Let it Snow!

This past week we were "blanketed" by snow in Virginia! Okay maybe not blanketed... it snowed a few inches and had melted by the next day but it did give me a chance to take Everett out for his first "real" snow day.  Last year he was too little to really understand the whole snow thing, so I was pretty excited about how he would react.  What was even better was that I didn't know it was going to snow, so when we woke up I was like a little kid at Christmas!  

Now, don't get me wrong I dislike HATE the cold but I do think that if it is going to be cold then adding a little snow could only make the whole "being cold outside" thing a little better. So when Everett woke up I promptly took him to the window and let him check out the snow.  The first thing he said was "woooowww."  So cute.  He then asked to eat (apple doesn't fall far from the tree) so after we had a little breakfast I started getting him suited up to go outside.  That is when things started to fall apart.  He disliked HATED the snowsuit, the jacket, and most of all the gloves.  The dang gloves was what sent him into an all out fit.  Being the good mother that I am I continued to suit him up because I "knew" that once we got outside he would love the snow. Wrong. I don't think we were outside for 35 seconds.    It was definitely a failed attempt.

Later that morning Tyler's little sister Marley came over to hang out because school was canceled and she wanted to play out in the snow.  Well, when Everett saw Marley playing in the snow with Mowgli he immediately wanted to go outside.  I reminded him that he had to put on his snowsuit and he didn't put up a protest.  So I started gearing up him and saved the gloves until we were outside.  Once we started walking out the door he was very happy so I had Marley distract him while I carefully jammed his gloves over his hands.  He was a little disgruntled about having them on but not entirely upset.  

For the first few minutes he just stood still while he watched Marley run around play.  He would bend down and pick up the snow and inspect it.  He didn't want to eat it though.  After checking out the area and the snow he finally started walking around and "playing" in the snow. Overall I think it was a win for Everett and the snow! :)  

Thompson Number Two: Week 24

Weight gained to date: 7 lbs 

Estimated size of baby:  Ear of Corn (8.5 inches long, 1.5 lbs)

Foods I am craving:  I was totally craving Tropical Smoothie yesterday (thanks mom for picking it up for me!)  I love the Chicken Cordon Bleu Wrap and the Strawberry Beach (with Splenda) Smoothie!  Oh and also Cheeto's (thanks to Sonja!!) 

How I am feeling: I was using my sisters temperpedic mattress pad on our bed (thanks Reba) which I thought was going to be very helpful and give me a wonderful nights sleep.. but it actually did the opposite.  Now that I have taken it off the bed I am sleeping better... trail and error! :) 

To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18

Week 19- Week 20- Week 21- Week 22- Week 23

19 months and 25 days

19 months and 25 days.  That is a long time.  That's almost two years! So what is the significance of 19 months and 25 days?  After nursing for 19 months and 25 days Everett has completely weaned himself.  He hasn't asked to nurse in over a week and I don't think that he will be asking to nurse again. 

Nursing E at Chatham last May

This whole thing just kind of happened without any notice.  I knew that being pregnant can (and does) deplete your milk supply and I assumed that Everett would probably decrease the amount of times he nursed every day, but I did not think that he would all of a sudden over night be done with nursing all together. 

In Hilary Flower's book, Adventures in Tandem Nursing she states: "Children have an innate drive toward independence and growth, governed by an inner clock.  This is why, despite the pleasures of breastfeeding, no child nurses forever.  In truth, all children outgrow the need to nurse, just as surely as they outgrow their preference to spend all of their time with their mother." I find this interesting because I have noticed that Everett has started asking more and more about Daddy and PigPaw throughout the day.  Also, Everett's self weaning came during the same week that I was helping him to learn how to take naps.  He is getting bigger and bigger and becoming more independent by the day and I know that it is a good thing but (insert whiny voice) my baby is growing up! 

When I first found out that I was pregnant with Everett I knew that I wanted to breastfeed him, but it was more because I did not want to spend the money to buy the formula.  Seriously, it was definitely selfishly motivated at first but as I started to do more research about breastfeeding I realized that there was more to it then saving money.  I wanted to provide the best thing that I could for my baby and I knew that was what I wanted for him.  

