Friday, June 29, 2012

Abigail's Room {SUYL link-up}

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for the first time for one of her SUYL link-ups. 

Today is Show Us Kids bedrooms!  This is Abigail's room.  We put a lot of extra effort into making her room special.  I felt it was important because we were moving her across the house and Jackson her room, since it was closer to ours.  So here it is, it's the cutest room in our house.

It's a BRIGHT room!   





 Sorry for the bad picture :(

These are little stick on decals.  They come on and off really easy.

 I love these little cubby shelves.  I seriously want to buy 2 of these for every room in my house.


I sanded, primered, and painted this entire thing mostly by myself, while I was pregnant with Jackson.  I wore a mask the entire time.   

I found these cute little flip flop at a garage sale.  Perfect for hanging her many, many bags.

I just realized I never took a picture of her bed, probably because it was made.  Oh well, you get the gist.  I hope you enjoyed viewing our little girls room.  Thanks for visiting my little blog :)

Ya'll have a GREAT day!!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

{randomness}

It's that time again people.  Time for a little randomness.

~My parents finally closed on their new house.  It took them all of about 1.5 days to move all their stuff.  They worked like machines.  I helped what little I could with a baby on my hip.  I'm so happy for parents.  This house is so nice.  They never dreamed they would ever live in a house like this. 
Jackson had fun running around Nana and Papa's empty house.

 He went from walking to running in about 2 days!!  Pray for me that I can keep up with this little flash!

~Now that Abigail is getting older she gets so many opportunities for fun activities: dance, softball, sleepovers, church camps, and the list goes on.  But lately I've been feeling guilty that Austin never has any special activities.  So after dropping Abigail at church camp Monday morning, I took Austin and Jackson to the park to play.  Austin was so excited.  Our town recently built a little water area at our local park.  I just new he would love it and play forever.  I thought I would have to drag him away, but I was wrong.  He played for about 15 minutes and then then he was done.  There weren't any other kids there and he is so used to having Abigail around to play with.  I was a little bummed out about it, but he still had fun. 


Jackson had fun watching for about 2 minutes and then fussed to get out of his stroller the rest of the time.  Since he started walking he pretty much thinks he's 3 years old already.





~It's been fun watching Jackson with his little cousin Audrie now that she's getting bigger.  He is really interested in her, but also a little scared of her.  
 She just looks at him like "Hey whats up?"

~ I think it's pretty cool how my kids all like to play and be together in the same room.  Even Jackson at 10 months old is usually hanging out with them.  I know this won't last forever, but I love the fact that my kids are so close and genuinly love being in eachother's company. 

Now don't get me wrong, Abigail and Austin can fight like the best of them, but mostly they are best friends. 



Abigail got some dangly earring from Nana.  She thinks she's pretty grown up.




I've gotten a lot more relaxed with my blogging lately, and I think that's a good thing.  Mostly it's because my computer in 75 years old and hard to work with, but I also wanted to back off a little bit.  I was posting everyday and enjoying it, but it took a lot of time and effort and started to feel stressful.  So just FYI, I am continuing with my blog, but just at more of a leisurely pace.

Summer is flying by ya'll, so make sure you take some time to enjoy it away from your computer :)

Monday, June 25, 2012

Make it Monday

I'm linking up with Ashley at Polluck Potluck for another edition of Make it Monday!!
 

The Polluck Potluck
 
This week I made some cake box cookies.  I used to make these all the time when I was in High School.  They are the simplest, quickest, yummiest cookies!
 
You need:
1 box of cake mix (any flavor, my favorite is lemon)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs
 
Preheat oven 350 degrees
Mix all the ingredients
drop spoonfulls on ungreased cookie sheet
(optional: sprinkle a little sugar on top of each cookie)
bake 8-10 minutes
 
Yummy!!!!
 


Now it's your turn to link up and share what you've been making lately!!!

 

Saturday, June 23, 2012

I'll never forget that day

Two years ago today I found out that my third baby's heart had stopped beating.

I'll never forget that day.

I dropped Abigail and Austin off at my Mom's house so that I could go to my twelve week check-up. I was really excited for this day. I had planned on leaving the doctors office after my appointment to go shopping for some cute, new maternity clothes, which is always fun.

