Sleep is for the birds!

My baby is such a stinker. Sleep in mommy's bed = sleeping through the night and maybe waking up around 2 or 3 to eat. Maybe. Sleeping on his own = waking every hour or two. I think he's going to need me to sleep in the same bed with him when he goes to college ;) Just kidding. I know that's an exaggeration...but our sleep issues are not resolving themselves. I can't just leave him in his room to cry. I know it works for some people, but it eats me away and I just can't do it. So I'm going to talk to his pediatrician on the 5th about what I can do to help and then go from there. Hopefully we'll have this whole sleep thing figured out by the time he's 1! I tell him it's a good thing he's cute, because one look at that gummy little grin has my heart melting and all ill feelings of the night before turning to feelings of love and adoration.

He is starting to really notice food as well. I've started watching a little girl, Marley, and she's just started eating solids. I tried to hold Will on my lap while I fed her, but that lasted all of a few seconds before he got fussy. He kept leaning towards the food, licking his lips, chewing, and drooling. It was a little pathetic and a lot funny! Sorry buddy, you've got a couple more months before we go through that little adventure together! I have a feeling that he's going to be ALL about the food though!

He's sooo close to really rolling from back to tummy. I keep waiting for it to happen, but he hasn't shown off his skills yet. He watches what Marley does, though (she's a very good little roller!) and tries to imitate her. I bet I'll be sharing that we have a real roller soon (since I don't think the little rolling act on the bed actually counts).

Here are a few shots from today...I have a ton to go through, but these are my favorites :) I think I'm going to be constantly changing out photos on our photo wall in the entry way. Every time I take pictures I end up with new favorites! (Pictures of the house to come very soon!)

This is the grin...the one that melts my heart! How can you resist that toothless little face?


I love his eyes...so blue!




Remember the last "hugging" the bear picture? Can you even believe how much he's grown in three short weeks?






The bubbles...the drool. It's just too much cuteness for one picture!

We're still alive!

Sorry for not blogging lately...life here has been a little crazy. Will is not sleeping well at all anymore...in fact, I'm lucky if I can get a 2 hour stretch between him waking! Greg has been awesome helping out, but the little guy is wearing all of us out - himself included! I've had to cross one of the "I'll never's..." off my list. I swore up and down that we'd NEVER co-sleep with him. Yeah...that lasted all of a few nights until I was desperate enough to get sleep that I put him in bed with us. He's totally a fan of it. I'm not really, but it does mean I'm getting some form of sleep, and right now some is better than none. Any ideas for helping with our horrible sleep habits? I'm hoping I'm not going to be forced to grin and bear it until he's older!

Other news...Will officially rolled from back to tummy on Sunday! I'm counting it, even though he was on the bed and my weight made it a little easier for him ;) He's really started to talk - a lot! He babbles and shows off all the time...it is so cute! He grabs his feet when laying on the floor and he reaches for everything. I feel like everyday brings a new milestone...this age is so much fun. As of last Tuesday, he weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces...holy cow, he's almost doubled his birth weight!

Last week we took his first trip to Kansas and I cannot get over how wonderful he was. He had his shots the day before we left, so I was a little worried about how the car ride would go. He surprised both Greg and I by being a wonderful passenger. He slept for a lot of the trip, played with some toys hung from his carseat, and really only cried for the last 30 minutes of the 12 hour trip. He was also amazing in Kansas - he showed off for everyone! He is in love with my grandma...he would light up when he saw her and babbled away with her :) He took his first dip in a pool while we were there too and he loved every second of it. I definitely think we have a water baby on our hands! The water was even a tiny bit chilly and he couldn't care less. We're going to have to start taking him to the pool in our neighborhood or something.

Here's a picture from the 4th to fill your Will quota for the day! I've got tons more where this one came from...I've just gotta get them edited!

We're About to be Homeowners!

We close on our house on Friday and I am SO excited! We found exactly what we were wanting in an awesome neighborhood for a great price...I can't wait to paint, arrange all our furniture, and watch Will grow up there :)

I'll have more pictures to come in the next few weeks. It's getting a new roof today, then we do the walk-through tomorrow after Greg gets off work, and then we're closing at 2:00 on Friday!

I'm super excited for Friday to come because of the closing...but I'm also dreading it because it's my last weekday off of work :( I know I only have to go back for 8 school days, but I am not happy about leaving Will. It doesn't make it any better that I'm not going into a great situation at school and I have no clue what state my classroom or kids will be in...things have been incredibly "inconsistent" (their words) since I've been out on maternity leave. I have a feeling I'm going to come back to a group of 90 terrors. I worked so hard to get them trained and on their best behavior before I left and I'm pretty sure they're going to make me want to pull my hair out again. Eight days...I can do it for eight days!

Will has been sleeping so well at night...which makes for a much happier Mommy! We generally get him down around 10 and he slept until 5 last night...that's 7 whole hours! I woke up and actually felt okay. I mean, I was still tired, but I wasn't falling asleep nursing him! He usually won't sleep for more than an hour and a half more after he gets up to nurse, so I just leave him in the bed with us and snuggle with him. I get some of the best smiles at that time :) He seems just thrilled that he doesn't have to go back into his stupid bassinet and that he can cuddle with Mommy. It makes my heart melt! :)

7 Weeks

My baby is getting so big! He's seven weeks old today...seven weeks sounds so old, so grown up, more baby and not newborn. But it still seems like yesterday that I was meeting him for the first time. (Are you sick of me saying that yet?! haha!)

