My 2013 Flipagram

For those of you that don't follow me on Instagram, here is my 2013 Flipagram! I love this app!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Sleep training: Part 2

Before I get into the details of last night, let me tell you about what happened at 7:15 this morning…

I woke up.

I woke up because I was ready and my eyes opened. Nobody was calling me (yet). There was no one to feed (besides the dog). AND. IT. WAS. GLORIOUS.

Last night was a better night than the first. Thank goodness or it would have been really easy to scrap this whole plan!

Here are my notes:

7:15pm - Bath and then bed. She babbled for a couple of minutes then went right to sleep.

10:30pm - Dreamfeed. She ate well and stayed fast asleep. Yesssss.

3:10am - Happy dance because I had been asleep over four hours at this point! As it was before my 4am "goal time" to feed her, I replaced her pacifier, stroked her hair and walked back out.

3:25am - Still crying. I stuck with the plan. Replaced her pacifier (which she was angrily shaking at me in her balled up fist, or so my perception led me to believe), stroked her hair and walked out.

3:30am - Silence. Yes, that's right. Silence after only 20 minutes. It was a beautiful thing.

4:50am - I got up to feed her. I will admit that there was some crying/talking between 3:30am and 4:50am but it never lasted more than a few minutes before she was quiet again…except for that dream I had about a crying Carrington which may or may not have actually happened!

7:20am - Up for the day and happy like always!

I know we are not "there" yet, but I'm encouraged by a better night! Keep it coming sister!

Continue on to Sleep Training: Part 3 and Part 4

Sleep training: Part 1

Sleep training. The thing that every parent talks about but NOBODY wants to do.

I thought our 4 month sleep regression was just a phase. I thought that Carrington, being our "easy baby" would naturally just revert back to sleeping through the night. I even forgave many wakeful nights with each glimmer of hope she would give us that she was ready to sleep all night.

I've been pretty good at fooling myself for the last two months but I know it is time to sleep train my sweet baby girl.

Gulp.

Just like Cooper, Carrington has no problem going to sleep. We sing her a song and put her in her crib awake. In no time at all, she throws her little head back and goes right to sleep.

It's the staying asleep that's the problem.

Up until last night, she'd wake up anywhere from one to four times in the night and I would run in and nurse her and she'd go right back to sleep. It was oh so EASY…but not sustainable.

I'm off work this week, thank goodness, and so we decided to give sleep training a shot. My goal is to hold her off from eating until 4am and then I'll gradually push that out to all night long. Sounds like a breeze, right?

Last night was a bear. I foggily remember something similar with Cooper and also remember it only took three nights. I'll keep reminding myself of that!

Here are my notes. Hopefully I'll only be reporting back to you on this for a couple of days!

7:00pm - Put on PJs, sang her a song and put her in bed.

7:05pm - She talked happily for 5 minutes and then was out.

10:15pm - I always sneak in around this time and feed her while she is still asleep. I remember its called a "dream feed" but I can't remember which book it came from!

11:50pm - Sister woke up crying. I'm feeling confident at this point because I know she can go longer than 1.5 hours without eating! I went in her room, gave her a pacifier, stroked her hair and walked back out.

12:00am - She's more than a little pissed at this point. "I cry, you come and give me milk, remember?!" I went back in, soothed her, gave her a pacifier and walked out.

Between 12 and 2:06am - (Yes, I distinctly remember 2:06am!!!) Kyle and I took turns about every 10-15 minutes soothing her and walking back out. Around 1am we decided not to go in as much because every time we walked out she would just get more angry and it felt as if we were pushing the "reset" button each time we went in. Finally, after about 20 minutes of uninterrupted crying she went to sleep. Break. My. Heart.

4:00am - Carrington woke up and I fed her. This time she slept until almost 7am!

7:00am - Carrington woke up just as happy as a clam! I keep looking for signs of "damage" and "trauma" from last night. None to be found! Ahhh, Mom guilt!

Let me tell you, listening to your baby cry is just about the hardest thing to do. Several times Kyle had to stop me from going in and feeding her. I know this is for the best and we'll all be happier and healthier people with just a little more sleep at night. Please let me remember this in the middle of the night tonight!

Stay tuned for Part 2 and wish me luck!

UPDATE: SEE PART 2 HERE!

Very merry.

Merry Christmas from the Charles family!