I had pretty much decided to go to all my appointments by myself this time around. This was my third baby after all. I was an old pro.

I drove to the doctors office thinking about where I would go shopping after the appointment, and where I would eat lunch, and maybe I would even pick up something for our new precious baby that was due on December 28th, our Christmas baby.

We hadn't planned on having a third baby and our timing wasn't perfect, but we were so happy and we were trusting Gods plans for us.

At the doctor's office it seemed like I didn't have to wait as long usual. I peed in a cup, the nurse weighed me (I was gaining too much weight as usual but nothing to be concerned with) she took my blood pressure, and put me in a room to wait on my doctor.

I remember thinking how weird it was that I was put in a room I had never been in before. After having two babies already with this same doctor and having probably 30 visits while pregnant I had never been in this room.

I brought a book with me for a change, so I took it out and tried to get into it. It was really different. I can't remember the title, but it was a strange book.

My doctor finally came in ready to listen to the baby. She pulled out her little device, she put the gooey stuff on it, and pressed it to my stomach. She moved it around here and there. She said she thought she almost had it. She told me she thought the placenta must be in the front so we would need to go use the ultrasound and take a look.

I had to wait in the room for a few minutes by myself while she finished up with the patient that was already in the ultrasound room.

I don't know why but I knew something wasn't right. It's like God spoke to me and told me to prepare myself. So right then and there I prayed and asked God to help me through this and be with me. It's funny thinking back that I prayed that specifically instead of asking for everything to just be alright. In a way it was like God was the one to tell me that my baby was gone and I am so grateful for that.

The doctor returned and we went into the room with the ultrasound. She was still acting like all would be fine, but my heart was beating loud in my ears. She pulled up the picture of my uterus on the screen and she immediately knew. She told me the baby's heart beat had stopped.

I think I forgot to mention that we had heard the heartbeat at 9 weeks and it was a little bit high, but still within normal range.

According to the measurements the baby had stopped growing at 10 weeks 5 days. The doctor probably thought I was cold and unfeeling because I didn't show any emotion at first. I was just pretty much in shock.

I don't remember much of what she said after that. We scheduled another ultrasound at the hospital just to be sure but I knew the baby was gone.

I didn't cry until I walked out of the office on the way to my car. I called Brent, who was teaching summer school and told him over the phone so he could leave work. I drove back to my parents house. I called my mom and told her to meet me in the driveway. I didn't want to tell her in front of the kids. She was shocked and we cried together in the driveway.

After I collected myself we went into the house. Abigail wanted to fix my hair, so I sat on the floor while my four year old fixed my hair and we watched cartoons.

I had to be strong for my babies. I didn't want to cry in front of them. They were so little and I knew it would just make them nervous.

When Brent arrived at my parents we went into the other room and I cried a little, but not a lot. I hate crying. I'm always the strong one.

Brent later told me that the only way he made it through this whole thing was because of how strong I acted. He said if I had been a blubbery mess, he would have lost it himself. This made me happy.

Brent and I went to the confirmation ultrasound and then back to our Doctor to discuss the D&C. I needed this procedure, because my body was not showing any symptoms of a miscarriage. I had no bleeding or cramping. I wanted the procedure. I wanted this nightmare to be over.

I LOVED that baby with all I had. I heard that babies heart beat and saw it's little stubby limbs moving at 9 weeks. I never met her, but she was mine.

I'm pretty sure it was girl. That's just what I think, there was no way to know at that point.

We schedule the procedure for the next morning. It went as smooth as possible and in a matter of a few hours I went from being pregnant to not being pregnant. It was the worst time of my life.

I remember telling my mom that before this happened, if someone had asked me what the worst thing that had ever happened in my life would be, I don't think I would have had an answer. I have lived an extremely blessed life.

I COULD NOT have gotten through this without my God. He was with me every step of the way. I felt him especially during those times when I was alone, sitting in the waiting room, driving home after, waiting in the pre-op room.

I KNOW that he has plans for me and my life that are beyond my comprehension.

I KNOW that my simple mind could never understand His ways.

My husband and my mother were my steady rocks through this time. But what I remember comforting me so much was my children. The first thing I wanted to do after the procedure was go home and hold my babies. I don't know how women get through miscarriages and go home to an empty house. My heart breaks for them.

