Sleep Update

Well, as I write this, Elliot is sleeping in his pack & play again. I suppose I should be thankful that he made the transition so easily, especially after hearing horror stories from bloggers/family members about how their kids were still sleeping in their beds at 3 or 4 years old. {Is it just me, or do all mothers like to try to scare the heebie jeebies out of new moms?!} But I'm still really missing having him in bed with me.
He slept in his pack & play ALL NIGHT last night. All I had to do was give him his bottle, rock him for a minute, pop in his pacifier, turn on his soothe & glow seahorse, and pat his back for a few minutes, and he was out.
Here's what our night looked like:
8:15pm: 4 oz bottle
8:30-11:00: sleep- 2 1/2 hours
11:00: 2.5 oz bottle
11:20-12:45: sleep- 1 hr 15 mins
12:45: bottle {3 ounces}
12:55-3:30: sleep- 2 hrs 35 mins
3:30: 3 oz bottle
4:00-6:00: sleep- 2 hrs
6:00: 3 oz bottle
6:15-7:45: sleep- 1 1/2 hrs
8:00 3 oz bottle
8:30-9:30 sleep- 1 hr
and then we woke up for the day.
So that means he only woke up for 6 feedings- that's not bad, for us! Whew, just reading over that... I feel like I should be exhausted, lol. Like I said, he's sleeping right now. He had a busy day today, meeting his Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Gougeon and spending time with his Grandma & Grandpa {I'll be posting pictures tomorrow}, so I wonder how he'll sleep tonight?
Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last "sleeping" post. It really helps to hear that so many of you went through the same thing! It's nice to know I'm not alone. And yes, I do think Elliot is going through a growth spurt- he just started gobbling down 4 ounce bottles during the day!

10 Day Challenge: Day 7

Four Books:
1. "Guess How Much I Love You" ♥Sam McBratney
2. "Where the Wild Things Are" ♥Maurice Sendak
3. "Corduroy" ♥Don Freeman
4. "Wistle for Willie" ♥Ezra Jack Keats
{I chose four of my favorite children's books}

Sleeping Troubles

It's no secret that Elliot isn't the best sleeper. He typically wakes up every 1-3 hours all night long. It wasn't so bad, though, because although he woke up often, he would gobble down his bottle and then go right back to sleep. It was easy!
Did you notice that I said it WAS easy instead of it IS easy? Yeah. That's because lately, neither Elliot or I have been getting much sleep. I now dread the hours between 3-8am, because during that time, my sweet, cuddly baby turns into a sleep-deprived monster. He kicks, pulls my hair, and SCREAMS. And not "woe is me, mommy cuddle me" crying... we're talking "I'm mad and I'm going to make sure the whole house knows it" SCREAMING. He won't eat {you have NO idea how much formula we've been wasting lately}, and he can't get comfortable in any of our usual positions. I tried rocking him, patting his back, singing, cuddling... the works. Nothing worked.
Last night, after trying to soothe him for three hours straight, I'd had enough. I decided to use a piece of advice one of our NICU nurses gave me awhile ago: if, after trying your best to soothe/comfort him, he was still super upset, to simply put him down for a bit and let him work it out himself. I'm 100% anti-Ferber, but if he was going to cry either way, why not put him in his pack & play?
So I laid him in his pack & play with his favorite blanket and turned on his soothe & glow seahorse. His screams rose another decibel, so I quietly patted his back. And wouldn't you know it? After a few minutes, he STOPPED crying and fell asleep! Paranoid, I stared at him for probably fifteen minutes until I was sure he was sleeping. Then, I crawled back into my bed, which suddenly felt lonely and empty, cried for a few minutes, and fell asleep. To my surprise, when Elliot woke up two hours later, at 8:00, he wasn't traumatized or upset... he was happily babbling away to the elephants on the pack & play's toy bar.
I'm trying to psyche myself up to try letting him sleep in his pack & play again tonight. I really, REALLY love cosleeping. There is just nothing better than cuddling with my little man all night long. But... It doesn't seem to be doing either of us any good anymore. Originally, I didn't want to transition him out of my bed until my husband came home, when he was 6 or 7 months old. But I guess sometimes plans change. :( I'm sad because this could be the end of another great time in my relationship with Elliot. I already had to stop breastfeeding... and now maybe cosleeping too?! Oh man. I'm not ready!!


Elliot sleeping peacefully in his pack & play

Cloth Diaper Update

Well, we've been cloth diapering ever since Elliot was eight weeks old. Here's how it's going so far!

