to soother or not to soother...

I have to blog about this...We decided to give Grace a soother shortly after she was born.  It helped ALOT with her gassiness and constant need to suck.  At first she would spit it out after a few sucks but we were persistent in holding it in until she learned.  It worked beautifully for her first 4-5 months. and i totally dont regret it one bit! Than she started waking up during naps and at nighttime and wanting us to put it back in.....she kept waking up more and more frequently....she could never nap longer than an hour at a time! and it got to the point where she was starting to wake up every 2 hours at nighttime!! It was crazy!! She only knew how to suck herself to sleep and every time it fell out we were hooped!  The kids and I are currently in Ottawa for 3 weeks.  This is where I decided to take away the soother.  We took away Parks' soother when he was 15 months old...The lack of sleep has pushed me too far! lol Our first 2 weeks here have been exhausting for me!  Grace had to get use to the time change PLUS she was already waking up every 2 hours or so for her lost soother.  SO I took it away for her first nap of the day....she cried on and off for an 1 hour ( I would go in and fix her blanket as quickly as possible, tell her its time to sleep and leave...I did that every 5, 10, 20 minutes).  She is a very stubborn girl VERY!  she would get quiet and than remember that she was mad and start screaming again...

After the hour she made herself sick....so i changed her up and settled her down again...i was ready to give up ( i knew i had to stay persistent).  She fell asleep after half an hour!  only slept for 30 minutes but still I WON:)  Next nap in the afternoon she cried for another hour and fell asleep for an hour! That night when i put her down she didn't make a peep!!!  I have a little blanket with a bunny head on it that she now only gets when she's going to sleep...she rubs her face with it and was asleep within 5 minutes.   What a wonderful accomplishment:)  Some may think i am a mean Mom but for the little time that it took to train her (yes by letting her cry it out) it is well worth getting my sleep back!  Now she wakes at 4-5am to eat and goes back to sleep until 7-8am.  There has been a few nights were she'll wake up and have to repeat the cry it out process but overall i am happy.  She is still such a happy easy going girl even without the soother....and honestly i dont think she even remembers it:)

Ottawa Fun!

Parks, Grace and I have been in Ottawa for almost two weeks now...one more week with Nana and Papa than its time to fly home.  We have been having lots of fun and getting good quality time in with friends and family out here.  We miss Daddy (Matt) lots though and are finding it harder and harder being away from him for this long.  Here's some pictures babe;)  We miss you and cant wait to see you soon!!
xo

Today after church...Grace is officially 6 months old today!

Nana always loves dressing Gracie

Grace is getting better and better at sitting up all by herself Daddy:)

Special picture with Ava and Hunter...Parks and Ava look all grown up:)

Benson and Ava over for a pizza playdate!

Happy Halloween!

Well we decided to do Halloween Saturday Night in our church's parking lot.  They call it a 'trunk or treat'....everyone decorates their cars and hands out candy from their trunk:)  It was really cold so it was nice to get all the trick or treating done quickly for Parks.  We were in/out of there in half an hour!  Parks and Grace dressed up as spiders...i need to dress them up again to get better pictures...i couldn't take Grace out of her seat cuz it was so freezing that night.

Ready to go!

The flash was a little bright for her:) hah

Grace 5 months old

Well Grace is now 24 weeks old...so 5 months and a bit.
She is such a happy little girl.  Always smiley, she has started to giggle now but overall she is pretty quiet...We just got back from our 13 hour car ride to and from Alpine, Utah.  We stayed for a week and a bit.  She and Parks were sooo good in the car!  I was really surprised.  Grace is a jolly jumpin machine now.  Loves her excersaucer.  She is her brother's biggest fan. We bought her a floor mat with things that hang down over her and she has mastered rolling over both ways now...she is halarious.  If you leave her for a bit she usually ends up completely off the mat and somewhere far away.  She loves being on her tummy.  She has one bottom tooth already that she got when she turned 5 months and now you can see the one beside it will be out in a week or two.  She is teething hardcore and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  Thank goodness for soothers...it gives her alot of relief.  She's not that interested in food yet, but i have given her oatmeal, pears, sweet potatoes...i'm in no rush if she doesn't care...that is fine with me.  Her sleeping has started to slowly get worse and worse.  She only naps during the day an hour at a time MAX.  usually 3 times a day which is fine.  At night she has been waking up every 2 or so hours wanting her soother put in.  soooo now that i am home again i am starting to Ferberize her....that method worked really well with Parks.  I let her fuss/cry for 5 mins. go in give her her soother....wait 7 minutes or so than go in give it again...i usually dont have to go in more than once...but i'm tempted to just get rid of the soother at night...like we did with her swaddling.  We had to unswaddle about a month ago cuz nothing could contain her and she kept waking herself up.  Now she just rubs her face with a blanket and falls asleep.  lastnight she only woke up twice, so hopefully tonight will be even better:)  I am so grateful to be able to be a stay at home mom.  It is the best job ever!

Her most favorite thing to put in her mouth

She really has not mastered sitting up, so this blow up bathtub helps alot with the falling over:)

Our tall girl

Her new play mat that she loves!

Showing off her little leggings:) its so fun dressing her:)

She's fearless just like her brother...thanks Daddy.