Finished

I finished this little number a few weeks ago now.  I have been having the hardest time getting a decent picture of it to share though!  The lighting needs to be right, and you need to have a place to "display" it for the picture.  Oh well.  Here it is.  It was SO fun to make, and actually took me a few weeks to complete.  It was the perfect winter project.  Call me crazy, but I'm thinking of starting another one yet this winter.  Anyone interested in purchasing this one?  It'll be in my Etsy shop in the next few days.  Speaking of Etsy, I'm working on a few new things for the grand re-opening of my shop!  Stay tuned...

And just because he's cute and I'm INCREDIBLY blessed to be his mama...

Doesn't he look like he's hard at work?  No, we don't resort to turning youtube on for Levi when he's fussy...yet.  The day will come, I'm sure of it!  In this picture, I'm pretty sure it was just a plain, inanimate screen that had him so captivated.

Levi in action...

Yes, I do realize that these videos are way cuter to Nathan and I than they will be to any of you.  

BUT, nevertheless, here they are. : )
(remember to turn off any web protection programs you may have if you're having trouble watching these)

about the tears...

Ok, I have a question for ALL you moms out there (it doesn't matter how long ago your kids were babies)... 

A little background first: The latest "trend" (is it a trend?  I don't know...) in parenting is to teach your baby to "self-soothe" which means putting them to bed awake and letting them put themselves to sleep.  The idea is that you'll have a good sleeper who doesn't rely on you to be able to fall asleep.  Sounds good, in theory. 

Here's the problem: I am sick of Levi crying each and every time I put him down for a nap (3-4 times a day).  Occasionally he'll go down without tears, but most of the time it takes alot of coaxing (and patting, rocking, nursing and bouncing) to get him to sleep.  He has no problem putting himself back to sleep in the middle of the night (unless he's hungry), but the initial "let's fall asleep now" is torture for both of us almost every time.

So here's my question: What did you do?  Did you rock/nurse your baby to sleep?  And if so, was your baby a good sleeper, or did they rely on you to fall asleep every time?  Did you teach your baby to self-soothe?  If so, how long did it take, what age did you start, and did your child ever show signs of resisting it like Levi seems to?  I've been trying to teach Levi to self-soothe since before Christmas and, aside from a couple good days here and there, it has mostly just been alot of tears and frustration.  I'm beginning to think that rocking him to sleep every time would be better than this.  Thoughts?  In the end, I'll do what's best for us, but I'm interested in hearing what other moms have done and how it worked for them in the long run....

Thanks.

Play time!

I get to spend my days doing this...

 

Building tents with my little man!

Nathan, on the other hand, spends his days like this:

I'm sure glad he's the one who chose to go back to school!  Otherwise I might feel a little bad about all the fun I'm having...

Picture post!

Everything goes in his mouth...if he can get his mouth close enough!

Such a cutie!

Doesn't he look BIG?  Just chilling out together.

Poser!  We'll just put this one in his "save-for-wedding" folder.  Hehe.

This is the diaper bag I made.  There are a few things I would change on the next one, but it worked out pretty well.

Inside of diaper bag.  Fun? yes.  Fun to find things in?  yes.

Reading Scaredy Squirrel together.  Levi noticed books the other day after months of reading to him.  He looked wide-eyed from the book, to me reading, back to the book until the second last page.  Pretty good attention span for a 4 month old!

He does get distracted by noisy cameras, though.

Can my heart possibly smile any more???

Nursing Cover

This is the one I have!

Here it is again!  If anyone missed the last promo code for a free nursing cover (or realized what a great gift it could be for a new mom), you can use this one: EXPECTING.  Just go through the order like normal and enter this code.  It should bring your order total to $0.  All you need to pay is shipping (around $10).  You can order as many as you want too, but they must be on separate orders, so you're paying the shipping every time.  Also, you can buy a gift set, but this will end up costing $5 plus shipping (they subtract $32 from your order, no matter what your order is).  Still a very affordable gift.  Here's the link:

http://www.uddercovers.com/

February 13, 2010

What an exciting and unbelievable day.

One year ago today, we found out about Levi. 

(did I knock the breath out of anyone with that picture?  you're welcome.)

Of course, a year ago we had no idea that "it" was in fact Levi.  But it turns out that it was!  Boy were we excited to see those two pink lines...

It's amazing what can change in a year...

(there's a 7.5 week old Levi in there)

Last year I was spending my days crocheting, hanging out with friends in the Court (at seminary), sewing, and pretty much just being a normal seminary wife.

Now, one year later, we have a bouncing (literally, he's in his Jolly Jumper as I type) 4 month old baby boy.  He's wonderful, amazing, adorable, and ours.  A year ago today is when one of my life's dreams came true.  Wow.  I will never take that for granted.

This guy was worth all the waiting...all the tears and worries and stress and pain.

What a year it's been!

This is how we roll...

This is how Levi and I get around these days. 
-  Toques for both of us. 
-  Moby wrap (THE best - and only - baby carrier I've ever used). 
-  Blanket over Levi on the front. 
-  Nathan's hoodie backwards on me so that it covers Levi - hood can be used to cover Levi's head completely on an exceptionally windy day. 
-  My jacket on me. 
-  Oh yeah, and my fuzzy socks on Levi's legs, just for an extra layer and to protect that skin where his socks and pants don't quite meet. 

But even with all this, we still don't go out when it's cooler than -15 degrees C.  That, my dear friends, would require pulling out the big guns...

