"Sleep Learning" Night 4

Last night was supposed to be Katie's last night with a feed, but since she was up at 4 again, and had a hard time going back to sleep, I didn't wake her for her little 1 oz feed. I ended up getting her shortly after 6, because she wasn't settling well. We snuggled for a bit then went downstairs for an early breakfast. She did sleep from around 8 until 4, so an eight hour stretch, but it took her a very long time to go to sleep last night. She ended up needing an early nap, so i put her down around 830, and she was out in minutes, allowing me to get a much needed nap as well. Katie woke up just in time for Izzy to get here to play. I put her down for another nap around 1230, which lasted about an hour and a half. By the time bed time came around, she was ready for sleep, and quite happily followed her bed time routine, and was asleep within 15 minutes again. Here's hoping for a good sleep tonight, since we're going to the park for a picnic with a bunch of people tomorrow and she may not get a morning nap. that's the end of "sleep Learning", we'll give it a few more days her to adjust to the routine, but it seems to be going well, she's getting at least an 8 hour stretch now after only a few nights, so I'm hopeful that i might soon get more sleep ♥

"Sleep Learning" Night 3

For the second night in a row, I was able to sit on my ass, relax and watch an un-interrupted movie with my wonderful man ♥ This was a non-existent activity prior to sleep learning. We watched Thor, which I enjoyed. I think we might be watching fast5. since we haven't watched any movies in quite awhile, we need to play catch up. Anyways. Last night went well, I believe it only took her 15 minutes to fall asleep. She did wake once during our movie, but it was very briefly. I woke her again at 1030 for her last 1030 feed, of only 1 oz. She had a dry diaper still and went back to bed in the same dry diaper. Between 1030 and 5, she fell out of her bed twice???? strange... she hasn't done that in a very very long time. So Elijah went and put her back in bed both times. Close to 430, she woke up, and of course i had to let her put herself back to sleep, but by 5, I was able to go in a feed her. The 5 am wake up is going to be hard on her I think. It's going to take a few more days after tonight before she'll sleep until 7. Tonight is the very last night of night time feeds. She gets one bottle at 5 am with only 1 oz in it. and then tomorrow all the bottles are going in the cupboard for good.

Naps still aren't going too well.This mornings nap was okay, but this afternoon it took her 45 minutes to fall asleep, even though she was tired. Times like those, you just want to go upstairs and snuggle with her, but you know it won't make any difference.

Here's hoping the next few nights go well, and that she doesn't fall out of bed anymore haha. Izzy's coming over for a play date tomorrow morning, so Katie will probably end up only having one nap in the middle of the day, which should be longer and go a little smoother. Keeping my fingers crossed.

"Sleep Learning" Night 2

Last night went quite well. Justin, Brandy and the kids came over for a fire, and I was able to put Katie to bed without her seeing them. I think it only took her 15 minutes total to fall asleep last night. She woke briefly just as I was going for a shower, but fell back asleep quickly. I woke her at 1030 and fed her 2 0z. Again at 2 am I woke her and gave her 1 oz. She was dry both times. 4 minutes before I was going to wake her for her next feed, she woke and so I had to wait for her to fall back asleep for me to feed her. This time her diaper wasn't dry. I bet that if she hadn't woken up until 5 when i went to get her, that she would have still been dry. The 5 am feed was the only one she fussed after, but it didn't last more than a minute before she was back asleep.

Come 730ish, she woke up and Elijah went and got her, she had a wet diaper by the time her got to her, but it was fresh as well. He then brought her into our room, where she snuggled with mum and dad for a good fifteen minutes :) Naps weren't as successful, but the book did say that sleep learning at nap time took longer than night time.

Tonight, Katie will only have 1 oz at 1030, and 2 oz at 5. Here's hoping for another good night!

On another subject, I would make a poor hunter gatherer. We went for a walk today on the trails with the pups to pick raspberries. I LOVE wild raspberries, they may be tiny, but they're delicious. Anyways, we came back with maybe 1/4 of my container full.

To make up for it, we had a little fire tonight and cooked up some fish and potatoes. The fish was great, the potatoes weren't done...so we ate our pie first...

Brandy make a lemon meringue pie the other day, and inspired me to make a pie :)

Mmmmm I LOVE apple pie.

