Small Things

Today was a great day. I don't want to forget it. Just because nothing momentous happened (well except for the part at the end about Jayden's bed time...), I think of it like "stopping to smell the roses", you still have to appreciate a good day.


First of all I spent it with my family. 


We slept in till 8:00 and then I made the best french toast ever.


We relaxed a little before heading to the Rec Center to go swimming.


It didn't take Jayden near as long this weekend as last weekend to get used to the water and we wore him out quickly. And I love the exercise.


We came home to eat lunch.


Jayden took the best nap of his life so far. He slept a solid two hours, even a little longer actually, and didn't have to be rocked back to sleep after 1 hour of sleeping.


During Jayden's nap, I took a shower, painted my nails, watched the rest of Grey's Anatomy, read some of my book and took a little nap. Wow. I can't even believe I got that much done during a nap time!


When Jayden woke up, we watched the Cowboys beat UNLV, #11 in the country, on TV.


We went to the grocery store which was planning ahead since tomorrow we'll be watching the Super Bowl along with the rest of the country.


We made a delicious dinner of Sloppy Joes (recipe is on this blog and one of our favorites which we haven't made in a long time).


And THEN, I put Jayden to bed in 15 minutes. Yep, that's right...15 minutes.


And now DJ and I are sitting on our new reclining loveseat watching a good movie that neither of us has seen before.


Good times. It's sometimes just about the small things and I don't want to forget it.

Sweet Dreams...What are those???

**Edited to add a part at the end that was inadvertently deleted**
Over here in Martinezville, we are completely up to our necks in trying to figure out how to help Jayden sleep better. We are in our 5th week of transitioning him to his own room and, although at times it appeared we were making some progress, this week has really been a challenge. It's always taken, at the very least, an hour to get Jayden to sleep and then he usually wakes about 2 times a night. Tuesday night, it took 3 hours to put him to bed and we finally just caved and let him sleep with us. He was sleeping in 5-10 increments at a time and at the rate it was going, it appeared that would be going on all night long and I had reached my breaking point. I felt like completely at a loss with how to help Jayden and it nearly broke my heart that he seemed so tired and was just unable to get comfortable and stay asleep.


It's been interesting.


But...


I am hopeful again.


We hired a sleep consultant. I would think I was crazy if I wasn't me (and already feeling a bit insane from lack of sleep) but we are truly to that point of desperation where we are trying anything. I filled out this huge long information consultation form (which will be funny to read when Jayden is a teenager and sleeping TOO much, I'm sure) and now we are waiting on a response. The sleep consultant will provide us with a plan based on the information that we provided and we'll give it a go. 


The nice thing about this consultant we hired is that there is a 100% guarantee which says basically that if we are not happy with the consultant (not necessarily the results since those could be awhile in coming, I'm hoping like 1-2 weeks) then we will get our money refunded. I also made sure that we provided our payment through PayPal so the consultant doesn't have access to our credit card information. I was a little wary of hiring someone I found on the Internet but after some decent research and finding out about the guarantee, I was ready to give it a go. I'll try to provide an update next week after we've had some time to put the new plan into action.


It's funny because I know every parent goes through this stage at some point. For us, Jayden was such a good sleeper almost the entire time we co-slept so we are just now encountering these sleep issues that a lot of parents encounter when the babies are much younger. I've had time to reflect on whether I would do it differently next time (which happens to be right around the corner) and you may be surprised to know that I wouldn't. I actually feel more comfortable handling the excessive crying/screaming that Jayden does now because he IS older. I think it would be so much more unnerving and worrisome if he was a 6 month old and going through this separation anxiety. In fact, I'm almost positive that I couldn't, and wouldn't, do it. 


For me, I don't feel comfortable letting my children cry-it-out. (And to be clear, when I refer to the cry-it-out method, I'm talking about leaving the child in a safe environment where he/she cries for a period of time before they (1) fall asleep or (2) the parent goes in and pats their back and reassures them before leaving the room again.) I know it works for so many people and now that I've had children, I can't even say that it's wrong. I say, to each his own. Because truly all the parents that I know love their children so much and would never do anything that they thought was harmful to their child. So I'm OK with other people using the Ferber/cry-it-out method. (Not that anyone needs my approval...) I've decided, however, that I'm not comfortable with that. And I have seen that DJ isn't either. I will admit we tried it twice though...sort of. One day for a nap, I put Jayden in his crib and he cried for 10 minutes before he started throwing himself against his crib. I felt I had to intervene before he gave himself a concussion. Another time DJ was at his wits end of how to get Jayden to sleep one night, and we tried it again. We made it 20 minutes that time before DJ went in and slept with Jayden in his room. Both times basically reinforced to me that crying it out wasn't the approach that would work for Jayden. 


