Who's Baby is This?

*My mom may kill me for sharing this photo, but I just can't resist. This is me and my mom...many years ago. 


I'm not very good at looking at babies and saying "she looks just like...", various people say The Caterpillar looks 'just' like me; you be the judge...

Wordless Weekends

Wordless Weekends

She's Got Me Trained

Sleep is something I've always really enjoyed. I can fall asleep almost anywhere at anytime and sleep through anything. I've never had aspirations of getting up at 3am to snag some *great* 'after Thanksgiving' deals or making it to Perkins for an 'Early Bird' special. I'd rather pay the extra money and get my sleep!

I thought once baby came along, my attitude about sleep would change; that I would supernaturally have a desire for serving my baby and no longer care if I slept more than 2 hours each night. Part of that is true... I do find myself eager to serve her and on very little sleep, but that doesn't mean I don't want more sleep.

In the first few weeks, the lack of sleep was harder on my husband than it was on me. I suppose it was the surge of mothering hormones rushing through my body every time she cried. It was just so heartbreaking to hear that little voice cry out in the night. She had even perfected a cry that sounded as though she was specifically crying out to me - mmaaaaaaaaa, maaa, maaa, mmaaaaaaa.... 


Months later, I've gotten pretty use to the routine:
8:30pm - Nurse to sleep
10:00pm - Wake and nurse back to sleep {unnecessary and annoying}
1:30am-ish - Wake and nurse back to sleep
3:00am - Wake and nurse and decide she's not going back to sleep...so she cries...
5:30am-ish - Scream hysterically as I take too long to drudge my zombie-self across the hall, nurse, fall asleep on her own without crying {it can be done!}
6:30am-ish - I have a minor freakout because my wonderful husband's alarm has been going off since 6:00am
7:30-9:30am - Up for the day!

For the past week, we have been working on getting into something more comfortable {AKA: Sleep training}.

I started by ignoring her 10:00pm screaming. I knew that 1.5 hours after eating, she couldn't possibly need something. We had developed a habit that needed to be broken. To my surprise {and relief}, she only cried for about 30 seconds and stopped... I couldn't have even gotten to her room in that amount of time! After 3 nights she stopped this waking.

Next, I stopped feeding her at 1:30am. Instead, I went and picked her up, told her I love her but she is going back to sleep, lay her back down with her paci, kiss her and then leave. On the first night she just fell asleep - no fuss! After 2 days of this, she stopped waking!

Finally... the 3:00am waking... honestly, it just disappeared... I don't know where it went, but praise God, it's gone!

*I should note that  the Caterpillar has become a professional thumb-sucker and when I go in to check on her, it is firmly planted in her mouth. I believe this has greatly improved the quality of our sleep.

As of last night, our new routine is as follows:
~8:30pm - Nurse, fall asleep on her own {without a single cry}
10:30-11:00pm - Dreamfeed {feed without waking her}
1:30am-ish - I wake, toss and turn, get up to get a glass of water, fall back to sleep
3:00am - I wake again {certain I heard crying}, toss and turn, get up to visit the water closet, fall back to sleep

6:30am-ish - I have a minor freakout because my wonderful husband's alarm has been going off since 6:00am
7:30am-ish - Up for the day!


So, after 5 months + 1 week, it would appear she's got me trained... The Caterpillar finally slept throughout the night {9 hrs 43 mins}...too bad I didn't.

The Caterpillar is 5 Months Old!

Today The Caterpillar is 5 months old. At times, it feels like she was just born yesterday {because I still find myself clueless at times}, yet it also feels like she's been with us forever; like, she just belongs.

This month, she learned to sit upright on her own, started 'singing' along with momma, had a nibble of avocado, and decided she really likes to suck on lemons. She also went on a 3 night retreat at the lake with just the ladies, attended her Aunt B's wedding, and learned frying pans are not for touching {she was okay, just scared}!

Here are some photos from our 5th month as a family:

For the Love of Weddings

My little sister got married this weekend and she was BEAUTIFUL!

Here are a few pics from the big day:

guest book



cheesecake!



first dance



happy



the first time my husband has ever danced with me...
he's not a dancer {so he says}



cha-cha slide

sleepy caterpillar

mmm...

a little of my handiwork :)

more cheesecake please

Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs!!

Wordless Weekends

The Rehersal

Mom picking something from the Bride's mouth :/

My Sissy and The Caterpillar

Waking up at the hotel on wedding day...Love.

Wordless Weekends

We have all heard that, "A picture is worth a thousand words", so I'll let it be just that. Enjoy!