Today, I'm thankful that this little boy is so darn sweet and good-natured, even when he's not quite feeling up to par. LOVE him. 

This... and this...                                are my thoughts today.       

1.  I forgot to do last Thursday's "Thankful Thursday."  Maybe I'll do two this week.  2.  After a solid week of Jack sleeping through the night from around 10:45 to 7:30, last night he woke up super hungry at 3:55. Well, I guess it was this morning. Anywho, super hungry. So, I set my alarm, and then, when it went off, I proceeded to go right back to sleep. I woke with a start at 8:00 and got him up. He nursed well that time, too, so I think it's a growth spurt. We'll see if he does it again tonight. 

First try!

1.  Jack has slept from around 7:00pm to 7:30am with a dreamfeed and a diaper change around 10:30-11:00 the last two nights. He cried for less than half a minute both nights sometime between 5 and 6am, but he was able to go back to sleep without me going in there. Both mornings I had to wake him to eat. *big grin* 2.  The downside of him sleeping so well at night is that my milk supply hasn't quite figured it out yet!  It's painful waiting for him to wake in the morning and then again after his first nap, haha!  I'm actually considering purchasing a hand breast pump just to alleviate the extreme discomfort first thing in the mornings. Then, I'd have some stored up for an emergency I suppose! We'll see :) It was so uncomfortable this morning before I woke that I actually dreamed about pumping--something I've never done! 

Today, I'm thankful for living in a place that offers not only a room for The Husband and me but also one for Jack-Jack to move into.  Since The Husband started his new job, he's been working 12-hour night shifts, which means he has to sleep during the day. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem--he can sleep anywhere at any time--except for the fact that Jack has to sleep during the day, too. In the same room. Every time Jack cried halfway through a nap or to let us know he'd finished with one, I had to run in there, so The Husband wouldn't get his sleep disturbed. Well, that was awful. I don't know that he actually got any sleep with all the fussing going on in that playpen this morning. So, I decided the move had to be made.  Stat.  My dad and I got things shifted around in the other room, I silently (yeah, right. I managed to make more noise than Jack) got Jack's bed taken apart and moved out of our room, and all went well with his other naps.  Psych.  H

1.  The Husband got a part time job as a security officer at a local security company.  He started last Saturday night. He seems to like it, and when he's not working, he can hopefully be studying for more IT certifications. 2.  I'm feeling slightly cooped up, mostly of my own doing. I hate to waste gas to go anywhere, and it's still pretty hot outside. Hot enough that I don't feel comfortable taking this little man out for walks in the neighborhood yet. We do enjoy spending time in my parents' screen room with the fans going though! 

I said before that sleep-training is not for the faint of heart .  It hasn't been easy, but nothing truly worth it ever is, I suppose. I decided to write an update for future-me. The future-me who is going through the sleep-training ordeal with another baby and who wonders aloud, "Is this going to get better? Is it really worth it??  Can I really take much more of the crying, the scheduling, the constant leaning over the baby bed to hold arms and shush cries, the being home all the time?"  Future-me, trust me. This too shall pass! We started our sleep-training journey with Jack around five weeks ago.  My main source of help and encouragement is a blog called Chronicles of a Babywise Mom .  The author has done a great job of chronicling her experiences with her four small children, and I especially appreciate her posts on naps and night time sleep.  She researched and wrote an excellent post discussing why consistent naps and a routine/schedule for babies and toddler

Today, I'm thankful for sleep. I'm thankful for the 6-7 consecutive hours of sleep I've been getting most nights the last week versus the 3-4 I had been getting. I feel almost human again.  I'm thankful for the sleep Jack has been getting during the day via his naps. We started sleep-training about a month ago, and I'll be writing an update this weekend on how that's working out so far.  Today, I'm thankful for my sleep and Jack's sleep. And for beds. And pillows. And blankets. Pretty much everything involved with making sleep a happy thing around here lately :)

http://pinterest.com/pin/190277152979456032/ http://pinterest.com/pin/190277152979456028/ http://pinterest.com/pin/190277152979456023/ http://pinterest.com/pin/190277152979455999/ http://pinterest.com/pin/190277152979456021/ Hahahahahaha.

1.  I gave myself a pedicure yesterday (the last time I had one was 2 months ago). I knew it needed to be done when I looked down at my once fully-painted nails and was aghast to see that they more closely resembled French tip nails instead. Yuck!  2.  After a weekend of no schedules (which resulted in a very cranky boy and a not-so-thrilled mom), Jack and I are thankfully back on a good 2 1/2 to 3 hour schedule, and he's back to his super-sweet, super-smiley self. (He's wearing a disposable because I just KNEW he'd have a bowel movement since it had been quite a while since his last one.  No luck.  So, I put him back in cloth, and within 20 minutes, he had one!  Then, he got a bath.) AND, he slept through the night again last night (the 4th time in the last week!). Here's what we did yesterday...(sooo sorry for the tmi business of bm's...you'd be excited, too, if your child hadn't had one in a week haha!):