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 : )