Everett and I have really developed a wonderful bond I know that it will continue to grow throughout the years.  The time that we had while he was nursing was wonderful, and while at first it was challenging, I will always cherish the memories. 

Letters to Everett: 1/22/13

Everett,

You are 20 months old and you are a walking talking boy!  You remind me almost every day that you aren't a baby anymore by all of the things that you are doing and saying.  You are adding words to your vocabulary almost every day- I am trying to keep track of them but it is getting harder and harder! 

You still love to take baths and get really excited when we tell you that it is bath time.  You have all kinds of toys and instruments for the bath tub and you even have these cool tablets that we add to the water to make it change colors!  You like the duck that goes on the faucet and talk about him a lot when you are in the tub. 

A lot of the times when you walk, you hold your hands together behind your back.  It is very cute and I love it! You look like an old fashioned detective looking for clues.  I keep trying to get a picture of you doing it but you don't stay still long enough for me to get the picture!

Two big things have happened this month... You have stared taking regular naps this month (hallelujah) and I think that this has been very good for you because you seem to have a more regular schedule. You also have decided that you don't need to nurse anymore.  This makes momma a little sad because it is another reminder that you are growing up! 

Here's what you've been up to this month: 

1/1/13:  Signed help
1/2/13:  Said truck
1/7/13:  Said tree
1/16/13:  You decided to wean from nursing
1/18/13:  Said "ye-yo" for yellow, said poop
1/19/13:  Said potty
1/20/13:  Identified a yellow car

1/21/13:  Switched to 18-24 month clothes

Momma and daddy love you to the moon and all the way back! 

xoxoxox,

Momma

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For more Letters to Everett, click here! 

Thompson Number Two: Week 23

Weight gained to date: 7 lbs 

Estimated size of baby:  Papaya (8 inches long, 1.2 lbs)

Foods I am craving:  Mexican

How I am feeling: I feel like time was flying by but now that the holidays are over things are slowing down. I guess this is a good thing but this week I feel like things are really dragging along. 

Notes: Sleep is becoming a hot commodity around here. I am waking up every hour and can't seem to get comfortable.  I was hoping that this wouldn't happen until closer to the end of my pregnancy! 

To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18

Week 19- Week 20- Week 21- Week 22

Time to Sleep

With baby number two on the way Tyler and I decided that it was time to get serious about Everett's nap time routine.  I know that when the new baby comes it would be easier to manage everything if Everett already had a consistent nap every day. 

Before I started working with him, he would only sleep for about 45 minutes to an hour.  I was speaking with my mentor and she helped me to realize that part of the reason as to why he wasn't reaching his full nap time potential was partly because he was taking naps half the time in his crib and half the time in our bed.  He also did not have a set routine or expectation  for nap time. 

So part one of my plan was to get him to take naps in his crib and only in his crib.  I knew that once I had made this decision that there was no turning back during this learning period for him, meaning that I could not under any circumstance allow him to nap in the bed. (The big goal of the "no bed" thing is that eventually we will do this for bedtime as well and I wanted to be consistent starting with nap time.) So the day that I decided would be "the day" that we started I turned on his sound machine, sat in the glider, and rocked/nursed him for a few minutes. While we were rocking I was "explaining" to him that it was time to take a nap, that he was a big boy and he was going to sleep in his big boy crib, that I loved him very much, that I would stay with him until he fell asleep, and that when he woke up I would be right in to get him.

So then I put him in his crib and laid him down. He immediately stood right up and "demanded" that I pick him up. Another part of my plan was that once I put him in his crib I was not going to take him out of it. So I would give him a hug over the rail of the crib and lay him back down.  This, of course really ticked him off but I would pat his back and try to soothe him and let him know that everything was okay. Every time he stood up I gently would lay him back down and pat his back until he calmed down. It was really hard not to scoop him out of the crib and just hold him but I knew that I was confident in my decision about this so I trudged forth. 

