A Mother's Plea....

Dear Baby I,
You know how much I love you right? You are by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to Daddy and Me. We would do anything for you walk burning coals, eat snails- even jump in front of a moving train! You are the apple of our eye and we built our futures and family around you. You are our precious little angel, but....
Well....BUT (its a big but!)... I was just kind of wondering as your devoted mother and caregiver, if it were at all possible if for JUST ONE NIGHT you can cut us some slack and SLEEP!!!! I am not even asking you to sleep the WHOLE night...just give us a solid 3 or 4 hours and I will be fine! I beg you! PLEASE!!!! Before Mommy throws herself in front of a moving train!!!
I cannot wait for the day when you can tell us what is wrong! 'Mommy my belly hurts.' 'Mommy my teeth hurt.' 'Mommy the sheets are scratchy.' 'Mommy its too hot in here!' 'Mommy hold me, I am scared.' 'Mommy the dog wont stop licking itself!' Because right now I spend every waking minute of the night (which is every minute of the night!)  trying to guess what it is and I am doing a horrible job at it! I have taken the advice. I have read the books, studied the internet, swaddled you, fed you, rocked you, let you cry....nothing seems to work! Maybe I am just a wuss for a mom but I really thought by 6 months old you would have a longer stretch of sleep than 2 hours under your diapee!

In the past 3 nights you averaged MAYBE 3 hours of sleep per night...and that is being generous! Saturday night you actually started crying at 11pm and by 4:30AM we were driving the street of Las Vegas trying to get you to sleep(which is blog-worthy itself!)! I put 25 miles on the car (which is a lease that i will be paying dearly for in mile overage fees - that is coming out of your allowance!!!) for you to sleep 20 minutes and awake as soon as I turned the engine off!! You cried so loud and long last night that the dogs even scratched at the door to get out of the room!!!
Honestly Baby I feel like I am failing you in some way - like there is something I have done or something I have failed to do that makes you this uncontrollable at night. Did I hold you too much? Have I completely spoiled you silly by 6 months? I wish I knew the answer! I just know that complaining about it doesnt help and by now I think everyone must think I the wimpiest mom on the planet! But if Dr Moss's office were open at 3 AM  I would have gone in for an emergency Hysterectomy last night!!
'They' say I am supposed to let you cry - but last night was the longest 4 and a half hours of crying I have ever experienced!! And it wasnt just you crying either! I woke up so dehydrated this morning I felt like a camel!! Last nite was pure hell and I dont think I am strong enough to do it again. I dont agree with the Ferber method and I dont think that putting you to bed should be something you - and I dread....so what to do??
You have to help me out here kiddo! Mommy is running out of ideas and in desperate need of some sleep! You have me completely defeated....I just count down the hours till bedtime with complete and dreadful anticipation....and I really just want us both to get a good nights sleep!

Love,

your ever-tired, ever-loving Mommy

PS Happy happy bday to daddy! We had a great day in the snow and cant wait to do it again!!! Altho I think the doggies had the best time of all!! We love you Daddy!!!

To all my prego friends...Things I have learned thus far.......

Spring is always Baby and Wedding time (even if that order for some...). Usually the two go hand in hand.  ALthough I cannot give anyone advice on the Wedding world, I can offer my worldly Maternal advice I have gathered in my past 6 months as a mommy.  Chalk full of experience it is NOT, but fresh in my mind and blunt it IS!
As many of you know My experiences with my little bundle of bliss in the past six months have (at times) been anything but....Sir Isaac has been QUITE a handful since Day 1! First he did not eat well, then he refused to poop, all the while NEVER sleeping and crying as if it  were an Olympic sport. Well, we have conquered 2 of the 4, but  I have a feeling Little man will be spending many a night curled up in Mommy and Daddy's bed and not his own and if the the Olympics do ever have a crying event..well lets just say Phelps and Ohno will lose their records in a heartbeat!
I can go on and on with little useless tips of the trade, such as YES!! you can hold the baby too much (GUILTY!), no Bed-sharing(I wish someone would sleep in his crib!) and scheduled feedings and naps (for the baby not you!) But I will limit my world of advice for all my Mommy- to- be- friends to some main pointers...(for now)
#1. As the nurse hands you your little bundle of joy your head will be spinning. Yes YOU created this little blessing - the most beautiful baby in the world, but what the heck are you going to do with it now??

