It's Official...I'm One of THOSE moms

Do you remember all those times when you would look at a mother with her child, doing one of many things, and you would say to the person next to you "I will never be one of THOSE moms." Guilty as charged. I use to say this phrase to Dan on a daily basis "I will never..." and you can fill in the blank because I'm sure I've said them all, and now I find myself doing them all.

That's right. I said I would never give my baby formula. Done that. I said I would never let my child sleep in my bed. Done that. I said I would never have a problem making my child self sooth. I do. I also said I would never feed my child anything but homemade baby food. And the list goes on and on and continues to get longer with every day. The latest is the monitor...

I always knew that my baby would sleep in my room for a few months, and then as feedings grew to be less often I would move him to his crib in his own room. Sounds easy right? Wrong! I have been procrastinating it for at least the last 6 weeks. Okay fine, 3 months. Everyone has told me that once I move him out of our room not to get a monitor because it will just keep me up. Instead, the baby will make loud enough noises to wake you when the time comes. Seeing as we live in a small home, I thought this must surely be true and sounds easy enough.

Well, I broke down a few months ago and got a monitor. For nap time. No way was he sleeping through the night out of my room, even with the monitor. It has been nice being able to wander around the house with the monitor and know that I can still hear him as if I was in the same room. So I started thinking maybe I can handle it during the nighttime too.

So I tried it a couple of weeks ago. I put him to bed in his crib, then I went to sleep in my bedroom. Only there was not any sleeping on my end going on. The voices in my head were saying..."What was that? Did he just make a noise on the monitor? Wait, what if the monitor isn't even working? What if the batteries died? What if I can't hear him? What if there is nothing to hear? What if he pulled the blankets up over his head and is stuck? What if he quits breathing? What if he rolled to the edge of the crib? What if, what if, what if."

Finally, Eddie woke for his midnight feeding, so I fed him, put him back to sleep next to me, and I was finally able to sleep as well.

So now not only am I one of THOSE moms with a monitor, but a video monitor. Now I can hear and see my baby any time I want, without having to go in and out of his room all night long. So last night Eddie slept ALL NIGHT is his own room...and we both survived. I still had to resist bringing him back in to his bassinet, and at one point I seriously considered sleeping on his floor, you know, just in case. So tonight we will try it again, and hopefully it will get easier every time. And yes, it is true, I am one of THOSE moms.

Eddie's First Halloween

Today is Eddie's very first Halloween. I know he is too young to fully experience it, but I couldn't resist buying a costume. I picked up this darling onesie from WalMart a few weeks ago just to get into the Halloween spirit. The ghost even glows in the dark.

Then I found this puppy costume and couldn't resist. My first thought was to get a picture of him with the 2 dogs, but that will no longer be happening since we no longer have any puppies...just Eddie! Can you tell from the above and below pictures that his latest thing is to always have his mouth open and arms out. Sometimes I think he is trying to fly away.

Everyone agreed with us that he was the cutest puppy ever. Even cuter than Snoop, believe it or not! We went out to breakfast and had a lady come over from her table just to tell us how darling he was in his costume.I can't wait until he is old enough to actually go trick-or-treating. Until then we'll just hand out candy tonight to all the kids in our neighborhood.

Short, Bald and Beautiful

I had a lady tell me the other day that she used to like her men tall, dark and handsome. Now she likes them short, bald and beautiful. I couldn't agree more!!!!

I mean look at this stud muffin...

The Hungry, Babbling Vampire

We have decided to start Eddie on solid food. Due to his major wiggling issue, the bumbo was not working anymore. Every time I tried to feed him, we ended up with a majority of the food on his face and bib. So now we have the highchair.

Eddie prefers to eat his fingers over the rice cereal, but it is getting better. I found that mixing it with apple juice seems to help it go down smoother. His gag reflex is lessening, which helps out greatly. We tried bananas the other day, but I think we better get one taste down at a time.

Just within this last week, Eddie has started trying to talk. It may be the cutest thing yet. He will wake up from naps just babbling. I much prefer this over the crying we were so accustomed too. Many times he will also talk/sing himself to sleep. Most of the time, if he is talking, he has half a fist in his mouth as well. We just love listening to his stories, and the more we respond, the more he will tell us.

We have officially said goodbye to gummy smiles:( Eddie has not one, but 2 bottom teeth coming through. I tried to get a picture for evidence, but between the slobber, his tongue, and trying to eat the camera, the below picture is as good as it got. The first one popped through on the 13th which is my birthday. He also rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time on that day as well.

I can't believe that 4 days after turning 4 months old he has teeth! I now understand why many moms quit nursing once those sharp little things appear. However, with his still being so young and since he has decided he will no longer take a bottle, it looks like I am stuck with the little vampire for the time being.

I thought that perhaps the first time I yelled out in pain, he would refuse to nurse, but instead he just looked at me and laughed. It's a good thing I love this naughty little boy so much!

The Open Adoption

For those of you who told us that having a baby would change everything, you were right. As of 2 weeks ago we gave our first 2 dog-children up for adoption. Since having Eddie, and with the ridiculous hours Dan has been working, our poor dogs have been neglected over the past 4 months. We decided it was time to find a new family for them. Our biggest issue was finding someone who would be willing to take both dogs. After Snoop and Lex being together for almost 2 years now, I thought it would be hard on them if they were separated. They are an odd pairing, but they love each other like brothers.

I decided to put them on KSL and see what happened. Within less than a week, I had a family who wanted them. They have three children, the youngest being 7. When they came to visit the dogs, I knew they were perfect for them. After loading all their belongings into their trunk, the kids piled in and the dogs joined them without any protest.

The hardest part was that all this happened while Dan was out of town. But the family promised an open adoption, so we went down to South Jordan to visit them this past weekend. The dogs are doing great. They couldn't be happier. They are so loved and getting more attention than they have ever had. They are no longer Lex and Snoop, they are Lenny and Squiggy.

Even though we are still sad about it, we know it was for the best and our puppies are now getting all the love they deserve.

The First Tooth!

Eddie had his 4 month pediatrician visit yesterday and it was discovered that his first tooth has finally broken through. I say finally not because 4 months is late to be getting teeth, but because the poor little guy has been teething off and on for about a month now. But all that hard work was worth it now that his bottom right tooth has come through. You can even see his left side one as of today as well.

Eddie weighs 15 lbs 3oz and is 25 3/4 in long. His growing has finally seemed to level out as he is now only in the 75th percentile as opposed to the 95th and higher which he has been since he was born. The pediatrician said he is healthy and progressing well. She even gave us the go ahead to start solid food. So far I have tried rice cereal and sweet potatoes, but they didn't go over near as well as a Nielsen's Chocolate Concrete. I may have spoiled him a little early, but it was the best teething cure ever!

Eddie's 3 Month Old Pictures

These are the pictures my sister in law Shannon took over Labor day weekend when we were in Montana. They came out so cute. Here are just a few of my favorites...