4 Month Sleep Regression

The 4 month sleep regression is real. And it's been inhabiting my house for about 3 weeks now. My once amazingly sleeping girl is now waking up 3 times a night. I know it could be worse. It was worse with my first born. I know what worse is like. BUT, when you get accustomed to a certain luxury, its hard to go back.
Sigh. I'm tired.
I tried letting girly cry, and it just doesn't work. I've read ALL the sleep books. Twice. She will not go to bed without me nursing her. At first I thought it was a growth spurt and now I think it's morphed into habit. I'm not sure what my plan of action will be now. I do know we will be buying some formula soon and let my hubby take over a waking so I can get more than 2.5-3 hrs of sleep at a time.
I'm praying this passes soon. I really don't want to be waiting 9 months for her to sleep through the night like I did with Asher.

Did I mention I'm tired????

I'll take any comments, suggestions and tips.

Sweet Siblings

Asher is the BEST big brother. Ever. I love watching him interact with little Miss Mc. Although at times he can be a little too rough, a little too loud, and a little too helpful, his intentions are always purely out of love for his sister. And I love that.

I caught him reading to her the other day. These are some sweet moments. I'm so lucky I caught it on camera.

I know they won't always be this sweet, so I'm soaking in the moments while they last.

Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday celebrating with our family and celebrating our risen Savior. But, the day definitely had a rocky start. I woke up early to try to get myself ready before the kids woke up. I woke Vaughn up a little early so he could follow suit. I knew Asher would wake up early and we needed to fit time in for him to explore his Easter basket.

The kid's Easter baskets.

Asher finding his basket. He was excited!

We still failed miserably. I don't know how...I thought I was prepared. But getting an extra little body ready plus fitting in feeding Maryclaire just throws everything off. By the time we made it out the door Maryclaire was screaming her head off, I was a basket case from all the morning's chaos and and poor Asher and Vaughn were taking the heat from both of us. I have to commend my husband for not strapping me to the roof of the car on the drive to church because I was FOUL! I don't know if I should just commit to our church's online ministry or endure the madness that ensues when we try to make it out the door for church on Sunday. I have to admit, it wasn't pretty. After church I managed to snap a few pictures of the kids before loading up to head to my parents house for a family lunch.

I was in such a hurry taking pictures I didn't even realize Mc's bow was all crooked.

Sweet Angels

Dinner was SO delicious and I always love visiting with my family. After eating my sister and I hid eggs and let the kids go out and have a hunt. They had a great time!

Asher with his cousins. Lucas is clearly too interested in what is in his basket!

Maddie is always such a mama hen to these boys.

After it was all said and done, I made sure we got a picture with all four of us.

Happy Easter!

Easter Saturday

What a great weekend. It was so busy I'm going to break it into two posts. Besides making two dishes for Easter lunch, a dessert, taking care of two kiddos, playing Easter bunny, and all the other general housekeeping responsibilities, we packed in lots of other activities over the weekend.

On Saturday morning we headed to Barnesville (where Vaughn's office is located) for their annual BBQ festival. We ate some good BBQ and listened to Vaughn play guitar for super cute and talented Lexi Sutherland. Lexi goes to our church and is only 17 yrs old. She has an amazing voice and I'm so glad Vaughn was able to hook up with her to play at this event. You should check her website out here.

I was super thankful my parents came too because it sure is nice to have another set of hands around when you're out and about. Vaughn was busy playing, eating and making his rounds since he's on the Barnesville Chamber ( host of the festival).

I sadly have no pictures. I left my camera in the diaper bag...which I left in Vaughn's office. Oops.

After the BBQ festival we headed back to out side of town for our church's annual Easter egg hunt. This thing is out of control and a true outreach to the community. The Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny even make appearances and are delivered to the event via helicopter. Its really fun for the kids. We had a great time (minus Asher falling and skinning his knee) and even Maryclaire was amused to say the least. She was on her best behavior even though it was super close to her bedtime.

Betcha can't tell Asher was excited!

Sporting my new dark hair-do. That's a blog for another day.

They had these kids staring straight into the sun. I bet no one got pictures with their eyes open.


We jetted home (and I mean jetted b/c little Miss tends to melt down around bedtime ) and Asher and I dyed easter eggs after I put Maryclaire down for the night.


