Gunnar's 9 and 10 Month Update....Long Overdue!

Well, I have COMPLETELY disappeared from the blogging world for the last two months. No updates, no pictures, nada. However, as I browse through friends' blog's, I feel a little bit better, realizing I am not the only one who has turned into a blog slacker (I mean YOU, Beth Losurdo, Krista Box, Michelle Hunt, and Mary Magee!).

Clearly, I am not a NEW new mom anymore...for the first six months of Gunnar's life, I faithfully posted a monthly update on the very DAY of his month birthday. Months 7 and 8 were posted a few days late. Now here we are at Month 10 (almost 11!!), and I'm two months overdue. It's not that the excitement or newness of having a baby has worn off, it's just that said baby is MOBILE now, meaning that mama has very little time for anything other than chasing after him!

At any rate, Gunnar has changed a lot in the last several months, and so has our life in general! As far as Gunnar is concerned, I refuse to do a list of every single milestone and skill he has achieved/learned, as I know that every single one of your kids have done the exact same things. It's not exactly groundbreaking news to anyone but me, that my 10 1/2 month old can crawl, pull up on things, wave, etc. (I guess I just DID kind of spout out a list). Suffice it to say, Gunnar hit 8 months old, and all of the sudden, he seemed to morph from "tiny baby who can't do anything", to "semi-toddler who seems more and more like a little boy than a baby". We are enjoying him more and more and more every single day. He is so much fun, and is really starting to show his little personality.

So what all as the Hengst Clan been up to since we last "spoke"?

- We moved into our new house! (Pictures below). We are loving it here! It's kind of weird to be in the same neighborhood, but in a totally different house (it feels really different, and really similar, all at the same time). I was sad to leave our other house, but the people who bought it are a really cool, young couple, and may just end up being our new friends! One strike against them- they painted over my beloved yellow walls on Day 1 of moving in. I loved that yellow so much!!! I can't believe they have the nerve to not share my same taste. Ha ha.

- We changed churches. We left Hill Country Round Rock, and are now at Hill Country Northwest. Still a Hill Country Bible Church, just a different location. Hey....kind of like staying within the same "neighborhood", just moving to a different "house". Ha ha. Apparently we like the idea of change, just not TOO much change. We changed churches simply because the location is drastically closer to our house. We miss HCBCRR, and all the people there A LOT. We are really liking our new church though, and Gunnar absolutely loves his little class. He actually cries when we pick him up, most weeks.

- Nason is working from home full-time now. That is, he doesn't have an office at Keller Williams anymore. He still isn't actually HOME full-time, as the nature of his job requires him to be out and about quite a bit, but as far as his actual office-work goes, he does it all from home. Last week was really his first week to do that, and it was a horrible week for him to use, to judge how he's going to like it. Gunnar was sick all week, and therefore, NO napping occured. In it's place, we had a surplus of crying/fussing/whining/overall loudness. Let's hope next week goes better, or Nason may start to rethink his decision.

- I'm still hard at work, training for my half-marathon. I'm up to 7 miles (should be up to 8), and I definitely still can't say it's gotten "easy". I just don't think my body is really meant to run. I pretty much hurt everywhere when I'm done. However, I'm going to keep going with it. I've gotten this far, I'm not stopping! I will say this.. once the race is over, I think I am hanging up my running shoes for a while, and switching gears. Yoga is sounding good to my poor aching bones right about now.

8 Months...What?!?

Gunnar is 8 months now!! I am tired, and ready for bed, but I am determined to do his 8 month update tonight. So here goes:

Gunnar crawls now. Gunnar eats all kinds of "solid" foods, and I am still making them myself, and still having lots of fun doing that. Gunnar's funniest moment this month was on vacation, when we had his pack n play set up in front of a mirror, and in the middle of the night, he sat up by himself for the first time (from laying down) and terrified himself half to death by staring at his reflection in the mirror. Gunnar STILL hasn't stayed overnight somewhere without us, and I am STILL not sure how I'm ever going to be ok with that, even though Michelle is adament that we need to do it SOON (and I admit, the idea of sleeping late while Gunnar chills with his grandparents sounds heavenly). Gunnar is napping like a champ, and has even taken a few 3 1/2 hour naps lately. Gunnar is still the sweetest, cutest, most wonderful little person that I know!

THE END

Vacation!

We just got back from our first vacation as a family of three. We went (of course) to South Padre Island. That is definitely our most frequented vacation spot. Nason's parents own a condo there, which they graciously allow us to stay at when we go, so it ends up being a pretty cheap vacation. Last year, around this same time, we went for our "Babymoon", and I vividly remember saying, "this will be our last time to come here before we have a baby". In fact, I think I posted a blog entry about it. If I was a bit more blog-savvy, and knew how to post that link into this entry, I would do so. But I'm not. Anyway, this vacation was interesting. Better than past trips to Padre in some ways, not as good (well, just different) as past trips in other ways. Better, because we had a perfect mix of "alone time" and "friend time". We were there for 10 days, and for four of those days, we had the Box's and the Hunt's join us. For three of the days, we had alone time, just me, Nason, and Gunnar, and for the remaining three days, Nason's parents joined us. DIFFERENT (or not as good) in that we maybe didn't have the right expectations ahead of time, about what a beach trip would be like with a baby. Gunnar just did NOT like the beach. Not at all. He didn't like the sand, he didn't like the heat, he didn't like the sun, he didn't like the ocean. We tried all kinds of creative ideas, trying to get him to enjoy it more, and he just didn't. He did enjoy the pool, but only for about 20 minutes at a time, and then he grew bored of it. What DID he like to do? Play inside the condo with his toys, and play in his baby pool out on the balcony. Both things he could easily do at home. Oh well. We knew ahead of time that going on vacation with a baby (or with kids in general) is definitely a different kind of fun than going on vacation without. However, we thought it would be an even trade off, getting to watch GUNNAR have fun. We didn't factor in the possibility that he might not. Although we should have..I mean, he is only 8 months old after all. What can you really expect?? Anyway, here are some fun pictures documenting our adventures is SPI....