It took about 30 minutes of him standing up and me laying him down and patting his back for him to finally start falling asleep. I tried not to pat his back if he wasn't upset because I didn't want him to need me to pat his back for him to fall asleep. Once he finally fell asleep, I quietly left the room.  After I left the room he woke up and we repeated the process for another 10 minutes.  After I left the room the second time he woke up and we repeated the process for another 10 minutes. Finally, this time he stayed asleep. All in all it took almost an hour the first day BUT he slept for two hours. 

• The second day it only took about 40 minutes total and he only woke up one time after I left the room. He was still upset and I did have to lay him down numerous times when he would stand up and protest.
• The third day rather than having to continually lay him down, he laid down on his own when I put him in the crib.  He did get upset when I tried to leave- I thought he was fully asleep but he wasn't. That day it only took about 25 minutes for him to fall asleep. 
• The fourth day he laid right down and was kind of bored for a few minutes until he rolled over and went to sleep. It took him about 10 minutes that day to fall asleep. 
• The fifth day and every day since I have laid him down in his crib and walked out of the room and he doesn't cry or call me back into the room.

So the “routine” we have is to turn on the sound machine, rock/nurse for a few minutes, lay him in his crib and that is it. I really honestly did not think that I would ever (ever) ever get here. 

It was a LOT of work and the first few days were really hard and emotionally draining.  It was hard to see my baby big boy upset and all I wanted to do was love on him.  I did not want to go the route of Cry It Out and I wanted Everett to know that I was there and that I would not leave him until he was asleep.  While he did cry and get upset a lot, I never left him to cry and tried to be there for him by talking to him and patting his back.

One thing that my mentor was also explaining to me and told me to watch out for is what she called a "response bubble."  This is something that can happen when you are helping your child to learn a new routine, like napping on their own.  The response bubble happens when you have been working on a skill for a few days and then all of a sudden it's like their behavior and everything they have learned has been thrown out the window and you are back to square one.  Think of this as their "last ditch effort" to revert back to the old way of doing things.  It is very (very) important to continue on with the new routine and to help your child learn the skills you are teaching them.  If you "give in" here, it will be exponentially harder to get back to where you were. We haven't really experienced a response bubble with nap time yet, I suspect that it will come when we try all of this at night time. 

Tiny Blue Lines Post

Check out my Your Lines interview on Tiny Blue Lines today! I am so excited to be featured on Chaunie's blog and hope you guys take a few minutes to peruse her blog! :)

God Things...

Do you ever have those moments where everything just clicks together?  When it seems like everything has been going wrong or things seem like they are starting to get out of control and then all of a sudden the answer just drops into your lap?  Or you read/hear/see something and it reminds you of something or answers a question you have been pondering.  When this happens I call it a "God thing."  

God things happen to me all the time.  Just this week I could name two or three times that God intervened and gave me right what I was looking for.  Every time , it amazes me how great God is.  He knows what we need before we need it and knows just the right moment to answer (or not answer) our prayers. 

Have you noticed any "God things" in your life?  

Thompson Number Two: Week 22

Weight gained to date: 7 lbs 

Estimated size of baby:  Spaghetti Squash (8 inches long, 1 lbs)

Foods I am craving:  Still everything :)


How I am feeling: HUGE! I already feel like I am gaining a pound a minute!  


Notes:  My sister in law, Riley (she's 10) informed me this weekend that I have an "outtie" belly button.  Yes, it's true but only for now. My normal "innie" and taken a vacation. 

To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18- Week 19- Week 20- Week 21

Get Your Vote On!

Hey all! There are only a few times where I will ask you, my wonderful readers to do something for me, and this is one of those times.  Tyler and I have some friends who are entered in a contest to win a $50,000 wedding!  They are in the top 5 of the contest and need votes in order to win. So if you have a minute please click HERE and vote for Kim and Cody.  You can vote as many times as you want! 

Here's a little bit about them... 

((**Brady bunch theme music plays**))

Here's the story, of a lovely ladyWho was working on her chem-is-try degreeAll the years of re-search, and no moneyShe was longing for a fam-il-y

Here's the story, of a man named Cody,Who was working on a degree of his own,He had four years, of making solar cells,Yet he was all alone.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellowAnd they knew it was much more than a hunch,That their chem-is-try would somehow form a familyAnd soon they will be-come the Cody Bunch!
The Cody Bunch!The Cody Bunch!
With MIX they will become the Cody Bunch!

