Sleep Training

I went back to work in January and shortly there after we transitioned Colin to his crib.  He had been sleeping in his Moses basket in our room until then and it was time for everyone to start getting some quiet sleep.  What I quickly learned after going back to work is that each week faces new transitions and challenges and we can only take them one at a time.  So my hopes of sleeping thru the night in his crib were quickly shattered when he struggled to sleep more than 3 hours at a time.  Some nights were heaven on earth and we would get 5 hours and even 6 sometimes but mostly it was 3-4 hours of sleep and then screaming.  I would go in Colin's nursery and feed him every time he screamed.  After refusing to nurse, we had bottles ready (with an awesome bottle warmer) for middle of the night feedings.  After he had a bottle, I would go in the guest bedroom, pump another bottle and then go back to bed.  It felt like a never ending cycle of pumping and feeding and a bunch of interrupted sleep.

Fast forward to February when we introduced solid foods and then formula.  Life changed and it was great.  Colin liked the formula and it seemed to help him last a little longer at night.  It also gave me a chance to catch up during the day as he was eating more than I could make.  It was so nice to not be stressed about feeding anymore but I would pump what I could and whatever I couldn't, formula would do the rest.  (Side note- we are using this Organic formula and love it!)  

But enter another curve ball- a growing baby who would unswaddle himself ALL the time!  Colin would unswaddle himself at least twice before his first middle of the night feeding.  It was more interrupted sleep and sometimes unsuccessful comforting which resulted in a crying baby and a stressed out and tired mama (and daddy).  So I did a little research and I stumbled upon the Magic Sleepsuit.  I read the reviews and I even consulted a few other blogging mamas who had used it to get their take on if it really was magic.  EVERYONE shouted from the mountains how wonderful it was and I decided that it couldn't hurt to try.

I had to laugh when Ryan asked when we could expect the Magic sleepsuit to arrive.  I said the shipping would be about 3-4 days as I only did standard shipping for $6.  I told him the expedited shipping was $22 and he shocked me when he said this was one of the extreme cases when expedited shipping would have been okay.  He must have been stressed and tired too. 

The first night Colin used the Magic Sleepsuit he slept 7 hours straight!  I sincerely believed it was magic.  My baby has never slept that long, without making a single peep.  WOW!

Unfortunately I was anticipating Colin waking up all night, so I didn't really sleep that well.  I was up every few hours, checking the monitor and hoping he was okay.  

I was so excited for the next night of sleep as I knew what to expect.  I knew he would be okay in the Magic Sleepsuit and so I went to bed excited for uninterupted sleep.  I was sorely dissappointed.  Colin was up every two hours.  What the heck?!  What happened to the magic?!  Ugh.  So the very tired me the next day decided that this household was now in sleep training mode-- whether or not we liked it.

So at 5 months (and two days) old, we began sleep training.  I had studied the cry it out (CIO) method and read Dr. Ferber's suggestions on what to do.  I found this website to be extremely helpful and insightful and the playful humor helped too!  I knew this wouldn't be easy but I also knew Colin was old enough to understand and learn this.  And this mama needed sleep.  

I tracked Colin's sleeping (we aren't using this for naps as we are pretty flexible with naps) and thought it might be helpful for some mamas.  I'm still tracking as I don't think we have mastered sleeping yet but I feel like we are getting close!  And we are still wearing the Magic Sleepsuit as I know it helps Colin.

 

So if you read this we are making 8-9 hour stretches now!! Yay!  I think its progress and getting closer to being a master sleeper!!  

Today I'm linked up with Kristin

One Year (and 2 days ago)

One year and two days ago (yes I missed it!) we announced our pregnancy!

It was such an exciting day to finally let the world know of our news.  Our family and friends shared in our announcement and of course this blog became consumed with all things pregnancy!  I can't believe it has been a year!  And now, we have this cutie in our life!

We feel pretty darn blessed!  Happy weekend friends!

Making Dinner

Is it every wife and mother's first thought when she wakes up- "What are we doing for dinner tonight?"  I remember my mom always saying she dreaded this question every morning.  And I find myself following suit.  Now that I'm meal planning, it's not so horrible.  I just look at my meal planner and pick up the ingredients on my way home from work.  It's definitely a little more difficult to make dinner with a 5 month old but it does get done.  

