Rough week

So the last few days have been not so great. Ok, they've been pretty awful. James is (I think) officially going through his 3-month growth spurt. So he had a few nights when he was eating every 2-3 hours again, and then a few days of just being exhausted all the time but refusing to sleep and instead just screaming. A lot. Loudly.

We tried EVERYTHING to get him to calm down, but it's just been frustrating... it's the worst feeling in the world to get so frustrated towards someone you love so much. And he doesn't know what he's doing, he's just crying, but it is AWFUL to hear and makes me want to lock myself in a closet and cry hysterically.

I have had several bouts of tears in the last few days, and even had to wake up Eliot last night at 2am when James had been up for an hour and wouldn't go back to sleep and I was just exhausted and couldn't handle it. I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep in a row in at least 5 months, and it's starting to wear me down. James goes to sleep at 7 or 7:30pm, but I just can't make myself sleep that early. My brain won't shut off till 11pm or so, and then he is up at 1am for a feeding and again at 3 or 4am. Eliot takes care of him starting at 5am, but he now has to go to school in the mornings to I only get about a 3-4 hour stretch then.

"They" say that growth spurts often end with better/longer sleep but I have yet to see it. He did sleep from 5am to 7:30am this morning, which is new, but I don't anticipate it happening again. You just never know.

So I just needed to vent. I love James more than anything, and I know this is just a phase that will pass eventually. But I'm tired. And my contact fitting isn't going well and I'm on my 4th kind of contact and I still want to rip it out of my eye because it is so uncomfortable. And I haven't been out of the house in a week.

Please, Lord, let James sleep. For as long as possible. Thanks.

James's Third Month

I finally finished James's third month video... again it is a bit long and full of only things Eliot and I would truly be interested in, but I thought I'd post it anyway. We love our baby boy!

James is 14 weeks old!

James is 14 weeks old as of yesterday! New developments:

Blowing spit bubbles (it's cute, really, I promise!)
Pulling legs up and rolling to the side when on his back, so he often rotates while laying down
Imitating more facial expressions (for example he will stick out his tongue when I do)
Can sit upright when supported
Taking more interest in the world around him (he was fascinated by me making Jello today)
Making "Ooo" and Ah" sounds and being more vocal in general
Rolling over more often from tummy to back

We are amazed at how fast he is growing. Almost too fast!

Happy 2nd Birthday to cousins Levi and Asher!

Tonight we went up to Newberg to celebrate our nephew's (James's cousin's) birthday. Levi and Asher are now officially in their terrible twos... but they seemed pretty sweet to me at the party. They are so adorable now running around, giving high fives, and learning to talk.

James did very very well the whole time. He was mostly quiet and hung out with me in the moby wrap all mellow. It was great. More evenings like that please!

Here are a few cute shots from the party:

Cuddling with Aunt Lindy


Asher making his escape


The boys "unwrapping" our gift


Grandpa caught them on their way out the door...


"Happy birthday to you"...



Cupcakes are yummy!



James exhausted and ready to go home... ok, I'm exhausted too.


Here is James's fourth month album... I'll be adding to it in the next few weeks.

James Fourth Month

Groundhog day

I apologize for not posting many new and exciting things, but, quite frankly, every day seems pretty much the same here and unless James does something new all the days seem to blend together. The other morning at 5am Eliot made the comment that it was like the movie Groundhog day. Every day is almost identical to the last...

Here's how a typical "day in the life" goes right now:

5am- James wakes up, Eliot's "shift" starts
Feeding
Nap
Feeding
Playtime
Nap
Anywhere from 8-11am- I wake up and take over
Feeding
Playtime
Nap
Feeding
Playtime
Nap
5pm- Make dinner
6:30pm- Set up bath
6:45pm-7:15pm- Bath time
Anywhere from 7:15 to 8pm- Bedtime for James
8pm-10:30pm- Free time for us
10:30pm- Our bedtime
11pm- James sometimes wakes up for a feeding (My turn)
2:30-3am- James usually wakes up for a feeding (My turn)
4:15am James usually wakes up for a feeding (My turn)
5am- GROUNDHOG DAY

I took James for a walk down by the river today to get some fresh air and exercise and to get out of the house. He did very well, we had a great time. Then we came back home and I made dinner, and so on and so forth. The end. :-)

Look at how far we've come...

