Day Tripping

We had a great busy weekend. Saturday night we went out for sushi with my brother, his fiance and two of their friends. Jack is a huge fan of edamme, I couldn't peel them fast enough for him. Afterwards we hit up Hoffmans for some delish ice cream, Jacks also a big fan, just like mommy! Yesterday was the Memorial Day BBQ at Steves uncles house. The day great, Jack had his first dip in a real pool and loved it. We got him one of those floats with the canopy, his is a frog... so cute! He loved playing with everyone in the water, splashing and laughing... it was adorable! Family, good food and fun in the sun... a good day! Today Steve and I took Jack to the reservoir for a bike ride, it was hot and painful at times but it really does feel great at the end (going to try to make it a more frequent thing) and Jack fell asleep while in tow. Felt so bad having to wake him up, looking so cute in his piggie helmet! Afterwards we picked up some lunch to bring with us to Monmouth Park for Jacks first outing to the horse races. We lost, of course, but it was a fun day out. So this is what got me thinking.... we need to make it a priority to plan these day trips for the three of us to spend good ole fashined family time together....

So here are a few things on my list of things to check out...

*Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia (thank you Nikki)
*Allaire state park for a picnic and train ride
*Maybe do a ferry ride into the city and do something, not sure what yet
*Cape May for the zoo and walking around town for the afternoon
*Maybe Storybook Land (not sure if hes too young and it may be best to wait for next year)

Ok so thats all I have for the moment... I'll gladly take some suggestions if you have any. Its funny and sad how fast the weeks go by and sometimes we are so wrapped up in everything work, or house maintenance that we forget to take the time to go out and do fun things just the three of us... to forget about the laundry piling up and everything else that will still be there the next day to be done... I want to make sure that Jack experiences all sorts of things and though he may not remember it I do think that he can learn and just plain old has fun while its happening... these are the important moments... and hey we'll have plenty of pictures to show him so he knows of all the fun things we did together as a family.

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Here are a couple books about Day Trips in NJ and surrounding areas...

One Proud Mama

I must say, I truly am one proud mama! I am proud of Steve and I for sticking to a routine and program to get Jack into healthier sleep habits and I am crazy proud of Jack for doing so well with this big step!

So you all know of the terribly hard time we have been having with Jacks super inconsistent sleeping. We have tried a few different things and nothing seemed to be helping. We were getting more and more frustrated, especially me, spending hours everyday just trying to get him to nap or go to sleep at night. It was exhausting and starting to drive me slightly nutty. It was so hard to just take a deep breath when at night we'd stick with the routine of bottle, rocking in the chair until he fell asleep and then we'd lay him down in his crib. That did actually work for a long time, but not so much in the past couple months. He would sleep in our arms then jump up screaming as soon as we laid him down. It sometimes felt like it took forever to finally get him so asleep that he didn't care that he was put into his crib. Then after all that he was getting up once, twice and sometimes three times a night. It felt like we were going backwards instead of forward! Many nights just so that all three of us could get a good nights rest, we would just bring Jack into our bed if he woke up during the night.

So while we really didn't mind having him in bed with us, we also knew that it really wasn't good to do every night. We knew something had to give but we really felt pretty clueless at that point. Steve had talked with a woman from work for several days about the problems we were having. She too has a young child and had recommended a book to us. "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" by Marc Weissbluth MD. This past Friday, she let us borrow it to see if we liked it enough to buy. So Friday night came and I put Jack to sleep just as we had been doing. Once asleep I plopped down on the couch and turned straight to the section on Jacks age group.

There it was right in front of me, our story was in that book. Within the authors writing were stories of real parents who also had sleep troubles.... the child that fell asleep standing up on more then one occasion, trying all these different methods, and so on.... I couldn't help but smile knowing that we were not the only ones...

I read on and here are the main points.... There was a huge emphasis on the importance of a routine, naps and consistency. He stated that most of the time when children have trouble at night it is because the parents don't allow the child to learn the important skill of self soothing and how to put themselves to sleep. We knew Jack was not getting a goof nights sleep because he wasn't waking up happy. Everything he wrote made complete sense, we would let him cry but would always run to the rescue hence defeating the whole point. They somehow know that if they continue to cry that you will come rushing in, if you don't then they learn that that is what happens when it is time to sleep and that they must go to sleep themselves. We figured we'd give it a try. We realized that we were not making the situation any better when we went in so maybe this time it would work.

