Complete 180*

Backyard camping was great last night!  We dressed Ayden really warm in a onsie, a fleece sleeper, a fleece sleep sack and a little Elmer Fudd type hat that covered his ears. Then we used the bundle me from his car seat to make his own sleeping bag next to us.  Trying to avoid all suffocation hazards, I folded the bundle me down to his waist and pulled his little hands into the sleeves of his sleep sack.  When he woke to feed for the first time, I pulled him into my sleeping bag with me. While he fed, I reached into his sleeve to make sure his hands were staying warm enough and they were so cold :(. It didn't seem to bother him because he slept better last night than he has in a long time but it still made me worry about him.  He apparently loves to sleep in cool temperatures (it got down to about 45*).  Even though he seemed comfy enough, I could not get him to keep his hands down in the Bundle Me.  Since he wasn't swaddled, he kept raising both arms up above his head so I decided to keep him in my sleeping bag with me.  I got in the protective C position that I had read about in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and made sure the sleeping bag was away from his nose.  Though I felt better with him next to me, I was still a little worried about him being in my sleeping bag so I woke up about every hour to check on him.  He was warm and cozy and like I said, slept like a rock.  We had warned our friends that he may cry a time or two in the night but since he was so close to me and I was waking so often I would just see him starting to stir like he does when he's waking up and would go ahead and nurse him.  I don't think he ever fully woke the whole night and he never even made a peep!  When he finally did wake for the day he was all smiles right from the start.  So cute!  We will definitely keep camping with him because we want him to grow accustomed to it to make it easier for us when we finally decide to try to camp for real.

After all of Ayden's fussiness yesterday, we wanted to make sure that we made his routine a priority today. Since our plans didn't include anyone but us, it worked out PERFECTLY!!  Such a turn around from yesterday!  Since I got even less sleep than usual last night, I laid down with Ayden during his morning nap and we slept for 2 hours!!  He did wake up to eat in the middle of that but we both went right back to sleep.  He actually stayed asleep until his next feeding time so my need for an extra long nap didn't interfere with his routine.  The day was AMAZING!  He was happy, alert and smiling and didn't even cry in the car on the way to the grocery and back.  I even asked David if we had the right baby.  It just goes to show that routines really do make even the youngest of babies feel secure and happy.  He would get sleepy at the 2 hour mark and woke at the 3 hour mark to eat every time.  How consistent it was still amazes me.  Like I've said before, we don't want to be a "by the clock" kind of scheduled family.  Though Ayden seems to keep his own 3 hour schedule pretty nicely, the actual clock time has no meaning to any of us. We are going to try to stick to his routine as much as possible on the weekends from now on since it made our day so much happier overall.  On the days that we can't, we'll just go into them prepared for some fussiness.  No big deal.

Here are a few more pictures from the day:

Shoe socks are my new favorite! :)

Mommy Moby time!

Family lunch at the table...

For dinner, I thought I'd try my hand at roasting a whole chicken in the Crock Pot.  I had done it once before with less than stellar results.  It turned out super dry...  I used this recipe and was excited that it used the roasting veggies and drippings to make a gravy!  

The finished Product

It turned out much better than the last one but I still have a little to learn.  Chicken and I seem to have a love/hate relationship.  I even used a meat thermometer but the white meat, though not super dry, was kind of... sticky?  It seemed to stick to our teeth when we chewed.  Anyone have any tips to prevent that?  The seasoning was perfect, we used a rub called Loco Rub that my sister's farm in NY produces.  It's definitely become our new favorite chicken seasoning!

For the gravy, I finally got to give my immersion blender a try.  It made it very smooth and delicious!  Don't know why I've never used it before.

After we ate, I de-boned the rest of the chicken, saving the bones and skin for making home made chicken stock, which will be another first for me in the kitchen.

As always, my favorite part about de-boning a chicken is the wishbone!  

David won!

I used to always wish for a baby... This was the first wishbone that we've had since I got pregnant and I found it hard to find a wish. The pieces of my life have fallen into place and I just couldn't wish for anything more. :)

What do you wish for when given the opportunity?

~Sarah