The thing I really like about the sleep consultant is that she's not extreme to either side of the sleep method spectrum. She's kind of in the middle and willing to take into account each parent's philosophy and work with us. We are taking the approach where we stay with Jayden as he cries and often screams his little head off and rock and hold him until he falls asleep. We're not comfortable with leaving him in his room to cry and become anxious in order to exhaust himself and finally fall asleep but we are comfortable with him fussing/crying a little in order to fall asleep. We want him to get to a point where he can fall asleep on his own and sleep through the night. That's our goal.


Last night, because I absolutely refused to go another single, solitary night without changing something about our approach since what we were doing obviously was not working, we made a few changes. First we removed the front part of the crib to make it into a day bed. Jayden LOVED it. He ran right over to his bed and wanted to sit on it. We also decided to see what happened if we didn't feed him his usual pre-bedtime snack of Greek yogurt. We had been giving Jayden a serving of Greek yogurt every night for probably the past 2 months and it sort of hit me yesterday, that it wasn't working! He was still waking up in the middle of the night, seemingly starving and it didn't matter how much we fed him beforehand so we decided to forgo the yogurt. Lastly we decided to play his music all night long. Typically we would turn it off once he fell asleep or shortly thereafter but, desperate individuals that we are right now, we're trying everything big and small, so the music stayed on all night long.


I am happy to say that last night was much better. Not perfect by any means, it still took him an hour to fall asleep, screaming and crying ensued and he woke up once, again more screaming and crying before falling back asleep only 15 short minutes later and then he slept till 6! And he didn't eat anything the whole night, which is a big success because he is old enough to go a whole night without needing to eat. So we'll try it again tonight and see if the things we changed actually did make a difference or if it was just a fluke. Either way, I know help is around the corner and that's enough to get me through one more night.

Courageous

I have to give my two cents about the movie DJ and I went to see on Friday night. It actually knocked Crash (a movie that came out when I was in college) out of the #1 place on my favorite movies list. It was that good. I really haven't stopped thinking about it since we saw it; it made such an impact on me which is somewhat interesting because it is really aimed at men/fathers. But I really found that the women in the movie had quite an impact as well, in supporting roles.

I mentioned on Friday that we would be seeing this movie and that I was excited to see it because the movies that these directors put out always have a good message. Well this one was no different. The message was relayed in a very believable way that I could apply to my own life quite easily. The scenarios that were important to the plot of the movie were not far-fetched at all and in fact, most people could probably relate to them. Yes, the acting wasn't always spot on which is why this movie won't be getting any Academy Awards any time soon, but for me, I was able to overlook the few times that the acting was amateurish. I was more interested in seeing if the message was believable. And it was.

The movie was full of action, from suspense to comedy to tear jerker moments, it really had it all. The sad parts were devastating (to the point that I wanted to go to a corner and just sob my eyes out). The humorous parts were hilarious, laugh out loud moments (for those that have seen it...Snake Kings!!). And the suspense had me tightening up in my seat (there's one fight scene that is incredibly intense. Of course, this is no Saving Private Ryan and I can't speak for the men out there -- there idea of suspense is going to be different, I know that, but I can't help but feel that this movie was put together very well so that men and women alike could enjoy it.

Most importantly, this movie plot was centered around God's plan. As a Christian, it is very hard to watch a movie these days without finding at least one thing that could have been removed from the movie to make it "cleaner", often it is so much more than one thing. Even Disney movies these days need to be cautiously guarded! So when a movie like this comes along that is completely enveloped with scripture-based lessons and dialogue, it is hard not to love. For me, it made the movie all the more emotional because I knew this was what God wanted people so badly to hear. His message. I feel like the directors of this movie (Stephen and Alex Kendrick, by the way since I have mentioned them so many times) have really listened to God's call in their lives and that is evident in the success that their movies are having. I'm really not sure what a non-believer would think of this movie because God really is part of this entire movie. He's not just written in here and there. It's all about Him. So it makes me wonder if the main reason I love this movie so much IS because I'm a Christian and I believe 100% what this movie's message is all about. I was hoping that friends of ours who aren't believers would go to the movie this weekend after we told them how much we loved it just so I could hear their take on the movie. It would have been interesting to hear what they liked and didn't like. For this reason alone, I would suggest to Christians out there to support this movie just so there continues to be more movies like this one produced.

