[*SamF*]

Whats going on?

[BeckyM]

Not much going on here. We're getting things ready for MIL's trip to Greece. She leaves June 1st, so just a week away at this point. She's spending lots of time with Mark as it'll be a while before she sees him again. We will email pics to some friends of ours over there so she can see how much he changes, but know that it won't be the same thing as seeing him daily in person. With me & Mark, we're both doing okay. He seems to have more & more awake times during the day, which is alot of fun but then he fights sleep so bad after them sometimes. You can see how tired he is, but he doesn't want to miss anything and it'll take hours to get him calm & settled to sleep. After that, he's no problem at all and will wake & nap with no issues, but at least once a day he'll try to stay up for over 6 hours and then fight settling back down. Any tips or pointers for a first timer here from you BTDT mamas? Is this normal for a 3 weeker? Overall he's so mellow & such a good baby and I hate to even complain about this at all. We've been doing tummy time lately too, and he's really enjoying that. He can already lift his head up really good and makes some really cute noises when he's playing on the blanket. I can already see where he's growing so fast. And with me, I'm continuing to feel stronger & stronger each day. Yay!!! I can also fit into more & more of my pre-pg clothes too so that's a nice feeling too. I go back for my 6 week checkup on June 12th (I think that's the date, but may be off by a few days). Well time to feed the LO again, so I'd better go.

I hope everyone is having a good Monday & a good week planned.

[Counting our Blessings]

I'm just loving on Lila this week . She is such a little dream. I just love her to pieces.

Andy had to go back to work today and won't be home until Thursday night. I've gotten used to him being around the last week and a half. I wasn't ready to let him go. Oh well, gotta pay those pesky bills. Otherwise things here are as normal as they get with 8 little ones. We actually got into a little bit more of a routine today and our doing some schooling. It's really humid here so we were outside this morning and our inside this afternoon. I hope it coools off a little tonight so I can get back to planting our garden. All in all, things are good. I am still having high blood pressure, so I have to monitor it this week. I hate to think of having to go on medicine at 35 for it. I hope it corrects itself in the next week or so.

Wow, I guess I can really ramble on about not much

Becky, I wish I had some tips for you. I say just enjoy his awake time and snuggle him to get him to take his naps or whenever he needs them. Kids are all so different and what works for one may not work for another. I'm a firm believer in snuggling with baby. I wear Lila lots in a sling. I'm not sure with a c/s if you are able to do that yet or not, but it's worth considering. She will settle right down when I put her in it. But than our little boy Mark (who is almost 3) flipped out at the sight of a sling, you just never know!

Hope everyone is well!

[mum74]

Layla's been pretty unsettled today but for the previous few days has been going really really well. She slept for a five hour stretch during the night last night after I gave her a dream feed at 9.30 right before I went to bed - so I had a good stretch of sleep too !

Becky, you are allowed to complain!! We all know we're so blessed and grateful to have our LOs here with us safely, but it's still okay to acknowledge that it can be a tough gig sometimes!! I think six hours does seem like a long time to be awake in one stretch for a 3 week old. It's so hard to know from baby to baby as they are all so different!

I know Layla struggles to stay away for more than half an hour...it might take a long time to then get her to sleep but once I know she's tired (yawning or other tired signs which I just posted in a separate post), we head back to her bedroom and I change her nappy so I know she's dry and comfortable, give her a cuddle, then put her down to sleep and leave the room (I'm now using a dummy which is helping too - she doesn't always want it but when she's overtired it helps immensely!!).

Anyway, if she cries, I go in, pick her up if I think she has wind or she's getting really upset (otherwise I just pat her), when she's calm I put her down again, put her dummy in if she wants it and leave the room again...and continue until she's asleep. Sometimes it can take ages for her to go to sleep, other times (rarely!) it's straight away.... sometimes if it's only little noises or cries I wait a little to see if she self-settles...but if it escalates I go back in. I am also playing soft music (a baby cd of wind pipes and flutes that's really lovely) to help her drift off and I generally turn it off later but sometimes for day sleeps I just put it on repeat and leave it on softly!!

I am using my woombie too which keeps her arms in to stop the flailing arms when she's overtired. The wraps worked well at the beginning but she's grown so fast they're suddenly too small!! Anyway most of the things I do are from the baby book I read... I think it's mostly trial and error though and I just try to see what works and what doesn't!! But reading the book again has given me some confidence back - there were days where she was screaming for hours and I ended up in tears because I was so tired from the night before etc, but now I've found my book I feel like I'm at least (sometimes!) working out what might be wrong and how I can help her.

