Sleep Please

When you look at this picture you think "he's looks so sweet when he's asleep." I think "thank goodness he is finally asleep." I need some help. I have let my soft heartedness towards Caleb overrule my knowledge of child rearing. Caleb is 9 months old and he doesn't sleep through the night (not even close...maybe four hours at a stretch), he doesn't go to sleep on his own, and most the time he doesn't sleep in his own bed!! It usually takes me longer to get him to sleep than he actually sleeps. I know I should let him cry himself to sleep but then what do I do the other 4-6 times he wakes up in the night. He fights sleep like there is no tomorrow. I have such a hard time letting him cry and I feel so guilty that I didn't make him learn to go to sleep on his own when he was younger. Just so you have a clear picture let me give you a sample day...
Wake-up 7:30am
nap 10-10:30 only after rocking and bouncing for 20-30 minutes and usually nursing
2nd nap 4:30 -5:15 again after rocking and bouncing and nursing
bed 8:30 after nursing and rocking
#1 wake-up 10:15 back to bed at 10:30
#2 wake-up 11:00 rock while I finish a movie then put in bed at 12 and immediately wakes -up
feed him put him in my bed and cuddle goes back to sleep about 12:45 have Kirk put him him in his bed
Kirk says it's not happening as he hands him back to me...finally asleep in my bed about 1:30
#3 3am wakes up eats
#4 6am wakes up and eats
This is a typical night and day! HELP
I am starting to feel smothered by him because there is very little time apart in a 24 hour period.
All you moms of sons or just sleep experts out there I am counting on your comments!!!

9 Months

Today was Caleb's 9 month check up. He had to get two shots and have his blood drawn. On top of that, he has a virus which caused an ear infection. He is a pretty miserable guy tonight. This is the first time I haven't been holding him, other than a 90 minute nap, all day. By the way, he is 29 inches long and 21 lbs 14 oz. I can't believe it is only Monday!!!

We had a great week last week at Kids Kamp. Karissa finally made some friends at our church and she had a blast. Even the preschoolers had the same theme as the big kids,"serve one another in love." All the kids had a good time but we were exhausted by the end of the week. We basically stayed home this weekend. Saturday we bought flowers for our beds around the trees in the back yard. We only finished one because I thoght I was going to have a heat stroke. We cleaned up and our friends the Trimbles from WF came over for dinner. We had a great evening, good food and good conversation. The big kids even played well together. Caleb was a bit fussy(and now we know why). The older kids went for an after dark swim and all the kids were up til nearly 10!! Sunday we stayed home from church and slept in (as much as you can sleep in with four kids). Then my dad and step-mom and brother and sister-in-law and nephew came over for a cookout. We had a great visit. We took the girls swimming Sunday evening and discovered Cara is a little fish. She is swimming under the water and jumping off the side. She is tireless and loves the freedom of no floties. We still have to keep an eye on her but she is fearless in the water.

We are headed to Lake Palestine for the fourth of July. We leave Friday to spend a coulpe of days at my Aunt and Uncles house, right on the lake. Hopefully, Caleb is well and no one else gets his virus. Kylie seems to have a touch of something but hopefully it is only allergies. We have been well for a long time so I guess we are due a sickness or two. My parents and two brothers and their families are meeting us at the lake. We are looking forward to all the fun times with our family. I guess that's all for now.

Happy Birthday

I just wanted to send a Birthday wish out to the numerous people with birthdays this week. I have been so busy I didn't get calls made or cards in the mail. So Happy Birthday Darrin, Kylie, Kristy, Dad and Dad. We love you and hope to see you soon.

Kids Kamp

This week we are doing Kids Kamp at our church. It is CRAZY. Today was the first day that the kids came. We were expecting 600 kids but actually had over 800. There are about 300 adult volunteers and 125 teen helpers. It is so great to see all the busy little workers everywhere. Things are definately not like clockwork but it is still great. I am glad we decided to bite the bullet and drive everyday. Most of the camp is outdoors. It is really run like a youth camp. There is live music(our worship leader and a college intern wrote all the songs for the week), drama (written entirely by our pastors wife), puppets, snacks, art, rec time. Tomorrow is my first day to have kids. I am just a art helper and they only have art on Wed and Fri. We will have two groups of 60 kids for 35 minutes. Yahoo. We have all been really tired this week. Today is Kylie's actual b-day. She is 3. She thinks she is so big now. She follows everything by "I'm a big girl now."

Pictures from "home"

Cara and her friend at VBS "Brick"(Brook)
It sure is hard to get all three faces looking at the camera!!!
Karissa, Sheridan and Brianna. Karissa spent several afternoons with her friends!!! And so it begins...
Caleb loves the water. He kicks his feet like a fish.
We had an impromtu b-day party for Kylie Saturday to save everyone a trip down to Saginaw. She had a fun Dora adventure. SHe will be three next tuesday and is really showing a Texan accent in her speech.

We spent most of our week inside or in some type of water due to the 100 + temps. We even gave the kids their bath outside a few nights. Cara and Karissa discovered they love to take showers. Caleb has no fear. He leaned over the side of the pool and nearly fell out several times. He has really good balance and is standing alone for much longer than before.

I'm Back

I am sure you are all tired of seeing Caleb crawl. I was going to blog when we returned from W.F. but Kirk beat me to it. We had a wonderful week in W. F. Karissa and Cara went to VBS at Grace and renewed old friendships. I got to catch up with my girl friends and even get closer to some. I also got to meet Chandy's new baby and have a long chat with Charma. I have missed her quiet wisdom since I have been here. I really don't have much to say. Karissa is attending another VBS with her friend, Nathan, from school. The girls have been fighting continuously and yelling mine. Today I had enough. I put all their toys, movies, books etc. in the closet and closed the doors for a whole day. After tomorrow I told them anytime they share or are kind to each other I will let them choose a toy but if they scream or fight I will put it all back and they will start over. I just have to remember the goal is to reinforce positive behavior not to never have their toys back. Hopefully, this will teach them the value of what they have and to be more generous. I guess that is all for now. I am extra tired this week. I am still recovering from not so much sleep last week.