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!