Welcome baby Ty!!!!

This is Noah's newest little friend.....Tycer James!

Look how sweet he is. We cannot wait to meet you Ty. Congrats Jeff, Caryn and big brother Ian!!!! We miss you guys and look forward to seeing you all soon!!!

3am....party at my crib!!!

Ever see that onsie that says that saying....3am party at my crib?

I have seen it mulitple times and during my pregnancies...yes, both....I thought it was cute. I thought it was cute my first pregnancy because I had no idea what I was in for. I thought it was cute my second pregnancy, because I was looking through rose colored glasses and thought it would be easy to get up again with my baby like it was for my first. I guess it slipped my mind that I have a toddler who is up at the crack of dawn raring to go. That or pregnancy senility hit me and I forgot what it is like to be awaken out of a deep sleep by a screaming baby....some nights it is like a freight train ramming right into your head.

Today that onsie is not funny....at all!!! Because my son thinks it would be neat to throw a party in his crib at 3a.m. Yes, the foot stomping, hip shaking, screaming type of shindig! Some days he throws his parties a little early like at 1a.m. and they last...All Night Long!

I am at my wits end! How do I get this child to sleep?

I could do the old "cry it out method" then I run the risk of Meredith waking up. And if I know one thing about Meredith waking up, it is that she does not go back to bed easily. So I get out of bed and sleepwalk upstairs and nurse the little party animal. Now I know that I am building a routine.....baby cries.....mom rushes upstairs to nurse the baby. Yes I already know that...please do not emphasize this fact to me.

I could go back to the baby whisperer, but I tried that method with Meredith and the only thing I remember whispering with clenched teeth was....."I paid $20 for another damn book that says you are supposed to sleep if I whisper something.....now shhhh! baby go the hell to sleep!" Basically that method did not work for me either.

I did recently buy the DVD "Happiest Baby on the Block", see you can tell I am press for time and no longer have time to read. Dr. Karp is all about swaddling the baby...really the 5 S's....uhmmm....I think Swaddle, Sway, Shhh, Shit I cannot remember them all, but I am pretty sure sleep was in there somewhere. This method did work at first, we would swaddle that little tike so tight he could barely breathe and he went right to sleep. Now he is too long and too strong to stay in there as snug as a bug. The minute he is swaddled two arms pop right up.

I tried the begging, pleading and praying method....that too got me nowhere. So now I am asking you my blog readers...how do I get that little tike to bed? Please somebody....anybody....give me some good advice. The only thing that helps right now is knowing I am not the only one getting up at 3a.m. And I know it will not last forever, I am just afraid it may last for another 9 months. It lasted that long with Meredith.

sobbing, crocodile tears from my little man

Yesterday Noah went for his 2 month check-up. The pediatrician said he is a "perfectly normal baby boy who is growing like a weed." And really what else do you want your pediatrician to say.....his weight is in the 75% percentile and his head and length are in the 50% percentile. So he is my better than average, average little guy! She also said his green poop was normal and that sometimes seeing the whites above his eyes was normal too. She said he really just likes to open his very wide. (Yes, my husband and a good friend who is an opthamologist also said it was normal, but a mom likes to be sure!)

Now to the bad part.....After we got the good report, that mean old nurse came in with not 1, but 3 shots. The needles were bigger than Noah's arms and legs. She stuck him twice in one leg and he screamed and had real tears and then right when he calmed down, she stuck him again in the other leg. It was awful. In the last 12 months I have forgotten how awful that cry is. He cried the whole way home and he has cried everytime his eyes are open since then. Even with his tylenol every 4 hours. It is not his hunger cry, his boredom cry, his tired cry, this is a heart breaking "I am hurt cry". I hope he starts to feeling better soon. It really is breaking his momma's heart!

My sweet baby boy

Noah and I were laying here tonight, in my bed with my laptop looking at our favorite blogs together, okay he was laying here smiling and cooing and I was surfing the blogs. And then I thought....wait, here is my sweet baby and me....just me....no toddler....no brownie dog....no distractions, except for my stinking laptop (which I am seriously addicted too!)....why not spend time with my baby. So I did and I nuggled right into him. Do you know how sweet a baby smells? Or how soft their skin is? or how when you talk to them with that babyease their whole face lights up and they have that sweet little grin? Talk about melt your heart! This is life, this is why we are here, not to work all day and night and make money. Albeit necessary, but if we don't take time to enjoy the small things, what is the point. If I had a wish right now it would not be for money, or to be out of debt, especially in this mortgage crisis and threatening recession.....It would be to slow down time. I do not want to stop it, I just want to slow it down. I want to remember to not worry so much over everything else and play with my kids. To snuggle close to my baby, who will be in highschool before I know it. I just want it to slooooooooooowww down. Do you know how quickly time flies when you have a 3 hour alarm clock. Mine goes off every 3 hours day and night, it makes the day fly! Only 3 feedings until Josh is home, 1 feeding to lunch, 2 feedings for bed time, 4 hours of sleep before the next feeding.

Please time, slow down, my baby boy is growing way too fast!

We have a new cousin!!!!

Meredith and Noah have a new cousin and new partner in crime!!!

Welcome to the world

Connor Michael!!!!

I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy and meet him soon!

Congratulions Timmy & Lisa, we are thrilled for you guys.

Noah's new pal

Noah got a new pal today! We (me, him, and Mimi) went up to the hospital (in the snow) to await his arrival. I had to be there for my friend Katey and Noah wanted to meet his pal (through a glass of course). I am sure these two will get in lots of trouble together as they grow up and torment their big sisters.....or maybe their big sisters will torment them. Who knows?

Seeing his new friend for the first time!

His new pal..isn't he gorgeous!!!! Congrats Katey!!!

Look how cute I am!

Who let the crazy lady into Belks???

So today I ventured into the mall, I had some help...Mimi was with us. At one point Mimi went to the counter to purchase a few things and I ventured out on my own. I was in the children's department with my two tikes in their new ride, when all hell broke loose.

Noah started screaming and their was no consoling him. I tried to put his pacifier back in, then I tried to sit him up a little, then I started strolling faster and then I gave up. I parked the new ride right in the middle of the children's department and decided to take him out. Meredith witnessing this event, decided she wanted out too. So she started hollering "OUT! OUT!!" When I told her no and didn't rush to her assistance to help her out she started to unbuckle the seat belt herself. Little shit was half way out, when I realized she could get them undone. So I told her no, then while holding Noah in one arm, tried to wrestle her back in with the other. She threw her orange hi-C on the floor at Belks and started to scream and throw a fit. Noah mind you, is still crying those loud piercing cries that he is really good at. At that point I was wonder mom, I put Meredith back in while carrying on like a crazy toddler, held Noah like a sack of potatoes and started pushing the double stroller with one hand back towards Mimi like a crazy woman. Mall trip over! Their were plenty of people who were enjoying the show and getting a good laugh.

At least I learned something on this outing....the double stroller is very easy to maneuver and turn with one hand.

Friends!!!!

"this too shall pass"

Thanks Laura & Neely, last night I was having a bad night. Why? Noah isn't sleeping during the night and I don't mean through the night, I mean at night. Not at all, unless he is being held and since I am so afraid of squishing him, or rolling on him, or him being in bed with us until he is 10, I hate to let him "sleep" with us! So yes it has been a little rough, I mean waking for a feeding or two is one thing, waking all night to hold him and then getting up with a toddler at 7am is excruciating!

Anyway I emailed a few friends last night about a local organization we are all in and at the end vented a little about how hard being a mother of a newborn is and they responded immediately and were so comforting and supportive. Even though we weren't in one another's company or on the phone they were still "there for me!" And there advice was ...Remember that everything is just a small phase, it won't be like that forever, it will change and work itself out....."this too shall pass!"

And in the grand scheme of things, they were right!!! thanks! they also offered to help me out with the grocery or arranging a playdate with Meredith and doing lunch! Thanks girls, your emails last night were exactly what I needed. Friends -- I don't know what I would do without them!