Sleepless in Plano...No More?!

This is the second night in a row where I put LEL in her crib and she quietly moans and groans for a bit (10mins) then falls asleep on her own! I have no idea where this baby came from! Usually she cries and cries and I pick her up after a few minutes and rock her back to sleep, then the minute she hits the sheets she wakes up again and we repeat this process at least 3 times before we have success.
Just last Wednesday and Thursday nights: she went to sleep late (11pm, not her usual 8pm) and still woke up 4-5 times for various reasons and then for good around 6am. It wore me out, and I even cancelled my Dr.'s appt because of this. A lot of people assume that with her light sleeping at night she must be a great napper during the day...try no. She only sleeps for 20mins every few hours. It has seriously worn me lately. Because of this, I broke down and searched for ANY aid to help her sleep better. I didn't want to try anything too out there, just something to encourage longer sleeping periods. She does have her own schedule for a reason, it is natural...but come on, waking up every 2-3 hrs at 5 months? I felt this was a little extreme.
I read about this formula, Enfamil Restfull (now market as A.R. for acid reflex) that is rice based and takes longer to digest...therefore, allowing babies to sleep in longer intervals. I thought this seemed like a great possible solution to this ongoing issue. I mean, she is already eating rice cereal and this would just give her that little extra help to feel full and not get so restless.
I started it Friday night. She put herself to sleep around 8:30pm and didn't wake until 2am (BIG improvement for her). I did feed her again then (her usual formula this time) and she slept until 6:30am, where she then got up for the day. With that pattern I am trying it again tonight. 6oz A.R. formula at around 7:45pm, she put herself asleep at around 8:30pm again...and the rest we will have to wait and see!
If it works long term I will be one happy camper! Sleeping for longer than 3hrs at a time is a treat for me! Now, I know a lot of moms on forums have kind of bashed this engineered way of feeding babies, but it is not like I am feeding this to a 1 or 2 month old just so I can get some shut-eye, I am giving it to my 5 month old who still had the sleeping patterns of a little newborn! If this can get her on more of a infant schedule I am all for it! Even if she just wakes up the 1 time, I am fine with it! Hope I didn't jinx it with my excitement!

All moms (and future moms): if you have a babers like mine, I (so far) recommend this for your older baby! Even if LEL doesn't benefit from this long term, it is definitely worth a try! Here's to another sleepfull night...hopefully ;-)

P.S. Miss Lorelai Elizabeth turned 5 months old today...so big! I will post pics later.

M LEWIS

Eggcellent Memories

Last night we colored eggs for Lorelai's first Easter.

She was...a little less than excited. Mainly because she was tired and hungry. But we still had fun.

The tools

Bugga's egg

Bugga, not happy with the process

Chris

Making Bugga happy

The finished products

At least Lorelai will have the pictures later, to prove she made Easter eggs on her first Easter. ;) Phoebe also enjoyed the project. Chris made her an egg...the yellow one with the puppy on it. Cute, cute.

M LEWIS

Bzzzzz

Today out little family will be busy as little bees.
We got up pretty early today...which I was not a fan of. I wanted to sleep in a little longer, for some reason yesterday wore me out.
I met up with Maggie at Starbucks and met the little boy, Reid - 9months, that she nannies. He was a cutie! I think he was showing off his spitting skills to Lorelai ;)
The we walked Stonebriar for a bit due to baby fussies and afterwards I drove by my mom's to pick up Chris' birthday present. His birthday dinner was nice and then we (plus Noni and GD) came back to the apt for presents and cake. Lorelai, or Bugga, went to sleep a little after 8pm and Chris and I watched some tv. None of this sounds particularly tiring, but yet, it was.
Today we have to meet with our loan agent over our paperwork and then I get to drive back home, then to the house for the inspection around 2pm. After I hear about the issues (hopefully all minor!!!) I need to talk to my realtor about some other paperwork and then come home to sign and send off some papers. All of this with Bugga and I hope she is a happy camper today! A lot of car time, which makes her irritated, and no time for a long nap, which she never takes anyway. *shrugs*
I wish today was Friday.
At least I look forward to the weekend. I enjoy Easter and I can't wait to spend Bugga's first Easter with her and all the holiday means. I also look forward to her later years where we can have egg hunts! Which reminds me, I need to boil eggs so we can color them soon. Busy, busy. Buzzzzz

M LEWIS

Unconventional Mom

I have learned another pet peeve of mine, and lucky you, you get to hear about it. ;-)

Over the last few weeks, while reading parenting-related articles, I have come across the word "obey" a lot.

How to Get Your Kids to Obey
Obeying Parents
Obey
Obey
Obey...


I have learned, I really hate the word "obey." Not the general meaning of the word, but the context in which it is so frequently used.
I do not want my children to "obey" me, but rather listen to me and try to follow instructions. Now before all moms throw their arms up and shout at me that I don't know what I am talking about, let me remind you that I have worked with children for most of my life. Most recently I was a preschool teacher of 28 3yr olds. I know how kids act...I have seriously had all types. I do have a pretty good idea of what I am talking about.
"Obeying" in my mind implies that I am somehow above my kids. That I can just dictate whatever I please and they have to "obey" it simply because "I say so." While I know I will say that phrase more than I would like simply out of frustration, I do not agree with the fundamentals of dictatorship in parenting styles.
To me, my kids are not my little pawns that I lord over. They are full-fledged little people complete with their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Now this does not mean I will sit idly by letting my kids be in control, but rather I will listen to what they have to say and try to work in their feelings to the situation. Just because they are young doesn't mean their opinions are void.
I feel that parents that take this approach are the ones who deal with rebellious teenagers...not all the time, but it is more common than you would think.
Maybe it has something to do with how I was raised...maybe not, but none of us (me and my 5 other siblings) have ever flown off the handle just to piss off our parents. We were given respect and certain amount of freedom and we didn't/haven't abused it. We were never grounded or threated with huge punishment. A basic discussion of the topic at hand and the problem was solved. No abuse of power.
This is totally how I operate. I can respect my kids views and thoughts without agreeing with them...and I hope they can do the same to me. Not right off the bat of course...that theory will not work when they are 3, but maybe 13. I never shouted "I hate you" at my mom, I never wanted to escape my house, I never wanted to hide my mom from my friends. In fact, I hang out with mom tons...I think that is a result of feeling like her equal and not her property. I hope for this relationship with my kiddos.

