The great sleep debate...

There are lots of opinions out there on sleeping (in regards to your baby). You may have heard some of them:

Rock your baby to sleep.

Let your baby cry it out.

Keep your baby up as long as possible so they will sleep longer.

Never wake a sleeping baby.

Etc...etc...

The purpose of this post is not to debate which opinions I disagree with (even though I do disagree with some). I will, however, tell you what works. Really works. People have been recently asking about how Kensie is such a great sleeper. I wish I could take all the credit, but really it's because I'm a firm believer in this book...

Before I get into the details of the book, here is our testimonial:

Kensie is currently 19 months old. She goes to bed between 7-7:30pm and sleeps until 8:30-9am. We have never had a bedtime battle. Not once. Even when she's in the middle of playing, or visiting with friends. When I say it's time for "night night"...she willingly walks down the hallway and into her room. We get into her P.J.'s and grab her blankie. After a quick kiss goodnight, I lay her in the crib, flip off the light and shut the door. She might babble for a while, but then quietly puts herself to sleep. Nap times are the same. She will sleep from 1pm until 3-3:30pm without a fight.  Sure, there are times when she gets fussy and irritable because she is tired, teething, or sick. But, as soon as she is in her crib the fussiness stops immediately. It's as though she is relieved to be going to bed. There are also occasional shifts in the schedule with holidays and vacations, but she easily adjusts back to her normal routine. All in all, she expects to sleep and accepts it.



(Kensie at 5 months--after a full night's sleep)

"If you start early with sleep training, you will be well along the path to preventing sleep problems." --Dr. Weissbluth

The first half of the book seeks to educate the reader on sleep using studies, charts, and testimonials. The second half is divided into Chapters for different age groups. Once you "buy into" the philosophy of creating healthy sleep habits for your child, you are given some tools to use depending on your child's age.

So, what does this look like? Here are some concrete examples of what we are implenting with Mason right now.

Five to Eight weeks old:

{1} Try to meet your baby's need. If he's hungry, feed him. If he's tired, sleep him. Mason started smiling last week (which indicates he is more socially aware), and also means he would rather enjoy our company instead of sleep! It takes some practice but, we try to "read" his tendancies--taking note of when he becomes fussy. Did he just eat? Does he need his diaper changed? This sounds like common sense. But, really staying in tune with your baby's rythyms is a great start. You will soon notice which cry means, "I need to sleep!".

{2} Let him stay awake for no more than 2 hours.  That's about the max that most babies can endure without becoming overtired. We try to soothe him to sleep before he becomes overtired--before he becomes slightly crabby, seems irritable, pulls his hair, or bats his ears. This does not mean he should be up for 2 hours and then down for 2 hours. Rather, 2 hours is the time interval during which we expect to put him to sleep.

{3} When we decide he is showing signs that he is tired, we lay him down--even if he does not want to sleep. Sometimes, he falls asleep and sometimes he won't. When he doesn't, we pick him up (after 5, 10 or 20 min.) and soothe him. We may try again after several minutes to see if he will fall asleep on his own. Or, we might try again another day. "But, remember that if your baby cries hard for three minutes, quietly for three minutes, and then sleeps for an hour, he/she would have lost that hour long nap if you had not let him/her alone for six minutes."- Dr. Weissbluth

{4} Keep a log or diary to see if there's any improvement. When we see success, no matter how small, it is motivating to persist despite some crying and inconvenience we have to endure.

"At those times when your baby needs to sleep but wants to play with you, your playing with him is robbing him of sleep. "- Dr. Weissbluth

I return to this book time and time again. I'm already looking ahead to when Kensie is ready to switch to a big girl bed. There's lots of good advice for that too! Other methods may work great. But, this is the one we chose and it has worked amazing for us! I think the key to anything is consistency.

If there is a lot of feedback, maybe I'll do another post in a couple months on Mason's next phase...

New flooring and a room switcheroo...

After 4 {lonnnnnng} weeks, our floors are done! Thanks to my hard-working, staying-up-til-midnight, learn-as-you-go, persevering husband....it is finished!

