the graduate

When I first came back to work from Maternity Leave, I had 4 things with me. I had my purse, my lunch bag, my gym bag and my breast pump. Man, did I feel loaded down. I felt like I had moved out of my house and was moving into work. Emotionally, I also felt like I was moving on to something unknown to me, days without my baby. It didn’t matter that I had only birthed the little monkey 8 weeks prior; my life, up until the day I went back, had been me staying home all day with him. This is me and Linc 2 weeks into Maternity Leave Bliss, he was so tiny!

Now I was about to change all this by going back to work, and that was scary. I had some many things I had to remember to do just to get to work and then at work I had to remember to pump 3 times a day so that he would have enough milk while I was away. It was tough, but soon me and my pump became best friends. I took her with me everywhere it seemed. People would ask about her, and I was not ashamed to tell 7 ft tall Marshalls (I work for the Government) that she was indeed a breast pump. They would then proceed to be embarrassed, haha, that’s what you get for asking! I took care of her the best I could. This is a picture I would keep in my bag to remind me why I was doing this daunting task, haha!

Back to those first few days, they were rough. But I soon found comfort in a fellow working/breastfeeding mother. When I returned to work, her daughter had just turned 1 and she had pumped for her daughter until she began cow’s milk. She had this book she thought I should read call the milk memos. Basically it is book of compiled notes passed between working moms in a shared pumping room. It also has basic knowledge about the breastfeeding/pumping process. This conversation I had with Meredith today inspired my post.
Amy hey, so I just cried a little when I left the 13th floor. I think b/c tomorrow is my last pumping day
Amy were you sad? man I am
Meredith Yeah, it is sad!
Meredith You did 14 months...just like me.
Amy oh is that when you stopped
Amy that is really funny
Meredith It reminds me of Milk Memos and one woman talking about the last time she nursed. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.
Amy oh man, I just took that up there to read today
Amy I wanted to read about weaning
Amy and remembered it was in there
Meredith Yeah, good luck with the weaning. I've obviously decided to go with the child led weaning.
Meredith Hopefully she will wean prior to graduating from high school.
Amy yeah, well that is what I am trying to do to
Amy haha
Amy nice

At the time I went back to work, I was the only one pumping in the health unit. I felt really alone and strange doing something I was unfamiliar with. The milk memos got me through my first few weeks back at work. Reading about other working moms and their real stories helped me to feel not alone. There are so many great stories that I felt really pertained to how I was feeling at the time. Working/breastfeeding moms are a different breed in our society. Most breastfeeding moms stay home with their kids, so we are seen as a different animal. I am happy to say that more of these animals are being bread, now there are 6 other mothers in the health unit pumping away with me! I think a lot of other moms face challenges that luckily I did not have to face. One in particular is finding a place to pump and your boss allowing you the time to do so. Luckily my work has a health unit and my boss is very flexible. Although I do believe it is illegal now for a boss not to let his worker pump. Below is a picture of the book. I think all new working/breastfeeding mothers would benefit from reading this book. Click on the book and it will take you to the website where you can find out about this wonderful book.

I love this passage from the book:
As I reflect on the past year, one of the things I’m most proud of is that Miss Charlotte Ellen Smith has not consumed one single drop of formula. Breastmilk all the way, baby! Wonder if I can include that in my performance review?
I think the biggest reason I’m cuckoo for breastfeeding is that, in terms of intimacy and pure motherhood, it’s the next best thing to being pregnant. I’m not ready to wean, but when I do, I know I’ll miss it like crazy. Believe it or not, I’m even going to miss pumping.

So tomorrow is my last day to pump at work. And yes, I did cry a little when I left our health unit today, and I was not sure why. You would think I would be happy not having to lug around my pump anymore, but I am sad. It is more of what the pump represents than the pump itself. For a year now, it has provided the nourishment for my son while I was not with him. It has been a 2-3 times a day reminder that I am doing what is best for my baby. It has helped me feel better about going to work, knowing that my baby will still get the best milk. Overall, somehow it has helped me feel connected to him while I am at work. So while, I will feel lighter coming to work on Monday physically, emotionally I will not.