Austin was asleep when Brent's mom brought him home, so I held my 2 year old boy in my arms while he slept. It was so peaceful.

It took me a little over a week to start feeling like myself again. I wasn't over it, or done grieving my loss, but I was starting to heal.

In December, I became pregnant again and it was not the same as my other pregnancy. I was nervous all the time. Every appointment felt like returning to the scene of the crime. The same rooms where I found out my baby was gone, made my hands shake, and my heart beat in my ears. I made my husband or mother go with me to EVERY SINGLE appointment.

In August we welcomed our precious baby Jackson into our family. I still often think about that baby and how old she would be. When I see pictures of my cousin's little boy I think about how the baby I lost was due a month after him and would be about that size now. It still makes me sad to think about, but at the same time I know that if I hadn't lost that baby, then Jackson would not have been born and I can't imagine my life without that precious little face.


God knows what he's doing and I trust in Him.

I hardly ever talk about this time in my life. I sometimes I feel guilty that I don't, but I think about that baby all the time. I have this little tiny baby foot charm on a green ribbon hanging in my car. The counselor at the hospital gave it to me. Immediately when leaving the hospital I stuck it on my rear view mirror and it will stay there forever. I see it everyday and it reminds me of how blessed I am and how BIG God is.

Someday I'll meet my baby, but for now I'm going to live life the best I can as a tribute to that little life that never got a chance.

Well if you stuck with me through all that I gotta give you some props. So when you're going through tough times, lean on God and trust that His plan is way better than yours.

I'll never forget that day

Two years ago today I found out that my third baby's heart had stopped beating.

I'll never forget that day.

I dropped Abigail and Austin off at my Mom's house so that I could go to my twelve week check-up. I was really excited for this day. I had planned on leaving the doctors office after my appointment to go shopping for some cute, new maternity clothes, which is always fun.

I had pretty much decided to go to all my appointments by myself this time around. This was my third baby after all. I was an old pro.

I drove to the doctors office thinking about where I would go shopping after the appointment, and where I would eat lunch, and maybe I would even pick up something for our new precious baby that was due on December 28th, our Christmas baby.

We hadn't planned on having a third baby and our timing wasn't perfect, but we were so happy and we were trusting Gods plans for us.

At the doctor's office it seemed like I didn't have to wait as long usual. I peed in a cup, the nurse weighed me (I was gaining too much weight as usual but nothing to be concerned with) she took my blood pressure, and put me in a room to wait on my doctor.

I remember thinking how weird it was that I was put in a room I had never been in before. After having two babies already with this same doctor and having probably 30 visits while pregnant I had never been in this room.

I brought a book with me for a change, so I took it out and tried to get into it. It was really different. I can't remember the title, but it was a strange book.

My doctor finally came in ready to listen to the baby. She pulled out her little device, she put the gooey stuff on it, and pressed it to my stomach. She moved it around here and there. She said she thought she almost had it. She told me she thought the placenta must be in the front so we would need to go use the ultrasound and take a look.

I had to wait in the room for a few minutes by myself while she finished up with the patient that was already in the ultrasound room.

I don't know why but I knew something wasn't right. It's like God spoke to me and told me to prepare myself. So right then and there I prayed and asked God to help me through this and be with me. It's funny thinking back that I prayed that specifically instead of asking for everything to just be alright. In a way it was like God was the one to tell me that my baby was gone and I am so grateful for that.

The doctor returned and we went into the room with the ultrasound. She was still acting like all would be fine, but my heart was beating loud in my ears. She pulled up the picture of my uterus on the screen and she immediately knew. She told me the baby's heart beat had stopped.

I think I forgot to mention that we had heard the heartbeat at 9 weeks and it was a little bit high, but still within normal range.

According to the measurements the baby had stopped growing at 10 weeks 5 days. The doctor probably thought I was cold and unfeeling because I didn't show any emotion at first. I was just pretty much in shock.

I don't remember much of what she said after that. We scheduled another ultrasound at the hospital just to be sure but I knew the baby was gone.

I didn't cry until I walked out of the office on the way to my car. I called Brent, who was teaching summer school and told him over the phone so he could leave work. I drove back to my parents house. I called my mom and told her to meet me in the driveway. I didn't want to tell her in front of the kids. She was shocked and we cried together in the driveway.