 We ate half the pie...and didn't have room for our potatoes, so we're going to be having them for breakfast in the morning with toast and eggs :)

"Sleep Learning" Night 1

While visiting the health clinic for Katie's 1 year immunizations, the nurse lent me a book to read on helping your child sleep better. We've decided to give it a try, since our little one's sleep habits aren't really existent. Last night was night one. I think it went well for the first night. After falling asleep, her only rough spot was between 4 and five in the morning. On the schedule I had made based on previous nights, I was to wake her to feed her at 5 am, but she woke earlier than anticipated. Usually she'll come into bed with me when she first wakes in the morning, but from now she'll be sleeping in her own bed all night, in her own room. I know I'm going to miss my early morning snuggles with my little girl, but I really wouldn't be able to let her cry at all by herself if she was in the same room as me. Overall though, the night went great!

My only issue with trying this method, was that we've had such great success with keeping her dry all night, that I didn't want to take a huge step backwards. Last night however, she went to bed without even taking her water, so when I woke her up for a feed at 1030 before i went to bed, she was dry. Again at 2 am, she was dry. Since we let her put herself back to sleep until 5 am, she wasn't dry at that point, but at least it wasn't a soaking wet diaper.

I think that tomorrow night, once the 2am feed is completely gone ( it was only 2 oz last night, 1 oz tonight, and then nothing form then on) I'll find she has a dry diaper come the 5 am feed. Even once the 1030 feed is gone ( which should be Sunday night since she only had 3 oz last night) She should be dry come 5 am. On Monday night, however, it will be interesting to see if she's dry in the morning, if not, then how wet her diaper is. Next week she shouldn't be waking at all throughout the night to feed or anything. If I do find that she is wet, and it's not fresh from just waking up, then I might get Elijah to take her for a pee when he gets up for work in the mornings.

Overall, it was a good night I think, and I don't believe that it will set us back much with nighttime EC.

On a side note, Once we get a bed frame for her mattress, and she stops pulling all the books off the shelves instead of going to sleep, I'll take pictures of what her room looks like now, as opposed to when there was a crib and change table in there. I really like it ♥ What I don't like, is that now the dogs can sleep in our room again, and Jojo licked his paws for half the friggen night, keeping me awake. Lets see just how long they stay in our room for...my bet is, not very long if her keeps it up.

Baby number 2

I didn't think he was able to get a good picture, but apparently he was ♥

Just another sunny day

I just came back inside from sharing a few minutes by the garden with my daughter. As first time gardeners,  We're starting small with easy plants to grown, and are learning with each step. Last year we planted peas on one side of the yard, they were very successful on their own. On the other side of the yard we planted a few different plants, which were all left to fight for their lives among the weeds that weren't picked. I was pregnant and it seems everyone else I asked ( Elijah ♥ ) were to busy to weed the garden. Needless to say, it didn't thrive on it's own like the peas did. This year, we let the peas garden grow over with weeds and we focused on our small garden on the other side. In it I intended on planting peas, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and carrots. Of these, i managed to plant all but the lettuce. Apparently I lack the talent needed to grow lettuce. They didn't even live to be planted. My yard is on a slope, and my crops seem to be thriving on a decline as well. The ones at the top are larger and the ones at the bottom...not so much. I think next year we'll be making  flat, even garden bed for them, and see if that makes a difference. My peas are delicious, with new ones ready to pick daily. My tomato plants have numerous little yellow flowers just waiting to turn into tomatoes. ( I must have planted late, I don't think they will be ready before the frost hits) my broccoli.. oh my poor broccoli. It's being eaten alive by little green caterpillars, which turn into beautiful little white butterflies. I'm really not looking forward to removing them, because I'm not one for bugs, but it seems that my little broccoli plants have more holes in the leaves that actual leaf left. There is no sign of the flower yet, so I'm beginning to wonder how long those will take as well. the plants are quite larger, and next year I'll be planting one row only, so that they aren't so crowded. My carrots didn't get planted until we left for vacation, but they seem to be doing well now that the front part has been weeded and they're not being starved of sunlight or fighting for nutrients in the soil. (I really need to re learn my English, I'm sure this should have been about eight different paragraphs by now)

After showing Katie the garden, and inspecting the beating my broccoli plants have taken, we picked a few peas and sat on the hammock to share them. To my delight, Katie loved them. Homegrown, freshly picked ... REAL FOOD.

It got me thinking about one of the reasons why I want a piece of land. I want my children to know where their food comes from and what it takes to produce what they consume. I want them to know the difference between  what store bought and homegrown food tastes like. Most of all, I want them to truly appreciate everything we take for granted in our modern world.

Peaceful moments

You know the feeling when the world just feels right? I've had a few of those lately.

