i'm a lucky girl...

Two years ago today J and I said "I do" (actually, I think we said "I will," but that's just details). At the beginning of our ceremony our officiant asked our guests to stand and answer the question "Will you who are present today, surround J and C in love, offering them the joys of your friendship and support them in their marriage?" I have to take this moment to say...you have all kept up your end of the bargain! Thank you so much for loving and supporting us through the last two years. You are the best family and friends anyone could ask for.

Next, of course, came our vows. When putting our ceremony together, we knew we didn't want to use the traditional wedding vows.  We searched and searched for the perfect promise, but couldn't find it. We finally decided to piece together things from a variety of sources to create exactly what we wanted to say. This is what we promised two years ago...

"To live with you and laugh with you

To stand by your side and sleep in your arms

I promise to love you, to respect and support you and to be your best friend

I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you"

So, I would like to take this moment to thank my wonderful hubby.  Thank you for keeping your promise and more. I knew the "laugh with you" part would be easy for you, but thank you for still making me laugh everyday.  Thank you for understanding that the "sleep in your arms" part was more metaphorical for me as I can't stand to have someone touching me when I'm trying to sleep :) Thank you for loving me more than I could ever ask for and for helping me love myself.  Thank you for standing by my side and respecting and supporting me as a person and now as a mother. You have been an outstanding husband and now a terrific father.  Both Boogie and I are blessed to have you.  I hope that I have been able to keep my promise to you.  I strive everyday to be the best wife, friend and supporter I can be. You are still, and will always be, my best friend and I do look forward to spending the rest of our lives together. I truly love you more than you will ever know....I'm a lucky girl...

they change so much...

Yes, Boogie is 3 months old today!  I'll say it now as I'm sure I'll say a million times....where has the time gone?! My tiny little newborn has suddenly turned into a little boy. His personality comes out more and more everyday and he has this new, ornery little smile that makes me nervous for the years to come :)

He also has figured out that he has mommy wrapped around his little finger (ie: he can act like a little booger then flash that big smile and mommy forgets all about it) For example, he decided to wake up at 5am this morning.  (This is really out of character for him as he has been sleeping till 8am for the past two months.) He didn't really want anything particular, we cuddled, he comfort nursed and he grouched.  I finally decided to just try and put him back to bed. As soon as I layed him down that big sweet smile came across his face along with a little giggle. I suddenly forgot that it was, now, 5:45am....what a little booger...

Boogie has another new trick.  He is trying really, really hard to sit up all by himself. He will grab onto my fingers and use his not-so-bulging biceps to pull himself up to seated. He just smiles and laughs as he looks around from this new perspective, it's like a whole new world from up there....Yesterday, Boogie was propped up in his boppy.  I noticed he kept making this grunting noise accompanied with a look of intensity on his face.  My first thought: must be gas....but then I realized what he was doing. He was contracting his not-so-rock-hard abs trying to pull himself up to seated. Then, all of a sudden, the hard work paid off.  He pulled himself away from the boppy and up to a seated position....well, kind of....he basically pulled his whole body away from the boppy only to flop right back down. BUT, in that split second, there was this look of pure happiness and accomplishment on his face.  I could just read the thoughts that flashed through his mind in that split second..."IdiditlookatmemomI'msittingupIdidit!!!" It made me laugh and cry at the same time....my little baby is growing so fast!

On this fall day, Boogie got dressed up in his jeans and plaid cowboy jacket for his 3 month pictures. ( Not sure why he looks so serious in all of them.)  Looking back to pictures from his first days home its crazy how in 3 short months they change so much...

snuggle-saurus

I don't know if it's the teething or just a new stage, but my independent baby has become a snuggle-saurus. As I mentioned last week, he has been a "self-soother" for a long time.  Anytime we would try to snuggle or rock him to sleep it just made him more upset.  He would kick and throw himself around and scream.  He's never liked the feeling of being 'confined' I guess (since day one, he would ALWAYS bust out of the swaddle)...

