Phew. Oh and...

So just a little update about Mr. Climber. He has in fact repeated his new trick of climbing out of his crib. However he has not made the connection that he can do it whenever he wants and instead of sleeping.

PHEW! I know it is only a matter of time, but for now I repeat...phew!

Oh and...we have a little Hercules around here. Saffryn broke the cabinet door. Saffryn did this while playing with a stroller. It caught on the edge of the stroller and somehow ripped it right in the middle. It made an incredible noise!!! She felt so bad about it. I still have no idea how she was strong enough to break it. Haha

5 Months Old

This guy is 5 months old!



Here is what he is up to:

MILESTONES:
He is working on sitting up! He is still a bit wobbly but is really doing well!
He is interested in toys and can grab them and put them in his mouth.
In fact he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth including my hair, his fingers, his clothes or blankets...

EATING:
He is still only breast feeding. Still on a no dairy diet. He eats about every 2 hours during the day and can go longer stretches at night. I am in no hurry to start solids and may wait another month or maybe even 2. He is obviously getting plenty to eat and I just want his tummy to have a chance to grow and hopefully grow out of this dairy intolerance thing.




SLEEPING:
We were making some good progress on the sleep issue. Then he got a head old. Now he is waking often and needing to be with his momma. Once he is feeling better we will hopefully see improvements on this again. Also he is an incredibly light sleeper. I am thinking that might be why the boys had a hard time sharing. Colt wakes up at the slightest noise and has since he was little little. It is so weird to me because no one else in our family is a light sleeper.





LIKES:
He loves his siblings. He likes to be talked to and have attention. He loves to jump in his exersaucer. He likes when I sing to him. He likes when daddy rough plays with him (I mean seriously at 5 months?!?! Do boys really just come out ready to wrestle???).

DISLIKES:
He hates being by himself. He hates when he sees the big kids run off and leave him (motivation to crawl maybe?). Hates sleeping in his crib...or maybe just away from mommy.




OVERALL:
He is my sweet and sensitive boy. He is so easy to make smile and laugh. He can brighten up a room. Last night as he was crying and having trouble sleeping I brought him into my bed and layed down next to him and he opened his eyes saw me and gave me THE BIGGEST smile ever. Then he dozed off to sleep. Melted my heart. Which was needed considering he was up every 2 hours after that. LOL!



He is my special boy! We all love him so dearly and feel blessed to have him in our family!



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5 month comparison

Colt at 5 months old



Saffryn




Pierce




What do you think?


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This Could Get Interesting

Saffryn and Pierce were playing in the boys room while I was folding clothes in the living room with Colt. Saffryn runs out of the room very excited.

S: "Mom, Pierce knows how to climb out of the crib by himself!!!"

Oh boy...he sure didn't 5 minutes ago.

Thanks for teaching him big sister, bedtime was seeming rather dull. Or NOT!!!  Hahaha! :)

This could get very interesting very quickly. I was NOT ready for him to be done with his crib. Let's hope it was a fluke not easily repeated!

I will be sure and let you know!!!

Spoken Gems

Saffryn got a Ken Barbie for Christmas and it has been a popular toy around here. One night while my mom was in town she was playing Barbies with Saffryn and Pierce. Pierce kept wanting to put the Ken on the little potty we have for them. A nice little conversation about anatomy followed.

Saffryn: "Mom, boys have a penus and girls have baginas."
Me: "Yup, that's right."
Saffryn: "Okay Pierce let me see that boy. I will help you wipe his bottom."

They took off his pants and Saffryn lets out an audible gasp.

Saffryn: "That's NOT a penus! That's a BAGINA!!!!!

Oh we all about died laughing. Sorry Mattel but my 3 year old is unimpressed by your inaccurate representations of men. Welcome to having little brothers!!!






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New Tactic

So the whole "putting Colt in his crib and sharing a room with Pierce" thing didn't quite work out for us. I think in time it will. But Colt still wakes up at night and can have a hard time getting settled down for the night. It really stressed Pierce out to have us coming in and out and having Colt cry. The boys would just feed off of each other and took a LONG time for them to both fall asleep.