After Asher went to bed I had a little meeting with the Easter Bunny and had to finish my cupcakes for Easter dessert. I totally forgot to take a picture of them, but they were cute! With so much to do, it was midnight before I went to bed on Friday night and Saturday. Then, up by 6:30 both mornings all while getting up during the night to take care of Girly who is still not sleeping well. It's been an exhausting but awesome weekend.

Big Milestones

I know I just blogged about Maryclaire turning 4 months old, but she's been busy the past few days. I'm afraid if I don't blog it now, I'll forget! I definitely have foggy mommy brain happening these days!

A few weeks ago Maryclaire learned how to roll from her belly to her back, but just yesterday she rolled from her back to belly. That's a hard one! She's done it several times in the past 24 hours. I caught some pics today.

Here she goes!

And yes, we are in bib mode now. I really can't stand it 'cause it sure does ruin a cute outfit, but between the spit up and string of drool pouring from Maryclaire's mouth, it is very necessary.

A little more...

Yay! I did it!

Asher is such a big helper and I must ask him to run and get me a bib 5 times a day. He loves picking them out for her. She has several UGA ones and he always picks those first...He says they're his favorite! What a good little bulldawg fan we are raising!

And, just in the past few days sweet girl found her sweet little toes!

What a silly face!

Just bathed and getting ready for bed. Still holding those toes!

And don't you just love a freshly bathed baby? I don't use smelly soaps or lotions on my babies, but I just love it when they get out of the tub all clean. I also love the way Maryclaire's hair sticks straight up just after a good washing!


Good gracious, at the rate time is flying by (with the exception of days like yesterday! ha!) I'll be blogging that my baby is crawling soon!

One of those days

It's been one of those days. You know, the kind you where you need a mommy time-out, a pillow to scream into, or a closet to lock yourself in for awhile. I know I am not alone here. I know I usually blog about how rosy everything is, but I gotta be real for a minute. It's been a rough one.

I started the day busy as a bee trying to get us ready visit Vaughn at his office today-45 minutes away. That means get two kiddos dressed as cute as I can muster, fed, diaper bag packed, lunch packed (yes, we are way too broke to eat out right now) and loaded into the car. I sadly report I wore jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball hat. Priorities, right? At least I was showered!

Have I mentioned Maryclaire is not friends with riding in the car these days? Running errands is ok b/c I can usually get anywhere we need to be in 10 minutes. I can handle 10 minutes of screaming in the car at a time. I CANNOT handle 45 minutes in the car with said screaming child.

I even stopped once to get out and check to make sure she had a clean diaper. She did.

I was a basket case by the time we got to Vaughn's office. I told him we were most definitely NOT coming to see him again anytime soon. We had a great little visit and Maryclaire stayed awake and happy pretty much the whole time. Asher loves to help Vaughn's secretary shred paper when we visit. She's so sweet and saves it for when we come so Asher can help. He also loves playing at daddy's computer. I was dreading getting back in the car with a certain little girl, but I reckoned she had to be tired and would *hopefully* sleep in the way home. No such luck. I got 45 more minutes of listening to my sweet angel scream. in a very small car.

Home! Maryclaire has to be tired. It's 2:30 and she's not napped all day. She's goes down without too much of a fight. Whew. Time to get a few chores done...for exactly 30 minutes until she woke up. Not good.

I promised Asher a trip to the playground yesterday so you better believe I better deliver on it. It was almost time for her lunch and nobody is ever at the playground, so I thought it would be ok to walk up there and I could feed her in private while Asher played. No such luck. Apparently, it was grounds keeping day and the playground area was being worked on by 3-4 men. Great!! What was I do do? We had walked all the way there and I was not gonna tell Asher we had to go back home. I held little girl out as long as I could, but I finally had to cave and try to find a hidden spot where no one could see me. Awkward!

On the walk home Asher fell and skinned his knee. He was hysterical and even more so after he saw blood. He can't walk. I let him sit on the front of the stroller and he and Maryclaire cried the whole way walk home. I can only imagine what my neighbors were thinking.

Finally home, Asher's boo-boo is taken care of and Maryclaire is still melting down...I'm assuming from her lack of sleep. She's past the point of going down for a nap. At 5 I called Vaughn in a panic to see when he'd be home...I was losing steam quickly. Sensing my desperation, he said he's would head home then and I'd see him in 45 minutes.


We gave up trying to calm Maryclaire's meltdown at 6:20 and just put her to bed. She's still asleep 3.5 hours later. I hope I don't pay for that one in the morning.

