Night Away

This weekend I spent my first night away from little Pierce...ever! One of my best friend's Terri was having a baby shower a couple of hours away. Of course I was going to go...but Dan encouraged me to stay the night there instead of trying to go and come back in one day. After a bit of thought I decided...yes I would!!!!

Of course I texted and called several times throughout the day, but I knew they were in good hands. I had such a fun time at the shower and loved getting to celebrate her and her sweet baby girl Sadie! (To read more about Terri go to her blog here ). I think it was good for both Dan and me to get away. I needed a break and to spend some time getting dressed up, eating hot meals, talking without intterruption and just enjoying my friends. Dan got a chance to be full time stay home dad for about 30 hours. He got the experience of trying to juggle taking a shower (it is tough during the day), keeping the house clean, providing healthy meals, potty times, safety and bedtimes. He did great! I came home to a clean house!!!! So impressive! Although he did great I don't think he will be trading me jobs anytime soon...hehe! "It is SO hard keeping the house clean with them awake." he told me...Oh don't I know it!!! :)

Anyway I had a great weekend and feel recharged and encouraged. I loved getting to see my friends! I loved that the kids and Dan had a good time bonding and experiencing things together. I was so glad to see the kids and think one night away was the perfect amount! Thanks Dan :)

Here is a random picture of the kids...such cuties!

10 Hours

I am kind of nervous to post about this because I don't want to jinx myself (no I don't really believe in jinx...lol).

Anyway for the last 7 days Pierce has slept for at least 10 hour stretches...and last night he did an 11 hour stretch!!!! It has been so good for me. This preggo needed some decent sleep. We have changed a few things in his night time routine...who knows if it has been one particular thing or a combo or him just growing out of it on his own. Here are a few things we have done.

1. We no longer let him fall asleep while eating. I have read that this is a really bad habit for a few reasons. The first is they associate that with comfort and sleep and will expect to be fed to sleep when they wake up (which is exactly what he was doing). Also when they go to sleep with such a full tummy they will wake up feeling hungry when they aren't so full even though they are not actually hungry (they are just not stuffed to the brim). So we feed him his last bottle 30 min to an hour before bedtime. If he falls asleep while eating we just wake him up and let him play for a few minutes. Yes it is kind of crummy, but so is waking up a bazillion times a night...yes a BAZILLION. Hehe

2. We have been laying him down in his crib to go to sleep for the night awake. This would have been a hard one for me but he actually just recently stopped liking rocking. Anytime I have tried to rock him to sleep he gets so squirmy and fights it so hard. So I have been putting him in his crib which for some reason he likes better. It has been nice doing this because for bedtime he is so tired he doesn't put up much of a fuss. Only crying for 10 min or even less and sometimes not at all. But this helps him learn to self-soothe a little better.

3. We have turned off background noise. We have done this for both kids and for some reason they are both sleeping so much better to quiet. We used to have music playing all night. Not sure if this is a coincidence but hey its working...so we are going with it.

4. When he woke in the night I would give him 10-15 min before I went in there and took care of his needs. I knew he wouldn't put himself to sleep but I did want him to realize that it is night time and it is the time to spend by yourself. 10 minutes was a good amount of time because I don't think it was long enough to scar him or be traumatizing and he knew mommy will come for you. But he did get the clue that mom should not always be there at night. (Although just a note 10 minutes at 2 am feels like 2 hours....)

5. I slowly weaned him from eating at night. When he would wake up I would feed him 4 oz for a few nights then 3 oz, etc...while I was also increasing his amounts before and after bed.

Then slowly little by little he slept through the night. There were a few times when he would wake up and I would give him the 10 minutes before I would go and feed him and he put himself back to sleep. And for the last few nights he has not even woken up crying!!!

Please don't think I am bragging...this has been a LONG and stressful road for us. I am just so thankful to finally get some sleep. And I am so thankful that I didn't have to "break" Pierce in the process. It was a relatively stressless (this is not a word, but you get the point) way. I am really proud of him. I am crossing my fingers that this is the end of our sleepless nights for a few months...

until little #3 comes along :)

Watch Out Girls

This little boy is incredibly charming!

He might just weasel his way into your heart!

You can't say I didn't try and warn you!!!!!

process vs product

I really really enjoy arts and crafts with young children! It is so fun to watch them explore, experiment and learn how to be creative. It can be so hard not to push them to "make something." In our own craft time that is our goal, to have an end product. But out goal for young children is for them to enjoy the process. Sometimes they have their own ideas about the end product and sometimes they just like experimenting with the materials. They are learning how it works. They are learning what they like. They are learning, learning LEARNING! It can be so hard because it can be messy. It can be hard for us because they take something really neat looking to us and ruin it by wiping it off, gluing over it, etc. But in the end if you allow them to take the lead and give them free reign with the materials (of course that doesn't mean it is okay to color on the wall, eat the materials, etc) they learn to be creative people. They learn how things work. They learn that they are capable, competent and can make things THEY are proud of.