I cannot tell you how rewarding a project like this feels once it's done. Ohhhhh, so good.

And since I'm a sucker for BEFORE and AFTER photos, I thought I would sneak a few in...

BEFORE



AFTER

I also did some redecorating....surprise surprise. I have always wondered what the fireplace room would look like as a dining room, and vice versa. Once the floors were finished and cleaned, it was a good opportunity to try it out.

I'm pretty sure I broke some cardinal decorating rule by putting the hutch in front of a window...but honestly, it was the best spot. Now, if I can only convince my hubby to move the chandelier into there for more lighting, all will be well. If not, then I'm going to need to find some wall sconces or something.

And, I absolutely LOVE this space now. A sitting area in the kitchen....where we spend a lot of our time. Coffee chats with friends, a play area for the kids, and free traffic flow to the mudroom/ garage. {The space under the painting on the right will soon be the perfect spot for Kensie's new kids size table I found on craigslist.}

I'm thinking a slim sized coffee table would be nice in front of the couch. Or even a weathered looking bench that can double as a coffee table. We'll see. It just needs a little something extra.

I will leave you with a sneak peek into the mudroom....more on that later.

Time to go run laps with Kensie on the new floors! Peace out!

Two and a half weeks later....

Mason:

{1} Growing like a weed!{barely fits his 0-3 month sized wardrobe}.....and is gaining weight like it's his job.

How cute are those booties??

My dear friend Jenny sent them in the mail, and I absolutely love them! What a sweet homemade gift :)

{2} Has decided that his biological clock is set for the European time zone {which would be great....except we live in the U.S.} Bummer. So that means we have been doing a lot of this during the day....

..and a lot of this at night...

MUST EXPLAIN:: This photo shoot were taken after a 3am feeding. We were joking about how much Mason and Greg look alike....and in an attempt to snap a pic of the same "expression" we nearly peed our pants after taking the photo below. Greg looking humorous but tired, and Mason looking like a troubled one-eyed bandit. We were laughing for a half an hour.....oh what sleeplessness will do to a person...::



{3} Peeing ALL over the place! Ugh. This kid is like a ticking time bomb attached to a 360* rotating sprinkler. I think I change him like 5-6 times a day and wash every blanket he owns within a 24 hour period. So much different than a girl. I just hope he gets some control over that thing in the next month or so. It's getting old.

Kensie:

{1} Has had a few more time-outs these days. I was aware of this transition, but wasn't sure exactly how it would come out. Some "firsts" we've experienced lately include: splashing around with her hands in the toilet, pulling out every diaper from her closet and spreading them all over the room, finding the tissue box and emptying every last tissue out of the box, and deliberately touching things after you've said "no". None of them surprise me....just hard to keep up with the kid!

{2} Sleeping like a champ! This kid will sleep up to 14 or 15 hours sometimes! Lately, she will wake up around 8, but then play in her crib until I come get her (I've left her up to an hour and a half sometimes!) As long as she's happy, why rush it right?? Seriously LOVES her crib. She'll sing, roll around, and bounce like a trampoline until the cows come home. Same thing after naps. She'll sleep 2-2.5 hours, and then play for an hour, if I let her. Thank goodness! Now, let's hope Mason is just as cooperative in the future.

{3} Getting more personality every day. It's so fun to watch her play more independently these days. She totes around her stuffed animals, stacks blocks, reads books, and re-arranges pillows and rugs all day. Her vocabulary is growing each day, and she shows a real interest in recognizing letters and numbers in everyday life. And she loves to challenge herself by balancing on random objects. Here's a little clip from today's playtime....

I've made a couple trips with both kids by myself {still crammed in my little Focus btw}, but still haven't tried a public outing yet....let alone a trip to the grocery store. Just doctor appointments and visits with friends. But, I'm totally ok with that. I'm happy to sit here in my robe as I type this and not step foot out of the house all day. We'll see how I feel by week 6, but for now I'm soaking up the time with my two munchkins.

And don't worry, flooring pics are on the way!! Half of the room is done....yippee!

Flooring as of late...