Early into the night Jack woke up crying, we left him and he cried for an hour before falling asleep. Te next day for nap time I went in laid him down and left, 50 minutes later he fell asleep (he recommends not letting them cry for more then an hour at nap time but no time limit at night). Every time, nap and night after that went even better. Tonight I kissed him goodnight, told him I love him, laid him down and closed the door. He cried for less then two minutes!! He is now waking up happy, napping better, can very quickly put himself back to sleep if he wakes during the night and has had fewer cranky moments during the day. We also moved his bed time earlier, also recommended in the book...It is helping!

I am so glad we gave it another try, the right way this time and that we are making real progress! Now the next huge thing will be the day I lay him down and he just rolls over and goes to sleep. I certainly recommend checking out the book, it completely made sense and I think in a way gave us the boost and confidence that it could be done, that even though its hard at first, a well rested happy baby in the en is the most important thing! A plus too was that through numerous of his studies, it appears that a well rested child has fewer nightmares and night terrors and that these healthy sleep habits developed at an early age continue on into adulthood.

Losing My Mind

Yea, its yet another entry about my sleeping habit battle with Jack. I am a complete loss. He is amazing during the day, eats well, plays... he is super easy going... until sleepy time comes around. Lately it's not even just at night anymore. It seems that as soon as we seem to be making progress we are just as quickly thrown backwards. It is incredibly frustrating to not know how to fix it.

So we tried the whole letting him cry it out thing and it seemed to be working but never did hit that sleep through the night marker and then again we seemed to have gone backwards again. It used to be a five minute effort to get him to nap. He was napping on a great schedule and for a decent amount of time each one. Now it is a 45 minute process. He has no problem falling asleep on me but when it comes time to lay him down all hell breaks lose. There is the screaming, crying and clinging. We are at a loss! So now napping is barely on a schedule and they last long enough for me to maybe eat breakfast and get dressed.

Completely clueless as to what happened. Our night time routine is the same. At this point the only successful part of the past month is that he doesn't need a bottle in the middle of the night anymore. I guess I should be glad about that, right, it is something. This week he actually hasn't even wanted to take a bottle to fall asleep at night. That part has been going generally smoothly, taking maybe 15 minutes for the initial lay down... the problem comes in when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Nothing we do seems to help and we get so frustrated that we end up just bringing him into our bed. Yup, he manages to sleep amazingly perfect in our bed, waking up at 7:30.

Its kind of like, okay we are creating a bad habit of sleeping in our bed BUT he is sleeping well and isn't that kind of more important? He wakes up happy. It drives me nuts to hear how people were able to let their kid cry for three nights and then from that point on they have slept through... we have been battling for weeks and we still can't figure it out! I never ever had even expected that most difficult part of having a baby would be getting him to sleep well.

I am open to suggestions... any tips, good books, anythiiinnngggg!!!!

On a better note.... Jacks first birthday party.... it went great! Funny the night before the party he slept great and took two good naps the day of... he had a ball... he loves being around people! The weather was perfect and we were so glad to be around people that love Jack! His cake turned out amazing and I hugely recommend Pink Cake Box.... they are fantastic!

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Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Boy!

May 12, 2009 the most precious life was placed into my arms. Now, here we are one year later, already! Anyone that has a child understands how quickly the time flies by and how quick they change and develop. Jack is amazing and so sweet. Today was a day of celebration!

We had our Little Gym class this morning, which Jack always enjoys! He loves running around, climbing and playing with his other little friends. One friends birthday is tomorrow so we brought her a mini bunch of flowers. Training him to be a gentleman for a young age! Never can start to early when if comes to treating a girl right! At the end of class we all sang Happy Birthday.