All through the days drama, I kept this song in my head by Franchesca Battistelli called This is the Stuff. I know God was using this song to keep me sane today! These were the lyrics stuck in my head.

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

Love, love, love this song! Nothing like God putting a song in your heart to get you through the day and keep reminding you just how "big I'm blessed."

Happy 4 Months, Maryclaire!

Wow...you are 1/3 of a year old! You've had an exciting month and are just growing, growing, growing! Here are some highlights from the last month.

1. I stopped swaddling you at night AND you moved out of the snuggle nest. You did pretty well with the transition.

2. You go to bed around 7 and have slept as late as 10:30. You've been getting worn out this month!

3. You were sleeping so good until about a week ago. Sometimes you were only waking once a night to eat. It was heaven to be so rested! Right now, you are waking up every THREE hours round the clock to eat. I'm hoping it's just growth spurt and we'll move past this soon.

4. You are making all kinds of cute squealing noises when you are happy. On the contrary, you've developed an ear piercing scream when you are upset. Your poor brother covers his ears!

5. You are still not friends with your car seat and will ride happily for about 15 minutes max. I dread putting you in the car these days.

6. You definitely have a fussy time of the day...it can start as early as 5pm and lasts until we out you down for the night. Not a whole lots makes you happy during that time.

8. I tried feeding you rice cereal the other day...you're not a big fan.

9. You are still on reflux meds. We changed back to Zantac b/c your other meds were $140/month. Now we're trying Prevacid otc, but giving it to you is tough b/c it is in tablet form and it tastes terrible. I don't think I've been successful in even getting a full dose in you b/c you gag and spit it out. I've even tried dissolving it in a little juice for you.

10. You little neck muscles are getting so strong and but you tire out quickly and easily during tummy time.

11. We're still working on a "schedule", are are more on a routine right now. Some days you are like clockwork and others you are all over the place.

12. You are still scared of loud noises.

I3. You are wearing size 1/2 diapers and can still fit into some 0-3 month clothes and 3-6 month clothes depending on the brand.

14. I don't know your official stats, but I think you weigh about 12lbs and are 25 inches long.

15. You have learned how to roll from your belly to your back. You really like to practice it when you are supposed to be sleeping.

We did two separate photo shoots for your 4 month pictures. You are not much for the mamarazzi!

Happy 4 Months!

Spit bubble smile!


Love this girl!

Cutie Pa-tootie!

Love you, love you, love you, baby girl!

NEED TO BREATHE

This is one of my favorite songs right now. These guys are touring with Taylor Swift this summer. Wow! Love that they are a Christian band reaching a secular audience. Would LOVE to go see them, but the cheapest tix are $70 bucks. I think we'll wait until they're headlining their own shows!

Karate Kid

Asher continues to crack me up everyday. I guess kids have a way of doing this. I probably find him more amusing than most, but that's every mom, right? We were playing outside yesterday and Asher wanted to do karate. I definitely had my camera ready! The first thing he told me you have to do is take off your shoes. Where does he get this stuff? I was giggling the whole time. Here are some action shots of my karate kid.




I know he's gotten the idea of karate from Vaughn. He wants him to try it out when he turns four. I have mixed feelings on teaching children to be aggressive. Being a "retired" teacher, I've seem far too many kids who act out WWF wresting moves on the play ground. It never ends well! Vaughn assures me karate will not foster aggressiveness.

Everyday, I see my little boy becoming so big and independent...his personalty is really beginning to show. And every night, I feel the need to rock my sweet boy just a little bit longer, hug him a little tighter and kiss him a little more...these precious days are starting to fly by just a little too fast!

Look Alikes

Growing up, I looked nothing like my sister (just look at some Flashback Friday posts). Hard news for a little blond who idolized her older sibling. I used to *hate* that people would remark how much we looked NOTHING alike, how she looked just like my Dad, and how I looked just like my Mom. She was my big sister and I wanted to be just like her!

Since I've had kids, I'm careful to label who my children look like. In fact, it's a big pet peeve of mine to alienate one parent or the other. Didn't TWO set of genes come together to make this unique little person? I always try to give credit to both parents...even if its just for one little feature.

While I don't think Asher and Maryclaire look exactly alike, I do see many similarities between them. Sometimes more and sometimes less depending on their expression. They definitely have the same little button nose. While I was looking at my pictures on the computer the other night (like I often do) I found this old one of Asher as a baby and it reminded me SO much of this picture of Maryclaire.

