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!!!