For me, breastfeeding was something I always wanted to try when I had a baby. And lucky for me, we both liked it and it worked for us, so we stuck with it. It was not always easy, especially getting up all night long until just a few weeks ago, but I always loved the closeness and special bond that it gave us. When he does wean I know I will be sad. I feel like it might be soon. This weekend he went to bed 2 nights without nursing because he didn’t want to. So for now, I will cherish each session like it is our last. And I will put up the old pump and know that Linc has now graduated from pumped milk, what a big boy!

We all wanted to say Happy belated 1st Birthday to Linc's girlfriend, Avery Mae! She turned 1 April 28th!

Good Morning Glitter Face

Yay for Friday. I don't think I have worked in the office on a Friday in months! So this one was a dozy. It started out pretty sparkly. Every morning when I am getting ready for work Linc likes to get into all the stuff in our bathroom he can open. One classic thing he does everyday is go into our closet and pull all of my shoes down off the shelf. He then tries on the shoes he likes. And of course he never puts them back. Below is what it looked like after todays tour of my shoes.

Usually that is his most destructive task in the morning, beside pulling out some towel or getting in the wet shower if we forget to close it. Well this morning was a different story. I was drying my hair and Linc was getting into his favorite drawer, my drawer I normally keep just my deodorant in. But this week it has had all kinds of makeup in it because I emptied the stuff I was not going to use for the wedding last weekend. So he has had a super fun time getting all the hair ties and extra mascara out of the drawer. Today he found the messiest thing in the drawer, loose power eyeshadow. And it was pink shimmer at that. I didn't see him have it or open it, because Craig should be watching him while I am getting ready, haha! So all the sudden I see a big poof of pink shimmer rain falling everywhere. Linc turns to me, with the now empty eyeshadow in hand, and gave me the most surprised look. He has eyeshadow everywhere. On his mouth, his pjs, in his hair and hands. I had to take a picture.

I called Craig in, and he is really afraid of glitter, so he halted at the door. He said, "Is that Glitter?" with a worried look on his face. Ever since I have known Craig, he has hated glitter or anything with shimmer. If I wore it, he would not touch my face, haha! Anyway, we had to take more pictures of what a disaster it made our bathroom.

Craig then proceeds to enter the shower and not help because he didn't want to touch the glitter. I told him he had to go change him, so he held him out like he had the stinkyest diaper on the earth, haha! Someone had to clean up the mess on the floor, and we know Craig was not going to. Needless to say, we all got glitter on us trying to get it off of Linc, but we did get it off eventually.

We then put him in his cute outfit Josh (Craig's cubemate) got Linc for his birthday. Now that it is getting warm, we thought it would be good for him to wear. He looked super cute in it.

Here is a quick update on Linc's sleep. He has been doing better, and going down easier. He points to go in his crib now, and will lay down and not cry until I leave the room. Then he will only cry for like 15 secs, so that is great. He has kinda giving up waking at 1:30 now, but has started to wake up around 4:30ish, and does not want to go back to sleep. We have been letting him cry until at least 5 before we go get him. We are not sure if he has just had enough sleep by then, or what. But I will take it for now, because it is way better than waking 3-5 times a night. I think I got 6.5 straight hours of sleep last night, which is more than I have had since I birthed the little guy. Yay, I hope it continues to get better.

Oh and I have decided not to go to Washington. A lot of thought went into it, and I just don't think I am ready. Why go if I am just going to worry the whole time about Linc. Plus, I didn't want to have to speed wean him, so I think this is better for all. Since he is sleeping better, I do want to try an overnight with my parents or my brother. They would both be able to handle him at 5am! Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Summer Weather/Washington?

Well I think so, it is super nice out there today. Linc thinks so too, his outfit says so. Baby Gap has the cutest boys clothes!

