Sleep habits

Since before my first baby was born, I researched sleeping because I found it one of the top 5 of being important on my baby list. Niah was such a great sleeper, she started sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old and always napped well. As she got older her night time sleep habits were getting worse waking several times in the night. Anyways, I read the best book on sleep I have found called "Healthy sleep habits, Happy Child," started applying the book to Niah's schedule and you can read about that here (I wish I would have read it before she was 9 months old). Now, I have a wonderful sleeper!! The only time she does not sleep well is when she is not feeling well and she had a little trouble when I came home from the hospital. She is 22 months goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30 wakes up between 8 and 9, and never wakes in the night. She takes one 3 hour nap during the day, she puts herself to sleep and does great. Everyone once in awhile she will need help going to sleep but for the most part I lay her down and she goes to sleep great.

Now I have baby boy to think about and I never read the book for Niah, when she was that young and the author, Weissbluth makes some very interesting comments on babies sleep before the age of 4 months. He even addresses babies and their eating habits and his main goal is that a baby is taken care of but learns to self-soothe. He even says in the beginning of the book you do not like an idea of mine just rip that page out. So far little man is a great sleeper, he tends to want to be held more in the evening but I love cuddle time. Right, now Malachi is not old enough to have a rythmic sleep pattern but will be approaching it shortly as he comes on 6 weeks. I have to admit when we get home in the evenings I do spend a long amount of time cuddling with my sweet boy but at night I always try to lay him down as soon as he gets done eating so he is use to that routine. My main goal is to get a good sleeper and help Malachi to not become overtired. Weissbluth says most babies under 4 months should not have any awake time longer than 2 hours. The next few weeks as my little man starts to form a schedule I plan to try and be really sensitive to his cues of being tired and help him get into a routine. I hope he is as good as a sleeper as his sister.

Anyone have any good advice for getting a good self soothing sleeper.

Here is my sweet boy taking a nap with me.

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Tie Onsies

It is seriously impossible to find cute newborn boy clothes. I have found a few separate pieces that I match together and had to order a lot of items online. After searching through etsy.com for items I found adorable tie onsies. They were ridiculous expensive so I decided to make them. It was so easy.

Here is a brown tie I made... I will get photos of just the onsie so you can see it better



What you need
1. scrap material
2. onsies
3. iron on
4. sewing machine.

1. You draw a tie on card stock and mine was pretty small because I put them on newborn onsies. I did mine in two pieces the knot and the tie piece. This is your pattern

2. Cut out the material in the tie shape.

3. Cut out the iron on in the tie shape.

4. Follow your iron on directions and iron the tie on the onsie make sure it is centered.

5. Then I used an applique stitch and sewed around the tie to ensure it would stay on.

That's it!! You have an adorable onesie. I paired my little man's onsie with leg warmers.

linking up

1 Month

Little man you are one month already, it is hard to believe but at the same time it feels like you were always a part of our family. The transition from 1 to 2 kids has been extremely easy, it could be the combination of I transition with change well and I have wonderful children.

You are a great sleeper and still sleep most the day with only 30-60 minutes of awake time. In that awake time you are really trying to focus in on things. You have black hair and the greyish blueish eye color you were born with. You are great eater but you have a problem with eating for a few minutes and going to sleep then waking up in 15 minutes eating some more and repeating the process for like an hour, which is called snacking. Then once you are full you sleep for 3 hours and we start all over. I tried a paci to get you to wait to eat to maybe cause less snacking, you think that is a terrible idea and get really mad, turn red, and clench your mouth shut at it. I do not mind the snacking during the day it is the night time that throws me for a loop. You usually only wake up to eat at 3 and 7 during the night to eat I am hoping that your 7 will turn to 8 soon because I usually wake up at 8 for the day. You still wear Newborn clothes and Newborn diapers. You have sprayed me more times than I can count while changing your diaper but I have learned and usually put a wipe over you while changing the diaper.

You love to be warm and be held. Your favorite spot when held is on Mommy and Daddy's chest with your head right under our chin. Daddy thinks your a little sauna. You seem to already know when I leave you. I left you twice, once to run to the hotel to get milk only took 5 mins and once I ran up to the gas station took less than 30 mins. Both times you started crying from a dead sleep as soon as I walked out of the house.

Niah still adores you and is very protective. She comforts you when you cry but saying "Ok, Ok" and patting you. She likes to hold you and read her books to you. She gets very concerned if she does not know where you are at and will look for you. She tells everyone when we are out in public to look at you and that you are "nice." She is anxious for you to play with her and I just know you are going to be the best of friends.

We love you so much Malachi. We pray over you and for you everyday. We know you will do great unique things in this world, how could you not with such a strong great unique entrance into this world. I feel so privileged to be your mom!!

Things about pregnancy and baby no one tells you!!

