Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Elli Bean turns 3!
The cousins:
Cuddles with Auntie Jen
The kiddos watching the ducks at the Cider Mill
Special Mommy time feeding the ducks
Dad-o is the best!
Scandal...See this picture....The kids had a hunt for eggs with coins in them so they could fill their piggy banks when they got home...
Ahh! The birthday girl got swiped!
Partyyyy!
Dad counting coins for Elli.
The line for the pinata...Getting all these kids in a line was kind of like herding cats...This is why I am not a preschool or kindergarten teacher....
Watching the pinata from a distance because mom said I am "too young to eat candy.."
Opening a present from "nan"
Thanks for being born Beaners! We loved celebrating with you!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sleep Training
We have a baby who sleeps through the night...
Bed at 7:00, up somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30. It is amazing, I feel like a new mama.
(Today she woke up at 6:30 though...Steve and I looked at each other and said, "What do we do??? Do we get her, make her cry it out??? We ended up getting her at about 6:45...figured that night she may have only needed 11 1/2 hours of sleep that night....Hopefully that was just a fluke...I like having time in the morning before she wakes up. However, I am sounding pretty spoiled right now. I figure in the next few days we are going to cut a tooth, get sick, do something that will change our wonderful routine, because that is just how life is with a kiddo. I am enjoying it right now though.)
Bed at 7:00, up somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30. It is amazing, I feel like a new mama.
(Today she woke up at 6:30 though...Steve and I looked at each other and said, "What do we do??? Do we get her, make her cry it out??? We ended up getting her at about 6:45...figured that night she may have only needed 11 1/2 hours of sleep that night....Hopefully that was just a fluke...I like having time in the morning before she wakes up. However, I am sounding pretty spoiled right now. I figure in the next few days we are going to cut a tooth, get sick, do something that will change our wonderful routine, because that is just how life is with a kiddo. I am enjoying it right now though.)
A helper...
Today I was at my brother's house...
I had to run to the basement to get the extra bread out of the extra freezer. I left Abby in the living room and said, "Sam, keep an eye on Abby for me and make sure she doesn't go anywhere."
Sam, who is four, responded, "OK Cookie, I'll keep both eyes on her...This one (she points to her right eye) and this one (she points to her left eye)"
I ran downstairs giggling to myself, grabbed the bread, and came back upstairs. I looked in the living room and see Sam sitting directly behind Abby, holding her around the waist. Sam looks at me and says, "She didn't go anywhere Cookie."
I walked over and gave Sam the biggest hug I could, told her how proud of her I was, and held back the tears, loving that the girls get to grow up together.
I had to run to the basement to get the extra bread out of the extra freezer. I left Abby in the living room and said, "Sam, keep an eye on Abby for me and make sure she doesn't go anywhere."
Sam, who is four, responded, "OK Cookie, I'll keep both eyes on her...This one (she points to her right eye) and this one (she points to her left eye)"
I ran downstairs giggling to myself, grabbed the bread, and came back upstairs. I looked in the living room and see Sam sitting directly behind Abby, holding her around the waist. Sam looks at me and says, "She didn't go anywhere Cookie."
I walked over and gave Sam the biggest hug I could, told her how proud of her I was, and held back the tears, loving that the girls get to grow up together.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sleep training - night 4
I wanted to write all this down, because I know eventually, with future babies, I will have to do this again. However, I am assuming it won't be as traumatic because I will then be a "veteran momma" who is way more laid back, right?
Anyway, Abby went to bed last night about 7:30. I went in to feed her about 10:00 before I went to bed.
We had one bit of crying that lasted ~30 minutes from 2:52 to about 3:28 (can you tell I was watching the clock? Abby was only up for that time, I was up for about 30 minutes after that....Oh the joys of getting all worked up in the night and not being able to fall asleep again).
She cried a bit at 7:00 and Steve and I both said, "Yep, right at 7:00, she is on schedule"). We laid in bed, fell back asleep, and woke up at 7:45! It is 8:11 and she is still sleeping.