That's when I made, what I would consider, an UN-selfish decision of letting him soothe himself to sleep.  He would fuss for awhile, but never scream and yell like he did when we tried the rocking/bouncing thing. I had come to terms with the fact that, when it came to sleepy time, he just wasn't the snuggle-type (kinda like his momma, I can't stand to have anyone touching me when I'm trying to sleep)....
BUT, for the past few days when putting him down for naps/bedtime he's been a grouchy pants. For now, he enjoys rocking in our new glider (BEST craiglist purchase ever BTW). He still doesn't like to be "held," but rather just lay on mommy till he dozes off to dreamland.  I'm sad because Boogie is upset and possibly in pain from the teething, but I'm enjoying my little snuggle-saurus :)

i hate the dentist...

So my mommy instincts tell me Boogie is definitely teething.  Yes, I know, most of the literature says first tooth comes at about six months and yes Boogies is barely three....BUT I have also found literature that says the teething process can start a few months before a tooth actually appears. For the past 3-4 days my sweet baby has not been happy....

He's been grouchy and clingy, drooling like a mad man, chewing on anything he can manuever into his tiny little mouth and LOVES when mommy massages his gums.

This got me thinking about the dreaded day I will have to take him to the dentist for the first time....scratch that, when DADDY will take him to the dentist for the first time because i hate the dentist!! 

It all started when I was about 6 years old and they had to gas me to pull a tooth....and then all the yanking and cranking with the braces.....and then the complete knock me out, dig 'em out with the wisdom teeth....not to mention all the choking on my own spit, picking and drilling and pain that comes with a routine cleaning or filling....oh, I'm getting the shakes just typing about it.....

About a month ago, I was at the dentist getting said filling, and in the chair next to me was this sweet looking, about 9 year old boy.  While I was waiting for the numbing meds to set it before the big picks and drills came my way....the dentist decided to perform a simple exam on this sweet, little boy.....As soon as dentist put his fingers in this SWEET, little boy's mouth.....SWEET little boy let out the most horrific scream I've ever heard....you would think the dentist was ripping out his teeth with no anesthetic! The staff tried to calm the boy, but he just kept screaming "it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" The dentist didn't even have any tools in there, just fingers.  I could see it in the eyes of the staff and other on lookers that they thought this boy was off his rocker....

But, all I could think was....."AMEN, little boy!! My feelings exactly!"......

So, yes, DADDY will have to take the parenting role when it comes to the dentist.  I can't handle the choking, picking, drilling on myself let alone watch my sweet little boy feel that pain and discomfort....I HATE THE DENTIST!!!

it works for us, deal with it...

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a planner.  I like to know exactly what the plan is at all times, not really a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl.  So, you can imagine, those first couple weeks with a newbown were highly stressful for me.  Boogie didn't seem to have any sort of schedule, eating normally about every three hours, but cluster feeding all the time as well. Sometimes sleeping for 4 hour stretches and other times not sleeping for more than 30 minutes. After about 3 weeks of chaos and no "plan" I was going crazy.

All I was reading everywhere on websites, message boards and blogs was "you cannot sleep train a newborn," and "do not let them CIO (cry it out) before 3 months of age." But I was desperate. I went to Borders and stood in front of the newborn/baby care section for an hour.  I found the book "The Baby Sleeps Tonight." It stood out because it was short and easy to read and had actual schedules (ie: feed at this time, sleep at this time, etc) instead of just theories and ideas like the other books did.

The day Boogie turned 3 weeks old was the day we started TBSTP ("The Baby Sleeps Tonight Plan").  It was an instant miracle. The first night Boogie slept for 6 hours...straight! It's only gotten better and better as we have progressed though TBSTP.  Not only was I a happier mommy because I was finally getting some sleep and some order to my day, but Boogie was a totally different baby...he was happy...all the time!

So now Boogie is 2.5 months old and we have reached what TBSTP calls our "ultimate schedule."  It's the same everyday:

8am wake and eat
9:30am nap time
12pm wake and eat
1:30pm naptime
3:30pm wake and eat
~5-6pm naptime
6:30pm eat
8-8:30pm maybe a quick catnap
8:30/9pm start our bedtime routine of bath and feeding for a 9:30/10pm bedtime (we're gradually starting to move this up earlier and earlier)

Not only does this help me with being able to plan activities, it keeps Boogie happy.  This plan allows me to stay ahead of his needs.  This is key in building trust; Boogie knows I'll be there to feed him when he's hungry or put him to sleep before he's overly tired and grouchy. I know exactly what's wrong when he gets crabby.  It's helped build a great relationship between mommy and baby.