The first thing you will learn in a hurry is that EVERYONE has the best Mommy advice and EVERYONE knows exactly what you are feeling. Bull shit. Most people have decent advice, but no one knows just how you feel. Luckily parenting is not a religion. You CAN have a cafeteria plan and pick and chose what methods work for you. My basic rule is to follow the advice of the parent with the least screwed up kids...or your mom's  advice, even if her track record may be a little shaky. :)
#2. If someone offers their help TAKE IT!!! As new moms we are all on a mission to be SuperMom.  Why? In reality most of us have just undergone the most physical experience of our lives and seconds later we are expected to take on the most challenging experience of our lives. Our minds and bodies are certainly not ready for the task of recouping physically and being in charge of the survival of our newborn child! Listen ladies, I was the first to try to squeeze into my post- labor- Supermom- tights, but thankfully they didnt fit! Take the Help! Even if it is just for a 5 minute bathroom break when you can actually shut the door! Trust me, supermoms are tired moms are cranky moms...and in the battle of cranky mom versus cranky baby - Baby ALWAYS wins!
#3.  Relationships. Before 'I' was born JT and I read every article on 'post-baby-relationships' and laughed! There was no way our Little Miracle could do anything but enhance our giddy lovestruck romance. My   pregnancy was a dream, JT was the ever-loving Daddy-to-be, and our relationship was more stable than ever! Then our little Colic Monster was born and the tables turned! Now instead of  cuddling up to my sweetheart at night I was contemplating murder plots as I could hear him snoring away as the baby wailed away in his crib in the wee hours of the night. What happened to us?? We seemed to forget everything we had read and ironically become the "what not to do" profiles in the magazines. Allow me to clarify, I became the profiles! Jt became the "What just happened to my fun loving Girl??" guy!  Poor Guy!
If you think a baby won't alter your relationship your are completely wrong! From Sleeping, to eating, to trying to take a shower every once in a while - EVERYTHING changes! The main thing you have to keep in mind is you are both in this together - and staying together should be the long term goal for all of you. Alternately,  as was the case of the cranky Baby versus cranky mom, in the case of cranky Mom versus cranky Dad - no one wins. So plan ahead! Get yourself ready for the sleepless nights and come up with a sleep schedule where you both get some quality ZZZ time!

#4. Finally, Give yourself some slack. You have just put in 9 months of planning and preparation for your Bundle of Joy. The Nurse hands you the baby and POOF! Everything you have just spent the past 9 months learning goes out the window! Nothing can prepare you for the moment when you realize YOU ARE THE PARENTS of this helpless little human! It is inevitable(for most of us at least!). We read the books, we took the classes, we came up with our child-rearing plans, we were ready - or so we thought. I was going to be the best Mom EVER! Earth friendly diapers, chemical free products, organic everything, baby schedules, charts, you name it - we had planned for it! Then Baby I, the Colic Monster, came out  with different plans for us! My Earth-friendly-organic-scheduled-pie-charts became useless as our bassinet and I resorted to survival mode to keep up with him! The greatest thing I have learned so far is to be able to adjust myself and expectations to reality and to be okay with that. Do not think of it as 'losing the game.' Think of it as choosing a better game to play. Not everything will go according to plan (or in our case not ANYTHING!), but learning to sanely deal with that has saved Jt and I from killing each other many a time! And in the end NOT killing each other is KEY for a happy family!!

So there it is my friends - some (hopefully) helpful hints on the crazy world of motherhood from a very UNSEASONED veteran of the game! I can go on and on...but not right now... as you can guess, someone is crying for me!

Half Year of Fun!

Dear I,

I cant believe you are 6 months old!! I cant believe Daddy and I lasted this long! It seems like just yesterday the doctor handed you over and said "here you go...he should stop crying soon..."
HA! Every day you are changing..but the crying hasn't stopped! Maybe we can get a refund on that! It seems like everday you are growing out of another outfit! Thank goodness you still fit in the bjorn....but it is getting tight! What will we do then???
Still no crawling, but we are pretty sure you are going to go straight to walking! You hate tummy time at all costs! Except for bedtime. YOu now LOVE to sleep on your tummy! Which is great... now in the off chance you DO sleep, I stay awake watching you like a hawk! GReat! Thanks for taking it easy on me!

Needless to say What a half year it has been! I have slept less than I ever thought possible!(ugh!) Cried more than I (or Daddy) can handle!(Ick!) I have gone from washing the house down in disinfectant to letting the dog lick food off your face!(Oops!) I have pretty much compromised EVERY plan I had for you to this point! Oh what a great mother I was BEFORE you were born! Heck, I have even slept on the floor at night because you finally fell asleep - in my bed!!
You have definitely changed Daddy and my lives forever... and for the best! Watching you grow everyday reminds me how lucky we are - and how people can have more than 1!!??? But I love you little Sir with all my heart...and all the amazing greatness you have brought to our lives!
Unfortunately we had to celebrate you Big day with another round of shots at the Doctors. Silly vaccines. But you did great. Mommy still cried (oops)! The dr said you were a perfectly healthy beautiful baby boy...and (in not so many words) Mommy and Daddy are big wusses for not being able to handle your lack of sleeping!