Andrew and Michelle were staying at a hotel down the road from us, so we got to take full advantage of their hotel's nice, kid-friendly pool.



The Lovely Box Family




Nason and Jake made a rule that for 24 hours, they could only drink beer or milk. Here they are at 9 am one morning, drinking beer and smoking cigars.


All in all, it was a fun trip, and I think we've decided to try to make it an annual tradition. Hopefully, in subsequent years, Noah won't be scared of the sand, Camp won't be scared of the water, Gunnar won't hate everything about the beach in general, and the Losurdo's can join us!!

What Is Hayley Reading?

Anyone out there need book suggestions? All 5 or 6 of you who read my blog, that is?? I thought I'd start posting some of the books I'm reading, along with my opinion on them, and a brief (I do mean BRIEF) summary of what they're about, just in case anyone is looking for ideas of something to read. Also, if you are reading this, and have any books you would like to recommend, please comment and let me know! I am a hopeless bookworm, reading as much as I possibly can, and am open to reading any genre of book.

So I have kind of a "system" I stick to, when it comes to what books I read. I try to cycle through four different genres of books:

1) Totally easy, mindless, just-for-fun book (think the equivalent of beach trash)
2) Something still fictional, BUT a LITTLE more "quality", if you will (think, bookclub type material)
3) Something educational (biographies, parenting books, books about politics or current events, books about nutrition, cooking, etc. etc.)
4) Something in the "religious/spiritual" genre (that's really not even a good descriptor, but I can't think of anything else to categorize it as)

So, here's what I've read recently:

1) Cry Wolf by Tami Hoag: definitely mindless, just for fun, and an easy read. I think I read it in about 3 days. I love her books though....always very suspensful, and the setting, for whatever reason, usually takes place in Lousiana (New Orleans), which, for whatever reason, I really like. For what it is, I give it "4 stars".

2) The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini: Love love loved it. I held off reading it for a while, because I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns so much, I was just convinced that this wouldn't be nearly as good. I think I ended up liking it even more though. His books give me a much different picture in my mind of what Afghanistan is (or, at least WAS) like...a much more DESIRABLE picture.

3) Baby Wise Part 2, Gary Ezzo: I've already given my soapbox speech about Babywise. I'm a fan. Part 2 was good....just practical information about feeding, disciplining, and sleep training your 5-8 month old. It was also a pretty easy read, as the majority of it was really just kind of common sense information, anyway.

4) The Reason for God, Tim Keller: SUCH a good book. It addresses so many questions, concerns, doubts, and hesitations that Christians, non-Christians, atheists, and everyone in between may have concerning God, Jesus, the Bible, the Church, and Christianity. Just because I have been a Christian for the majority of my life does not mean that I don't have my own set of doubts and questions. This book addressed them in a way that made perfect sense. It addressed readers on a very intellectual level, but was still relatively easy to read. Read it, people! If nothing else, I'd love to hear someone's take on why they DON'T think the book adequately answered the questions it presented. Could make for good conversation....

What Do Head Injuries and New Houses Have in Common? (Oh, and Consider This Your 7 Month Update)

I am done with whole the "Top 5 List" thing. It's getting too hard each month to think of topics. I DO, however, want to continue with the updates on Gunnar's monthly "birthdays".

The title of this post pretty much sums of two of the biggest events that have happened in Gunnar's seventh month of life. Number one, we bought a new house! It is only two streets away from our current house. We love our neighborhood SO much, and are pretty sure this is where we want to stay long term. We also LOVE our current house, but we feel like once Baby #2 comes along (and Baby #3, if I get my way) we will need something with a little bit more space. So a few weeks ago, when the salesperson who sold us our current home, called us to let us know that a deal had fallen through on a house a few streets away from us, and that he could give us a really great price on it if we moved forward quickly, we decided to go for it. The house is about halfway complete, and will be done in late July or early August. We are very excited, but surprisingly, very sad to be leaving our current house. We have loved living here, and it's the house that Gunnar was born in, which makes it very special. I am so sentimental, even about things that are dumb to be sentimental about, so I KNOW I am going to cry when we have to leave, but I am looking forward to making lots of new memories at our new house.

