Exer-saucing

Ayden is still waking up a lot at night and I am still exhausted. I have decided to only feed him in intervals of 3 hours or more. I figure if a newborn doesn't even need to eat that often then our almost 4 month old doesn't need to either. If he wakes before the next 3 hour mark, I bounce/rock and sing to calm him, then lay him back down, turn on the waves option on his soother (because it seriously sounds just like loud sushing), and pat his back until he falls back to sleep.  This usually means that he's awake and actually hungry an hour later but I'm hoping he'll eventually phase out waking in between?  Like I said, always trouble shooting...

We've been using Kissaluvs Marvel fitted diapers at night for a while now and like them a lot.  We are currently covering them with our Thirsties Duo wrap covers but will eventually have to move to wool.  Ayden is definitely a heavy nighttime wetter!  I've heard that fitteds  + wool covers are a bullet proof nighttime solution.  Now I just have to do the research to find which wool cover will work best for us.

In his Kissaluvs Marvel fitted :)

David put Ayden's exersaucer together last night!  We tried it for the first time this morning and he loves it!  

The monkeys are his favorite part so far :).  

He can only take it in small doses as of right now but we know that he'll build stamina for it in no time, just like he did with his Bumbo seat.

He's also started doing a couple of other cute things.  He has learned that if he pumps his left leg over and over that it makes his bouncy seat bounce a lot:

And he's also started noticing the pets.  He was grabbing handfuls of Polly, our cat's, fur the other day and last night he laughed at Maverick, our dog, a little. 

Everything is just so fun these days and we know it will only get better!

Do you cloth diaper?  What is your go to nighttime solution?

~Sarah

I'm a mommy on Mother's Day...

It rained all day today. You know that steady kind of rain that makes you want to curl up in bed all day? It was wonderful to listen to this morning. David got Ayden out of bed when he woke up and they left me to sleep a little longer while they went down to make me breakfast in bed.

I kind of forgot to take a before picture, but at least the after picture illustrates how delicious it was!  It was oatmeal with warm apples, strawberries and blueberries with a side of brown rice toast.  It was the perfect breakfast to warm my tummy on a cold, rainy day!

While I was pregnant, we always daydreamed about bringing our baby into bed with us on the weekends and snuggling as a family.

My boys are so wonderful...

I have to say, it is as wonderful as we had imagined it would be.

My Mother's Day gift is a flower shopping spree for our outdoor flower beds. I can't wait to get planting! It always makes our yard so cheerful. We decided we'd do the actual shopping on a prettier day so we could enjoy every second of it.

Ayden also gave me another gift of his own today. He napped like a champ for every nap! He went down for his morning nap without a fuss and slept for an hour. Then we ran a couple of errands and headed to meet our families for Mother 's Day bowling.

There he took another 2 hour nap in the Moby.

"Will someone please turn off the lights?!?" -- Ayden

I think the bowling alley must have been a bit over stimulating. LOTS of sounds, lights, music, people, etc. He burrowed in and slept through my playing 2 games. It definitely changed my form and I got a gutter ball or two, but it wasn't a big deal since I'm not that great of a bowler to begin with. :) I just enjoyed snuggling my little man on Mother's Day. That is what it's all about, right??

When we got home we vegged out on the couch and watched The Change Up on Netflix. We usually watch a movie every Friday night but I always multi-task during the whole thing (writing blog posts, stuffing diapers, cleaning the kitchen, anything necessary just to stay awake). It felt so weird to just sit down and watch a movie. I definitely need to make a point to stop and relax more!! All of the to do's will still be there when I get back up.

I have to say, though, that my favorite part of my first Mother's Day wasn't the gifts, the bowling or the relaxing movie time. It was the couple of times when I turned to see David hugging Ayden with his eyes closed, totally caught up in the moment and filled with so much love for this little person that we made together. Once he caught me looking at him and said, "Sometimes it just catches you..." and I knew EXACTLY what he was talking about. You have a moment where the reality of it all hits you and you become overwhelmed with emotion and warm fuzzies. I love that man so much. It is thanks to David and our wonderful, beautiful love for one another that I am a mommy for this Mother's Day and the rest to come.

As I write this I have Ayden's warm body snuggled next to mine as he nurses to sleep. I keep glancing down to admire his long eye lashes and cute little button nose. I can hear his slow, sleepy breaths and and feel his fuzzy hair as I caress his head. This really is what life is all about.

I know that some people consider Mother's Day to be just another "Hallmark Holiday." but I see it as so much more.  It is a reminder to value the bond of mother and child, just in case you need it. Because of the mindset it has given me all day I know that I will gladly, even happily get up however many times that Ayden wants to tonight. Every time will be one more snuggle, one more sniff of his sweet baby smell and one more chance to kiss his soft cheek and thank him for being mine and for making me a mommy.