I think this article that my friend showed me says it so much better than I am doing so I suggest you read it when you get a chance! http://www.handsonaswegrow.com/2012/01/parenting-learning-to-let-go.html

Anyway....encouraged by reading this article I went and added some more materials to our art box! When I was a teacher it was so much easier for me to do these activities because the classroom already has those materials and is set up to do that. At home I sometimes forget or can get intimidated about doing the same activities. I am so thankful for these helpful prods in the right direction. They continue to push me to be a better mother and a teacher! So we went to the store and got glue, glitter, glitter glue, feathers, poms, tape and ribbons. I showed her how to squeeze the glue, and shake the glitter and pull down the tape so she could do it herself. Then I stood back and watched her explore. She LOVED it! I am so proud of my little artist!

The beginning of our art time

busy squeezing...so good for her hand strength

so busy

Her creation!

Hmm..maybe I would like to add some feathers

Then she decided she needed to wipe some of it off....this took some control on my part. I wanted to say, "NO it look so good don't wipe it off." But she thought that is what it needed and was glad to have done it!

The end result!

We are both looking forward to more art time! I am trying to get better at bringing it out more often and saying yes when she asks as much as I can!

Shoes

 I got this little boy his first pair of shoes!!! He has been pulling up so much and spending more time out of his carseat in public so I though it was about time to get him some. I can't believe how grown up he looks with them on.

Playing

Can you tell we have had a day with lots of playing?!?! Wow! Haha

Surprise

Guess what?!?!?

Are you as surprised as we are?

I doubt it!

Are you as excited as we are?

I hope so!!!

I had a doctor appointment today and we had a sonogram. We saw the teeniest tiniest little baby in there! The heart was beating strong around the 160's. I am 7 weeks and will be due September 2, 2012.

Want to hear a funny story? I had my first period in November and did the math and expected the next one on Christmas Eve (tmi...sorry..I dont have a filter). So Christmas Eve came and went and I didn't think about it too, much because I was still nursing exclusively and thought that could probably mess my schedule up. It was New Years Eve and I decided to take the test so I could have peace of mind and get to enjoy a few adult beverages. I was sure it would be negative. I took the test and it took a long time to come up so while it was blinking and telling me it was thinking I relaxed and thought, "I am wasting my money taking this, of course it was going to be negative." Then up pops, "PREGNANT." I seriously stared at it in disbelief forever. I was NOT expecting it to say that. Hahaha! This baby already has a little mind of its own. Cannot wait to welcome it to our crazy and busy family. And in case you were counting...yes this makes 3 children under 3 years!!! Let the adventures begin! What an awesome way to ring in the new year. Now I am super excited for 2012!!!! :)

A Couple of Things

Thing 1: Pierce slept from 7:30 pm to 6:30am last night! Praise GOD!!!!! I really really needed that. Here's to hoping we are on a decent schedule now (please, oh please, oh please, oh please).

Thing 2: Saffryn is using the potty without any help now (except I double check the wiping...yay).  She is also currently singing A Holly Jolly Christmas while sitting on the pot. Hahah. And that is why 2 year olds are awesome...and hilarious!

The Future

You know what I really want? I want to find someone from the future who will talk to me for a bit about my children. I want to hear how they are doing 5,10,15 years from now. I want to hear, "You are doing a good job. Keep it up, this will really benefit your children years from now." Or "You need to kick this behavior now it is only going to get worse." Or "He will out grow this shortly so don't worry, too much about it." Or maybe even "Yes this is her strength. Continue to develop it...it will serve her nicely in the future." Wouldn't that be so nice?!?!

But until one of you kind readers show me how to get in touch with someone from the future who will actually talk with me, I am stuck feeling this thing out. I will continue to listen to my children's cues and respond the best I can. I will try and balance my selfish desires of taking care of my needs with my un-selfish desires of meeting my children's needs. I will try and rest in the fact that God has our back. I will remember I am a flawed human and therefore a flawed mother. I will make mistakes. This actually takes a lot of pressure off of me. God is the ultimate healer and restorer and he will take care of my children if they let him.

So in the meantime I will try and trust God myself. I will take a deep breath and ask for His guidance. I will rest in the fact that he intrusted me with the care of these awesome children. It is a precious and important job! Not an easy one mind you. It is full of questions and what ifs and am I's. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. And in the future I hope I am able to tell young moms,  "You know what...this is a hard job. But you are doing a good job. Hang in there...the things you are doing will benefit your children greatly. Most of all love them with all you have and let God take care of you. Rest in the fact that he loves you and your children dearly."

