Trying Times of Motherhood

Oh, it's so much fun with two! HA! HA! Last night I got up with Cara Grace at 1 a.m and Reagan has decided to get up at 6 a.m. for the past two mornings. At nap time today, I decided to lay down with Reagan to catch a quick snooze. Just as I was falling asleep, she said, "O.K. mommy, you can leave now!" So, I thought, forget sleep, I'll just make a latte instead. Well, just as Reagan was getting into her nap Cara Grace decides to wake up and cry at the top of her lungs which in turn woke Reagan up! Ahhhhh! Maybe one of these days I'll be able to get them on the same napping schedule in the afternoons. Probably by that time Reagan won't be napping at all. So, after I calmed the baby down by feeding her, she spit up about half of her bottle right down my shirt and into my bra. That was such a nice feeling... So, today's been one of those days...

But, I did watch I really great movie the other night. It's called "Finding Neverland." - starring Johnnie Depp and Kate Winslet. At first I didn't think I'd like it but it turned out to be really good! I recommend anyone who hasn't seen it- to see it! It's not a new release, I think it came out in 2004. The music in the movie is beautiful and the it has a great story line. (But, it will never top "Walk the Line." I love that movie!) Supposidly it's based on a true story - of how the play Peter Pan came about. Reagan on the other hand is about to wear out the movie "Chicken Little." She has it memorized! Anyways, enough of my ramblings... Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Phillips Visit and other news...

Austin's family came to visit us the last of November. They got to stay for a whole week! We had a lot of fun. It was so good to be able to see them for more than a few days. I know I am posting these pictures late, but I've been so busy keeping up with two now! Cara Grace is doing awesome! She is such a good baby! She eats and sleeps a lot. She is now sleeping 7 to 8 hrs. straight at night thanks to the Baby Wise method I've been using. I love this book! It gives parents the freedom they need, -not having to worry about always rocking the baby to sleep and then two seconds later the baby waking up. This book helps parents teach their baby to fall asleep on their own. It encourages parents to put their baby in the crib while they're still awake. I love it! Anyway, it is really working for us. Cara Grace has been much less fussy since I've applied the methods I've learned from Baby Wise.

On another note, it has been an unusually warm winter here so far. This morning I was looking at the USA Today's weather map and saw that it is cooler in Phoenix, AZ than it is here! That is so crazy! It's hard to get into the Christmas spirits with it being so warm. But, I think it's suppose to cool down soon.

Last Monday night I had to go to the emergency room. I was having a lot of left kidney pain. The pain was so bad I told Austin we needed to go to the hospital. Well, after a cat-scan the doctor discovered that I had a kidney stone! I've never had one of those before and never want to have one again!!!! That is the worst pain I've ever had! I've heard people compare the pain to labor. Anyways, I passed the stone on Friday and feel much better now. So, last week was a weird, painful week, but praise God for his healing and protection! So, between the c-section and the kidney stone incident, I am glad to be feeling better! This holiday season I am thankful for my good health and my family. Sometimes we take for granted our health. Over the past couple of months I have come to appreciate more the blessing of good health!

Reagan's Boyfriend

As most of you know, Reagan started preschool this fall. She goes to First Baptist three mornings a week. There is a lady I am friends with whose grandson Ryan is in Reagan's class. I haven't been taking or picking Reagan up for about a month due to my surgery. Well, I went and picked her up on Monday and Ryan's grandmother told me that Ryan likes Reagan and talks about her non-stop. She said she saw them on the playground hugging. Some other kids were standing around Reagan on the playground and Ryan came over and pushed them all away and gave Reagan a big hug and she hugged him back. On Monday Ryan must have asked Reagan if she was going to McDonald's after preschool and she said yes. Well, I heard Ryan ask his grandmother if they could go to McDonald's. We went through the drive -thru and they went in to eat. Ryan's grandmother told me Wednesday that he was looking all over for Reagan. His grandmother said we must have changed our minds and maybe gone to Wendy's instead. He said, "Well then, let's go to Wendy's!" Wow! He's pretty persistant! And he's THREE!! I told Austin about Ryan liking Reagan and he said, "What? She's 3 1/2! And she can hardly talk! - How can she have a boyfriend!" Austin says when the girls get to be teenagers he will own many guns and polish them when their dates come over to the house!

