January 2014

2014.  Here's to the start of another year for us as a family.

Charlie and I just celebrated ten years of marriage - it's crazy how fast this decade has gone by!  We feel very blessed in so many ways, and are really looking forward to what the next season will bring.  We're still deciding how we should celebrate this milestone - somehow the Pizza Hut deep dish and Netflix movie that we enjoyed on the day itself doesn't seem to do it justice!

The big item on the "to do" list for January was going to be sleep training with Abby and Bruce.  We feel good about where we're at, but not too successful!

Abby is doing fairly well with putting herself to sleep and back to sleep at night.  When we went through this with Bruce at this age, he would scream and scream and scream and it was so hard to believe that letting him cry himself to sleep was "good" for him.  Abby mostly just fusses for a few minutes, and then drifts back to sleep - it's been so nice!  However, she's still waking up several times at night and only taking 20-30 minute naps during the day.  And she's transitioning from 4 to 3 naps and that's been a little rough going.  She's tired at the end of the day, but won't settle down for another nap before bedtime.  So I would say that the sleep situation is still less than ideal with her, but for the most part she has a wonderful disposition during the day so I'm trying not to stress out too much about it.

Bruce.  That quirky little monkey.  We had every intention of having him start to sleep in his toddler bed beginning this month, and we gave it a good go - but failed.  When Bruce moved out of the nursery last Fall, we didn't want to deal with the challenge of keeping him in his bed right when the new baby was coming, so we opted for letting him sleep in the pack-n-play in his new room.  Four months later, he still showed no interest in sleeping in a real bed, and actually seemed to enjoy the pack-n-play.  I was getting tired of setting it up every day though, so we made the switch.  At first, he did really well at night and wouldn't get of bed, but then he started waking up and wandering at 2 or 4 o'clock in the morning when Abby was crying and it was impossible to get him to believe us that it wasn't time to get up yet!  Naps were always a challenge - bribes and rewards worked for a day or so, but quickly lost their appeal.  I'd put Abby down for her nap, and then attempt to get Bruce to take his nap.  Unfortunately, I would have to put him back in bed over 50 times (not an exaggeration - I counted!) and by then Abby would be awake again.  Since I couldn't keep putting him back in bed and nurse Abby, and since we didn't want to resort to punishments for getting out of bed (we really don't want him to think his naps are a punishment!) I would have to put him back in the pack-n-play.  And on top of that, now of all times, he has started having issues with imaginary fears - like wind-up chattering teeth and monsters coming to "get him" while he sleeps...  So, after a week of all of that, we decided now is not the time to make him switch to the toddler bed!  I don't know when we'll try again, but it will definitely be after Abby starts sleeping better!  Hopefully that'll happen before Bruce gets too big for the pack-n-play!

Other developments for Abby?  She is working so hard with her hands now!  Most of her reaching and grasping of toys still seems almost accidental, but she's getting there.

She will still sit in her bouncy seat fairly content, but now she has to have a toy in her hands.  Bruce is really great at choosing toys for her, and switching them out so she doesn't get bored.  "Probably she doesn't need that elephant" is a phrase we hear a lot when I give her the wrong toy...

She's not showing any signs of rolling over on her own yet, but thinks it's really fun when I swivel her hips and flip her over.  Maybe by next month.  

We have her 4 month check up on Monday and we'll discuss starting baby food then - exciting stuff, I know.  I asked Bruce the other day if Abby's first food should be a fruit or vegetable - he said vegetable.  "Nice" brother, right?  When I asked if she should have peas or green beans, he said jelly beans.  Really nice brother, I guess.

Since Abby isn't needing as much constant attention from me now, Bruce and I have been able to do a lot more playing together and less television watching.  Hurrah!

We're still mostly homebound with Abby, so to help keep things fresh and not so mundane, I've started using the storybooks we read to come up with activities to do together.  I've started a new blog to keep track of all we've been up to - check it out if you're interested!  www.playingwithstorybooks.blogspot.com.  For a taste of what I mean - after reading Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt, we went to a nature trail in Norman and took Bruce and Abby on a bear hunt.  Completely coincidentally, we actually came across many of the elements from the book including long, wavy grass, a deep, cold river (well, lake) and a big, dark forest.  Bruce had fun telling all the other park-goers that we were on a bear hunt, but he was okay with the fact that we never found a cave.  And I'm incredibly thankful we didn't have to walk through a snowstorm like the family in the book!  It was a great way to spend such a surprisingly warm winter afternoon, and Charlie was even able to leave work early to join us!