So we instead put Colt in a pack n play in the living room! LOL! We are just slowly moving him across the house. This is great because he is learning to sleep by himself but isn't waking (or getting awoken by) the other kids.

He is doing really well in it so far. He has been going to sleep between 7-8pm. He sometime stirs a few times wanting his binky but sometimes sleeps until his nightly feeding. He then wakes up once between 12-3 (every night is different) to eat then goes straight back to the pack n play. Then he wakes for the day about 6am. Not too bad!

I was ready to kick this kid out of our room but now that he is gone I have really been missing him! LOL. I know. I am seriously ridiculous. But I love all the baby cuddles and it makes me a tad sad to know he is growing up and away from needing to sleep with me. It just goes so fast. BUT it is really nice to be getting sleep. :)

In a few months we will try putting the boys together again!

Until then...

Keys. Loud.

A while ago we got a veggie tales sing along cd as a gift for the kids. We thought we would try it out while driving around and the kids immediately LOVED it. We have since gotten a few more super cheesy praise and worship kids cds. Dan and I feel really cool rocking out to "Jesus Loves Me" sung by elementary kids while driving around. However, if one or both of the kids are throwing a tantrum we turn on the kids music they calm down and sing along. We call that a win.

So the other day the kids music finished up and another cd came on. The Black Keys to be exact.
Saffryn: "Mom, can we have the kids music again."
Me: "Ok." I then lean over to push the button to change it back.
Pierce: "NO!!!"
Me: "You don't want me to change it? You like the Black Keys?"
P: "huh ho."

YES!!!! Needless to say we listened to The Black Keys instead :)

A few days later we were all back in the car and I was telling Dan the story. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke so I again turned on The Black Keys and asked Pierce if he likes The Black Keys.
P:"Keys"
Me: "You like them?"
P: "Keys. Loud."
Me: "Oh is it to loud?." I reach to turn it down.
P: "NO!!! Keys. Loud."
Me: "Oh you want The Black Keys louder???"
P: "Huh ho."

I turn it up and Pierce starts nodding his head totally rocking out.

This kid is going places!

Tomorrow

Last night Colt did so much better in his crib! He slept until 2am when he woke to feed then was woken up by Pierce crying (totally random and I have no idea why he woke up) at 5am.

Tonight however he has refused to sleep anywhere except in my arms. I am not entirely sure what to do.

So I am snuggling him and enjoying it. I will worry about the consequences later.

As my dear Scarlett O'Hara says, "I can't think about that right now. If I do I will go crazy. I will think about it tomorrow."

Great advice! Goodnight! :)

This Boy

Is rockin the orange socks today!




He is still in his crib at night. He is also still waking up a lot.

But look at that smile! Worth it. Every night.


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Crib

Well I did it!!!

Last night I put Colt to sleep in his crib. It was pretty rough, not gonna lie. Trying to figure out the timing between the two boys so they wouldn't wake each other up was tricky. But we did it! He stirred a few times between 7-9pm but I gave him his binky and he went back to sleep. Then he slept until 12am. I wasn't sure if he was hungry or what but decided to feed him because it had been about 5.5 hrs. He ate great and fell right back to sleep until 2:30. I tried for about 30 minutes to put him back to sleep using his binky and keeping him in his crib. That did NOT work. I was really nervous about him waking up Pierce so I just gave up and fed him. He again ate great and went easily back into his crib. Then he woke up at 5. I was too tired to deal so I just picked him up and put him in bed with me (without feeding). LOL. I know, I know...but it WAS progress so I wont be too hard on myself. We both woke up for the day at 7am.

Tonight was round 2 of crib. Again getting both of the boys to sleep is tricky. I am still trying to figure out what would be the best way to do that. But they are currently both asleep so I call it a win! Colt has stirred a couple of times since 7:30 it is currently 10:30 but giving him a binky has done the trick.

Hoping he sleeps for a few longer stretches tonight. This momma is tired. But happy. And proud.

Four Months

Littlest boy Colt is 4 months old!!!