Charles happenings!

What a month! Wasn’t it just Thanksgiving yesterday?!

It’s been a whirlwind of activity around our place. Here are a few things to catch you up!

Cooper was the ring bearer in the wedding of Kyle’s good friend from high school. We bribed him with a 6 pack of cupcakes. He would only wear his Tom's shoes (per the norm) and ran down the aisle carrying his ring bearer box like a football. But, that’s neither here nor there because he did it on his own and that’s about all I can ask from my stubborn almost 3 year old!

Kyle and I went to NY. By ourselves. And our friends Dave and Abigail just so happened to be there too! Holy Christmas magic it was so much fun! We pretty much ate our way through the city and made pit stops for shopping, a Broadway show (Book of Mormon) and ice skating of course.

I just spent two hours wrapping all of my presents for Christmas after the incessant “Mom, you ready for Christmas?” from the boy. Yes, I think I am!

Speaking of gifts, the boy’s favorite phrase as of late is very applicable this time of year. It goes like this:

Cooper: Mom, you know what? I’ve got a new prize for you!

Me: What is it?

Cooper: Ummmm, (as he searches the room thinking)…a new vaccum!

Me: Wow! Did you get a new prize for Daddy?

Cooper: Yeah! A new, big vaccum!

Apparently he has more cleaning to do than me!

Merry almost Christmas! Hoping you get everything on your Santa list this season, vacuum or otherwise!

Hookers and Weaves

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions? 

What? Not what you expected by the title of this post? Stay tuned...

First, let me set the scene...

Picture a young family. Christmas music is playing while the Mom and her curly-headed son are decorating the Christmas tree together for the very first time. The Dad is sitting back taking in the scene, egg nog in hand.

The boy gingerly picks up a glass ornament, holds it up to his Mom and with an angelic smile on his face exclaims:

"Mom! We need more hookers!"

Yes. That is exactly what this picturesque scene needs. More hookers. Or, maybe some more ornament hooks with which to hang ornaments on the tree.  Either way.

And, just to continue on with the fun...

Minutes later said boy is on the floor begging me to roll up his "weaves".

Me: What are weaves?

Cooper: "Weg sweeves" (Leg sleeves.)

Duh.

Never a dull moment. Especially this holiday season!

This is how I know I'm losing it.

Sometimes I feel like my life is going by at 100mph and I’m sitting here running at 90mph; not fast enough to catch up but just fast enough to see everything flying by!

One thing that is definitely not catching up lately is my brain. The following are things that have actually happened in the past week. Oy.

1. I dropped my breast pump off at the dry cleaner instead of the dry cleaning bag. No joke. I was flagged down in the parking lot by a very confused gentelman where I made the appropriate trade.
2. I run errands in my dreams. All night I dream about my to-do list, so much so that I wake up the next morning really having to think if I’ve actually accomplished something from my list.
3. While making Cooper’s breakfast, I cracked the egg and put the shell in the pan and the egg in the trash. Twice in a row.
4. I called my Mom to ask her if she could pick something up for me at Target for our upcoming Dallas trip and three telephone rings later I had already forgotten what that thing was.
5. I have 79 emails in draft form that need to go out. 79. That doesn’t even make sense.

A sign I have too much going on? I sign I'm losing my mind? Who knows. But just so we are all on the same page in 30 years…

Dear Cooper and Carrington,

I know you think I'm crazy and it's time to cart me off to the old folks home but please know I've always been like this. I'm pretty sure it's your fault. I still love you.

Love,

Mom

Happy Birthday, Hanukkah!

Tonight rounded out the last of Hanukkah. I was excited to see if Cooper would get it this year and he did not disappoint! 

Here are some highlights from our eight crazy nights!

The first night we lit candles Cooper exclaimed “Happy Birthday, Hanukkah!” I get it. You’ve got candles and presents. Replace the Hanukkah prayer with singing “Happy Birthday” and you’re there!

He got to spend night 4 with his cousins. I’ve never seen three kids open presents faster. And then they only wanted to play with each others' toys. Go figure.

On the 6^th night, I was working late and Kyle was trying to do his best to hold him off from opening presents until I got home. Cooper told him, “Daddy, I have an idea. I’ll get the candles. You wite them. Then, we’ll do Hanukkah!” I swear, that boy came out sneaky!