Naps were off yesterday. She ended up getting three because her two regularly scheduled naps were short, so at 4:30 she had a little power nap to get her through the rest of the evening.
I am hoping to eliminate that night time cry soon, but having a baby who is in her bed (mainly sleeping) for 13+ hours is pretty incredible.
(When Abby wasn't sleeping I HATED hearing about how other people's babies were sleeping, HATED it, like "I want to push you down" hated it. It was hard for me to realize, but I needed to do this for Abby. Her crying was probably upsetting me more than it was her. Now, we are on the right track to getting her to soothe herself. I know there are going to be changes that happen that could throw this off, but I feel like I accomplished a huge task, and when she is crying at night (those 30 minutes take FOREVER) I have to remind myself that this is what Abby needs and it is good for her). I am not, by any means, saying this is the way you have to "train your child" it is what I had to do to keep my sanity. You do what is best for your kid.
Anyway, Abby went to bed last night about 7:30. I went in to feed her about 10:00 before I went to bed.
We had one bit of crying that lasted ~30 minutes from 2:52 to about 3:28 (can you tell I was watching the clock? Abby was only up for that time, I was up for about 30 minutes after that....Oh the joys of getting all worked up in the night and not being able to fall asleep again).
She cried a bit at 7:00 and Steve and I both said, "Yep, right at 7:00, she is on schedule"). We laid in bed, fell back asleep, and woke up at 7:45! It is 8:11 and she is still sleeping.
Naps were off yesterday. She ended up getting three because her two regularly scheduled naps were short, so at 4:30 she had a little power nap to get her through the rest of the evening.
I am hoping to eliminate that night time cry soon, but having a baby who is in her bed (mainly sleeping) for 13+ hours is pretty incredible.
(When Abby wasn't sleeping I HATED hearing about how other people's babies were sleeping, HATED it, like "I want to push you down" hated it. It was hard for me to realize, but I needed to do this for Abby. Her crying was probably upsetting me more than it was her. Now, we are on the right track to getting her to soothe herself. I know there are going to be changes that happen that could throw this off, but I feel like I accomplished a huge task, and when she is crying at night (those 30 minutes take FOREVER) I have to remind myself that this is what Abby needs and it is good for her). I am not, by any means, saying this is the way you have to "train your child" it is what I had to do to keep my sanity. You do what is best for your kid.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Summer turned into Winter
For the girls, we made their birthday presents this year, a fun idea I saw on pinterest.
Sam's birthday is in August, she got a sprinkler...
Elli's birthday is in November, she gets a tent (same present, just modified a bit - this we super easy to do..I found a twin sheet set on sale at Target, the top sheet made the bag and the cover and I have extra fabric to use for another project!). I am hoping she can have tons of creative fun with this when they are cooped up inside because of the cold winter. I am thinking this will be full of stuffed animals before we can say Happy Birthday.
And when they are done, they can throw it all in this handy bag and stick it in a closet.
I am happy with this! Sam liked her present, let's hope Elli likes hers!
(And, I am posting this before we give the present to Elli, I am pretty sure she won't be checking google reader before her 3rd birthday)
Up North
Last weekend we were able to go up north for a long weekend!
It was like an ocean on Lake Michigan...No joke, the roar of the waves and everything....
One of the highlights, fishing for Salmon...It doesn't get much better than this! Usually was are telling my dad, "Dad, it is time to go...We have to go...We said we were going to be home...." This time it wasn't dad holding us up, it was CAREY! I just kept saying, "5 more minutes....10 more minutes...." we had SO much fun!
You know your fish are big when you DRAG them back to the car....
We also got to go to Mike's house and pick apples!
Then we went driving to find some beautiful fall views!
It was a windy day.
Fishtown....I love this place. A true up north spot. I love the super old buildings on the dam.
It was SO fun to see the salmon trying to jump up the dam to spawn. You could watch them jump right out of the water!
All in all, a fantastic weekend! I love Up North!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)