Dreary

It's dreary out today and I had high hopes to get a lot done. I seem to get more done when it's sunny outside. I didn't take a shower until 2:30 this afternoon and I napped when Tate napped even though I got a full night of sleep. I have a lengthy grocery list and about 7 stacks of laundry in the basement that need washed. And here I am...sitting on the computer. I don't want to run errands, but I need to if I want my child to have food to eat and clean diapers to be changed into! Ha. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, we have enough food and diapers to last him another day or so. I ate cheese for lunch and drank grape juice because there was nothing else that would be quick and easy to eat unless I wanted Tate's 'Baby Raviolis' which I did not! I have a bit of a tummy ache (which could be from the block of cheese I consumed for lunch!) and for some reason, I am STILL tired! It HAS to be the weather! Okay, I had better stop typing and start getting my errands taken care of.

Relaxing

I have decided that we will not be getting out of our cozy pj's today. We are going to stay in and just relax and play all day! Sean will be home at 6:30 and he can join in on the relaxation. Tate's napping right now and I am going to go nap too! :)

Stuff

I am feeling pretty good today aside from several items that I really need to get done that have been put on the back burner and probably will remain there until after Thanksgiving. I actually got a great night of sleep last night. I am a night owl and tend to stay up until at least midnight. I was in bed by 12:30 last night and went right to sleep. Tate slept in until 8:30! Woohoo! He must have known that I could use some good sleep! I remember the days when I couldn't survive on a second less than 8 hours a night and 10 hours a night was the norm! Those days are long gone!

Today I have a few errands to run as well as a couple of things I plan to get done around the house. Sean's Friday schedules have now changed so instead of working 8-7, he now will be working 7-6 on Fridays. You may be thinking, "wow, big deal...an hour difference", but trust me, this hour makes a HUGE difference. It means that we can eat together as a family, that instead of Sean seeing Tate for only an hour before bedtime, he gets 2 hours to be with him. We are going to love this change!

Tonight we are heading over to Chris and Brenda's for a soup dinner. I will be doing their hair and then we just plan to relax and hang out for the evening. It'll be nice to get out of the house and be with other people for an evening. It seems like we don't get to do that too often anymore.
Tomorrow the Hawks play their last game of the season (aside from their bowl game), and Tate and I plan to watch from the comfort and warmth of our home and cheer them onto victory. It's been a rough season for them, but hopefully they will end the season with a win. :)

With football ending and Thanksgiving approaching, Christmas is just around the corner! I am feeling in the spirit and love seeing all of the Christmas decor at the malls and stores! It seems like just yesterday it was 90 degrees outside! My how time flies!

10 Things I Desperately Need...

1. To do about 8 loads of laundry

2. To get a full nights sleep at least once a week

3. To throw away our rotting pumpkins sitting on the front porch

4. To dust my house

5. To somehow make my left eye stop twitching!

6. Some quality time with my husband

7. Some quality time with my son and husband at the same time

8. To get my oil changed in my car

9. To clean out my car

10. To organize this desk I am sitting in front of

Not a baby anymore!

I have been meaning to post the big news that Tate is not a baby anymore! He is no longer using bottles OR pacifiers! He has been off of the bottle for a little while now and we had been weaning him from the pacifier for several weeks. He was only getting the pacifier at bedtime for these last 3 or 4 weeks and a few days ago, we got rid of it completely. He doesn't seem to even notice! It does make me kind of sad though. Yesterday, I stored away all of his bottles, pacifiers and the bottle drying rack and I all of a sudden was overwhelmed with emotion. I started bawling like a blubbering idiot, telling Sean how sad I was to be storing away the 'baby stage'. Am I crazy? Seriously, I get so sad thinking that Tate is no longer my little baby (even though he still acts like it sometimes!) and is turning into a toddler! Not to say that I don't LOVE this new stage that he's getting into...I do! He is so much fun and is so funny. I just hope that I cherished those 'baby months' to the fullest, they FLEW by! Looking forward to seeing what's to come!

Crazy Crawl

Here is a video of the new way Tate has been crawling. He doesn't only crawl this way, he crawls the 'normal' way as well, but sometimes his knees and the tops of his feet get all red and sore and I think that's when he starts crawling the other way. It's pretty funny! The first part of the video is kind of dark and as you can see in the second part of the video Tate is kind of whiny...that's because I am walking away from him and as I mentioned in the previous post, he is not too happy when I am walking away from him! In addition to his new, crazy crawl...Tate has decided that he doesn't like to wear a sock on his right foot. He doesn't mind wearing one on his left foot usually, but he immediately takes his sock off of his right foot when we put it on, so he's always got a rug burn on the top of his right foot! In the second part of the video, you will see he's not wearing a sock on his right foot. He is too funny!