He also said we need to up the ante on the solid foods! YEAH!!! You are definitely ready for that too! YOu would put EVERYTHING in your mouth if I let you! So far we have dabbled in Sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, bananas, and rice. I have had so much fun making your food too! I love to see you eat good for you food! In no time at all youll be wanting a happy meal (UGH!!!...which, by the way, you will NEVER do in my presence!)
This weekend we will be busy getting ready for daddy's birthday! His first daddy bday!!! He is off to Tahoe this morning...Our first time without him here! boohoo! We shall see how Mommy does as a single mom!!I have a feeling we wont be letting him do this again for a long time!!
Well its off to mush some bananas!! Happy 1/2 bday my monkey boy!! Mama loves you!

My Little Monkey!

Dear I,
I think I may start to call you my little koala rather than my little boy! YOU are always haning around my neck these days! YOU are defintely a little Mama's Boy in the making!! Daddy says I have the "mommy hips". Mommy told Daddy the couch gets awfully cold!
I guess I should enjoy it while I can..that is "they" tell me! BEofre I know it you wont want antyhing to do with me! I will just be your lame mom who 'doesnt know anything!' Funny, your noni was just like that too!

We have had a long week of good nite bad nite...at least htere was a few good nites huh? OK, let me rephrase the "good nite". Good NItes are when you are jsut fussy enough to make it into Mommy and Daddy's bed and then you sleep the rest of the night curled up under my chin, grasping my necklace for dear life and sucking on my chin. That is a ""GOOD NIGHT" these days.
Although that is WAY better than your bad nights of sleeping until 11pm and staying awake crying until 5:30 AM!! THat is HELL NIGHT!!! But now I am armed with all my "Baby Sleep" books...( plus a few extras) so I am sure once you finish reading them we will be all set! Get Cracking kiddo!

Well are currently visiting Gramma Berta and boy is she happy to see you!! I told you she wouldnt believe how big you got! We survived another "Midnite Run" Drive and 8 hours later...POOF! Elko!  Its a big change from the rip roarin Super Bowl party from last nite (I hope everyone can hear the sarcasm in that one!!) I bet Uncle Ronnie is enjoying his quiet nights again!
Well its time to go catch the stirring little monster I hear! I hope you had a good nap...I hate when you wake up on he wrong side of the blankie!!!

You are lucky you are cute!

Dear I,
Someday you will learn just how FUN and WONDERFUL sleeping is! I realize right now you may think it is a little scary or, in your case, completely torturous, but believe me someday you will EMBRACE it as much as Mommy and Daddy (would like to) do!
It seems in the past few weeks you have developed an odd sense of complete dismay with sleeping. Waking every 30 to 45 minutes to remind me how much you completely hate it! I get the point kiddo!! But you still have to do it or mommy is going to be VERY cranky... or (according to Daddy) Crankier!!
Lately the hard part is not getting you to sleep ( I am actually getting better at that - knock on wood!) - it is putting you down! It seems every time I lay you down you react as if I accidentally put you in a bed of crocodiles! YOu scream as though I dropped you into your crib from the 45th floor of a highrise building! I dont know where this new game came from but I cant wait til its over!!
It makes for a very long nite....and an even longer next day!
I know many people ...MANY people...like to offer their advice when it comes to sleeping..mostly let him cry it out...but I just cant do that...I know someday (soon) I will regret it...but you are SO fickle I can't let you cry all night. Because you will CRY ALL NIGHT! "They" say the  cry-it-out/Ferber method is harder on the parents. "they" are right. Mommy isnt strong enough to listen to you wail for hours and not throw herself over the balcony! Hopefully I am not screwing you up too much! ALthough part of me thinks at this rate I will be dancing you to sleep in high school!
I must say you have been better throughout the day though! Thank GOD!! Except for the fact that I hold you ALL day! I guess that makes up for my lack of gym attendance... maybe you are trying to tell me to get back to the gym?? Smart Baby Boy! Don't worry baby, Mommy is very aware that she needs to hit the treadmill again! Apparently my sweatpants look is getting old even for you!
The one thing that you do seem to love is music! All types and very loud! I have a feeling I will see many a drum set and such in our future! We dance to sleep every night. I cant wait until you are old enough to know what "only one song" means! Apparently now it means we dance until you are so sound asleep drool is coming out of your mouth!

