New Blog Design!

My blog got a makeover! Yay!

I thought it was time to update the design on my blog since Mr. Jack is almost 6 months old. :o)

Thank you Diamond Doll Design for the new blog layout! I absolutely LOVE it.

If your blog needs a little pick me up, definitely check this girl out! She does fabulous work. I think she also does custom art work, invitations and stationary! 

I'm still working on updating some of the links on my page so if you click on something and its jibberish, dont worry, I will fix it soon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas has come and gone in a flash! It was so much fun with Jack this year. I'm glad he's finally on a nap schedule because I was worried about how he would handle all the traveling around to parties. He did very good and enjoyed playing with everyone up until the last night of partying and then he was done and had a little meltdown. So we are spending the day inside today and not planning on going anywhere! Good thing its snowy outside today~perfect day for that. :o)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas as well!

Papa & Grandma showing Jack his present!

Kisses for cousin Nan!

The boys lounging

Christmas Eve Morning. Jack slept through opening presents!

Lane hooking his truck up to the tree!

I'm trying so hard to crawl!

Opening presents is tiring

Love this picture! Jack loves his Izzy Boo.

1st Christmas!

Jack and Grandma Neighbors

What? I have a feeling I'm going to be getting a lot of this look in the future!

Jack and his cousins

All Mommy Wants For Christmas Is A Silent Night...

Ha! Jack's shirt really says it all. A perfectly silent night would be the greatest Christmas gift ever. But then again I would probably wake up and go check on him to make sure he was ok if that did happen so I guess it's really not a possibility. :o)

Little man HAS been doing so much better with sleeping lately though. Naps have been awesome and nighttime slightly better although nowhere near where I think he should or could be. Anyway, we changed up a few things and started solids and I really think that has made all the difference in the world.

I read three books on different schedules and ways to get your baby to sleep. (Babywise, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and The Baby Sleep Solution) All good books. I kind of adapted different aspects from each book. So this is a typical day right now:

Anywhere from 6:45-8:00 am: Wake, drink bottle, tablespoon of baby food, play in bouncer and on floor with toys.

2 hours after waketime he goes down for a nap in his CRIB. Yes, I said CRIB! :o) This little booger is one smart cookie and he just like he decided to ween himself in one day, he decided one day that he no longer needed his swing and preferred to sleep in a bed or a crib. Score for me! No crib training required here (except for staying in there at night~ next on the list!) Sometimes he does wake too early from his nap or wakes up still a little cranky and I put him in his swing and he will sometimes go back to sleep that way.

Since he isnt nursing anymore he eats during his awake time so when he's sleepy he either wants to be rocked for a minute or just laid down in his crib. It literally has been taking under 10 minutes for him to pass out, a lot of times just a couple minutes! It's been SOO nice to have him cuddle with me finally. Sometimes he does fight it a bit but I can usually get him to sleep and its much better than the screaming battles we used to have and the waking after 10 minutes. I think drinking his bottle during his awake time has made a hug difference since he used to eat right before he took a nap.

We continue on this 2 hour schedule throughout the day. 2 hours after he awakes he goes down again. Seems to be working and I dont force the 2 hour rule, he just seems to be naturally tired then and starts to get a little fussy or rub his eyes. I look for those cues and then thats when I try to put him down. So far, so good! He's been taking 3 naps a day~ usually each lasting at least an hour each! Sometimes an hour and a half or two mid day!

Nighttime is still a struggle. He will go down easily most of the time but will wake an hour or so into sleep and has trouble going back to bed without being next to me. Then he's been waking up around 3 am and crying for an hour... yuck. Hoping to figure that one out and keep him in his crib more. A lot of times he's still waking up at least 3 times a night. Seriously kid, you're almost 6 months old! Get with the program!

Another new thing that has been nice~ he will transfer from carseat to crib without waking! I've NEVER been able to do that and just successfully did it last week. I've done it a few times since then and its been successful. He usually doesnt take quite as long of a nap when it happens, but still! Poor little guy has been tired and falling asleep in the car during this busy Christmas season of parties and shopping and running around.

Anyway~ any nighttime "staying asleep/going back to sleep" advice would be welcomed by me. And I hope this can help any of you mommies out there who are still having nap and sleep troubles of their own. :o)

Have A Very Merry Christmas! 

PS. Be on the lookout for a new blog design soon! Yay!

5 Months!

• You weigh 17 lbs
• You are go, go, go all the time
• You are SO close to crawling
• You sleep with me most of the time
• You finally have almost outgrown your swing and prefer a bed now
• Soon you will be in your crib (cross our fingers!)
• You love to be with me and cry when I leave the room
• You're social and love to be around people
• You love your grandparents
• You need a bottle about every three hours~such a hungry boy!
• You hold your own bottle
• You decided to ween yourself from nursing in one day this month
• This month you've tasted rice cereal and sweet potatoes so far
• You love to stand and have help walking
• You've found your voice and sound like a baby cougar
• You love your baby Einstein videos
• You take your binky in and out of your mouth all the time
•  You have to be entertained at all times
• You are very stubborn and determined
• You still hate to sleep but you've gotten "slightly" better. Some days are great, some days are awful. 
• You grab everything and put it in your mouth
• You're smile is contagious
• You're in 6 month clothes
• Growing, growing, growing everyday in every shape and form!

Thanksgiving & St. Nick's Day Celebration's

We've been busy and in the holiday spirit around here! It's been a crazy few weeks filled with Thanksgiving dinners, family time, and celebrating St. Nick's Day (I'll have to do another post on that to explain more for those of you who dont know about it!)

