off at school, and get back to the car to drive home. Car won't unlock AGAIN! I go around to the driver door to stick the key in, and something in the cylinder popped out into view, so the key won't go into the lock to unlock it that way. And oh joy, I have a baby who wants to leave, and to top it off, the phone is in the car! 5 minutes of hitting the clicker button and trying to jam the key into the door later, I finally get the key into the door, but it won't turn - guess whatever popped out needs to be popped back into the correct location a little better... but the clicker works for 1 small second, and I get the car unlocked!! Success, maybe I will be able to leave!
I get Travis buckled into the car, get myself in, and turn the key - click, click, click - no such luck, the car won't start. It isn't even trying to turn-over, it is kaput. 5 minutes of this fun later, I call Blake to come rescue us. My knight-in-shining-armor shows up and jump-starts the car for us, and then goes to buy a new battery (Cross-your-fingers that it works) while I drive a now hungry and fussy baby home for a nap.
So 45 minutes to drop Jake off at school - yuck! He though, after I kissed him goodbye when I thought I was going to be able to leave at 9:10, just played with his friends and asked me why I was still there. Sweet boy!
Hope the battery fixes it - will update if it doesn't!
It started small - the radio would blink off and then back on, or when I would turn off the car, all power would be out to it, and the powered side step wouldn't come out, so I would have to hop out of the car.
We took it in to the dealership in August, and they kept it for a couple of days (during which I got to drive a Cadillac SUV - FUN!), and they of course could not duplicate the issue - everything worked great for them. We noticed for a while it seemed to only do it when the gas would get low, but not anymore.
Last week, I picked Jake up from school, and had the car parked on the street - we were walking out to the car and all of a sudden a car alarm starts going off, and low-and-behold, it is mine. (I swear I didn't hit the panic button on it, it has done it in the driveway at home too once or twice). Of course it looked like I hit the panic button on accident or something, ugh, I don't like it when people look at me like I am "that person". Embarassing, but oh well.
Yesterday, Mom and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch to get our Haloween pumpkins, and some photo ops (to post soon). When we got back out to the car, it wouldn't unlock - oh joy, the clicker is linked in to the electrical system too! I got the key into the driver-side door, and got that unlocked at least. The door-unlock buttons for the rest of the car are linked to the electrical system though, so they wouldn't unlock. A few minutes of frustration though, and I was able to turn the car on, and get all the doors unlocked. Phew!
Then, this morning, I drop Jake off at school, and get back to the car to drive home. Car won't unlock AGAIN! I go around to the driver door to stick the key in, and something in the cylinder popped out into view, so the key won't go into the lock to unlock it that way. And oh joy, I have a baby who wants to leave, and to top it off, the phone is in the car! 5 minutes of hitting the clicker button and trying to jam the key into the door later, I finally get the key into the door, but it won't turn - guess whatever popped out needs to be popped back into the correct location a little better... but the clicker works for 1 small second, and I get the car unlocked!! Success, maybe I will be able to leave!
I get Travis buckled into the car, get myself in, and turn the key - click, click, click - no such luck, the car won't start. It isn't even trying to turn-over, it is kaput. 5 minutes of this fun later, I call Blake to come rescue us. My knight-in-shining-armor shows up and jump-starts the car for us, and then goes to buy a new battery (Cross-your-fingers that it works) while I drive a now hungry and fussy baby home for a nap.
So 45 minutes to drop Jake off at school - yuck! He though, after I kissed him goodbye when I thought I was going to be able to leave at 9:10, just played with his friends and asked me why I was still there. Sweet boy!
Hope the battery fixes it - will update if it doesn't!
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Beach
We got back on Friday from a surprisingly relaxing week at the beach spent with 15 of our closest family members. I say surprisingly relaxing because vacation with 2 boys, and only having Blake there half the time had "possible disaster" written all over it. Thankfully though, with help from everyone watching and chasing my children down (and a lot of help from my mom - God bless her), I was able to relax and enjoy my time with family.
When I was little, my grandparents on my Mother's side would rent a beach house every other year and would have their 3 daughters and their families come and stay. Memories of those times are some of my most favorite summers of my childhood, and I think helped to instill the high sense of importance of family, and of extended family in me.
My grandparents both passed away in 2010, and my Mom and her sisters decided that the family has seen entirely too little of each other since their passing, and so they rented a beach house which could sleep 16 (or 19 which we actually had there....). The only ones missing from the way things used to be other than my grandparents, were my cousin and his wife who moved to Colorado last spring and could not get the time off to come and play with us.