All the ladies at school said he was too cute in his Hawaiian shirt. I thought it was pretty cute too. Kinda reminds me of my dad, he loves to wear shirts like this. It is so funny at work when ever anyone wares a Hawaiian type shirt, they say they are wearing a Bobby(my dad) shirt. But hey, if it looks good on you, you should wear it. Below he got the lens cap to the camera and hid it somewhere. I just found it this afternoon, haha!

So my dilemma this week is whether or not I should go to Washington and if I should take Linc. Here's the deal, my work has a training they call Boot Camp that they hold in Washington for all new hires. I have been there for a year and half, so I am not super new, but all the sudden my work wants me to go to this training. Maybe most of you think, heck yeah a free trip to Washington and a free 5 night stay in the Ritz, sign me up. Well I would be right there with you if I did not have a baby. Having a baby changes everything, have you heard that? Well it is really ringing true with this decision. One side of me really wants to go. So that side of me thought maybe I could figure out a way to do this and take Linc with me. So I explored options of putting him in one of our 28 federal daycare centers out in DC. It looked like for a while that was not going to happen, then yesterday I got an email saying one around the block from the building would take him for the week! So it looked like this was going to happen. Once the realization hit that this might happen, I got cold feet. I started to think about how we just put him on this sleep program and how the hotel is just one room. How was I going to get us from the hotel to the daycare and me to the building? How was I going to be able to carry all his stuff with me on the Metro, because that is how I would have to get around. They said I could not take any of the provided shuttles since I will have Linc with me and he would not be covered. I have never had to do all this by myself and it is a bit scary. Before you say, why does Craig not just go with you. Well as soon as he heard I might be doing this, he scheduled a trip to CA to visit his suppliers, so he can't go with me now. And both my parents have trips either the week before or after and can't be off two weeks in a row. I know moms do business trips all the time, but I just can't seem to be able to fathom the though of leaving him here and me going. That is the other option I have, to leave him with my parents. I just don't know if I could handle being away from him for a week. Also, he is not weened yet, and that mean I would have to try and ween him in three weeks, yikes! So, I have no idea what to do. Do I go with him, do I go without him, or do I just pass this time and go when he is older? I mean, is it every going to get easier to leave him? I have no idea. I think it might be easier when he is weened and really sleeping good. Also, a test would be for him to stay the night with someone, since he has never done that either. I mean is it really worth it if I am already stressed out and the trip is three weeks away? Who knows, anyway that is my issue for the week. I hope you are all having a good one.

A Young Wedding & Sleep Update

The Gonzalez-Young Wedding was a success! It was the most beautiful wedding I had ever been to or been in. As I mentioned before I was a bridesmaid, as you can see below, I am walking down the aisle. We spent the morning in Lara's Honeymoon suite getting ready. We all had our hair done and then just hung out with Lara on her big day. Craig and Linc were on their own Saturday, and I think they had fun. Craig wore him out so much that he just crashed on the floor for a nap at 4pm.
Miss Lara Gonzalez, soon to be Mrs. Young. She wore a beautiful lace Vera Wang dress. The ceremony was held at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Dallas. The church was huge and so petty.

Our flowers were super petty and very fragrant. I forgot to take mine home though, dang!The newlyweds first dance. The reception took place at The Crescent Hotel in Dallas. It was set up in all her colors, purple and gold.

My big sis came, Sadie Corrie, I have not seen her in such a long time. She moved to Austin when she got married.

Here is Sara and I, she is another bridesmaid. She is also in our sorority and a super sweet girl.

They had a cigar rolling bar, and Craig go a cigar after much protest from me, gross. Anyway, I had to document the moment.

Then it was time to cut the cake, and it was sooo good. I ate my plate, Craig's plate and part of Katy's plate, haha! I love cake and they were very pretty too.

