It didn't last long

Well....for the last two nights, we have attempted to let Addi cry it out in her crib and learn how to put herself to sleep. The first night she basically cried for an hour before going to sleep. We went and checked on her and assured her we were still there, but we weren't going to pick her up. She slept for almost 6 hours before she woke up at 2 and we were so tired at that point we just brought her to bed. The weird thing is, I couldn't sleep without her. I haven't been this exhausted since she was a couple weeks old. Haha. Today though she just seemed so not herself. She was very fussy and just not very happy, but I successfully got her to take two naps in her crib, and at 6:45 tonight she went down for what we thought was the night, but she woke up an hour later. With a vengeance. We let her cry for over an hour and at that point, we both couldn't take it anymore. So she has now been asleep next to me for two hours and I can see her sweet little personality coming back. I just don't think that we (me and Addi) are ready yet for her to leave our bed. Haha, poor Josh he's just frustrated because I keep changing my mind so much. I don't blame him, I've changed my mind about this literally everyday. Haha, tis a woman's prerogative! But, at this point I'm just going with my gut instinct and when I feel like it's time for her to make the switch then we will try again. But until then, I'm so happy to have my little sugar lump cuddled up next to me!!!

Sleep Training

Yesterday we decided to sleep train Addi. It has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I really really really REALLY cannot stand listening to my baby cry. But, it has to be done because we don't want this on our hands.

Addi at 5 months

Addi turns 5 months old tomorrow and time has really flown by it seems. She is such a diva sometimes, but then she will look at us and just grin from ear to ear and laugh and we forget what we were doing. I have a feeling she might be a heart breaker one day. Haha. Here are some stats:
She weighs 16 lbs.

She is 25.5 inches long.

She has picked out her lovey (we think) who is a red and white valentine dog named Chaz. I know the name is kinda weird, but we are into giving her toys funny names.

She is in size 2-3 diapers.

Wearing mostly 9 month clothes. (She needs to slow down on the growing so she can wear her 9 month summer stuff!)

We are having a lot of sleep issues lately, so hopefully by the 6 month post they will be much much better.

She has tried rice cereal, oatmeal and squash. She's not sure about all 3.

Her favorite toys right now are her playmat, her jumperoo and her doorway jumper.

She is so funny sometimes. We will be watching TV while she's in her jumperoo and if were not paying attention to her she will growl or sigh till we look at her, then she will start laughing. She really is a diva. Haha.

BabyWise

So here we are. Addi is just shy of 5 months old and she hasn't slept through the night since she was 3 months. Her usual schedule is she will fall asleep at 10 and sleep till 10, but wake up at 4 then 8 to eat. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting plenty of rest and have a lot of energy throughout the day, but the other problem is Addi cannot fall asleep without me right next to her. :( It's totally my fault, and for the longest time I preached on the joys and benefits of co-sleeping, till this weekend. Josh and I decided to have a date night and go see a movie and have dinner. Scott and Jeanette came to babysit and everyone was so excited. Apparently the whole time we were gone which was from about 6-10, Addi did not eat ANYTHING. Actually she managed to get down some cereal, but that was it. And if you know Addi, she gets very angry when she's not fed. So...they drove around the block with her for probably an hour to get her to sleep. When we came home she had been crying and literally nothing they could do, save driving her around, would calm her down. As soon as I held her she was back to her happy self even giggling and talking. I was semi-embarrassed for her behavior, although I know she's just a baby, I felt like I have created a monster. Anyways, this week we are starting BabyWise. I don't know if anyone has ever heard of this, but it's a great philosophy toward parenting. The author believes that the best gift you can give your child is a secure relationship with your spouse. That gives the child security and all things good that go with that. So...their claim is your child will be putting themselves to sleep, sleeping 10-12 hours a night (for babies Addi's age) taking naps like clockwork in a couple of weeks of starting the program. Now, it told us to be prepared for some crying. But, I think we have both realized if we are ever going to go out again we better do this, because after this weekend, I think folks are a little scared now to be around Addi when I'm not there. So please pray for us this week, we will need it!!! I really hope it's a smooth transition and all parties are not emotionally scarred for life. Mainly me and Josh who are major babies when it comes to hearing our baby cry, which is why were in this predicament in the first place!

Valentine's 2010

well, I must say, this Valentine's has been INCREDIBLE! Saturday night, we had the opportunity to go to the Ronald McDonald house Chocolate Fantasy Ball. It was just ridiculous how much chocolate there was! And the best part was, you didn't have to wait till after dinner, they encourage you to eat dessert first! It was the best. They were also doing a silent auction and we bid on a couple of items. Jeanette won a beautiful jewelry box full of goodies from Dillards, and I won a gorgeous purple pearl necklace and bracelet set, also from Dillards!


The dinner was amazing and we got to meet Ronald McDonald. The stories though from the RMDH were just so incredible and very sad. I definitely teared up when they featured some of the families that have stayed there. It has really motivated me to become more involved in helping those families. I really hope I can get into a position where I can have a more active hand in the RMDH. Here is us and Ronald!


Then, Sunday night we had our annual Valentine's Day dinner. The food turned out really good! We had these little appetizer things I forgot to take a picture of, they were puff pastry rounds with pesto, sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. They were soooo good. Then we had roasted red pepper bisque, a salad with dried cranberries, candied walnuts and sweet and sour dressing. Then we had grilled pork tenderloin, potato gratin, grilled asparagus and rosemary rolls. And to top THAT off, we had red velvet cake for dessert. Ohhhh I am still soo stuffed! I need to kick my workouts up a notch this week to burn off all the food I ate this weekend! Haha.


Wish me luck this week as I continue to train for the half-marathon!!!!

Dreams of a two piece

Well I think I have finally found the swimsuit I will wear this summer. Now, if you would have told me when I was 8 months pregnant, you are going to have to wear a one piece this year Ashley or people's retinas will burn out if they look at you, I would have said, Nah, those stretch marks will fade and go away. WRONG. So...after much weeping and gnashing of teeth I have put away my dreams of wearing a two piece and I have settled for this gorgeous one piece. I love how retro it looks! I never thought I would find one that looks so cute! And, it has great support and a clever little tummy slimming panel. I think I'm going to reward myself for finishing the half-marathon with this. That is if I finish and don't croak out on the 4th mile. Hahaha.

Addi blows a raspberry!

This is so cute. Whenever we blow a raspberry on Addi she will blow one back!

Insanity

So I am doing something I never thought I would do...I'm going to run a half marathon, in April! Now, I still actually haven't done this, but I'm training really hard and with a little magic I might be able to finish the race! Wish me luck!

Snow Day!

We finally got our snow day! I am so glad I didn't have to try and drive to work this year. And, Josh got a day off too! It was so much fun being lazy together and watching the snow outside. We didn't leave at all till Saturday night. Josh and Noah drove to the Ronald McDonald house to drop off the food we had made. I'm so glad we knew someone who had 4-wheel drive. To top it off, our heater broke Saturday night so we stayed with Treece and Noah that night. Again, I'm so glad we have such good friends to take us in! Sunday, I drove to Searcy and stayed with Scott and Jeanette for the night. Josh decided to buy a space heater and try to stay warm that night. He said it probably didn't get above 60 degrees, but he slept with his Underarmour, gloves, a hat, and Dixie and Remus curled up right next to him. The heater got fixed Monday so me and Addi decided to come back. It's nice to get back into a routine again, although the snow days we had were so much fun!