My Montage 11/13/07

Timid

Lately Tate has developed some SEVERE attachment issues. It seems like he just woke up one day and decided that he did not want me to be farther than 10 feet from him if we are in the company of others. If I get too far away, he throws a huge fit. He also decided that day that aside from Sean and I, no one else could hold him or he would flip out. I seriously don't know how this happened because at home, he is fine. He plays well by himself, he doesn't need Sean or I by his side at all times and he hardly ever cries. These things only occur when others are around. It's so strange. Anyway, when we were at my parents house, he practically had a death grip on me at all times because he didn't want to have anyone else get too near him. He was fine when I was at the hospital with Cassie and Mom had to get him up from his nap and feed him and play with him. He was fine because I was not there, but as soon as I walked in the door and he saw me, he would speed crawl over to me and start to cry and whine. I don't know what to do about this situation. It's quite frustrating.

Anyway, my dad was wrestling on the floor with Brigg and Lani and Tate was quite interested in what was going on. He is a timid little thing, so all of that craziness was a bit much for him, but still intriguing. Here are some progressive photos as to what happened...

Notice Tate still has one hand on my knee, but appears to want to be a part of the action.

Now he's gotten the courage to step away from me and get a closer look.

He's decided he wants in on the action, but still is a little scared to dive right in. He sits at my dad's feet and gets a feel for the situation.

He's ready, he decides to jump right in, but only for a few seconds. About 5 seconds after this photo, Tate crawls away satisfied with his 5 seconds of involvement in the action!

Mystery solved!

I found my camera. Because I am such a slacker, I still had yet to unpack all of our stuff from the weekend. When I unpacked my bag, I found my camera. So I decided to take all of the pictures and video off of it and put it on my computer. In the process of doing that, I found so many more great pictures from this weekend that I had to post more! So here they are...

A Mother's love...

A Brother's Love...

Nana meeting her 5th grandchild!!!

Brigg and Lani are SO PROUD!

Cassie has 3 kids! I can't believe it!

After Ayla was born, I helped the kids make onesies for her. Here are their creations...

Tate was worn out after the busy weekend. It is a RARE occasion that that he will fall asleep in someone's arms!

Slacker

I have been such a slacker when it comes to blogging! I have been so busy and just preoccupied with daily stress. My eyelid has been twitching (which I am told is due to stress) for 2 days. It is beginning to drive me INSANE! I seriously don't know what to do about it! I have a hilarious video of Tate that I need to post so I plan to do that sometime soon. I ran to Target today and only spent $28! This is a huge deal for me! It's hard for me to get out of Target without at least $50 of items in my cart! So I am proud of myself.

Getting in order...

What a great weekend we had! It was so amazing to see Ayla being born and I will never be able to thank Cassie and Paul properly for allowing me to be a part of such a special moment in their lives! I wish that I had Ayla all to myself so I could hold her and stare at her for hours! :) They are all still doing great and I just heard that Ayla had a great night eating and slept well between feedings, so that is good. We headed home on Saturday around 8:30 pm. Tate fell asleep in the car and Sean and I just chatted the whole way home. Sean got up with Tate on Sunday morning and let me sleep in. Tate and Daddy got to spend some much needed time together. Sean headed to work and Tate and I just lounged all day. It was pretty relaxing!

Today, Tate slept until 8:00 am...this is LATE for him! I was pretty happy about it. :) We got up and ate breakfast and are now waiting for Daddy to get home from class here in a couple of hours. At 1:00, we are all going and getting our flu shots. Then it's back home to get our house in order. Rushing out the door on Thursday, I had no time to do anything to my house, so I have some dishes in the sink and a lot of picking up to do. Again, Daddy and Tate will get some quality time together while I clean up the house. We probably will have another relaxing day which I am not going to complain about! :)

Lots of Pictures

Well, it has been a great day! Ayla is doing great and so is Cassie! It was such an amazing experience to be able to watch Ayla come into this world. It is something I will never forget...so special! I can't get enough of her, she is so sweet! Sorry these pictures are being posted so late, but Sean just arrived here in Muscatine with my cameral cord. Here are several pictures of Ayla and the whole family!

Here is Ayla about 5 minutes after she was born

Ayla in Mommy's arms for the first time

She is so blessed to have such wonderful parents...