Creations

I am loving this girl's clothing creations these days! Here is a little taste of what I get to enjoy daily. She puts them all on by herself! I LOVE it!!!!

Tomato Soup

When we eat grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch it gets kinda messy...so we just go ahead and take her shirt off and enjoy every last drip!

SO tasty!!!

outside

We had a really nice day so we spent the afternoon outside!

Love these kids!!!

Playing in the rice table together. I cannot get over how big Pierce seemed to me!

This kid LOVES to explore!

What fun!

A boy's best friend!

Cheese

And he is off to try and keep up with his busy sister...good luck!!!

8 Months Old

• Mr. Pierce is now 8 months old!

• He is a cuddler! He loves to be held and kissed!!!

• He is SO busy

• He has a full head of blond hair. He might need to get a hair cut soon!!!

• He has a tooth!!!!

• He loves to play with his sister

• He is a great eater and is doing so well with solids!

• He likes to explore and loves to be hands on

• He smiles and laughs a lot

• He is our sensitive boy and still makes the saddest faces

• He is an absolute joy and Dan and I could not love him any more!!!

Dear Sleep

I am writing you to let you know why I haven't been spending as much time with you recently. We used to spend so much quality time together and now our time is very limited. I am not going to use the old "It's not you it's me line" because it is not you or me. Actually it is my children. They just don't feel completely comfortable with you yet. I have tried many many different things to help them get comfortable with you and get to spend more time with you, but it is not helping as much as I was hoping it would.

You know Saffryn pretty well but the truth about her is she always seems to have one ear open to the world so as not to miss anything. This can really hinder your time with her. Don't take it too personally though, she is just too busy for her own good. She does not always see how good it is to spend time with you.

Pierce is getting more comfortable with you, but seems to need me as a buffer once or twice a night. Thanks for being patient because I can tend to want to push him out of this phase and forget sometimes it just takes time.

There will come a time when my children will meet with you regularly without my assistance. That will free me up to have more time with you and I am SO looking forward to it. But in the mean time thank you for your patience. I am not sure how long this will last, but I know it is better for your long term relationship with them if I help support them now. I know how good you are for us and appreciate even the slightest meeting we get to have. I have come to appreciate you so much more and do not take you for granted like I used to.

I just wanted you to know why I had to leave your presence so often during the night. Just remember it is not you...they are slow to warm up to everyone :)

xoxo
Tylie

Solid Foods

I am learning so much about Pierce these days. Some of the things I have learned about his eating habits are:

He HATES baby rice and oatmeal. He gags with each mouth full and gets so fussy. I thought it was just the newness of solid foods but he does not gag on other foods we have tried. I mean he gags EVERY bite any time I try it with him. HA!

He has tried sweet potato, apples and bananas so far and loves them all.

He loves to feed himself. It makes a big mess but it is so good for his eye hand coordination.

One day Saffryn was eating crackers for a snack. He was watching and kept reaching and trying so desperately to get one. I decided to try it and just see how he would do. He was a pro! He took tiny bites and gummed them to death.

He loves to be a big boy and is wanting to eat more and more solid foods. Now I have to get busy and make him some more things. Next up: carrots, peas, green beans, pears, blueberries...yum!

Isn't fun learning things about your children!!!!

Trouble Maker

How can you tell if someone has been up to trouble? Well in this case the trouble stuck to his foot and followed him out. Smooth. Real smooth. Hahahah!

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Husband

I just want to take a few minutes out of my crazy kid filled life to appreciate my husband! He is so thoughtful. He is so supportive. He constantly reminds me that we are on the same team...and I love that about him. I love that we are going through this journey TOGETHER! He makes my life easier in so many ways. I am so glad we get to laugh together, get sick together, get sleepless nights together and just stand back and enjoy our kids together. He is the BEST!!! He works hard so I can stay home with my kids (which by the way is the biggest gift he could have ever given me). I could go on and on...but I just want to say, "Thanks!!!" I LOVE YOU!

Sensory for 2

I decided to make some playdough today for Saffryn. We tried playdough with her a while ago and she did not care about it at all. So I decided to try again and have her help make it! Well once I got the flour out and had her start stirring I realized it was going to quickly turn into THIS !!! So I picked up the playdough and made it myself...and you guessed it...got flour out for the kids to play with. Pierce made a beeline straight for it, which I was not expecting. They both had a blast!!! Then we got to play with playdough afterward! What a fun and eventful morning!!!

Let the adventure begin!

Can you tell he was enjoying himself!

The playdough I made

Haha!

Had to have a flour face shot!

They were LOVING it!

She was covered in it.

Teehee! Such a busy boy who doesn't want to miss anything!

We had such a fun morning.