We love him to the moon and back again.

Happy Mother's Day to all! <3

~Sarah

Daddy Day

Today was David's first time taking care of Ayden by himself for an extended period of time.

We started the day out with a haircut for me (only 10 weeks overdue...). David and Ayden came with me because the girl who cuts my hair wanted to meet him. While I got my trim, the boys went to look at manly things at Sears.

After my haircut, David dropped me off at Little Miss' mom's pet store for the hamster derby! Yep, you read it right... HAMSTER derby.

 Every year I run a T-shirt tie-dye station.

All proceeds go to St. Jude's children's hospital. They also have sno-cones, popcorn, pony rides and a petting zoo.

That's how I felt before I got my much needed trim!

It's some great, free family fun if you ask me. The cutest part is hearing the kids cheer on their hamsters, "Come on Fuzzy Butt! You can do it!". Haha.

Today, David was the one sending me sweet pictures of our baby boy.

It was my longest time away from Ayden so far. My body could definitely tell too. My milk let down twice while I was there, usually after someone got me talking about Ayden. Luckily I wore breast pads! My boys picked me up at 3 and I was happy to get home and empty out the girls.

Ayden got to "ride" a pony before we left :)

We rested for a bit then headed out to take some prom pictures for some of our dance students in my Mom's garden. It was crazy to think that my senior prom was TEN years ago this year. It was fun reminiscing while seeing them all dolled up with their dates.

We had another jam packed day and I'm exhausted (no surprise there). Tomorrow is the first time I'll be a mommy on Mother 's Day.

My oldest sister sent me some flowers for my first Mother's Day

We knew we were pregnant last year but this is definitely different. I can't wait to hug and kiss on our son and bask in all of the warm, fuzzy feelings that come with being a mommy. Ayden turned 16 weeks today and it just keeps getting better and better. <3

What are your plans for Mother's Day? Is it anyone else's first? Happy Mother's Day to all of the other mommies out there!!

~Sarah

Take Me Out To the Ballgame

Something about freshly stuffed diapers makes me so happy!

Ayden "helped" me cook today :). Since I teach dance on Fridays, I've started making crockpot meals so we can eat right when I get home. The blog where I found today's recipe called it jambalaya but I think they meant gumbo... It was definitely more of a soup. Ayden seemed to enjoy watching me chop all of the veggies and count out all of the cup and spoon fulls of ingredients. He also got to feel the peppers as we talked about their colors and how they felt smooth and cold. There is SOOO much that can be taught through cooking! I think David is going to build him a learning tower for his first Christmas. It will be so fun to include him in cooking our family meals.

At dance tonight, Ayden tried out his cousin's bouncer. He really liked it! It's definitely time to get out his exersaucer at home :). Bouncy seats and floor mats will soon be toys of his past. He's ready to experience the world upright like the rest of us!

After dance, we came home to eat our crockpot jambalaya/gumbo and then headed to Ayden's first baseball game with a couple of our favorite people.

I wasn't sure how the evening would go since we got there when we usually put Ayden to bed but it turned out to be great! He ate and fell asleep right when we got there and had a nice nap. When he woke up it was dark so the field was lit up and the crowd was into the game. He was fascinated! He was looking around, wide eyed at all of the people and the field. There were all kinds of new sounds and smells too. He was so cute in his little baseball outfit and, of course, he had plenty of admirers :).

After our rough transition to bed after the Derby, I vowed that I would never again forget to pack Ayden's nighttime diaper and PJs again! If we'll be out late enough to out him straight to bed, he's riding home ready. After his wardrobe change, Ayden was so happy to see David when we met back up with everybody. He sure loves his daddy! <3

With how much he loved the sights and sounds of the ballgame, I think he's going to end up being a big sports fan, just like his dad :).

~ Sarah

Kindness All Around...

Finally in 3-6 month clothes!

Ayden took an hour long morning nap this morning (an hour is the goal but it's usually only 30-40 minutes) so we were going to be 10 minutes late for story time. Since it's only 30 minutes long I decided to go ahead to the grocery. I was so glad I had meal planned already and that I grabbed our reusable grocery bags on the way out. The story time book store and Whole Foods are in the same shopping center so my last minute decision to skip was no biggie.

In the Moby at Whole Fods.
Spit bubble!

After I got home, put the groceries away and had lunch, I met up with my sister and her kids at the mall. I had a return and gift card at my beloved Fossil as well as a gift card to Old Navy. Always so nice to shop without spending any of your own money. Ayden slept most of the time at the mall

Loving Sophie!

 then woke up to practice his raspberries :).