After lunch and a short nap it was time to get ready.... Daddy took a half day to celebrate! We went to build a bear where we picked out a Panda, which we later named Bug A Boo. Jack did all the hard work... We picked out a heart for our bear and even added the birthday sound piece, he stepped on the pedal to stuff the bear, we gave the bear a "wash" in the tub then picked out a cute birthday tee shirt for Bug A Boo to wear! Jack actually enjoyed the whole thing very much... I guess for him there was a lot of cool colorful stuff to look at and feel.

From there we went to Cheesecake Factory, lets just say Jack wasn't so much in the mood for eating, so the mac and cheese got packed up and instead he sucked down a bottle and a few pieces of bread. We even managed to keep clean, which is always a huge feat!

Off to our portrait session at JcPenney.... must say I was very much impressed with our photographer, she was great with him, so much so that he was partly more interested in playing with her then taking the photos. Never the less, the pictures came out so cute! He actually did a great job, what a ham! And finally we have a few really great family photos. Could not be happier with how it all turned out. It was a great birthday celebration!

Of course on the way home he fell asleep, like out cold. Didn't even flinch when I took his shoes and jacket off. So instead of disturbing him for cupcakes and presents, off to bed he went. I guess we'll be singing tomorrow! I cannot believe thats it. An entire year has gone by and Jack is growing quickly. I think I found the right words for his card and I look forward to him reading it when he is old enough to understand. He is the best thing that has happened to Steve and I and we are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby boy in our lives. The plan is to be sure that every year we celebrate in a special way, the three of us (plus any future child), so that he always know that he is a blessing in our lives and that day he came into our lives, our family got a whole lot better!

A year ago...

I am actually exhausted from a day that was filled with a whole lot of crying, getting into things he shouldn't be into (glass dishes) and barely there naps, and still I have this urge to write a quick entry.

On this day last year, May 11th, I had my final ob appointment, the final stress test and little did I know what was to come only hours later. The stress test was fine, Jacks heart rate was great the only difference this time was that the uterine activity line showed some movement. When my doctor checked out the strip of paper that prints out of the machine she asked me if I had been feeling any contractions. I replied, "no". For a moment she was considering doing an exam and then opted not to since I was scheduled for only two days later for my c-section. I went home and went about the day without a clue that the uterine activity was a sign of what was to come. I was worrying about getting all my paperwork together because the next day I had an appointment for all the pre surgery tests at the hospital and the day after that I was scheduled to have Jack delivered by c-section. I had packed my bag weeks before and was all set to go on May 14th. I went to bed this night just like any other. At this point with the giant belly (though I had only just reached the recommended 20 lb weight gain at this final appt), sleeping was uncomfortable and difficult.

For any of you that have had a baby, you know that my month 9 there is no room left for the bladder to hold anything. So I was getting up every couple hours, now I don't remember how many times I got up prior but I stepped out of bed at 2:50(ish) in the morning on May 12th to empty that bladder.... just a few steps into the bathroom I felt a lovely wetness and I was pretty sure I hadn't just peed myself but at the same time it wasn't some gush of fluids as I had expected. After wrapping my head around what was going on for a few moments I yelled out to Steve "I think its time to go". The rest is the story of the first year of my beautiful boys life.

That morning my breath was taken away like I never thought possible. That moment that Steve brought Jack by my side in the operating room was a moment that I will never forget and that will forever be cherished. So here we are May 11th at 11:00 PM, only a few hours from the moment that Jack Tyler LeMoine graced us with his presence and changed our lives forever, one year ago.

A Mothers Day to Remember

Yesterday I celebrated my very first Mothers Day. If you were wondering, last year it fell on May 10th, and Jack was born May 12th so yup I was super close last year. My first was one that I will remember and cherish forever.