Highlights of things encountered at this beach trip - these aren't in order, just numbered to keep track:
1. Travis sleeping through the night during the WHOLE TRIP (this is huge because he only just barely started doing this a couple days before we left).
2. Jake having "dry undies" for 5 consecutive days.
3. Blake and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, and went to M&M in Galveston (We were going to go somewhere else but it was entirely booked, so we improvised).
5. Watching Jake chase birds, and smack waves with a pool noodle - which looked a little like the game of whack-a-mole the way he played it.
6. Late night rounds of Hand-and-Foot card games with the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins
7. Going out to the beach during burning hours every day, and not getting me, or my boys sunburned!
8. Taking morning and afternoon naps with Travis.
9. A lot of good food, and seafood was eaten.
10. When we got back into town, it was only in the 80s, as opposed to the 100s when we left.
When I was little, my grandparents on my Mother's side would rent a beach house every other year and would have their 3 daughters and their families come and stay. Memories of those times are some of my most favorite summers of my childhood, and I think helped to instill the high sense of importance of family, and of extended family in me.
A beach house trip from about 15 years ago I am going to guess - this depicts how our family gets along - everyone is happy as can be. Couldn't ask for a better family! (I think this was the trip where my youngest cousin fell asleep under the TV, and the rest of us decided to watch JAWS)
My grandparents both passed away in 2010, and my Mom and her sisters decided that the family has seen entirely too little of each other since their passing, and so they rented a beach house which could sleep 16 (or 19 which we actually had there....). The only ones missing from the way things used to be other than my grandparents, were my cousin and his wife who moved to Colorado last spring and could not get the time off to come and play with us.
The House we had this time at the beach - beachfront, perfect
1. Travis sleeping through the night during the WHOLE TRIP (this is huge because he only just barely started doing this a couple days before we left).
2. Jake having "dry undies" for 5 consecutive days.
3. Blake and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, and went to M&M in Galveston (We were going to go somewhere else but it was entirely booked, so we improvised).
Happy 5 years!
4. Watching Travis's reaction to "jumping waves" - he loved it5. Watching Jake chase birds, and smack waves with a pool noodle - which looked a little like the game of whack-a-mole the way he played it.
6. Late night rounds of Hand-and-Foot card games with the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins
7. Going out to the beach during burning hours every day, and not getting me, or my boys sunburned!
8. Taking morning and afternoon naps with Travis.
9. A lot of good food, and seafood was eaten.
10. When we got back into town, it was only in the 80s, as opposed to the 100s when we left.
Jake, Travis and their second cousins David and Katy.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Sleeping through the night, one of the wonderful things that babies are supposed to eventually do...
We actually thought that we had gotten even luckier this time around when Travis would go 4-6 hour stretches at night off the bat, and was on solid 6-8 hour stretches of sleep at night by 3 weeks old. Jake slept through the night, and kept it up at 2 months old, and our new baby was doing it even earlier! But, Travis stopped sleeping through the night between 2 and 3 months old...
During the day he is on an eats every 2 hours schedule, which is fairly demanding, but nothing which is unreasonable considering he was sleeping at night. At about 2 - 2 1/2 months though, we started waking up again every 4-6 hours to eat, and then it was down to every 3-4 hours. Still I was thinking that this isn't too bad, he eats, and then goes right back to sleep and I can get a few more hours before having to feed him again.
Well, he is 5 months old, and it was still every 3-4 hours at night and every 2 all day long for eating, and during the day he would only eat a little, and then be good for a while. (I am now chalking this up to too much night eating). Because I value my sleep, and was getting grumpy, I started reading my baby books again about sleeping through the night, and the books say that after a baby reaches 11 lbs. that they do not technically need the middle of the night nutrition, and after 3-4 months, it is more likely to be comfort nursing which they are doing as they have gotten into the habit. It also said that after 6 months, this is a harder habit to break. Well, he was 11 lb. before he was 2 months old, and I don't enjoy being awoken all night every night, so I was sold - going to break my sweet little one of this habit before it becomes totally ingrained in him!
So, I have been keeping a sleep log to try and figure out the patterns of when he sleeps better at night. I am either really bad at interpreting patterns of what makes him sleep better, or this kid has no pattern at all. Not sure which it is, but I am going to go with the latter - anyone else wants to analyze the data for me, feel free!