Siblings? Definitely!

Flashback Friday

Just a quick post. My sister and I with our sweet Memaw. Good times, great memories. I miss her all the time.

I'm not sure when this was taken...probably 1981. I look like I'm around 2 and I don't see my brother yet.

Mid-week Randoms

Blogging has taken a backseat as of late. I have sworn off the computer during the day when I need to be mothering my children. It's something I've felt very convicted of lately. I don't want my kids to think a piece of technology is more important than them and it's so easy to get sucked in for 5-10 minutes at a time...10 times a day! I've set parameters that I can use the computer when the kids are napping only.
My mind is so foggy by the time they go to bed at night and often I can't put together a sentence correctly...let alone a paragraph for blogging.

Right now my two precious kids are both napping....well sort of. I'm pretty sure Asher is asleep and Maryclaire is working on it. Hopefully, she'll settle in a few minutes. Otherwise, computer time is over.

My microwave is begging to wiped out. My dishwasher needs to be emptied. And loaded again. I have a laundry basket full of clothes to fold. And here I am, blogging in the 30 minutes I have to myself today. Ack! Priorities, right? Isn't this the story of every mom?

My, how these weeks are flying by! Didn't I just blog about the weekend, and here we are at the end of the week again. I don't think time could move any more quickly than it is in this moment. Here's been our week so far in pictures.

We've done lots of yard work this week and I've had a great little helper! Maryclaire has enjoyed the sunshine and being outside too!

Asher is putting "weed killer" on the weeds in the lawn. There is more to this story, but I don't have time!

Sweet girl looks SO BIG in this picture!

Asher loves to get in Maryclaire's crib and say hello when she wakes up.

Tummy time! Mc is really starting to get strong neck muscles. Thanks for the bow, Aunt Pat!

Stickers and a sucker. It doesn't get much better than that for a 3 yr old!

Weekend Recap

The past weekend was full of celebrating some special birthdays. Friday was none other than my sweet hubby's 31st birthday. Yes, that's right...I married the fool! I love how his mom jokes about when he was born she thought the nurses were pulling her chain when they told her she had a 10 lb/24 in. baby in the nursery. Wowzers. Neither of our children were that big until they were 2 months old!
Vaughn requested spaghetti for his birthday dinner. I always have fun with his cakes since it's April Fool's Day. These are TV dinner cupcakes.

Looks like this little boy enjoyed his dinner!

Making wishes!

Saturday, we got busy heading up to my sister's for a joint birthday party for my niece and nephew. It was at a really cool park near their house. It was a very windy day, but pretty nice temperatures. The kids had a great time and my sister and her husband are always super party planners!

Asher with his BFF and birthday girl, Maddie.

Taking a swing at the pinata.

The ride up there was MISERABLE! Maryclaire decided it would be fun to scream the whole way there...a usual hour and fifteen minute drive took us over two hours b/c of traffic and having to stop and feed girly. We we got to the party I said I never wanted to get back in the car with Maryclaire again! My nerves were shot!

Shortly after we started home, the screaming started again. I couldn't take it and hopped in the backseat when we hit up the toll plaza. I could barely squeeze in between those two carseats in the backseat of my tiny Jetta, but I managed. Girly was as angel the rest of our ride and Asher was pretty amused I was in the backseat with him too!

Finally Home! The three of us squeezed in the backseat!

Maryclaire's room

I've wanted to post about Maryclaire's room for awhile now, but keep waiting to finish up a few projects before I take pictures. I decided I better go ahead a take the pics because at the rate I'm going, Maryclaire might be 3 before I get around finishing all the projects for her room.

My uber talented mom did all the sewing for me. I love that I have custom made bedding and curtains. I love it even more than I get to toot my mama's horn for it. I love it the most that I get to tell Maryclaire that it was a gift of love from her Nana.

It was so easy to pick out fabrics. I was starting with green gingham bumpers and adding in some complementing prints. I immediately fell in love with P. Kaufmann's watermelon paisley and tutti fruitti polka dots. It went perfectly with what I already had.

The bedskirt. I love the detailed ruffle.

The curtains are so gorgeous. The picture does not do them justice at all!

Close up of the curtains and my awesome rocking chair. It's so comfy!

The changing station. I picked these prints out on Etsy.
My mom gave them to me as a shower gift.

Maryclire's name is above her crib. You can't see it very well in this picure.