Steve surprised me yesterday morning with the greatest gift, a video he made up with photos, videos and music all about Jack and our family. I felt the tears coming as soon as it was turned on and held it together for about two minutes before I started crying hysterically, in a good way though. I think it was a combination of seeing Jack so little again and knowing that a whole year has nearly gone by already! So Steve and I sat and watched the video together, from the moments before Steve came into the operating room for Jacks birth, learning to roll, the sweet giggle of a newborn, the smiles with the angels during a nap, crawling and then the big walking! It was the best gift, I have never before been brought to tears over a gift, but this was special. There it was, a video depicting the first year of mommyhood and to see the changes and all of the wonderful moments was incredible. You sometimes forget how the smile looked when their lips are so tiny or the way they stare at a new toy or stuffed animal, the sound of a baby giggle or the pitch of the first babbles and reliving all of that was a moment that I will never forget. So I must say thank you again to my amazing husband who worked for weeks to make that video and it will be cherished forever. The second gift was a spa appointment for an 80 minute hot stone massage later in the day. Let me tell you... getting pampered like that once in awhile is so worth it. You come back relaxed and so refreshed.

Our day was spent with family. We had everyone over for a brunch. I love cooking so I don't mind doing it. Everything turned out delish! I think everyone enjoyed themselves and the crafty gift that Jack and I made for everyone. Of course I'm sure they will also enjoy the newest Avon scent, Eternal Magic... ;-) I do the winky face because I sell Avon. All in all a great day that I got to share with my wonderful husband, son and the rest of the family.

Hope that all you mommies out there had an equally memorable and enjoyable day! Share your stories with me!

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Fast Approaching....

WOW! 1 week from today my sweet baby boy turns 1! It so incredibly difficult to believe that an entire year has gone by already. I remember that amazing day like it was yesterday. That day my life changed and my priorities shifted, I knew that the most important thing in the world was my now family of three and doing everything in my power to make sure that my little boy had everything he needed, always the best and to always make sure he was happy, healthy and safe.

The little annoyances in life didn't seem to matter anymore. Any nervousness about having a baby melted away the moment I heard his first cry. That moment took my breath away and everyday since he has made me smile like only he can do. He makes my heart melt. I think he has taught me to be more patient, to love in a whole new way, a much more profound way, and to enjoy the little moments in life that way too often just slip away without thought.

A few nights ago while I was putting him to sleep I couldn't help but stare at him and wonder what would I write in his birthday card. What were the right words to express the pure unconditional joy he has brought into my life. I want that card to be something he can read when he's older and hopefully get a sense on the depth of love that Steve and I have for him. I haven't yet picked out the perfect card or decided on the perfect words to write... I will let my heart do the talking...

Its so hard to believe that just a year ago I was very much pregnant and waiting for that day to arrive. That my tiny little baby is now walking (even running) around the house, getting into trouble, speaking words and has developed the most amazing little personality (yes even the stubborn Italian part). It saddens me because the changes happen so quick that yI kind of forget what it felt like to hold him when he was only 6 lbs 12 oz, how he used to curl up into a ball on my chest like that was the perfect place to rest. The look that a newborn gives you, it is the most amazing stare and in that moment you feel like the world is perfect. I wish I could go back just for a moment to relive it, to feel him in my arms without all the squirming because he just wants to get down and play.

I love to watch him now... he makes himself laugh which makes me laugh, its hysterical. He makes the most adorable faces, he has the most beautiful smile ever. He loves to play the drums with my wooden spoons and a pot, to chase the kitties around the house, to play with water, he absolutely loves music and will start to dance as soon as a song pops on.... There truly are no words that can even come close to describe the joy that he brings each day and how much better mine and Steves lives are because of him.

So yea, here we are one week away and there is plenty of planning and prep to be done. So the cake is ordered and I cannot wait to see it. Chairs rented, server hired, some lists are made, decorations ready to go... it is bitter sweet.... my baby isn't so tinsy anymore but he is growing stronger and becoming more amazing everyday. He, and Steve are the loves of my life and I am so grateful for everything they do and for all that they are.

On another note... I am also busy prepping for the Mothers Day brunch I am hosting.... my first Mothers Day.... a truly amazing thing.....

By the way... Day three of the sleep craziness crack down.... went to bed at 8:45 and slept through the night until 7:15!!! Lets keep the fingers crossed the same goes for tonight....