Fun Times with our girls..

Today my mom and I took the girls to Kid Shots to get their Christmas pictures made. I love Kid Shots! They do such a great job at getting Reagan to smile and they have the best props. Reagan got to hold Cara Grace and they looked so sweet together. It was funny to watch the photographer. Reagan kept looking back and my mom and I and the photographer had a hard time getting her to look at the camera. So, she had to keep saying, "Reagan, look at me!" And when she wasn't trying to get Reagan to look at the camera, she was trying to keep Cara Grace's head from bobbing. But, the pictures turned out great! I can't wait to get them back!

I finally got to make it down to Babies R Us today. I love that store! I bought a book that I think will help us get the baby to sleep through the night. It's called "Baby Wise." I've read about half of it already and I think it has some really good ideas. I wish I would have know about this book four weeks ago. I would highly recommend this book to any new mom! It talks about putting your baby on a three hour schedule. The baby starts this three hours by eating, then they have an awake period, followed by a nap. Supposidly if you repeat this schedule throughout the day, your baby will soon sleep through the night. We shall see...

Tonight Austin and I discovered another way to ease Cara Grace's crying during her nightly "fussy times." - the vacuum cleaner! I fed her 2 1/2 hr. after her last feeding and she was still really fussy. So I tried rocking, bouncing, her swing, and pacifier. None of these things were working and she was still screaming. So, I've heard the vacuum cleaner works to calm down some fussy babies. I put her in her swing with her paci and turned on the vacuum. Sure enough she fell right to sleep. The only problem is when you turn the vaccum off, she wakes up! So, I am writing this blog while listening to our vacuum cleaner! Hey, at least we'll have the cleanest wood floors around! :)

December 3rd

Our sleepy little girl! Cara Grace is like most normal babies... she likes to eat and sleep- a lot!
This week however, she has been more alert and awake. Today she woke up at 8a.m. and didn't really take a long nap until 2 p.m! But, since then she's been sleeping up a storm. We finally went back to church today for the first time in a month. It was so good to see everyone again! I forgot how much I enjoy seeing everyone and hearing Pastor Keith's sermons. As we expected, most people were excited to see our new addition! And the praise team is missing Austin terribly. They haven't really had a bass player for a month. So, I think Austin is going to start playing again next week. The praise team gave us a really nice card along with a $50 gift! They told us to go out and treat ourselves... we are very thankful! We belong to such a wonderful body of believers! Thanks guys!!!

Cara Grace is pretty fussy at night- usually from about 7-10 p.m. see cries very regularly. But, we have discovered that if we put her in our infant carrier and walk around the house- she falls asleep and stops crying. I had the baby in the carrier at the dinner table on Tues. night trying to get a bit to eat. She had fallen asleep. I was eating a salad and accidently dropped a piece of lettuce with dressing on her head! But, she slept right threw it! It was pretty funny! The other night Austin wore the carrier for about an hour while standing up and bouncing. He said his knees were killing him. I was quite enjoying the break however! Needless to say we've been watching a lot of tv and movies at night while we rock and pat Cara Grace.

Tomorrow we go back to the doc. for her one month check-up. I can't believe she is already a month old. Time goes by so quickly. Before we know it, she'll be up and getting into everything. I am sure she has gained weight. It will be interesting to see just how much.

Reagan is adjusting to having her new sister around. Although, sometimes she is a little jealous and gets tired of hearing her cry. One morning I was bathing the baby in the kitchen and she was throwing a major cry tantrum like she always does and after a couple of minutes of non-stop screaming Reagan yells from the living room -"Help Me!!!!" I thought my sentiments exactly!! Another time when Cara Grace was upset in her swing Reagan was sitting at the kitchen table and took the baby's pacifier off the table and purposefully threw it in the floor! So, we have had numerous "talks" about why babies cry and how we deal with it!