Here is my trusty Pinterest board that I affectionately call dinner.choices.

I get inspired here and search for easy, fun, new recipes.  What is your favorite place to find new recipes?  Any suggestions or spots that I'm not aware of that you frequent for dinner suggestions?  Or what is your favorite meal to make your family?  

The new Susie Homemaker,

Budgeting

I'm sure Ryan is almost laughing that I'm writing this post as he would say I live to shop.  I don't live to shop.  I love to shop.  I typically have 2 or 3 browsers open with items in cart waiting to be purchased.  That doesn't mean I always buy them but I contemplate it.  And I'm a sucker for a good deal.  But now that Colin is in our life, I need to be better about spending and saving.  And so, I have done a little budgeting/planning.

Meal Planning

A few weeks back I decided that I should probably do some meal planning since our biggest area that money is spent is eating out.  I don't particularly love cooking and I'm horrible about bringing my lunch to work so you do the math.  I like to eat out.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy either.  So anyways, I decided to start using this...

I plan each meal for the week and take an inventory of the groceries I need to make these meals.  Ryan and I have agreed that two nights can be non-cooking meals PLUS Ryan and I like to sneak in a lunch date once a week if we can when we are both at work.  It's a mini-date for us (we're lucky we work together)!  So 3 meals are week are not in our kitchen but the rest of life is budgeted and planned.  When I started this, Ryan was shocked and I think he fell a little more in love with me.  Ryan is much better at saving and budgeting so the fact that I was even trying was impressive to him.  I've done a pretty good job of sticking to this and I'm hoping we can make this our normal routine for the months and years to come.

Online Shopping

Okay so this is totally contradictory of my meal planning speech BUT when I do online shopping, I make sure to have coupon codes and free shipping.  Having a baby makes it more difficult to run errands so I tend to do as much shopping online as possible.  So free shipping and 5% Target discount are almost always MUSTS!  AND if I online shop, I'm not wasting gas or driving time.  It's the little things.

Coupon Clipping & I've Got an App for That!

Again Ryan fell a little more in love with me when I signed up for Cub Foods coupons and Target Cartwheel.  Every little bit helps and secretly, it's kind of fun to see how much I can save.  I get a little competitive with myself.  I'm a dork.  But it's really nice to pair this with my meal planning.  

AND LASTLY... drum roll please... I'm going to challenge myself for ONE month.

Kristin got me thinking when she did a No Spend Month.  I was blown away by this idea and I have accepted my own challenge to do this!  Yes Ryan you read that correct.  I am going to do a no spend APRIL.  In the month of April I will not spend any unnecessary money.  So unless it is gas, household necessities, or groceries, I can't buy it.  This is going to be hard people.  I'm a shopaholic but I need to be better about budgeting.  I will let you know at the beginning of May how successful and difficult this challenge was for me.  I know it's going to be hard!  I actually can't believe I'm going to do this!

Happy budgeting!  Ryan keeps reminding me that money saved now will help for retirement and I can't wait to be a snow bird in retirement!

Cheers,

Five Months

Hello Five Months!

Baby Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs.  Yep you read that right!  My baby is 17 lbs.  Yikes!

Sleep: Oy vay!  I so wish I could brag and say that Colin is a rockstar sleeper but this is his weakness.  His bedtime is between 9-10pm.  He almost always makes it 5 hours, eats, and then back down for 3.5-4.5 hours and up for the day.  HOWEVER, we did just start using the Magic Sleepsuit and it is magic!  The first night Colin slept 7.5 hours straight!  Oh my word was it amazing!  Naps aren't too regulated around here.  He usually sleeps for an hour in the morning at some point and an hour in the afternoon.  But I'm not strict about when and where he naps.  I like have a little flexibility with it so that weekends aren't a disaster when we are out and about for events or running errands.

Feeding: We started solids and Colin LOVES them!  And we started some organic formula too which he likes!  Colin's morning and bedtime bottle are formula.  He gets 3 bottles during the day with breastmilk and then twice a day he is eating solids.  He tried avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, banana, green beans, pears, and apples this month.  He liked everything except green beans.  He got tight lipped and refused to eat them.  I'm hoping if we mix them with something, he might like them a bit more.

