Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.
-C. S. Lewis

Overwhelmed

Tate NEVER poops more than once or maybe twice a day...he had pooped 4 times by 1:00 today and it was pretty "loose". He is whiney and he won't nap whatsoever today. He woke up crying for almost an hour last night and so I layed awake and listened and then when he started coughing uncontrollably I went in and took his temprature (it was fine) and fed him a bottle, put him back down and headed back to bed. He slept for 6 more hours after that. I am exhausted, my house is a mess and I need to pack so that we can move. I just want a nap, but if baby doesn't nap, mommy doesn't nap. I am very overwhelmed today.

Our Evening

We had a nice, relaxing evening tonight. Tate got to try rice cereal for the first time (check below for his reactions) and we just hung out and watched our shows. Tate was a smiley little boy and went to bed great. He has been going to bed so well these last 4 nights or so. He goes down without crying or even making a peep. He is still waking up once in the night and whining and sometimes crying a little bit before he goes back to sleep, but then he usually sleeps another 4-6 hours before waking up for the day. So aside from his middle of the night wakings for those few minutes, he has been sleeping pretty consistently from about 9:45-6:00. Then after his 6:00 feeding, he usually sleeps until 9:00 or 10:00. It is SO GREAT to be rested!!! We are all much happier and functioning much better!

Yucky Cereal

"What's this weird stuff?"

"EWWW...I don't think I like it!"

"YUCK! Get this stuff out of my mouth!!!"


We tried rice cereal tonight for the first time. Tate has been a little oinker all day with his formula. Usually we feed him 6 ounces every 4 hours, but today he has been wanting to eat every 2 1/2 or 3 hours and wants 8 ounces. SO, we figured since he's such a hungry boy, he might like some rice cereal. Boy were we wrong!!! Needless to say, he wasn't a big fan of it. I think we'll wait another month or two before we try it again!

Tyler and Leah turn 1!!!

It's amazing that a whole year has gone by since we were made an aunt and uncle again by the birth of our niece and nephew Tyler and Leah. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend Leah's 1st birthday party last weekend due to the terrible weather and unsafe driving conditions, but we were able to attend Tyler's party this weekend and while there, we celebrated Leah's birthday as well! It was SO GREAT to see everyone and it makes me wish that we all lived closer together! As you can see, Tyler REALLY enjoyed his cake...he didn't waste a second digging into it! It was hilarious! I think Leah was pretty excited about her Cabbage Patch that Sean, Tate and I got her. She also got 2 other dolls! A girl needs dolls, right?! She was in baby heaven I think! It's so fun to get all of the kids together, but IMPOSSIBLE to get a picture to capture it! One of them always seems to be either sleeping, eating, running off, getting changed or crying, so getting a picture just isn't easy! I think we may need to try and get them all together for a professional photo because I think it may take some professionals to be able to capture a good one of all of them looking at the camera and happy! I don't even know if they could do it! Ha. We'll get one sometime I am sure!

Tate's Girlfriend

Look at them holding hands...TOO CUTE!

Tate is soooo in love!!!

He also liked resting his legs on her!

It was too cute...we went to meet Ava June Decook today and were so excited to introduce Tate to his future wife! He caught on really quick...as soon as we laid them down by each other, they started holding hands and Tate wanted to roll over on her. They're acting like a cute little married couple already! :)

Ava was absolutely a DOLL and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and chatting (the boys HAD to get a video game in) with Lora and James. As you can see, Ava and Tate hung out and lounged together too. Thanks Lora and James for letting us hang out at your house all afternoon!

Hilarious

This picture makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it!

Update

Tate did great last night...he was exhausted! Probably because he never naps! We'll deal with that situation later. Anyway, he went down wonderfully a little after nine o'clock and woke up to chug a bottle at 5 o'clock. I put him right back down and he woke up at ten o'clock. I could handle this schedule!

My baby's back...

