FRG BBQ

Yesterday afternoon the FRG had a back to school BBQ in the Waynesville park. We had an awesome turnout and a very nice day. We put together school supplies bags for the kids and gave out Wal-Mart gift cards to four lucky winners. Whitney was very good and at the end of the evening she started to get pretty silly. Her terodactyl screech came out, I think she liked the trees against the skyline.

Say Ahhh

Whitney's new thing is sticking out her tongue when she talks, and then she thinks it's funny. She has also perfected her high pitch screech. Idon't know what a teradactyl sounds like, but I'm sure that would be it. I do think she had a growth spurt this week. She is very flat footed in her bouncer now and last Sunday it seemed like she was on the balls of her feet.

Magic Meal Ticket??

Maybe cereal IS the magic meal ticket I was waiting for??? The night before and last night I started making more cereal and making it thicker. The last two nights in a row she has been my super sleeper again. The night before 8.5 hrs, last night 7.5 hrs. She wasn't ready to wake up this morning but she heard Wade getting ready for work. She ate and has been asleep for three hours again. Growth spurt or cereal??? We'll have to see. Has anyone else noticed a difference in their baby's sleep after starting cereal? I just realized I broke my promise about not posting about Whitney's sleep anymore. I can't help it!!!

My Hair....

is falling out. By the handful. As soon as I got pregnant my hair stopped falling out and for the first three months of breastfeeding it did not fall out. I am still breastfeeding, but now it is all coming out. I wish it wouldn't.

Baby Bouncer

Whitney loves her new bouncer, thanks Michelle and Amanda!!

Whitney slept 8.5 hrs last night and Wade was gone. You would think that I got lots of sleep, right? WRONG!! I had a hard time falling asleep and she stirred in the middle of the night and I laid there awake anticipating her to fully wake up. AGHHHH! I swear she got just a little bit longer last night!

Hello Duck

It's Working!!

Okay, I know I said I was done posting about Whitney's sleep, and now I promise this is the last one. Last night she slept 6.5 hrs, it did take me an hour to get her back down, but she slept another 4.5 hrs. This makes for a happy mommy!!

Goodbye Swaddle

Okay, last post about Whitney's sleep habits, or lack there of. Just thought I would let you all know I decided to stop the swaddle and I put her on her tummy to sleep. She went to sleep a lot easier, I put her down and she was asleep. Done. No up and down for an hour. She slept for six hours, ate and was sound asleep, heavy breathing and all that good stuff. Sounds like a happy ending, right? A burp was stuck which made her squirm until it finally came out. After all that she was wide awake and rejuvenated. We were awake for TWO HOURS! That's all right. Once in a great while that happens. It's not usually two hours, but I'll live because I know when she goes back down she has a good four hours in her. She's been back to sleep for over three hours now and I expect another hour out of her.

Ahhh, relief. I figured out what to do about bed time and I'm not too worried about her face planting in the crib. At least on her tummy she can roll to her back if she wants to, but I doubt she wants to. She can't roll back to front, doesn't even seem close, so I'll just continue to put her on her tummy. It's how she naps, it's what works. Done.

And the cereal is still a hit. She gobbled it up and wanted more after it was all gone. May have to make bigger bowls.

Night No. 3

I don't think cereal is the magic meal ticket I was hoping it to be. I do think it is helping with her night time hunger and am glad we got that started. She gobbles the cereal right up and has no problem swallowing it. Granted it's still pretty thin, but it sure isn't breast milk thin.

I think the bigger problem is that she doesn't want to be swaddled any more. Houdini got out of her swaddle again last night. I would like to video tape her getting out, because the swaddle is pretty darn snug. And when she woke up at 2:30 last night she was tootin' up a storm. I have been eating salads the last two days and have found that the dark leafy greens make her gassy. So, did she wake up because she was gassy or because she doesn't want to be swaddled? I hate these guessing games. She doesn't act hungry when she wakes up but I feed her anyway because that's what calms her to go back to bed. I put her back down on her tummy and she slept until 7:15. Maybe I just need to get over my SIDS fear and put her on her tummy all night. If there needs to be any clarification, she is not swaddled on her tummy.