After having 2 babies and thinking about all the things no one told me and just being shocked that women do not share to prepare I thought I would share some of the things that surprised me. Maybe I will help another lady out to not be so surprised :-)

* If you get morning sickness in pregnancy (lucky if you do not) it is not just in the morning. I found out I was pregnant in the E.R. because I had no idea pregnancy caused you to throw up every 30 mins. I remember when the nurse came in and told me nothing was wrong I was just pregnant, complete and utter shock came to my mind thinking pregnancy causes this much sickness.

* No matter how many times someone tells you that you look cute pregnant you will always probably feel big and not so cute.

* When your water breaks in labor it is not just a gush of water, it continually leaks and you feel like you are constantly peeing your pants.

* Pitocin is no fun.... Try to avoid it at all cost.

*During labor and delivery more people will see you indecent than at any other time, at least in my life.

*Once you have your baby and start to breast feed and your milk comes in, you and baby will be covered in milk and you will leak through your clothes for the first 2 months and until your body realizes how much milk to make then it will get better and less leaking occurs.

*When your milk comes in your boobs get really big and hard.

*Breastfeeding may be difficult and demanding in the beginning but worth all the effort don't give up, it gets easier. Way easier!! And is filled with benefits for you and your baby.

*Newborns poop an extreme amount and it will probably get all over their clothes and the changing table at times, be prepared to do some stain removal.

*Strangers with germs will want to touch your baby in public and my suggestion is to put them in a carrier you wear on you in stores or cover their car seat with a blanket, the less people touch the less likely they will catch a sickness.

*It will take months and I mean MONTHS for your body to feel normal again. Don't expect to feel normal or attractive right away. I remember the shock with Niah on how unattractive and out of shape I felt, I remember being so scared I would never get back to my old shape but thankfully it happened and I weighed less starting pregnancy number 2 than with pregnancy number 1.

I am sure other moms could add to list, these are all the things that came to mind quickly.

Despite all of those things there is nothing that compares to having a baby. I enjoy and love the newborn stage so much. My oldest, Niah is 21 months and Malachi is 3 weeks and so far I have loved every stage that Niah has gone through.

Here are some pictures of my sweet babies.

This is little man today sleeping at work, and yes I do realize he only has one sock on. Add that to the list socks do not stay on newborn feet.

Niah sitting on her big girl potty, we just got it last night and she is really excited about it. Potty training starts this weekend.

Niah pushing Malachi on a walk

Malachi taking a bath

The adjustment

Malachi is 2 1/2 weeks old and is such a good laid back baby. He only cries when he is hungry or cold. He has very little awake time and by very little I mean less than an hour a day. Sometimes I can get him to stay awake if I do not let him eat till he is full and he will be content and awake for 20 or 30 mins and then he wants to finish eating. He eats every 3-4 hours but does something similar to Niah and will fall asleep eating so his feeding will take an hour to finish because he will eat go to sleep wake up, eat, go to sleep and so on. Malachi smiles alot in his sleep. He is waking 2 in the night to eat and thankfully for eat quickly and go back to sleep. He sleeps in the bassinet most the night but after his last feeding he almost always gets hiccups and wants to sit up so I put him in the bouncer and sleeps the last 4 hours in the bouncer. It already seems like time is flying by.

I took these pictures today... You can kinda see his tie onsie that I made him

I love his face in this pic

The adjustment has been a smooth transition. Niah loves the "baby" wants to see him every morning, help change his diaper, be there when he eats, hold him, put blankets on him, and kiss him good night every night. Niah acts like the baby is suppose to be here and she knows it. When we got home from the hospital Niah was extra clingy but I think that had more to do with never being away from me that long than having a new baby in the house. I think it helped Niah to transition so well because I still do all the things I normally do with her like put her to bed, put her down for naps, get her up in the morning, get her ready, do her baths, let her cook with me, and so on. Niah is such a great big sister.
Love this little girl and can't forget about her

Niah holding baby brother

As far as being a mom of two it has been great. I love both of my babies and everything has gone so smooth with having two. It feels as though I have always had 2 kids. With the terrible flu season in full swing we have only gone out a few times in hopes to not catch any sickness. Again, I am so thankful for a faithful God that even though I didn't have the birth I intended He protected both me and Malachi and gave me such a fast recovery.

Malachi's Birth Story

It all started Monday, January 14th, I had a drs. appointment at 11:30. The dr checked me and said right before he checked me, "You probably have not progressed past the 4 you were at last week but lets check." He checked me and made a face and said with a surprise tone, "You have progressed to a 6+." A little shocked and relieved at the same time since I had not felt a single contraction. The dr. tried to get me to go to the hospital right then but I said I would really like to wait and see what happens plus I had an interview to get my minister credentials that afternoon I didn't want to miss. He then informed that at any point I wanted to go to the hospital they would check me in and any kind of contraction head to the hospital.