Okay, so whoever stole my baby and replaced him with one who sleeps through the night, decided to give my baby back. Last night, Tate cried for a while, as I reported in a previous post. Although, after going back to sleep, he decided to wake up and cry for nearly an hour in the night. He ended up going back to sleep and sleeping 6 more hours though. Now, he has decided that he doesn't want to take naps...SO, I went in to get him becuase he had just woke up from a super loooooonnnnnngggggg 15 minute nap and when I walked in he smiled at me and as soon as I picked him up, he closed his eyes while laying in my arms! He is a little stinker. I rocked him for about 15 seconds and layed him down again and he immediately began screaming...so, I decided to let him cry it out because he is TIRED! He had been crying for about 15 minutes until about 30 seconds ago (literally while I was typing that last sentence) he finally silenced and hopefully is now sleeping. I am praying that he'll get a decent nap in. I had sooo many plans of things I was going to do today and errands I was going to run, but I guess they'll have to wait until tomorrow. I definitely don't want to break this "routine" we're trying to establish!

ps...I just checked on Tate and he's not sleeping yet. :( He's just talking to himself in his bed. I think he may drift off soon though...hopefully.

Bedtime

I am bummed to report that Tate had to "cry it out" tonight again. It only lasted for 20 minutes and only about 2 minutes of that was hard crying, the rest was just whining. I don't know why he did so great last night and then decided tonight that he needed to cry, but regardless of the reason, I remained strong and let him be. He then fussed for about 5 more minutes about an hour later. He's sound asleep now and I should be too! So off to bed I am heading.

Photo Session

These are some pictures from this evening's photo session. Tate was SO smiley! I just thought these were cute!

FINALLY!

This is the face Tate made when he was told that he was going to have to "cry it out"!
A technological genius (Cassie) taught me how to fix my picture posting problem, so now I can post pics again! I am SOOOO happy! Now I just need to get my camera out and take some pictures!

Our good little sleeper...

Tate is such a good little sleeper these days! It's amazing how they learn so quickly that crying won't get them anything in the middle of the night. Tate went down last night without a peep, no crying at all, and slept all night long. He did wake up just after 5 am (which is a little early for my liking, but I am not going to complain!) and sucked down a bottle in about 5 minutes flat and we layed him right back down awake and he put himself to sleep and slept for 4 more hours until 9:15! It's SO GREAT having 2 full nights of sleep in a row! I feel like a different person and Tate is like a different baby! I just layed him down for his nap and he didn't make a peep. It almost seems like in the last 24 hours, he doesn't fuss much in the day either. It's almost like he was using crying (whether he was sleepy or not) to manipulate us into picking him up and coddling him day and night. It just didn't bother me as much in the day so it wasn't as noticeable that he was doing it then too. So now he has been much better at being happy and playing and only fussing a little when he's tired and then that's when I know he needs a nap. Anyone who thinks that this "crying it out" stuff is heartless I would completely disagree with! Tate has been SO MUCH happier in the last day since we did it...it's like he's a different baby! I know, I know...it's only been 2 nights and I am not claiming that he will never cry or fuss again at bedtime. I am just happy that he didn't last night and am still just taking it one night at a time while enjoying my smiley, happy baby during the day!

"Crying it out"

Okay, so now I may end up in the group of mothers that some people call "heartless". We let Tate "cry it out last night" and it went great! We put him down and he cried (pretty hard) for an hour! After 15 minutes, Sean looked at me and completely seriously said, "what has been...about an hour?" I was like, "are you serious Sean?! It's been 15 minutes!" He was like, " you're kidding!" Ha. It did feel that way though!

Anyway, after he stopped crying, he slept until 8 this morning!!!! Woo hoo! He's NEVER done that! I know that we'll probably have at least a couple more nights of some crying, but hopefully after that, we'll be home free!

On another similar note...I just layed him down for a nap awake and he didn't make a peep. He rolled over on his side and closed his eyes and fell asleep! It's so amazing! He's NEVER done that before either!

I am starting my day on a good note. Pray for less of a crying bout tonight for us! I'll keep you all updated!

HELP!!!!!