Today was my first day to be away from Will for a long time. I had a wedding from 10:30-4 today and while I had a ton of fun shooting, I missed him so much! Will and Greg had tons of fun hanging out at home, though. He napped forever with him...I think Greg is going to stop believing me when i tell him that Will is usually a terrible napper ;) They slept from like 11-1:30! I'm glad they got to hang out all day and get some bonding time in!

Will has been changing so much. He smiles at us pretty regularly now. I LOVE his little grin. So, so precious. The other night he woke up at 5:30am and I was feeding him and he pulled away and gave me the hugest, gummiest grin ever. And even though I know you're not supposed to talk or have much interaction with them in the middle of the night (since we're trying to promote the whole sleeping at night thing), I couldn't help but grin back. We sat there for a good five minutes smiling at each other...It is something I won't ever forget! He's also begun "talking" to us a lot more. He's still pretty quiet, though. He likes to study things and take every single detail in. And just this week, he started rolling up onto his side for a second or two at a time. I don't think it'll be much longer before he rolls from tummy to back - he's getting really close! I didn't want to mention it before, but he's consistently been sleeping for 6 hours a night! If we get him in bed by 9, he sleeps until 3. Usually though, bedtime is closer to 11 (have I mentioned how everything takes twice as long with a baby around?) and he doesn't get up again until 5. I'm feeling so much more rested and less sleep deprived these days...it's wonderful!

The photography stuff is going really well...I've had lots of inquiries and people who have said they want to book a session with me. Keep the prayers coming - I'm so excited about how everything is playing out :)

Here are some pictures of Will from this week. Remember the bear picture from his first day home? Check out how much he's grown! (By the way, he almost has grown out of his coming home outfit...*sad Mommy face here*)


Playtime on his mat


...not so sure how he's feeling about playtime anymore.


He's done!


But mean 'ol Mom keeps taking pictures anyway!


Mom, what is this bear doing in the chair next to me?


Mom, this bear is totally crowding me!


Seriously, Mom. Get him off!

Poor Boy

Will has acid reflux. We've thought something was up for awhile - he gets fussy right after eating, he spits up a ton, he pulls his knees into his tummy and arches his back, he fusses if he's laid down flat, etc...Yesterday we went to the doctor to get his belly button checked out (it was oozing some stuff, but everything looks fine), and I mentioned to the doctor that he's been really fussy and seems uncomfortable at night. Our conversation went like this:

DR: How do you know he's uncomfortable?
ME: Well, he cried from 12am-6am last night. And he pulls his knees into his chest and screams.
DR: -chuckles- Wow, 12-6? I bet your tired.
ME: You have no idea.

He gave us some Prevacid to try with Will to see if it'll neutralize the acids in his stomach. It won't stop the spitting up, but it will keep it from being painful when he does spit up. Unfortunately for me, the Prevacid takes 3-5 days to see results. I could tell it helped a little last night, but I was still up with him from 1am-5am last night...Greg stayed up for awhile too, but he had to go to work today, so I told him to go to bed. Today has been rough too - if I can get him to sleep (and that's a BIG if, he's been fighting it a lot lately), he'll stop crying...but unless he's eating or sleeping, he's been crying all day. And it's a poor, pathetic little cry :( Nothing I do seems to make it better and I feel so bad knowing he's hurting and knowing that I can't help.

So send some thoughts and prayers our way...All three of us are just plain exhausted (actually, Sammy and Riley are too!) and poor Will is in pain, which is just awful. We're crossing our fingers that the medicine works and Will will be feeling better in no time!

Edit: In my tired stupor, I forgot to add our great news! Greg and I got a house :) Not the short sale, but a different one in a great neighborhood. I'll add details later - off to try to nap now.

Edit #2: (I swear, I am going to go nap) Will now weighs 9 pounds 13.5 ounces! He's really doing great on his weight gain - that's a pound in 11 days. They didn't measure him, but I suspect he's grown a little length wise too.

Hallelujah!

In my pre-baby days, I would have considered last night's sleep to be awful. I would've woken up and grumbled about how horrible I'd slept the night before. My feet would've been dragging all day and I would've felt like I needed to go to sleep at 7:00 just to catch up.

Post baby? In my post baby days, I'm praising the Lord that Will only woke up three times during the night (well, two if you consider the 7:00am wake up an appropriate time to get out of bed). I feel refreshed and have a whole different outlook on life. I actually feel like I got restful sleep, which is something that I have been seriously lacking this week. I actually feel good! Amazing what a difference a week and a few days can make on your outlook on life ;)

Will is doing great and I'm loving him more than ever! (Currently he's curled up on my chest making the cutest little snores...and today I actually appreciate it because I got sleep last night!) We have his two week check up with the pediatrician on Friday and I'm pretty sure he'll have gained some more weight back. Yay! Greg and I are starting to adjust to the whole 'parenting' thing too...we're both getting faster at baths and diaper changes. Last night we started a bedtime routine that seemed to make all the difference in Will's ability to sleep for more than 20 seconds at a time. We're both looking forward to getting out of the house this weekend to go to church on Easter Sunday. It will be nice :)

I don't want to go into the details of it on the blog, but if you could be praying for God to show Greg and I the direction he wants us to head in, that would be awesome. We're facing a tough decision and really feel like we need His hand in everything before we make a committment one way or the other. So prayers would be great right now.

And last, but certainly not least, we got our slideshow of pictures back from Will's newborn photography session. They are amazing!! I can't wait to get some printed huge for our walls.
http://www.lifeinmotionphotography.com/slideshows/will/