A Very Bad, No Good Day

Last night was a continuation of the bedtime issues. I swear when I walked in to her room for the 50th time last night she looked at me and "Hell no, I won't go!" or maybe that was the sheer exhaustion. In the bedtime struggle she has shown to be unbelievably stubborn. We have had this issue before but stubborn and mobile is getting to be a challenge. At 10:30pm last night I went on Amazon and placed the order for the books (while holding my whimpering, exhausted baby under my arms like a football). It has already shipped and should arrive on Monday. If Sam doesn't right herself over the next 2 nights while I am gone we will have some work to do next week.

Yes, I said "over the next 2 nights while I am gone". I leave this morning for a work trip and don't get home until Saturday night. I have had one overnight away from Sam back in April. That trip (also for work) only lasted about 36 hours from good-bye smooch to hello smooch). This one will probably clock in at about 60 hours. Saying good-bye this morning was awful. Just for me, because poor Sam has no idea that her mother is abandoning her for the next two days.

Send good thoughts KC's way. Since he is without the boob (works like a charm every time) he is at a clear disadvantage. He does have Grandma home now so between the 2 of them Sam will have a great time. She may not even notice that I am gone...

I am sure I will update when I return home. After giving my daughter about a thousand and one kisses.

We no longer believe in bedtime

At first Sam was a pretty good sleeper. From 2 months to 4 months we would sleep for a solid 7-9 hours a night. I thought I was in heaven. Smugly, I figured I was one of the lucky ones. And then we took the swaddle off. Sam loved being swaddled from birth. We used a hospital blanket and then discovered the Swaddler (which I think is the BEST thing in the world besides TIVO and Weight Watchers). Swaddling for dummies - I loved it. Then she rolled over.

Our pediatrician told us that since she rolled over we needed to take the swaddle off since she might roll over in her sleep and would be stuck (picture upside down turtle here). The first night was hell. We woke up every 45 minutes or so. The fact that KC was out of town on business made this night that much more fun. We didn't wake up every 45 minutes for too long. About 4 nights after we started the no swaddle routine we were doing much better but not as good as before. It's never been the same.

3 months later our sleeping is still hit or miss. I am bringing this up because last night was awful. Awful as in "are you kidding me kid? You're freakin' 7 months old. Aren't you over this by now?!" Every night it could be a great night (2 nights this weekend we went down so easy and then slept until 6am - 10 hours) or a horrific night.

We/I do almost every single thing they tell you not to do - she falls asleep nursing or rocking, if she cries we go get her, and when we are really desperate, like last night, she sleeps in our bed. Sleeping in our bed is something I hate. But offered a choice between no sleep and some sleep, even at the price of our bed, I will take some sleep.

We tried to let her cry. The first night we really just left her alone and watched the clock she cried so hard that when I went in after 5 minutes - actually 4 and a half - she was hoarse from crying so hard. And of course that made me cry. I just couldn't do it. So, I am not sure Ferber is the answer for me. But I don't know what is the answer either.

Suggestions are welcomed (please, please help me). Suggestions other than "stop doing all of the things you know you shouldn't do" are welcomed. I can beat myself up on my own.

What stinks the most? Not knowing. Not knowing how to fix it or how well she will sleep that night. This is the same problem I had with the third trimester of my pregnancy. I can't stand not being able to put it on a list or make up a schedule or put it on the calendar. I am the person who makes up an excel spreadsheet for EVERYTHING and then emails it to everyone so we are all on the same page. I have standard packing lists saved on my computer, schedules for when we go home to visit to make sure we have enough time to do everything, a notebook with me at all times to make sure I don't forget anything. Reading this I sound like the least fun person ever. KC is lucky to be married to me, isn't he?

Lots of Firsts on the Fourth (or the weekend of...)

We squeezed a lot into this past holiday weekend. I always get a little over zealous on holiday weekends. We have more time than the average weekend so I figure we should be able to get that much more done. Except by that much more I usually multiply what we should get done by about 10 - with only 2 extra days. Every time I do this and every time we get to the end of the weekend with things still on my to do list. I also forgot to factor having a baby into the equation. That slows things down quite a bit. Especially when she is moving around. A LOT.

This weekend our firsts included actually crawling (graduated from scooting!) our first real snuggle with Jake (a result of actually crawling), first swim in PaPa and MeMe's pool (ad first pool side nap), first dinner out with all of the Little Elm people (Poppy and the blueberries included), sleeping with a lovey ( I was always to paranoid before), first real food (a baby carrot), and then IT happened. This is what I mean by it:

Our conversation on Saturday afternoon went something like this:

I walk out of Sam's room after putting her down for a nap.

KC: "Is she sleeping?"

Laura: "Not a chance. She's fighting it."

Sam screaming in the background.

Laura: "I am going to get the monitor"

KC: "Do you really need the monitor? I'm pretty sure we can hear her." (Ha. Ha.)

The screaming stops. We look at each other and think Can this be real? Did she fall asleep so quick? I get the monitor.

Laura: "Uh Case, I see legs."

KC: "What?"

Laura: "I see legs! As in standing up. I SEE LEGS!"

Now we are both running at top speed to her room. We open the door and see this:

My second thought (after ok, she's safe) OH. MY. GOD. I am not ready for this.

Obviously, nap time was over. At least until we got the crib dropped. We dropped the mattress on the crib to the next level down. This does not mean that she can not get up to the rail now (She can. See below). It just means that she isn't in danger of falling over the side anymore.