So, I obviously recommend this movie to anyone although I think young couples, parents and single people will probably get the most out of the message itself. And if you do see it or have seen it, I would really like to hear how my reaction to the movie compares to yours. A small part of me wonders if my pregnant hormones have played a part in this emotional response (especially when I can't watch anything about a mistreated or endangered child, especially young children about Jayden's age, without crying immediately). Regardless this is a movie I could watch over and over and it's one of the few that I feel motivated to buy.

Friday Randomness

It is snowing outside. And it's very cold. And I can't see the hills that are less than a mile from my house. Brrrr. Or beehhhhh as Jayden would say.


These are the books in the queue on my Kindle. I am excited to dive in to each one. My goal is to cut back on my TV watching and replace it with at least an hour of reading each day. I miss reading!

 I've started this one and it really makes you think! I love the way this author paints concepts in a very literal way. It's so much easier to wrap my head around some of the more complex things in the Bible and about God.

 This one was just recommended to me. It is written by Billy Graham's daughter.

 We are going through some desperate times with Jayden and bedtime and night waking and I'm still not 100% on board with letting Jayden just "cry it out". I think this book will have some helpful tips that will hopefully work and get us all sleeping again!

I need to throw some good fiction in there with all these non-fiction books that I'm reading. I like a good escape now and then and this author has been on my shortlist for so long and for some reason, I've just never read one of her books!


Tonight DJ and I have a date. We are going to see a movie that is being shown by a local church. It's called Courageous. I'm excited to see it because it is by the same directors that created Fireproof which you may have heard of. It was in the theaters a couple years ago. Every movie these directors make get better and better each time. I highly recommend all of them, even the earlier ones, because they have solid Christian messages (and the acting in the earlier movie Facing the Giants is somewhat amusing).

Speaking of date night, DJ and I are going to try trading off with another couple each week where we watch their daughter one evening and they get to do whatever they want and then the next week they will watch Jayden for us for a few hours. I'm excited about it because I have been wanting to find another family that we could do this with and the topic just kind of came up yesterday when we were chatting. We're starting this weekend because they are watching Jayden for us tonight and tomorrow we are watching their sweet daughter. It should be fun!


A friend moved away yesterday and it was pretty sad. It was really the first time that I've had someone move away from me; I'm usually the one doing the moving. She was one of the ladies in the group that I spend the most time with; she will be really missed. Her husband got a great opportunity though to work at the University of Missouri so we are all really happy for her and wish her the very best!


DJ and I bought a new reclining love seat a few weeks ago and I'm so ready for it to come! It might get here as early as next week. I'm nervous, to say the least, of how it's going to fit in with our current couch and love seat set. It seems to be much more "voluptuous" (can a couch be voluptuous?? I'm going to say it can.) and I'm afraid it's going to look out of place but it's something we've been wanting for quite some time (a recliner anyway, not necessarily a reclining love seat) and Ashley Furniture here in Laramie is going out of business so the sale was too good to pass up. We won't be living in this house forever so even if the love seat isn't the best match, I think I can live with it for now. Plus it will be comfortable and cozy and probably not too hard "to live with".

My coffee maker broke for the second time. I am waiting on my replacement to come (Keurig is really good about sending replacement machines when their machines break; I like that a lot since my machines keep malfunctioning) and in the mean time I have had to find other ways to get my coffee fix. I treated myself to a coffee from Starbucks yesterday and, at the recommendation from another friend's blog, I got a plain ol' coffee instead of the fancy lattes that I usually get when I buy a coffee. I have to say I was not disappointed. I tried the new Blonde roast and it was perfect since it's much milder than Starbucks' other roasts. I still paid way too much though for a plain ol' coffee so I'm ready for my new Keurig to arrive.


Since I started this post, I think another inch of snow fell outside...


