boot camp: week 1

This week went surprisingly well! He slept so well I wonder if he just wasn't getting enough sleep before which then lead to cranky, bad naps. He currently takes 4, 1.5 hours naps a day and sleeps 10-11 hours a night. I definitely want to drop a nap soon, but that will be in a week or two--after he has this schedule down pat. He still eats once during the night and I will work hard on dropping that feeding as soon as he begins solids, which will happen in 2 days. When he wakes early from a nap or during the night, I let him cry. He hasn't cried more than 15 mins! Which is utterly amazing if you ask me. I was totally expecting 45 or more.

Onto week 2!!

I will consider boot camp complete once he sleeps through the night without eating. Then I will have to give him a graduation present or something. :)

OH YES...he's 6 months old today! WOW! Seriously, time is a flyin'.

one thing down...

wean of swaddle: check. although now he turns over with ease and isn't sure if he likes sleeping on his tummy, so he gets mad. that is slowly getting better.

he had a few days of severe fussiness. i'm assuming it was due to a tooth. the fussiness seems to be over, but no tooth! i'm ok with that since i'm still nursing, but i also know we'll have to go through that all again soon. bummer.

2 days til boot camp! i think it might be a little easier than we think. he's taking decent naps and doing better at night. maybe he knows what's coming his way! :)

shout out to baby girl thomas. come on down, girl!!

boot camp

Time for an update!

Time is FLYING! Josiah is nearly 6 months old. What?! Yes, it's true. And his little life is about to do a 180 in many ways. A list is in store:

1. babywise boot camp, starting next Friday. this means CIO (cry it out). he's still waking up several times a night and not taking great naps. this must stop before my sanity is hindered.

2. food! I'll start him on some cereal after he's done with boot camp. hopefully camp will only last a week or two. I'm sure I'm going to need some encouragement during that time...and probably some caffeine. unfortunately I can't have caffeine without getting a migraine, so I'll be suffering a lot.

3. no more swaddle! this will only hinder us and him during camp.

4. no more pacifier to sleep with! again...if he needs it to sleep, we'll be running in to replace it every 5 mins. this is against boot camp rules.

5. potty training! sure, call me crazy. but I just ordered a book that will explain how to do this. I'm excited! I think the US has it all wrong to wait until 2, 3, 4, 5 yrs. old. the rest of the world trains their kids no later than 1, for the most part. the diaper companies have a strong hold on us and our wallets. too bad they won't have mine! (yes, I'm very optimistic at this point..we'll see if I can hang in there. :) )

So, it'll be a very busy and I'm sure stressful next few months. But the pain now will be worth it in the end, right? HOPE SO!

In other news..Michael and I are crazy busy getting stuff ready for China. Our first newsletter has been a lot of work, but we're almost ready to send it out! We've also been taking a support raising class 4 nights a week for 3 weeks. We're halfway done! It's GREAT! Seriously--learning so much, and from a biblical perspective. That's always refreshing. :)

I'm also taking care of another little babe. My friend's baby, Ben. He's now 10 weeks old. Quite crazy have 2 LITTLE ones around. Shout out to all those with multiples. I couldn't do it. But I'm glad I can help her out so she doesn't have to pay $1,000 a month for daycare.

Alright, the little ones need attention. Here's a fun pic of Josiah at Halloween..he was a turtle. :)

B-I-G changes

We've been accepted to go to China to teach English! It's been a looong application process...and now the looong process of preparation begins. But we're excited. And a little scared at the same time. Well, I am. Maybe not Michael.

Projected leave date: July 2010. whoa. That's kinda soon.

Get your skype accounts ready. We'll need to put those babies to use! And get a video cam while you're at it. We'll want to see your pretty faces.

vaca for everyone

Maybe someday I'll get better at updates.

I stopped counting weeks for Josiah's age. Too hard to keep up with; he's 3 months old...trying to act like a 13 month old. Fun things he does now:

* blows bubbles (I should give him bubble gum and see how he does)

* grabs toys and immediately puts them in mouth

* puts finger(s)/hands in mouth. no favorites yet--he just likes to chew on them.