...and siblings!

Ayla and Mommy

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Ayla Lyn was born at 12:57 pm today. She weighs 8lbs 12 oz and is 20 inches long! She has TONS of curly black hair! She is BEAUTIFUL and doesn't really look a lot like Brigg or Lani. She resembles them a bit, but definitely looks a bit different. Mom and baby are doing FABULOUS! She is nursing great and barely makes a peep. Brigg said, "this is a dream! I love her so much!" It was SO sweet! Both Brigg and Lani are so in love and want to hold Ayla all of the time. I am not sure when I will be able to post pictures, but I will asap!

An added note...

I just got off of the phone with Cassie and she told me that Brigg held Ayla for a SUPER long time and just looked at her and said, "Thank you Jesus. I don't know what else to say, she is such a miracle!" How sweet is that?! What six year old says something like that?!!!

Another Update

Just got a phone call from Cassie. I will be heading up to the hospital here in about 15 minutes...she said that she thinks this is going to be quick. She just got her epidural and she feels MUCH better now she said. She's 80% efaced and is going to try and rest a bit before she has to deliver. Looks like I could be an aunt again by lunchtime! :) I'll let you know as soon as it happens and I am able to get to a computer!

Cassie Update

Things are moving along. Cassie and Paul went in to the hospital around 7:00 and they started Cassie on Pitosin (spelling?) to get everything moving along. She was still dilated to 2 cm when she got to the hospital. Dad stopped in to check on her and informed us that things are moving along and she is contracting regularly now, but has decided to wait a little while before she has her epidural put in. He said that signs show that this is going to be a quick delivery, so I am going to be heading over to the hospital here shortly. It's 10:00 am and Dad has to leave to do some cases in Aledo around 11:00 and he said he wouldn't be surprised if she delivered before he left!!! Who knows though. She's doing well and it appears this should be a good and quick delivery like her other 2 were! I'll keep you posted!

Soon!

I am going to be an aunt again soon! Cassie felt like she was in labor this morning and headed to the hospital to find out she was dilated 2 cm and 50% efaced. They were going to keep her, but there were 3 other girls in labor at the hospital already and since she was comfortable and not in active labor, they sent her home. If she hadn't gone in before 7:00 am tomorrow morning, they are going to induce her. She isn't feeling well and is ready to get this over with! Tate and I are in Muscatine and anxiously awaiting the moment we get to meet Ayla! I'll keep you all updated!

Baby Steps

Tate has made vast improvements in walking these last 2 or 3 days. He can now take two steps as he lunges toward whatever it is he's heading towards....usually Mommy, Daddy or the couch! :) It's pretty cute and very exciting! He has also improved his dancing skills. We watch Dancing with the Stars and Tate LOVES it. He likes the lights and music and always stares at the television and dances while it's on.

On another note, I have come to the conclusion that my child does not require much sleep. I can count on one hand the times he's slept for longer than 10 1/2 hours at night and he usually only sleeps for 9 1/2...sometimes even less than that. He took an hour nap this morning and would not sleep a wink this afternoon. He was just fine though, not whiny or tired acting at all. I put him to bed at 8:45 (15 minutes later than usual) and he jabbered in his crib until 9:00 when he went to sleep. He will be up by 6:00 or 6:30 tomorrow morning. I truly don't think he requires a lot of sleep because he never seems tired after his morning nap. Sometimes he rubs his eyes, but he doesn't get crabby or anything. This could be a struggle because I like my sleep! :) He used to do just fine with 2 naps so I am not sure what triggered this change. Anyway, I am just going to go day by day and hopefully soon he'll be able to go until after lunch before he takes his nap and then just be on a one nap schedule. I'll give him 2 naps if he needs them, but I have a feeling that won't be very frequently. We'll see!

Tired

I am not adjusting to the time change. It's 8:00 pm and I am tired! I even got an extra hour of sleep last night because Sean got up with Tate and Brigg this morning and let me sleep in. I have a headache and want to go to bed, but Tate is happy as can be just jabbering and playing away!

This week should be good though. I am happy that Sean's work week is over officially tonight at 9:00 pm. I miss him on the weekends. I know that this is all temporary and is best for him with his increasingly busy class schedule, but it's hard. He is so great about making time for me and Tate and this sacrificing sleep to get homework and studying done. I feel bad that he is doing that, but he insists...he wants to be with us as much as possible. I have the greatest husband!

