The Dreaded...

... Sleep Training.

Over five and a half months of Dinah's life has flashed before my eyes.  It hasn't been easy, to say the least.  She is a picky eater... snacking here and there throughout the day.  She's gained weight slowly and caused her Daddy and me plenty of stress.  But thankfully, she's hitting her milestones and is extremely happy (well, except when I hand her over to someone she isn't too familiar with)!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to sleep train her to nap in her crib.  She has been sleeping at night in a bassinet in our room.  Having only a small 2-Bedroom home makes it tricky to coordinate nap/bed times with both kiddos.  At least for us.  So we opted to have Dinah in our room and eventually move her to Eloise's room when the time was right.  Before the sleep training began, we were holding her for EVERY nap!  I had several people ask me how I ever got things done.  Well, I didn't.  Or else I'd do them when Cory was home... and I tried to be OK with that because she won't be a baby forever.  I want to soak up the precious moments as long as I can!


 (Meet "Mean Boy")

Because I have a 2 yr old running around, Dinah hasn't been much more than a cat napper.  I bit the bullet though and have been laying her in her crib.  Originally, the plan was to stay in with her and soothe her... walk out for a few minutes and if she was still crying, go in to soothe her again (my own modified version of The Ferber Method).  It worked with Eloise!  Well, that Dinah-girl has a temper!  It turns out that trying to soothe her makes her furious!  Then it just takes that much longer to get her to calm down.  So as much as I hated to do it... we've been "crying it out".  And thank goodness, it's been working.  I truly believe that an almost 6 month old is capable of knowing how to cry to get what they want.  Not that they want to be manipulative... they just want the comfort they are used to!  So... though, it's still a work in progress... we ARE making progress with Dinah.

And it's nice to have some time with just me and Eloise!

When she's not asleep... Dinah has been enjoying her walker!

And of course, Eloise loves play in any way, shape or form!

If you're a mom trying to get your little one to sleep train... don't give up!
There were plenty of times I wanted to pull my hair out or just walk away.... (Ask my sister, I don't know how many times I called boo-hooing to her!)... but if you stay consistent, your baby will learn!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions about exactly how I've been handling it!

Prayers for Pappy

My father in law had his follow up MRI today (after having had Gamma Knife Surgery several months ago to combat some cancerous brain tumors).  We were praying for GREAT news.  His CT Scan came out clear last week (as Eloise would say, "Woo hoo!")... so a clear MRI would've been the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, the news is not so good.  It's not the worst... but it's still not what we wanted to hear.  Though the tumors have shrunken... there is a new one that is right by his brain stem.  That is a very sensitive area... so treatment is limited.  We are going to get more info about his pending treatment in the upcoming days.

The past few months have been a whirlwind, having a new baby and dealing with a toddler, issues with our vehicles and house, etc.... all the while watching Cory's dad seem to age at a rapid pace.  Radiation to the brain does that to a person.  It's not an easy thing to watch.  I am the type of person who pushes things to the back of my mind.  It's not that I don't care, it just seems to be my coping mechanism.  If I pretend it's essentially not there... I don't drown myself in stress.  Whereas Cory has it at the forefront of his mind... and it just eats at him every day.  Maybe that's part of how we balance each other out.  The next several weeks, as plans for treatment are made, we are asking for your prayers.  Cory's parents are scared.  We are scared.  And we don't want Gene to miss out on the lives of his precious grandbabies that give us all so much joy.

This evening, Cory and I were by the fridge talking and Eloise was sitting in her seat waiting for us to clean her up and get her out after dinner. She says, "I pray for Pappy"... and I just barely acknowledged her by saying, "Yeah, we need to pray for Pappy," then continued talking to Cory. I looked up a few seconds later to see Eloise with her hands clasped and her head bowed onto her hands saying, "Pray for Pappy... please Pappy get better.. Jesus name, Amen."

 In spite of it all... you have to smile through tears when your 2 year old sits at the dinner table and prays for Pappy all on her own. 

5 Months