He weighs 19 lbs 11 oz in the 98% and is in the 71% in height at 25 3/4 inches. He is in 12 month clothes. Let that soak in for a minute. Yes, 12 MONTH CLOTHES AT 4 MONTHS OLD! Big o'l boy!



He can roll both ways. He is SO loud! He loves attention. He loves to jump. He no longer thinks eating is the best thing and gets distracted if the kids are around. He is still only breast feeding.



He has recently started waking up during the night. Boo! I am not sure why, but the last few weeks he has started to wake up one to four times. He still sleeps in our room. I keep trying to gear myself up to put the boys together but I keep being a chicken!!! But now that he is waking up so much I know we need to try something new but I am worried about the boys waking each other up. He also hates, I mean HATES his crib. He is currently sleeping in a nap nanny my friend let me borrow. Oh we have some work to do with this boy. Oh well...we will figure it out!



I am still dairy free and it has been the best decision. Several people have commented on how happy he seems now and they didn't know about the diet change! His diapers are totally normal now! Yay!!! In a few months I will slowly add it back in and see how he does with it.




This little boy is so sweet! He is so much fun! He hates being by himself. He loves his siblings, who sure love him back. He prefers his momma over anyone else (yay). I can't believe he is getting close to 5 months old. Sheesh!



Love you littlest boy!



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4 Months Later

Here is Colt as a newborn:








Here is Colt at 4 months old:




Here is Colt as a newborn:




Here he is 4 months later:




Oh how I love this boy!!!


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Just Like Me

Did you know Saffryn has a baby just like me? She tells me her and I both have a baby. It's the strangest thing because he gets hungry and needs to nurse the same time Colt does. He gets lonely and likes to be with everyone just like Colt. He has dirty diapers when Colt does. He takes naps and now he has a carseat, you guessed it...just like Colt! What a strange coincidence! ;) Her baby has been around for a while. He is no other than Special Bunny! You can see some of his previous adventures http://lifemahoney.blogspot.com/2011/08/adventures-of-bubby.html?m=1

Saffryn got a carseat for bunny for Christmas (thanks Gigi and Papa)!!! This has been great fun for her and takes her job as a mother very seriously! But if you ask her she replies, "I am not the momma. I am the Saffryn." It sure is fun having someone around who can relate to having a baby to take care of. LOL!!!

This morning we had some grocery shopping to do. I brought my baby and so did Saffryn.

We went to Dillons and they have carts just her size. She asked where I was putting Colt. So I showed her. Can you guess what happened next?

She was VERY excited to shop with me!

So we walked up and down the isles together getting necessary items. She loves to help get them off the shelf and into the cart. When we were done our carts looked very similar.

We then went home and unloaded the car and took care of groceries.

Phew. It's a lot of work being a momma. Right, Saffryn?!?! :)

Dairy Free

I have been dairy free for a little over a week. Can you believe it?!?! Ya me neither.

Why?

Well let me back up to October. Remember when Colt was sick with a virus and was at the hospital. It was NO fun. Well around that time his dirty diapers changed. I wont get into too much detail because I know you really don't want to talk about those contents. So I will just say it wasn't alarming per se just abnormal.

I started doing some research (what did moms ever do before the internet) and found that diapers can change with viruses. Well he did just have one. So I ignored it for a bit. Well, it continued on and I thought it could be a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance. So I worked on making sure Colt was getting the hindmilk. The diapers didn't change.

So I talked with the PA at his 2 month check up. She said since he wasn't a fussy baby and was sleeping and growing well not to worry about it. I asked if I should change my diet and she said I really didn't need to.

So I decided to try and ignore it and not worry. It still nagged me though. So through the Month of November I just let it go. Well during the month of December his diapers seemed to get worse. He would scream when he went potty and his bottom was getting sore. He still wasn't a "fussy" baby but his dirty diapers were now a problem.

So the day after Christmas I decided to just try and get off dairy. When doing my research that was one of the possible reasons for the abnormality. I figured the worst it could do is be an inconvenience but the best is it could help baby Colt. I also learned that it can take up to 2 weeks for all the milk protein  to leave my milk so I need to try it for 3 weeks before any decisions can be made.