So, please don't ever use the word "obey" in conjunction with my kids. Thanks ;-)

M LEWIS

Growing and Housing

So Chris and I put in an offer on a house. We are pretty excited about it, hopefully we will hear if the sellers will accept it or not soon. *fingers crossed*
It is about 3 mins away from the apartment, which is AWESOME. It is about 2300 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 living areas, a dining room and an eating area in the kitchen. It has a decent yard with a built-in stone wall for most of the fencing area. It is on a cul-de-sac and it has a front drive. Now I am not naive and stupidly swept away in the idea of it, there will be some work in it for us (mostly cosmetic though) and we have to make sure the inspection checks out, and yes, they will have to actually agree with us on the price, BUT I look forward to one day having a house. :) After months of looking and after seeing about 20 houses (and waaaay more online) this feels right for us.

On a separate note, I packed away a lot of Miss Bugga's clothes today. BTW, I have been calling her that lately and will most likely be referring to her as such in this and future posts. ;) I was a bit sad packing away her little clothes. She is getting so big and starting to act like a real little kid. She started cereal and some fruits and veggies over the last couple weeks. She has also likes to chew on things, spit, and babble...loudly. :) She is actually in her own crib in her own room now. I will admit, it kind of made me sad to place her in another room (she has been in a cradle by my bed this whole time) but no worries, she still gets up at least 2 times a night to eat. *sigh* No one better tell me how their kids sleep through the night...it doesn't help! : P She does become quite awake around 4:30-5:00am and I place her in our bed and she tends to pass out again...I guess she gets lonely.

I will keep you all posted on the house situation! Wish us luck!

M LEWIS

Phoeber Bebers

It has been an eventful 2 days with Phoebe.

Yesterday I was happily playing with LEL on the couch. I was laying on my back and letting LEL stand up on her feet on my tummy. She was having a blast...I mean, so super cute. Phoebe then climbs up on top of the back cushions and walks over to me. While looking down at me she lets out this gaggy cough and a nice large chunk of you-know-what flies out of her mouth and lands on my shoulder with a splat. It then got on the couch as well. It was disgusting. Completely nasty. I have dealt with more than my fair share of gross bodily functions in my lifetime and that, for some reason, is near the top of the list. *bleck*

Today's adventure was not Phoebe's fault but something to mention all the same. In our apartment complex you have to pick up your dog's "presents" and dispose of them or you get fined. Pretty standard I believe. So Phoebe did her business like a good puppy and I was fiddling with the plastic bag they provide you to clean it up. Now LEL is perched on my hip and I have the leash in my other hand...so already quite a balancing act...then the wind comes in to play. A big gust whooshed in while I was trying to open the little bag and it flew right out of my hands. It went straight up in the air, over 3 stories high, then across the street to the other buildings. It smacked against someone's window and stayed put do to the angle of the wind. I sighed and just went back inside (hoping no one witnessed this and would therefore charge me $). I just thought of that resident opening their blinds and seeing a poop bag stuck to their window on the 3rd story. I would laugh...and I did.

M LEWIS

2 Birthdays and 14.5 lbs later...

Time to play a bit of catch up!

Well, LEL turned 4months old on the 30th...which was also my youngest sibling, Caroline's birthday.
Lorelai now weighs 14.5 lbs and is 25in long. She got 2 shots and 1 oral vaccine. Of course, she cried and cried...which I hate, but she settled down a lot faster than last time.

Resting with her angel dolly after the Dr.'s

Later we celebrated Caroline's birthday, she turned 14. That was a nice break from the usual routine. The next day was my older brother, Matt's birthday. He is now 26, and I poked fun at him for being "old."

Caroline's blowing out the candles on the cake my sister, Hannah, and I decorated

Friday night, my father's mother, my "Mimi" passed away. She had been ill for awhile...nothing specific, just old age. She unfortunately suffered from dementia and had not been able to remember who we (the grandchildren) were for about a year now. She lived in Corpus Christi for most of our lives, so we never really got to know her, but she still will be missed. I hope my Dad will find peace with her passing soon. She was so frail, uncomfortable, and unhappy for so long now, I am relieved to know she is free from all of that now.

Mimi, Hannah, Dad, and Aunt Demona about 10+ years ago

I also have made an awesome new purchase...a new phone! I really like so far. It is a white Blackberry Torch and it reminds me of one of my old phones I enjoyed. I feel pretty good about picking this model.

Today Chris and I are going house hunting, and knowing how things went last time, we have decided to shop without LEL. I know she will be fine staying at my Mom's for the afternoon but I am uneasy about leaving her. We have only left her twice thus far. One time when I had to go to the ER for my double mastitis and when we went out to dinner for our 1year anniversary. I will miss my baby girl but she will be happier not sitting in her carseat for hours and not getting in and out of the car half a dozen times.

I am so ready to get a house and get out of here! I just hope it doesn't get in the way of some things I want to be apart of later...mainly my friend, Jen's baby shower! I finally got the yarn to make her a baby blanket, now I just have to make it and get it to her...shower or no shower.

Well, I think that is enough catch-up for now. Hope you all are doing well :-)