I haven't been writing lately because I really haven't felt like it/ I haven't had much to say. In all honesty, things haven't been that great. I haven't had any funny stories to tell, and I figured if I wrote anything it would be in my "Debbie Downer" voice. However, I got inspired today.
Since, I have been avoiding writing, I have also been avoiding my blog altogether. Today, I thought I would see what my friends were writing on their blogs, and one blog entry stuck out for me. My friend Cindy writes such great blogs. They make me cry, laugh, and get excited. She and I went to college together, and in all honesty we weren't really that great of friends. However, we both got married and got pregnant around the same time and we became pen pals. I get really excited to read her notes and hear about her daughter and tell her about mine. Basically I really value this new friendship.
At any rate, Cindy's newest entry is about she and her hubby's dream home. The way she described it, made me feel really excited and sad. I was excited because I am a strong believer in dreams, and its beautiful that she and her husband dream together. But I was sad because I realized Erik and I haven't been dreaming lately. We have been kind of swept up in our problems and not really looking toward the future. We have been so distracted that I feel like we have been only living day to day, and have forgotten to dream. I don't want Eliana to grow up not dreaming. I want her to truly believe God can do anything, and that He cares about her dreams...He put them in her heart.
At any rate, Erik and I have agreed to start dreaming again, and we couldn't be more excited about our future.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
ZZZZZZ
Drum role please...
ELLIE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!
Okay I don't want to jinx it, but Eliana has slept through the night for almost a week now. We are so happy. I'm going to have to give my best friend Sam credit. She called me about a week ago and told me about her newest discovery: Humphrey's Teething Strips. It's all natural, not medication, strips that dissolve in your mouth. You just put it on the baby's tongue and BAM! Instant relief. Eliana hasn't awakened once for a feeding at night! Hopefully this will last. However, Erik and I still look like zombies, so perhaps its not just the feedings at night that are making us tired...perhaps its just parenthood.
ELLIE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!
Okay I don't want to jinx it, but Eliana has slept through the night for almost a week now. We are so happy. I'm going to have to give my best friend Sam credit. She called me about a week ago and told me about her newest discovery: Humphrey's Teething Strips. It's all natural, not medication, strips that dissolve in your mouth. You just put it on the baby's tongue and BAM! Instant relief. Eliana hasn't awakened once for a feeding at night! Hopefully this will last. However, Erik and I still look like zombies, so perhaps its not just the feedings at night that are making us tired...perhaps its just parenthood.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Midnight Feeding
Ellie is smart. She knows that if she screams loud enough at midnight, her father and I will give her pretty much whatever she wants, so we can go back to sleep. Ellie's pediatrician says we need to wean her off of her midnight feeding. This has been a BIG challenge. He says to let her cry it out for about 15 min, we can pick her up, change her diaper...just don't feed her. However when REM sleep is interrupted by a blood curdling scream, you want to do whatever you can to make it stop.
Because we are having such a difficult time we are going to sleep in the living room and let Ellie have our room. Perhaps it won't be so bad to let her cry it out if we are in a different room.
Wish us luck
Because we are having such a difficult time we are going to sleep in the living room and let Ellie have our room. Perhaps it won't be so bad to let her cry it out if we are in a different room.
Wish us luck
Monday, December 6, 2010
Time
I can't believe that I haven't written in so long. I feel like time has just slipped right by me. So in order to give an update, I thought I would just write out some of the highlights of what is going on...
-Bedtime has been conquered! Ellie is always ready for bed on time! Its amazing to have quiet time in the evenings.
-However, we have not conquered sleeping through the night or naps. Ellie still wakes up 1-2 times during the night for a feeding. The doctor says we need to started weaning her out of this over the next month or so...we are not looking forward to this. And Ellie still is having a hard time with naps, but we're working on it
-Ellie is officially on solids! She has been eating rice cereal for a while, but we started giving her sweet potatoes a few days ago, and she loved them! Next, carrots!
- God is testing us. We are definitely having to rely on Him and trust in His plan, but we know He has one.
-We are going home to Colorado for Christmas in 2 weeks! We are so excited to see family and friends. We miss the mountains and the nice clean air.
-And finally here is a new pic of Ellie
-Bedtime has been conquered! Ellie is always ready for bed on time! Its amazing to have quiet time in the evenings.
-However, we have not conquered sleeping through the night or naps. Ellie still wakes up 1-2 times during the night for a feeding. The doctor says we need to started weaning her out of this over the next month or so...we are not looking forward to this. And Ellie still is having a hard time with naps, but we're working on it
-Ellie is officially on solids! She has been eating rice cereal for a while, but we started giving her sweet potatoes a few days ago, and she loved them! Next, carrots!
- God is testing us. We are definitely having to rely on Him and trust in His plan, but we know He has one.
-We are going home to Colorado for Christmas in 2 weeks! We are so excited to see family and friends. We miss the mountains and the nice clean air.
-And finally here is a new pic of Ellie
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Bed Time Blues: Day 3 and 4
Day 3: This was the night that I had to put Ellie down by myself. Erik was working that night and I was not looking forward to it. 7pm rolled around, I gave Ellie a bath, fed her, and read her two books. She still seemed pretty awake so we danced in the living room to N'SYNC (don't judge me). After that I put her down...and she was asleep within 15 min! She barely cried...it was a miracle! I was so thankful and she slept for 12 hours that night.
