December 29, 2011
December 22, 2011
Sleep Update!
When I last wrote about our sleep time routine it went something like this "I read to her and rock her in her room, then she asks for our bed so we go in there and I lay with her until she falls asleep - usually not long. Then I go upstairs and do 'whatever' (laundry, dishes, clean up, facebook...veg..) until it's bed time for me and then I just carry her into her own bed and she rolls over and falls asleep."
That worked for a while and then she started waking up during the carrying to her bed portion and spent a few nights in our bed with us...which is cramped!
We have a new solution now and its been working for about 2 weeks! Sloan has moved to the spare room! We have a double bed in there pushed up against the wall with a guard rail on the other side. I lay in there and read her stories, nurse her if she asks for it (which is a whole other post!), sing our lullaby and then lay with her until she falls asleep - about 5 minutes, 10 at the very most. She then sleeps through the night most nights!
There is just one condition she has for this new routine to work...she HAS to have Toby in bed with her! As soon as she gets her jammies on and says goodnight to Daddy she starts calling Toby and yelling Bed! He follows her lead and goes right to bed with her! He lays at the very end of the bed and stays with her all night. Last night I snuck in to check on her before I went to bed and she was actually laying with her back up against Toby's back! It was too cute! I'll have to snap a pic!
Matt and I have never had so much room in our bed! It's crazy!
I guess it might be time for me to start moving all of her 'stuff' over from her bedroom now!
Wish us luck that this continues!
xoJBM
That worked for a while and then she started waking up during the carrying to her bed portion and spent a few nights in our bed with us...which is cramped!
We have a new solution now and its been working for about 2 weeks! Sloan has moved to the spare room! We have a double bed in there pushed up against the wall with a guard rail on the other side. I lay in there and read her stories, nurse her if she asks for it (which is a whole other post!), sing our lullaby and then lay with her until she falls asleep - about 5 minutes, 10 at the very most. She then sleeps through the night most nights!
There is just one condition she has for this new routine to work...she HAS to have Toby in bed with her! As soon as she gets her jammies on and says goodnight to Daddy she starts calling Toby and yelling Bed! He follows her lead and goes right to bed with her! He lays at the very end of the bed and stays with her all night. Last night I snuck in to check on her before I went to bed and she was actually laying with her back up against Toby's back! It was too cute! I'll have to snap a pic!
Matt and I have never had so much room in our bed! It's crazy!
I guess it might be time for me to start moving all of her 'stuff' over from her bedroom now!
Wish us luck that this continues!
xoJBM
December 2, 2011
The Sweetest Thing
Our little Noodle is TWO today! Hard to believe that only 730 days ago she came into our lives - and for every single one of those it has been a joy to be her Mummy.
She still isn't sleeping great...unless she starts out in our bed. Usually I read to her and rock her in her room, then she asks for our bed so we go in there and I lay with her until she falls asleep - usually not long. Then I go upstairs and do 'whatever' (laundry, dishes, clean up, facebook...veg..) until it's bed time for me and then I just carry her into her own bed and she rolls over and falls asleep. We are all getting a great sleep, no one is puking and there isn't any crying! Yay!
Last night when I was putting her down I actually fell asleep next to her (probably because I had a million things to do and my body didn't want to do any of it! lol)...but I woke up when she awoke from a deep sleep, eyes open, completely aware and said "oh WOW", then she snuggled in and went back to sleep. About 5 min later she woke again, turned and looked at me, smiled and said "Tewwwwww". It was so sweet! I guess telling her that it's almost her birthday and that she will be 2 has caught on!
This also kinda makes me wonder though if her sleep issues may have started because she is actually dreaming and remembering them. It would be pretty disorientating to wake up wondering where you were, if you were JUST somewhere else when you were dreaming and you don't understand what a dream is...
I'll post more after her little birthday party with some pictures of the birthday girl!
xo JBM
She still isn't sleeping great...unless she starts out in our bed. Usually I read to her and rock her in her room, then she asks for our bed so we go in there and I lay with her until she falls asleep - usually not long. Then I go upstairs and do 'whatever' (laundry, dishes, clean up, facebook...veg..) until it's bed time for me and then I just carry her into her own bed and she rolls over and falls asleep. We are all getting a great sleep, no one is puking and there isn't any crying! Yay!