The night finally came to a close with a Zeta Tradition. Here we are showing our Zeta symbol, the crown. It was a super fun night. Craig and I didn't get home until 1:20, which is really late for us. We had a blast. One other thing I loved was the candy bar. You got to make your own favors with all these different candies that were in their colors. The happy couple is now in Hawaii enjoying the sweet bliss of a honeymoon. It makes me think back to our honeymoon and how you just don't realize what a treat it is to have a vacation for just the two of you.Now for a sleep update. Nights 6-9 all went pretty good. Night 6 was Wednesday night, and he went down fast and woke a few times, but went back to sleep on his own within 5 mins each time. Night 7 was about the same. Night 8, my parents had to put him down since we were at the Rehearsal Dinner. They said he went down and cried for 8 mins, so it did take him a little longer than usual. They said he just woke up once and threw his blanket out, so my mom had to wait until he fell back asleep so that she could go put it back in his pack-n-play. We got home at 12:30, but he only woke up at 3 and went back to sleep fast. He woke for the day at 6:30 am. Night 9 we the wedding night, so my sister-in-law, brother and nephew watched him. They said he went to sleep in about 30 secs and then he just woke up once for another 30 secs, they said it was super easy to watch him. We got home at 1:20 and stirred a bit when we laied down at 2 and then woke again about 3 for about 8 mins, and went back to sleep. At 5 am, he would not stop crying, so I went and go him b/c I needed some sleep and brought him to bed with us (I know that is bad). Anyway, he slept until 7:30 with us, so that was better. Last night, night 10, was another bad night. I took him longer than normal to go down, about 15 mins. Then he woke up like 5 times and took about 5-10 mins each time to go back to sleep. Then he woke up at 5:15 and cried for like 15 mins, so we had to just get him up. I need to do some research, but I was thinking by doing this program that he would start sleeping through the night. I know that he is not with us in bed at night, but he is still waking up an average of 3 times a night and crying himself back to sleep. I was thinking that he would go down and then wake up and we would not really hear a lot of crying. I know all people naturally wake up at night, but most just adjust and then go back to sleep without making much noise, that is what I was hoping for. I wonder if that is going to happen. Also if the crazy screaming when I leave will ever stop. It is nice to have our bed back, but I am still not getting a great amount of sleep. Everytime he wakes up, I wake up, so I am waking up about 3 times a night as well. I will let you know what I find out. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Night 4&5, the good and bad!

Just wanted to share some fun pics from March. This first one is Linc in the washing machine. He climbed in there by himself while I was getting the laundry out of the dryer. I was standing there saying, he can't get in there. Sure enough, he did, haha!

I took this one so that I could see Linc's birthday shirt better. His jeans kinda covered it up at his party. I really love this shirt, Freckled Pink (Tori) made it for Linc. She does great work.

Ok, down to business time!

Since we started the new sleep training, we decided that it was time to put Lincoln in his big boy seat. He had still been riding in his infant seat, it does go up to 30 lbs. He always fell asleep on the way home from school in his infant seat, so we decided that we should try to put him in his toddler seat forward facing thinking maybe he would stay awake. We need him to stay awake on the way home from school, so that he will want to go to bed at 7. We have done good so far, it has only been 2 days, with keeping him up on the way home. On the way to school is a different story as you can see below! Oh and we love his new toddler seat, it is a Reccaro and it is super soft. Reccaro makes racing seats normally, so Craig really like the sporty look to the carseat. They make infant seats too, but they don't make them in the US yet. They are also super safe, which is a huge plus. We got two of them, one in black and cream to go in my car and one in cream to go in Craig's car.

