Some Serious Sleep Problems

So here for the past few weeks Kale has been having some major problems with his sleep schedule. During the day he still takes his naps just like he always has. However, at night time he goes to bed when he is supposed to 8:00-8:30; however, he has been waking up several times during the night. I mean this is worse than it was when I brought him home from the hospital. At first I chalked it up to teeth pain and thought it was waking him up in the middle of the night. I really do think that a few times in the past that is what it has been. However, it has not been like that lately. Last night I put him down at 8:30 about thirty minutes after I put him down he was screaming. I figured I would feed him because it was time for him to eat again and put him down again. That should have been the warning sign: MOMMY THIS IS GOING TO BE A BAD NIGHT...silly me didn't think anything of it. After I fed him and bounced him in his bouncer for about 5 minutes the kid was out again. I put him back in his bed and didn't hear a peep from him until probably about twelve he woke up screaming and I brought him into our room. It seemed like he was in pain because he wouldn't stop crying. I gave him some tylenol and he fell asleep in my bed. I let him sleep with me for a little bit, but the kid moves around like a little worm. He is definitely a wiggle worm. I couldn't take it anymore so I put him back in his bed. He slept but not soundly until about 4. He cried out and i went in there and he was sleeping on his tummy. I am still not comfortable with him sleeping on his tummy even though he is rolling over fine and everything. So I moved him to his back. BIG BIG BIG mistake. It woke him up and he started crying. I got him out of bed and fed him a bottle. After the bottle he was not tired. I think he thought it was time to get up and play...UMM NO! not time for mommy. He cooed and moved around and just was not sleepy what so ever. This went on for about an hour. Finally I was at my wits in he had been up for over an hour, and with him up that meant mommy was up. I put him in his bed and was going to let him cry it out. My mom told me around 6 months is when they start testing you. They had to let my brother cry it out in his crib and I wasn't going to let him think he was the boss. So he cried. The kid is definitely testing me out. He would whine and then stop like to see if I was coming. He would realize I wasn't coming and then cry again. After his whine didn't work he went to full out crying. I went in there put his passy in his mouth and turned on his mobile twice but I was not getting him out of that crib!!! Ryan got up for work and I guess heard him crying, he came in the room to see if I was sleeping through it or something and I told him I was just letting him cry. Of course it is kind of a lose lose situation for mommy because when he is in the bed playing he is keeping me up when he is crying in his bed he is keeping me up it is not like I can turn off the monitor. Ryan went in his room put his passy in his mouth and turned on his mobile. By this point I was beyond exhausted and fell asleep. Ryan came in and told me he was asleep. I could barely hold my eyes open to carry on a conversation with ryan. He said he was sorry he kept me up, and he would watch him tonight and let me go to bed early. I fell asleep for a few short minutes but not good sleep because ryan was in and out getting ready. I was finally ready to fall asleep as ryan was leaving.....well Kale had other plans...he is going through this thing where everytime daddy leaves for work he wakes up. I don't know if ryan is too loud or if kale has some 7th sense. As soon as the garage door shuts kale starts to whine...it is so weird. I listened today to see if Ryan was that loud and he isn't. I just don't get it...Most of the time I can get Kale to go back to sleep not today...awake at 6:40...Alot of people who have multiple kids are telling me this is a stage...that he is trying to show me who is boss but I am so ready for this stage to go away...My whole body hurts and I am exhausted...I can barely get my chores done during the day...but once I am up I am up so it's not like I can take a short nap...I am hoping this phase ends very soon!!!!

First Year of Marriage

On Sept. 2nd Ryan and I will have been married for a year. We made it through our first year!!!!

I will be the first to say the first year of marriage is tough. It has it's wonderful moments and it has a lot of rough patches, or at least that is how it was for Ryan and I. Which I can see why our first year had its rough patches. In the first year of marriage. We had a baby and Ryan had a major back surgery that is a lot to take in the first year not to mention the normal first year fights. I mean for the first couple months of Kale's life I had to raise him like I was a single mom plus take care of my husband who in the beginning couldn't even shower by himself. I got frustrated because as time went by taking care of a baby all by yourself definitely will put a lot of stress on you not to mention taking care of things around the house and having a husband who can't do anything. I am so glad Ryan and I made it through this first year!!! I feel like the rough parts do make you stronger!!