Last night when I was putting her down I actually fell asleep next to her (probably because I had a million things to do and my body didn't want to do any of it! lol)...but I woke up when she awoke from a deep sleep, eyes open, completely aware and said "oh WOW", then she snuggled in and went back to sleep. About 5 min later she woke again, turned and looked at me, smiled and said "Tewwwwww". It was so sweet! I guess telling her that it's almost her birthday and that she will be 2 has caught on!
This also kinda makes me wonder though if her sleep issues may have started because she is actually dreaming and remembering them. It would be pretty disorientating to wake up wondering where you were, if you were JUST somewhere else when you were dreaming and you don't understand what a dream is...
I'll post more after her little birthday party with some pictures of the birthday girl!
xo JBM
November 11, 2011
How facebook ruined our "sleep training"
Sleep, sleeping through the night, sleeping in her own bed...it all seems to be a thing of the past! Right before I returned to work (so almost exactly a year ago) Sloan started sleeping through the night, it was amazing! I was worried about returning to work as a zombie and was so happy that she finally got it!
We had a few (3 or 4) months of great sleep, she would go down to sleep after our usual routine (bath [most nights], pj's, stories, nurse, sing and rock and then in to her crib) and stay asleep all night. I felt rested! It was amazing! Then she started waking up in the middle of the night again (around 2am), so I started nursing her in the middle of the night again, but it was quick, 5 minutes max and she was back asleep. A small blip in the night, but nothing major, some mornings I couldn't even remember if I got up I was that asleep still. She was able to go into her crib semi awake and just lay there and drift off to dreamland.
Then, about 2 months ago it all changed. Nothing too major has changed...except her sleep patterns! Sloan started acting like her crib was the enemy, she was deathly afraid to go into it. As soon as I started lifting her to put her in she would just start saying 'no mummy, no no no no mummy' and going stiff as a board. We would rock and rock and rock and rock...and then stop and she would lay dead asleep in my arms, but as soon as I started to try to move her to her crib she would wake right up and start with the no, no, no-ing and cling to me. We've had some extremely late nights due to this routine of her falling asleep and then waking and then trying to get her back to sleep.
I feel like we've tried everything! Cry it out? Yup, tried it twice...and both times she threw up EVERYWHERE and we had to start the whole bed time routine all over again, fresh jammies and all. I HATE to let her cry, so that was really hard, then I felt horrible since it was all for nothing since she didn't fall asleep and I ended up going into her room and turning on the light (to clean up) and picking her up. We've tried the pat the bum while holding, and slowly move her to the crib and pat in there...but she doesn't like her back/bum rubbed or patted so she just keeps batting me away. Tried different night lights, different blankets, put her mattress on the floor...the only thing that seemed to work was to either let her fall asleep in our bed, or on the couch or in my arms and then wait FOREVER for her to be in a really deep sleep so I could ever so gently set her down. Then when she would wake up in the middle of the night I would still end up bringing her to bed with us as I didn't want to repeat that whole process again!
Three nights ago I thought I finally found a solution. We were going to try the 'keep laying her down' method (I have no idea what the method is actually called). The first night it took a looooong time. I just kept laying her down while she cried. Each time I laid her down I sat down in the chair in her room. Finally she started to just sit up instead of stand up, then eventually just laid there and kept popping her head up to make sure I was still there. By the time she was at the laying there popping up stage she had stopped crying, but was whimpering and tugging at monkey's ears hard! She finally fell asleep and I crept out of her room...I still brought her into our room when she woke at 3 though. The second night it took just as long! The crying didn't last as long, but then she started trying to talk to me, or just singing to herself. Finally she fell asleep, but again, woke up around 3.
Now, if you've read this far you'll finally get to find out how facebook ruined our "sleep training" (I hate that term!). Last night I was bound and determined to keep trying the laying down method. There was more crying and reaching for me (more than the second night for sure)...and all I could think of was the little blurb that I had read on facebook earlier that day. Someone had read an article on yahoo so it posted the headline on their page "girl age 3 comforts and feeds herself for 3 days alone after mother died" (or something along those lines). As I sat there watching Sloan cry and want/need me, all I could think of was that poor little girl crying out for her mother and not understanding why she wouldn't go to her. I lasted about 5 minutes and then I HAD to pick Sloan up and rock her to sleep. I gingerly laid her in bed and then got up at 3 when she cried out and brought her to bed with us and snuggled for the rest of the night.