So what does all that have to do with a head injury? Well, last week, when we were still in the decision making process about whether or not we wanted to buy the house, we strapped Gunnar in his jogging stroller, and took a little walk over to the house to check it out. We were standing on the back patio (which is perfectly flat, no slope whatsoever) with Gunnar next to us in his stroller. We'd been standing there a good ten minutes talking, and we turned our heads for one second to look at something in the side yard, and when we turned back around, Gunnar's stroller had somehow, on it's own, gone from a standstill, to careening off the side of the patio. Neither of us could catch it in time, and Gunnar ended up flat on his face, on a piece of broken brick, with the stroller on top of him. It was the most horrible looking thing Nason and I have ever seen. We had to lift the stroller off of him, and there he was, lying face down in the dirt. We rushed him to an urgent care clinic, and he ended up being perfectly fine. He barely even had a bruise the next day. Nason and I, on the other hand, were traumatized for at least the rest of the week. It ended up being a minor injury, yes, but it still taught Nason and I how FAST accidents can happen. Good lesson to learn, I guess, and luckily we learned it with not-too- horrible of a consequence.

One more notable event, that is not reflected in the title of this post, is that I think we are done breastfeeding. (If any guys read this blog, sorry if that's TMI). I am actually pretty sad about this. I had orginally intended on just going through month 6, and then stopping, but when six months came, and it was still going smoothly, I thought, "well, I may as well keep going another six months). However, nature decided for me I guess, as I recently discovered I have next to nothing left, in regards to milk supply. Sad. Just one more thing for me to feel sentimental about!!!!!!!! I was washing my pump parts today, and I actually got sad thinking it may be the last time I have to wash them!! Ha ha. What a dumb thing to be sad about!!

Here are some pictures of our new house, as well as my sweet 7-month old:



Gunnar and "Joe Joe"




Head Injury : (




Handsome Boy!




Front of House




Backyard




Kitchen

"Mommy, I'm Bored!!!!!" is starting early around here....

Whenever we're out and about places, people always comment on what a good baby Gunnar is. They say, "He's always so happy! It seems like he never cries! He's always so content!" etc. etc....and they would be both right AND wrong in their observation. Gunnar IS always very happy and content when we are out and about, surrounded by plenty of people, and with lots of things going on for him to watch and listen to. However, when we're just hanging at home, it's a little bit of a different story. He's not BAD, but if he's not eating, sleeping, being held, or being walked in his stroller, there's a really good chance that he's fussing.

He has, what I think, is a pretty decent amount of toys, and they seem like fun toys, as baby toys go, but he seems to get very bored with them, very quickly. Sometimes I have him play alone on the floor, while I get things around the house done, but most of the time, I play WITH him, and even then, he is very unimpressed with these toys. For the longest time, he wasn't old enough to play with toys, then he finally reached the age where he was, and he enjoyed them for all of like two weeks, and now he seems to think he's OUTGROWN the toys, and wants to move on to more grown up activities.

Anyway, I don't want the poor guy to be bored and unstimulated all day, so I've been racking (wracking?) my brain trying to think of ways to interact with him that His Highness will find satisfactory, and today, I came up with two ideas that seemed succesful:

1) Sitting on the front porch- we've sat out in the backyard quite a bit, but he seemed to enjoy this more. We were able to watch the cars and trucks go by, the neighbors jogging, the work crew next door working on the house, etc. He was very fascinated with picking the leaves off of the plants out front, too.

2) A game I coined "We're Going on an Adventure". We started at the front of the house, and the goal was, in each room, to find something interesting to explore. So in Nason's office, we dialed numbers on the phone, and listened to the dial tone. In the kitchen, we took apples in and out of the bowl. In his bathroom, we turned the water on and off in the sink, and let him dip his toes in it. In the living room we smelled candles. In his bedroom, we looked at the pictures on his walls, and named each person. In our bedroom, we played in front of the mirror. In our bathroom, we flushed the toilet over and over, and watched the water swirl around. In the dining room, we opened and closed the blinds, and stared out at the neighbors house next door. Oh, and I should mention...as we walked from room to room, I sang "We're going on an adventure. We're searching for something cool" to my own little tune. Ha ha. Sounds dumb, but he liked it a heck of a lot better than playing with his (apparently) crummy toys.

So.......those are my two ideas for the day. Anyone else want to toss out some creative ideas of things to do with a six month old???

Gunnar's Six Month Pictures

IF you are interested in seeing Gunnar's 6 Month Pictures:

www.andreafosterphotography.com
"enter site"
"proofing"
"Gunnar123"

If you're not interested, then ignore this post! : )

Mother's Day Weekend in Houston

We took a little roadtrip to Houston this weekend to spend some time with family. Gunnar still does SO good in the car, and I'm hoping that that trend will continue at least into next month, since we have a trip to Padre planned, and that is a six hour car ride. Anyway, our first stop was at the rehab center that Nason's grandma is currently staying at, while she recovers from a back injury. Nason was SUPER close to his Grandma Dorothy growing up, and I know it really brightened up her day to get to see him, as well as little Gunnar.




We spent several hours there, eating lunch, visiting, and of course taking tons of pictures!



After leaving Grandma Dorothy, we headed over to my Aunt Debbie's house, and stayed the night with her, my Uncle Sean, my cousin Sara, and Sara's little boy Dylon. The next morning was my first Mother's Day, and Nason and Gunnar did a great job of treating me good! McDonald's breakfast (it's mainly their Diet Coke that I get excited about), and surprised me with my gift: a full day of "girl time" with my friend Krista...we're getting massages, having lunch, and spending the whole day shopping, while our guys watch the boys. We are both sooooooooooooo excited.