Diapers: size 2
Clothing: 6-9 month clothes

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Milestones: First teeth (yes 2!), Dedication, first stroller ride outside
Nicknames: Noodle and Goomba
Favorites: Johny Jumpup (while playing with his activity table), Exercauser, dancing, baths, talking and interacting with people, eating at dinner time, standing, trying to walk, playing with his feet

A look at the last five months...

 

 

Sweet baby Colin-

You continue to grow and fill my heart with pure joy.  I'm at a loss of words to try and describe how much I love you.  You are growing so much and have discovered the world around you.  Your little personality is getting big and is sweet as can be.  Your daddy and I rush home to see you when we are gone and we snuggle you to bits when we are together.  Your smile is the best thing in the whole wide world and it melts my heart every time.  I'm so excited for the next month-- I'm sure you will be very busy (sitting up, maybe starting to crawl, and continuing to try new foods)!  I love you to the moon and back and I always will.

With all my love,

Mama

 

 

Today we linked up with Mama & Mou

Colin's Dedication

On Sunday we dedicated Colin at church.  It was one of the most special days to date in Colin's life and our family.  For those of you who don't know what dedication is let me give you a little explanation.  Dedication is not a baptism.  Colin's dedication is a celebration in which Ryan and I made a commitment before the Lord, our family and our church to raise Colin according to God's Word and God's ways.  In dedicating Colin we are giving him his own journey and path to find faith.  Our hope is that Colin chooses Jesus and when he makes that faith commitment, he can choose to be baptized.  His baptism will be an outward expression of his personal relationship with the Lord.  

So with that said, Ryan and I sent out these invitations to our family to join us in this celebration.

Kristin helped me design all the stationary pieces for Colin's party.  It was so fun to put these together and I love how they turned out! 

I had Colin's outfit picked out as soon as the invitations were done.  Yes I love party planning and I like things to match so naturally Colin's ensemble fit the color scheme and theme.

My mom had this adorable onesie made for Colin too which he wore under his bowtie top.

Our family met us at the church on Sunday for the dedication.  Dedications at our church are part of the normal church service, not a separate ceremony.  After the opening worship Ryan, Colin, and I went to the front and were joined by Pastor Trautman who did the dedication.  He introduced our family and asked Ryan and I of our commitment to raise Ryan according to God's word and following God's ways.  And then he turned to the congregation and asked them if they would commit to praying for our family and come alongside us so that Colin could know Jesus.  During these two statements Ryan was holding Colin.  And then they put Colin's picture on the big screen at church.

When his picture flashed up there was a loud "awww" you could hear thru the whole church.  It made this mama's heart melt.  Then Pastor Trautman held Colin and dedicated our son.  Ryan and I put our hands on Colin and prayed a blessing on Colin's life.

It was pretty short and sweet but it was perfect for our family.  I love that dedication allows Colin's faith to be personal, something he can own.  We are excited to watch Colin grow and hopefully come to love Jesus.

After church our family joined us at our house for brunch.  My good friend Megan helped me out immensely by coming over to our house while we were all at church and she got the food in the oven and juice poured and coffee started.  Everyone should have a friend like this when hosting an event.  It was so nice-- thank you Megan!  We were also very blessed that so much family baked yummy food for the brunch!  Thanks team Colin!

I made lemon cupcakes and frosted them too (Ryan and Rose helped frost as well as make the cupcake flags!)

A fun Mimosa Bar

The center pieces were little fish in vases!

Brunch menu featuring family favorites and yes I did water bottle labels too- thanks Kristin!

 

I made goody bags with sweedish fish to go along with the little fish theme I had going on.

Colin with his cousins and godparetns- Jaxon and Rose.  Colin's other godmother, Laura was at DECA for school.  We missed her but wished her the best of luck as she presents.  

Colin was a trooper for the day!  He was passed around and held by just about everyone.  And his cheeks were raw by the end of the day from all the kisses he received.  With a nap to and from the church Colin made it until the last hour of the party, when he crashed on Ryan.  

After Colin's nap, I realized we didn't have any pictures of our family.  So I made sure to snap a few before we headed for a bath to relax, wind down, and wash off the lipstick marks on those chunky cheeks!

My boys...

And our little family...

I will never forget this day and the promise that Ryan and I made.  We love you little Colin!

Today I'm linking up with Mama & Mou