While at the mall I got an email that made my day! One of you (Samantha!) sent me a Mother's Day gift card. She told me that someone she barely knew sent her flowers for her first Mother's Day and it meant so much to get that she knew one day she'd pay it forward. I am the lucky gal. It was SUCH a sweet gesture that totally made me so happy and now I can't wait to one day pay it forward. There really is kindness all around us.

The rest of the day was pretty un-eventful. I had dinner ready when David got home. We played with Ayden and got to hear his amazing laughter (he's so ticklish and playful!), took a walk and now Ayden's ready for bed. I decided that I'm going to bed when he does tonight since he's waking a lot at night again.

Do you ever go to bed when the sun's still out??

~Sarah

Moving Right Along!

Somebody was up about every hour last night... Since Mr. Ayden decided that we needed to party all night long, I cancelled Little Miss and this is how we spent most of our day today...

Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to snuggle all day.
(Focus on the positive, right??)

He may be trying to increase my milk supply?  Or maybe putting him to bed on his back didn't allow him to get into that nice deep sleep he's been reaching since moving to his crib?  Maybe he's teething?  We are definitely finding that sleepless nights are much more common than our pre-baby selves ever thought possible... I ended up breaking down and bringing him to our room around 2:30 and into our bed around 4:30.  A mommy can only get out of bed so many times before it turns into torture...  Tonight is a new night!  It's never too late to try again :).

We did accomplish a few other things today...

Ayden rolled back and forth several times today!  It is so cute and fun to watch him learn to accomplish  his new milestones!  He gets so proud of himself.  A couple of other's skills that he's achieved recently have been reaching and taking toys we offer him as well as turning to look for us when he hears us.  He's also noticing our pets now, even beginning to reach out and touch them.  Before they know it he'll be grabbing handfuls of fur and tails!  Next skill on the list to work towards? Sitting with support.

Tomorrow is story time and errand day so I'm off to meal plan and make dinner!  Two things that have changed my life recently:

1) Having dinner ready when David gets home
2) Introducing a bedtime routine/early bedtime

That is all.

Here's a clip of the giggles Ayden saved for his daddy when he got home:

It's so cute how Ayden lights up and smiles when David gets home.  I love that our deep love for Ayden gives us one more thing in common with one another that we can never have with anyone else.  Nothing can ever compare to having a child with your Love!

~Sarah

Off To Dreamland

I felt so much better today since I got my feelings about Little Miss off my chest. Now I just have to talk to her mom tomorrow. I always hate confrontation and usually try to avoid it at all costs. Her mom won't be mad or anything, I just know she'll be pretty bummed...

My mood on the days she's not here is exponentially better. Ayden naps better as well because I have the time and focus to continue working on his independent napping. When Little Miss is here he ends up in the Moby because it is the easiest solution.

I also just LOVE focusing on Ayden with no interruptions or distractions. We had floor play time where we are now working on rolling back over...

We read books, and then Ayden hung out in the bouncy seat while I showered...

and again while I prepped all of the ingredients for dinner.

All ready to become chicken cacciatore!

I always talk to him telling him about everything I'm doing, have him smell fragrant ingredients (hello oranges and ginger!) while i go about my cooking. I finally took a break to look down at him and saw that he had the "seven mile stare" and had stopped playing with his toys (both of which are signs that it's time to sleep) so I went to get the Moby so I could continue my work in the kitchen. I walked across the room to put it on and when I came back he had fallen asleep without a single fuss.

He is just so sweet and seems to just get sweeter and more fun the older he gets. I was torn about whether to move him to his crib or just let him nap in the bouncy seat. I decided to move him because he kept startling awake. He barely even stirred during the transfer but was awake and crying about 15 minutes after I closed his door.

Love how you can see his cow-print Best Bottom diaper :)

 I'm not sure what woke him up but into the Moby he went where he ended up sleeping for over a hour.
 

Ayden was in a great mood when David got home.  It is so cute seeing them play together.  Ayden just lights up when David gets home.  Nothing like seeing a proud papa with his son. 

We had dinner around 6:00 and the rest of the evening was pretty relaxing.  We started Ayden's bed time routine around 7:30 (feeding, nighttime diaper/PJs, lavender lotion massage, book, bed) and he was asleep by 8.  I caught a little clip of him drifting off to dreamland:

Sorry the quality is bad...  It was pretty dark in there.

I have no idea why we didn't start this early bedtime routine earlier!!  It is AMAZING!  He ended up waking up around 9:30 or so.  I'm not sure why, maybe because he was on his back?  I nursed him back to sleep so we're not worrying about a dream feed tonight.  That being said, I'd better get to sleep myself!  

~Sarah