So night 4 went pretty well I would say, that was Monday night. He went down around 7 and was quite in about 1 min. By the time I walked out of his room to the kitchen and back to the living room he was quite! He did stir a bit that night around 1:30 again, but didn't wake up until 6am! So that was a success. Last night, night 5, is a different story, oh boy! He went down at 7 again, but it took him about 15 mins to get to sleep, which is not bad, but not as good as the previous nights. Then he woke up at 11 and cried for 30 mins, which was also strange. He woke again at 12:30 and was crying for 20 mins, then Craig and I decided that something must be wrong since he keeps waking up and not going back to sleep. I have noticed him teething, so I went in and gave him some teething tablets and some Tylenol, then I rubbed his back and put him back down sleepy, but awake. He then cried for another 15 mins and finally went back to sleep. But that was not the end of his night wakings, he woke up again at 1:30 and 3 and 4:50 and cried for about 10 mins each time before going to sleep. Then he woke up for the day at 5:50am. So I would say last night was not a success, I am more tired than I have been in a long time. That is 5 night wakings! Needless to say nobody got sleep last night! We are not sure why he was waking so much, maybe he is going through a growth spurt or the teething is really bothering him. I just know that about 3 times last night I considered scooping him up and bringing him back to bed with us, but I didn't. Anyway, I know that we will have ups and downs, so I just hope tonight is better. We have a wedding to go to this weekend both Friday and Saturday night, so I hope that he sleeps good for my parents and brother and sister-in-law. I will let you know how tonight goes, hopefully better. Until next time, sweet dreams

Sleep Training Nights 2 & 3

We have made it through nights 2 & 3 of the 3 day sleep solutions. Yay! So you want to know how they went. Alright, I'll tell ya.

Lets start with night 2. I mentioned in my last post that it took about 45 mins for him to go down on Saturday night, which was an improvement from Friday night (night 1). He then slept really good, no peeps, until about 1:30. Then he cried for about 5 or so mins and went back to sleep. Then he woke up at 3, 4:30 and 5:30. To me that was a lot of wakings back to back. It took him only about 5 mins to go back to sleep each time, but I don't think he was well rested. He finally got up around 6:40 on Sunday morning, and he was pretty cranky. We think it was because he is teething again. He kept grinding his teeth on my fingers and was putting everything in his mouth. I also don't think he got good sleep because he was pretty tired and cranky all day.

Sunday was night 3. Linc took two naps on Sunday, about an hour each, but was pretty cranky the whole day. We didn't do much, just went out for lunch. So it was a pretty relaxing day. So about 6 we started to get him ready for bed. He ate dinner, played with his daddy, got in his jammies and nursed. We did have some changes in his room on Sunday. I had talked to my aunt on Saturday night and she suggested we play some soothing music in his room. So I had my iPod set up in his room playing Enya. We also covered his pack and play mattress in a soft blanket. Last, I found his favorite soft blanket for him to hold. After I nursed him, I put him down in his pack n' play at 6:50. He cried again when I left to room. Soon after he was getting quite, so went to check the video monitor in my room and he had already fallin asleep. It took him only 5 mins to fall asleep on Sunday night, whoo hoo! He stirred at about 1:30 again, but I don't think he ever fully woke up. He finally woke up at 6:15am! So I would say that was a successful night. We are super pumped about this, and hope that he continues on this path. I know it can go up and down, but I feel like this was a break through for him.

Now it is time for mommy to get some sleep, haha. I am so worried about his wakings I don't think I ever fall in a deep sleep. Anyway, I hope the rest of the week goes good. I am proud of my self for sticking with something and hope to be able to keep sticking with it.

Race for the Cure/1 Sleep Training Night

This morning was Fort Worth's Race for the Cure in downtown Fort Worth. My dad, Craig and I all went to run. We met up with one of my friends, Jeni, and her mom and friends. It was said that there were 17,000 people there! That is a lot of people, because I think last time I ran it there were only 10,000. My dad was the smart one and signed up for the competitive race, so he got to be in the front to start. Craig, Jeni and I did not, and ended up at the back of the line. It took us 20 mins just to get to the starting line! Then there were so many people that we only got to run like 1/3 of it. Jeni and I had fun, I am not sure about Craig as he wanted to run the whole thing. It took us 60 mins this time to run it and I think last time it took me 34 or so. They had way better freebies this time, even pancakes. After we met up with my mom who was taking care of Linc for brunch, and that was fun. Grandma had a good time with Linc but was very tired afterwards. No one believes how much energy he takes, it is all you can do just to use the restroom when you are watching him. He just gets into everything. Anyway, we had a great rest of the day. We had to buy a video monitor since Linc jumped out of his crib last night. Then we took a family nap, which I know is against the DVD's rules, but I really wanted to snuggle up with my baby. In the afternoon we went to the park, it was a full day.