Charlie had a couple of business trips this month to San Antonio and Arizona, but we're starting to get the hang of how to manage while he's away.  With the exception of the hour immediately preceding Bruce and Abby's bedtime, things really aren't too bad.  Life is always better when Charlie's around though.  We sure like that guy.

meeting Johnny Lee  

Last weekend I had an all-day meeting for church planning on Saturday, so Charlie took Bruce up to Perkins for the weekend.  They had a great day fixing the pump at the water well, and that night they went to see Byron Berline and his band play at a small local venue.  I think Bruce might have stolen the show though - here's a quick video link.    

Like the rest of the country it seems, we've had some crazy weather this month.  For the most part it's been cold and colder, but we've encountered a few sunny days here and there and have enjoyed them like champions.

And when it's too cold to play outside, there's always music to keep us entertained inside!

Bruce likes when we pretend the guitar
is an upright bass

Bruce playing along with Clarence Clemons

As the past few months have pressed on, Charlie and I have found ourselves confessing to more than one person the revelation we've come to - we're not "baby people," but that's okay!  That doesn't mean we don't love our kids, or that we're not happy - not true!  We just aren't the type who go ga-ga over tiny tushes or get our kicks making googley eyes at babes for hours on end.  In an effort to enjoy and appreciate this season a little more though, I've started making a mental list of the things I'll miss once our babies aren't babies anymore.  So far the list is pretty short, but I'll add to it as I think of more - here's what I've got so far:

Expressive eyes.  Babies have the best expressive eyes!  It's impossible to know what they're thinking, but you can only imagine.  I get great giggles watching them take in the world through those amazing peepers of theirs.

Sleeping in your arms.  I don't have a picture of Abby sleeping in my arms because it's a rare occurrence and I wouldn't want to risk waking her up, but I love holding a sleeping baby.  I don't think there's anything more peaceful than holding a baby while they sleep.  It's a guilt-free time to just relax and enjoy the only time either of my babies would actually snuggle with me.  

Effortless smiles.  I love how easy it is to elicit a smile from a baby.  And I don't mean just a smirk, or a gratuitous grin.  I mean an "I can hardly contain myself" smile that makes their eyes squint shut and their whole body wiggle around.  I love how easy it is to get a smile like that from a baby.  When do we stop smiling like that?     

The thing I'm going to miss most of all though is being her favorite, and the only one who really matters.  For the rest of her life Abby will be giving pieces of her heart away to others she chooses to love.  But for now, for this short moment in time, I get to be her favorite.  And I unashamedly love that.  

I have so much to be thankful for!  As we enter February, I thought we'd do a little activity as a family focusing on how "A Thankful Heart Prepares the Way."  I made a banner with that phrase on it, and we'll take a letter each day and write down something we're thankful for.  It's cliche I know, but grateful hearts are something we're really trying to foster, so it's worth being a little cheesy!  Feel free to join us!

December 2013

 



Oh, December.  What a crazy but wonderful month you have been.

We started off the month driving back from our Thanksgiving trip to Louisiana.  The kiddos were amazing in the car again - we're so thankful for great travel companions!  Bruce wasn't as engaged with his toys on the return trip, but the iPad had a fully charged battery and there were enough videos to keep him entertained until we arrived back home.

Charlie had to be away on business trips for a good portion of the month.  He was at a convention in Las Vegas for nearly a week, spent a couple of days at the Kansas City office, and then spent several days in Canada working on a project.  He was exhausted and fighting a nasty cold, but he survived and we were thankful to have him home in time for Christmas!

While Charlie was home, we had fun decorating the house some for Christmas, playing outside in the snow and ice, and opening all of the Christmas presents as they came in the mail early.  I think Bruce enjoyed them better that way because it wasn't a massive toy overload.  I just hope he realizes that once January gets here, there won't be magical boxes that appear on our doorstep daily filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises...

 

making Frosty is great fun

throwing Frosty is even more fun

The Crystal Coop

While Charlie was away, I took the kids up to see Charlie's parents for a few days.  Bruce got some tractor driving in, Granny K got to love on some grandbabes, I didn't have to juggle two kids at dinner/bath/bedtime for a few nights, and Grandpa Bill got some "help" with farm chores.  Well, Bruce may not have been too much help, but I think he's kind of like that spoon full of sugar that helps the medicine go down.  I'd imagine farm chores are a little more enjoyable when you've got a beaming buddy tagging along with you.  Bill and Yvonne also made a trip down to our house one evening to have an early Christmas with us and to help once again with getting the kids to bed.

loading up his smaller tractor on his "trailer"
- just like Grandpa

 

We got along fairly well on the days when I was by myself with the kids at home, too.  Not nearly as much crying compared with Charlie's first business trip away.  I was a little worried because the trips were sandwiched between two different winter storms, but we actually had a few really nice days while he was gone where Bruce and I could run around outside a bit (barefoot even!) while Abby was napping.