We enjoy doing our biggest, most labor-intensive, time-consuming house projects during life's biggest transitions. Namely, having a baby. I don't know what it is, but my husband THRIVES working under pressure.

What do I mean???

When we brought Kensie home from the hospital a year and a half ago we didn't even have our front door attached to the house. Yeah. I wish I would have taken a picture but, let me describe to you the madness we welcomed Kensie into when we got home---Greg was in the middle of painting our new front door and back door to the house (he gets the nesting instinct even worse than I do). With only one coat of paint left on each door, they were resting against the side of the house waiting to be finished. As in, off. O-F-F, off.

I went into labor the next morning and we had no choice but to leave everything as it was. The gaping entrance to our oh so vulnerable home was creatively covered with drop cloths. Complete with duct tape (like that's going to keep any thief or varmint out). The inside was not much better. Furniture pulled away from the walls as baseboards were half ripped off, and walls were left to be painted. All in all, it was a disaster!

But, like I said....Greg works the best this way. And, we end up getting more done in a short amount of time.

So, when we came home from the hospital a week ago....here's what we have been up to. Well, Greg anyway.

See the carpet??

Well now you don't!

Cleaning the grime and dirt from the beautiful black glue that was found under the linoleum flooring.

This is what we have been living in for a week. Lovely.

But, the good news is....it won't be long! The prep work is what takes the longest. Once he gets started on laying the wood laminate (which is gorgeous!) it should go pretty quick. Stay tuned! I can't wait to see the transformation.

So, does your husband work under pressure like mine?

Baby Mason is here!

It's been a week already but, that's no excuse for slacking on a post about it. So, without further adieu....Mason Gregory is here!

Born 3-8-11

at 7:49pm

10 lbs

22 inches

And for those of you who care about labor and delivery details, keep reading. If not, stop here and we'll see you next time!

In the last month of this pregnancy I scheduled to be induced for fear of a big baby (again). Kensie weighed 9lbs 7oz and she was three days early. When I found out we were having a boy, I just knew he would be even bigger. No one believed me. Not my doctor. Not family. Not friends. But, I could feel the weight of this baby the whole pregnancy. Even the ultrasound I had at 38 weeks predicted a smaller kiddo....so needless to say, mother knows best.

We checked into the hospital at 7am (4 days before the due date). Thankfully with just a little help (and no petocin), things progressed well and by 2:45pm I had my epidural in. Man I love those things!

By 7:30pm I was ready to push and after a quick 15 minutes, Mason was born. You should have seen the look on my doc's face when they weighed him! I think he will definitely keep an eye on me with the next baby (which will not be anytime soon mind you). Between joyful tears, Greg and I couldn't believe how big and beautiful he was. Such a blessing!

So where was Kensie during all this? My sweet sister Lauren stayed for nearly a week (during her only week of vacation) and took care of Kensie while we were at the hospital. The nice part of being induced is knowing exactly when things will happen. We are so so SO thankful that Lauren was willing to come. And let's just say that "Aunt Lolo" was Kensie's new favorite person. Period. She clung to her when they came to visit the hospital. And when we came home from the hospital Kensie would run down the hallway yelling, "Lolo, Lolo, Lolo!!" So cute. And honestly I was fine with it. I would rather have Kensie attached to someone like Lauren instead of constantly crawling in my lap while holding the baby.

Fast forward to today >>>>>

Greg is back at work. I have survived the last 2 days with both kids at home. Kensie has moments of jealousy but, is playing very independently and (somewhat) obeying still. We are incredibly blessed, but incredibly tired. Mason sleeps ALL day. The kid can barely finish a feeding without being unconscious. And then as soon as we lay down for bed, he starts waking up every 2 hours at night. ALL night. I know there will be a time when he will figure it out and as we stretch feedings and try keeping him awake more during the day.....the time WILL come when we will wake up and realize that more than 5 hours have passed. But, SOON I hope. SOON.

So, if I slack off a bit on the blog you'll know why.

Here's to the little sleep I am about to get right now...

Two nurseries and a first ever wall collage!

When I found out we were having a boy for baby #2, one of the first things I thought was, "How am I going to decorate the nursery!!" I guess you can say I have a love for decorating :).