I used to try to help him fall asleep.  We'd rock, bounce, walk, sing and it just made him crabbier and crabbier.  He would start fighting to fall asleep and then become overly tired.  One day, when he was about 1 month old,  I said to myself, "I think this is just making it worse." So, I decided, when it's naptime/bedtime I'm just going to put him in his bed, turn on the mobile and some music and walk away.  This is now our routine every time.  He usually whines and fusses, sometimes for 10 minutes, but he eventually drifts off to sleep. If this means I'm letting him CIO, then I let my baby CIO...deal with it.  If ever he is truly screaming-type crying I go in and interveen, but that doesn't happen often.  He has learned to self soothe.  He puts himself to sleep.  If he wakes up/is woken up before it's time to get up, he can put himself back to sleep (sometime with the help of some more music/mobile action).  He sleeps better and longer now, and wakes up happy.

So, when my baby was about 1.5 months old he was sleep trained and self soothing or CIO if that's what you want to call it.  He's happy, healthy and growing like a weed.  I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who disagree with our tactics but it works for us, deal with it!

always remember...

Growing up it seemed like the "old people" always had an event in history where they remembered exactly where they were and what they were doing in that moment. I never thought that I would feel like part of history that way, until 9/11/01.

I was in my second year of college (first year at KU) and living in Oliver Hall. I was sleepily getting ready to walk out the door for my early morning class when my phone rang.  It was my mom, she knew better than to call me that early. She said "turn on the TV," in a very urgent tone. Still half asleep, I fumbled for the remote and turned on the TV.  All I saw was a couple of tall buildings with some smoke coming out of the windows. In that moment, I was too focused on getting to class on time that I rushed off the phone and out the door without actually realizing what was going on.  When I got to class, only a couple of people had heard anything about the event.  At that time, we all just thought it was a simple airplane accident and one girl even said "yeah, I heard 5 people died." Even though that would be a tragedy in itself, it wasn't startling enough to worry about that early in the morning and we proceeded on with class.  Little did we know the true terror that was unfolding. The moment I returned to the dorm, I knew something wasn't right.  What was normally a loud and crazy building with people buzzing about everywhere, was now eerily quiet.  As a walked back to my room I passed room after room filled with my dorm mates silently crowded around their TVs, some crying, but most with jaws open in shock. I remember returning to my room, turning on the TV and just starring at the screen for what seemed like hours. 

The next few weeks around the dorm were the same, people crowded in rooms starring at TV screens and crying on each others shoulders.  Thats when I realized that I have become a part of history, that I will always remember exactly where I was, exactly what I was doing in this moment....

i blame it on the hormones...

As Boogie is moving through his 3rd month of life, it's been neat to see his little personality emerging.  It's been making me think about and wonder who he's going to be.  What traits and habits will he get from me, which ones will he get from J? Then, yesterday evening, as I was on my way to work (having another emotional breakdown about leaving my darling baby at home), I heard this song for the first time....

"Anything Like Me" By: Brad Paisley

"I remember saying I don't care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy I'm ok
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said "You see that thing right there well you know what that means"

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me
He'll probably climb a tree too tall and ride hes bike to fast
End up every summer wearing something in a cast
He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass in a window down the street
He's gonna get in trouble oh he's gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me

I can see him right now knees all skinned up
With a magnifying glass trying to melt a Tonka truck
Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on
That'll be his first love til his first love comes along
He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens
And heaven help him if he's anything like me

He'll probably stay out too late and drive his car too fast
Get a speeding ticket he'll pay for mowing grass
He's gonna get caught skipping class and be grounded for a week
He's gonna get in trouble we're gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me

He's gonna love me and hate me along the way
Years are gonna fly by I already dread the day
He's gonna hug his momma, he's gonna shake my hand
He's gonna act like he cant wait to leave
But as he drives out he'll cry his eyes out
If he's anything like me there's worse folks to be like
Aw he'll be alright if he's anything like me"

As you can image, this didn't help with the waterworks! I know things won't be perfect, we'll have our bumps and he'll we'll make mistakes, but I just hope we can raise him to be happy, to appreciate the world around him and to love and accept people for who they are. And if he's anything like his daddy, then he's going to be a pretty great man.