Ryan and I are both very bullheaded so when we fight we both want to win and neither one of us want to apologize. As time has gone on we have even gotten a little better at that, him more than me. It is hard to get an apology out of me. I don't know why I am like that. I think it is because guys can hurt girls with words more than girls can hurt guys, or maybe it is guys don't show it. So I try and hurt Ryan and then don't want to apologize. I don't know if that makes any sense what so ever but it makes sense to me.

However this has been an amazing year. It has helped me to realize that marriage is not easy. It takes work just like anything else but it is rewarding. I mean and when you really think about it ofcourse it takes work. Two people are joining their lives. Two people who were raised differently and do things differently. That has been another big thing for Ryan and I. Ryan and I both do things differently. Ryan likes clutter and just lays things places a bunch of gadgets everywhere. I HATE clutter. I can't think in clutter. So I put this clutter out of sight, half of it I have no clue what it is so I just put it in a random drawer, well when Ryan needs it I don't remember where I put it ;) ooops.... I do not shut my drawers. That is one of Ryan's pet peeves. So we have had little things like that to work through and some of them we still are but like I have said before good things take time. I wouldn't trade my husband for anything in the world. He is amazing and I love him more than anything and I am so happy that in a week we will be celebrating one year of marrige and I hope there are many more to come!!!

I guess the whole point of this blog was that marriage is tough and I have found that out this first year but the end result is so worth it. Ryan is worth it and the bad times make the good that much more special and make the bond between the two of you that much stronger!!

Sitting up with no support

Well I have been working with Kale for awhile on sitting up. He would sit like a gorilla, is what I like to refer to it as, and he couldn't do it for long. I kept working with him and then the other day I had seen people put their babies in their crib in the corner for support. Well I know Kale LOVES his mobile so I thought I would give it a try. I changed his diaper and put him in his crib. He loved sitting in his crib! It was so funny to watch him look around with a HUGE grin on his face. He watched his mobile and just looked around and was content in his crib for the longest time! Well then the next day I was sitting in the floor working with him again, like I always did everyday and he just sat up by himself. It was amazing and he did it for a while before falling back. Well I didn't expect him to sit up by himself so I did not put any pillows behind him. Well he fell back and I couldn't reach him in enough time. It scared him and he started to cry and it scared me. So for those instances when he thinks he is invincible and tries to turn too quickly or tries to look behind him...his back is not quite sturdy enough for that and he falls back I like to have the pillows to catch his fall because I don't want him to hurt his little head. I am so proud of him, but at the same time seeing my little baby sit up all by himself makes me feel a little sad. I mean he is growing up so fast and will be doing more and more and soon won't need me :( I won't be able to hold him like a little baby. He looks like a little man :) It is so cute watching him play with his toys all by himself in the floor! Now that he has accomplished sitting he wants to stand all the time. So I detect soon he will be standing or crawling!

Kale's First Word

I have not been able to write in FOREVER!!! And I have missed it so much, so much has happened in the past few months!!

Well it had been a very stressful day for me. Kale's teeth were bothering him really bad! We had just gotten back from Atlanta for Jayden's birthday; and, Kale had gotten really off schedule. The week before my parents had been in town helping my brother move in, and we had taken Kale over there and it had screwed up bed and bath time. Then we went to Atlanta he was still out of whack and did not sleep good in his pack and play. This called for a very angry boy when we arrived back home to Valdosta. A very angry boy who was VERY off schedule...plus the teeth hurting...I seriously thought I was going to pull my hair out. He had been whining all day and nothing I did calmed him...he didn't enjoy any of his toys. I had put him in his favorite toy his horse jumperoo....he loves that thing...well he was whining and all of a sudden I heard mama....:) At first I wasn't sure if I had heard right well then he said it again. I was on air. I didn't even care that he was whining I was sooo happy :) I immediately texted Ryan at work and told him the news. He never texted me back, so when he got home I told him and he didn't believe me...little stinker! Well Kale said it again when I was making dinner and he was in his bouncer in the living room. Ryan was on the couch so I said see and Ryan tried to say he didn't hear the M. I kmew he was just jealous but I waited. Well Ryan was holding Kale bouncing him on his lap because he was whining some more about his teeth and Kale said ma ma ma and there was no more denying it. Since then it seems any time he is crying or whining he says it. However, I don't hear it too much when he is happy haha I am waiting for that. Ryan I think is dissapointed he didn't say da da first and has been working with him like crazy.