The car ride home Matthew was beginning to get nervous about the progress I made and the possibility of him delivering the baby because we did not make in time to the hospital. We headed back to the camp and everyone we told became very nervous for me. After the interview and we were just sitting in my office Matthew kept bringing up the hospital and I said ok lets go. We went home and I finished packing my bag, organized a few things and we headed to go through a drive through to get something to eat then headed to get checked in at the hospital. The nurse hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor and the contraction monitor and said, "you act like you do not even feel those contractions." I then told her I had no idea I was having contractions. She then told me I was in active labor with contractions 2 mins or less apart about 1 min long contractions. Shortly after that the dr came in and checked me and told me I was now an 8+ and was very glad I came in. At 3:30 he broke my water and said it should go quickly. He came in and checked me at about 4:30 and I was a 10 but the baby was still at a station -2 so he thought since I was not feeling contractions we would wait and see if we could get the baby to drop. I agreed at that time to go on pitocin to get stronger contractions to see if I could feel the contractions and it would help the baby drop. About a half hour later he decided he would see if I could push the baby down. So about 5:00 we started pushing. For 2 1/2 hours I pushed, pushed with no aide at all, Pushed with the help of a vacuum, pushed with the dr. trying to help, and the baby was coming down but would go right back up. Finally the dr. said I needed to rest and recommended a c-section. He said a second baby will usually come out with out any pushing with a vacuum and there is something that it is keeping the baby from coming down. My initial reaction was immediate tears of the fear of a c-section and asked the dr. if I could think about. He told me I could wait and see if the baby would come down further and talk it over. At this time I started getting contractions I could feel.

An hour went by and during that time I as well as Matthew got a peace about the c-section if the baby did not drop. I am so thankful for a good dr. that tried his hardest to give me a natural birth and that was very compassionate, who checked me several times to see if the baby had dropped down, even checked me in the operating room before doing the spinal tap just to make sure. There was no change so we proceeded with a spinal tap, again God had his hand on me and gave me an extremely attentive and compassionate anesthesiologist. Matthew was able to come in the room and hold my hand during the whole procedure which took from the time the spinal tap went in to the time they were done was 30 mins. As soon as the Dr. and the assisting Dr. saw Malachi they both said there was no way he would have come through the birth canal based on his side. The second I heard his cry, I began to cry tears of relief that this wonderful gift from God had made it safely. The instant they sat him next to me on the table he stopped crying and just laid next to me and then they took him away so they could clean him off and he began crying again.

Malachi was 7 lbs 8 oz, 19 3/4 inches tall, and a head circumference of 13 3/4. So he was not even a huge baby but he was 2 lbs bigger than Niah. We are absolutely in love with our little man and try to take advantage of every day with him because we know time is short.
Niah Loves him

I know this is a long post but before I end I want to say how thankful I am for such a caring husband I have. He has been by my side and supported me through the hospital stay, recovery, and even my emotional post pregnancy break down day. I can't imagine going through life with anyone else.

2013 Resolution and Worldly Things

I am a little late for posting a 2013 resolution and this really is not a complete resolution. In my defense I started writing this before 2012 was up. I am constantly seeking God for my family and how to be a good mom and raising a child in this world and this is a goal and a resolution that I have for not only this year but a lifetime. Read this and understand I make no judgments and this is my opinion only. I do not believe that anyone has to believe the same way I do.

I live and see around me everyday how satan is constantly trying to destroy families and create broken people. At the grocery store the heavily intoxicated man that is yelling at his wife to by my alcohol or the buying and selling of drugs with all of a family's money and a child's needs are not met. The instances could go on and on but it surrounds us. Through my teenage years alcohol and drugs use to make me extremely nervous and scared. As I entered a Christian School, I was introduced to a whole new concept of there is nothing wrong with social drinking. The theory was based on the passages of the Bible saying following the rules of the land, not to get drunk, and not to let anyone else stumble. I thought about this concept and thought well I could accept that and not necessarily do that but believe that it was ok.

As time has passed,and more experiences, motherhood, and just looking at the world. I can honestly say I can not accept that concept. I can not accept that or believe dabbling in any kind of worldly pleasure. I believe that satan wants us to think that way so that he can get away in our lives, get in our families lives, and eventually do what he does best and destroy. Like I said that this is my opinion and this is how I am choosing to live but as for my family, I am not going to allow satan even the slightest chance of using the things of this world to destroy. I walk into a church and see hurting kids every week due to the affects of worldly things being entered into their families. Broken families, broken kids, broken parents, broken homes they do not just happen but the enemy finds away in to break and this year especially I am taking special time to pray against the enemy and his schemes to pray for not only my family but families in generally. Broken homes did not use to be normal and it seems it is more and more normal.