So other mothers, at what age and how did you transition out of the swaddle. Any other tummy sleepers out there and what age did you let them start tummy sleeping all night?

I may have to update in a couple of weeks to let you all know what I figured out. She used to sleep 9:30-5/5:30, eat and go back to bed for 2-4 hours. I'd like to get back to that schedule. It is perfect since Wade gets up at 5. Sleep, come back to me!!!

Chillin'

Whitney and Brynna

I pulled Brynna's photo off Jessica's (Wade's sister) blog (The Vandewater Voyage). They have the same towels and I thought it was cute we both decided to take pictures of our bathing beauties last night! Whitney

Brynna

Last Night

Did not go very well, and it had nothing to do with Whitney being hungry. She did well with her cereal again, that was not the problem. She decided last night was one of her nights where she was just not tired and I did not get her to bed until almost 11. If she sleeps really well the night before and naps really well during the day, sometimes this happens. Okay, she's finally sleeping. About midnight a horrible thunderstorm comes barreling through. It was loud and pretty frightening. Honestly, I'm glad the storm woke her up because I wanted to go in there and hold her anyway in case we blew away. Storm passed and she fell back asleep no problem. A couple of hours later I heard her grunting and moving and she went back to sleep. At 4 am I hear her again. She is not crying but after 15 minutes I can tell that she is awake. I get up to check her because I am wide awake at this point, and Houdini is all smiles and she got her rodeo arm out of the swaddle. Ugh. So I got her up, she burped and pooped and was all upset. Fed her and put her back down and she's been down since 4:30. At this point I put her on her tummy to sleep. She loves to sleep on her tummy.

Hopefully tonight we'll really see if the cereal does the trick. There are no storms predicted to come through to wake her up, and I'll cross my fingers that the dogs keep they yaps shut. Like I said, there is always something to keep me awake. I don't think she is ready to be unswaddled or even to keep one arm out, but I do contemplate putting her on her tummy for bedtime. My only concern is that when she starts to wake out of her deep sleep she starts turning her head, and quite a few times I have found her face down. That's why I let her tummy sleep in the morning and at naps so I can check her more often. The joys of figuring out your baby's sleeping needs! Now it will be trying to figure out if she was hungry at night, she doesn't like sleeping on her back, and/or being swaddled, or to keep an arm out......... I know she doesn't like to sleep on her back unswaddled, I try this for naps sometimes to see how it goes and it immediately wakes her up.

Cereal

We decided, or rather I decided and Wade was okay with it, that it was time to try cereal. My super sleeper used to sleep 7-9 hrs straight. The last two weeks it has been about four hours before she is up again. To be honest, I feel like I run pretty empty by the evening. She's getting enough food and nutrients, my super chub weighs 14lbs, I just don't think she is filling up enough to continue to sleep longer stretches. She has been watching us eat, so she was getting close anyway.

So, how did it go you ask? Very well. She spit back out very little. She didn't cry or fuss. She did keep turning to me wanting the milky rice to come out of you know where, but after a few spoonfuls she got the hang of it and I had to be super speedy getting her the cereal. And she slept better. She slept six hours straight, and that was even after I let her nap from 5:30-7:15. I have a no napping after six rule I usually follow, because it really interferes with her going down to bed. We'll try it again tonight and every night after from now on. I'll make the rice a little bit thicker tonight and closer to bed time. Maybe we'll get back to the 7-9 hours soon!

Excited for cereal.

Yummy!

Yeah, who's the big girl now?!


Did I get some on my face?

See my bib?

Mommy's happy!

After dinner cuddling!