After I collected myself we went into the house. Abigail wanted to fix my hair, so I sat on the floor while my four year old fixed my hair and we watched cartoons.

I had to be strong for my babies. I didn't want to cry in front of them. They were so little and I knew it would just make them nervous.

When Brent arrived at my parents we went into the other room and I cried a little, but not a lot. I hate crying. I'm always the strong one.

Brent later told me that the only way he made it through this whole thing was because of how strong I acted. He said if I had been a blubbery mess, he would have lost it himself. This made me happy.

Brent and I went to the confirmation ultrasound and then back to our Doctor to discuss the D&C. I needed this procedure, because my body was not showing any symptoms of a miscarriage. I had no bleeding or cramping. I wanted the procedure. I wanted this nightmare to be over.

I LOVED that baby with all I had. I heard that babies heart beat and saw it's little stubby limbs moving at 9 weeks. I never met her, but she was mine.

I'm pretty sure it was girl. That's just what I think, there was no way to know at that point.

We schedule the procedure for the next morning. It went as smooth as possible and in a matter of a few hours I went from being pregnant to not being pregnant. It was the worst time of my life.

I remember telling my mom that before this happened, if someone had asked me what the worst thing that had ever happened in my life would be, I don't think I would have had an answer. I have lived an extremely blessed life.

I COULD NOT have gotten through this without my God. He was with me every step of the way. I felt him especially during those times when I was alone, sitting in the waiting room, driving home after, waiting in the pre-op room.

I KNOW that he has plans for me and my life that are beyond my comprehension.

I KNOW that my simple mind could never understand His ways.

My husband and my mother were my steady rocks through this time. But what I remember comforting me so much was my children. The first thing I wanted to do after the procedure was go home and hold my babies. I don't know how women get through miscarriages and go home to an empty house. My heart breaks for them.

Austin was asleep when Brent's mom brought him home, so I held my 2 year old boy in my arms while he slept. It was so peaceful.

It took me a little over a week to start feeling like myself again. I wasn't over it, or done grieving my loss, but I was starting to heal.

In December, I became pregnant again and it was not the same as my other pregnancy. I was nervous all the time. Every appointment felt like returning to the scene of the crime. The same rooms where I found out my baby was gone, made my hands shake, and my heart beat in my ears. I made my husband or mother go with me to EVERY SINGLE appointment.

In August we welcomed our precious baby Jackson into our family. I still often think about that baby and how old she would be. When I see pictures of my cousin's little boy I think about how the baby I lost was due a month after him and would be about that size now. It still makes me sad to think about, but at the same time I know that if I hadn't lost that baby, then Jackson would not have been born and I can't imagine my life without that precious little face.


God knows what he's doing and I trust in Him.

I hardly ever talk about this time in my life. I sometimes I feel guilty that I don't, but I think about that baby all the time. I have this little tiny baby foot charm on a green ribbon hanging in my car. The counselor at the hospital gave it to me. Immediately when leaving the hospital I stuck it on my rear view mirror and it will stay there forever. I see it everyday and it reminds me of how blessed I am and how BIG God is.

Someday I'll meet my baby, but for now I'm going to live life the best I can as a tribute to that little life that never got a chance.

Well if you stuck with me through all that I gotta give you some props. So when you're going through tough times, lean on God and trust that His plan is way better than yours.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Obsessions {June 22}

I've been extra pumped about this weeks obsessions link up over as Saige Wisdom.

Why.... do you ask???


Well.... because there is a giveaway involved. Yay!! I thought I would post the rules so that you have NO excuse not to join in. You MUST!!!

1) befriend Saige Wisdom on Google Friend Connect (if you haven`t already done so)


2) find a little something on Etsy.com - for under $50 - that you simply cannot live without.


3) create an obsessions post that names at least 5 things you`re lovin` these days. One of these list items will include a photo + mini-write up about your must-have Etsy find...


4) publish these obsessions on your blog; you can do this ANYTIME between now and the contest`s closing date - June 29th - just make sure your post features her button, you can find that on her blog.


5) starting on June 22nd LINK UP, creep on the blogs of fellow participants & keep those fingers triple crossed cause she just might be buying YOU your Etsy treasure!


