Merry Christmas!

We hope you and your family have a wonderful and safe Christmas! We are starting our own Christmas traditions this year since we have a new little person in the house...we always said we would when we had kiddos. Enjoy the time with your loved ones this Christmas season!

"The best Christmas of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in one another."
-Unknown

Praying for a fast recovery

Accidents will happen....and they say what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. That said, Billy Gerard should be immortal after this weekend. Billy, Cameron's cousin, was in a terrible car wreck over the weekend. He broke his neck, back, arm, and has several other injuries. Good news is...he is in good spirits and in good hands. Wanted to post this to ask for prayers and thoughts while Billy is in recovery.

Sledding Fun

Although we didn't have much snow on the ground, the temperature was good enough to take Dane out for his first sledding experience this weekend! He didn't really react to any of it, his expression didn't really change during the festivities. He did eat some snow and crawled around in it a bit, but we were back in for a nap before he got too cold.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Baby Manipulator!

We've hit a crossroads with our sweet, innocent baby boy! He's a little manipulator! It's frightening to know that at such a young age they already know how to get what they want. We've been sooooo fortunate to have had the best sleeping child since early on. Dane was sleeping through the night by 12 weeks and did absolutely wonderful until he hit about 8.5 months old. I think the night waking started with his eczema and then his ear infection, but it's continued to his 10 month birthday and Cameron and I are done with sleepless nights. I NEVER thought I would have to let my child cry it out and I never WANTED to let my child cry it out, but that is where we are at...no other options. The sound of him crying truly is like torture for me...it takes every ounce of my being not to go into his room and comfort him. We've exhausted every recommendation from the "experts" that write books about how to get your baby to sleep through the night without letting them cry. We've tried everything we know to do...added 2 night lights to his room because he might be afraid of the dark, added more "white" noise because he might hear us, rocked him for hours upon hours for him to fall asleep in my arms and wake as soon as his little head hits his crib. We've finally figured out the problem...he's old enough to know exactly what he's doing and he's crying at night for attention. We know that for 8.5 months he would occasionally wake up through the night, but he didn't cry...he just went back to sleep. Now he knows that someone is going to come and get him. So we've made the incredibly hard decision (after much counseling from friends & family) to let him cry. We don't let him cry really hard like he's in need of something, but we have found that as long as he's just crying for attention he doesn't cry for more than 3 minutes before giving up. If he cries for more than 5 minutes, we go to him. I don't think I would have been comfortable letting him cry it out at an earlier age, but he's pushing a year old and I need sleep too!

Wow...the things we learn as first time parents! I knew that parenting wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't expect to have a great sleeper in the beginning and a horrible sleeper toward that one year mark! I was so naive in thinking that I would never have to let my child cry...so many of my friends have told me to let him cry it out, it's time, he's old enough, blah blah blah and for some reason I thought that I would be above that option. It's a hard decision to reach and one that I don't take lightly...like I said, I've had counseling from my mom and sister and they had to assure me that I was not emotionally wrecking this little being. So for all the phone calls and for all the advice...I thank you my friends & family for helping me get to this point. I truly believe that sleepFUL nights are in the near future because each night seems to be getting better!

We've done 2 nights of this method and the first night he woke up about 5 times and I had to go in twice because he went over our max of 5 minutes. Last night he didn't make one peep!! I don't think that one night has trained him, but wouldn't it be awesome if it did??? I was very relieved that he didn't wake last night, but this morning when Cameron got up I asked him to go make sure Dane was breathing! Hopefully tonight goes as well as last night did!

Happy 10 Months Dane!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At 10 months our little man has certainly turned into quite a big boy...
- feeds himself finger foods (nothing with utensils)
- holds his own bottle
- claps his hands
- says momma, dadda, baba, gaga
- loves his green toy puppy "Scout"
- loves cheese
- loves to eat off our plates
- thinks everything is a push toy
- "cruises" around everything & along walls and doors (has been for 2 months)
- can stand for a second without holding onto anything
- can "finger walk" pretty well but sometimes gets excited and leans way forward
- loves to push toys around on the hardwood floor
- gets into EVERYTHING
- keeps me on my toes
- lights up when daddy gets home from work
- has the best giggle in the whole world
- gets up on his knees, holds his hands up over his head & bounces
- does the "crab walk"...on his hands with his butt in the air and his legs straight

Christmas Season Has Begun...

