Holy crap, it works!

On the suggestion of a friend, I got one of those teddy bears that plays womb sounds for Fiona. I was hoping that it would help her sleep better. Last night, (after pacing for a while and her crying the whole time) I laid her down in the crib with the bear while she was sleepy, but still awake and fussy. She cried, sucked her thumb, cried, sucked her thumb - all while I was patting her back and resisting the urge to pick her up. She fell asleep pretty quickly and I was impressed.

So, tonight I turned the bear on and just laid her down wide awake. She didn't cry at all, alternated sucking her right and left thumbs, settled on the right thumb, and went right to sleep! It has been almost an hour and I haven't heard a peep!

Could I have found the golden ticket? The silver bullet? The answer to the ultimate Secret of Easy Sleep??

After 2 years of a complicated bedtime routine with Abhi and now 5 months of pacing with a screaming baby, this feels too easy. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the bear continues to work its magic.

Now if I can find the key to getting Abhi to fall asleep unassisted, I will be in paradise!



Yes, my baby sleeps on her belly, BUT she is almost 5 months old, has very good head control and able to turn her head side to side. Plus, she is rolling over now, and even if I put her on her back, she ends up on her belly at some point anyway all on her own. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone was wanting to gripe at me.

Another funny video

This has to be my most favorite funny online video to date. I laughed so hard I was crying!

4 month checkup

I took Fiona to her 4 month checkup today. She is really almost 5 months, but her original appointment was rescheduled because of the ice storm last week. I took her to the doctor that Jim and I see instead of the pediatrician. I wanted to see how it went because I think it would be better if the whole family saw the same doctor. Anyway, it went really well. She is healthy, robust, and cute as hell. Everyone was falling all over themselves every time she smiled. I really like all the doctors and nurses there. So, here's her current stats:

15 lbs 12 oz (she was 8 lb 1 oz at birth)
24 inches long (she was 20 inches at birth)

They didn't measure her head or calculate the percentiles, which I was kinda glad. Abhi has always been in the 35-40th percentile and Fiona was in the 75 percentile at her 2 month checkup. As long as they are both healthy and doing well, there really is no need for the other stats in my opinion.

We didn't do any shots this time. She hasn't had any so far, but we will probably start with some at her 6 month appointment. My mom has sent me all kinds of vaccine information and I want a chance to look it all over before I decide which ones she will get and which ones we won't.

Ok, so just to wrap up, here is a picture of Abhi with ponytails (which lasted about 0.00005 seconds after the picture was taken. She looks so cute, I wish she would keep them in a little longer.


I don't have any new pictures of Fiona. I will try to take some of her tonight if she is in a smiley mood.

Look what I got....

And guess who likes to snuggle down in Mommy's boobies and go to sleep (with NO crying) and let Mommy get some hands! free! stuff done in the evenings??


I love it! And I love my little snuggler! And I am loving the no crying! I hope it continues to work so well.

I needed a good laugh....

I DVR the Ellen show every day and watch it either on my lunch break or after the kids go to bed. Love that show! Anyway, I was just watching the show from Friday and she mentioned a call she made to a lady here in Austin (the original show was preempted here in Austin by the ice storm news coverage). Anyway, she put the entire call up on her website and it is so freaking funny!

Fairy Tale...is there a happy ending???

Once upon a time, I had a sweet little Sleeping Beauty. I would carry her in my arms for a little while and she would drop off to sleep happily sucking on her binkie. I would lay her down on the bed and she would sleep until I went to bed. I would change her diaper, maybe waking her up, maybe not. If she woke, she nursed for a few minutes and went right back to sleep. The little princess would sleep until around 4 am, nurse, and then go back to sleep until it was time to get up at 7:00 am.

This little Sleeping Beauty has been replaced by a screaming banshee. Every evening at bedtime, I must pace for hours sometimes to get my little princess to sleep. If I stop moving, the screaming starts. Sometimes she screams while I walk....and walk...and walk. I try mylicon, burping, singing, bouncing, you name it. She finally falls asleep, but as soon as I lay her down she wakes up again and we start.all.over.again. She then goes on to wake up several times during the night, grunting, restless, every few hours.

I am so incredibly fucking FRUSTRATED! Grrrrr.....

I think she is probably on the verge of some developmental milestone along with a growth spurt, and a dash of colic thrown in, just for added excitement. *Sigh*

On top of that, Abhi seems to like to jump in too, so when I get Fiona to sleep, Abhi wakes up, then Abhi goes to sleep and Fiona wakes up. It's enough to reduce me to tears and hair pulling.

Poor Jim tries to help, but if he takes Fiona she just cries louder. Same thing with Abhi. Fiona has her 4 month checkup next week and I plan to ask the doctor about Fiona's evening screaming. Her appt was supposed to be this week, but got rescheduled because of the ice storm. I also bought "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" book to read.

Ugh, Fiona is awake. Gotta go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Ice Storm

So, about once a year we get a big ice storm in Austin. We have lived here a little over 2 years now and there was one last year, but it wasn't as bad as this year. We were stuck in the house for 3 days. In Texas, everything pretty much shuts down when there is even a little ice. No one really knows how to drive in ice and snow, so the whole town shuts down. I grew up in WV and Jim is from WI, so its pretty funny to us how a little ice will prompt all-day news coverage. There were some pretty gnarley wrecks, pile-ups, and 18-wheeler jacknifes though in those 3 days. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from our confinement.

SNOW!

