7 Months Old!

7 Months Old! {Holy Cow!}

• You are crawling all over the place now~ we have had to put up a gate so you dont run down the hall or into the kitchen or ANYWHERE but where you are supposed to be.
• You pull yourself up on everything
• You can climb up the stair in our living room
• You touch everything
• We try and tell you no but you dont really understand yet.
• You do understand when we have the "mad or stern" tone and it makes you cry
• You are seriously stubborn
• You think you are much bigger than you are which makes you mad because you can't do what you want
• You love Duke and he tolerates you for the most part. He likes to be near you but really isnt interested in being pet by you too much unless I'm holding you
• My parents dog Tanner lets you crawl all over him and hug him and you love that
• You chase the cat constantly
• I think you are cutting a tooth- youve been on and off grumpy and had trouble sleeping last night and at the babysitters today
• Man I hope it pops through soon so we can get this over with
• Speaking of sleep- you have been sleeping through the night lately- about 10 hours so when you have a bad night it's torture and I have no idea what is wrong 
• You like to wrestle with your dad
• He can make you laugh pretty hard
• You are clingy to me right now
• You can throw a tantrum with the best of them~ GEEZ kid!
• You're really starting to like your food and have started the "2nd" Foods.
• I sort of feel like I should be making my own baby food instead of giving you the pre made stuff but we'll see. 
• You are such a ham and you make me laugh everyday!
• I love you to the moon and back little man

Videos of Jack

Well we have been sick on and off here for the better part of this month. Seems like the whole town has been hit with the flu, bronchitis, colds, viruses... it's awful! Jacob had bronchitis at the beginning of the month, then I got a cold, then Jack got a stuffy nose, followed by a rash, and now has a nasty cough and runny/stuffy nose. Poor little guy. Seriously, how long can these viruses hold on?!
 Jack and I are getting cabin fever from being inside so much. He will be in such awe when springtime comes and he can play outside!

Even being sick though he's still been in a relatively good mood. He is such a cutie and we love him so much. He is moving EVERYWHERE and is so fast! He's pulling up on everything and can crawl up our living room step. He thinks he can just take off and walk once he's standing, which has lead to a lot of bumps on the head and traumatizing falls. I was not ready for all of this at only 6 months old! It's going to be seriously insane when he starts walking.

Here's some cute videos of him recently. :o) These depict how funny and "crazy" of a boy he is!

6 Months~ Happy {half} Birthday!

Jack turned six months old January 9!

Happy {Half} Birthday Little Man! I can't believe I have a SIX month old! You are just the cutest darned thing and I thank God every day that he allowed me to be your mama. These past two months with you have been so great and fun. We are finally in a routine, you are sleeping and giving mom a break, I feel human again and you are much happier! Life is going full speed and it's only gonna get faster. Trying to cherish every moment I have with you as my baby boy.

SIX MONTHS OLD

• You weigh 16 lbs, 12 oz (apparently my scale at home is a bit off compared to the doctors office since last month I thought you weighed 17 lbs!)
• You are in the 30% percentile for weight and 50% for height.
• You started CRAWLING two days ago after your doctors visit (Jan.10!)
• 3 days after that you started trying to pull yourself up on things and by Jan. 15 you pulled yourself up on the step in our living room and stood up by yourself-no hands! Scared the living daylights out of me! I caught you before you fell backwards. :o)
• You are very chatty
• You love to bounce and will bounce on anyone, on anything, and especially like your johnny jump up
• Are currently still taking 3 naps a day but that may be changing soon I have a feeling
• You still don't sleep very well at night~ you are very restless
• I was letting you sleep in our bed ( I know, bad habit) and you scoot yourself onto my pillow every time. My king size bed feels like a toddler bed when I'm laying next to you since you take up the whole bed. 
• We started leaving you in your crib all night and letting you cry yourself back to sleep this month. We started January 10 and you've done surprisingly well! 
• You go back to sleep faster if your daddy goes in and pats your back and shush's you back to sleep.
• You started going to a babysitter twice a week for a couple hours this month while mommy is back at work. You seem to love it!
• You are obsessed with your bouncy chair and try to climb in in all the time
• Love baby Einstein videos
• You are also obsessed with your binky's still and put them in and out of your mouth constantly
• You love your dog Duke
• You like going for stroller rides and have been out a few times when its not too freezing cold 
• You're constantly putting things in your mouth
• You like to be singed and rocked to sleep
• You eat cereal, sweet potatoes, prunes, peaches, pears, squash...we haven't found anything you wont eat yet
• You like to be loud and silly
• You are very social
• Which also means you are very needy at home with mom~ wanting constant attention and interaction :o)
• You smile at everyone
• You always smile when dad walks in the door
• Can say mama and dada 
• Have started to give hugs and kisses
• Started this month to cry and yell when changing your diaper- do not know what that's about!
• You put your hand up on the crib railing when you cry to get out so I have a feeling we will need to be lowering your bed soon
• I love to snuggle you when you are asleep (since you aren't really a big cuddler when you are awake)
• The Circle of Life song from Lion King calms you down and makes you smile every time. Kind of a random thing since you've never watched it and we dont have anything Lion King themed around the house!
• Are growing too fast!!!

2012

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Gave birth! What a crazy experience that was. :o)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Nope, didn't make one.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Quite a few of my friends and my cousin!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully there were no deaths in the family this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
None. Boo. So not as cool as visiting Turkey and Greece in 2011. The Bahamas in 2010. Mexico in 2009... ahh man, what pregnancy and kids will do to your travel plans. :o)


6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Energy and travel plans!

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 9~ the day baby boy was born!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Giving birth of course. My whole 2012 year was focused on that precious little boy.

9. What was your biggest failure?
There were days I felt like I couldn't handle staying home, got frustrated

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No but Jacob had to get his appendix taken out about 6 weeks before Jack was born.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new bed, our huge dining room table and our last buy of the year, a Tahoe! Loving driving a bigger SUV!

12. Where did most of your money go?
Paying off our infertility debt and hospital bills!

13. What did you get really excited about?
Becoming a mom and my friends having their babies. Also our work vacation to Coeur d'Alene Lake which I planned...and it was amazing!

14. What song will always remind you of 2012?
A Thousand Years (I sang it to Jack when he was in my belly all the time), and who will ever forget Gangham Style? LOL!

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? Just as happy
– thinner or fatter? A bit thinner~ no baby in belly!
– richer or poorer? I think about the same.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

SLEEP!

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Hmm, I dont know. I think 2012 was a pretty good year!


19. What was your favorite TV program?
Grey's Anatomy, Dexter, Revenge

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
Love Does

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I can't think of just one song that was my favorite.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
 The Hunger Games,What to Expect When You're Expecting, Breaking Dawn,

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Gosh last January I dont even remember what I did! Probably the same as this year-celebrated with family at home along with celebrating my nephews birthday too.

24. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Anything that stretched!

25. What kept you sane? My friends, my dog, my mom and mother in law (for watching Jack when I needed a break!)

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!