So thanks to a couple of my friends who have made this same kind of journey before me I started my week dairy free and loaded with tips and recipes.

And after the first week here are my findings:

1. So for the last several months Colt would wake up screaming somewhere between 4-6am with a very big dirty diaper. I mean up his back, out the sides, ect... yes. Every. Morning. I thought it was just something he did and didn't think too much about it. Well after being off dairy for just a few days those early morning blowouts are gone. Who would have thought?!?! In fact I can't even remember the last time this week that he had a "blowout" anytime of day.

2. His bottom is better. His frequency  of dirty diapers is also wayyyy down. The color has improved and is looking so much more normal.

3. I would never have described Colt as a fussy baby. But he is so much happier now. Multiple sources have commented on it to me so I know I am not just crazy. He smiles so SO much easier now. He laughs and is content for longer stretches. 

So it looks as though I will be staying off dairy for several months. I so wished I would have listened to my gut months ago when I asked the PA about it. But since he wasn't fussy I just kept putting it off. Oh well. Now I know and will move forward.

So since my friends gave me so many resources the transtion hasn't been to hard. I have found it takes more work and thought but is not impossible. So that has been a pleasant surprise. But getting of all dairy (and I do mean ALL) has given me so many strong cravings. I was not expecting that. I am also hungry a lot and need to eat fairly often. I guess since my fat intake is way down I just need more things to sustain me.

So that is why I am dairy free. And you know dairy free ice cream (coconut milk) and butter (palm oil) really aren't that bad. Actually they are yummy. Who knew? Lol!

So here is to the next few dairy free months. :)

Snow Day

We finally got snow!!! It was so beautiful with large flakes falling slowly to the ground. But the best part??? Dan was home with us to enjoy it! So we all went out and had a fun adventure in the snow! Once we got outside we decided to take the dogs* for a walk on the golf course near our house.

*No we did not get a new dog. Froggie our dogphew (you know dog nephew. As in Dans' sister's dog. Clever, I know....) spent the holidays with us.

We all had so much fun. The kids loved walking around, playing in the snow and chasing after the crazy dogs. The dogs had fun sprinting all over the place, chasing some geese and running into neighbor's yards (oops). Froggie also got confused at one point and almost went through our next door neighbor's dog door. Thankfully our neighbor was outside and thought it was funny!!! He helped us get him back to our yard where we played a bit longer.


Snow days are the best. What fun we all had!!!

Survival Tip

When you have small children at home there are times you are just trying to survive. You are just making it through the day. You learn little tricks here and there to help make the day flow a little bit smoother. Well maybe "you" don't...but I do! I know this is not going to get me any "mother of the year" awards. Some of you may not like what I share or completely disagree with them. But you know what? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get through the day and I am okay with that!

So as these tips come to me or happen I will share them! So without further ado here is my survival tip #1:

DO NOT BE ABOVE BRIBING

Yup that's right. I bribe my children. You know what else? Marshmallows are like crack for my children. Seriously they will do just about anything for one!

Yes, I would really like my children to be intrinsically motivated. I would love to say, "Time to clean up." and have my children willingly and easily comply. But they don't. They fight me about cleaning up HARD. And let me be real with you...I do not have the time or energy to spend an hour (maybe more) every day guiding them to clean up. I just dont.

So Dan and I came up with this little trick. One mini marshmallow for every item/items picked up. It looks a little something like this:

"Okay pick up all your shoes and put them in your closet. When you come back you can get a marshmallow."

I have never seen my children move so quickly!

"Okay, now pick up all your books and put them on the shelf."

They are like little blurs by this point.

When it is all said and done the kids get about 5-10 mini marshmallows and I get to have a clean room. Oh and it takes 10 minutes or less. I call that a win.

Like I said this might not be for everyone...but I am totally not above bribing my children. I don't know what I am going to do when marshmallows lose their luster...

Hope you enjoyed. Please share some of your survival tips, too!!!!