6) oh and if her Facebook fan page gets more than 200 likes #dreambig before the June 29th deadline, one random `liker` is gonna get $20 to spend on whatevs...



the fine print:
* Etsy finds must be under $50 USD including shipping
* link up closes Friday, June 29th at noon (my time)
* winner will be announced Saturday, June 30th
* there needs to be 20 link ups in order for this thing to happen
* one entry per blog


{ SaigeWisdom }

OK so here we go with my current obsessions....

1. Sister Necklace
Let's go ahead and knock out my etsy find. I've been dying to get something like this for my sister as a wedding gift. I found it at Jewelry by Jakemi.


SISTER Definition Vintage Dictionary Pendant Necklace
This necklace is perfect. She loves vintage things, in fact vintage is the theme of her wedding. She is also an English major and would love a piece of a vintage dictionary. Her fiance actually cut out a hole in a dictionary and put her engagement ring in there for her to open when he proposed to her. It was very cute. It's only $12.00, but I don't care. This is what I'm obsessed with.

2. Julian Smith YouTube videos.
If you like Saturday Night Live type skits then you will love Julian Smith. He makes really funny mostly musical videos for you tube. Here is one of my all time favorites.




Here's my newest favorite. Just be warned that I sort of have a man's sense of humor, so some of you might think these are just stupid, but they keep me amused for hours.




3. French Toast!!!!!
Thank You God for helping us learn to make this wonderfully delicious breakfast food.

4. Selling our House
I'm pretty much losing hope, but I'm trying to stay positive. I think I just need to stop thinking about it.

5. Keeping the House clean for showings!
Another thing I think I need to let go of. I'm gonna have to admit myself to the loony bin, if I keep it up. There is no way to keep your house clean all the time when you have three kids.

Alrighty, now it's your turn to link up if you haven't already.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Last Thing Thursday: I'm baa--aack!!

I missed out last few weeks, but don't worry I'm back!!

The Life of the Wife

Let's jump right in!

The last thing I.....

ate that made me go "mmmmm"

A Wendy's Frosty makes me sooo HAPPY!!

watched on T.V.
One of my guilty pleasures is watching Teen Mom on MTV.  I know it's reality trash and doesn't always send the right message, but I still get sucked in.  I think my favorite couple to watch are Kaitlyn and Tyler.  They are the couple that gave their baby up for adoption.  I enjoy watching them break the history of their family.  She is the first person ever in her family to graduate from High School.  I'm really cheering for these two kids. 

got frusterated about, but then I thought was cute

Austin wanted to color, which I thought was great because he never wants to color.  I got him all set up and a few minutes later Abigail yells for me to come see. 
I then find Austin coloring circles on the wall.  He acted totally innocent, like he truly didn't no better. 
I didn't really get very mad.  The magic eraser got it out.



 laughed about

Austin came running to tell me that he and Abigail had found a bunch of mustaches in the yard.  Mustaches???? I was totally confused.  Mustaches in the yard???

He meant mushrooms.  LOL!!  He keeps me laughing!!



cooked


Ok now it's your turn to link up!!
Happy Thursday!!




Wednesday, June 20, 2012

midweek confessions

You may not have noticed, but I haven't linked up in a few weeks.  I'm back for another edition of confessions!! 

Enjoy!
Confession #1
Kelsie's bridal shower is over and I am soooo relieved.  Everything went well, and I enjoyed planning and decorating, but it was stressful at times and overwhelming.   Probably, the fact that I have three kids and one of them is under 1, was really the cause of most of that stress. 

A few pics for you



Confession #2
I've been so obsessed with keeping our house spotless for showings, that I forbid encourage Brent not to cook anything.  He makes such a mess when he cooks.  I'm a little OCD so his version of clean and my version of clean are slightly different. 

Confession #3

I've been eating horribly lately.  Healthy diet and exercise just flew out the window and I don't even remember where or when. 

Confession #4

I would go to the movies to see just about anything.  I recently realized this about myself.  I've always enjoyed going, but I'm pretty sure I would go no matter what the movie if someone invited me.  I just really enjoy the experience.  For the first time in a long time, we left the movies really disappointed with the movie we saw last week, but I still enjoyed it and I'm glad I went. 