Tonight was something else though. A couple of months ago I accidentally ran over his "woo hoop" (hula hoop) that was left in the driveway. I thought it would be a great idea to get him a new one. Apparently, it was the WRONG COLOR! First world problem if I've ever seen one! The office toy drive just got a new donation tonight!

To top it off, poor boy has to wait a whole 21 days to celebrate Christmas with me. And then a whole month until his birthday. Rough life, kid.

Happy Hanukkah to all! It was a great one and all of us (except for Cooper) are feeling blessed!

Thankful

Yes, I know it is December and that I missed all 30 days in November when you are supposed to write about being thankful but can we just put the holiday madness on hold for a second and catch up on Thanksgiving?

Thanks.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by fellow blogger Heather Von St. James. Heather was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 2005 at the age of 36. She received her diagnosis just after the birth of her daughter, Lily Rose. Heather went through extensive surgeries and chemotherapy in 2006 and was declared cancer-free later that year. Heather is now an 8-year survivor and on a mission to spread awareness by sharing her personal story.

More on Heather's journey here.

Her story really hit home with me as I am a new mom to a baby girl. I can’t imagine receiving the diagnosis that she did but I can imagine the fight that a little babe could put in the heart of her Mama! It was the least I could to do share her story and take a minute to just be thankful for all of the blessings in my life. 

Mostly, I’m thankful for these faces.

Even though I couldn’t get these faces to look at me for a Thanksgiving picture!!!

Happy Thanksgivingkkah!

Tomorrow night marks the first night of Hanukkah. I hear this is the only year in our lifetime that the two will happen together. So in our house, we will literally be celebrating the holidays for the next month. Our Chirstmukkah has turned into Thanksgivingkkuh plus Christmas!

And, on the note of celebrating every holiday in the book, we started "Elf on a Shelf" last night. Cooper named his elf Bama, hopefully not as in "Alabama" but we'll let it slide. I'm thinking he may still be a little young to understand what's going on. He told me that Bama was going to tell Santa that Cooper was a happy boy, not a good boy. HA! Well, sometimes this rings very true, especially when it comes to mud puddles...

The adults around here have also been getting into the holiday spirit. It's been so cold and rainy we've been lighting a fire in the fireplace at night and drinking egg nog. Oh, how I missed egg nog last year when I was pregnant! Kyle usually fixes our drinks and picks out a show for us to veg out to in our kid free time before bed. Last night I walked in the living room and he handed me a drink and said:

"I'm torn between Monday night football and Fashion Police, AMA special."

I died laughing. I can't think of a statement that personifies my husband any better. He is the most stylish manly man I know. To further the point, he went out last weekend to Home Depot and Target for light covers and other things around the house he was fixing. He came home with all of his stuff in addition to a pair of "cool leggings" for me. Love him.

I have to take a minute from the cuteness to brag on Kyle a little bit…

A couple of weeks ago and totally out of the blue, Kyle decided that he would like to help families in need this season. He contacted the principal at our local high school and arranged to provide Thanksgiving dinner to four families that otherwise couldn't provide this for themselves. He made his drop off this morning and I've been gushing about it all day. Not only did he do a kind deed for some families in need but I couldn't dream up a better role model for our kids. This makes my heart happy.

Happy Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and kick off to the holiday season!

Sleeping Like a Baby

I’ve often wondered where the term “sleeping like a baby” came from. In my mind, when I hear that I picture a rosy faced baby peacefully sleeping like a rock, all through the blessed night. Let me tell you, I’ve been “sleeping like a baby” for the past month and it ain’t so pretty! 

I know. How cliché? The mom of a newborn blogs about her lack of sleep. Waaaah, wah. But hear me out! I don’t have a good reference point in Cooper. He didn’t sleep through the night until he was six months old. I thought that was pretty good until Carrington did it at six weeks. 

Carrington giveth. Now Carrington taketh away.

For the past month or so she’s been getting up anywhere at least one and up to five times a night. Yes, FIVE! And the craziest part is that she wakes up completely happy. She coos! She laughs! She says, "AH-geeeee! AH-gooooo!"

She is particularly skilled in doing this the night before I have big projects at work. She's really clever like that.

I know not what to do with this happy child. We've read the books. We've done the things. NADA!