Jack's getting HUGE and he loves a party, as long as its not too loud. haha. Very picky little boy. But very social and he loves to watch people and other kids!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

4 Months

4 Months Old!

• You weigh 13.8 lbs (25th Percentile)
• You are 25 inches long (75th Percentile)
• The nurse thinks you are going to be a big boy!
• You had your shots today and did a good job, but still cried pretty hard. :o(
• You are NOT a good sleeper~ and especially fight naps
• You do better at night, and we had two nights lately where you only woke up once and went right back to sleep until morning.
• And then the last two nights you've woken up about 30 minutes after you fell asleep and cried for hours... hmm... can't figure you out child!
• You're fit throwing is getting better. I've been reading the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and it is helping me to see that you are overtired and that's causing the meltdowns.
• Also because of the book we have a bedtime routine and your bedtime is much earlier- usually by 7:00 pm.
• You still sleep in your swing and usually end up with us late in the morning
• We are probably going to start sleep training soon... (NOT looking forward to this!)
• You can roll both ways and roll pretty much where ever you want to go
• You now drink out of a bottle (formula and breastmilk) and only nurse a few times a day and during the night
• You love to hang out with your dad
• You're a very smiley and talkative little boy
• You love your binky and can put it in and out of your own mouth
• You put everything you get your hands on in your mouth
• You love to watch your dog Duke and when he comes up to you you open your mouth for a kiss
• You are most content in the morning right after you wake up
• You used to hate your front pack- we tried the moby and a different one, and finally got a baby bjorn and you love it!
• You finally are liking to go for "short" walks in the stroller
•  You love to be standing (with help of course) and we got you a bouncer that you like
• You like to play peek a boo now, or be wiggled around~ it makes you laugh and smile
• You are in 3-6 month clothes, but i'm putting you mostly in the 6 month onesies now since you are so long
• You have an ambitious, curious, silly, and temperamental but sweet personality and it's been fun watching it grow everyday!

Halloween (belated!)

I'm finally getting around to posting some Halloween pictures!

I didnt get Jack an elaborate costume this year because I knew we'd be spending most of the day at home and really, what 4 month old wants to be in an itchy costume all day? Ok, so maybe I might've been a little bit lazy about getting everything together too... :o) Next year will be better!

He did however wear his cute little Halloween onesie and I "sort of" dressed him up for a little bit. We went down to our office on Main street and helped pass out candy to all the kids for Treats on Main. It was a madhouse down there! But Jack loved looking at all the kids dressed up and his dad walked him around for a little bit and he thought that was great.

1st Halloween!

Baby Pirate!

Jack and his cousins. Izzy was Rapunzel from Tangled and Lane was Big Foot. :o)

I think his earring is hilarious!

1st Hunting & Pumpkin Patch Trip!

1st Hunting Trip

Jack had his very first hunting trip this weekend! We weren't quite sure how it was going to go taking a 3 month old to the snowy mountains and sharing a camper but we made the 2.5 hour trek and he did great! We did bring the swing for him to sleep in, although the first night he slept with me... the next night he didnt want to so he slept in the swing. Funny boy. 

We weren't expecting so much snow but it was fun! The snow was beautiful and peaceful and I felt like it was Christmas. I wanted to make cookies and put on some Christmas music. But we napped and watched it snow and took a drive a couple times in the snow as well. Jack loved sitting on my lap and looking out the window at it! 

Pumpkin Patch

Despite Jack not napping and being cranky this day, we took him to the pumpkin patch anyway. He loved it! He was squealing and smiling~ guess he was happy to be out of the house!

3 Months Old!

3 Months

• You weigh 12 lbs~ still a little tall and skinny boy!
• You've had two colds already :o( 
• You are a smiley boy unless you're tired or dont feel well
• You have a sensitive tummy and it gets upset very easily
• This past month you've been super fussy and have thrown screaming fits every day. I think I've narrowed it down to an upset tummy, where as before I thought it was because you were overly tired. Dont know what's causing the upset tummy though!
• You really dont like to nap and dont sleep for long periods ever.
• You consistently wake up 20-30 minutes into a nap and wont go back to sleep~ Mommy is tired!!
• For awhile you were sleeping 6-6.5 hours at night and now that's back to like 2 or 3 hours at a time. 
• You still only sleep in your swing
• I'm trying to give you a little formula to get you full since you nurse SO often.
• You love to drink from a bottle
• You're chewing on everything
• You drool a ton
• I think you may be starting to teeth?
• You love your baby Einstein videos and will watch it for 30 minutes or so at a time
• You can roll over both ways, but haven't rolled from back to front a ton yet
• You'd rather be standing than anything else
• You were away from us for 2 hours for the first time this month and stayed with Grandma Neighbors and did great
• You can hold your toys now and grab for the toys on your play mat
• You love pat a cake
• You like to be sang to
• You're in size 3 months clothes but some of them are getting tight (length wise) and size 2 diapers

Things Never To Say To A Mom {especially a new one!}

5 Things Never To Say or Do To A New Mom... 

Part1

• Don't walk in on a mom who's trying to calm her crying/screaming child and say "Have you tried feeding him?"

• If a mom is venting about her daily tasks or about how they are envious of your freedom/going out with friends, don't say, "If you need a break, why dont you go to your moms?" 

• Never ask "Why is he/she crying or so fussy?"

• It's probably not a good idea to say to a mom who's been dealing with a fussy baby that she is having a meltdown too

• Don't ever wake a new mom when she's napping. --Sleep is sacred.

 So funny... Jacob and I just had this discussion. I've asked him several times to change a diaper or hold Jack and he says ,"I've gotta go poop, hold on." Seriously?! lol!