Confession #5

I need a break from my kids.

Confession #5

Abigail has turned into a very sarcastic little thing lately and I am totally to blame.  I can be way too sarcastic and so, of course, your kids pick up your worst habits. 

Confession #6

I hate grammar, specifically comma's and apostrophe's.  I'm generally a smart person, but I worry too much about it and I just can't remember, so I've decided to stop caring.  (doubt full)

****Update****

Confession #7 or #8

Apparently I also don't know how to count.  Yes, people like me teach your children in public school. 

Monday, June 18, 2012

Make it Monday link up!!!




I'm linking up today with Ashley for the first Make It Monday link up!  She has a cute Make It Monday button, but I couldn't get that one to cooperate, so I took this one instead.  I strongly encourage you to check out her blog and link up with a post about something you've made. 
 
I'm not super craft, but I want to be, so I need all the inspiration I can get!!
 
  
The Polluck Potluck
 
This was what the kids and I made for Brent for Father's Day! It was really fun and simple, although as you can see I almost messed up the writing. Jackson is only 10 months, so his little hand print looks a bit like an octopus!  I found this cute idea on Pinterest of course.   

My only suggestion when making this craft would be to make sure the frame you're putting it in doesn't cut off the words, or hand prints. 

Yay for the first edition of Make It Monday!!


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Jackson {10 months}

10 months!! (sorry it's late)

Things have been sooooo busy around here lately.  The kids have all been a little sick/allergies, Kelsie's shower is tomorrow, my grandparents are visiting from Oklahoma, and we finally had a showing on house and we have another one coming up on Monday.  But of course I had to get Jackson's monthly update up and boy do we have something to show you.  Check out the video of my big boy!!!



weight/clothes
He's pretty much in 12-18 months clothes now.  He can still squeeze into some 9-12 month, but it's a tight squeeze.  He is weighing a little over 20 pounds.  He's like a little compact wrecking ball.


sleeping
We started letting him cry it out at night and I'm so happy with how things have been going.  You can read about Night 1 here, and Nights 2-3 here.  Things have continued to go smoothly.  He still cries when we put him down, but it only lasts 10-15 minutes at the most.  He's been sleeping till about 5am and then we usually give him his morning bottle in his bed and he will drink it and fall back to sleep until about 8am.  I am loving this routine.


eating
He's totally over baby food.  He only wants table foods now.  He doesn't really like to be spoon fed at all.  He would rather feed himself.  These are some of his favorite foods right now. 

raviolis (we rinse them off and cut them up)
pasta (any kind)
sandwich meat turkey or ham
grilled cheese
pancakes
peaches
bananas
cheese
 cinnamon toast
anything you throw on his tray



new skills
Obviously from the video above, he is a walking machine.  He is walking further and further every day.  He can almost cross the entire living room without falling, but he's still pretty wobbly. 

extras
Abigail and Austin were with Brent's mom the other day.  Jackson is too young to spend the night away from home yet so he got left behind.  I noticed he had left the living room and so I went searching for him and I found him playing and talking to himself in Abigail's closet.  He really misses them when they are gone. 

He found this little crawl space between the fridge and wall.  He thinks he's pretty smart when he plays in there.  I think it's too cute!!



I can't believe only 2 months until his first birthday.  I don't want to think about that right now!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

{randomness}

Alrighty, it's time for another randomness post to let you all know what's going on with us lately.

-Kelsie's bridal shower is this Sunday.  Yes, yes, I know it's Father's Day, but I didn't know that until after I'd already booked the place and order the invitations.  It's from 2-4 so I don't see why people couldn't make it.  I seriously doubt the fathers out there would mind. 

-My parent's are finally closing with the company buying their house, and next Friday they will be closing on the new house they are buying.  It started to seem like none of this would ever happen, but alas it is finally here.  You can read about their house troubles here.

-Our house is still being ignored.  We have had it on the market for 47 days and not one single itty bitty bite.  We just lowered the price, so hopefully that will bring some interest.  Although at this point I'm beginning to lose hope.

-Austin has a fever blister/cancor sore.  I don't know what the difference is, but he's never had one before.  I've never had one and so I'm a little nervous about it. 