Other firsts: pulling our self to a standing position using the ottoman, the couch, and Dad's back.

Seriously, NOT READY FOR THIS.

And yes, I have quite a bit still on my list of things we should have gotten done on the weekend of the fourth.

As a side note - right now my mother is thinking "Serves You Right." I had to be locked in my room as a baby/toddler. An actual dead bolt on the outside of my door. I'm sure these days CPS would be knocking on my door in a millisecond but back then it was all she could do to keep me in one room long enough to sleep. The deadbolt was installed after finding me in the front yard when I was supposed to be napping. I was so fond of climbing out of my crib that my parents placed a bean bag below my crib and I would sleep there after climbing out. Looking back on that I'm not sure how I survived or how my parents avoided Child Services. I have a feeling Sam may require a deadbolt of her own. Or maybe we just station Jake outside her door...

A Daddy's Girl already

An All American Girl on her first 4th of July

Sam and Claire (Her partner in crime)

PaPa and Peanut taking a swim

Dad and Cleopatra (aka Sam)

First of many, many poolside naps

First real food - a baby carrot

Sam the baby say "hi" to Sam the cat.

Sam and MeMe

Taking a snooze on Dad's chest

All ready for bed - and exhausted after a fun-filed weekend!

I think she's pretty cute but...

You may think there is another baby in the DFW area that is cuter than the Peanut. Of course as her mother, I would disagree with you but everyone is entitled to their own opinion (even if it is wrong). So as the mother of the cutest baby in DFW, I did something I though I would NEVER do. I entered her in a cutest baby contest. Am I crazy? Do normal mothers do these things to their child? I figure if we don't win (or make it into the top 100 - a definite possibility. There are some really cute kids in this town) I just won't tell her. What she doesn't know can't kill her self esteem later in life, right?

If you do decide Sam is worthy of your vote the photos are organized by name (She is listed under Samantha Chewning) or you can just look for her picture. To try to tame any cheating that may happen, you have to enter your email address and then confirm your vote via the email they send.

Happy Wednesday!

Why are we so happy it's Wednesday? Becuase KC and I are taking off tomorrow to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary! It's actually Friday but we have no sitter for Friday so we're celebrating a day early. Plus I took this cute picture this morning before work and I wanted to share it. Notice the collar on Sam. She can thank her dad for that. My favorite part of the picture are her thighs.

We survived our first road trip!

We survived the drive to Houston and had an awesome weekend with Auntie Kara. It took us a very long 6 hours to get there and we had one or two meltdowns but overall we did very well. I had not been to visit Kara in her new place since she moved in last summer. It is so cute! Sam loved crawling around on the floor. ( I forgot what it was like not to worry about dog hair everywhere.) We even showed Kara our new scooting skills. She was so impressed.

Sam had dinner when we got there and for whatever reason the nail clippers sent her into fits of giggles. Here is the video that I managed to get with my digital camera. (The video camera stayed in Dallas).

Saturday was filled with pool time, eating, shopping, more eating, more shopping, and a trip to our favorite place in the whole world - Target! In all our adventure lasted 9 hours! Thank god Sam is a trooper. Marathon shopping days seem to happen whenever girls together. Auntie Kara even put Sam to sleep. Back tickles and lots of snuggles seemed to do the trick.

On Sunday we got to have brunch (homemade waffles, crispy bacon, fruit, eggs, and all kinds of other yummy breakfast food) at the McCord's and meet Buster. Since Buster weighs in at only 5 pounds Sam wasn't sure what to make of him. Her own pups outweigh Buster by a mere 80 pounds each.

Overall we had a fantastic weekend in Houston and I am sure we will head down at least one more time this summer.

Ready to start our big adventure

Showing Kara our scooting skills (with a little Zoe motivation)

The bathing beauty is ready to hit the pool

Hanging out with Auntie Kara

Lunch at the Black Walnut Cafe (We had salad and pasta. Sam had table and pears.)

Wiped out after lunch and a few stores.

After a nap ready to keep shopping! (Obviously my kid, even if she doesn't look like me.)

Future Mustang? (KC says only if Auntie Kara is footing the bill)

Meeting Buster

On our way home. This is the look of "please, please get me out of this seat. My butt is falling asleep."

Birth Announcements

I'm not sure about other moms but finding a birth announcement that I loved was a daunting task. Almost as bad as finding bedding that I loved. Add in the post baby craziness, lack of sleep, recovery from a C-section...and did I mention the holidays...and you have a recipe for disaster. I did end up finding an announcement that I loved but it took me forever. I am not a big fan of pink and everything I came across was either ridiculously expensive (in my opinion) or pink, pink, and more pink. But for baby number 2 I am all set. If you are looking for baby announcements check out this website. These are awesome. (No Mom, I am not pregnant. Just addicted to baby blogs where I found this.)

Peanut's Birth Announcement
Image coming...Sorry, I am a little technically challenged at times...

Speaking of Birth Announcements....

We have some friends who will looking for some fabulous birth announcements by the end of the year. Sam will have quite a crowd to run around with. Our friends Amy and Matt found out that they are having a boy! She is due November 14th and we are so excited! And the exciting baby news doesn't end there...Our friends Jill and Junior are pregnant too -with TWINS! Best of all she started a blog to keep us all up to date. She is due New Years Eve. We have a lot to celebrate this year!