* giggles...makes me melt

* can sometimes turn over from belly to back

* when lying on the floor, turned away from the tv, he turns his head completely around to see the flashing lights...no matter how many times I tell him not to.

* when given the choice between sitting and standing, he'll stand until his legs collapse from exhaustion

I'm currently trying to ween him from his last night feeding (4am). I think he can make it through the night; he's just used to waking up to eat. Last night was night #1 and he woke up about every 15 mins after 4.30. Not crying, but just didn't sleep well. At 6.30 we both had enough and I gave in. (I was hoping he'd make it to his normal wake-up time, 7.) We'll see if he does better tonight.

Michael and I just got back from a vacation to Rhode Island/Massachusetts. It was fun and relaxing! A great combo of both. We didn't do anything terribly exciting except eat delicious food every meal. I think I gained 10 pounds. Josiah had a blast with g'ma and papa Mueller. If you didn't see on facebook, you missed out; they made us a picture book of all the adventures they took Josiah on. I'm not sure the kid slept at all. Those will be great memories to look back on.

Here are a few pics...(although I'm almost 100% sure all of you who read this have seen these on fb)

at McDonald's with papa...with matching vests. wow.

a-dorable

scared to death.

big smile!

that sunflower is bigger than his body.

michael & i in boston with our yummy food.

12 weeks.sheesh

He's getting old, and big! And more active. And more fun. These days he enjoys laying on the floor so he can kick his legs while he runs his fingers through his hair..and occasionally pulls some out. I'm not sure if he's losing so much hair naturally or if he's pulling it all out! And, of course, he loves laughing, smiling, and cooing at mommy and daddy. (sometimes other people...if they're lucky.)

We've had lots of fun lately with visitors from all over. First it was the ahem reunion...amazing, but short. Then this past weekend Ashley came and we had a mini high school reunion. Crazy to see where we all are after 6 years...so different.

Next week, we're going on vacation...WITHOUT Josiah. Call us crazy. I'm beginning to think we are. Not so much the leaving him part (we'll see how I deal with that one..but I think it'll be ok!) but rather the still having to pretend I'm feeding him every 3 hours. That's a lot of effort and milk down the drain. We'll see if I get totally annoyed with that or not. My pump will be my bff for a few days. Anyway..we're going to the northeast! We're staying in a cute bed and breakfast in Rhode Island. We're renting a car and will drive around to surrounding states/cities...hopefully Boston, Hartford, and we'll see where else. Suggestions are welcome if you've been up there and have somewhere cool to go. It will be nice to get away and relax a bit. My parents are taking care of Josiah..they are beside themselves--too excited. I believe my mom is going to buy a mattress for the crib Eric and I slept in as babies so Josiah will be comfy. Wow. Go, Grandma!

Also..we're deep into the application process of moving overseas. EXCITING! and scary.

I must go. Have to eat lunch before the babe wakes up....

Oh how time flies. Josiah is nearly 8 weeks old. He is getting more and more of a personality--I love it!

We took our first road trip--to Branson--and he was a champ! He slept the entire 3.25 hours! Maybe because I didn't stop at all..despite my needing to urinate while also dying of thirst. But, I knew if I stopped, he'd wake up and realize he's hungry.

When we came back, I called it 'detox' because he was held SO much..which is ok when people don't see him often, but he needed to be reminded that he didn't need to be held allll the time. We put him to sleep in his crib for the first time. He has adjusted fairly well over the week. He can finally go to sleep by himself without much crying--most of the time. And he's even given me a few night's of sleep lasting 6 hours! I can just taste a whole night's sleep coming soon....

Our family is going through lots of potential transition. We're looking intensely at a few organizations to guide us in moving overseas. It's exciting to think about, but also very scary. I've become quite comfortable here and it will be hard to give up all of this comfort. Not to mention learning a new language, a new environment, etc. But, God is in control; I'm trying to cling to that.

Here are a few cute pics of my big boy...

love the wrinkly forehead

please don't be jealous of how cute my baby is

i really like this one

and this one

finally captured a smile!