Lilypie
Lilypie

Saturday, September 22, 2007

How it went

Well, I am really tired. Isaac did great. I was just so nervous that I couldn't sleep. He didn't sleep through the night or anything, but he did sleep very well, with no fussing at all until he got up to eat at about 3. That is great, considering how frequently he has been waking up. I did bring him back in to sleep in our room when he woke up. I just wasn't used to feeding him in his room in the middle of the night an it felt weird. I am going to try to do it tonight though, if all goes well.
I am really glad though. I feel like I made a lot of progress. I learned that Isaac definitely sleeps better when he is not in our room. It is probably much quieter for him in his own room without Bryce and Molly's snoring. I also learned that the monitor does work and I will hear him so I shouldn't freak out so much.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Separation Issues

I am having a rough day (week really) and would love some feedback from any of my readers (both of you) on this subject.
Isaac has been sleeping in my room since he was born. He does not sleep in the bed with us, I can't sleep like that, but he is in the pack and play next to me. He does have his own room. There were several reasons I started this. First, Isaac is breastfed. He gets up at night to eat, usually just once but sometimes twice with the second really just being very early in the morning when I want to go back to sleep. His room is on the other side of the house and it is hard to hear him and get over there to feed him when I am groggy in the middle of the night. Second, I have been nervous. I know that many mothers are, but having had a very sick preemie before, and now knowing parents of children who have died from SIDS, I have really just been scared to leave his side.
I never had any problem with the arrangement until now. I have actually been fine with getting up and feeding Isaac. In fact, I usually woke up a bit before him. A lot of people have advised me that he should sleep through the night and that I should let him just cry it out. I think that is fine for other people, but the method just doesn't feel right for me. I can certainly handle letting him fuss a little, but I see no point in letting him cry for long periods of time. I think babies go through a lot in their first year and sometimes they need a little food or just the comfort of nursing in the middle of the night. I don't think he is going to starve without it or something, I just want to make sure his needs are met. Is it really realistic for babies to sleep through the night? I don't sleep through the night myself, and didn't before I had him either.
The problem now is that Isaac seems to be waking more than he used to. He makes little noises and I get up and give him his binky, and he goes back to sleep, but this sometimes happens a lot, resulting in a lot less sleep for me. Now, when he gets up to eat, I am not awake and okay like I used to be. I am tired and sometimes can't even get my eyes open when I feed him. He goes right back to sleep, but may still make noises and wake me a few more times.
I am sure the solution to this is to put him in his own room to sleep. It is just so difficult. I wish I had started him off in there,because now it is so hard to change. I am too tired most nights to try it, not to mention still being so nervous about what might happen. I had really hoped he would start sleeping through the night before I had to move him.
Anyway- right now he is asleep in his own room, so I guess I am trying it out. I will post tomorrow on the results. Right now, I don't even want to go to bed. I wish I could just stay up all night with his monitor making sure he is okay.....
Isaac turns 4 months this coming week and I just feel like the worst mommy in the world. Am I the only one with a 4 month old in the room, who doesn't sleep through the night? The one nice thing is that I have no problem getting Isaac to sleep. He goes to sleep very easy. He just can't stay that way for more than 5 hours at a time.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

In keeping with my commitment to daily blogging, here are some pictures! These are actually old. They are from our cruise back in January, but I just got them yesterday.
This (above) is all of us hanging out on the deck one night. I think there was some kind of party that night where all the old people wear Tommy Bahama and dance to "HOT HOT HOT".
This is at the Hilton in Puerto Rico before the cruise started. We were all overdressed because our luggage was lost.
I am pretty bummed already about the end of summer. These pictures make me want to plan our next fun winter vacation. Maybe Mexico, maybe Hawaii. I would do the Caribbean again, but just stay in one place this time. I liked Aruba best. Ideas? Send them to me in the comments!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I really do love blogging!


Okay, so I am way behind on the blogging. I promise I really do love it and I am going to try to do better. Starting now, I am setting a goal to post something every day rather than every week. That way, when I fall short of my goal, I will probably still wind up with more posts than are currently happening.
So why haven't I posted in a while? Lots of reasons I guess. One problem is that I haven't taken as many pictures lately. I am not sure where the camera is right now. We did buy an awesome new HD video camera a few weeks ago, but I haven't had much time to play with it yet and I tried to post a video here but it didnt work. The file was too big or something. If anyone has any tips on that, let me know.....

Life is getting more fun with Isaac all the time. He sure keeps me busy, but now it is with more play time. I am starting to get a better hang of this SAHM thing. I always thought if I stayed home I would get so much done. It hasn't quite turned out that way, but I am getting closer. Isaac is getting on a more regular schedule so that I know when I have time for things and when I don't, and he is also getting much easier to interact with. He doesn't mind our errands and chores anymore. He sits and plays with his toys or "talks" with me while we do things. It is really a blast. Being a mommy is the best!

Last week we had Isaac's 3 month pictures taken. A little late since he is almost 4 months now, but I was trying to wait for this rash on his face to clear up. It has gotten much better, but on picture day he scratched his nose in a couple of places... Oh well, I guess with kids it will always be something. And this way, years from now we can look back and remember his drool rash and his sharp little fingernails that I seem to have to clip at least twice a week:). Here are some of my favorite pictures. BTW- The photographer is Tiffany Burns-Rushforth and she is amazing! You can see more of her stuff at http://www.photographsbytiffany.com/.






Yup- 3 months old and he can stand....well... when he leans on something...and just for a second:)






Such a cutie!


My little pumpkin




The Family

This one is my favorite

BTW- I have to mention my brother in law, Doug, because he is famous today. He was quoted on ESPN's website. Here is the link:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-28-61/Speak-Russian--Neither-Does-Jerry-Sloan.html