Since he only says it when he whines I am ready for him to say da da so he can call daddy to help soothe him when he is sad. :) But I love that I was his first word.

I think since I am here with him all day, get up with him during the night, if he gets up with his teeth. And get up with him in the mornings I would be a little sad if he had said da da first, because mommy spends alot more time with her little man :)

Bye Bye held in place sleeping device

Well I have always bragged on how wonderfully Kale sleeps. I mean even before we was 3 months old the kid was sleeping through the night and sleeping until 9 or 10. He has always slept through the night since he was born when it comes to he has never been the type of baby who gets me up at 6 or 7 and doesn't go back down. He had always slept till 8. Well here lately he pretty much sleeps till 10, which is wonderful for me because I get to sleep in! Well once he got close to 3 months he had dropped his 4 or 5 in the morning feeding and didn't wake up until 7 to eat and then went back down until 9 or 10.

Well here lately he has not been sleeping until 7 or 8, he started waking up at 4 or 5. Well when I went in there every time he had worked himself out of his sleeping device and was laying all crazy like scrunched up at the top of his bed. So we finally threw it out. I talked to my mom and she said he probably didn't need it anymore anyways. Well last night he still didn't sleep good. I really think he is getting close to teething. The kid has started drooling like no other and loves, loves, loves chewing on his hands. He will stick his hand so far into his mouth to chew on it he gags him self...NO GOOD. I think I am going to put his teething ring in the freezer and let him start chewing on that, especially since he is doing so good with holding rattles and putting them in his mouth. I really do think he is starting to get the sensation of teething. I put my finger in his mouth to kind of feel around and he started chewing on my finger pretty hard too...and now he also will chew on the nipples to his bottle when we are feeding him. I don't really know, but we will see. I don't mind getting up to feed him but I don't get how he went from sleeping so good to sleeping and then going back to waking up at 4. I am almost looking forward to going to Atlanta next weekend because he sleeps so good in my parents room because of their loud fan. As long as its not blowing on him, the kid hates for fans to blow on him. I think we need to get him a fan like my parents have. It drowns out the noise and makes it so much easier for him to sleep I am sure. I know they soothed me to sleep while I was growing up.

So Kale already has a bank account :) Ryan's mom works at bank of america and has for forever. Well she opened him an account and she put money in it and so did one of Kale's great aunts. So he already has a good bit of money and it will only grow. I like that idea. I think it is wonderful and will be something for him when he gets older.

This weekend Carters and Oshkosh were having a sale. It was 50% off the whole store. My sister called us and sent us two other coupons where we could get 75% off our whole purchase. The coupon she gave us was for 25% off your total of 50$ or more. We decided we couldn't pass up this chance at such good deals and also Kale needed some six month clothes. He is not in them yet but the way he is growing it probably won't be too long. So we decided while this sale was going on we might as well get him some. so we packed up and headed to lake park. When we got there Kale started screaming. He had HORRIBLE gas!! And of course I had taken out his gas medicine and didn't have it. I had to hold him and rock him in my arms to soothe him. On the way down there Ryan had said he didn't want to spend too much money and I agreed. We were trying to run a tight budget until the next time he got paid. Well while I was holding Kale Ryan looked around. The man went nuts. I never thought he would be a freak clothes shopper for Kale. He was running around the store picking up pretty much everything he saw and throwing it on our stroller. Well after he looked I looked too because I wanted to get some stuff I liked too. Well needless to say we spent alot of money. We spent well over $100 just in carters alone and still had to go to oshkosh...haha oh well. It's ok if we spoil our little boy. It was funny though because Ryan couldn't blame this shopping expedenture on me. We then went to oshkosh and again spent a good bit but they didn't have as much for Kale's age as carters..We went way over budget but our little boy will be the best dressed little boy in town!!!!