Day 4: Last night was a little different from the night before. Erik and I did our usual night routine with her. I think she is starting to read the signs that its bed time. She immediately started crying when we took her to the bedroom. We tried calming her down but it just wasn't happening. Finally she got quiet enough and we put her down. Quickly Erik and I ran out of the room, and she fussed a bit but finally she fell asleep.
Dealing with the crying is starting to get a little better, but I still don't like it. However since we started this Ellie doesn't wake up as often as she used to. So I know this is good for her and I'm glad we're doing it. Doctor Andy said it would take 5-7 days to make this a habit for Ellie so we only have a few more days!
Day 4: Last night was a little different from the night before. Erik and I did our usual night routine with her. I think she is starting to read the signs that its bed time. She immediately started crying when we took her to the bedroom. We tried calming her down but it just wasn't happening. Finally she got quiet enough and we put her down. Quickly Erik and I ran out of the room, and she fussed a bit but finally she fell asleep.
Dealing with the crying is starting to get a little better, but I still don't like it. However since we started this Ellie doesn't wake up as often as she used to. So I know this is good for her and I'm glad we're doing it. Doctor Andy said it would take 5-7 days to make this a habit for Ellie so we only have a few more days!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Bed Time Blues: Day 2
On Sundays Erik and I usually go to church and then spend the rest of the day with my family. My sister and her husband come over and we all play games, have dinner, talk, and laugh a lot; it's kind of like a mini Thanksgiving every week! At any rate, yesterday we knew we had to go home early so we could get ready for our second day of sleep training.
We gave Ellie a bath and fed her. She still seemed pretty wide awake so we read her a book and sang her a song. She seemed really fussy and we realized that she just wanted us to put her down. As soon as we put her down, she fell asleep...as if that's what she was waiting for! Thank goodness, because I don't if I could have handle another night with the screaming.
Tonight however I am on my own with the sleep training. Erik is working tonight. I hope I can do this.
We gave Ellie a bath and fed her. She still seemed pretty wide awake so we read her a book and sang her a song. She seemed really fussy and we realized that she just wanted us to put her down. As soon as we put her down, she fell asleep...as if that's what she was waiting for! Thank goodness, because I don't if I could have handle another night with the screaming.
Tonight however I am on my own with the sleep training. Erik is working tonight. I hope I can do this.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Bed Time Blues: Day One
Erik and I recently changed pediatricians. We are now going to my doctor I saw as a child. We love him! He really listened to us, he fell in love with Eliana, and he gave good advice! Pretty much we made a good decision to change doctors. One of the things he gave us advice on was Ellie's nighttime routine. If you remember I wrote recently about trying to put Ellie down before she falls asleep, and I mentioned how horrible it is to hear her fuss. Well apparently, we still weren't doing this whole bedtime thing right. He said that we needed to feed her, change her diaper, and read her a story...all without letting her fall asleep. Then you put her down (unswaddled, I might add!)and come in and comfort her after 5 min, 10 min, and then every 15 min for about an hour and a half. He said it would take about 5 days for her to get used to this routine, but in no more than a week...she would be putting herself to sleep. At first this sounded easy enough. Erik and I decided that tonight was the night...
We fed Ellie her last feeding, changed her diaper, read her a story, and sang her a song, and just as the doctor ordered we put her down unswaddled and wide awake. At first Ellie was fine. She was talking to herself and making gurgling noises. All of a sudden as if she realized what we were doing she started to yell. Like the chicken I am, I ran out of the room crying while I left my hubby to fend for himself. I know you all are probably shaking your head at me as you read this, but it was just too much. I am used to picking her up as soon as she gets upset and holding her till she falls into a coma like sleep. I know that I have to grow out of this, but it's just soo hard. At any rate, we listened for 5 min while Ellie yelled and threw a fit. Then I went in first and cuddled her and kissed her and when she calmed down I put her back down. This time we waited 10 min, while Ellie yelled and pretty much screamed bloody murder. I sat in the living room crying and praying that I could make it through these few min. This time it was Erik's turn to comfort Ellie (also I didn't think I would be able to put her down if I went in there). Erik picked her up comforted her and put her down, and this time she fell right to sleep. Thank you God! Seriously, I didn't know if could do the next 15 minute interval.
This was not a fun experience, and right now I don't really like Ellie's doctor :) However tomorrow night is night numero dos...hopefully it will only get easier with time. Pray for me!
We fed Ellie her last feeding, changed her diaper, read her a story, and sang her a song, and just as the doctor ordered we put her down unswaddled and wide awake. At first Ellie was fine. She was talking to herself and making gurgling noises. All of a sudden as if she realized what we were doing she started to yell. Like the chicken I am, I ran out of the room crying while I left my hubby to fend for himself. I know you all are probably shaking your head at me as you read this, but it was just too much. I am used to picking her up as soon as she gets upset and holding her till she falls into a coma like sleep. I know that I have to grow out of this, but it's just soo hard. At any rate, we listened for 5 min while Ellie yelled and threw a fit. Then I went in first and cuddled her and kissed her and when she calmed down I put her back down. This time we waited 10 min, while Ellie yelled and pretty much screamed bloody murder. I sat in the living room crying and praying that I could make it through these few min. This time it was Erik's turn to comfort Ellie (also I didn't think I would be able to put her down if I went in there). Erik picked her up comforted her and put her down, and this time she fell right to sleep. Thank you God! Seriously, I didn't know if could do the next 15 minute interval.
This was not a fun experience, and right now I don't really like Ellie's doctor :) However tomorrow night is night numero dos...hopefully it will only get easier with time. Pray for me!
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