I was looking through our wedding photos this evening and decided to post some here for nostalgia's sake. It's been 4 1/2 years, and look at how far we've come...



































I love my husband as much today as I did then.

James is 3 months old!!

James is 3 months old today! We are celebrating by taking it easy and maybe going for a walk. James has hit his 3-month growth spurt right on schedule and is back to eating every 2-3 hours (even at night) and not sleeping that well. Oh well...

He spent 15 minutes yesterday just examining his hands like he was fascinated with them. It was pretty darn cute. We have also started reading to him on a regular basis, and he likes looking at the pictures when he is having his quiet time before naps and bed. He also likes to straighten his legs and push when we hold him up, and he can sit up if we hold him because he has enough head control now!

James hasn't rolled over since last week, but I know he is capable of it and will do it when he feels motivated! He also turned 13 weeks yesterday, but I figured I would just include that picture in this post to save some time.

Oh, and James is now taking 6oz in his bottle in the mornings when Eliot feeds him (he previously ate 4.5oz), and he is all but totally grown out of his clothes that are sized 3 months. He's growing, that's for sure!

Here are some of our favorite pics from this last week:

13 weeks old!


Watching Dirty Jobs with Mom


Hanging out with Dad


Story Time!


3 Months old!






For more pics, visit James's Third Month photo album:

James Third Month

Go M's!!

This Monday we went to our second Mariner's game of the season with my dad. It was a great trip and James mostly did well except for a bit on the drive home when he just really didn't want to be in his carseat anymore. But the game was great. I went in with a game plan of simulating his bath at the usual time with a washcloth in the family bathroom, then we put him in his pjs and I wore him in the moby wrap. He slept pretty well and only stirred when the crowd cheered too loudly. Luckily, we had seats in the Terrace Club and there was in indoor area that was quieter that I could take him and still see the game. We made it through the entire game this time, so James got to experience his first 7th inning stretch! :-)

In other news, the sleep training seems to be working. Last night he slept 11 hours total (more than he ever has), sleeping 8pm to 4am and 4:30am to 7am. Woohoo! I just need to get to bed earlier now so I can take advantage of all that extra sleep time. But I am completely convinced that sleep training works... putting him down "sleepy awake" and having him learn how to soothe himself back to sleep (without crying, mind you) when he wakes up at night has been a great skill to teach him. "They" say that establishing good sleep habits now will set him up for good sleep habits in the future (toddlerhood, etc). I guess we'll find out... for now I am totally sold that this method works, because I have to go in there less and less at night and he has dropped two middle of the night feedings that he probably didn't really need but was doing so that he could get back to sleep. Thank the good Lord he finally sleeps better!

Also, Eliot is working on his dissertation and is on the job hunt (even though he starts next year he has to apply now). SO he's busy with that. Oh, and I got a haircut today FINALLY and I'm getting new contacts on Friday. WOOHOO! Now if only I could lose these last few pregnancy pounds...

Anyway, here are a few pics from the game. Enjoy!

Me and James in the Mariner's hall of fame


Diaper change in the family restroom!






Little baseball hat (the Mariner's logo was in the front)




Me and my dad

James is 12 weeks old!

James is 12 weeks old today! And guess what... he ROLLED OVER for the first time today!! He was on his tummy for tummy time and rolled himself over to his back. This was the pic I took right after:



He's also sleeping longer hours... last night he slept 7:45pm to 1:15am, then again from 1:45 to 5:45. Which means we are all getting more sleep and enjoying life just a tad more. :-) I am still not sleeping all that well, but I am hoping that gets better in a few weeks.

Also, remember back when I first found out I was pregnant and went out and bought a sleeper to show Eliot to tell him the news? Here is the original pic I took last October when I found out just in case you can't remember:



Well, guess who's fitting into it now?



Time has surely flown by! And there were times I thought I'd be pregnant forever... guess I was wrong. James is growing so fast I can't keep up!!

Here are a few more cute shots to commemorate this last week:

Playing with his Mozart magic cube


Visiting "Aunt Jodi"'s house


This one is for Ali, who I know reads this blog! Thanks for the toy Ali, he LOVES it!


Tummy time!


12 weeks old!


And finally a video of James that Eliot took one morning to show me: