Schedules

As I got closer to my due date, I started worrying about losing sleep once Kayden got here. If you know me, you know that I LOVE my sleep, I mean LOVE. Once Kayden was here I noticed that he LOVED his sleep too. Praise the good Lord!! He consistently sleeps at least 3 hours at night and he had not continuously cry or just want to be awake in the middle of the night. He feeds, and then is usually back to sleep within 20 minutes of feeding. We didn't really start a bedtime routine when we first brought him home because I had read that babies under 6 weeks can not comprehend a 24 hour period. For that reason, I decided to wait until he was 6 weeks to really start a routine, so we started a bedtime routine on Sunday night. We start off with a bath (which usually only lasts about 5 minutes because he's not a fan of the bath yet!) then we go back into his room and I put on his lavender lotion and put his pajamas on. I then rock him in the rocking chair while I feed him. When he is finished eating I read him a short little story out of a children's bible that a friend gave us and then I sing Jesus Loves Me (twice... why twice I don't know :) ). Then, since he still sleeps in our room, I put him in his cradle and turn on the sound machine to the heartbeat sound and give him his paci and his little bear blanket. We have been doing this for 3 nights and we only have to go back in the room a couple times to put his paci back in his mouth. Usually after the second or third time of putting his paci back in he falls to sleep. He seems to be really getting the hang of this routine thing and I am so happy!

I had noticed with my other experiences with children that those with a routine were much happier and were easier babies than those who do not have a routine so I wanted to try and make specific things geared toward night time, and just night time. That is why I have been so specific with the type of lotion we use at night time (we use the normal baby lotion in the morning and the lavender at night) and then I only sing Jesus Loves Me to him right now before he goes to sleep). I want him to really differentiate night and day so that he will realize that night time is when you sleep the longest.

Within the next couple weeks we are going to really start working on nap times. I want to start trying to have a pretty consistent nap time routine and start putting him in his crib to take naps. I don't want to have a strict schedule, but I just want to be consistent with him. In my education classes, consistency is always a big issue and we are taught how to keep our students on schedules and stay consistent with them. I know that if we have a consistent schedule for Kayden he will hopefully be a happy baby and will know what to expect. I know that the schedule will always be changing as he grows and develops so it will be a "flexible schedule".

Right now he seems to be on a 3.5-4.5 eating schedule at night and then during the day it's usually 2.5-3.5 hours. He usually stays awake for about 30-45 minutes after eating and then once he starts yawning or showing signs of being sleepy we put him in his swing or bouncy seat to take a nap.. which is usually around an hour to two hours. Right now we are having trouble with him being able to fall asleep on his own like he does at night. Usually during the day he fights going to sleep really bad and will scream for a while until he finally falls asleep. I am thinking that a lot of that might have to do with where he is sleeping and not really being on a consistent nap schedule so hopefully once we get our bedtime routine down really good we can start working on a nap time routine and he will not fight it as much.

During his wake time we try to do tummy time/ play mat time in the late morning and early evening. He does not like to be on his tummy very long at all so we try to do a lot of tummy time when he is laying on our chests too. He is really good at holding his head up so I'm not too concerned about him just doing it on the floor. He is much happier doing it on our chest so as long as we get a couple minutes of him doing it on the floor a day I'm happy. He is starting to really like his play mat though and will lay on his back and watch the toys. He swats at the toys also but I think a lot of that is just sporadic and not really him trying to actually grab at the toys.

So that's pretty much our day in a nut shell for right now :) He does seem to have a fussy time in the evenings but it doesn't last long. A lot of times I notice that he is fussy because I don't realize he is hungry since it will only be about an hour after he feeds but I eventually feed him and he eats his normal length of time so I guess his fussy time is really my fault... I just don't think that he would be hungry an hour after he had just eaten! But overall he is an easy baby and does like to sleep :) I know his nap times will become fewer and far between so I'm trying to enjoy his sleepiness for as long as it will last :) I just hope this means that he will be a good napper even as he gets older!

Happy Baby Boy!

Kayden has just recently started smiling when we would talk to him, and we could tell that it wasn't just gas but we were having a hard time getting a picture of it because he would smile quickly and then wouldn't do it again. This morning (at 6 a.m.) Nick was getting ready for work and I had just finished feeding Kayden. He was super smiley this morning and when I started wiping his mouth off with the burp cloth he started smiling really big! I kept doing it so that Nick could try to get a picture of it and then he started doing this little coo/ laugh thing. He kept doing it so Nick grabbed a video of it. I love watching this video and it puts a smile on my face everytime!

Clarification...

So after re-reading my post from last night I realized that I made it sound like Nick was wanting me to go back to work so that he could do band stuff. We are both not that naive to think that they will make it. They do have a lot of connections and a pretty large fan base, however the reason I am going back to work is so that he can ultimately finish his degree. He won't be going back in January as he has missed the enrollment period, which is where I am struggling. We are making it right now with me staying home and him working full time, but in January we will be losing at least $300 dollars a month from the north american mission board where Nick is doing an internship right now. You can only participate for like 7 semesters and he has used up all of his semesters... which is ultimately why I have to go back to work. I know we could figure it out.. but we also do not live in our own home and rent our home from the church. We would like to buy/build our own home one day which is yet another reason why I need to go back to work. I didn't want it to sound like Nick was making me go back to work because of the band... when in all reality it is really hard to make it as a musician. I need to go back to work, but I don't want to. That's pretty much how it is :)

Ironically- I received my official degree in the mail today.... I literally laughed out loud since I got it during the same time I have been struggling with all of this :)

We also have other options which I plan on posting about in the coming weeks. We just have to sit down and thoroughly discuss them in length which we have not done yet. Hopefully we will be able to work out something to where we are both happy :)

Staying at home vs. Working

This is a tough topic for me. I ALWAYS said I would be a stay at home when I had kids. I didn't want it any other way. I worked at a daycare for 2 days and after coming home crying both days because the daycare was so horrible I SWORE to my husband that my kids would never be put into a daycare. He agreed so I just thought that meant that we both agreed that when we had kids I would stay at home. Apparently, I was wrong.

I haven't worked since December 2009. I quit my job at a childrens consignment shop in order to student teach and finish getting my Bachelor's Degree. Well, as we all know I got pregnant in January of student teaching. For this reason, I decided not to get a job this coming August as a teacher. I didn't want to have to do the back and forth with being at school, maternity leave, and then all the holiday breaks...too stressful on myself and my students. So, we decided that I wouldn't get a job.

Now that we have Kayden, my husband has started talking about me getting a job and it makes me upset everytime we talk about it. I don't want to leave Kayden. I want to stay at home with him and not go back to work. I want to be his teacher. I don't want somebody else to be his teacher. I want to cherish these moments that I have with him before he goes to school and has someone else teaching him.

It makes sense for me to be the one to go back to work. I am the one with the degree. My husband postponed getting his degree and started working full time in December since I was student teaching and could not work. I understand that I am the one that can make more money since I have a degree.... but I wish I was the one without the degree. I feel like I am being punnished for having a degree. I don't want to teach... and teaching is a profession that you have to WANT to be there... and I DON'T want to be there... I WON'T ever want to be there. I will always want to be at home with my little boy.

A lot of the reason I am struggling with this is because I feel like Nick is being able to live his dream of being in a band and he talks about how if he didn't have to work so much he would be able to do more with the band and they could tour and all of this stuff... but I'm struggling. I want to have my dream too of being a stay at home mom. I know this is selfish... but i'm being transparent. He tells me that when the band makes it, I will be able to stay at home. But by then, I've missed most of Kayden's life. I want to be a stay at home mom to KAYDEN.... and my future kids. But I want to be a stay at home mom to Kayden... not just the future kids.

I guess this is what you call mommy guilt. I know we will be a lot better off if I go back to work... but I feel like i'll be missing out on my calling in life and my dream for my life, and that's to be a stay at home mom. Why didn't anyone tell me this would be so difficult?!

1 month old!

Dear Kayden-
I can't believe you are already one month old! I feel like it was just yesterday that your dad and I found out that we were pregnant and here you are! This past month has been the best month of my life. You have brought so much joy to your dad and I. I can't believe that just one little person can make us so happy. We have enjoyed getting to know you. Sometime I just sit and hold you and look at you. I can't get enough of you. Everyone says that if you hold a baby all the time that you will spoil them, but I know that there will come a time where you do not want me to hold you all the time so I do it. I enjoy just staring at you as you sleep, wondering what you are thinking and what you will be like when you get older.
This month you have been very busy! You have gone on several short trips with mommy, most of them being to your grandparents house but we have also just recently ventured out to church and to the store. On your 4 week birthday on Friday we went to the pumpkin patch! You slept through the whole thing though. You have also started holding your head up and staying awake more which I love. I love watching you just take in everything around you and try to figure things out. You will look at me and just stare for long periods of time and I will just stare right back at you. You are the best baby and I couldn't have asked for anything more. You have been such an easy baby. You eat well and LOVE to sleep... which makes your momma happy! Some of your favorite things are the bouncy seat, the boppy, watching your daddy play video games, your momma holding you, and Skye. Oh how Skye loves you too! You have been so good to let Skye lick you and it not bother you. Skye loves to give you kisses (even though mommy doesn't like it!) I can't wait for you to get older and play with him. He can't wait either. Mommy was very worried about how Skye would do with you because he is an attention hog but he has shared it well, and he is very protective of you. You two will be best buds!
We have prayed endlessly for you, and to now have you in our arms is more than I could have imagined. I thank God for every day that I get to spend with you and I can't wait to see what the other months have in store.
I love you so much baby boy!
Love, Your momma!

Play Date with Silas

Kayden had his first play date the other day! A friend that I grew up with had her little boy, Silas, a week after I had Kayden. It was nice to get together with someone who was going through the experience with me and watch our boys "play" together. Unfortunately, Kayden and I weren't able to stay long because we were getting ready to go to the pumpkin patch with the family, but we tried to get a couple of good pictures and plan on getting together again soon! The pictures however, are quite entertaining :)

First Day at Church

At three weeks old we decided to take you to church for the first time! We just went to the church service and didn't go to Sunday school but you were so good. You slept through the entire service.... which is great now, but you can't do that when you get older! :) Everyone there wanted to see you and were so surprised that you were there! We dressed you in one of the only outfits that fit you right now but you looked oh so cute! Thank you for being such an easy baby and allowing us to show you off to everyone! We pray that you will enjoy going to church and learning about God as much as we do and we pray that you will one day give your heart to the Lord. I am so glad that we were able to take you to church so early and get you started :)

2 week check up

Kayden's 2 week check up- weight 6 pounds 14 ounces height- 21 inches
My dad went with me to his 2 week check up since Nick had to work. Our pediatrician, Dr. Ramsey was my dad's pediatrician, my pediatrician and now Kayden's pediatrician. He wanted to get a picture with the 3 generations :)

Kayden's umbilical cord was still attached at this point so the dr put some stuff on it to help dry it up. Within the next 2 days it fell off so we were able to give him a real bath. This one went much better than the sponge bath. I think the water helped keep him warm this time.

Tummy Time!

I finally started tummy time with Kayden. I wasn't sure exactly when I should start it but he had started holding his head up more when he would lay in our chest so I decided to start at about 2 weeks. He didn't enjoy it very much however. He screamed the whole time. The second time I used a play mat and he really seemed to enjoy that more. He is starting to get better head control.. but tummy time only lasts about 3 minutes until he is flat out screaming. Hopefully we will be able to start increasing the time! He really does enjoy laying on his back and looking at all the toys on his play mat though!

4 day check up

At 4 days we went to the pediatrician to make sure Kayden was growing and gaining weight... and he was. When we left the hospital he weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces. When we went to his 4 day check up he weighed 5 pounds 16 ounces. He had also grown an inch... but we just think that's from where they had a hard time measuring him at the hospital. He also had to have his first shot :( We declined the hep b shot at the hospital because I was just really overwhelmed with everything and so we decided to go ahead and get it at the pediatrician at this visit. He did well, but held his breath right after the shot to where he didn't breath for a second which freaked me out!

First Bath!

I have to admit... the first bath was a little bit of a stress for me, and I wasn't even the one going to do it. For that reason, Kayden was almost a week old before we actually gave him his first bath! It's a tradition for grandma to give the first bath so my mom gave Kayden his first bath. As you can tell from the pictures, he wasn't a huge fan of it. Poor thing is so scrawny that he was shivering and so cold. The bath lasted all of 5 minutes before we quickly ended it.



My dad has also read both his grandchildren their first bedtime story so we did that the same night. Skye also enjoyed the bedtime story and fell asleep during it. Kayden however, was wide awake for the whole thing.