And the survey says....

We went to the doctor today for Henry's 4 month visit. Everything looked good and he was so excited by all the attention from the nurses and doctors, until the shots. He's still a big boy, no surprise there, although his weight percentage dipped 9 percentage points.

Height: 27 1/4th inches -- 98th percentile

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz-- 90th percentile

The doctor thinks that the reason that he's waking up more often at night than he was a month earlier is because he's a hungry kid and that breastmilk soon won't be enough, hence the drop in weight, and that starting rice cereal in a month will help. So there's at least one more month of less-than-ideal sleep for me. Ugh, it's really starting to get old. I'm TIRED. I'm not ready to let him "cry it out" until he's on rice cereal and I know hunger won't be a factor and more coordinated with his hands so that he'll learn to put in his own binkie. That's when Lillie finally slept through the night, at 6 1/2 months.

I tried the "cry it out" method when he started taking 40 minute naps and it didn't work because he became a very unhappy, distant, insecure and REALLY jumpy. I want a happy, calm baby (which he has become again) ... even if it means less sleep for me.

I am so thankful for two happy and healthy kiddos!

Momentous Occasion

Today something happened that I have waited for the past YEAR to occur. Lillie and Henry played together! She would jump up and down and pull on his arms and he thought it was the funniest thing ever, laughing and squealing. She loved that she could make him laugh and ended up giggling right along with Henry. Because, come on, the whole reason we had a second kid is so that he'd be able to entertain Lillie and it wouldn't have to be us all the time. :)

4 Months

This handsome little guy turned four months yesterday. He has hit some major milestones in the past month. He can grab toys, suck on his fists, grab his toes and roll over (front to back)! Henry is a happy guy who loves to talk and laugh. He's a big boy who adores his big sister and is coming closer to weighing as much as her. We think there's about 8 lbs that separate the two and a half year difference. We love him!

Cat Napper

So I know I have said that Henry is a champion sleeper. And he was... but lately he does not take naps longer than 30-40 mins.
He does put himself to sleep with help of a pacifier, but after that sleep cycle is up, he's up. I'll go in to put his pacifier back in after about 5-10 mins of crying (hoping he'll go back to sleep on his own), but no go, he won't go back to sleep.
Sometimes I'll go in immediately (hoping he's not fully awake) and stick it back in and it doesn't work either.
I can't even rock him back to sleep or if I put him in his swing.
He's still swaddled.
I've even tried to get him to sleep on his stomach, but he doesn't like that either.
I've tried keeping him up longer in between naps (2 hours after a feeding, one hour before next feeding) and I've tried putting him to bed earlier, about a half hour to an hour after he's been fed, two hours before his next feeding. Either way doesn't matter.
He's on a schedule: 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 9, 4.
This means that he only sleeps about 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours during the day. This cannot be healthy.
Usually only wakes up once a night, sometimes twice.

I couldn't find anything different online than what I've already done. Has this happened to any of your kids? What did you do? What should I do?????

Happy 1/4th Birthday!

Today my little chunk is 3 months old! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. We are so lucky to have him in our family, can't imagine life without him! At 3 mos, Henry can:
--coo like nobody's business, I'm afraid we might have another chatter box, folks
--flash some gummy grins
--giggle, especially at his Dad
--sleep from 9-7, waking up once
--put himself to sleep
--bats at toys dangling in front of him
--suck on his fists
--cuddle with his Momma in the glider
--and last but not least, grow like a weed!!!

Love you, Henry!

For the Love of Books

What is up with last books of series?? They're pretty much always lame. Breaking Dawn was pure agony for me to read, way back when, and Mockingjay wasn't much better. It had a slow start followed by a pretty good middle leading to an abrupt, anticlimactic end. I hated that Peeta was brainwashed or whatever. I hated that Gale's story just dropped off at the end. There was all this hullabaloo about the war and killing Snow and then boom the war's over and Snow's captured. It seemed like the writer ran out of steam at the end and just quickly tied it up. Lame.
I needed to wait until someone, who's taste in books I really trusted, read it and then decided whether or not it was worth the effort to read. Cuz, c'mon. That book convinced me that I need to take a little break from reading. I had invested myself too much in the book before it even came out and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Okay, enough venting. I loved the series overall and will read them again. I'll go see the movie when it comes out. Seriously, The Hunger Games was amazing, so was Catching Fire and I think it was a high standard for Mockingjay to live up to.