Last night we decided to see how long she would go.  After listening to her babble for about 20 minutes (at 3am, mind you), I turned to Kyle and asked "Are you really sleeping through this?!" He replied, "I was…"

My Mom ears just do not know how to turn off.

So if you see me walking around like a zombie, kindly point me in the direction of the coffee and remind me to brush my hair!

Sleeping beauty!

Totally Redeeming Myself!

Remember my Torah/binocular snafu at parent teacher conferences? Well, I finally caught Cooper on camera playing with his "noculars"! See?! It wasn't my fault!

And for some other things that happened during this crazy, busy week...

Cooper is finally warming up to his sister...it's only been four months. Four. Long. Months. 

Carrington got shots this week and also the fever that goes along with them, boo. But, she felt much better after an hour on Daddy's chest. I love that spot, too.

It finally got cold in Houston. I get excited for this for the first few days and then I'm ready to get back to the hot, wet blanket we like to call Gulf humidity. Sister did get to model some of her new winter gear though!

Ok, first can we talk about baby leggings and furry boots?! Oh man. Things I knew nothing about before having a girl!

Second, I wanted to share a sweet story about the sweater Carrington is wearing. My Grandmother (Mom's Mom) passed away when I was four. She loved to knit. One of her best friends, Carol, made this little sweater for Carrington in honor of my Grandmother. She wrote me the sweetest note about how my Grandmother would have loved to make clothes for my children. This is so special to me and I love her for doing this for us!

I need to go get a tissue now! Have a lovely (almost) weekend friends!

Adventures in Aggieland

This post could have been titled so many different things.

"The Time Cooper Went Home in Somebody Else's PJs"

"Porta Potty Seats are Round, not Oval"

Or, my favorite:

"There Isn't Enough Antibacterial Gel. In the World."

But, we'll get to that later. First let me tell you about Cooper's first trip to Aggieland! 

We got to College Station with just enough time to stop by our friend's tailgate. We were immediately inundated with offers of BBQ, beer, sweets and more. Those Frosts, such a sweet bunch. Cooper was thrilled and dutifully accepted not one but two pieces of chocolate cake. You know, just to be polite.

We headed to the stadium for kick-off feeling optimistic that Cooper could ride his sugar high right through to halftime. He actually sat through the whole first quarter! Granted, he was in my seat and I was in Kyle's lap ("Get out of my seat, Mom!"), but hey, he was happy. He kept yelling "go Ags, go!" and "don't swip Johnny Football!"

I could tell in the second quarter he was getting antsy by the way he was hurdling the guy's leg next to us trying to get to the aisle. I decided to take him out to get a snack. He chose a Sno Cone and proceeded to drench it in about 18 different flavors before taking one bite, handing it back and saying "I don't wike this." Neat. So, we spent the better part of the second quarter doing this:

And this:

Nothing cleaner than a college football stadium floor.

I wrangled him back into the stadium just before halftime and he was able to see the mascot, Reveille, and also watch the Aggie Band march. This was by far the highlight of his trip!

After halftime I pulled the plug and hauled my 35 pound load of bricks boy clear across campus back to the tailgate. Here's where things got a little messy...literally.

If you don't want to hear potty talk, please skip the next few paragraphs!

We got back to the tailgate and Cooper informed me that he had to pee pee. No problem. I saw a nice cluster of trees 20 yards away and we were off. About halfway there, he stopped in his tracks, tears streaming down his face as he told me:

"I. HAVE. TO. POOP!"

Oh geez. I scooped him up and ran to the nearest porta potty. We got inside, wiped everything as best I could with a wet wipe, put him on the seat and prayed for the best. What I got was something less. You see, the thing about skinny little kids with pants around their ankles is that their little tushies are far too small to sit on a seat that is round (not oval) without the serious risk of falling in. I quickly yanked him and took his shoe off so I could get one pant leg off. 

So there we were. Cooper was half naked and barefoot doing his business in a porta potty and I'm sweating and cringing with every new place he decided to put his hand. At one point we were walked in on and I vigorously waved a speechless college student away. That's an image he won't soon forget.

Just when I think things are wrapping up, Cooper asks me: 

"Mom, is this a water potty?" Um, no? Again: "Mom, is this a water potty?" No! What's a water potty? "The water is splashing up on my tush!"

Oh God. Oh no.