Okay, so we're having issues with night time. Tate has great days...terrible nights! AHHHHH! I don't know what to do! I shouldn't say his nights are terrible per say, but he definitely is fussy at night. I think we've gotten past the inconsolable stuff for the most part...those moments are few and far between, but he still will not sleep at night. I am EXHAUSTED! I am talking, he won't sleep more than 15 minutes in his crib without waking up crying. He won't sleep in anything but his crib, we've tried to let him cry for a while to see if he'll go back to sleep, we've tried having him sleep in his pack and play in our room (like he did in Florida where he slept great), we've tried what seems like everyhing! The only time he ever sleeps for long periods and sleeps well is during the day. He'll sleep in his crib for an hour or so at a time during the day and he'll sleep in his carrier during the day too, but once night comes, he wants nothing to do with sleeping. Really, I will try almost anything at this point! Any suggestions are welcome...

Tate's Day...

Last night was not great...well, it was pretty trying actually. The good news is that Tate didn't cry much when he was up in the night, he just was up A LOT! He did not want to sleep. BUT, today may have been the best day he has had on this earth! He literally was SO HAPPY and chatty and smiley every moment he was awake! He cried for about 3 minutes in the car when we were about a mile from home and he wanted out of his carseat, but otherwise, he didn't cry a single time today. I don't think he's ever gone an entire day without crying. I mean, he didn't even cry when we put him to sleep anytime today and not even tonight. He had NO fussy time at all! YIPPY! Something we're doing is working. We have a pretty solid routine of Zantac twice a day, Acidophilus in his bottle once a day and Gripe Water (a MIRACLE WORKER might I add!) in the morning and evening and as needed if he gets gassy and fussy. We didn't even give him any tonight and he didn't fuss at all! Okay, it appears as though we're drugging our baby with all of these things, but the Acidophilus is very good for him and it's not medicine (it helps his pooping), the Gripe Water is herbal and not medicine either (recommended by the doctor and completely safe) and then the Zantac. We may try to stop using the Zantac though and see if Tate does okay without it. The Gripe Water may be all he needs and we don't want to be feeding him medicine all the time if we don't have to. Plus, Tate HATES the taste of the Zantac, so when we give it to him, he spits it out (therefor, we don't know how much he's actually getting), and when we mix it with his bottle, it's so strong that he can taste it in his bottle and won't drink his bottle very well.

So today was WONDERFUL, but we'll see how tonight goes. He has been sleeping since 10:00 PM and it's now 11:30 and we can still hear him snoring. Hopefully the good day will make for a good night and we'll be on the path to a little more sleep than we've been getting. :) Tomorrow he goes to Nana and Papa P's for the afternoon and evening while we go to Sean's work Christmas party. It will be the longest we've been away from him. We're taking him there around 3:00 and won't be back until after he's asleep (hopefully he'll be asleep) around 11 pm. I know he'll have so much fun with them though! Then, on Sunday, we're off to celebrate our neice, Leah's first birthday! Pictures soon to come...

Slacker

I am a total slacker...I haven't taken a single picture of Tate since we returned from Florida! My camera battery has been dead and I haven't charged it. I finally got the video camera out today to take a video of Sean making Tate laugh. I will be back in the swing of things with pictures soon though because we have a big weekend ahead of us. It's our neice, Leah's 1st birthday party! I plan on taking several pics there!

Tate has been doing well today, so hopefully that means the Zantac is working. Our night was just okay last night. He got up around 1:30 am and was up until 2:30 and then was up again at 5:15 until 6:15...little stinker. He didn't want to eat either...he just wanted to be held and smile at Mommy.

Also, for those of you who don't know, we rented a duplex and will be moving in a few weeks. We are SO excited as this new place will have A LOT more room for us. We definitely need it with our expanding toy collection! We don't have a moving date set yet, but it will be a gradual process of moving this and that over to the new place for the first couple of weeks in February and then hopefully by the 3rd week in February, we'll move all of the big stuff and officially be out of our apartment. We know that moving and packing and unpacking with a baby to take care of between it all will be a difficult task, so we are looking forward to getting it over with!

I'd also like to add that I am really unhappy with this terrible weather we've been having. I am ready for winter to be over. It's especially no fun having to drag Tate out into it so I avoid that at all costs, but I also get stir crazy just being stuck inside all of the time.

Hope everyone is staying warm and I'll post pics soon!