Yesterday a fox ran across the road as Jayden and I were driving back to the house from his day care. So fun.


I think it's time to end this post since my thoughts are getting more and more sporadic. Have a great weekend!

Things I Love...Right Now

I have found that my tastes are always changing, things I like now are not necessarily things I liked 5 years ago but there are certain things that I've really enjoyed for quite awhile so those are the things I LOVE. It takes a lot for me to say I love something. It has to stand the test of time. So here are some things (somewhat random) that I can say that I LOVE at the moment!


Color: Various shades of blue
Color Theme: Gray and aqua
Book Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Series: Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon (I'm currently waiting for the next book in the series to come out!!)

Drink: Coffee
Frozen Drink: Big Train

Snack: Toast with any variation of toppings (Does that make me boring??)
Season: Spring (which is also my middle name and when my first daughter will soon be born!)
Household Appliance: Swivel Sweeper (given as a gift but it would have been the best $20 I ever spent if I had bought it for myself!)

Comfort Food: Breakfast foods...yummm

TV Show: Parenthood 

Game Show: Price is Right
Makeup: Bare Minerals

Group Activity: Board Games! (For the record, I love this because of the energy it puts into a group and how people really can have FUN together as opposed to just getting together and sitting around talking...wah wah wah...)
Vacation Location (so far): Sandals Jamaica and Italy - this is a total tie and I love each location for different reasons so I had to list both.
Splurge Activity: Spa Services (My dream vacation would be a spa vacation at a Sandals resort in Italy I think...oh man, I would never want to leave!)

Past time Activity: Reading
Clothing Accessory: Scarves, cozy ones in the winter and light airy ones in the summer!

That's about it for now I think. So very random of a post but I didn't want to leave you hanging while I thought of something more interesting so there you have it! Now you know more about me, if you didn't know it already!

A Bite to Eat

Jayden decided to show his skills with the spoon last night. I was so impressed because I didn't know he could do that! I'm not sure if it just clicked last night and he got it or if this is something that he's been practicing a lot at "school" but either way, he is quite the big boy when it comes to feeding himself now! He's eating some rice in this video and in the first part of the video I think there must be a grain stuck on the spoon which is why he keeps putting it in his mouth. So funny.

He impressed me even more this morning at 5:30 a.m. when he fed himself half of his bowl of cereal! It hit me how fast he's growing up.


On another note, I have started working out and I am loving it! Tuesday and Thursday nights I go to a workout class for prego ladies. It's quite a blast. Tuesdays is either Pilates or Yoga and I was very surprised to find out that a pregnant lady can do just about anything that a non-pregnant lady can do. I kind of knew it in my head but needed told by a professional because I was always afraid I might do something unknowingly that hurt the baby. Thursday nights is strength training. Bring on the defined muscles!! And I'm walking again in the mornings which is actually more of a workout then it used to be so I'm glad I started that up again. Here's to only weighing 25-30 pounds more this pregnancy (instead of 50...)!!!

Four Generations

DJ and I are both beyond blessed to have our grandparents in our lives. Unfortunately DJ's grandparents live a little further away right now but they graciously made the drive from Taos, NM while we were in Albuquerque to see us and Jayden (I think mostly Jayden though which is pretty typical these days... We completely understand though since he is pretty fantastic!). My grandparents live a little closer in Rapid City and we see them pretty frequently throughout the year. We took a 4 generational picture on both our sides this past month. We will cherish these pictures forever. (Forgive the quality of these camera phone pictures. Also Jayden has a fever in the first picture so he is not in a picture-taking mood and the sun is obviously in our eyes for the last two pictures. So, not great, but it's the subjects of the pictures that matter, not the quality so much.)

 L to R by generation: 2nd - DJ's Dad, 3rd - DJ, 4th - Jayden & 1st - DJ's Grandpa
This picture could also be titled "Which One is Not Like the Other" and the answer would be Jayden since he is the only one in this picture not named Donald. Sorry, but we stopped the tradition.

 L to R by generation: 4th - Jayden, 2nd - My dad, 1st - My grandpa & 3rd - Me

I really wanted a picture with everyone in it since we have a "Four generational Full Set" (I came up with that term) but unfortunately it was so so cold and we have many picture haters so this is the best we got. Sorry mom and DJ! In this picture, my grandma is included.