A Hand Full

I haven't been posting much lately because I have a big handful!



Can you believe that this little angel is high maintenance??BELIEVE IT!!!! (Blurry pic because he was moving too much!) This is his mad face, he gets this a. lot.

I always said I would never be one of those parents that feeds their kid to keep them quiet or puts them in front of the tv to entertain them... Well, I have become one of those parents!

Speaking of handfuls, A few graham crackers can work magic! They give me almost 5 minutes to get something done!

Keating can sit up all by himself now! It has been great because he is starting to entertain himself a little... Notice I emphasize little.

Dont worry he isnt lonely or neglected, he always has company! The dogs make great baby sitters!

Sometimes while he plays with the dogs, I can complete an entire task, like baking WW muffins and decorating for fall!

How cute is my little monster in his game day outfit!? We were sad that the Bulldogs lost to South Carolina!

He loves swinging, he would do it all day if he could!

This post is probably pretty random but besides trying to keep this kid entertained, I haven't been doing much! Brad has been working A TON, that is why he isn't in any of these photos.


And my blogging time is up... Keating is up from his nap!

5 months ago today...

My life was forever changed.

Relapse... time to ferberize.

Gone are the days of peaceful sleep in our house. Keating has decided that he doesnt want to sleep through the night anymore. After the 4 month wakeful period and now starting to get teeth... night time is NOT FUN in our house. We are at the end of our ropes.

I have tried everything to help him self soothe. NOTHING WORKS! He wants me in there with him, and sometimes that isnt even enough. We have tried crying it out... this kid could make crying a sport. He will scream forever, or what seems like forever.

Tonight, we ferberize!

I am going to sleep in our guest room, not because the Mr. and I are starting to act like 70 year olds, but because I am nice and will let him sleep through the madness. Also he hates hearing him cry and wants to rush right in. Such a softie!

Any magical suggestions on getting a baby to sleep!?

Summer is so hectic!

I thought summer was a time when you were supposed to relax and catch up from the chaos of the other 9 months of the year!? We are already in JULY! Its nuts I tell ya!

We are already teething in our house. Seriously... where has time gone?? My baby cant be old enough to be getting teeth. But, sadly its true!

I'm apologizing in advance. Life is crazy right now, and I may not have time to blog much. I am currently packing up our house to move. I dont want to say where we are going just yet, out of fear of jinxing something. But lets just say if it all works out, it would be sweet! So I'll fill you in later as I know more.

We also have to get ours rented out STAT! If you have any advice for successfully renting out your house to people that dont trash it and leave you high and dry, I'd love to hear it! We are new to the whole landlord thing!

Here's a pic I took of Keating when I did some 4 month portraits of him. I could eat him up!

... and baby is crying... naptime is over.

Things I really didnt comprehend before being a mom...

1. That this blog would be so neglected... sorry yall!
2. That I could become my own pet peeve and leave my toenails polish free for two weeks because I had no time to paint them!
3.The joy that I feel when Keating only wants his mama, although that can be frustrating at times!
4. How proud I could be over things like sleeping through the night, playing with his feet, rolling over...
5. That baby poop can shoot out at the speed of a fire hose.... and no diaper is going to stand up to that, no matter the brand!
6. Quiet car rides are a thing of the past. Singing with the radio has been replaced with shushing until I nearly pass out, driving with one arm in the back seat shaking the carseat or holding the paci in his mouth! Thank Heavens for the sleep sheep! I dont know how I have gone nearly 3 months without it!
7. Car seats are freaking heavy! Carrying him around is all the upper body workout I need!
8. Watching him sleep is so wonderful. I will sneak into his room and watch him and take in his intoxicating baby smell.
9. I should have bought stock in Energizer Batteries before having kids. These gadgets, toys, swings, mobiles... ALL EAT BATTERIES!!!
10. Seeing my husband interact with Keating can melt my heart!
11. I never thought I would be wearing the Bjorn dancing around the kitchen, singing any song I can think of to keep him from crying while I make dinner. I'm sure I look like a complete idiot!
12. When he smiles at me, it is such a feeling of complete joy!
13. As much as I want this time to last forever, I cant wait to see him as he grows up.
14. How selfless being a mother is
15. How much more I would appreciate and understand my own mom after being one myself.

...and that's all I have time for now because he is fussing!

Early Morning TV

I remember being up all night sick as a kid. I would watch what seemed to be endless hours of tv, consisting of reruns of Saved By the Bell and infomercials. Its a really good thing that they didnt advertise things like this when I was little! I would have had a TON of questions for my mom the next morning!
me: "Mom... what is a penis pump??"
Mom: "Umm, well...., you see... umm, I'll tell you when you're older!"

Last night, we (keating and I) were up all night, until the wee hours of the morning. I flipped through the tv channels in a half awake,I should be sleeping at 4am daze, when a commercial caught my attention.
They really sell penis pumps on infomercials!
I thought those were just a joke from Austin Powers... au contraire.

The things you learn from television...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank yall so much for all of your suggestions. Last night was another sleepless night. As a mother, you just wonder "WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???"

He went right to bed as usual but after his first feeding he decided that he wanted to stay up All. Night. Long. First thing this morning we went to the library to look for reading material. My local library didnt have Baby Wise but they did have the Baby Whisperer.

(You know Im desperate when I actually registered for a library card to get this book.... my last one was from elementary school! how sad!)

From what I gather they are pretty similar and are about getting them on some sort of eating schedule. We started a little late in the day, but we are going to try the E.A.S.Y. method (eat, activity, sleep, you time)

Tonight we are going to establish a bedtime routine. We're also going to "tank up" before bed. Which means feeding him at 6 and 8 and a "dream feeding" at 11. This is to hopefully fill him up to attempt to sleep through the night. Brad is also going to start giving him a bottle for one of those feedings when he isnt working late. That way I get a break, Keating gets to eat, and Brad gets bonding time. I have been pumping once a day so he can have that and not formula.

We are also going to try putting him in his crib tonight. Pray for us! =)

I see a few problems with this such as... what do you do around bedtime if you arent home, or do naps in the car count?? We are on the go a lot so I hope we can make it work. If yall have any schedule pointers or advice, this new mom would greatly appreciate it!

Whatever works...

So, I have come to the conclusion that being a mom is all about improvising and learning as you go. No matter how many books you read, or how much unsolicited advice you have to smile and nod through, you just have to jump in head first.

Being a mom is trial and error at its finest.

After Keating despised his first bath, I decided I would put him in the tub with me. Round one went swimmingly. He didnt cry one bit. He was very relaxed and enjoyed it! Yay!

This morning I decided to try it again.... I got him nice and clean and smelling like Johnson's baby wash (as all babies should). and then, he pooped on me! EWWW! Epic fail.

We have also been catching up on sleep in our house because the little man decided to pull an all nighter a few nights ago. With a combination of something I ate not agreeing with his little belly and our lamb chair running out of batteries, it was one hellacious night.

Thankfully, C batteries are easy to come by and we were back in business last night. This chair is seriously a life saver since he refuses to sleep in his cradle and crib!

A friend also told me about this little miracle worker. There is a lot of hype online about this little seahorse and its magical abilities to make fussy babies comatose. Short of someone inventing baby ambien, for 13.99 I figured it was worth a try.

Let me tell ya, it truly is God sent! It glows and plays little lullabies and makes ocean sounds. I have no idea why, but Keating loves it. Heck, who cares why he loves it, as long as it works! By the first verse of "rock a by baby" he was fighting his eyelids. Score!


So there ya have it! Parenting at its finest and none of which I learned from a book!

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