What I've Learned:
- Everyone told me to try a little of everything before making any big purchases. I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED! After only a week, I hated stuffing pockets and knew that there was absolutely no way I could handle a whole stash full of pockets. I ended up selling a TON of my pockets and all my all-in-ones on Diaper Swappers. This worked out pretty well but I did end up losing some money.
- When it comes to pockets and AIOs, you get what you pay for. Rumparooz, which are my absolute FAVORITE, also happen to be pretty darn expensive. $23.50 for solid colors and $25.50 for prints- that's $5-$7 more than the two most popular and well known pocket brands, BumGenius and FuzziBunz. BUT it is worth it. The fit is AMAZING, especially for a one-size diaper. The colors are vibrant and beautiful. The fabric is SUPER soft and stretchy. The aplix is top quality. The inner gussetts? Ingenious! Can you tell how much I love these diapers? I started off with only six, but now I have twelve. I just love them!
- "Classics" never die. There is a reason why prefolds are still so popular. I, too, was one of those people who "scoffed" at those old fashioned or ugly diapers. That is, until I tried tucking a trifolded Zabi Baby prefold into my Flip & WeeHuggers covers. Easy and fast... diapering perfection! They're soft and absorbant, and they wash and dry so much easier than synthetics. I'm also a lot less paranoid about staining a $2 prefold vs. a $25 diaper.
- I do NOT like all-in-ones. They take FOREVER to wash and dry, and they're pretty bulky.
- HE Front Loaders + Cloth Diapering = a giant pain in the butt. Rinse, rinse, rinse people! These machines are designed to use less water but that is not ideal for cloth diapers, which start to stink and/or repel if the detergent is not fully rinsed out. Aaron and I are going to be buying a new washer and dryer soon and let me tell you, they definitely will not be front loaders.
- Cloth diapering is EXTREMELY addicting.

What I Love:
- RUMPAROOZ, FLIPS, and WEEHUGGERS.
-JoeyBunz hemp/organic cotton inserts and Zabi Baby unbleached cotton prefolds
- Disposable liners- these are a must have! Formula poop is NASTY! With these, I can just flush away the poop. :) Perfect.
- We have NEVER had a blowout in our cloth!! {We had several in sposies}
- Smiling every time I change Elliot's diaper. Seriously. How can you look at something so CUTE and not smile? I can't wait for summertime! I think Elliot will be crawling around in just a t-shirt and diaper a lot ;)
- Not ever worrying about running out of diapers, smelling a stinky diaper genie or pail, throwing away $ on disposables, or putting paper and chemicals on my son's bum

What I Hate:
- Stuffing pockets {with the exception of Rumparooz}. It's seriously annoying.
- Microfiber. Yuck! I now use mostly natural fibers {cotton/hemp}. The only thing I use microfiber in still are my Flips- I use the stay dry inserts for overnight. I use hemp/cotton inserts in my Rumparooz.
- SNAPS. Diaper changes took too long, and they never fit my little guy right. I'm an aplix girl!





My Lovely Stash:
- 12 Rumparooz pockets
- 6 WeeHuggers size 1 covers
- 5 Flips covers
- 12 JoeyBunz inserts
- 12 Zabi Baby prefolds
- 16 Flip stay dry inserts

We ♥ Cloth Diapers!

10 Day Challenge- day 6

Five Foods:
1. homemade macaroni & cheese
2. mashed potatoes
3. bananas + peanut butter
4. strawberry yogurt
5. rice
I probably couldn't live without these!

Mom Monday Blog Hop

I decided to join the Mom Monday Blog Hop.
I've met so many inspiring women through this blog, and am always on the lookout for new blogs to read.
What better way to meet new people and find new blogs to read than a fun link up? :)

10 Day Challenge- day 5

Six places:
1. Sierra Vista, Arizona: where we lived before my pregnancy got really crazy. Life was simple there. The weather was FABULOUS. We met some great people at Fort Huachuca. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
2. Massachusetts: where most of my family lives. I love going out east for St. Paddy's Day weekend, and there's no better place than Cape Cod in the summer!
3. California: the state I was born in. We moved when I was four, but I'd love to go back!
4. Australia: number one foreign country my husband and I would really love to visit.
5. Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, MI: private Catholic school where I went to college. I {loved} that school!
6. Hiltonhead Island, South Carolina: best Spring Break ever... an absolutely beautiful vacation spot.

A Lazy Sunday

First of all, it is SNOWING outside. I am SO ready for the sun to come out and the snow to melt so that on lazy days like today, I can take Elliot outside. I'm sick of winter. For me, winter loses it's appeal right after New Years. As soon as the holidays are over, this dreadful season should end!
I always miss my husband more on the weekends. Probably because he works long hours all week, so Saturday and Sunday are "our" days. So yes, thanks to this dreary weather, I've spent half the day today thinking about how much I miss my husband and {I'll admit it} feeling a little sorry for myself. I'm ready to move to wherever our next duty station is and actually start start living our life as a little family of three.
Oh well. At least I have this cute little guy to cheer me up:

10 Day Challenge- day 4

Seven wants:
1. my husband to come home safe and sound
2. to find out where we're moving next {hopefully somewhere warm!}
3. SUMMER!!
4. to take some photography & graphic design classes
5. BOB ironman jogging stroller {yellow}
6. Kelly Moore camera bag
7. an orange kitten

10 Day Challenge- day 3

Eight fears:
1. Losing the ones I love
2. Living life with regrets
3. Relapsing {eating disorder}
4. Heights
5. Driving
6. Horror movies
7. Spiders
8. Cotton balls: touching cotton sends chills down my spine. I absolutely can't stand touching it. This is actually a pretty common sensory issue- google it. :)

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