This is how Cooper ended up naked outside of Reed Arena being wiped down by his Mom with a wet wipe. As if this wasn't enough, about 10 minutes later he slipped and fell in a mud puddle and ended up soaked. And that's how Cooper ended up going home in some other kid's Spiderman pajamas. So thankful to the sweet family that took pity on us and offered them up!

At this point I decided that we had enough and I called Kyle and told him it was time to head back to Houston. I think he must have sensed the panic in my voice because he was back to the tailgate faster than humanly possible.

Cooper loved it and we'll definitely take him again...when he's 12!

Post-game. Kitchen floor.

What little boys are made of...

According to the nursery rhyme, little boys are made of "snips and snails and puppy dog tails." Thanks to Google I now know that snips are (in context of this nursery rhyme): odds and ends that little boys collect. Judging from the amount of rocks and acorns I find in Cooper's pockets, I'd say this is pretty accurate.

On that note, I am becoming increasingly aware of the boy's obsessions that are completely foreign to me. Dirt is one of them.

And again with the weenus...

Cooper continues to show his concern over my lack of a weenus. This is how conversations around this topic are currently playing out:

Cooper: Cooper has a weenus. Mommy has no weenus, right?

Me: That's right.

C: You can get one, Mom. You can get one at the Weenus Store.

Me: (Because I'm curious..) Where is the Weenus Store?

C: Far, far away.

Such a man. Life without a weenus is apparently not ideal from a two year old boy's perspective! Should I be concerned that he has already caught on to "shopping" and thinks you can get whatever your heart desires at the store?

Also, he's very proud of his skinned knees. If you ask him what happened to his knees, he'll tell you, "they broked".

Here are some pics of the boy's other manly obsessions which are pretty much anything his Dad does. I fear I'm losing another one to that little white ball!

At least I have this one!

The Shiksa goes to Parent Teacher Conferences

Last week, Kyle and I went to Cooper's Parent Teacher Conference. It was good to get some idea of how he's doing, share some laughs over his antics and learn that he saves all of his bad behavior for us at home. Good job buddy?

Anyway, at one point in the discussion, his teachers were showing us the things he likes to play with in the classroom. They were mostly things that he also plays with at home (blocks, paint, puzzles, etc.) but also mentioned him really liking a pair of binoculars. 

Then I blurted out, "Oh, he loves binoculars! He actually still plays with the pair that he made in class at the beginning of the year!"

(Remember, Cooper goes to school at a Synagogue...)

Teacher: "Oh! (Nervous laughter.) Actually, those aren't binoculars, that's the Torah. If you open up the scroll you will see a little blessing on the inside."

Oops. I'm sure the holy book gets mistaken for binoculars all the time!  I made some blubbering comment about being a Shiksa but I'm not sure that they heard it over the loud sound of Kyle's palm hitting his forehead from across the table!

In my defense, he really does like his Torah binoculars, even if he didn't grasp the lesson!

One lesson at school he did grasp is the "Unicorn Song" and how to put your horn up. See?!

I'm a unicorn!

At least there's that!

The Halloween Recap

Happy Halloween!

Photo Cred: Neighbor Katie!

After much coaxing, Cooper actually wore his costume and got what trick-or-treating is all about. He got a bucket full of candy and we sent him off to bed riding the insulin roller coaster. I didn't make him bathe, but after I caught him eating a laffy taffy, wrapper and all, I definitely made him brush those pearly whites!

Trick or Treat!

I have no idea how many "lemon mmms" he ate tonight.

Carrington stole the show when she passed out in her little mouse costume, all warm and snuggly in her costume. I wish I could freeze her at the age. I die.

Little Mouse before snoozefest!

OUT.

We had a great one this year! Hope you did too!

Crying like Sister

Have you ever seen anything funnier, cuter or more heartbreaking than Cooper in this video?!

Whenever Cooper is upset and crying, he tells us he is "crying wike sister".  I caught this video of him it the other day, he was upset his Dad had left for work. Usually his emotion of choice is either ecstatic or angry (he's his mother's son) so to catch him actually sad is a rarity!

I've got nothing else but cute pics to share tonight!

My little loves in bed before we read books. Kyle wanted to make sure he got photo cred. There you go, beb.

This is after Kyle let the ice cream truck stop serve as dinner!

I love Carrington but I really wish she would smile more! What a grump!

That's all for now... Is it really only Tuesday? Oy.