LONG overdue...

With Birthdays, Halloween, surgeries and sickness...I've put this on the bottom of my list.We are all feeling well and so ready for the holidays to begin! I thought I'd try to make Savannah's Halloween costume this year, don't ask me what I was thinking. I think God had other plans because we all got the flu, I had to postpone my leg surgery and Halloween crept up quickly. I ended up rushing to get it done the night before her Halloween party at school (which we also signed up to bring treats for). Oh well, it got done...but I think I'll just pay the $30 and buy one next year.

Savannah and Rhett are growing so fast! Savannah had her 3 year check up and she is in the 95th percentile for weight (poor girl) and 75th for height. She is right on track with everything else. She is doing great at school and I think she really enjoys it, although she is still really shy. Rhett is crawling all over the place now as well as pulling up to stand. I see emergency room visits in our future. Mom better toughen up because I know this boy is going to scare me to death. He has also started saying "Mama" and "Dada", "Dada" was his first word that he knew what he was saying. Ross was pretty excited about that.

Sleep Like a Baby

I have to admit, the term "sleeping like a baby" hasn't meant much to me over my past 3 years of motherhood. Until today, Rhett slept in his crib....ALL NIGHT! This has been one of the many bittersweet moments of being a mother. As I anxiously wait for him to awake, I thought I would share this experience with you all.

As most of you know, we have been a "co-sleeping" family ever since Savannah was an infant. I was never one to be able to leave my child in their crib and let them cry themselves to sleep. To me it just felt completely unnatural. I did try it, but it left my stomach in knots to think that all they want is my comfort. As a mother, what more in life do we want for our children than to be comfortable? As many would say, and remind me all too often, "It's something that they have to learn how to do, they have to learn how to get themselves to sleep." It didn't really mean much to me. Savannah, my oldest, slept in bed with my husband and I until she was one year old. Since I breastfeed, I seemed to get more sleep with them near me. She was in her own bed at one year old and goes to bed fairly well now. Neither of my children are sleepers, and I most definitely do not contribute my failure to let them "cry it out" to that. Some people don't like sleep, I was blessed with two of them. Some studies show that these children can't shut their brains off and consider them "gifted children". I think I'd like to stick with that theory ;)

Rhett, my 7 month old son, has been having a hard time falling asleep near me lately. He's been teething and has also had a cold, so I've been chalking it up to those reasons. Last night he had cried so much since we had been in and out of the car (he HATES his carseat....another issue I'm sure you'll hear about soon) I figured, if he was going to cry even while nursing in bed with me, I might as well put him in his crib and see how it goes. We didn't have much to lose at this point. To my surprise it went great! He cried in his crib from about 8:40 pm to 9:00 pm last night. He woke up at 12 am, I nursed him in the rocking chair and layed him back in his crib at 12:15 am. Well...it is 7:17 am and he's STILL sleeping! I feel overjoyed, yet when I checked on him this morning at 6:30 am I couldn't wait to wrap my arms around his warm little body. I get exhausted carrying this little boy around daily, but I can't wait to start it all over again today. So, as I am happy to be ending the sleepless nights of little feet kicking me, I am so sad that sweet little hands will not be the first to welcome me each morning with a gentle touch on my face.

This and That

So, I'm already not doing a great job of keeping up on this thing! Not that a whole lot has happened in the past couple of days. The kids are keeping me pretty busy, as well as keeping up with my homework for school...oh and keeping up with the house (that's normally last on my list)! We are visiting Savannah's Parent's Day Out class today, I'm excited to meet her new teachers. I'm not sure if she's too excited about it, she's hard to read. Rhett got his first tooth yesterday, now I know why he's been so fussy lately. I'll upload a picture once it's all the way through. Here are some recent photos of the kids taken yesterday, Rhett really enjoyed his apple!

Birthday time!

With Savannah's birthday coming up in a little over a month, it's time to start getting things together for the party and possibly start a little shopping. Why stress over a party she probably won't even remember? I have no clue. I'm sure all of us parents understand the feeling when our children are so excited and happy and how it makes us feel. Even if it only lasts for 20 minutes...it's somehow worth it.

For being 3 years old, she amazes me by how she knows exactly what she wants and how. I gave her a few choices for her birthday party theme: Little Bear, princess or a tea party. She chose Little Bear, which sounded great to me since the little boys at her birthday party would probably be pretty disappointed with the other options. I began shopping online for Little Bear birthday party supplies today. Well, there is no such thing. I think I ended up with one balloon and I'm currently bidding on a paper table centerpiece. I know she won't care, but I'm sure this is going to be more work than I imagined trying to piece together random party supplies to coordinate with the Little Bear theme.

I also have no idea what we are going to get her. She wants a trampoline or a swing set. Not that I think she should get everything she wants...but either of those sound great to me since they would probably make my life a little easier some days! Ross thinks we should buy her a bike. I'm not too sure about a bike, last year she got a little 4-wheeler that she's probably been on a total of 10 times this past year. I'm sure she'll be happy with anything...but I am also selfishly thinking to myself about what is going to keep her busy for the longest amount of time!

Welcome!

I should have started this blog about 3 years ago, when our first was born. There were so many great stories between now and then that I would have loved to have shared with you all, but I know that there are more to come and I can't wait to get started! Welcome to our family blog, I hope to keep this up to date with pictures and memories to share with you all.