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Night Struggles Day 2

Ok so just figured that I'd give a quick update on how last night went. Yesterday Jack actually was right on schedule with his naps, 10 and 330 and slept a decent amount for each. So last night we actually ran out to dinner and a couple stores so we got him to bed a little later then usual. After I gave him his bottle he fell asleep and I laid him down.... there were no quick wake ups like an hour into it... Then of course at 11:00 the house phone rings, wrong number, and wakes him up...

My thoughts... crap here we go.... So I did the same thing as the night before, left him in his crib, he stood up and was crying. I rubbed his back and stayed close and after only 15 minutes he gave in, let me lay him down and rub his back and within 30 seconds he was asleep again. The next time he woke up was 6:50! YAY!!! It worked again and went so much better on the second day! By the way, this exactly 6:50 wake up time is kinda new, he used to sleep until 7:30. But hey, I'll take a full nights sleep with an early wake up over those crazy sleepless nights....

If this actually works and he starts sleeping through the nights consistently I will probably kick myself in the butt for waiting so long to at least give it a try.... So lesson learned so far is maybe not to mock techniques unless I at least try them first.... I think we sometimes have to do difficult things even if they make us uneasy at the time as long as in the end the results are beneficial to the little ones. He has woken up happy the past two mornings and we have avoided some cranky time too... all around this experiment is working out so far....

Will keep you posted!

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Nighttime Chaos

I had all intentions of writing an update on the big birthday coming up but then last night happened, so I will write about the rough night now and tomorrow we'll get back to the fun party stuff!

Yes I realize I did a whole blog entry on how he made it two weeks straight with sleeping through the night, it has not been so easy since. It is so inconsistent, he will sleep al night for three nights then the next night he will be up for an hour and the only way to get him to sleep and for us to keep our sanity is by bringing him in bed with us. While I don't really mind that he's there, I know this can't be a daily thing. We are less then two weeks away from Jacks 1st birthday and we still haven't figured out this sleeping thing. We do the same routine every night but the results are never the same. Last night was what I hope will turn out to be a turning point, a huge difficult step in the right direction.

Every night I dread hearing the screams from Jacks room. It used to be a quick fix, small bottle and he'd be back out like a light. No more, he's been getting up and its been a huge struggle to get him back to sleep. This has been getting crazy frustrating for me and Steve. It was understandable a few months ago when he was that much younger but now its different, especially since we've had a taste of quite nights.

Jack did not have any great naps yesterday so I kind of figured he would be over tired and it would be a rough night.Last night I tried something that absolutely killed me but I hope it was a good thing. Steve got up with him initially and tried to calm him without the bottle and I took over a bit after that. So I made progress, no bottle, just rocked and hummed to get him to fall asleep. The problem always comes in when you have to put him back down in his crib. He has this great talent and being so still and seemingly asleep in your arms and then you lay him down and he pops right up crying. After several unsuccessful attempts at the rocking and singing thing I gave in to the method I said I could never do. I let him cry.

I laid him in his crib and he immediately pops up crying so instead of picking him up and stood by the side of the crib and rubbed his back as he screamed. Every once in a while I would try to lay him back down to see if he would just give in. This went on for 45 minutes, he is a stubborn relentless Italian boy. The back rubbing didn't seem to be helping at all but I could tell that he was starting to get worn out. I sat in his rocking chair and with a knot in my stomach and my heart aching to just pick him up and hold him in my arms... especially difficult because he stood there crying and reaching his hand out for me. Ugh, that was so difficult!! Makes me want to cry! I knew I couldn't give in after all that time and that he needs to learn to self soothe so that he can sleep better and get a full nights rest with no struggles. After a few more minutes I got up and tried again to lay him down.... ahhhh he stayed laying and let me just rub his back and he finally gave in and fell asleep.... granted he woke up three times very briefly within the next 15 minutes but the difference is he let me just lay him down and rub his back to fall back to asleep... a huge huge feat in our book! This is the first time we got Jack to fall asleep without a bottle or in our arms.... we are finally making progress.... hopefully!!

So we'll see how tonight goes, I am going to go into figuring there will be a struggle but I pray that he will get the hang of it and in the end will sleep that much better. Its so difficult to do something that in that moment is so hard and saddening but I know that he needs this so I will stick to it.

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