You do love to be out and about though! YOu are going to be one active, inquisitive little Man! We went to story book hour last week at Barnes and Noble and you loved looking at all the other kids and books! Taking you out is my saving grace for keeping you calm! I just wish there were more places to walk around here other than a grocery store or Target...(your walks get awfully expensive :) And thank heavens for the Bjorn! Dont tell Daddy but Mommy secretly hates your stroller...so the Bjorn is my best friend! Maybe we can try the treadmill together! (just kidding everyone) You also love you some Elmo and Barney! I dont know what kind of subliminal messages they put in those shows but keep it coming I say! And if I make daddy watch the Kids' stations any longer you are surely going to own "Your Baby Can Read!" any day now!
Well Apparently naptime is over.  Here I can come little Man! I hope everybody out there knows how much we miss them and can't wait to see them all again soon!!
love you, mommy

Baby Gaga!

Dear Baby I,
5 days back in Las Vegas...Ho Hum... Back to reality! Where is all my help!? My cooks? My laundry fairy? My magical Midnite relief?? I thought Santa may have left a set of you here....but nope. Good thing you are cute kid! Or Zam Boom to the Moon you would go!

Little Man, you are having a heck of a time getting re-adjusted to West coast time. Up at 3! Bed at 6! Ugh.. You are all screwed up! And so am I!! I guess we will figure it out sooner or later! The puppies were so excited to see us back!!! I have never seen Zorro so excited. He nearly licked my face raw! Who says dogs do not remember!!! Zorro does!!
FOr those of you who havent heard of our lovely trip back to Vegas...let me just say an Oceanic flight to the LOST island was better! Sir I cried and cried...and cried...oh rite, then he puked EVERYWHERE!!! I felt so bad for those around us! It must have been because he didnt want to come back to Vegas either! My poor baby! But we do love being back with Uncle Ronnie! HE loves to make you cry! :) It is the best to see him carrying you around in the bjorn! What a fabulous Uncle! Just dont let him teach you anything...especially about girls!

Since we have been back he has been "talking" up a storm! Babble Babble Babble!! He is getting adjusted to his new jumpy...and my little guy is HOOKED on Sesame Street! (bad mommy lets him watch TV already!) Sweet Potatos have also entered the scene! What A mess!!! But I think you liked them! You hate the Zantac though...I hope it is working but I have to jump thru hoops to keep it in your mouth! You nearly outgrown your tubby and your feet ar the tastiest most fascinating things you have ever seen!
BEing back also makes me miss all my helpers!! HINT HINT.....come visit Noni, aunties Krissy, Gina, and Emily!! SOON! Little man is like my new appendage! I cant put him down for a second! The facial recognition does melt my heart...but the constant holding breaks my back!!

Last but not least I wanted to give my little bratty patty a happy birthday shout out!! I cant believe my brat is 15!!! I bet in a blink of an eye I will be saying the same thing about Little I!! Enjoy your big day Bratty! BE good....and be careful - remember you are just finding out who you are supposed to be...and you will do better things than dating the boy on the football (or hockey!) team!! I love you! ( yippeee! a whole year of singing that song to you!!!)

See you soon!

Dear Isaac,

Back to Las Vegas today. :(
We had a great time here at Noni's house, but time to get back to 'work'. It has been a long time since we last seen those puppies of ours! I bet they miss us dearly! I know we miss them!
Mommy is surely going to miss all the babysitters we have here though! Now what are we going to do when Mommy needs a nap or when you won't stop screaming? Back to the grocery store I guess!
You got awfully bug since we got here! You barely fit in any of the clothes we brought! I guess that is a blessing in disguise since we dont have to lug them back to Vegas! Although believe me, we have PLENTY to take back. Just wait until Uncle Ronnie sees all  the stuff we have to take back! I just hope he remembers to pick us up at the airport WITH the carseat in the car!
   As much as I miss the pups, Leaving is still awfully sad. I know I will be back soon, especially since you fly for free! But still its no fun saying goodbye...even if it is just "see you soon". I am sure everyone is going to miss you oodles! Aunt Krissy has gotten so good at having a baby IN the stroller...maybe she will just have to push an empty one around to pretend like you are still here! Aunt Gina finally got you to laugh and giggle....now who will she buy all those loud musical toys for? Nona will have so much extra holy oil and now Em will have TWO hands free for texting!! Zizi has no more blanket to sew! Nono will finally get his bed back and I bet your Noni is going to miss you more than ever too! How will she ever sleep thru the nite without your constant screaming that she pretended not to hear??? Maybe she can keep her second shift over the phone for a bit?!?!?!
  Well thats it for now. Mommy's not one for emotional blah blah...so we will just say See you soon! and thanks for everything...we love you all very much!