My Babywise Beef...

So I figured out what my beef is with Babywise.  For two and a half years now something about it has really rubbed me the wrong way.  And I know lots of good moms who swear by it, so I felt like I was insulting them by saying it bothers me.  But I couldn't figure out what really bothered me exactly.  Well, a big part was that I had a baby who I just couldn't get on a schedule to save my life. It really stressed me out.  And he didn't sleep.  So I kept going back looking for answers and feeling more and more like a failure every day.


I did the same thing the other day (since I have a three month old who isn't STTN) and found this on their website:

On Becoming Babywise is not a book of luck but of principle. Luck has nothing to do with the benefits described above – right parenting does. What you do in the first days, weeks, and months of your baby’s life will impact the rest of your parenting years.


The "benefits" described were a happy baby who sleeps through the night.  THAT's IT!! I figured out what keeps rubbing me the wrong way.  The phrase "right parenting".  


Yikes.  


That's bad.


It's basically saying everything else is wrong parenting.  And that may not be exactly what they mean (although I believe it is).  It's how it makes you feel anyway if you aren't successful getting your baby to sleep through the night by a certain age.  I'm not against the principles of parent directed feeding or the Eat Awake Sleep cycle. Those are reasonable and apparently work for thousands of moms.  And I'm still trying to do it.  


You just can't claim that your way is the right way to parent.  I mean how did the world even make it to this point without Babywise?  It's amazing we're not all ax murderers who never sleep.  THANK YOU BABYWISE FOR SAVING US.  


sorry, just a little rant.


but guess what?  I'll still look at the Babywise Mom's site for info b/c there's a lot there.  It's a good source of advice and information.  


And you're probably thinking, (especially if you're a BW mom) "c'mon Kristie, it's just their opinion."  Well it's not just the authors' opinion.  Most BW moms that I've read subscribe to the same idea.  I've read it multiple times on Chronicles of a BW mom and from comments by her followers.  Lots of back patting.  Which is fine!  Please pat your own back, bc you won't get it from many other places.  But don't make other moms feel like their way is wrong.  


Here is a link to a really great article.  It basically says that we give ourselves way too much credit for how kids turn out and don't give God enough.  He says that we should not be asking ourselves " Am I parenting successfully?", but "Am I parenting faithfully?".  


THat I can do!  I can't promise I'll be successful.  There is no way I can guarantee my son or daughter is going to be happy, sleep, make straight A's, or make all the right choices.  I just have to be faithful in teaching them what I can and pray God will take care of the rest.  


There.  I feel better.  


Now, to get that baby to sleep....

My Lil' Pumpkins

My Cooking Blog!

So a friend of mine that I cook with occasionally, plan once a month cooking meals with every now and then, and daily discuss recipes with decided that we should start a cooking blog together.

So please visit, read and follow!  It will make me happy!  Thanks

http://causeigottafeedthemsomething.blogspot.com/

Cry It Out- Take 2

So with Will I really stressed about how to get him to sleep.  I tried EVERYTHING.  We tried crying it out, but probably started too late.  Who knows.. I do know that boy is determined.  He would cry for hours.  He would sweat, turn red, spit up, scream, and seem to be on the verge of hyperventilating.  I just couldn't take it.  We gave up.   I probably didn't do it right.   I just know that he was tired, I was tired, and when I put him in my bed we both slept.

Now we have a 2.5 year old who doesn't sleep.  He never slept from the very beginning so maybe it's just him.  But then again maybe it's b/c I've done it all wrong.  I'll be the first to admit I'm just doing what I can to survive.  We haven't had many nights of uninterrupted sleep in 2.5 years.  He doesn't fall asleep until after 9, gets up a couple times a night (occasionally not), and then wakes up at 6ish. Sometimes he does sleep until 7, but not lately.  This morning it was 5:30.  5:30.  That means when the time change comes it will be 4:30.   Those are not healthy sleep habits.  I should be more tired than I am, but somehow I've adjusted.  I do miss the sleep though.

So now we have another chance with baby number two.  She is beginning to not sleep during the day.  She's just not napping or staying asleep and becoming very fussy b/c she's so tired.  The first two months were so easy, she just laid there and then fell asleep.  Will never did that.  Things are changing with her and I can't have a crying baby who doesn't sleep and a cranky toddler who doesn't sleep.  I will lose my mind.