Later that day, my mom, dad, brother, Kristin, and her boyfriend Fidel all drove in from Austin to spend the day at my aunt's as well, and Nason's parents came over and joined us too. It was great getting to hang out with both mom's on Mother's Day....I'm so glad our families mesh so well! Kristin's boyfriend Fidel put on a little "concert" for us, and impressed us all with his musical prowess. He is REALLY good (yes that's right Fidel...I'm being nice to you on this blog, even though you and Kristin apparently get lots of laughs in about me and my napping blog entries).



All in all, a fun day with the fam!

Big Six

I feel like my blog is boring, because as I scroll through past entries, I see SO many words, and SO few pictures. My problem, is that I already post a great deal of "Gunnar pics" on Facebook, and so there's no point in posting them here too, because anyone that reads this, most likely is my Facebook friend as well, and has therefore already seen the pictures. Not sure what the solution is...post less pictures on Facebook? Designate half of my pictures to Blog, and the other half to Facebook? Quit overthinking it, and just post all pictures both places? Who knows! Who cares??? Anyway, time for a six month update.

Top Five Ways that Life Has Improved Around Our House Lately:

1) Gunnar NAPS!!!!!! (You had to know I would make mention of naps in some form or fashion, right? The topic of napping seems to have dominated this blog. Who knew I would ever talk or think so much about naps.) Anyway, Baby Bootcamp finally paid off in a big way, and Gunnar takes two naps, every single day, hardly without fail. The naps range from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours, and its as simple as setting him in his crib, giving him his "paci" and his blanket, and the kid is out. Moral of the story: If you have a problem-napper on your hands...unless you have PHILISOPHICAL issues with letting a kid "cry it out"...and I know many people do, and that is totally legit, and you are, of course entitled to your opinion.....but unless it's a philisophical issue, JUST DO IT. If the problem is just you are just having a hard time with the emotion involved with letting your sweet little baby cry (like I was) GET OVER IT. They will only cry for a few days, and then they will realize that naps are awesome, and that they were crazy to fight them for so long.

2) Gunnar goes to bed at 7:30!!!! My life two months ago consisted of Gunnar NEVER napping, AND Gunnar staying up until about 10:30 or 11 with us every night. So basically, from 7 am until 11 PM....no breaks! That was craziness, for us, AND for Gunnar, who was in desperate need of more sleep. About two months ago, we started gradually moving his bedtime up little by little, and now we start his bedtime routine at 7:30, and he's in his crib by 8. We have our evenings back!!!!! Please don't think I don't enjoy hanging out with my little man, because I do. More than just about anything. However....it's really nice to have some time to do much needed things around the house, spend time with Nason, work out again, etc.

3) I've quit worrying about him (ok...as much): Swine Flu. RSV. SIDS. Weight Gain. The list of things I worried about for the first few months of Gunnar's life is endless. I'm a worrier by nature (this is an area that I am constantly trying to improve upon), and knowing me, I will continue to look for and find things to worry about all the time, but I do feel like he's old enough now that I can lighten up a bit, and just ENJOY him more.

4) I Have Time for "Stuff" Again: by "stuff" I mean: reading, working out, having daily quiet times, being involved in a Bible study, trying out new recipes, taking my beloved bath each night, having actual conversations with Nason, organizing my house, etc. The first several months of having a baby are such a blur...at least they were for me. I felt like I was just in pure survival mode. I didn't see how I would EVER have hobbies of any kind again, despite friend's reassurances that I would. Around month 3 though, I could see light at the end of the tunnel, at around month 4, the light got bigger, at around month 5, I slowly started incorporating some of those things back in, and by month 6, I feel like life is pretty much back to normal. Or, at least, our "new" normal.

5) It's warmer outside! Ok....I'm reaching. I can't really think of a fifth thing. However...our life IS better now that it's warmer....I've been taking Gunnar on two walks a day...once during the day, just the two of us, and once in the evening with Nason. Also, I don't have to bundle him up to take him out and about anymore. Ok ok ok....this one is stupid. I know. I guess there's really only FOUR "ways life has gotten better".

I'll try to make sure my next several blog entries have lots more pictures. Thanks for your patience : )

Look For Lots of New Blog Entries That No One Cares About!!

My friend Leah was telling me last night about a free computer program that takes your blog, and converts it into a book. I had heard about something like this before, but never really knew how to go about doing it. Last night, Leah gave me the rundown, and I am SOOOOOOO excited about turning my blog into a "scrapbook". I think I'll copy Leah's idea, and do one each year. I may just be the last one to know about this website, and the rest of you have already known about this for a while, but just in case you haven't, and you're interested, here's the info Leah gave me:

Visit www.blurb.com
Download "booksmart"
Work on your blog there
Upon completion, upload your book back to blurb, and then order your book! Leah's only cost her about $20.

Anyway....all that to say, since my "blog" is going to double as a "scrapbook/memory book" for me, there will probably be a lot of entries that aren't that interesting to anyone else, BUT are memory-worthy for me. So beware, and keep that in mind, when reading! : )

Easter

We had such a great Easter this year! The whole weekend was fun, actually. Friday night, we hung out with our good friends from high school, Patrick and Jil, and their little boy Jackson.