One was while we were camping in Rockwood and i was putting Katie to bed. I pulled out her books and lay down beside her to hopefully read her one. She scooted next to me, snuggled up to me and let me actually read her a book for the first time. Then another, and another. She then sat up and flipped through each of them ( instead of trying to eat the books) by herself for close to 15 minutes.

Another was the other night, when i was trying to give her her milk in a sippy cup instead of her bottle, but she was refusing. She decided that snuggling with mom for near an hour was better than milk form a sippy cup. I know i should have just caved and given her her milk so she would sleep, but that nice, long, peaceful snuggle period with my daughter was very just so relaxing and needed.

I have been blessed with an amazing man as a husband, who has given me the greatest gifts i could ever ask for;
our child(ren) and the chance to stay home with them and watch them learn and grow.

Tomorrow is our "twenty week" ultrasound with baby number two. This one kicks and rolls around like crazy! I can't wait to see who's hiding in there ♥ no we won't be finding out the sex, but I'm very excited to get a glimpse of the little one and make sure he or she is healthy and growing well.

EC update

I had told Elijah that once Katie goes two weeks without a wet diaper at night, we would put her to bed diaper free. While on vacation, she was dry every night but one. That was the night after she had been up five time the night before. Her and Sophie went to bed early and woke up a little while later thinking it was a nap. It was a fight to get them back to sleep, and I think we may have put her to bed in a wet diaper :(. Anyways, she woke up for her first feed wet, and also in the morning didn't wake us up, just sat up in bed and played. So by the time we got up, she was wet. Aside form that night, she was dry every night for 19 days. That is, until we got home and I put her to bed diaper free. Our first night at home was a disaster. It was Katie's first day back on Alberta time as well as her first night sleeping alone since we left. She woke up for her first feed with wet shorts, thankfully the shorts took most of it, because I don't have a second set of sheets yet. Then I put her in bed with us, because she just wasn't sleeping. And the next time she woke, I told Elijah to make sure she didn't pee in our bed while I went to get the bottle. Simple enough instructions, basically, go hold her over the pee bucket until I get back. Apparently he didn't hear me and he was pretty grumpy when i returned saying how she peed in our bed. Oh well, not her fault. I ended up sleeping on a towel. Exciting. Anyways. Yesterday we bought another fitted sheet, of what I thought was a fitted sheet. turns out it's a flat sheet so I'll need to exchange it. We tried diaper free all night again. She had a pretty good sleep, back to her old routine of waking around 11, 130ish and 5. As well as once before we go to bed, just for a pee. She stayed dry all night and came to sleep with me after her 5 am feed ( a whole 2 oz) and slept until just after 7. Seems we're back on our old Alberta sleep schedule.

So things are going well at night, but during the day is about the same. When she poops, she normally stops what she's doing and looks at you as if you say " Aren't you going to help me? " And we still manage to catch a few pees each day, although not nearly as many as i'd like. She sits on her potty to play sometimes, so at least I know she has no problems getting on and off of it by herself. As for signals, she's started to sign for more, and before we left, she was signing potty either after or while she peed. Unfortunately she stopped doing that and has gone back to fussing, which could mean anything coming from her :) I'm still hopeful that she'll be 100% diaper free come December. If not, hopefully practicing EC right from the start with baby number 2 will help as well.

On a side note, I currently weigh 153.5 lbs. I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow. My pre-pregnancy weight with Katie was 155. Wow I must have lost ALOT of muscle.

Vacation, over!

After a busy, yet fantastic two and a half week vacation, we're home. Although we didn't take a single picture while we were gone, I did manage to steal all of my mom's photo's, and my in-laws will be sending us all of the ones they took. Here's part of our vacation in pictures:

Playing with cousin Sophie. I think the saddest part of leaving was knowing they won't see each other for another year.

Playing at camp. Too many people to see, not enough time to relax as a family, but good all the same.

Meeting a new friend. Courtney and Nathan came to camp for a day with Avery. the girls got to play together for a bit.

Seeing old friends. Megan and Kyle came to visit too! Along with Meg's boy friend Chris. It was a good time.

THE PICTURE ROCK. The whole family at camp

Katie turned one while we were there. Tons of friends and family came to say hi and meet her :)

Lady bug cupcakes ♥ Next time I won't be rushed when making these.

We also had Nanny's 75th party the day we got there, we had dinner in London with my uncle Rory, Went camping for a couple nights with Elijah's family, went to the butterfly conservatory, and went on a date just the two of us. Overall it was jam packed but worth every penny spent of getting there. Next time we come home will be with two kids instead of just one.