Operation Free Sleep Update

Well men, we're getting hit pretty hard out there. Teething has commenced, therefore this operation has been put on the back burner. Don't despair! We will triumph in the end!

This is directed at myself, seeing that I'm a bit discouraged right now. I think I managed to make it through two naps with the "one arm free" test before going crazy. Last Monday was a terrible day. So I just said "FORGET THIS!" and went back to the full swaddle. We will try again soon though.

Weekend Wrap Up

What a weekend! Friday, Mom and Dad came up to babysit Gunner so Daniel and I could go out. We ran into my good friend from home, Crystal!!!! It was great getting to see her. The three of us went to Marketplace for dinner and good times were had by all. The next day, Mom, Gunner and I were planning to go shopping. Daniel ended up going with me so Dad went too! I had a lot of errands to run. The main thing I needed to get was 9-12 month clothes for Gunner. I know! He's already starting to fill out his 6-9 month clothes! My little one is growing so fast. I also needed to get him an Easter outfit, more diapers and a new shirt for myself, among other things. We ran all around Fayetteville and went to Mom's to let Gunner take a nap. After he woke up, we headed over to my sister's house for a weenie roast/birthday part for my nephew Marshal! He is 14 today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSHAL! We had a lot of fun roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Gunner enjoyed spending time with his family. He didn't go to bed until ten!

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed lunch at Mom and Dad's. We came home and I got to work! Laundry, laundry, laundry. I put all of our stuff up and started working on taking tags off Gunner's new clothes. I had a large load of diapers, a load of Gunner's current laundry, a load of his new clothes, a couple of loads of our clothes, and some dishes to do. Daniel had some yard work to do and we both just worked and worked.

Here is my funny story for the week. (When Mom and I are together, we usually get into some crazy situation)

I have had to pump milk for Gunner to take with a bottle since my back went out. (That is a whole other blog post...) I took two bottles with me Saturday so he would be able to eat while we were out since he was not wanting to nurse. They were in an insulated bottle carrying bag with some ice packs. When it was time for him to eat, we went to change his diaper first in the bathroom at a location that will not be named for the sake of embarrassment to myself. The baby changing table in the ladies room was located in the handicapped stall. Turns out, the stall was locked but there wasn't anyone in there. One of the employees was nice enough to figure out how to get it open. After we got him changed, he was hungry and he was letting everyone know it. So the next step was to find an outlet to plug in my bottle warmer that I brought. (Talk about a hassle) We finally located one. It was in a hallway type area across from a nice patio furniture display under a canopy that you can put in your yard. (a cabana, if you will) We utilized said cabana by parking the stroller and all our shopping bags there, so Mom started warming the bottle. Moments later I hear a crack and "whooooosh" sound. I look up and Mom is holding the bottle up with the bottom half missing. It busted in the warmer and milk was EVERYWHERE! I started panicking and Gunner was really mad by this point. Daniel walks up and starts asking me to give him the receipts from the day. I told him they were in my wallet...and I then realized I had no idea where my wallet or phone was. So, we have only one chance at warming a bottle, a crying baby, a stressed Nana and Momma, and a lost wallet and iPhone. What did I do? Start praying! "Lord, you've got to help me. I'm going to go insane. Please help me find my wallet and phone, and please help us feed Gunner!!!!" Mom came around the corner with a warm bottle and started feeding Gunner. I turn the stroller around and there is my wallet, hanging off the side about to fall on the floor. I grab Mom's phone and call mine. Right before it started ringing I found it in the diaper bag! "THANK YOU JESUS!!!!" It's still amazing how He answers my prayers. I'll never get used to that.

All in all it was a good weekend, just very insane. Life seems to be getting back to normal, whatever normal is. We're just getting excited to experience Gunner's first Easter! Summer is just around the corner seeing that time is flying by. Saturday he will be six months old. He has another six months as a baby and then he will be 1!! I'm excited to see how he changes and grows over these next six months.

Milestones

Baby Milestones:
Gunner is rolling all around, getting very close to sitting up, about to cut a tooth soon and eating vegetables! He has only had squash so far, but I'm getting ready to have him try carrots. It's been fun getting to feed him like a big boy.

Mommy Milestone:
I made my first two batches of baby food! I'm going to be making all of his food instead of buying jarred. It will be cheaper, fresher and I think he will like it more. I'm excited to start him on good eating habits.

