Night #2...

....didn't go so well. When I was typing my last post, we had just laid him down and he was sleeping fine. That lasted until around 10:30pm. I let him cry for 15 min...went in consoled him...laid him back down...let him cry for 15 min...went in consoled him...laid him back down...let him cry for 10 min and finally we couldn't do it anymore. Darrin got him and they slept on the couch together all night. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more.

We just laid him down for night #3. He took a bath, read some books, ate all his food and drank his whole bottle. He cried for about 5 minutes and is asleep now. I'm going to take the advice of my friend, Kim, and stop stressing. We're going to just do the best we can and trust that we won't ruin him forever if we stray from the routine.

Since I don't like to post without a picture....here's a picture of Miles entertaining himself at the mall last weekend.

Moment of Weakness

Miles did really good last night. He made it until 5am. Then, he was crying/screaming. I let him cry for 5-10 minutes. Once it became clear that he wasn't going to get himself back to sleep I went in there and gave him the pacifier and rubbed his head. He was fine as long as I was doing that, but the minute I walked away he'd start up again. So....in a moment of weakness, I completely abandoned the routine and put him in bed with us. WHAT??? This is not part of the "plan". In 7 months he has never slept with us. We usually put him in bed with us on Saturday morning, but that's just to play. Once he was in bed with us he fell fast asleep and began snoring like his dad.

I got my hair highlighted tonight so I wasn't here for night #2 of Operation "Back on Schedule". I did leave the following note on the frig for Darrin. He's excellent with Miles and doesn't need my help. I just wanted to make sure we are on the same page.

I walked in right after Darrin put him to bed and there wasn't any crying. Hopefully we'll have to wake him up at 6:30am tomorrow like we used to do. I'll report back soon.

Operation "Back on Schedule"

For the last several weeks, we have strayed from the schedule we worked so hard to establish over the last 7 months. Now that Miles seems to be feeling better, I was determined to get back to our routine tonight. The plan was to eat baby food & cereal, take a bath, read a few books, drink a bottle, lay him down, and let him cry it out without a pacifier. Cruel parents, huh?

We've had it so easy with his bedtime until 2 weeks ago when he started feeling bad. We have always been able to lay him down and he would go to sleep and stay there all night. All that good fortune has been completely out the window lately. He's been fussy and restless on and off all night long.

When I laid him down tonight around 8pm he cried for around 5 minutes and we haven't heard from him since. So far, so good. Now if he will just stay there all night.... Even though it is wonderful for Darrin and me to be able to get a good night sleep, that's not my purpose in all of this. I think it is so important to establish good sleeping patterns for his health and happiness. I'll keep you updated on the progress of getting the little man back on schedule.

Crazy Busy Easter Weekend

We've had an incredibly busy weekend. I took off at noon on Friday since daycare of closed and Darrin switched practice from the afternoon to the morning. We drove to my Mom's, stopping in Clarksville for a little shopping. Miles didn't have many clothes for the spring/summer, so we stopped and got him a few things. One of our favorite purchases was a pair of Nike Shox. This is actually his 3rd pair of Nikes. Darrin is a Nike fanatic.....he's borderline obsessive. He bought the first 2 pairs for Miles, but they are a little bigger so he'll have to grow into them.

We got to my Mom's around 6pm. I thought I had my key to her house but I didn't. While we were locked out for 30 minutes or so, we decided to take a few pics of Miles in the grass. This was actually his first time to sit in grass. He wasn't sure about it at first.


Then he got used to it....

Miles and Marmee....


Having fun with Dad...

We threw a baby shower for my cousin and his wife, Patrick & Ellen, on Saturday morning. They had a beautiful little boy a couple weeks ago.....Weston Robert Hall. He is a doll. As soon as the shower was over, Darrin and I went to Opry Mills for a little more shopping. As ridiculous as it may sound, when you live in Martin you have to take advantage when you are near a mall. Back to my Mom's that afternoon just in time for a family cookout....hung out with the family for a while and then headed home. I wanted to be at our church on Easter. We stopped at Darrin's parent's house on the way home to visit for a little while. We didn't get there until 8:15pm....chatted for a while....then packed up again. Stopped at Walmart on the way home to get food to make for Easter lunch. We finally got home a little after 10pm.

Got up this morning...made food for lunch, got ready, got Miles ready, went and got the dogs at the vet where they had been staying, and headed to church. I worked in the nursery...infant room with 13 kiddos. It was crazy and Miles was super needy just b/c I was in there. After church, we went home got the food and left to back to Darrin's parent's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt.

Ava wouldn't sit in the grass for pictures, so we settled on the swing. Check out this look....

Our first Easter.....I tried to plan our outfits so they coordinated. They were supposed to be shades of blue. Don't think it translated in the pics, and it was way too much trouble. Doubt I will attempt this again next year.

So...not that you care about the boring details of our daily life....but seriously it was one busy weekend. Somewhere in there we also changed Miles to the next car seat. His carrier was just too heavy for me, and he hates having to sit back so far. I'm tired. I don't like going back to work on Monday when it doesn't feel like you've had a weekend. However, it was great to see family, and the weather was beautiful, so I'll count my blessings.

6 Month's Pictures

Here's the link to Miles' 6 month pictures. They were taken at Tammy Morgan Photography in Martin. I LOVE them!

Still Puny

It's been a week and a half and Miles is still puny. It's not that he's all out sick....just congested and not himself. He hasn't run a fever, but you can tell in his eyes that he doesn't feel good. After several different options, we've settled on him sleeping in his bouncy seat, in his crib. This is the only way he will sleep all night. Something about it feels good to him....maybe it's the fact that he's elevated a little.

He also has some dry, red patches on his face. He's always had perfect baby skin. Can anyone tell me what this is? We've been putting cortisone cream on it and that seems to be helping a little. Poor guy...you can tell how bad his feels in this pic.

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny was in Martin today. My good friend, Stephanie, was in town with her nephew. So, we took them to have their pictures taken.


The pictures were taken in a little courtyard, which happened to be a great place to snap some pictures of our own.

Not sure Miles and Hunt know what to think of each other.

Miles wasn't really into smiling or looking at the camera. It didn't take long for Stephanie and me to be over it. Hunt was restless and Miles was heavy. Easter Bunny...check.