Mom and Kids

You'd never believe how many takes it takes to get a shot with everyone looking at the camera.

These were just the tip of the iceberg...

Dapper Henry

I finished making these pants this morning for Henry. We are hoping to get some family pictures done soon and I couldn't find any pants that I liked. So I made these for about $6 out of some nice herringbone suiting material. Can't beat that price. I love his little hat too. I found it at H&M for 5 bucks and I think it's worth every penny. It's a touch too big right now so I'll need to adjust that, but I love it! Hopefully we can figure out someone to take our photos.

Trip to Utah

For the last two weeks we have been in Utah, enjoying ourselves thoroughly. It was exactly what we needed. Eric was able to spend time with the kids that he hadn't been able to during the busy semester and was able to forget about dentistry for a little while. Lillie was able to spend time with her favorite person, her daddy, do fun activities for two year olds, and hang out with her cousin and buddy, Emmett. Henry loved seeing his daddy and getting some attention. I was able to spend time in a big house with big windows and a big tub. And I got to see my husbandito and have help with the kids, so I was a happy lady.



WARNING: So many photos, this has been torture to post but I know that some day I will be happy that I kept record of this vacation.

Dinosaurs and Pony Rides

One of the first outings of our vacation was to Thanksgiving Point. We visited the dinosaur museum and the farm. Lillie has been really into dinosaurs lately, she loves watching Land Before Time and we got her some plastic dinosaurs to play with. So this was right up her alley. And with her, you can never go wrong with animals, so it was a really fun day. We toured around their little farm, looking at cows and goats and finally hit up the pony rides. Lillie had a blast, although it was a long wait in a very hot line. That day it got close to 100 degrees.

Children's Museum

Before we went to Utah, I knew that I wanted to visit this children's museum downtown because I had heard good things about it but also because I knew that Lillie would love it, and we wanted this trip to be special for her. Luckily, Eric's sister Lisa wanted to join us with her son, Emmett.

Seriously, I think these two look like they could be brother and sister. Emmett looks more like Lillie than Henry does. Should be interesting to see what Emmett's little sister will look like. :)

Lillie enjoying her asparagus a little too much.

Henry, doing his thing. He slept so much this day. Eric had a sore back by the end of it.

This was one of Lil's favorite parts. She would go find food and throw it all on the conveyor belt and then crank the handle and let it all pile up on the floor.

It was really a fun day. Lillie did not want to leave and I don't blame her. I want to go again.

Temple Square

The spirit was so strong in the visitors center, it almost knocks you off your feet. As soon as you walk in, you feel it. This was a really cool experience for our little family. I loved showing and trying to explain all the paintings of Christ to Lillie. This was my favorite part of the whole trip.

We spent some time watching the brides come out of the temple. Lillie thought that they were princesses coming out of the castle. I told her some day she could marry her prince there. At the end of the day, Lillie told Eric that she wanted to get married in the temple. That's the best thing I've ever heard.

Church History Museum

Across the street from temple square is the Church History Museum. It is an AMAZING museum, there is so much neat stuff to look at, I could be there for hours and not see it all. Upstairs is an area for kids. There are so many great things for kids to do, I loved this. I would visit all the time if I lived close. So wonderful and of course, Lillie loved it.

I love this photo! Maybe this little girl will grow up to be just like her Momma!

Emmett was so funny with the stethoscope. He didn't want to keep it on his ears, so he would use his chin to hold it on.

Lillie holding the iron rod and partaking of the tree of life.

Lillie and Emmett dressing up for the nativity. Not the best picture. Oh well.

Lillie and Emmett were so cute together. They got along really well most of the time. I love how Emmett says her name, should have got that on video. We were really glad to have been able to spend time with them. Makes me really sad that we don't live closer.

The Zoo

Eric's awesome Aunt Kris invited us and Lisa to join her and her granddaughters at the zoo. The weather was amazing and so was the company. Lillie was in heaven!

Poor Henry spent most of this whole vacation in the stroller, usually sleeping. But then, sleeping sounds like the perfect vacation to me.

The oldest elephant in North America. Seriously, these elephants were so cool. Where you at L.A.??

These three girls are Eric's cousin's: Chloe, Brinley and Hadley. They are so fun and Lillie loved to tag along after them.

My favorite part of the zoo was baby elephant, Zuri. She has so playful and uncoordinated!