On Saturday evening Cameron & I went to a friend's Christmas party...cocktail attire required. So, Cameron wore jeans! :) Anyway, we had a fun time at the Dargis party until ONE GLASS of Christmas punch snuck up on me!! I know that I'm a light weight since Dane was born, but I truly only had one glass and I was in a haze and just wanted to go home and go to bed...not sure what was in that stuff but I'm staying away from it in the future! It wasn't a very late night for us, but it was kind of fun to get a dressed up and go out. Thank you Tim & Teresa for staying with Dane (again)!

Nine Month Check Up

I know, I know...Dane's almost 10 months old but the doctor couldn't get him in until now. At Dane's 9 month "well" visit we found out that his growing has finally slowed down a bit (Doc said he could be burning lots of calories because he's motorin' everywhere). His stats this time:
weight 21 lbs, 10 oz.....50-75%
(only 1 lb, 10 oz heavier than his 6 month visit)
length 29 inches.........50-75%

He was falling in the 90th percentile for height & weight before so he really has slowed down! Our pediatrician also said that between 9 months and 18 months they are not growing at as fast of a pace as they are the first 9 months of their lives and we'll probably see a drop in his eating between now and a year.

We've had a really rough 6 weeks of sleeping with this one. We know he has eczema but didn't know how bad it was until we took him in this past Monday to check for an ear infection. They gave us an antibiotic for his ear and a cortisteroid cream for his eczema...WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! We've been using the cream since Monday and Dane is once again sleeping through the night! Poor babe was really uncomfortable because of his itchy skin and was waking anywhere from 3 to 6 times per night. Thankfully he is back to his normal little self!

It's Cold Outside...

Dane says "Bundle Up!"

Santa Baby

Yesterday we were all feeling up to some Christmas shopping, so off we went to Northbrook Court. We just happened to notice that there was absolutely no line for pictures with Santa and although Dane was dressed like a gym teacher, we decided it was the right time to put him on Santa's lap. We thought for sure he would cry, but he actually did great. No smile from the little man and he kind of looked like a deer in headlights, but at least there were no tears!

Thank you all for your advice and comments from my last post. After much discussion this weekend, Barley & Roscoe are staying! This is their home and they are very much part of the family and even though they make me a bit crazy sometimes, I love them and can't bare to part with them. I mean...Cameron does the same thing and I'm keeping him! :) I know things will get easier as Dane and any future children get older...we just have to hang on until then and hope that Barley & Roscoe love us enough to put up with our neglectfulness for the time being. After all, that is what FAMILY is all about - take the good with the bad and hope for a lot of great memories in between. These two have given us that - good & bad and a lot of great memories.

Barley & Roscoe

Because this blog is a journal for me, as well as an update of what's going on in our world I am using it to purge my soul. I've done it before (just see "To Leave Him" a couple posts back). Therefore I feel this is the best place to go to lay my feelings out there to be judged by anyone who reads our blog!

Barley & Roscoe...Awww...say the names and it brings a smile to my face. As I stood in the shower this morning with tears streaming down my face, trying to make a very tough decision all I could see was their sweet faces, tongues hangin' and tails a waggin'! I LOVE these two, as if they were children of mine. They both gave me something to baby and take care of during the years we longed for a baby of our own. They truly do make me happy, they make Cameron happy and they make Dane laugh deep belly laughs that no one else can. To even think of giving them up truly makes me cry. It's been discussed and I can't even get through the discussion without breaking down as they are very much a part of our family & our lives.

Which brings me to the reason for this post...it's been increasingly harder to deal with two rambunctious, active dogs with a little being in the house. I know I'm not being fair to them...they want to play and bark and run and they no longer have full freedom to do that here. Whenever we go out of town and return to pick them up at the dog sitter, the happiness on their faces is obvious. They no longer have that same happiness when they are home. It tears my heart out to discuss giving them up, but that is where we're at. I just can't help but feel our home would be more peaceful without them here. And I can't help but think they would be happier elsewhere.

Now I know I've unfairly judged dog owners in the past for giving up their precious pooches just because a little one arrived. I always thought "how could they??" but here I am, just another one in the bunch considering the same thing. So...judge me for this - go ahead - I deserve it! But also leave a comment to help me figure this jumbled mess out in my head. If I cry whenever we consider giving them up, am I really ready to give them up? Am I being unfair to these lovable creatures? What to do, what to do!!

Music In A Box

Once swimming was over, we decided to enroll Dane in a fun music "class" because he loves music. We want to keep him in one "class" per 6 week session just to have something to look forward to each week and so he can interact with others since he's home with me all day. Music in a box is really fun for him...he LOVES it! The teacher sings and reads books to rhythm and they get to play with bells and colored scarves and the best part...bubbles. I haven't yet downloaded Thanksgiving pictures, so hopefully I will get those up shortly. Until then...I present Music in a box: