Top 10 October Laughs :: The Catch Up Edition

It has been a solid month since I blogged our family laughs. We have had plenty to laugh about so I have a huge list to choose from to write our October Laughs!  Needless to say, there wasn't any way to choose just five.

These aren't in any order since I had a really hard time trying to decide my favorites.

• In late September, our very dear friends' son had a birthday party.  We took Claire and left Natalie with my parents (it was her nap time).  They had a pinata and everything!  After we left the party, Claire kept talking about the pe-nayta.  Every time she said the word, she would get angry that it didn't come out like she intended.  I really had to turn my head so she wouldn't see me laughing.
• We were able to have a face-time chat with Miss Grace one evening before bed.  We even let Claire stay up a little late.  The next time she put the same pajamas on that she wore when we talked, she informed me, "These are the jammies that I wore when we talked to Miss Grace - for real mom."  Is she three or thirteen?
• Since the weather has not been very nice for playing outside, we have to be creative to keep the kids active while inside.  Our latest family activity is to put on hats, scarves and mittens so we can have a snowball fight (we use bouncy balls).  The girls giggle the entire time!

• Natalie has an obsession with wearing Claire's clothes, especially her undies.  She puts them on over top of her diaper but never properly.  She puts her waist through the leg holes and every other combination you can think of.  If you try to help her, she runs away.  She is one independent little girl!
• Claire loves to pretend all the time.  She was playing with my sister and Andria said she was a statue and couldn't move.  Claire responded with "if you're a statue why are your lips moving?"
• Natalie was running at Miss Cynthia's when she kicked a toy and fell down.  She was upset that her foot hurt so she bent down kissed her toes and ran off to play again.
• I have a box of my old barbies that Claire loves to play with.  Her latest obsession is with the Ken dolls.  One of the Ken dolls is a rocker Ken with rather large hair (80's rocker) and the other is a traditional malibu Ken (he was wearing a swim suit).  Claire was examining the Ken dolls when she said, "I like the naked Ken.  He's more handsome."  Her dad will be so proud.  
• One day Claire ran out into the living room as a lion

RAWR!

• Claire's birthday is March 1st.  When Miss Cynthia asked her when her birthday was, she answered, "Marched up".  
• As I said before, we have had some nasty weather here lately, cold and rainy.  We decided to bring the bounce house inside to let the girls burn off some energy.  You have to check out this video of what happened shortly after. 

That girl is a daredevil!  

Happy November!  I hope to be able to blog our laughs weekly again this month!!

Halloween Fun :: Trunk or Treat!

We live in awesome town.  Actually our city (not really our town, but the city that we are a suburb of) was voted "the best place to raise a family" in the US.  We have lots of Halloween festivities that are family friendly.  We went to a local church this afternoon for Trunk or Treat.  This is a day-time trick-or-treating from the trunks of cars and from themed tables set up inside the church.

Claire couldn't have been more excited to get in her Doc McStuffins costume.  She has been practicing for weeks now.  My wonderful mom completed the lab coat today so we had all the components for a perfect Doc.

Natalie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with her costume.  I asked her if she wanted to put on her zebra costume and she shook her head no.  I held it up so she could see it and she shoved it away.  So under protest, we put on the tights and under shirt with the hope that she would put the rest on once we arrived.  That being said, I didn't even get a before photo of Natalie in her costume (which she gladly put on once she saw all the other kids in costumes).

The girls enjoyed seeing all the other costumes and getting candy.  We skipped the majority of the inside tables since the girls just wanted to play with the toys (the church is also a preschool).  Their favorite was the playhouse that Claire made her clinic in true Doc McStuffins fashion.  After we ate dinner we went out to see the beloved horse (good thing Aunt Jessica has horses or the girls would have wanted one!).

After all the fun (and a few pieces of candy) we made the not so wise decision to take the girls to church.  They were bouncing off the walls - but really why did we think that wouldn't happen?

Happy 18 Months Natalie Sue!

Everyone says it, "they grow up so fast."  In the sleep deprived early days, you vaguely are aware that there are different days.  Before you know it, your baby turns one.  A blink later they are no longer a baby, but a full blown toddler.

As I was reading books with Natalie tonight, I took a current inventory if you will.  When she sits on my lap, her face is directly in line with my shoulder.  She is at the perfect height that I can kiss her sweet cheeks.  Her legs are so long that her feet nearly reach my knees.  Her hair is just above her shoulders and has soft curls.  When I hold her, she rests her head on my shoulder and her knees actually rest on my lap.  These are the little things that I am trying to burn into my memory, things that I never want to forget.

As far as developmentally, she is actually running these days.  Running absolutely everywhere.  No longer does she look like a sand lizard with her arms and legs flaring as she runs.  She tries her very best to keep up with her sister in everything.  Natalie loves to climb and there isn't much in the house that she hasn't climbed at this point.  She is busy all the time and enjoys the following things:

• Stomping her feet
• Dancing
• Playing dress-up (loves fancy shoes)
• Picking out food from the refrigerator and pantry
• Brushing her teeth and washing her hands
• Tackling daddy
• Putting a purse over her shoulder and waving 'bye' 
• Playing catch

She's still on the small side so I am hoping the pediatrician appointment this month doesn't show her down another percentile (she's dropped every month since 9 months).  I think that she's grown recently as she feels heavier.  In clothes, she's in 12-18 month across the board as of this month.  Her pants are good for length but too large in the waist and the shirts fit a little large.  

Verbally, she tries really hard to talk.  She will repeat two word phrases, however if she wasn't repeating something I don't think that I would know what she was actually saying.  Words that are in her everyday vocabulary are:

• Claire
• Dog
• Yes (Yeah)
• Ice Cream
• Drink
• Thank You
• Kitty
• Blankie
• Baby
• Paci

Natalie is a VERY strong willed little miss.  She doesn't like it when you help her without her consent.  She likes to pick out her own clothes (read: has a tantrum if you put her in something she doesn't want to wear).  She still holds her own hair for comfort and often pulls out her ponytail in the process.  She stands up for herself when her sister takes a toy that she thinks should be hers.  

I took a stroll down memory lane and pulled out photos from her birth.

I am amazed at the difference that 18 months makes!!  

Happy 1/2 Birthday Little Girl!!

Top Five Saturday Laughs :: 8.25.12

Happy Saturday!  I feel as if I'm cheating since I wrote these early so that I could guest post for Melissa from The Mommyhood Chronicles, but at least they're actually on the blog and not just a note on my phone!  Sometimes, I can't seem to keep up with my life.  Either that or I need to learn how to function on less sleep?

I actually captured some photos to go with our post this week.  Of course, they're not with my awesome new camera that my husband surprised me with for our anniversary/birthday/Christmas/valentines day (for the next three years).  However, they were on my phone. I did Instagram them so that has to count for something?

5.  Much to her talkative's sisters disapproval, Natalie is finally becoming more vocal.  Claire enjoys speaking for Natalie and likes to be the center of attention at all times.  Now when Claire wants Natalie to be quiet, she attempts to put her hand over Natalie's mouth.  This is followed by Natalie licking Claire's hand and hysterical laughing from both girls.

4.  Claire has this new fascination with trying to wink.  I was able to capture her "practicin' her winkin'" at the dinner table.

3.  We live next door to Ryan's mom and step-dad.  They own an ice cream truck (yes this is very bad when you're trying to lose weight).  If you ask Natalie if she wants to go to Grandma's house, she starts smacking her lips while nodding her head. It makes me think she may want something?

2.  Once we go to Grandma's house, Natalie will stand with her arms behind her back with the ice cream obsessed look in her eyes.  When we ask her if she would like some ice cream, she responds like this:

Every. Single. Time

The excitement is just adorable!!  She LOVES popsicles, devouring them in no time flat.

1.  My mom and I had a dance party with Claire on Sunday.  Claire yelled sung a made-up song with lyrics such as "We are cool girls.  We are rockstars.  Watch us shake our booties!  No one can stop us now!!"  We even had pretend rockstar costumes to wear while she had the real deal.  First she would dance with my mom while I cheered for them, then she would dance with me while my mom cheered and finally my mom and I would dance while Claire cheered for us.  We seriously laughed so hard making up crazy jumping, flaring, booty shaking moves.  

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Top Five Saturday {Sunday} Laughs

I'm pretty late in posting our weekly laughs this weekend, things have been rather busy!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Today is simply beautiful here and I am looking forward to when the girls wake up from their naps so we can go outside and play.

I hope you enjoy our laughs, I think they are pretty funny!

5. One morning I put on a pair of very plain sandals.  Claire looked at my feet and told me that my shoes were "not pretty".  She then proceeded to find my colored beaded sandals so that I could have pretty shoes to wear to work.  I don't think I will be wearing the plain ones ever again.

4.  Natalie has been a baby-signing machine lately.  She really gets into the signs.  My favorite is "all-done" after she eats.  If we don't get her out of the high-chair fast enough, she violently waves her arms around signing "all-done".  I crack up every time.

3.  Friday was a rather rainy day.  We were sitting at the dinner table when Claire taught us about tornadoes.  She told us, that "tornadoes are very bad storms with very big winds."  When we asked her where she learned about it, she informed us that she "read it in a book."  That girl cracks me up!

2.  Natalie wore her first ponytail this week.  It was adorable!

1.  There is a little boy at Claire's daycare who loves to make the girls scream by pretending to be a monster and chasing the girls around the house.  Apparently, he is very scared of bees and wasps, so Claire retaliated by pretending to be a wasp and chased him around the house buzzing the whole time. I had to tell her that she should be a kind friend, but inside I was really laughing!

Bonus laugh:  Claire was playing with her baby when she decided that baby needed milk.  

LOL!

Top 5 Saturday Laughs 3.17.12

Happy weekend!  We have had the most gorgeous weather here lately and today is looking beautiful.  It has been so wonderful to get out and play outside.  My favorite part is not bundling up the kids when we leave the house, I was actually on time a few days this week!!

I am thankful that my girls are finally feeling better!  I am hoping that this trend continues :)

Here are our laughs from the week:

5.  Claire had an awful ear infection last week.  Last Thursday her right eardrum ruptured and then last Saturday her left eardrum ruptured.  This created major drainage and discomfort for Claire.  When her ear drained, Claire told me that her ear was peeing.  It is an awful thing, but her description made me laugh.

4.  Natalie is a strong willed little girl.  Big time!  She has been on a green bean strike for the last month or so.  She will not eat them - at all.  I got a text at lunchtime one day from her daycare provider.  She had tried to sneak a bite of green beans in with a bite of hotdogs.  Natalie spit the green bean out and then refused to eat anymore hotdog.  She could be more stubborn than Claire!  I feel bad for Ryan...

3.  Claire has an endless supply of play phones.  She loves to play with them, typically talking.  While we were playing, Claire told me to grab my phone so that we could text each other. I wonder who she learns that from?!

2.  We played outside as much as possible the past week. Since Natalie isn't walking yet (I cannot wait for her to finally do so!), I have been trying to be creative with how she can play.  She swings, plays in the walker on the concrete and hangs out in the bijourn.  We were in the front yard, so I had taken Natalie out of the bijourn and let her down on the sidewalk leading to the house.  She was crawling on the sidewalk and decided to venture into the yard, or so she thought.  She got one hand on the grass and sat straight up. The look on her face was priceless!  Needless to say, I found a way to contain her to one area since she will not crawl in the grass.

1.  One morning, Claire and Natalie woke up at nearly the same time.  I got Claire from her room first and brought her to the living room to watch cartoons.  I then went into Natalie's room to feed her.  As I was feeding Natalie, I heard Claire in the pantry.  Pretty soon, Claire came running into Natalie's room.  She asked, "Where do we keep the honey mama?"  I asked her why she needed the honey.  She responded, "because I am having honey nut cheerios for breakfast!"  HA!  I had to explain to her that the honey was baked on the cheerios.  I couldn't believe that she had gotten the cereal out of the pantry and poured it in a bowl.  All she needed for me to do is pour the milk.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Make sure you check out Melissa's and all the others who participate in the blog hop!

Wordless Wednesday :: Shopping Anyone?

Top 5 Saturday Laughs 3.12.12

We have had a challenging week in our house!  Natalie has had Abuetoral breathing treatments since last Friday and she is finally starting to move air better.  Claire came down with croup, an ear infection and pink eye on Tuesday and spent the majority of the week at home with Ryan and myself.  Today, I took her back to the pediatrician since she wasn't feeling much better.  I found out that she has a perforated eardrum.  We've been to the pediatrician's office three times in the last week!   Of course, we did have some rays of sunlight through all this.  I desperately need to replace the bad memories with these funny things!

5. Claire wanted to play restaurant this week with Ryan.  She wanted him to be the server.  She handed him her water and the rest of the zebra cake she was eating.  When he asked her for her order, she told him she wanted sprite and a zebra cake.  After getting her meal, she looked at Ryan and said, "I need something else my maaan."   Giggles erupted after that!

4.  When Natalie waves, she waves like she is in a parade.  It is so funny to see the big girl wave out of a little baby!

3.  Since Natalie is on Abuetoral for her wheezing, Claire likes to help give her little sister her nebulizer treatments.  During one of Natalie's coughing spells, Claire told me that Natalie needed her "A gorillia" so she would stop coughing.

2.  Ryan stayed home with the girls on Thursday.  He was texting me photos throughout the day of the girls.  I got one during breakfast, lunch and watching cartoons.  The best text I received said this: "Natty had a poop so big it came out the leg & filled her jammies down to her toes!!!! TO. HER. TOES. #notkidding"
I cannot explain how hard I laughed at this!! It is always funny when someone else has to deal with the blowout plus the hashtag in the text. #priceless

1.  I was reading a book with Claire when she pointed at a mole on my arm and asked what it was.  I told her that it was a mole.  She responded, "That's where Santa was."  It took me a minute, but I eventually told her that Santa was at the mall and not the mole :)

Here's to hoping for a healthy week next week.  I'm going to head over to The Mommyhood Chronicles and read the funny blogs since I could use a good laugh!

Top 5 Saturday Laughs 3.5.12

What a busy and exciting week!  As of Thursday, we officially have a THREE year old!  We have been in full birthday mode around our house.  We are looking forward to the big birthday party tomorrow with our family and friends.

In between all the birthday fun and a sick, teething baby we still managed to have quite a few laughs this week.

5.  I was having issues with my voicemail on my cell phone this week and could not retrieve messages for whatever reason.  Ryan is my personal 'geek-squad' so I made a comment to him about the voicemail being screwed up.  Before Ryan could even answer, Claire piped up, "I can help you mommy!"

4.  Natalie has been very into giving kisses lately.  When I tell her it is time for night-night, she instantly opens her mouth wide open to kiss everyone before heading to bed, big ol' wet sloppy baby kisses.  Makes me laugh every time!

3.  We gave Claire a microphone and stand for her actual birthday.  It is perfect for her since she loves to be the center of attention.  She takes the microphone and stands on stage (the fireplace hearth) where she then performs.  This morning, she decided she was going to be a comedian and tell a joke.  The performance went something like this:
C: "Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Claire"
*hits applause button* while Natalie and I clap from the couch
C: "What does a cat read in the morning"
Me: "I don't know"
C: "The meeoowwspaper"
Hysterical laughing ensued.

2.  I was cooking dinner one night and Natalie was playing in the pantry.  I couldn't see what she was doing since her body was nearly completely in the pantry.  I opened the door only to discover that she was standing up to the dog food storage container, reaching in and eating the food.  I guess I needed to cook faster!

1.  This final laugh also begins with a performance of Claire's.  She was standing on a play chair with her microphone and told Ryan, "I'm going to get an erection".  Ryan quickly responded, "Do you mean you're going to be the director?!"  Claire said, "yeah" and proceeded to be the "erector" for the rest of the show.  I love the unintentional funny things!

If you have some laughs to share, come link up with The Mommyhood Chronicles!

Top 5 Saturday Laughs 2.25.12

What a long, fast moving, super busy week!  I am hoping to get some rest this weekend since have come down with the dreaded cold that has infected my household for the past few weeks.  I am hoping the cold moves along as quickly as this past week has.  I am very excited to share my laughs with you this week!

Like always, I am joining my friend, Melissa, in her Saturday Laughs bloghop.  If you have a funny post, you should link up too!

I remembered to write down lots of laughs this week, so I had a list to choose from!!

5.  Claire and Natalie are starting to interact more and more while playing.  In the bathtub, Natalie was holding out a fake cookie and Claire was pretending to eat it.  They both got a kick out of this, but then Claire took it in her mouth and shot Natalie in the face with the water from inside.  That was seriously so funny!  Everyone laughed so hard, Claire laughed so hard that she got the hiccups!

4.  Whenever Natalie hears any type of music, she begins dancing. The majority of the time she twists her upper body and reminds me so much of the "we did it dance" from Dora.  She only dances for a little while, then it's back to playing.  It makes me smile every single time.

3.  Thursday evening I was feeling rotten and Claire was in full stall-before-bed mode.  I was tired from a really long day at work and getting rather frustrated with her.  I finally barked at her to get in her bed and lay down.  She put her little hand on my cheek and replied, "Mommy, is that how we ask for something we want?"  She was right, I had to apologize for not having good manners.  Of course, Ryan thought this was hysterical!!  

2.  Natalie is obsessed with the refrigerator.  Whenever it is opened, she crawls as fast as possible to start pulling things from the shelves in the door.  Sometimes I just let her play in there while I'm cooking since it can entertain her for a good five minutes.  This week she discovered the bottle of chocolate syrup and somehow managed to open the top.  Now she's really obsessed with the fridge!!

1.  Claire LOVES cooking.  All kinds of cooking and baking.  Lately she loves to pretend to cook and bake.  We have pretend food all over the house.  There are bowls, measuring cups and spoons in every room.  Ryan  was bathing the girls one night and Claire was pretending to cook Chinese food in the bathtub.  She had a big mixing bowl and spoon and was adding the ingredients (water).    Here is the interaction that I overheard:

R: "Claire, what are you doing?"

C: "Rubbing my boobies"

R: "Why are you rubbing your boobies?"

C: "Because I burnt them on the stove when I was cooking"

That girl seriously cracks me up!

I have a bonus laugh since it literally just happened as I was writing the others.  I have blogged before how Claire likes play where she wipes off our kisses.  Ryan asked her for a kiss goodnight and he then wiped off her kiss.  This happened three times.  On the third time, he told Claire that he wasn't going to wipe that kiss off because he liked it.  Instantly, she responded with, "why didn't you like the other ones daddy?"  Ryan told her she was just like her mother.  What a typical girl response! Ryan is still laughing about that one.

Our Sleep Training Journey :: An Update

We are now three weeks and one night into our sleep training.  Everything has been going very well.  Natalie is typically in bed by 8:00 (latest has been 8:20).  Before I go to bed, I go in and dreamfeed her until she is full.  This is a very nice way for me to settle down before heading to bed and I like the snuggles.  Eventually, we will work on cutting that dreamfeed out.

For the last week and a day, Natalie has slept until 7:30ish every day except twice.  Two morning in a row, she was up at 5:00 and 6:00.  Both days, she would lay down and be quiet but wouldn't stop fussing for long.  Her cries seemed to be ones of pain or distress, so I waited about 15 minutes before heading in to feed/rock her.  Both girls are battling nasty colds and croup.  In addition, Natalie has a bunch of teeth moving around.  Her lateral incisors are beginning to bulge so that could have been the issue.  I rocked her for a bit, fed her and put her back in bed awake. She did fall back asleep both mornings until it was time to get up.

I was concerned that this would affect Natalie's ability to truly sleep through the night.  She did stir and fuss at 6:00 this morning, but went back to sleep until I woke her at 7:40.  That was a big achievement, I was concerned the previous two mornings would set us back!

I am happy to report that we have slept through the night for over a week!!  It makes me a happy mommy!

Wordless Wednesday :: What Wonderful Weather

It's February and we are outside playing on the swing-set!  It was still cold, but the sun felt so good.

Top Five Saturday Laughs 2.18.12

This week has been super busy for us, so I am thankful that the weekend is here!  I love writing these posts and this week is no exception to that rule.

5. I don't know if you'd call this a laugh or just plain pathetic, but I finally took down all of my Christmas decorations this past week. I had taken down all the super Christmas stuff (tree, stockings, centerpieces) but I still had plenty of snowmen and garlands on the shelves.  I was just glad to get it down before Claire's birthday in a couple of weeks.  

4.  I've written about the game where Claire wipes off my kisses and I make a big deal about it.  She thinks it is hysterical and I get tons of kisses.  I made the comment that I didn't want to see her wipe off anymore kisses. She responded that I should just close my eyes and proceeded to wipe off the kisses with giggles.

3.  Natalie is becoming quite the daredevil.  The girl has no fear.  She will climb everything in site.  She was climbing at daycare one day and her daycare provider called her a daredevil.  She clapped with delight at the name and Claire said, "My daddy calls her that, but my mommy calls her a stinker."  Oh the things she must hear!

2.  Claire and Natalie were playing the movie, "Bolt" together.  Really, Claire was playing Bolt and made Natalie be Bolt the dog.  Claire was calling Natalie to her, "Come here Bolt. Come here!" Natalie just sat up on her knees and shook her head no.  She wouldn't budge as long as Claire called her Bolt.  We've got two strong willed girls on our hands!

1.  My favorite laugh of the week happened in the morning as we were getting out of the car at daycare.  Claire always has her sippy cup with juice and her breakfast during the ride since we can't ever seem to get breakfast in at home.  I asked Claire to hand me her juice cup and pancakes.  She then informed me that she didn't have juice and pancakes, she had beer and candy corn.  I have NO idea where this came from, but it cracked me up. 

Wordless Wednesday :: Breakfast Time

I love the closeness of sisters!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 14

This is the last daily blog post that I will be doing in regards to our Sleep Easy sleep training journey.  I am ecstatic to be able to report that on day 14 (2.13.12) Natalie SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am still somewhat in denial that it really happened, but here is how the night went:

7:53 - I put Natalie in bed

7:56 - Asleep - she was tired!

10:40 - Dreamfeed

There were various times throughout the night that Natalie fussed, but she never even sat up in her bed.  

6:30 - Natalie woke up, sat up and proceeded to put herself back to sleep

7:35 - Natalie started rolling around and I went in to wake her up and congratulate her on her first night with no middle of the night dreamfeeds!

Now I need to learn to sleep through the night!  I was up at 3:00 and 5:15 (of course I then had to go potty otherwise I wouldn't have had to get out of bed), I guess old habits die hard.  It has been over a year since I slept all night long.  The third trimester of my pregnancy had me waking often to go to the bathroom and Natalie is just over 10 months old and had never slept through the night.

This was a very hard process for me.  I can undoubtedly say that it was worth it!  I am still amazed that in two weeks all of the bad sleep habits are nearly gone.  If (that's a really big IF) we have anymore kids, I will not be waiting this long to sleep train that is for sure!  

The difference in our family is astounding, both kids are getting more sleep due to the strict routine we are abiding by and we all have a better temperament.  I feel as though I can function again since I'm not up multiple times a night. This is good for my family, my employer and myself.  

Thank you to everyone who has read about this journey daily and for your thoughts, prayers and encouraging words!!  They were more helpful than you will ever know.  I will continue to update our progress weekly since I'm quickly learning that sleep training is an ongoing process.  

Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 13

Thank you all who have been joining me on this journey.  It is nice to know there is so much support!

Yesterday was an off day for us.  Natalie didn't go down for her morning nap until 11 am and her afternoon nap was from 3:30-5:15 so I was concerned if she'd be ready to sleep at night.

Here is how the night went:

7:58 - In bed, she really didn't eat well beforehand.  She never fussed, but was quite restless.  She rolled around trying to get comfortable and just laid awake watching her mobile for the longest time.  I wasn't surprised that she didn't go right to sleep, but I was surprised at how calm she was in her bed.  It was such a great feeling!!
8:35 - Finally asleep.

10:45 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed

I took the advice of so many of you after Day 12 and decided to stretch the middle of the night dreamfeed.  Instead of getting up at 3:30 like I had (or had been trying to) on past nights, I decided to get up at 5:00 to dreamfeed.

5:00 - Dreamfeed 5 minutes (I fell asleep in the chair for a few minutes - oops!)

7:50 - Awake for the day

I am so glad that we are not even to the two week mark and Natalie's sleep habits have so drastically improved. I honestly didn't think we could get to this point in such a short amount of time.  Had it not been for Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer and her Sleep Easy recommendation I would probably still be getting up 2-5 times per night.

Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 12

If everything continues this way, I will blog until Day 14 then update weekly.  I feel as though I am blogging the same thing as of late.  Last night had a minor change, but overall it was very similar to the previous days.

Here's our night:

8:20 - In bed, we went to church and got a late start on our nighttime routine.

10:40 - Dreamfeed, but she wasn't very hungry

1:30 - Screamed for 3 minutes then went back to sleep

3:30 - Alarm went off for the scheduled dreamfeed, Ryan woke me up and we both proceeded to go back to bed.

5:15 - I woke up and realized I hadn't gotten up.  Decided to just see how long Natalie would sleep because I just wanted to go back to sleep.

5:30 - Screamed
5:45 - Dreamfeed

8:00 - Up for the day

I am really tempted to just totally skip the dreamfeed from here on out, but I am concerned that she will wake early because of it.  I am torn on what to do.  She went 7 hours between feedings last night and may have gone longer.

Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 11

Last night looked like many of the previous nights, however I actually got up on time for the dreamfeed!  Ryan set his alarm and I got right out of bed.  The good news is that aside from some minor fussing which she settled herself down during and two dreamfeeds, Natalie slept nearly 12 hours!

8:06 - In bed, minor fussing
8:18 - Asleep

10:40 - Dreamfeed 7 minutes

3:30 - Dreamfeed 3 minutes.  She really wanted to eat longer and was not so happy when I unlatched her and gave her the pacifier, but quickly went to sleep.

8:00 - Awake for the day

If we can just get rid of that middle of the night dreamfeed!  We will try 2 minutes tonight, 1 minute Sunday night and no dreamfeed on Monday night.  I really, really, really hope it works!!

Top 5 Saturday Laughs 2.11.12

Happy weekend!  I am looking forward to *hopefully* sleeping in tomorrow morning.  I am linking up with Melissa from The Mommyhood Chronicles for the Saturday Laughs Bloghop.  Make sure you stop by and check out all the funny posts, it's a great way to kick off the weekend.

I hope you enjoy our laughs from the past week.