So on to sleep training. I guess I could say last night didn't go as bad as I thought it would. After jumping out of his crib we ended up putting him in his pack n play. He fell asleep in 60 mins from when we first put him in his crib. He then woke up at 8:30pm and the rules are not to go in there or even say anything to him, so I waited thinking it would be another 60 mins, but he surprised me and went back to sleep in 10 or so. His next waking was at 1:30am, which is a normal waking time for him and again I could not go in there and he went back to sleep in 15 mins. I was traumatized by now, so I could not fall asleep for an hour after that waking. It really is sleep training for both of us. I have to learn how to sleep through the night again as well. It has been over a year since that happened. His last waking was at 5:30. It says not to go in his room until 6 and he cried until 6. So I finally went in and got him. He hung on to me for about 10 mins, but then he let me put him down and was happy to be awake. He didn't seem extra clingy. He was even fine with me leaving him at my moms while we went to the race. So I guess night one is a success.

Night two has started. We put him down at 6:30 because he was falling asleep nursing. He cried for about 45 mins tonight. The funny thing is since we got the camera we can see him in his room and when he was dozing in and out he kept standing. So he was like a horse and he was asleep while he stood, it was cute and sad at the same time. I just have to keep telling myself this will work, this will be better for us all.

Monkeys belong at the zoo!

Linc's school was closed today, so I took my little monkey to the Fort Worth Zoo! We have a season pass.

He liked being in his new Radio Flyer Wagon, esp the umbrella. Since I was by myself today, I had snacks prepared so that he would stay in the wagon. The zoo was super packed because all the schools were out for Good Friday, but we had a good time. Here are some more pics.

There were a lot of animals out today, guess they knew it would be a big crowd.

Linc spent most of his time in his wagon, checking out the baby chicks and eating his baby cheetos.

He finally made a break for it at the swans. He had a good time running around with the other kids his age. After this, we were both tired and ready to go home. It was a great day.

I can't say it will be a good night. I received the DVD I talked about in my last blog last night. Tonight we start the sleep training. We are 40 mins into it and he has already climbed out of his crib twice, scary. He has never done that before, so we are not sure what to do. Craig got the pack and play out and we hope he won't be able to get out of that. In the training it says we can't go into his room for 60 mins, but I don't know if we have to start over since we have had to put him back in bed twice! We do call him monkey for a reason. No one said this would be easy, but I am trying to stick to my guns. I know it will be better for all of us in the long run. Well off for some rest hopefully. We have race for the cure to run tomorrow morning. Not sure if it was the best night to start the training, but hey it says if you don't like it or it does not work I have to return in 30 days to get my money back. So I got to start now, haha! Well I will update you tomorrow.

Mr. Sandman, are you there?