Phew, sorry for the novel and I hate hate hate the thought of sounding like a know it all - this is all just stuff I've read and that has helped me...there is just no quick way to describe anything about a newborn - they change so much so quickly!!!

Mari I think you are amazing coping with a household of 8 children while your dh is away. My dh has helped so much with bath and bedtime for the boys if Layla is unsettled so I can just concentrate on getting her to sleep, so I admire the job you're doing on your own!!

Layla - almost six weeks old - smiles caught on camera!


Beautiful baby with tired Mum!

[MomtoKatieB]

Becky ~ Sorry that Mark fights sleep. Katie won't go to sleep even if she is exhausted unless we play her Rocky Top CD (DH says we have corrupted her by letting her listen to bluegrass, but if it gets her to sleep, I would listen to almost anything). I know that your MIL is going to miss Mark terribly but she will at least have pics and is there any way that you all could use Skype or perhaps some sort of messaging program with web cam to let the family in Greece see live action Mark???

Mari ~ Glad that you are loving Lila and are getting back into a routine. I would be a basket case if I had eight children. There are days when I am thankful I have extra sets of hands to hold Katie, especially when she is fussy.

Lenore~ Layla is beautiful. What a lovely smile she has. Thanks for sharing the pics.

AFM~ Still no jobs for either of us. Katie has an appointment at the dermatologist at the regional medical center 60 miles away set for later next week. The creams that the doctor prescribed seem to be working, in fact the stronger one (not sure if I mentioned one cream was an antifungal and the other was a hormone cream) seemed to work so well that we decided today to start using a & d ointment instead since it seems to have cleared up the problem and the a & d ointment will just ensure that it stays cleared up.

[Counting our Blessings]

Just wanted to wish all you ladies a great Memorial Day weekend. Please let us all remember the men and woman who have died for us to have what we have. I know that sounds so "politically correct" but if we stop and think about it, would I be willing to risk my life and possibly lose it for someone else? When I think about it, I wouldn't. Yes, I really am selfish. So please, let us remember them and their families. Regardless of what we all think of our government and the how we feel about the war we are involved in, these people who died deserve to be remembered.

Okay, off my little soapbox.

I also wanted to thank you ladies for being such a great support during my pregnancy and supporting me through the birth. I know we have a pretty small group here, but thanks a lot. I love having a spot to come and visit with us "older" mamas. So thanks!!

Have a great, safe weekend everyone!

[mum74]

I think I have scared everyone away with my mega post - sorry ladies! I will reign in my droning on!

[*SamF*]

LOL Lenore! no you didn't scare at least me off!!

Busy week here. gearing up for a super short week next week at work. between memorial day and then my family reunion next weekend I will only be here 3 days and just found out that for one of those I have to go to some weird insights training.

Hope everyone has a Great memorial day!! (And Mari- I completely agree with you!!)

[MarieJ]

quick update here, I've read but can't respond to all---we got back from Disneyland yesterday, I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry and grading-back soon! Sleep all you babies and mommies!

[Counting our Blessings]

Marie, hope you had a great time! I love the picture. We missed you around here.

Beth, you says I'm not a basketcase somedays .

Becky, hows our extra energy man Mark doing? Wow, 6 hours is a long time for 3 weeks.

Lenore, love the pictures. You look great. There are lots of new babies here, so we alll understand a little lack of sleep. Thanks for posting them.

[CaseyM]

So sorry but not enough time to respond to everyone this morning.....

We finally cut our first tooth this week!!! And man is it sharp...lol...it's one of the bottom middles, and the other one right next too it isn't too far behind....I made the call to the new RE person....also called the old RE to see about getting my files for the new one and the phone number is disconnected....hmmmm......Oh well..Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend. We are taking Matt to his first parade on Monday....he loves fire trucks on TV so we'll see how he does in person.....

[mum74]

Marie how did the kids enjoy Disneyland??

Mari how are you coping while dh is away working?

Matt is gorgeous Casey - I love his siggy pics! How did he like the real life fire engines??

Becky hope you had a wonderful birthday! What movie did you and dh see? How is Mark going this week?

AFM, Layla had a shocker of a weekend. I joked to a friend that at least dh knows I'm not sitting around on my a@s all day! We were both frustrated by the end of it. I guess we all know it is so exhausting when you know your baby is tired but just can't get her to sleep!

Sunday night she had a lot of green pooey nappies so I really think she must have had a tummy upset/perhaps reacted to something that I ate. (Which I think may have been the fantastic Thai takeaway I had on Friday night and ate leftovers on Saturday... will be sad to give that up for the next year!).