 

my little helper

And when we were stuck inside, and I was tied up with Abby, we made good use of Netflix.  Yes, we're still using the television as a babysitter.  Bruce's attention span is growing quite a bit, and he can enjoy a show that lasts 20-30 minutes now.  He really enjoys watching Barney (my high school self would roll her eyes at this, but my mama self actually doesn't mind it too much and appreciates all the songs that make Bruce enthusiastic about brushing his teeth and washing his hands, etc.), Bob the Builder, and Mighty Machines.  He even sat with Charlie and watched his first feature length movie - the Polar Express.

Bruce found a train caboose!

Bruce's attention span isn't all that's growing either - I think Bruce must have had a growth spurt recently because all of his pants became two inches too short over night, and he seems so much more like a little boy now and not a toddler.  When do they lose that title anyway?  I'm not sure,  but I definitely wouldn't use that word to describe Bruce anymore.  His vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds as well.  It makes me giggle sometimes to hear the words and phrases that come out of his tiny mouth!

Not to be outdone, Abby has a few new developments of her own!  She had her two-month well baby check up at the beginning of this month and everything is great!  At a little over 11 pounds, she's in the 42nd percentile for weight, the 96th percentile for height, and is meeting all the recommended benchmarks.

 

I'm also happy to announce that she's able to stay awake with a pleasant disposition for much longer periods of time now - easily an hour, sometimes even an hour and a half before she starts getting cranky.  And she's full of great big squinty-eye smiles that will make your day!  No laughing yet, but lots of squeals and happy sounds that she'll echo back when you talk with her.

She also is really good at finding her hands, knuckles, and fingers now.  I wouldn't say that she's a thumb/finger sucker yet, but she really enjoys gnawing on her fists.  She's working really hard on opening her hands up so she can play with toys, too.  Right now her favorites include a crazy soft owl blankie buddy, a bug rattle, and a small Eeyore stuffed animal.  Again, super soft.  How do they make fabric so soft these days?  She likes to grab them and pull them up to brush against her face.  And chew on them, naturally.  What does she like to hold on to most of all though?  My hair.  With both fists.  All day long.  I would tie it back in a pony tail, but Bruce freaks out when I do that... "Take it off!  Take it off! Take it off!"

The hardest part about life with Abby these days is her sleeping habits though.  It can be maddening at times!  She still takes super short naps, around 30 minutes a few times a day, and is still waking up a couple of times at night to eat.  There have been a few nights where she only woke up once, and I start to think we're entering a new chapter of better sleep, but then we're right back to more frequent wake ups.  Since we agree with the Fourth Trimester philosophy of parenting for the most part, we had decided to wait to start sleep training until halfway through January.  After this last week though, we decided to start a few days early!  After two nights in a row of her waking up every 30 minutes wanting to be bounced back to sleep, we decided to start letting her cry it out.  She's been handling it really well, so that makes the crying a little easier on our hearts!  Next item on the sleep training agenda is to move Bruce to his big boy bed...      

And how did we spend Christmas?  We did a little "Destination Parenting" down in Horseshoe Bay, Texas with my side of the family.  We drove down on Christmas Eve and were able to spend a couple of days there before needing to head back.  After the 13 hour trek to Louisiana last month, the 9 hours it took to get to my mom's house felt like a cake walk.  It was great to spend time with my family, even if most of that time was spent tending to a baby or wrangling a Little.  And just about the entire family and all of our odds and ends were able to come for part of the time we were there, which was really nice.  We had lots of great food, and everyone really outdid themselves when it came to presents.  Abby was a little more alert for this vacation compared to our trip at Thanksgiving time, and I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces and the unfamiliar environment.  She gave away a good share of smiles, but definitely had some major meltdowns and didn't sleep all that well.  Bruce, on the other hand, had a fabulous time!  He enjoyed the extra attention, had great fun playing with his cousins, and loved going on walks to look for "reindeer" and other animals.  He even got to share a bedroom with Papa and Grandma for the first time and didn't seem to be bothered by that a bit  (Although he did learn how to climb out of the pack and play).  I would like to think back on this trip as "Abby's First Christmas," but I think we'll more likely remember it as the year we forgot to bring the kid's suitcase with us...

opening presents

helping Grandma open her presents, too

just like Bob the Builder!

Cracker Barrel road trip break

We drove back to Oklahoma on Saturday, just in time for our friends to stay the night with us as a "halfway point" in their holiday traveling.  Seeing Dan, Leslie and Liam in this way is getting to be a Christmas tradition that I love, even if we only get to see them for an hour or so before they get back on the road.

Since being home, Charlie hasn't had to go into the office for work, so we've been enjoying some family time - taking it easy, unpacking all of our Christmas goodies, slowly getting caught up on house chores, recovering from colds, and putting away Christmas decorations.  We didn't make any plans to ring in the new year, and we definitely won't be staying up until midnight tonight, but that doesn't mean that we're not looking forward to 2014 and all that it has to offer us!