I mentioned in my first blog that Linc and I don’t get much sleep. I know most of you say, well that is motherhood for you. Of course, if it was up to me we would all be getting 9+ hours of sleep at night. I know before I had Linc I would be in bed most nights by 9:15 and get up at 6am for work. And even then I would sometimes be tired. But now, I get about 6 or so hours of combined sleep if I am lucky. I say combined because my sleep is always interrupted. I get up with Linc an average of 3 times a night. And then I seem to be the only one that can get him back to sleep. There are two ways to get him back to sleep, nursing or patting him over my shoulder. The shoulder trick only works if I get to his room with in 30 seconds of the first cry; if I am late nursing is my next trick. We all know that a 13 month old baby does not need food in the middle of the night, so why does he wake up. Well I am pretty sure that is our fault. We never taught him how to soothe himself and fall asleep on his own. We have always had to aid him in falling asleep. Who knew that babies didn’t come out knowing how to sleep? I never though about learning to sleep, I always thought it just came natural. Just like breathing and opening your eyes. I guess the act of sleeping is natural, but getting to the point where you can sleep is not, I don’t know. Obviously falling asleep is a learned act.
So how did I let it get this bad? Well when he was born we did the whole bassinet thing and he would wake up every 1-2 hours like most newborns, right? Well then he just never seemed to grow out of waking up every 1-2 hours and he was 3+ months. So I started to move him into our bed because I was so dang tired and I was back at work, so I needed some type of sleep. That seemed to help a bit, now it was every 2-3 hours he would wake and I would just nurse him and he would be a sleep in 10-15 minutes. It would still take me an extra 10 or so minutes to fall back asleep, but it was much better. So then at about 6 months I was so tired and ready to try something else. In came the “Sleep Sense” by Dana Obleman. Essentially it turned out to be a cry it out method but the parent stays in the room while the child cries and until the child goes to sleep. Well the first night we tried it, he cried for an hour straight. We had to take off his clothes because he was so hot from crying. He finally fell asleep only to wake back up 30 mins later. We had to start all over again. That night he did sleep through the night, but was extra clingy and fussy the next day. We said we would try it again, so that night it was an hour and a half before he went down, then he woke up 10 mins later and would not go back to sleep, so we gave up this method. So we waited a month and tried something called “the no cry sleep method”. Needless to say it did not work either. Although this book did have some good concepts about not letting your child fall asleep nursing, that has not worked for us yet. Overall, I know I have not given either a fair chance to work, I think that is because the alternative is still better than having a screaming baby.
I am finally to the point again that I am ready to try something new. So while on search for how to get a baby to drink whole milk, because Linc refuses to do this as well, I stumbled across this banner for a DVD called the 3-Day Sleep Solution. It claims that you can get your sleep back in three days. I have no idea what kind of method it is, but I am ready for some help. I just have to be willing to accept the help, right? I think I am ready, I hope.
While I know that I am tired and it sucks, the person I am most worried about it Linc. I would say he gets about 8 hours of combined sleep a night, which is not enough for a 13 months old. I know that if he does not learn to sleep well now, he will always have issues falling asleep and I just don’t want that to be the case. I know that we will be a different family when we all sleep through the night. Oh and I just want to mention that Craig is involved in this, but since Linc won’t fall asleep with anyone but me right now, he is kind of helpless. So he helps in other ways and I appreciate that. I love him for all the things he can do for Linc and me!
I will let you all know how it goes once I get the DVDs. Wish us luck and for the sandman to finally visit our house!

New Blog/Old Blog

Since Lincoln is now one we wanted to start a new blog. You can still find our old blog here. I think it will be easier to add stuff to this new blog. The old one I felt like I had to add pictures and a post at the same time and did not often have the time to do that. Here is our first post on the new blog.
13 months! Wow I can not believe we have a toddler, well at least a young toddler. He is not an infant anymore. It is kinda sad. Lincoln has become quite the explorer around our house. Just the other day I was home with him by myself all day while Craig was out playing paintball with his team. I think I sat down a total of 30 mins for that whole 13 hours I was home with him. One of us always has to be on our feet following after him or our house would look like a tornado hit it.
He has always been a climber, that's why we call him monkey, but we never expected him to figure out how to get on top of our dinning room table. He got up there on Sunday (same day Craig was gone) and threw one of our coasters we got from Mazatlan and broke it. And believe me I am watching him, he is just that fast. I think I was picking something up in his room that he messes up and by the time I got to the kitchen he had already climbed up there and threw it, crazy kid!
Needless to say, I was ready to take a break when Craig got home. I really enjoyed spending the day with my little man, but boy was I tuckered out. I guess I could say it is keeping me in shape. Although I did make a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies that day and ate about 3 plus dough which probably was about 5 cookies itself, haha! Hey, I got to get my energy from somewhere, we all know I don't get it from sleep. That's right, my 13 month old child still wakes up 3+ times a night. But I will save that for another post. Overall our little monkey is doing great. He is active, very happy and healthy. What more could we ask for, we love this little man and all the joy and excitement he brings to our lives. Until next time, have a great day!