-I've started pinning again.  I took a nice long break from pinterest, but now I'm back.  Mostly because I remembered that we are having a "Crafty Christmas" this year with my side of the family and I'm sooooooo excited about it. 

-Jackson turned 10 months on June 10th, but since I don't have a very good computer anymore, I'm behind on getting his 10 month update.  It will happen, but he might be almost 11 months before it gets posted.  He has changed sooo much in the past month, it will be a long post so stay tuned.

-We've almost finished all our wedding shopping.  All that's left to buy is Brent's shoes.  All the wedding party will be wearing converse chucks.  Jackson is not officially in the wedding, but I found these and had to get them.  Actually my Mom bought them.  They were irresistible. 


Well I think that's about it for now.  I'm working on a very special  and emotional post right now.  It will be posted on June 22nd so stay tuned for that.  

Monday, June 11, 2012

crying it out {night 2 &3}

Night 2:

Brent was feeding Jackson his bed time bottle at 7:15 and he was so tired he fell asleep while eating. Brent put him to bed.

At about 8:10 he cried for about 2 minutes, then fell back to sleep.

Then he slept THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

He woke up a little on the early side at 6:15.

Night 3:

He had a later than normal nap from 3-4, so we let him stay up later. At around 9:00 he was acting tired so I gave him his bottle and he got pretty drowsy, but never actually fell asleep. I laid him down, fully expecting a crying, screaming meltdown fit, but I got the exact opposite.

He hardly made a peep.

Just a few little fussy sounds and then nothing. Surely he hasn't already figured this out. Isn't this supposed to take at least a week of crying nights. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. Every night I get the feeling that tonight will be the bad screaming for hours type night.

I feel like I sort of have my evenings back to myself now. I'm praying he continues to adjust easily. I will update you in a week or so and let you how it's going.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

crying it out {night 1}

Ok, so I never really had a problem with rocking my babies and letting them sleep in our bed when they woke in the middle of the night.  I guess with my older age(ahem almost 29) I feel extra exhausted with Jackson's unpredictable sleeping schedule.

Lately we have been rocking and putting him down between 7 and 8. He was sleeping until midnight or 2am, we would give him a bottle and he would go right back to sleep with us, in our bed(I know it's dangerous). As a working mother that gave me the sleep I needed to function, and to be honest I didn't mind it at all.

But things have changed!

He has been waking up about an hour after we put him down. He is waking up at midnight and 4 a.m. and wanting to stay awake. He's just not getting the sleep we think he needs and neither are we.

I told Brent Friday night that now is the time to do this, since I am out for summer break. So we went for it.

It was a killer.

Night 1:

I still rocked him and put him down at 7:15. He woke up at 8. I went in his room and rubbed his back and shushed him for about a minute and left him in his bed. This only infuriated him. Poor little guy. He screamed for another ten-ish minutes and I went in again to soothe him, and again he calmed down while I rubbed his back, but started screaming again when I left him.

We followed this pattern and at 9:15 while Brent was taking his turn soothing, Jackson finally gave up and fell asleep.

I don't understand how he had the energy to cry for that long, but all in all it went better and quicker than I expected.

I hate the soothing part because it only seems to upset him more, but I understand the need for it. I want him to understand that we are still around and that he hasn't been abandoned.

He woke up crying at 1:30, so I let him cry for a little while and then went in to soothe him. I left the room and looked at the clock and told myself I would go back in at 1:45 if he was still up. I fell asleep and woke up at 3:00 and all was silent.

I had turned the monitor off, but we can still hear him cry. I thought I wouldn't be able to fall asleep while he was crying but I must have been too exhausted.

Jackson woke up crying again at 4:00. This time was a little harder on him. He has been waking up at 4am lately ready to be up and playing, acting like it's morning time.

Brent went in and soothed him this time. I must have passed out again around 5 because I woke up at 6:30 when Brent's alarm went off, and again all was quiet.

Jackson woke up at 7:30 and I couldn't wait to go in and get him up. He was so happy to see me. He didn't act like he hated me or anything.




So all in all our first night was not bad. I was pleasantly surprised.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about night 2 & 3!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Gettin the heck out of dodge

We are on our way to Toledo bend. Abigail and Austin are breaking in their new bags that Nana bought them. They are so excited about going fishing. I really hope they catch something.

Be back in a few days!!!