The next day, we lounged around the house all day, and then went to church that night with Nason's parents. We got Gunnar all decked out in Easter clothes, which I know is SO impractical, and yes, the whole time we were trying to keep his hat on, his socks up, his dress shirt pulled down, and his pants pulled up, but I don't care. He looked cute. Our friends the Losurdo's were there too, and their little boy "Joe Joe" is one of Gunnar's best friends. Gunnar and Joe Joe may not know it yet, but they will one day. Maybe they can hang this picture on the wall at the apartment they live in together in college.

After church, we went out to Nason's parent's house in Liberty Hill, and spent the rest of the weekend there. On Sunday, my family, as well as the Magee clan, joined us for yummy food, kite flying, an Easter Egg Hunt, and more yummy food. All in all, a great weekend!

Month 5- The Fastest Month So Far......

This month has FLOWN by. It has gone by quicker than any other month since we've had Gunnar. Which is weird, because it seems like it should have gone by slow. Gunnar got REALLY sick this month, with RSV, then a double ear infection, then bronchiolitis, and let me tell you, those 10 days were loooooooong. Besides that though, I feel like I blinked, and the month was over. It went by so fast in fact, that I haven't had time think up a good "Top 5 List" for my monthly update. In fact, even as I'm typing this right now, I can't think of anything to do. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Ok....got it. How about, The Top Five Upcoming Events I'm Most Looking Forward To: 1) Starting Gunnar on rice cereal...tomorrow! I decided that 5 months is when I would start that, so tomorrow is the day. I don't know why I'm excited about that but for some reason, I am. I'm even looking forward to buying some cute little bowls and spoons for him to use. Oh the things that excite me now! 2) Easter. I one hundred percent know and believe that Jesus is the reason for excitement and celebration at Easter, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that a LITTLE bit of my excitement has to do with dressing Gunnar up in a cute Easer outfit. I know that's not what it's about, but can I just call it icing on the cake?? 3) Lennox Prince's birthday party. Our dear dear (but not often seen) friends Steven and Tameka have the cutest-little-boy-besides-Gunnar you've ever seen, and he's turning 1 in April. We are going to his birthday party in Dallas, and I'm looking forward to seeing them, celebrating with Lennox, and letting them all meet Gunnar. 4) My shopping spree!!!! My Christmas present from Nason, was the promise of a shopping spree, whenever I reached the weight that I intended on staying at for a while. I am hoping within the next 2-4 weeks to reach that weight, and once I do, I am going on a shopping rampage. I am going to shop like I have never shopped before. It has been over a year, YES OVER A YEAR, since I have worn anything even resembling cute. I thought nothing could be frumpier than maternity clothes, but I was wrong. At least when you are wearing maternity clothes, it is because you are pregnant, and therefore can kind of pull off anything, because everyone just thinks pregnant people are cute. However, AFTER the baby comes, and the maternity clothes are too big, and your old clothes are too small, and so you end up wearing sweats and t shirts most days, THAT is the very definition of frumpy. Ugh. 5) The beach in June. We are going to South Padre Island with our friends the Hunt's and the Box's the first week in June, and I am so excited to watch all of our little boys playing in the sand!!!! Ok, that's all for this month. I leave you with a video of Gunnar rolling over for the first time!!!! So proud!!!

Results of Baby Bootcamp, Week 2

Read Results of Baby Bootcamp Week 1, and then just picture the opposite. That was how Baby Bootcamp Week 2 went. Not good!!!!!!!! Actually, in reality, it wasn't all bad. There were some positives, and some overall improvements, but it was much MUCH rougher than the last week. This actually FELT like bootcamp.

So I haven't actually ever even described to you what Baby Bootcamp consists of, besides just the fact that we're implementing a set schedule now. A big component of it is getting Gunnar to take two naps a day, in his crib, having put HIMSELF to sleep (versus me rocking him). This is important to me for many, many reasons, including (but not limited to):

- I believe that babies need structure, and they need naps. I also believe that they get better quality sleep in their crib, versus in a swing, in a car, in a stroller, etc.

- I believe it is important for babies to learn the art of soothing themselves to sleep, so that they are not forever dependent on someone else to help them go to sleep.

- I need set periods of time to myself during the day, in order to get things done.

So, in order to accomplish those objectives, I am using a "cry it out" method. I know many will argue that letting a baby cry in their crib for extended periods of time without coming to their "rescue", will make them feel abandoned, neglected, like their needs are not met, etc., and for a while, I struggled with wondering if that was true. However, I came to two big realizations that made me decide that I was ok with letting Gunnar cry it out:

1) Gunnar's needs ARE met. Always. His needs are met every second of the day that he is not in his crib, his needs are met prior to being placed in his crib, and his needs are met immediately upon being retrieved from his crib, after the designated napping period is up. If he has any immediate needs (dirty diaper, too hot, too cold, etc) while IN his crib, those needs would of course be met as well. He receives what is probably a ridiculous amount of hugs, kisses, and cuddles all day long, so his emotional needs are being met as well. Therefore, I do not believe that the reason he cries when I put him in his crib is because his NEEDS aren't being met....it's because he WANTS to keep playing, WANTS to be held, etc. Which leads to my next point.....

2) What Gunnar WANTS is not always what is best for him. I'm sure that as Gunnar gets older, he will WANT lots of things that are not always in his best interest, that Nason and I will have to say "no" to. Us saying "no" may make Gunnar mad, sad, upset, etc, but it doesn't mean we will change our minds, if we know that our decision is truly what is best for him. This is going to be (well, already is) a HARD lesson for me to learn, because I am a people-pleaser, and so my natural tendency is to want to make people happy, all the time, and ESPECIALLY when "people" = my baby boy. I don't think the goal of parenting though is to always make our kids happy. So besides just being convinced that napping is good for Gunnar, I am using this whole napping thing as a lesson for me, on how to parent according to principles, versus just pure emotion.