ICE!
(I was a bit worried about the tree limbs breaking under the weight of the ice since my car was parked under it.)

By the time I decided to get Abhi bundled up to go play in the snow, it had pretty much stopped. She was all excited when she saw the snow falling and was talking about Santa Claus!, the North Pole!, and Presents! Where are the Presents!?!? (Thanks a lot Dora the Explorer)

And, of course, what is cuter than a sleeping baby....


Or a "little mommy" rocking her baby to sleep....

Before & After Part I

Jim and I have been working hard on cleaning out all the junk and getting organized. Since we have been cooped up in the house for the past 3 days due to the big "Ice Storm 2007" we have gotten a lot done. So, here are some before and after pictures.

LIVING ROOM BEFORE

LIVING ROOM AFTER

BEDROOM BEFORE

BEDROOM AFTER

KITCHEN BEFORE
KITCHEN AFTER

BATHROOM BEFORE
BATHROOM AFTER

The kids room and the closets are still a work in progress, but they are coming along. Jim has really stepped up and is actually cleaning up every evening to help keep things clean which is a big help since my arms are usually full with a tired, screaming baby. I'll try to get some pictures of the ice storm up a little later.

Baby pictures...yay!

To lighten the mood a bit from the last post....I will share some new pictures!

We took Abhi to the park last weekend and she had a blast sliding on the slide. It was really cool and dry that day so every time she slide down the slide, you could hear the static popping. When we touched her to help her up, we got shocked every time. She got tired of that pretty quickly.



Fiona is 4 months old now and really holding up her head well while on her belly. She can almost sit up unassisted and is grabbing everything in reach and sticking it in her mouth. It won't be long until she's crawling. She was very restless and didn't sleep well last night which is unusual for her. I think she is on the brink of figuring out something new. She's working it out in her head and I am sure we will be seeing a developmental leap soon.


This next picture is of her in her Becca Bottoms pocket diaper. I love the orange tie dye, so cute! Who knew cloth diapering could be so much fun. I have some more BumGenious diapers coming (hopefully today!) and I have a stash of Kool Aid waiting to dye them with. I have a few more prefolds to dye as well. Hopefully I can get to Walmart this weekend and get a tie dye kit.


Jim and I have been working hard to clear out all of the junk and clutter in our apartment and its coming along well. I have a few more things to get out of the living room, our bedroom has been rearranged, and the kitchen is much improved. We also sorted through a lot of Abhi's toys and picked out the ones she doesn't play with anymore. Before and after pictures are coming soon!

In the process of cleaning stuff out, we realized that we actually need to buy a couple things like a coffee table and a little table for Abhi and possibly a new bedframe for our bed. So, we are heading up to Ikea this weekend. I have been to the one in Houston and its a lot of fun. They just opened one in Round Rock, so we are excited about checking it out. That's all for now...I really need to get some work done before I go pick up the kids!

Bills...blah!

I hate paying bills, who doesn't right? Since starting my new job, I only get paid once a month now. So, I end up paying for most of our bills out of my check. It really sucks to get a nice fat check and see 75% of it go away immediately to pay bills. Jim still gets paid every 2 weeks, so it is nice to have all the bills paid and have his check for spending money.

I do feel relieved for a while after paying bills because I don't have to worry about them for another month, but then I have to concentrate on making what's left over carry us to the next paycheck. I can't wait for the day when we don't have to live paycheck to paycheck. It will come...I have faith. I got a big raise in my income when I took the new job and Jim is doing well at his. This year will be much better than the last year for sure. We struggled so much in 2006 with making ends meet with moving to Austin, paying rent and utilities again, and having another baby. We are doing much better now and it will continue to improve.

I love StumbleUpon!

Jim and I are totally addicted to StumbleUpon. It is a toolbar that is added to your browser. You pick your interests, then hit the Stumble! button and a random website pops up. It is soooo cool! We can spend HOURS doing this and emailing links back and forth. Try it and leave a cool link in the comments!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

Cooking

"Mmmm, smells good! Whatcha cooking, honey?"

"Diapers and Koolaid."

"Wha????"

"Hahahaha"

Lime

Grape

The grape one started out white and the lime one started out yellow. I think I am going to do the lime one again and see if I can get it a darker green. I am expecting a few more diapers like these this week, so I plan on doing some more in different colors. Fun, fun!

New Year's Resolutions

1. Declutter and simplify! I have been carrying around the same old crap forEVER, so starting now, I am going to clean out one area of my apartment a week until it feels clean and comfortable again. We are so tired of navigating though our place instead of walking freely. I'll try to remember to take before & after pictures to share.

2. Stop smoking for good! I quit both times I was pregnant cold turkey, so I know I can do it. I just need to resist the temptation to pick it up again when I am stressed out.

3. Apply the concepts of "The Secret" to our life. Jim and I have already experimented with it and have seen results. For example, we are so broke right now. After paying the rent and getting some important repairs done to Jim's car (neither of his headlights worked and only had one tail light), and paying the babysitter for this week, we only have $45 to get us through 2 more weeks. Definitely NOT enough! So, all day today we both visualized and believed we would get a check in the mail. We had no idea where it would come from, but just had faith and knew it would be there. It was there. I had an expense check from work I forgot I was getting for $180, enough to get us to the next paycheck. So, we are definitely going to stop focusing on how much debt we have and how broke we are and believe the money will come.

I think that's about it for now. That is a good start. If I think of more, I will update!