As she nuzzled into my arms last night I realized that our new "sleep training" method will be to comfort her as she needs it, whatever that may be. We'll try again maybe when she's older and we can explain the whole "your room", "your bed" thing to her. But for now, it will be rocking and nursing or bed sharing for us!
So ya...facebook ruined it for us, but maybe it's for the best!
xoJBM
We had a few (3 or 4) months of great sleep, she would go down to sleep after our usual routine (bath [most nights], pj's, stories, nurse, sing and rock and then in to her crib) and stay asleep all night. I felt rested! It was amazing! Then she started waking up in the middle of the night again (around 2am), so I started nursing her in the middle of the night again, but it was quick, 5 minutes max and she was back asleep. A small blip in the night, but nothing major, some mornings I couldn't even remember if I got up I was that asleep still. She was able to go into her crib semi awake and just lay there and drift off to dreamland.
Then, about 2 months ago it all changed. Nothing too major has changed...except her sleep patterns! Sloan started acting like her crib was the enemy, she was deathly afraid to go into it. As soon as I started lifting her to put her in she would just start saying 'no mummy, no no no no mummy' and going stiff as a board. We would rock and rock and rock and rock...and then stop and she would lay dead asleep in my arms, but as soon as I started to try to move her to her crib she would wake right up and start with the no, no, no-ing and cling to me. We've had some extremely late nights due to this routine of her falling asleep and then waking and then trying to get her back to sleep.
I feel like we've tried everything! Cry it out? Yup, tried it twice...and both times she threw up EVERYWHERE and we had to start the whole bed time routine all over again, fresh jammies and all. I HATE to let her cry, so that was really hard, then I felt horrible since it was all for nothing since she didn't fall asleep and I ended up going into her room and turning on the light (to clean up) and picking her up. We've tried the pat the bum while holding, and slowly move her to the crib and pat in there...but she doesn't like her back/bum rubbed or patted so she just keeps batting me away. Tried different night lights, different blankets, put her mattress on the floor...the only thing that seemed to work was to either let her fall asleep in our bed, or on the couch or in my arms and then wait FOREVER for her to be in a really deep sleep so I could ever so gently set her down. Then when she would wake up in the middle of the night I would still end up bringing her to bed with us as I didn't want to repeat that whole process again!
Three nights ago I thought I finally found a solution. We were going to try the 'keep laying her down' method (I have no idea what the method is actually called). The first night it took a looooong time. I just kept laying her down while she cried. Each time I laid her down I sat down in the chair in her room. Finally she started to just sit up instead of stand up, then eventually just laid there and kept popping her head up to make sure I was still there. By the time she was at the laying there popping up stage she had stopped crying, but was whimpering and tugging at monkey's ears hard! She finally fell asleep and I crept out of her room...I still brought her into our room when she woke at 3 though. The second night it took just as long! The crying didn't last as long, but then she started trying to talk to me, or just singing to herself. Finally she fell asleep, but again, woke up around 3.
Now, if you've read this far you'll finally get to find out how facebook ruined our "sleep training" (I hate that term!). Last night I was bound and determined to keep trying the laying down method. There was more crying and reaching for me (more than the second night for sure)...and all I could think of was the little blurb that I had read on facebook earlier that day. Someone had read an article on yahoo so it posted the headline on their page "girl age 3 comforts and feeds herself for 3 days alone after mother died" (or something along those lines). As I sat there watching Sloan cry and want/need me, all I could think of was that poor little girl crying out for her mother and not understanding why she wouldn't go to her. I lasted about 5 minutes and then I HAD to pick Sloan up and rock her to sleep. I gingerly laid her in bed and then got up at 3 when she cried out and brought her to bed with us and snuggled for the rest of the night.
As she nuzzled into my arms last night I realized that our new "sleep training" method will be to comfort her as she needs it, whatever that may be. We'll try again maybe when she's older and we can explain the whole "your room", "your bed" thing to her. But for now, it will be rocking and nursing or bed sharing for us!