Rest and Zantac

I prayed for Tate to stop crying soon and the doctor perscribed him Zantac. If his crying is due to acid reflux, that should help. I prayed for a decent nights sleep last night and the Lord answered my prayer. It wasn't great, just decent. Tonight I will pray for a great night of sleep I guess! :) It could just be that Tate is having a great day or maybe the Zantac is working...time will tell. I'm going to sleep now, hopefully for a few hours...

MY romantic husband...

Okay, so I keep reading on everyone's blogs about how great and romantic their husbands are, so I thought I would tell my story about my romantic husband.

We were in Tate's room just admiring how beautiful our little boy is and Tate was just laying on his changing table. I had just given him a bath and moisturized him and he smelled SO good! He was smiling and happy. Sean walked in and made some comment about how cute Tate is and then looked at me, grabbed my face and came right up close to it (I was anticipating the big smooch) and said, "you have a blackhead on your nose." Yup, my husband is such a romantic!

Since Florida...

Tate has had some troubles sleeping since we got home. I don't know what else to do except just move into Mom and Dad's place in Florida. :) Mom and Dad, can we???? It's for a good cause...it's so your grandson will be happier and more rested, it's not at all for our pleasure!

So Tate has been having these sessions (I am talking like 2 or 3 hour sessions) where he is screaming bloody murder and red faced and dry heaving from crying so hard. It all started 2 nights ago. Tate WOULD NOT SLEEP, I mean, he was up screaming in my arms all night. He was inconsolable...NOTHING would make him stop and believe me, we tried everything! I was exhausted from not sleeping a wink and had an emotional break down to Sean about how I can't stand to see Tate like that and I can't function on no sleep and I think something is wrong with him and so on and so forth. My wonderful husband took the day off and watched Tate while I slept to catch up. When I awoke, Tate was still a crying mess and could not be consoled. SO, we made an appointment with his doctor and took him in right away. After much checking and poking and prodding and listening, our doctor said that he thinks Tate is colicky (sp?) or has acid reflux. He said that he thinks it's colic though. I couldn't believe my ears...my perfect angel couldn't possibly have colic just like that. I mean, just a week ago, he barely ever cried at all! The doctor said that it comes on that fast though. Well, I still am in denial about that. I think it's more likely to be acid reflux than colic. Also, he hadn't pooped in over 2 days. Well, he finally pooped last night and then had a better night than the night before, but still not a good one and now today he has barely made a peep and has been all smiles. I am praying that it was a fluke and he was just needing to poop or something. Who knows... Hopefully he'll be back to his normal, happy self.

Our trip in pictures...

The next several posts are a summary of our WONDERFUL vacation to Florida. It was such a great time and we were all sad to see it end. Now we're back in COLD Iowa and Tate is back to his terrible sleeping habits and I feel like my old, tired self again! I don't know what the deal is, but he slept like a big boy in Florida and now, he can't seem to sleep at all...I have decided that he just doesn't like his room. I don't know what else it could be. Oh Well, I know it will get better with time!


This was Tate's reaction when we told him that we would be in Florida in a few hours! He was soooo excited...
 
 
 
 
These pictures are of Tate's first time flying. He did great, he was awake for the first 15 minutes and then slept the rest of the way! 

1, 2, 3, JUMP!!!

Tate sat and watched while the bigger kids swam...
 

They were supposed to jump on 3...
 

Brigg did great, but the girls never quite got it down...they were always fashionably late! :)
  

Just Cute...

 
  

Cutey Pie...

 
 
 
  

Our Little Albino...

Either Tate's really white, or Nana B. is really dark...
 

I think it's a little of both!
  

Luna's

Luna's is an Italian restaurant that is really good and serves HUGE portions! We had a great time and got really full! The kids stayed home with Donna, Nana and Papa.
 
 
 
  

The Beach

Tate's first trip to the beach was short. He slept while we ate lunch and then when we decided to go walk down towards the water and hang out on the beach, he woke up and was not happy. The trip to the beach lasted about 15 minutes. Oh well, we'll try again next time!
 
 
 
  

Our Little Fish

Tate loved the water while in Florida! He was so cute! Please just look at him and Sean in the family photo and not me...it's a terrible picture of me! Yuck!