Tomorrow Sean will be done with class in time to come home for lunch and then spend a couple of hours with us before he has to go meet his new patient in the afternoon. Then on Tuesday he will be done with class in time for lunch again. I am looking forward to some 'family time' on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday my friend Kay is coming to visit! I am SO EXCITED! It has been way to long since we've spent time with each other and I look forward to just being able to chat and hang out for a couple of days. She will be here until Friday. Then on Friday when Sean gets off of work at 7:00 pm, we will be heading to Muscatine for the night because Sean and I are going to the Iowa vs. Minnesota game on Saturday morning with a couple that we are friends with. Mom or Cassie (if she hasn't had Ayla yet!) will be watching Tate while we are gone. After the game we will go back to Muscatine to pick up Tate and probably hang out for a couple of hours and then head back home so Sean can be at work on Sunday morning. A busy week awaits us as usual!

"Fun Night"

That is what we named the night. It was focused on Brigg having as much fun as possible. It's been a success. When Brigg arrived today, he immediately began playing Tiger Woods Golf on Sean's Playstation2. We ripped him from the control when it was time to swim. Unfortunately, Tate and I stayed home so that Tate could nap. Brigg had a blast swimming with Brenda and Bode though. Then, Brenda dropped him off here and again, he went right back into the video games. He and I played each other and I got seriously whooped up on...by a 6 year old! Then, we decided to play the football video game. Sean got home from work around 6:15 and we decided to go eat pasghetti and meatballs (as Brigg would put it) because that's what Brigg wanted. We decided to go to Fazoli's for that...quick and not busy on a Saturday night. :-) It was yummy. Then we headed to DQ for milkshakes. MMMMMM!!! Brigg was anxious to get home so that he could "play TONS of video games and stay up REALLY late"! So that's currently what we're doing. Cassie wanted Brigg in bed by 10:00 if possible...um, well, it's 10:10 and he and Sean are in the middle of an intense game of NCAA Football on Playstation, so that bedtime has already been surpassed. Sorry Cassie! Hey, look at it this way...we get an extra hour of sleep tonight because it's Daylight Savings tonight. Ya, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it! :-) The original plan was a movie and popcorn, but I am thinking it may be a bit late to be starting a movie now! Well, it's been so much fun having Brigg tonight and I really think we have enjoyed it as much (if not more) than he has! We still have a bit of day tomorrow with him that we can have some more fun!

The boys hangin' out on the couch...
Buddies...

The intense competition I was referring to...

Plans changed...SHOCKER! :-)

So our not so busy, low key weekend has changed a bit. This is the story of my life...I should never make plans because they always change! This is a good change though! Sean, Tate and I are SO EXCITED to have Brigg for the weekend! :-) Well, not the whole weekend...it will start tomorrow morning when Mom and Dad bring him along with them when they come to Des Moines. We plan to hang out at the hotel and swim and have fun there all afternoon. Then, Mom and Dad have a wedding to go to, so Brigg, Tate and I will probably head home and get ready for our fun evening once Sean gets off of work at 6:00. We plan to have a fun dinner and then eat milkshakes and play video games (Brigg and Sean BOTH love video games!) and then maybe if Brigg wants to, we'll watch a movie and eat popcorn...or just eat more milkshakes! Ha. Then, Brigg is staying the night with us and then heading back to Muscatine on Sunday with Mom and Dad. Cassie and Paul are going to get some much needed things done around their house before Ayla arrives. Lani is at Macy's (her cousin) house in Cedar Falls until Sunday so Cassie and Paul will be childless...well except for Ayla. :-) Hopefully Cassie will be able to get a lot of rest (knowing her...I doubt it!) or even better, go into labor! That would be exciting! I plan to take plenty of pictures this weekend, so I'll have something to post when the weekend is over!

Back to the nap situation

Seriously, I need to get this nap thing figured out!

Tate takes a great morning nap everyday. He does not sleep well in the afternoons, however. There has been several times that I lay him down and he doesn't ever go to sleep. He doesn't necessarily cry, but he doesn't sleep. On a few occasions, I have left him in there for an hour or longer and he's never gone to sleep. Then when I got him out, he was fine...not whiny or tired acting. Probably 3 out of the 7 days a week he will actually fall asleep for an afternoon nap. I know that as he gets older, he will need an afternoon nap, but he doesn't even act tired in the afternoons most of the time. In the mornings though, he is so tired within 2 hours of waking up that he goes to sleep immediately when I lay him down. Should I eliminate his afternoon nap and then just gradually push back his morning nap? I don't know what else to do. I hate putting him down for an afternoon nap everyday when he doesn't usually sleep for it.