So ya...facebook ruined it for us, but maybe it's for the best!
xoJBM
November 2, 2011
October 19, 2011
More Yummy-ness
I keep seeing these cheddar bay biscuits popping up on pinterest: http://penniesonaplatter.com/2010/10/27/cheddar-bay-biscuits/
And let me tell you...they are AMAZING!!!!
Everyone comments that they taste just like the ones from Red Lobster. I don't eat seafood, so I've only eaten at Red Lobster once (and just had ceasar salad that wasn't that great) and didn't get any of these biscuits so I can't compare.
They went perfectly with our chili this cold windy night!
Make some, and enjoy!
xo JBM
Muffins!
I've been wanting to make A Muddled Mama's lemon cranberry muffins since she posted them...but I keep forgetting to get one thing or the other. Yesterday I finally remembered to get the cranberries, but I thought we had lemons at home and then didn't. I gave in and made them with orange instead and YUM-O! they are delish!
I had to make some other changes too because I didn't start baking until 10pm and Sloan was asleep on the couch because she is deathly afraid of going to bed in her own room for some reason (a whole other post). So I didn't want to use my stand mixer...and I didn't want to get out extra bowls for draining the berries and combining the dry ingredients...too much work and too noisy! I had zested and juiced 2 oranges over 3/4 of a bag of fresh cranberries and let it sit while I was trying to get Sloan to bed from 8-9:30 (when I finally gave up and let her just snuggle on the couch with me). To that I added 2 cups of flour, 1tsp salt, 1tbsp baking powder and 3/4 cup sugar (half brown half white). Then I mixed all of that quietly with a spatula trying not to spill the berries and trying to make sure everything was evenly dispersed. Then I added 2 eggs and 6 tbsp of slightly melted butter and mixed it all up. It was pretty thick, so I added a little more orange juice. It was still really thick, way thicker than normal muffin consistency, but I thought it would just give it more of a cakey/rustic texture. I spooned it into the muffin tins and then realized I forgot vanilla so I just poured a tiny bit over each muffin and topped with a little brown sugar. I baked them for 30min at 350. They came out perfect!
I made a little glaze with OJ and powdered sugar and that perfected them even more! Then Sloan and I were off to bed where she slept soundly snuggled between Matt and I...and we were struck with flailing arms and legs all night!
xoJBM
October 12, 2011
October 6, 2011
Make, Do, LEARN
Sloan is growing and changing at an alarming rate. While it is hard to see that she doesn't need us to do everything for her anymore, it is SO neat to see her learning to do things on her own.
There are times when it would be so much easier and faster to just do things for her, but seeing her sense of accomplishment when she puts her socks on herself, finally gets the lid off of a container, eats her dinner all on her own, brushes her teath (we still help after she is done), or letting her stroll around the grocery store pushing the cart...it's worth the wait.
xo JBMSeptember 15, 2011
Instagram-ing
For our anniversary Matt got me a beautiful pair of earrings, and I got him an ipod (it was the appliance anniversary...and that was the closest I could get to an appliance!). We all know Matt LOVES the gym...but isn't a fan of the chatting and without earbuds in, he is a prime target for the chatters! I was just going to get him a nano or some similar mp3 player...but then I spotted the ipod touch and realized I could get him a gift that we could both use! lol I'm loving the instagram app, and next up we'll (Sloan and I) figure out how to facetime with Randi and Sutton!
Matt snapped the rainbow on his way home from work!
Sloan is working on her mullet!
September 12, 2011
Taste It.
I read a lot of different blogs...which means a lot of different blog posts each day. I try to only read the ones that strike a cord with me and make me think 'hmm', or 'Yes!!', or the ones that make me want to try something new, or make something different, and some that just plain make me want to be a better person/woman/mother/feminist/wife/daughter/sister...the list could go on.
Today QueenBloggy posted a video that did the later.