I now understand...

why young moms "let themselves go."

You see, I never really understood this before.  At the very least, I never thought it would be me.  But I see myself slipping and the slope is a very slippery one, folks.  Look out.

When you become a mom, your "me" time flies out the window.  Buh-bye!  It is replaced by many wonderful things like peek-a-boo and diaper changes and feedings.  I love these things.  LOVE.  I went through a few years of wondering if I would ever have these things and I count each one of them a blessing.  Even my lack of "me" time at this point in my life is not something I would change.  But here's the kicker:  What do I spend my limited "me" time doing?  I'd say there are three categories, no four, of things I could do.  I could do housework/take care of the home.  I could do something for someone else.  I could do something that I enjoy.  Or I could get ready for the day.

It's a tough decision some days.  Do I shower and do my hair, get dressed and put on makeup, thus forfeiting my entire morning "naptime" to looking presentable?  This hardly seems like the best option, seeing as my hair will sooner or later end up in the drooly palms of little hands.  My makeup will be smudged and wiped clean by a little face pressing itself against mine.  And my clothes will be spit up on before noon.  Yet, when I decide to just put on sweats and leave my hair and makeup undone, those are invariably the days when someone unexpected comes to the door and I shamefully answer the door in all my mommy-full glory. 

I could say that I do these things for myself.  And to an extent I do.  But when you get a haircut to make this morning ritual more streamlined and it only adds more work...that's when I start to question whether I really need to do this today.  I could throw on a toque and be done with it, free to move on to more enjoyable things (like sewing my new diaper bag -!!!- while the little man is still dreaming of gumdrops and unicorns - oh, but I hope that's not what he dreams of).  Alas, today I know that someone will be coming to the house.  I must be at least 50% presentable...if only I could hire someone to stop by the house every day and style my hair, choose my clothes, and perfect my makeup while I sit and relax.  Now that would be multitasking at its greatest.

So, yes.  It is a battle indeed.  To groom or not to groom, that is the question these days...

4 months.

Levi is four months old today.  He just keeps getting more and more sweet with more and more personality!  We are having so much fun with him and I'd like to think he doesn't mind being with us either : )

There have been many changes in this past month.  Our first month with an "infant" instead of a "newborn" has been fun.  Here are a few of his latest accomplishments...

Yep!  That's Levi sitting on his very own!  It only lasted about 30 seconds, though, before this happened...

haha.  He is getting closer and closer to being able to balance himself and stay sitting though.  He may have a couple weeks to go before he's sitting all on his own, but he's getting there! 

Let's see, what else?

Bald spot is still there, though we noticed the other day that there is a bit of "stubble" coming in on it, so hopefully it won't be long before our little guy is back to having a full head of hair!

Levi has always been a solid guy.  Last time I weighed him, he was 15lbs 8oz (ish) so by now he's got to be pushing 16lbs.  He'll soon double his 8lb 2oz birth weight!

Levi has been enjoying his Jolly Jumper alot this month.  He's gone from spinning slowly in circles, not really sure what to do, to a bouncing, happy little guy when he's in there.  We always have a bib on him while he's jumping, though, because in addition to the mass amounts of drool that soak his shirt in 5 seconds flat, Jolly Jumpers also tend to bring out the best in babies...or the best of their lunch at least.  His tongue is always out too.  That started just before we headed into the fourth month in early January and, with the exception of a couple days when he seemed to have forgotten about it, has held strong ever since.

Here's another tongue picture.  He loves to smile.  He's not always so sure about new situations or new people (he has started making strange a bit this month) but Nathan and I get alot of this.  And belly laughs.  Oh my, those are simply the best!

Sleep is always a hot topic among young moms.  Thankfully, Levi is starting to sleep a bit more.  This month he has gone from sporadic 20-45 minute naps to at least one hour-long nap most days and for sure three naps each day.  It's nice to know that I'll have at least a little time to myself during the day, even if I'm just doing the dishes or making supper!  At night he is still up on average every 3 hours but he has given us one 7 hour stretch and a few 6 hour stretches so I can't complain.  Unfortunately, I haven't started going to bed when he does, so I never get the full 6 hours of sleep when they happen.  You'd think I'd learn...  

From birth, Levi has loved to stand on his own two feet.  His legs have just been getting stronger and stronger.  He can now stand with just our fingers in his hands.  He'll often prefer to stand in your lap over sit.  While his balance still has quite a ways to go, the strength is certainly there.

I mentioned a few posts back that Levi loves to grab things.  At the beginning of the fourth month, he wouldn't hold anything, even if you put it right in his hands.  Now he will roll onto his side and grab something off the floor beside him if he wants it.  And of course, it always goes straight into his mouth.

Speaking of rolling, Levi has rolled both from front to back as well as back to front.  I wouldn't say that he's "mastered" it yet, but he's done both a few times each.  He can turn in circles both on his belly and on his back but I don't think he's figured out that this can get him places yet, or even get him closer to what he wants.  He just cranes his neck to look at something and it will end up turning him.  I was surprised one evening when I left him in his crib and came back a few minutes later to find his head facing the opposite direction.  We seem to have a mover!

This is the most precious little boy.  He makes us laugh every day and we are so very blessed to be his parents.  While I am often on the tired end of the spectrum, he makes it easy to push through and still love life. 

Your mommy and daddy love you so much, Levi.  We love to watch you grow and learn new things.  We are so proud of you!