So anyway...all that being said, this week was kind of a failure, in the sense that Gunnar regressed from last week, and refused to take an afternoon nap every day except for one, but it was a success, in that I stuck to my guns, and put him in his crib at the designated nap time each day, and made him stay in there, until the designated time was over. Nevermind that at one point, that meant I was sitting in the living room crying too, as I listened to him on the monitor, and that at another point, I had to go sit out on the backporch for a while, because I knew I was on the verge of caving, and going to get him.

We are going to add one more week to our Bootcamp, and I hope to be able to report next week that Gunnar has made the decision to surrender to the Nap God.

Results of Baby Bootcamp, Week 1

Our first week of sleep training and scheduling is a huge success! Gunnar has taken a morning nap EVERY morning this week, with the shortest nap lasting about 30 minutes, and the longest lasting about an hour. The morning nap hardly required any "backbone" on my part, as Gunnar barely ever even cried. Afternoon nap has been a bit more tricky, and HAS required me to stay strong, and endure several long (heartbreaking for me) bouts of crying, but he has fallen asleep every day except for one, and one of the days, he napped for two and a half hours!!!! As far as nights go, we are gradually moving his bedtime up 30 minutes per week, until we arrive at our goal of a 7:30 bedtime. We've implemented a bedtime routine, that consists of me bathing him, Nason feeding him, and then Nason putting him to bed. All week, we have put him in his crib at 9:30 (thirty minutes earlier than normal), and he has continued to sleep through the night, sleeping all the way until 8 am. Yeah!! Getting geared up for Week 2. Hopefully by the end of this week, our sleep problems will be solved, and we will have a napping pro on our hands!

Surprise! I DO Need Structure!!

This weekend marked the beginning of the end......the end of the lackadaisical, loosey-goosey, schedule-less, structure-less way Gunnar and I have been conducting our lives. Nason and I have always been very aware of how different we are, in that Nason prefers things to be orderly, planned, organized, and structured. I, on the other hand, can typically do without all that, and prefer to just kind of go with the flow, figure it out as I go, every day different than the one before, etc. In other words...structure smuckture. With the exception of some feeble attempts early on to get Gunnar on a good schedule, we have pretty much just been shooting from the hip ever since. Now, despite my aversion to too much structure, I actually DID have good intentions to change, because I strongly believe in the benefits of getting a baby on a good schedule, setting a predictable routine for them, and protecting their nap times, to allow them to get good quality sleep. However, a couple of factors got in the way of my good intentions: 1) Lack of planning, discipline, and backbone on my part, and 2)Some "health" issues with Gunnar (feeding/weight gain problems, ear infection, serious cold, etc). I reached my breaking point sometime last week though, and realized that I am going completely nuts without a schedule. There is no order to our days, Gunnar has no set nap times (in fact, he has no nap times really), I'm getting much less done around the house than what I feel like I should, and as a result, I don't enjoy my time with Gunnar to the very fullest, because I'm distracted thinking about all the things I haven't gotten done for the day. All that to say......this week marks the beginning of a two week period I have coined "Baby Bootcamp". I spent some time over the weekend creating a schedule that I think is just structured enough, but not TOO structured so as to drive me nuts, and so help me God, we are sticking to it!

Besides planning and creating "Baby Bootcamp" this weekend, I also spent some time planning out my goals for the year. New Year's (Plus Two Months) Resolutions, if you will. I have quite a few, and I won't bore you by sharing all of them, but here's a preview of a few of them:

- At least two date nights per month with Nason
- Read 4 "parenting" books this year
- Feed my family healthy meals....let junk food eating be the exception, not the rule that it has become. Make all of Gunnar's baby food.
- Weigh 120 pounds again
- Complete the half marathon in October
- Learn how to knit
- Become a bookworm again!!!! I used to read non-stop. Lately, I hardly ever do.
- Get to know our neighbors better
- Faithfully complete my DWOP (Discipleship with a Purpose) Bible Study, and memorize all 13 of the Bible verses. Memorize 7 more, once the study ends, for a total of 20 for the year.
- Become a better, more thoughtful, friend

There's quite a few more, but if I tell you them all, you might hold me to them! ;)

Check Out Gunnar's 3 Month Pics!

Here's the pictures from Gunnar's 3 month photo shoot.

Go to:

www.andreafosterphotography.com
click on "enter site"
click on "proofing"
type in Gunnar123 (make sure to capitalize Gunnar)

And if you need a photographer, keep Andrea in mind!!

About that time...for a Four Month Update

Right now, I really need to be:

- doing my Bible study for Tuesday
- working out
- finishing laundry
- calling my grandma to ask her if she can baby-sit tomorrow
- something productive
- something productive
- something productive

But......the blog was calling my name!!!! Today is Gunnar's 4 month birthday, and in keeping with tradition, I need to do an update. (And I may be up until late, but I WILL get the other things on the list done before I go to bed!)