((*End music*))

Kim and Cody's Story (as told by Kim) 

I just got engaged to the most amazing man in September 2012. I would love to win this dream wedding contest for us.  Our families would be overwhelmed with gratitude and joy if we won. We are unique pair of people who met in graduate school where we studied chemistry at Washington State University.  At the end of our first date, we had a goodnight kiss that will forever be magical….and this is where our story began.

Our first kiss was on my couch after watching the absolutely romantic show, Dexter.  I have to admit, I made the first move. I had known Cody for two years prior to our first date, and at the end of April 2013 we have been together for four years.  I always thought he was cute and shy.  I remember on several occasions driving him home after a long day in the lab. We would talk for hours in the car, then he would suddenly jump out and walk inside his place, without a kiss or hug goodnight.  This happened for about 6 months before our first kiss.  Finally, I thought I would attempt to make a move with a little liquid courage on my side.  I invited him over for dinner and made sure to sit really close to him, really get inside his personal bubble space that he had tried so hard to maintain.  I ended up so close to him that he said, “Kim you are a bit close.” I said “oh ok” and when I tried to move away, he went in for the money shot and finally kissed me.  Ever since that very moment, I knew that was it. I was his and he was mine.

We moved to Virginia in 2010 and have loved living here. We have two dachshunds that are practically our kids and not only do I have a PhD in Analytical Chemistry, I also make designer dog clothing. Dressed up in their wedding apparel, my little dachshunds would make excellent ring bearer and flower girl.  We are excited to become a family and would love to win the most amazing wedding ever!

Thompson Number Two: Week 21

Weight gained to date: 5 lbs 

Estimated size of baby:  Banana (7 inches long, 11 ounces)

Foods I am craving: Everything.. right now (like actually right now) I am eating a bowl of Lucky Charms but I could pretty much eat anything.  As soon as I think about something that sounds good, I have to have it! Since I am catching up in the weight gaining department I think I better chill out!! 

How I am feeling: Good this week. Not too tired which is great especially when I'm chasing around 3 to 4 toddlers a few days a week! 

Notes:  The little mister is moving more and more as the days go by! It is fun to feel him kick and move around in there. 

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To see more baby updates click here! 

Week 8- Week 9- Week 11- Week 12 

Week 13- Week 14- Week 15- Week 16- Week 17- Week 18- Week 19- Week 20

New Year, New Goals

With 2013 starting it is the perfect time to set new goals (not resolutions)! The best way (for me) to achieve my goals is to start out small and slowly build up. For example, one of my goals this year is to drink more water; if I decided to just start drinking 64 ounces of water right out of the gate it would never happen.  So I have broken down my goals in three month segments to help me actually achieve them.  How about y'all? Do you have any goals set?  How do you achieve them?  I am hoping to revisit these goals at the end of each of the three month segments and fill you in on how I did! :) 

• January- March Goals
• No soda! 
• Substitute for tea, juice, and water
• Drink 16 ounces of water per day 
• Eat more healthily
• Only eat fast food 4x/month at most 
• Daily scripture reading
• Reinforce this by attending weekly women's Bible study
• Reinforce this by using a daily devotional book

• April- June Goals
• No soda! 
• Substitute for tea, juice, and water
• Drink 32 ounces of water per day
• Eat more healthily
• Only eat fast food 3x/month at most 
• Daily scripture reading
• Reinforce this by using a daily devotional book

• July- September Goals
• No soda! 
• Substitute for tea, juice, and water
• Drink 48 ounces of water per day
• Eat more healthily
• Only eat fast food 2x/month at most 
• Daily scripture reading
• Reinforce this by using a daily devotional book

• October- December Goals
• No soda! 
• Substitute for tea, juice, and water
• Drink 64 ounces of water per day
• Eat more healthily
• Only eat fast food 1x/month at most 
• Daily scripture reading
• Reinforce this by using a daily devotional book

Have a blessed 2013!