But, really.....I wasn't thrilled with the idea of decorating a room for a BOY. Don't misunderstand. I was THRILLED to hear my hubby would now have a son he can wrestle and play football with. But, it was just so easy to decorate Kensie's room--pink and green paisley prints with touches of flowers and fairies for accents. It came to me without hardly trying. I absolutely loved every minute of planning out her room.

But, a boy? All I could picture were tonka trucks and choo choo trains all over the walls.....not exactly my style, though I'm sure those will be some favorite toys in our future.

So, being on a tight budget and not a lot of ideas, I knew I had to get creative. I headed to Babe's R Us and told myself I could only by a crib set from the clearance section. I didn't really like anything I saw, but after MUCH debating I settled on one and forced my way out of there. Crib sheet, bumper pads, dust ruffle, comforter, lamp and a banner (the banner was pretty much why I chose the pattern.....something I would totally want to make but, someone already did the work for me!) The print was a variety of polka-dots in light colors of blue, green, brown, and orange with a few green crickets hopping on the edge of the fabric. Not ideal, but I could work with it.

I got it home and realized the colors all matched perfectly to the rest of our house! We only have 3 paint colors throughout the whole place {summer sorbet blue, garden fairy green, vanilla cookie yellow}. I was feeling a bit more inspired and got to work.....

Here's the {almost} finished room!

The curtains and rods we already had...and the {fake wood} coffee colored blinds were only $18 a piece from Target! The nightstand was moved from the living room, and the crib and changing table was moved from Kensie's room. Thanks to some church friends, we are borrowing a second crib to use for Kensie until she's ready for a big girl bed (borrowed crib is pictured above--it fits her room perfectly and is much more girly).

With only 3 bedrooms, we decided to keep the futon in the nursery to double as a guest room (and for all those midnight feedings too!). If we have visitors we can just bunk up the kids together in Kensie's room with a pack n' play and let this be a private room with little effort.

I collected unused frames we already had laying around the house (all previously black) and used 2 different cans of spray paint (from Hobby Lobby) to spruce them up and match the fabric colors. **Not sure why the green frame on the right looks crooked. It's straight in real life I promise! Blaming the camera lens.**

This metal "M" was given to me by my sister in reference to our last name (also previously black), but I decided after a quick coat of green paint it would suit Mason's room perfectly.

The matting inside each frame is from the cardboard box that held the crib set. The box was supposed to be "reusable", but was half torn when I bought it. So, I just cut it up and used for a sturdy backing for the pictures.

The banner came with cricket covered close pins to aid in hanging pictures on the actual banner.But, I decided to glue them straight to the cardboard matting in order to swap pictures in and out of frames easily. All the current picture are of dear my Grandpa Woody during his service in WWII. My Aunt mailed them to me a few months ago and I have been dying to get them up in a collage of some sort. So, here you go Aunt Gwen! Thank you so much for getting these to me!

It's a little intimidating standing at the end of the hallway. To my left is a nursery. To my right (right across the hall) is another nursery. I feel like I'm having twins! Life will be crazy for a little while, but we are SO excited! Can't wait to meet Mr. Mason soon...

All-year mantel

It's always fun to change things up. I love switching decorations around to give a space, a shelf, a spot on the wall a fresh look. Since the holidays ended a few months ago, I usually end up rearranging things and never quite put everything back the way it was. The mantel is a perfect example. I have a couple different "all-year" mantel arrangements.

Here's the one I like the most these days:

I couldn't bear to put those darling trees away with the Christmas stuff. But, I think they blend in enough to get away with it.

I love this willow tree collectible....a gift from my love a few years ago.

The vase filled with dried silver dollar branches has outlived it's life for sure. I bought them at farmer's market probably 4 years ago. They are tattered and falling apart but, I love them.

My favorite picture of sweet Kensie next to an apothecary jar filled with a neutral set of decorations from Target.

The awesome mirror in the center was a Christmas gift from my mother this past year. She knows me well.

And for those of you wondering about the new nursery, don't worry. Baby Mason's room is coming tomorrow! Stay tuned...