Therefore...

I am trying CIO again.  Pray for my heart.  I am way too sensitive for this business and it really kills me to hear her cry at all.  I know this plan is supposed to work so I need to give it a shot.  For her future sleep habits and the possibility of me getting some sleep someday too.

Her eyes are closed.  Paci is in.  .... ooooh no... eyes cracked open... please go to sleep.... please go to sleep....  crying.  arrggg

Pray for sleep!!!
 

2 Months!

I am about a week behind, but my sweet girl turned two months old on October 2nd!  And again like every time I post about my kids' age, I'm thinking- How in the world has it been two months already and how in the world has it only been two months.  Time seems fast and slow all at once.

"The days are long, but the years are short."

Anyway, we took her to her two month appt. Here are the stats:

Weight:  13lb 6oz     91st percentile

Height:  25inches     99th percentile

What a big girl! Somehow I make some big babies!  And that's just on breastmilk!  She is just a tad smaller than Will at this age, he was all 100th %.  Our doctor said she looks perfect.  Although we weren't sure if she was feeling well or not b/c I thought she seemed fussy and more sleepy than usual.  So we didn't do the sad vaccines in case she had a stomach bug or something.  I have to get those done this week and am NOT looking forward to it!

She is still a very good baby.  She sleeps so much better than Will ever did.  She is doing great at sleeping on her back without complaining and most of the time falls asleep on her own without too much fuss.  We are not crying it out yet, b/c she is just way too young for that, but I do let her fuss just a bit longer than I ever did with Will.  She sleeps well at night, but of course we aren't sleeping through the night yet.  She has had a couple 5-6 hour stretches! 

We are on a 3-3.5 hr "schedule".  I use the word schedule lightly b/c it's just almost impossible sometimes to make sure she eats at the same times everyday.  Plus, it really stresses me out.  I know some baby experts would consider me a failure who is doing it all wrong, but I just have to do what I can.  She is a hungry girl and sometimes wants to eat sooner and sometimes she's a sleepy girl and needs a bit more sleep.  I'm doing best and know God will take care of her where I fall short.

Everyone that sees her says one of two things:

"Look at all that hair!!"

or

"She looks just like her brother."

Here is a newborn pic of each.  We transferred all our old pictures to an external hard drive, so I don't have many pics of Will on hand right now, but this will do.  You can see they both had the same little black beady eyes.

As far as right now, I do see similarities, but think they look very different.  SHe is much prettier! ;)

What a funny looking little guy he was!  My sweet baby love!

And here's my other baby love!  I'm a lucky momma!

I'd better get off this thing now.  Today is Pottytraining Bootcamp Day1.  

Wish me luck!  

Tell Me You Do This Too....

Please tell me I'm not the only one who watches a squirmy baby on the video monitor saying, "Please stay asleep... staaay asleep.... whew".

I mean our girl is precious, but I do need a few moments to get some things done.  

This little face makes it hard though!

Quick Pics

I haven't been great about blogging lately.  I'm really behind on posting pics and updates on my two tots.  I'll just share a few from the last couple weeks and then consider myself caught up.

Will decided he needed to really watch the baby for me.  (This may have also been the day that he decided he needed to poke her in the eye.  Curious I guess.  Needless to say he learned the consequences on that one)

He really is as sweet as he looks here. 

First Sunday to church!

Watching (or listening) to big brother play in his room.

We took a Labor Day trip to Granbury beach.  Daddy and Will spent lots of time in the water and Mommy and Olivia spend lots of time in the hotel room.

I spent 3 days cleaning out and organizing my closet.  To me it's worth posting about!

Reading to little sister in her crib.  So sweet.

Popcorn kernels.  Fun.  He also accidently called 911 this day 

(old phones can still do that even though they no longer have service!!!).  

A visit from Mimi and Pa!!  

Weird lunch, but he had a lot fun making it.

And one last romp in the sprinkler before Fall.  Those diapers can hold like a gallon of water!

Ok, I feel better and not so behind.  Maybe later today I'll find time to update some more.  But then again by the look of my house at only 7:30 am I think I'm going to be quite busy today.

Happy Saturday!