That is all for now! Happy Easter!

Operation "Free Sleep" is in Effect!

Today starts Gunner's transition into sleeping without being swaddled. Yes, yes, I know. A five month old who is still swaddled? Spoiled much? Well, not really. I just didn't have the patience to work with him until now. Actually, I tried to start this at four months, but he got an ear ache around that time and was held while sleeping a lot, so he went backwards on progress. And, I had planned to start this again after we got back from our trip to Nanny's house, but with my back issues, well, it pushed it back a couple of weeks. So today is the day!

He is napping right now, but with one arm free. I'm going to let him sleep with one arm free for all his naps for a week or so, then try it at night. Once he is used to it and able to nap like he does when he is swaddles, I will remove the blanket altogether! He usually takes about an hour and a half nap. I tried letting him sleep without being swaddled at all last week and he only slept for 30 minutes. Not terrible, but not quite long enough either. I think it will take a few times, but he will get used to it and I can retire that worn out blanket.

For those of you new moms out there who have a baby like mine, you might eventually want a blanket that fits older babies. The "Swaddle Me" brand worked until he was about 3 months old, but he got too big for it.

Check out the Miracle Blanket. It's really good.

What's up?

A lot has happened the last few weeks. I'll do my best to make it interesting and concise.

The week of every one's normal spring break, Gunner and I went down to Fairfield Bay. We stayed with Nanny and Pawpaw! He and I left Wednesday morning and Daniel came down on Friday afternoon. We spent some good time making memories and enjoying ourselves. We did some visiting, running around, lots of eating, a little walking and all the while were entertained by Gunner. He really got to know Nanny well and I think she enjoyed him too. The trip was our first time to be away from Daniel since Gunner was born. I was excited about getting away for a while but anxious about the drive. It went well though! He did great both ways.

Sunday we packed up the cars and headed home. The following day I woke up with my "usual" back pain. It was getting hard to haul Gunner around so by mid morning I called my dad to see if he would come help me out. He needed to head home before Daniel could make it home, but by the time Daniel got here I was in excruciating pain and could not stand it. For the majority of the next two weeks, I spent most of my time lying on an ice pack in bed. I've got a long history of back issues. I'm not sure exactly what caused it. Was it that time in elementary school when I got air going down one of those old metal slides on the playground? (I am pretty sure I cracked my tail bone...such terrible pain...) Was it the fact that I was a tummy sleeper until the age of 23? Was it all the stress on my body due to being on the dance team for 6 years? Or was it that time when I slipped in the restaurant and landed on one of my two butt bones? It could be a combo of everything in life. All I know is that now I have a slipped disc and occasionally I have flare ups that are so painful I can hardly move at all. I'm still not totally recovered, but I am much better. Out of 9 week days, I had someone here taking care of Gunner for me for seven of them. (Big shout out to Daniel, my mom and my dad for coming to my rescue so much) Daniel has pretty much been running the house, doing all the cleaning and cooking, taking care of me and Gunner, and working during the day. He's been super dad. Thanks babe.

In Gunner news, he has learned to roll over! He has grown out of several things and is getting chunky and round every minute of the day. We've still been plagued with getting up two and three times each night with a hungry baby. I'm working on getting him out of that habit, but it might take forever. In the rolling over department, he is a pro now. He rolls around the living room floor on accident sometimes. Other times, he gets stuck on his tummy and then hollers at me to come help him. He is doing the movements to crawl but can't quite get up on his hands and knees, but he can scoot in a circle somehow and it's just hilarious to watch him. As far as his sleeping...it's not so good. He is taking good naps during the day, but he is waking up every three hours at night. It makes me crazy. I am exhausted during the day. And he hasn't been eating quite enough, so I started pumping to monitor his ounce intake. Since I started doing that, he has really gained weight! He has a little ear infection right now so he's having a hard time nursing. It makes it very hard to get anything done during the day because it takes up so much time to pump and then wash bottles and things. I really hope he can get this eating and sleeping thing under control again. I feel like I might go insane soon!

We're getting ready to take some family photos soon along with Gunner's six month pictures. I'm so excited! He is just a doll and I think these will be really cute pictures.

That just about covers it! I'm going to be very busy this week. I hope I can get back in the swing of things!