Yes, motherhood has turned me into a sappy, mushy mess who cries as much as the baby....I blame it on the hormones...

Poopsplosion....

I'm here to rant and rave to the diaper companies about the natural disaster, the poosplosion! I've seen it blogged about and talked about on message boards so I know it's a wide spread problem and you moms of little ones know what I'm talking about.  For those of you who don't, poopslosion is exactly what it sounds like....an explosion of yellow, seedy, sticky baby poo!  It comes out the legs holes and even up the back and out the top of the diaper.  I usually like to include pictures in all my blogs, but I'll spare you the visuals this time...

We've tried every combination of brand and size of diapers and none seem to be able to contain the poopslplosion. So my question is why haven't these diaper makers figured this out yet?! There's got to be some creative invention these diaper engineers can come up with to contain this phenomenon; I don't know what it would be, I'm no engineer. 

The brand that seems to have figured it out the best so far is the Up & Up brand by Target.  Maybe its just the way they fit Boogie's long torso (inherited from mom) and tiny butt (definitely not inhertited from mom) that they are able to create a pocket enclosure for the poop.  We've still had poopsplosions with this brand, just much fewer. 

So, to you experienced mommies out there....any advice??

I will share the one piece of advice I have on this issue for any soon-to-be mommies out there.  Always keep an easy-to-wash blanket (ie: receiving blanket) between baby and any other surface.  After cleaning clothing, couches, bedding, etc...I've learned this one the hard way.

If they can figure out how to cap a major oil spill, they've got to be able to figure out how to cap the poosplosion!

Olathe: The Windy City

Since we didn't make it down to the lake for Labor Day weekend, we thought we'd at least go have a wonderful family day in the park.  The plan was picnic and family pictures by the beautiful fountains and trees in Stagecoach Park in Olathe. We got delicious subs and pasta from the good ole Mr. Goodcents and headed across the street to the park.  There were some locals playing drums and bongos in the picnic shelter, really random, but made for some good background music. We spread out the blanket by the water and snuggled in for our happy family picnic. There were a few other people fishing by the pond, but for the most part, we had the park to ourselves. We soon found out why the park was so deserted....Well, apparently Olathe is now The Windy City.  The crazy wind kind of ruined our plans and cut our outting short.  We did get a few good pics though....

Boogie was a little jealous of the yummy food daddy had

Oh! That lip gets me every time!!

Boogie started to get grouchy and sleepy

And he was passed out by the time we got back to the car.

There are some really cool fountains and trees in this park so hopefully we'll get back there when it's not so windy to get some more family pics!

Mulligan please...

All week we had been looking forward to Boogie's first KU sports experience only to have it all end in disappointment.
Boogie woke up happy and ready to go and was dressed for the occasion...

And then disappointmetn #1: we found out we couldn't even watch the game on TV.  For a baby who loves to watch light, color and movement, having to listen to the game on the radio was just, well, noise...

Then disappointment #2: Do I even have to say it? I mean...North Dakota State?! Really?! I had really hoped Boogie would not have to know the "win or loose, we'll still booze" era of KU football. So here's to hoping for a better experience next week so we can pretend this one didn't happen....mulligan please!

going for the gold

so Tucker's first bath experience was not a good one...

But, he has now become a gold medal swimmer. He LOVES bathtime! watch out Michael Phelps, Tucker's coming!

rollie pollie baby

Boogie first rolled over (tummy to back) on July 27th, just after his 1 month birthday. He did it 10-12 times, but always got stage fright when daddy came around to see his tricks. Mommy finally got it on tape as proof of our Hercules baby...

I think he scared himself performing this trick, because he decided not to do it anymore....until, TODAY! He rolled over again, tummy to back, both to his left and to his right. He again is a rollie pollie baby...

just because

I've decided to join the blogging bandwagon. Not because I'm trying to be an expert on parenting or even pretend to give advice (trust me, this is our first time at this parenting thing, probably not the people you want to take advice from!). I just want to be able to share our day-to-day with friends and family, near and far (some very, very far!). A daily "status" update just doesn't tell the whole story....

Plese bear with me as I try to figure this thing out! I'll go back and hit some highlights that you may have missed and then we'll truck on forward through this crazy new life we have with our little man. I'll share the good and the bad, the happy and the sad....just beacuse