So yes, anyway, Gunnar is 4 months old today. This time four months ago, I think Nason and I were slowly exiting the "it's so fun to have all these people come and visit us in our hospital room and fawn all over our baby" phase, and just entering the "we are so tired, please PLEEEEEEEEEEASE leave us alone, and by the way, can someone please take the baby out of the room for a while so we can nap????" phase.

I don't have much time to write, so, on to "the list". My top five list for this month's update will be...........

The Top Five Things I Thought I Would Not Do as a Mom, That I Am Now Doing:

1) Spoil my baby: Now some will argue that you cannot spoil a baby, but I beg to differ. I belive that you in fact can, and I was determined that I would NOT. I did not want my kid to be the one who had to be held nonstop, who refused to sleep without someone holding and rocking him, who couldn't stand to be alone, even for a few minutes, etc etc. That being said....Gunnar insists on being held nonstop, he refuses to go sleep without being held, and he cannot stand to be alone longer than 10 minutes. I have created a monster!!!!! Mark my words though.....THAT IS ALL ABOUT TO END!!!! This week begins "baby boot camp" around the Hengst household, and King Gunnar is about to be demoted down to at least prince level. Little Man is going to have some ALONE play time during the day (just some, mind you), he is NOT going to be picked up the second he cries, and he IS going to learn the art of putting himself to sleep. Fellow bloggers.....hold me to this!!

2) Let his pacifier hit the floor, and then stick it back in his mouth without washing it- only at our own house, though : )

3) Add "y" to the end of everything: I HATE (hate hate hate hate hate) when people go overboard with the baby talk thing, and add a "y" to the end of every word. Guess what though? Can I just share with you a few of the words that have worked their way into our vocabulary around here? (This is embarassing, by the way):

Milk= milky
Burp= burpy
Nap= nappy
Poop= poopies
Diaper= diapy
Pacifier= paci (that one isn't so weird, I guess)

Anyway, I am only going to allow myself to continue this for a few more months, and then that's it. That is how I justify doing it for now. Oh...and I'm not the only one...a certain other parent who lives in the same house, uses the same vocabulary. Hee hee.


4) Take his temperature: YOU know what I mean. The very idea used to horrify me, and I was certain that I would be calling my mom over, every time Gunnar needed his temperature checked. Not so, though. It aint no thang.

5) Allow myself to go longer than two months without being back at my pre-pregnancy weight: I have a lingering 10-15 pounds that will not go away. I am somewhat trying to lose it, but I can't say I am really trying my best, and that is surprising to me. While I was pregnant, I thought that the second I had Gunnar, I would start eating salad for every meal, and spending 2 hours a day in the gym, and within a couple of months, I would be back to normal. However, that is neither feasible, NOR desirable. I do need to kick things up a notch, because I don't want to be one of those who NEVER loses my baby weight, but I'm not nearly as obsessed as I pictured myself being. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Happy 3 Months, Nasie Gunnar!

Another month has gone by! I cannot believe Gunnar is 3 months old already. My pregnancy went by so fast, and now it seems like the trend will continue, and Gunnar's baby years are going to go by fast, too. Before I know it, he will be a grown man, and I'll find myself saying the cheesy phrase that all parents say, "It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital". In reality though, it honestly DOES seem like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. He has gotten so much more fun since that day! He's smiling, laughing, grabbing at things with his hands, and showing definite preferences for his mom and dad over strangers, which makes us feel so special! Anyway, last month, when I did his 2 month blog post, I said I was going to start doing a "Top 5" list each month. Last month was "Top 5 Things I Love Most About Gunnar". This month, I'm going with the "Top 5 Biggest Events in Gunnar's Life Last Month". In no particular order...

1) HE HAD HIS FIRST CHRISTMAS. I was so excited about Gunnar experiencing his first Christmas. That's really kind of funny, because it wasn't exciting for GUNNAR at all. He had no idea that the day was any different, or more special, than any other day. We dressed him up in a special Christmas outfit, (which he peed on about 10 minutes after putting it on), everyone got him presents (which I couldn't even get him to look at), we stuck an ornament in his lap and shoved him in front of the tree to get a picture (which got on his nerves)...you get the point. Special for us, annoying for him. Next Christmas should be more fun for everyone.

2) HE GOT HIS FIRST SHOTS. I expected this to be so traumatic. I made Nason come with me, because I just couldn't bear the idea of having to pin a screaming Gunnar down on the table while someone stuck a needle in his thigh. I thought Gunnar would go nuts, and I thought I would for sure cry. It turned out to be so easy. Nason did go with me, and held him on the table while I closed my eyes and covered my ears, but Gunnar never even screamed OR cried. He let out one tiny little wailt, and that was it. Such a tough little boy!!!

3) HIS MOM DECIDED TO BE A STAY AT HOME MOM. When I first found out I was pregnant, the plan was that I would quit my job once Gunnar got here. Then, an arrangment was made where I was going to be able to work part-time from home. With that taken into consideration, I thought I may try to keep working. It would be nice to have the extra money, plus I really did like my job. It seemed like a perfect arrangement. However, after Gunnar arrived, I decided that I just didn't want to have to be away from him AT ALL...not even part-time. I also decided that being a mom was way harder than I thought, and I just didn't know if I could do both jobs well.Nason never even wanted me to go back to begin with, so that also played into the decision. So, I let my boss know I would not be coming back, and I officially became a member of the SAHM club. I am loving it, and I am so grateful to Nason for allowing me to be able to do it!)