I had all of these lessons growing up...maybe not with the intensity of my Mum reciting it to me in an eloquent spoken word poem...but I still had them. And I want Sloan to have them. I want her to feel loved and wanted and needed and appreciated and smart and beautiful and amazing and independent and enough as she is and just down right special. I want her to know that yes, life can be tough, but it can also be just as great! I want her to know that her Daddy and I will always be here for her, no matter how many times she may fall down, we will help her get right back up. Like Sarah Kay says - Mama is a worrier and Daddy is a warrior. I worry about all of the usual Mummy things to worry about, the stuff that world news shows us to worry about, but I also worry that no matter how much we love her and tell her that we love her, that she will never quite understand just how much we love her...that she will never feel that pure joy and happiness and warm fuzzy feeling that I felt as a child, knowing that my parents LOVED me and my brother. I feel like somehow I just might not be doing it right, doing enough, and then I remember that all I really need to do is to be there. Like actually There. In the moment - in all the little moments...and she will know she is loved.
K...this got way longer and sappier (is that a word???) than intended...I really just wanted to post about the video and how much I loved it...oops.
xo JBM
Today QueenBloggy posted a video that did the later.
I had all of these lessons growing up...maybe not with the intensity of my Mum reciting it to me in an eloquent spoken word poem...but I still had them. And I want Sloan to have them. I want her to feel loved and wanted and needed and appreciated and smart and beautiful and amazing and independent and enough as she is and just down right special. I want her to know that yes, life can be tough, but it can also be just as great! I want her to know that her Daddy and I will always be here for her, no matter how many times she may fall down, we will help her get right back up. Like Sarah Kay says - Mama is a worrier and Daddy is a warrior. I worry about all of the usual Mummy things to worry about, the stuff that world news shows us to worry about, but I also worry that no matter how much we love her and tell her that we love her, that she will never quite understand just how much we love her...that she will never feel that pure joy and happiness and warm fuzzy feeling that I felt as a child, knowing that my parents LOVED me and my brother. I feel like somehow I just might not be doing it right, doing enough, and then I remember that all I really need to do is to be there. Like actually There. In the moment - in all the little moments...and she will know she is loved.
K...this got way longer and sappier (is that a word???) than intended...I really just wanted to post about the video and how much I loved it...oops.
xo JBM
August 30, 2011
Hey..past me...pay attention..
Stacy posted this link on facebook and I LOVE it! http://www.reflectionsofmotherhood.com/
I've started a list of what I wish I would have been able to tell myself before Sloan came along...
- Don't bother packing a hospital bag...there will be no time to need anything from it.
- Take more Sloan and Mummy pictures in those early months.
- Learn different latching techniques.
- Really enjoy bring pregnant, you will miss it.
- Despite how prepared you feel, nothing will prepare you for waking up hourly.
- You will love this new little being more than you ever thought possible. Being so afraid of anything that could ever hurt her in this world will be the most painful part of your birth experience...and it won't go away, even 21 months later!
That's all that I can think of for now, but I'll add to it if I think of anything else.
My little love bug...
xo JBM
I've started a list of what I wish I would have been able to tell myself before Sloan came along...
- Don't bother packing a hospital bag...there will be no time to need anything from it.
- Take more Sloan and Mummy pictures in those early months.
- Learn different latching techniques.
- Really enjoy bring pregnant, you will miss it.
- Despite how prepared you feel, nothing will prepare you for waking up hourly.
- You will love this new little being more than you ever thought possible. Being so afraid of anything that could ever hurt her in this world will be the most painful part of your birth experience...and it won't go away, even 21 months later!
That's all that I can think of for now, but I'll add to it if I think of anything else.
My little love bug...
xo JBM
July 20, 2011
June 8, 2011
June 1, 2011
April 20, 2011
Chatty Cathy!
I can almost see the little fireworks happening in the speech-language part of Sloan's brain right now - it's crazy! In the last week she has starting picking things up really quickly!
As of now she is saying...
-baaaaa - when you ask her what a lamb/sheep says
-moooo - or some form of that when you ask her what a cow says
-mowmow - when you ask her what a kitty cat says
-woofwoof - when you ask her what a doggy/Toby says
-zoomzoom - when you ask her what a car says, or point to a picture of a car/truck
-dada - when you point to a picture of Daddy/when he comes home
-mama - finally!!!!!