5.  I had turned on Mickey Mouse for Natalie one morning while we were getting ready.  After I got her out of bed, Claire was protesting watching Mickey and decided to take measures into her own hand, literally.  She started pretending that her hand was a remote and was pushing her buttons.  I thought that was rather creative.

4.  Both girls love to play on our bed.  Ryan was hiding under the covers with Natalie and would sit up and yell "surprise".  Everyone was cracking up, but Natalie was laughing the hardest.  She would get so excited every time the covers were whipped off, that she would jump so hard that she nearly stood up.

3.  Tonight during her bath, Claire was testing her limits.  She was being very rude and rather mean.  Everything was "NO" or "don't say that" or "stop talking".  Can attitude start already with a nearly 3 year old?! She had to get out of the bath without getting to play (again making mommy very unpopular).  At this point, I was thankful that Ryan got to deal with Miss Attitude and I took Natalie to her room to feed her.  When it was time for Claire to go to bed, she asked me to carry her like a baby.  She then informed me that she "was a mean baby in her bath, but is now a nice baby."  At least she understood that she was being mean?

2.  Speaking of baths, the girls often take a bath together.  Claire loves to blow raspberries on Natalie's back and belly.  As Claire was about to raspberry Natalie's back, she stood up and Claire's lips landed squarely on Natalie's booty.  I laughed until I cried!

1.  Claire has a large stuffed cowboy Woody doll from Toy Story.  She calls him 'Big Woody' since she also has a smaller stuffed cowboy.  That in itself is funny, but this week she gave Big Woody to Ryan to hold while she went to do something.  As she was running away, she yells, "Daddy, you're holding your favorite Woody!"  We both busted up laughing.  

Our Sleep Training Journey :: Day 10

I honestly didn't think I would make it this long.  Don't get me wrong, it is challenging hard, really hard.  Natalie has done a great job learning to sleep, but the challenge comes in getting up to the alarm at all hours of the night during this weaning process. I just don't want to do it.  I want to sleep as long as she does.  I want to  feed her when she wakes up at 5:00.  The only thing that keeps me going is my memories, I remember that we've been down that path before.  I went back to work when Natalie was eight weeks old and she was only waking for her 4 am feeding.  Fast forward 6-7 months and we were waking at least three times a night, sometimes as often as every hour throughout the night.  I do not want to go back there, ever.  So I keep pressing on, however I now must enlist help from Ryan.  I am starting to hit snooze or flat out sleep through my alarm for the scheduled dreamfeed.  So I have asked Ryan to set his alarm and make me get out of bed.  We are getting so close (insert wishful thinking font here) to sleeping for long stretches and I must press on.

Last night looked quite similar to the past few nights:

8:00 - Natalie was in bed. There was minimal fussing, but lots of playing with the six pacifiers in her bed
8:12 - Asleep.

10:30 - Dreamfeed before I went to bed

3:00 - Start of alarm sequence - which continued until 4:30 when Natalie fussed and I cursed myself for not getting out of bed at the scheduled time.  If I had just gotten up, she probably wouldn't have woke up! She cried off and on for 13 minutes

4:50 - Went in to dreamfeed Natalie, she had been quiet and still for 7 minutes so I assumed she had gone back to sleep.  When I opened her door, she sat right up - ugh!!  I fed her, but kept her awake.  She ate for 3 minutes, I put her in bed awake and she went right back to sleep.

7:30 - Natalie began stirring, but kept going back to sleep
7:50 - Up for the day (yes I was late to work this morning)

It is a good thing that I keep being reminded to look 'on paper' to see our progress.  I can see it on paper, I am more tired than ever so I don't feel it.  If someone would have told me 10 days ago that Natalie would soon only get up once/night I would have been ecstatic.  I need to remember that perspective to keep motivated to do this.  This is short term, even if it takes a month (written with pleading, "please no" undertone here).  When we're done she will know how to sleep and that is a lesson that will help all of us for the long term future.