The only discernible pattern was that he would wake up somewhere between 11pm and 1am, and then typically again between 3am and 5am. Sometimes more often (4 times a night), sometimes less - but neither seemed to have anything to do with when he would go to bed, or how much nap he got during the day.
I think most of the drama of sleep training is behind us now. (Cross your fingers for me because I probably just jinxed it!) About 2 weeks ago, I simply quit feeding him when he would wake up at the 11pm-1am time frame. The first night was awful, it took about 45 minutes to get him to go back to sleep - and I almost gave up immediately because it only takes 25-30 minutes to feed him and have him back down totally happy and fed. But after that 45 minute "fun", he slept until about 4am - so he had gone about 7 hours since last being fed. Ahh, success, he can go longer than 3-4 hours. The next night was easier, only 20 minutes until he was back down. Again, back up at 4am to feed him, but still - doing pretty good.
Then, a few nights ago, after putting him to bed at 9, and comforting him when he woke up at 12am, he slept through until 6:15. Whoa, that put us at over 9 hours since he was fed. Somehow we have increased the sleep time! Last night, he did his standard waking up at 11:30, and then this morning - I had to wake him up at 8 to feed him before taking Jake to school! That is a whopping 12 hours between feedings. So now that I know he can do it, I plan to try to keep him doing it, going from his 8-9pm feeding, until somewhere between 6 and 8am.
Wish me luck!
We actually thought that we had gotten even luckier this time around when Travis would go 4-6 hour stretches at night off the bat, and was on solid 6-8 hour stretches of sleep at night by 3 weeks old. Jake slept through the night, and kept it up at 2 months old, and our new baby was doing it even earlier! But, Travis stopped sleeping through the night between 2 and 3 months old...
During the day he is on an eats every 2 hours schedule, which is fairly demanding, but nothing which is unreasonable considering he was sleeping at night. At about 2 - 2 1/2 months though, we started waking up again every 4-6 hours to eat, and then it was down to every 3-4 hours. Still I was thinking that this isn't too bad, he eats, and then goes right back to sleep and I can get a few more hours before having to feed him again.
Well, he is 5 months old, and it was still every 3-4 hours at night and every 2 all day long for eating, and during the day he would only eat a little, and then be good for a while. (I am now chalking this up to too much night eating). Because I value my sleep, and was getting grumpy, I started reading my baby books again about sleeping through the night, and the books say that after a baby reaches 11 lbs. that they do not technically need the middle of the night nutrition, and after 3-4 months, it is more likely to be comfort nursing which they are doing as they have gotten into the habit. It also said that after 6 months, this is a harder habit to break. Well, he was 11 lb. before he was 2 months old, and I don't enjoy being awoken all night every night, so I was sold - going to break my sweet little one of this habit before it becomes totally ingrained in him!
So, I have been keeping a sleep log to try and figure out the patterns of when he sleeps better at night. I am either really bad at interpreting patterns of what makes him sleep better, or this kid has no pattern at all. Not sure which it is, but I am going to go with the latter - anyone else wants to analyze the data for me, feel free!
The only discernible pattern was that he would wake up somewhere between 11pm and 1am, and then typically again between 3am and 5am. Sometimes more often (4 times a night), sometimes less - but neither seemed to have anything to do with when he would go to bed, or how much nap he got during the day.
I think most of the drama of sleep training is behind us now. (Cross your fingers for me because I probably just jinxed it!) About 2 weeks ago, I simply quit feeding him when he would wake up at the 11pm-1am time frame. The first night was awful, it took about 45 minutes to get him to go back to sleep - and I almost gave up immediately because it only takes 25-30 minutes to feed him and have him back down totally happy and fed. But after that 45 minute "fun", he slept until about 4am - so he had gone about 7 hours since last being fed. Ahh, success, he can go longer than 3-4 hours. The next night was easier, only 20 minutes until he was back down. Again, back up at 4am to feed him, but still - doing pretty good.
Then, a few nights ago, after putting him to bed at 9, and comforting him when he woke up at 12am, he slept through until 6:15. Whoa, that put us at over 9 hours since he was fed. Somehow we have increased the sleep time! Last night, he did his standard waking up at 11:30, and then this morning - I had to wake him up at 8 to feed him before taking Jake to school! That is a whopping 12 hours between feedings. So now that I know he can do it, I plan to try to keep him doing it, going from his 8-9pm feeding, until somewhere between 6 and 8am.
Wish me luck!