Annoying Neighbors

I've had it. Since we have moved in to our house we have put up with our backyard neighbor's dogs. They leave them outside during the night, no matter the weather. Whatever. The problem is that more nights than not these darn dogs bark and howl. One dog is a little yelper and the other dog is an old hound. And together they are infuriating. The problem is that the owners do nothing about it. They have kids, do their kids not wake up from the barking dogs? Last night it was SO bad and loud that I got up and turned on the porch light and went outside. I was THISCLOSE to going to their house at 1:30 in the morning. If they can wake my house up, why can't I wake theirs up? They also turned on their back porch light but did not go outside! After half an hour Wade got up and said he saw them put food out for their dogs to quiet them. Those dogs were at it for an hour!!! I want to do something about it instead of just being a complainer. Do I go over there, leave a note in their mailbox, or file a complaint with the police so hopefully they get enough complaints and have to do something?

I don't hate dogs or animals. I just hate inconsiderate neighbors. If those were your animals waking up the neighborhood in the middle of the night, numerous times, wouldn't you do something about it? Barking and howling dogs in the middle of the night is super annoying, but I'm extra sensitive to it right now because I need my sleep. If it's not Whitney or Wade waking me up, it's these dogs. It's always something. And the dogs wake up Whitney, who is not my super sleeper anymore, but that's another story.

More Whitney

We spent another weekend indoors, so there was nothing to do but take pictures of Whitney. I'm getting REALLY tired of this hot humid weather. By the end of the week it's supposed to cool down, hopefully we will do something a little more exciting. And it doesn't help that we are trapped into a 20 mile radius of our house because Whitney fa-reaks out in her car seat. As she gets more coordinated with her hands I'm hoping she will be able to entertain herself with toys in her carseat. And we need a DVD player for our vehicle, she loves the TV!

She liked her shoulder ride and was smiling and hanging on to Wade's ears. We knew they stuck out for a reason!

She went through a couple of days where she did nothing but suck on her fingers, but she seems to have forgotten about them for now.

Battalion Organizational Day

For the FRG fundraiser we did a 50/50 raffle, and if we took in $1,000+ we would shave Wade's head. Well, we didn't raise that much. In fact, we only raised $98, so, Wade still has hair. I think we'll give it a try another time.

Today was the Battalion Organizational Day. It was a strange day weather wise. It was cold and rainy in the morning, comfortable and breezy mid day, and by mid afternoon it was just darn right hot. A lunch was provided for everyone and the Soldiers participated in different games throughout the day. It was a nice family day before school starts back up, which is Thursday around here!

I Think it Will Snow Today

My sister was telling me that they went to Pottery Barn Kids over the weekend, and they allowed their 2 1/2 year old daughter Alaina to pick out one toy. Like any kid, she wanted lots of new toys, but they told her she would have to wait until Christmas for more toys. She asked how long until Christmas and her Dad told her, when it snows outside. And Alaina said, I think it will snow today!

Baby Smiles and Bumbo Rides

What Are You Lookin' At?

Does It Look Like I'm Ready For Bed?

It's Just Not the Same

After you haven't had something for a long time, it's just not the same. Even though it is humid and 90 degrees outside I get cold inside in the air conditioning, so I thought I would make a pot of decaf coffee. It doesn't taste very good. Is it because it's decaf, or because I haven't had coffee in forever? While I was pregnant and even now while breastfeeding, I would put a little bit of coffee in my hot chocolate. I guess the hot chocolate diluted the strong coffee taste. Beer doesn't taste the same either. (Don't freak out, yes I'm breastfeeding, but I can still have a taste!) It reminds me of that first sip you take back in high school. Do you spit it out or keep drinking it because everyone else is? If you keep drinking it, eventually it tastes good! So, alchohol and coffee, maybe it's my body telling me to stay away from it for now. So, it's just not the same. And same is a funny word, keep saying it, same, same, same, same..........

Whitney's been sleeping all day, and I'm bored. Can you tell?

I Was Peed On

Last night I had Whitney ready for her bath and I was holding her, looking in the mirror at how cute my naked baby is, and she peed on me. When she was done she released a big smile and a squeal of delight. I guess she thinks she's pretty funny!

I Don't Want to Roll Over

Whitney has rolled over a handful of times by accident. Today during tummy time I guess she doesn't like the feeling of rolling over. She was starting to go over and was fighting it and fighting it and gravity finally won, and she was mad. She did it twice in a row, so maybe we're on to something.....

3 Months

Where's the Baby?