a first... in almost 21 months

ok, i had to share this news with you, but let me set up the back story first:

i'm not sure if you know or not, but i end up sleeping in seth's bed with him about 1/2 the night. judge me. i couldn't care less. i've heard it all! i usually put him down between 9 and 10. i lay with him and read him a few books and sing him a few songs. then i lay there and wait until he falls asleep. at that point, i come out to hang with jer, watch some dvr, or go to bed myself in my big girl bed. around, say, 2:00 seth wakes up crying and i go in and lay with him until we both fall asleep and wake up the next morning when jer comes in to say good bye for work. it's been the routine for months now. seth used to just sleep with us... much to jer's disdain. he has NEVER slept in his crib.... ever! for like a week i put him in for naps, but ended up sleeping in there with him. did you get your visual? good. anyway, we got him a queen-size bed and he's been in his own room ever since.... with mommy 1/2 the night.

i've gotten A LOT of grief from a lot of different people about our little 'arrangement' but i think i would rather put up with it than make him cry it out for a couple weeks (the amount of time his pediatrician said it would take to get him to learn how to put himself to sleep and stay asleep). it just sounds TERRIBLE!!!! i even asked jer if he thinks we should let him cry it out, and jer agreed that it seemed too cruel. i created the sleeping monster, i can deal with it....for now. we tried one night when he was about 9 months... jer called me a wuss for going in after 10 minutes, so we tried it again and i vowed to be stronger! this time, JER went in to get him! neither of us can handle it! i can't STAND the thought of him alone and terrified! again, judge me. PLEASE don't think that i frown upon other parents that teach their kids to sleep through the night! i think it's great!! i wish i could be that strong at night and not let my mind make up thoughts of seth being 16, hating me, and running off doing drugs to get back at me for making him cry it out at 20 months. i know it's delusional, but it's honestly what i think about!

well, now for the point of the rambling: last night, November 10th, 2010 seth slept through the night! the WHOLE night! like, didn't wake up until 8! i tried something a little different last night: i kept the light dimmed all night. now maybe that was just a coincidence, or maybe it helped. either way, i'm going to try it out again tonight. wish me luck!

now, seth may have gotten some great shut-eye, but i DID NOT! i was up and checking on him at least a couple times through the night. i first woke up at 4:00 and FREAKED! i ran in there to find him peacefully breathing and asleep. i woke up again around 6:00 and freaked again. again, he was fine. woke up an hour later, again, he was ok.... but this time i decided to stay with him since jer's damn alarm kept going off and i was tired of kicking him to turn it off. i have not heard jer's alarm clock in MONTHS! that's how long it's been since i've been in bed at whatever time his alarm goes off! i don't miss the alarm. at. all. but, if i can get over freaking out in the middle of the night and seth still sleeps until 8:00, i'll take it!! wait.... that won't happen, will it? #2 Luke will be here just in time to keep me on my little toes at night. man, oh man. i think i have learned my lesson, though and will try a new sleeping method with Lukey from day 1.

we'll see.

halloween week

hello.

update time! and what a perfect day to reminisce the glorious past couple weeks! could the weather have been any more perfect? seriously. seth and i have been loving our days outside! i'm pissed that snow weather is amongst us, but i can't be too upset since we were able to enjoy freaking near 70's weather in november! im also lucky because seth and i have a pass to the treehouse museum (thanks tiff) and a connection to discovery gateway (thanks sarah), so i'm sure we'll still be busy :) i get SO stir crazy if i don't have plans! i say, once a week not having anything planned is great, but more than that and i go bonkers! ok, just realized this makes me sound like a brat, but i honestly, more than anything, feel bad for SETH when we stay home or don't have anyone over. i am so LAME!! i feel like he just looks at me and goes 'ok, so..... ummm, what next lame-o?'i need to get over that, though, since baby #2 is nearing and we aint gonna do nuttin for a few weeks. poor seth and his insecure mother!

well, here is a mini update of our past week via storyboard... something new i'm trying. i think before my pics took over, but maybe that was a good thing? i think this way presents everything in a concise way and looks pretty.... but the pics may be too small for the grandparents eyes to see. lemme know :) i think if you click on the pic it will take you to a screen where it is larger. i know my mom is blind, so that may help mumsy!
here we are at wheeler farm! cousin paula was in town! seth loved following her around and chasing geese and chickens! we took a hay ride, played in a treehouse, went through a "corn" maze, chose pumpkins, and really had just an awesome time! i havent been there since elementary!! i remember going every year at good ol carl sandburg, but haven't been since. i will DEFINITELY be going back! i think they have a winter 'thing' that goes on there. we'll have to bundle up and check it out!
a couple days later we went to the zoo with all the cousins and morgie, seth's 'adopted' cousin, as well as grandma denise, grandma free, and marsha. seth and i couldn't stay long, but long enough for me to be totally exhausted! seriously, that place is SOOOO hilly! my legs felt the burn! oh, and we didn't leave before i showed seth the tigers! he carried his plastic tiger that whole time and kept saying 'rawr!' at everyone. at one point, boston had enough and got a little freaked out by seth's antics and started saying 'scared!'.... in the top left pic you can see seth with his tiger while looking at the tiger through the glass. i also got some cute pics of him kissing the glass... come to think of it, that's not the most sanitary thing to kiss. meh, it made his day :)

on halloween weekend, we had a jolly time. first, we did pumpkins for the first time since we've been married. jer was an overachiever and did the spiderweb. i did the owl on the tree which looked more like...well.... not like that. seth was not interested in helping like we thought :( maybe next year.

for dress-up, seth went as a monkey!!! he wore the same costume last year, but if you don't recall, it was SO HOT last halloween and seth only put it on long enough for a picture or two. this year we took him to jer's work at mrs fields to do trick-or-treating around the office. side note: jer's new office is SOOOOOO coool! the have, in the middle of the office i mind you, 3 tv's set up in a triangle coming from the ceiling and couches in a circle around it, 2 ping pong tables, pool table, fooseball table, playstation 3 and xbox station with cool chairs to sit in, yogurt machines, cookies, soda fountain, and the ceo got 200 soft balls to leave around the office for people to just throw at eachother!! it's nuts!.... ok, where was i... well, seth had a great time being cooed by all the women that work there, eating cookies, and playing with the other kids. not a fan of the monkey hat, however.

for halloween saturday we went with jer's cousins to trick or treat. it was miserable! cold! wet! not fun out there. jer ended up taking seth, but i guess seth wasn't interested in going to get candy, just being with the kids.... so, jer didn't get anything out of it. it was so funny seeing all the kids who were brave enough to trick or treat because you couldnt tell what anyone was! everyone had their big rain coats on or under their costumes! i remember halloweens like that, and i hated them! my princess dresses didn't look that wonderful being worn over the overstuffed coat my mom would make me wear! bah!

well, cheerio!

ps, i decided not to do a psa on ugly fake spiderweb decorations and poorly hung icicle lights. i felt too bad. meh.