All milestones have been reached

So as of yesterday all of our milestones have been reached. I know I have said before that we were not doing tummy time like we should. Kale just didn't like it and we didn't do it. Well after the weekend at my parents house I started working with him hard core because I didn't want to be the reason that my little baby was behind, because like it says in my book they can't learn to roll over and lift their heads if they aren't given the time to practice. So last week I worked with him everyday. I gave him tummy time about three times a day and would do it until he got angry; I didn't want him getting too upset. He had learned so quickly to hold up his chest. It's so funny because he went from one day not lifting his head hardly at all just being interested in eating his hands to pulling almost all of his chest off the floor. It just goes to show you they do it when THEY are ready not when you are ready for them too. Well then yesterday he was in a really good mood so I put him on his tummy. In my book it says to pick an optimal time. You don't want to put them on their tummies when they are hungry or tired because they won't get anything accomplished. Do it when they're happy, dry, and fed. So I have been following that advice. I had just got off the phone with my mom and put him on his tummy. I looked up to say something to Ryan and as I did, I almost missed it, the kid just rolled over like it was nothing. Like he could have done it for weeks. It took no effort and he rolled all the way over not just halfway. I was so excited I started screaming for Ryan to watch and I put him on his tummy again so that Ryan could see. I wasn't sure if he would do it again but I was hoping he would. He did. I videotaped it so my mom can see in case he decides not to do it the next time we're in atlanta. I was so proud of him though. We gave him praise and made him do it like four or five times and then stopped tummy time for a while because he had, had about enough. It is amazing to me how quickly he picked this up and it makes me wonder if we had been working with him like we should have from day one how quickly he would have been rolling over. Our kid is a very fast learner. He makes his mama proud!

That was the only milestone he had left to reach for his age. He just turned three months old two days ago so now really the only thing we have to work on this month is him putting weight on his legs when his feet are on a surface when you lift him up and we have to wait for him to actually laugh out loud. He squeals with delight but we have yet to hear his laugh that is something that I can't wait for. I am so proud of my little boy! And even though it doesn't matter if he develops on time it makes me feel good that he is even doing things that he might be doing at his age and doesn't have to be yet. I am glad that I am a stay-at-home mom right now and can actually work with him because now is the perfect time.

So last night it became official he is a mama's boy to the T. He was watching me as Ryan was holding him and kind of fussing so Ryan told me to leave the room. I guess because Kale was too focused on me. So I left and as soon as I did the little boy started to bawl. Ryan told me to stay gone and let him handle it. Kale would not stop crying so Ryan came and handed him to me. He immediately shut up all he wanted was his mama

11 weeks old

My little boy is growing up so fast. It is so sad! In a way I can't wait till he is crawling around and I love watching him grow and hit his milestones and do something new everyday;however, I wish I could hit pause on his growing and keep him this small for a little bit. He is so cuddly and loves his mommy to hold him and love on him. I want it to stay like that forever! This is him with Mr. Bear. Boy does the kid love Mr. Bear. He does get tired of talking to him after a while but who doesn't get tired of the same old thing. Kale will talk to Mr. Bear forever and smile at him and grab at him. It is so awesome. Mr. Bear's nose lights up and he will stare at it and Mr. Bear sings like 4 or 5 different songs. Kale loves him! This is at my parents house last weekend. We sat Kale in the bumbo. He loves sitting up! I think he will sit up kind of fast or at least it seems like he would but who knows.

Well Kale has reached all the milestones for this month except rolling over. He is getting REALLY close. I think he is starting to like tummy time a little more. Or at least he can stand it for a little bit longer than he used to. It's our fault that he isn't rolling over just because we really hadn't been working on tummy time with him as much as we needed to. However now we have kicked it into full gear. He is getting so close to rolling over, it won't be long AT ALL.

So yesterday I got so tickled. He is getting really close to saying mama. It really sounded like he said it yesterday. I told Ryan to listen and you could tell by the look on his face it sounds like he is saying it. Ryan wants him to say da da first; but, not to be ugly, I really just don't think that is going to happen. I mean I am here with him all day. It sounds like he is saying mama already but I will wait to say he is until it is a litle more apparent. He does it when he cries like mama come make me feel better like you always do. I can definitely say the kid is going to be a talker. He will talk your head off. The other night he did the cutest thing ever. He has a play phone that my sister gave him because he loved it so much while we were in Atlanta. I am not too worried the kid does not know his colors he can play with a pink phone. He loves it though. Well I was pretending different family members were calling to talk to him and I would put the phone up to his ear. When I did he would start cooing away into the phone. I did it for like every family memeber and he "talked" to them all. It was the cutest thing ever. I wish Ryan would have videoed it.