4) HE GOT HIS FIRST COLD. As most of you know, I was pretty cautious (ok, maybe OVERLY cautious) about not taking Gunnar anywhere for the first 8 weeks of his life, because I was so afraid of him getting sick. Christmas kind of forced me to get over it, and reemerge into the world. I couldn't NOT see family for Christmas. So we went from one extreme (hermits) to the other (visit every family member and friend we've ever had, it seemed), and the Monday after Christmas, Gunnar got a cold. I smugly told my mom and Nason, "I KNEW I wasn't being overly cautious. I KNEW I was right all along to not take him out. Look at what happens the very first time I do...HE GETS A COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". My mom reminded me that it's inevitable that Gunnar is going to get sick at some point, and that I needed to chill out a bit. She was right. Today, I can proudly report that I am totally over the germaphobe period of my life, and Gunnar and I have a very active and healthy social life : )

5) HE STARTED SLEEPING IN HIS CRIB AT NIGHT. This was a slow, hard transition for me. I don't know why, but it was. He started by sleeping in his Pack n Play in our room. Next step was moving him into his crib, while I slept on the floor in his room. THIRD step was him in his crib, me in the guest bed (which is right next to his room). That lasted for a week. FINALLY, at the end of that week, I moved back into our bed, in our room, and the transition was complete! Gunnar does great in his crib, and it feels nice to have our room back to ourselves.

Shout Outs From Gunnar

Gunnar and I were talking yesterday, and he told me that he would like to start writing a featured "column" on his blog, that highlights special people in his life from time to time. In this first edition of "Shout Outs From Gunnar", Gunnar will be focusing on......


His Mimi

Ok, actually, I'm not going to use Gunnar's "voice" to write this entry, because that would be super annoying and cheesy. So I'll use my own voice...just know that the words have all been divinely inspired from Gunnar. Ha ha.

My mom, "Mimi" to Gunnar, is one of the very most special people I know. She has the sweetest spirit, and is always ALWAYS thinking about other people above herself. She's not just a thinker though...she's a do-er. I would say that 99% of my mom's time is spent doing stuff for other people, and MAYBE 1% of her time is spent doing stuff for herself. That is the kind of mom she has always been to me, and that is the kind of grandma she is shaping up to be as well. Mimi is rapidly becoming a very special person to Gunnar, because:

- She is always willing and eager to come spend time with him. She typically asks Nason and I if we'll LET her baby-sit (um...YEAH!), so that she can come spend some time with him each week. She works hard all week long, and really should use her weekends for relaxation, but instead, she faithfully comes over every single weekend and sits for Gunnar, while Nason and I go on a date. Oh, and inevitably, while she's here, she does something helpful around my house. I guess Gunnar doesn't necessarily appreciate that, but I sure do!

- She is an absolute natural with him. I feel 100% completely comfortable leaving him with her, and what's more, is that he is 100% completely comfortable BEING LEFT. She is second only to me in her uncanny ability to soothe him, no matter the degree of fussiness he has attained.

- She is his biggest fan....pictures of Gunnar make up her computer screensaver, her cell phone screensaver, and her deskspace at work. She makes him feel so special!

- She has a sixth sense about her, that allows her to anticipate what he (and I) am going to need before we need it. Everytime I'm out and about with her...shopping, running errands, etc, she seems to know exactly just what to do to make things quicker, easier, and less stressful for everyone involved. I'd say she has this effect on everyone actually...not just Gunnar.

I will leave you now with some pictures of Gunnar and one of his favorite people in the whole world...his Mimi.

How Gunnar Feels About Napping (Part Two)

Nap Time..Our Least Favorite Time of the Day

Yes, I say "our" least favorite time of the day, because I think Gunnar and I both hate it equally. Nason and I have been very blessed to have a little baby who sleeps really well during the night...unfortunately, the same cannot be said when it comes to his daytime sleeping. Unlike his daddy, napping does not come naturally for Gunnar. It ESPECIALLY does not come naturally when he's in his crib. I may get a nap or two out of him if I allow him to sleep in his swing, or if I rock him for the duration of the nap, but otherwise....nada. This is extremely frustrating, because I can tell that he is tired...his eyes droop, he gets fussy, and he yawns continuously. So when this happens, what does mama do? She picks him up, rocks him for a few minutes, sings to him, lays him down in his crib, and he drifts peacefully off to sleep. For about 15 minutes. Then, he wakes up crying, and nothing, NOTHING, will get him to go back to sleep. He cries as though he is being tortured. As though it is the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to him. Now surely, SURELY we could do worse things to him, than lay him down in a comfy bed, with a comfy blanky (wrapped tightly around him, of course), soft music playing in the background, in a room that is just the right temperature, right? You wouldn't think so from his reaction. You'd think we were laying him on a cement floor, in a freezing cold room, with someone dripping water on his face continuously. Torture. I just do not know what to do with this boy! I dread naptime, because I know it's going to make him upset, and I hate knowing that I am to blame for causing my sweet baby to be sad. HOWEVER...for reasons that would have to be explained in a totally different blog entry, I am DETERMINED to stick to our nap schedule, and DETERMINED to get him to feel comfortable in his own bed, so for now, I am going to have to just toughen up, and continue to be greeted with the sad little face you see pictured above, and naptime will continue to be "our least favorite time of the day".