She is also consistently signing 'milk' (has been for a looooong time), 'please', and she has just started 'more' and 'thank-you'. We started out using the ASL sign for these things, but Sloan has kind of adapted them to her own version! Her milk sign looks more like she is asking for money, and her thank-you is more a brush to her chest!
I'm still trying to get a good video of her chatting away...apparently the camera is too distracting!
For now...some cute pictures...
Hamming it up in the bath:
Spring!!!
Spring!!!
Helping Daddy with his trade school homework!
xo JBM
March 27, 2011
Making Memories
We weren't able to afford to take a tropical vacation this year, or even go out west like we had hoped, but we are trying to do lots of little things to make some fun memories with Sloan. Last weekend we went to Southampton for a little day trip and checked out the flea market and had a nice lunch out (see my last lunch date wordless wednesday post). This weekend it was the Saugeen Conservation Maple Syrup Festival! It was great! What a nice way to spend an afternoon! And quite a workout with the GIANT hill to climb! Lucky for me, Matt pushed the stroller up it! We started out with a hot chocolate, pancake and sausage lunch, and then Sloan got her first taste of maple taffy (bubbling hot fresh syrup poured on the snow and rolled up on a popsicle stick). I was going to share mine with her, but she slurpped the whole thing up quite fast! So delicious and lots of fun memories of doing that as a child at school!
Then Sloan got to take her first pony ride! SO cute! She loved it! She was smiling the whole time (except for the part when she was covering her nose...apparently horse poop isn't her favorite smell!) and trying to pet the pony. For $4 it seemed like a loooong ride - I was getting dizzy! 
Then, we were off to the animal barn (which was actually more of a shed), to see lots of animals to feel sorry for... What's in here??? 
Then Sloan got to take her first pony ride! SO cute! She loved it! She was smiling the whole time (except for the part when she was covering her nose...apparently horse poop isn't her favorite smell!) and trying to pet the pony. For $4 it seemed like a loooong ride - I was getting dizzy! Then, we were off to the animal barn (which was actually more of a shed), to see lots of animals to feel sorry for... What's in here??? Adorable little pigglets...with holes punched in their ears! What!? WHY?!
She was VERY gently petting him (I guess the many times a day that I say 'gentle hands' around Toby and Bane is sinking in!), until I asked her to give him a kiss...I guess she thought it would be easier to bring him to her mouth rather than the other way around! Oops!
What's next???
Tiny, adorable goats!
Next, Sloan and Matt got to go in a giant pen and feed some already very full animals! Oh, hello Mr. Something with Horns!
All-in-all it was a great day! Lots of fresh air and sunshine...and memories!
Sloan showing off her pearly whites (which got extra scrubbing after the taffy today!):
xo JBM
March 23, 2011
March 16, 2011
March 14, 2011
There.
After sitting at the computer all day at work, the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to write a blog post. But I have lots to blog about and LOTS of pictures I could be posting. I would much rather spend the few hours we have before bed time playing with Sloan! So we do, and nothing gets posted!
Here is an adorable video of Sloan feeding Toby breakfast - she has figured out how to open the big container we keep his food in...he isn't ignoring her so much these days now!
Off to Nana's house we go...
xo JBM
Here is an adorable video of Sloan feeding Toby breakfast - she has figured out how to open the big container we keep his food in...he isn't ignoring her so much these days now!
Untitled from Joelene Murphy on Vimeo.
Off to Nana's house we go...
xo JBM
January 18, 2011
Pictures!
I'm so far behind on posts...but here are some pics from our visit with the Mordaunt family...
Sloan and Nana made eggsalad for lunch together:
Which Ella enjoyed:
Sloan wore and antique nightgown for our sleepover:
And Ella was just plain cute!
Sloan and Nana made eggsalad for lunch together:
Which Ella enjoyed: Elsie, Adam and Ella made us dinner one night (yum!):
Ella took a break for some blanket-forting with Sloan and Nana:
And then of course some sleeping-bag-riding:
Freddie slept through it all:
In Matt's arms...
Yes, Freddie and Sloan are months, and months apart, but only 2 pounds apart:
Sloan wore and antique nightgown for our sleepover:And Ella was just plain cute! We really enjoyed our visit!
xo JBM
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