Sleep!!

So Chloee hasn't been the best sleeper at night so far, and would only sleep with us in our bed. While I didn't mind having her in our bed too much, I just didn't get the best nights sleep, not being able to move, etc. Plus there is always the threat of something happening to her in our bed. I don't think that I would ever roll over on her because she usually slept on part of me, and I slept so lightly with her next to me, but I did worry about smothering her with the covers. Anyways so I decided to really try her crib again last night. We gave the kids a bath, and then I got Chloee in her pjs and swaddled her really tight in her Swaddle Me wrap and nursed her. She still wasn't asleep when she was finished eating, and I knew that she wouldn't fall asleep in the crib, so I put her in her carseat with a soft blanket under her and rocked/bounced her to sleep. She was asleep within just a few minutes so I decided to just put her whole carseat in the crib!! And it worked!! She slept from 10:00 to 3:30 and then from 4:00 to 7:30, and now it is 8:40 and she is sleeping still!! Hooray!! It was so nice to sleep without her in bed with me. I could actually move and could change positions, etc. There were two other factors that helped aid in the sleeping, first we put the humidifier in her room. She always seems to be a little conjested, but she could actually breathe last night! (I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier?) We also turned on a cd with the sound of a running stream with bird sounds. She is used to a noisy big brother during the day, and so I think it helped to have some noise. So we will try all of this again tonight and hope that it wasn't a one time thing!!

In other exciting news, we are blessing Chloee tomorrow!! I will post pictures of her in her pretty dress probably on Monday.

Flying

It has been exactly two years since Travis lost his job flying a helicopter, but he is finally going to get back into a helicopter!! Thanks to our cute little tax credits we are getting a good refund which will pay for Travis to get more helicopter training and become a CFII (Certified Flight Instructor for Intruments). In Florida he was working as a CFI, which is a Certified Flight Instructor, basically he just taught people how to fly. Now after he goes through the training he will be teaching people how to fly using the instrument panel in the cockpit of the helicopter without seeing outside. Anyways we are both really excited for him to start flying again, and will hopefully be able to find a job teaching again, shortly after he finishes his training. A CFII is a lot more sought after person, than just a CFI, so it will definitely help his resume! We went and got the paperwork for him to get all signed up as a student again, so hopefully he will be starting in the next couple of weeks.

Now for a different topic, we are trying to implement a schedule for Parker to get him ready for pre-school next year. My mom works at the pre-school and tells me stories about kids that aren't used to structure and have a hard time adjusting. Up 'til now Parker has definitely not been used to structure, and would literally watch movies all day long if I let him. So his new schedule goes like this:

Wake Up
Watch Cartoons
Eat Breakfast
Brush Teeth
Get Dressed
Computer Time
Art/Craft Time
Story Time
Lunch
Movie
Quiet Time
Play Time
Clean Up
Dinner
Bath
Bedtime

I printed up cards for all of these and then laminated them and put a magnet on them so that I can put them in order on the side of our fridge. Then he can take them off as he finished them and can see what comes next. Yesterday was the first day that we tried it, and it went pretty well until the evening. (Travis is on the night shift right now, and I was having a rough night last night, and didn't care about the schedule so much!) Today has been ok, but not as good as yesterday was. It will probably take awhile for him to get used to it, and for me to get used to it as well! Hopefully once we get this established, he will be ready to be potty trained!!

Smiles

Chloee has definitely got the smiling thing down pretty good lately. I've tried several times to get a good picture of her cute grin but she usually stops smiling the minute I pull the camera out!! I did get a couple of cute shots!


Wink!!

Chloee's Room--From Floral Nightmare to Pretty Pink with Polka-Dots!

I meant to post pictures of Chloee's room long before she was born, but it didn't happen, so I decided to post some now. We are just renting the house that we live in, but luckily our landlords let us do whatever we want when it comes to decorating, etc. It is nice because literally every room in the house had wallpaper, bad wallpaper! So slowly we are removing it one room at a time! Anyways here are some before and after photos so you can see the transformation!


The lovely hole in the door was from where the previous renter threw his wife into the door. Scary.


After taking down the wall paper, ripping the carpet out, and replacing the door, we painted the room pink and the baseboards white. Then we added the pink and brown vinyl polka-dots.

Next we put in a new floor. We used vinyl tiles which worked out great and were inexpensive, great for a rental!


And finally, we decorated and turned it into a room!

Photo Shoot!

My sister-in-law took some really cute pictures of Chloee when she was just 4 days old. Here are some of my favorites.






I love this one of Parker!


Here is a cute one of the kids together.



Then yesterday I decided to do a little photo shoot of my own. I think they turned out pretty good!! Chloee is five weeks old, and it's crazy how much she has already changed.

The scowl is her signature look! But she is starting to smile and look like a happy child!!

One Month Old & The Internet

Chloee is a month old already, I can't believe it. She had a doctors appointment this week and she weighs 10 lbs and is 21 inches long. So she is growing and growing! Chloee started following in her big brother's footsteps and was showing signs of acid reflux, which is why we went to the doc this week. So she is now on Zantac, and will hopefully start sleeping better at night, preferably in her crib!!

So we have been without the internet for over a year now, which hasn't been fun at all. So anytime we needed the internet we had to go to my parents house and use theirs. (luckily they live next door, but still a hassle) So finally today we got the internet hooked up at our place!! Yay!! Now I will have no excuse for not updating my blog and will hopefully keep it up to date!

Here are a few pics:

Our first family photo with all of us! Not professional of course!


A funny one of Chloee "picking her nose"!


A funny one of Parker in his old bouncer! Now Chloee enjoys it most of the time!


Parker and Chloee playing together.


Chloee on her 1 month birthday!!

The Story of Chloee's Birth!

Well I decided that I'd better get it documented before I forget the details!! Chloee's due date was December 26th, but the thought of being in the hospital on Christmas wasn't very exciting to me (or my doctor!) so we decided to get induced early. That way we could be home with our sweet girl for Christmas. So on Sunday, December 20 we got a phone call at 6:15 a.m. from the hospital letting us know that we needed to be at the hospital by 7:30 a.m. so that they could start the process. Woohoo!! We were so excited, but it didn't seem real. Scheduling when to have your baby is a whole different experience from just waiting to go into labor!

Anyways, so we got to the hospital at 7:30 and got set in our room etc. They started me on pitocin at about 8:00. By about 10:15 the contractions were to the uncomfortable stage, definitely not painful, but just uncomfortable. I was only dialated to a 2 1/2, but I decided that I didn't want the contractions to get to the painful stage, so I got the epidural then. That was the best decision I've made in a long time!! After that I didn't feel a thing! It was SO nice and kind of hard to believe that I was in labor! It was so different from my experience with Parker.

Well labor progressed pretty slowly at first, and I was ready to be there well into the night. They kept upping my pitocin to try and move things along, but I was still only at a 4 at 3:00. Then at 4:00 they checked me again and I was completely dialated!! It was so fast. I started pushing at 4:30, and only had to push twice before Chloee was born!! She was born at 4:39!! And I didn't feel a thing!! It was such a great experience. I felt great, which made it seem even more unbelievable that I had just delivered a baby!! It was such a different experience from giving birth to Parker. Yay for epidurals!!