Napping on the couch.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The Zoo
I decided that we needed to have a fun day - and by fun I mean Jake gets to expend his energy, and Mama doesn't have to to crazy telling him NO all day long. So, we decided to go to the Zoo. Here is some of what we did:
Jake got to feed the deer (which he attempts to do all the time at his grandparents, but these are used to eating out of your hand, and he LOVED IT)
Mom got to feed a goat - looks like she loved it too!
This guy decided that he was going to join us for lunch. And by join us for lunch, I mean that he decided to jump up on top of the picnic table, and try to eat our sandwhiches. We did a lot of shooing of the bird, which did not seem to bother or deter him from his ultimate goal in the least. Travis and Jake both found this to be quite entertaining, albeit a bit odd to have a bird that big so close to them. In the end, we won, and he did not get any PB&J from Jake!
After we finally got the peacock to go away, this peahen showed up with 5 little chicks!
Travis got a little worn out by the end of the Zoo visit - but he did stay awake for almost the entire trip.
Oh, and by the way - we have a sitter!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
First Day of School
Travis and I dropped Jake off, and there were no tears, or trying to come back home with us or anything, which was a tremendous surprise to me, but wonderful none-the-less.
When I went to pick up Jake, he was in a spinning toy (think giant sit-n-spin with sides on it that fits about 4 toddlers) with 3 girls (I know, my little ladies man), and he was not at all interested in leaving his seat of honor among the girls to come back home and hang out with Mama and Travis. One of the little girls in the toy apparently is his girlfriend. Jake's teacher said that they were all lovey all day long, lots of hugs between the two of them apparently. Eventually I
When we got home with our ice cream, Jake told Daddy all about his day, and about his girlfriend, Bristol. He asked Jake if he gave her hugs, and Jake said - "Lots of hugs... and Kisses!". Oh, geeze, I hope that Bristol's Mama thinks this little "relationship" is as cute as we do!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Summer Fun
Last night was back to school night at Jake's Preschool - which means that school starts next week!! Since it is back-to-school, and this is the first time I am posting anything, I thought I would recap the highlights of our summer fun.
May: School let out May 23, and we celebrated by breaking out the Water Worm and running through it like a sprinkler in the front yard.
June: We went to the Arboretum, and played on the cows, fed the ducks and had some Amy's Ice Cream (because how can you go up there and miss the ice cream?). We also went to the beach with Blake's family for 4 days. The beach is not as relaxing as I remember it being from when I was the kid and someone else had to chase after me, but it was still a lot of fun.
July: July got hot, so we did a lot of swimming, and a lot of hanging out inside the house. Travis celebrated turning 4 months old, and was able to get to eat his first foods - he LOVES real foods. I think that I may have been trying to encourage him at the beginning by saying Mmmmm every time that a bite went into his mouth - well he does it now every time he gets a bite - so cute. Not sure if I have this on video yet or not, but I'll get it and post it soon!
August: As is typical in Texas, August was hotter still than July, and we stayed inside even more, which led to cabin-fever for Jake who has beenabsolutely crazy a bit more energetic than when we were able to go to the playground in the mornings when it wasn't already 85 degrees and on its way to 102. The early morning temperature of course isn't too big a deal for Jake, but for Travis having to be strapped to Mama's chest, it is a bit too warm for extended stays in the outdoors. But we did more inside playing, and Travis got in the pool for the first time.
This summer has been lots of fun, but I am looking forward to having a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays to spend higher quality time with my youngest!!
May: School let out May 23, and we celebrated by breaking out the Water Worm and running through it like a sprinkler in the front yard.
June: We went to the Arboretum, and played on the cows, fed the ducks and had some Amy's Ice Cream (because how can you go up there and miss the ice cream?). We also went to the beach with Blake's family for 4 days. The beach is not as relaxing as I remember it being from when I was the kid and someone else had to chase after me, but it was still a lot of fun.
July: July got hot, so we did a lot of swimming, and a lot of hanging out inside the house. Travis celebrated turning 4 months old, and was able to get to eat his first foods - he LOVES real foods. I think that I may have been trying to encourage him at the beginning by saying Mmmmm every time that a bite went into his mouth - well he does it now every time he gets a bite - so cute. Not sure if I have this on video yet or not, but I'll get it and post it soon!
August: As is typical in Texas, August was hotter still than July, and we stayed inside even more, which led to cabin-fever for Jake who has been
This summer has been lots of fun, but I am looking forward to having a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays to spend higher quality time with my youngest!!
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