Can someone please explain...

How Cole can sleep through the night and I still feel exhausted! I still SO tired today! Boo! We are doing good, just super busy. I work today and Wednesday, but get Tuesday, Thursday, Friday off. So that will be nice. We finished our first weekend of clinicals. Only two more to go. Some parts were difficult but for the most part, it wasn't too bad. Well I have to get me and Cole ready still to be out the door by 8:30am, so I'd better get going.

Cole's new hair!

Cole's not so sure about this whole picture taking thing...
But big brother got him giggling pretty quickly!
Awwww...brotherly love!
Cole showing off his new hair cut that Amber gave him (or as Ryan calls her "Sister Old McDonald...LOL!) ...he has this natural lift at the roots of his hair, so unless we gel it down it gets kind of fluffy! LOL! He's such a big boy now!

He's been a lot grouchy today. You can see from the pictures that he's reverted back to drooling uncontrollably! Those teeth are really hurting him again. He went to sleep with only a little fuss tonight, but hasn't slept all day, so maybe he will sleep well tonight.
It's been a long week for Josh too. He's been at work from basically 6am to 7pm everyday. Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day! With all my cooking I've gotten three batches of rolls made, a double batch of chili made (one for dinner tonight and one for the freezer), two loaves of banana bread and the chicken cooked for homemade chicken noodle soup. So all in all it was a pretty productive day!
Ryan is really excited because it's almost Chinese New Year and I promised him that we would make chicken with Chinese noodles and dumplings. So every morning he says "Hey mom! It's ALMOST Chinese NEW YEAR!!" It cracks me up how excited he is about it.
Okay, well I'd better start reading some psychology so I don't get behind. Night!!

Cole sleeping...

So night TWO was New Year's Eve and Cole stayed up until Midnight. In fact I was nursing him as it turned midnight and he was just dozing off. I put him in his bed and he slept there until 3am.

Night THREE...last night was ROUGH. He fell asleep in the car for like an hour at about 6:30pm. So by the time we tried to put him down...he was tired but SO restless. We tried to lay him down, but he was SOOOOO sad! I think I went in three times and Josh went in three times. In the end...Cole won and Josh laid down with him and he was out in like two mins. We put him in his bed and he slept there until about 1am.

Night FOUR...tonight...went smooth as can be! I nursed him, he ate his solids, then took a bath. We got him all lotioned and powdered and in his jammies. I laid him down and he fussed for about 5 mins, then I went in and check on him, gave him his pacy and laid him back down. I think he cried for maybe 5 seconds and now he's sound asleep.

So all in all...I think he's done good. I hoping that he'll get used to sleeping in his bed and it won't be so sad for him every night.

Success...I think...

Okay, so he sat and talked in his bed for about 20 mins, then I think he got bored and realized he was by himself, then he started to get sad. So after about five mins, I went in and gave him a hug and kiss and left again. After about six mins, I went back in, sang the alphabet song a couple times, kissed him again and went out. His fussing tapered off pretty quickly and now he's asleep...so from the time I put him in his bed to sleeping...about 35 mins. Not too bad. We'll have to see how tomorrow goes.

I love snuggling with my baby, but I don't want him to be two years old and not sleeping in his own bed. If I can just get him to start out in his own bed, that will be enough for me. :-)

Day one...

We are trying to Cole to sleep in his bed at least part of the night. Lately he hasn't been going to sleep unless he's being held, and then he wakes up the second you put him down. So we are going to give it a try with us going through the bedtime routine with him and then laying him down. So far there aren't any tears...but we can hear him just playing and talking right now. Here's to hoping it's not super painful for all of us involved.

What a week...

So I haven't posted since Saturday, so I should probably fill you all in on what's going on. On Sunday I was called to be the second counselor in the Primary of our ward. I'm super excited about this calling. The bishop was wonderful about asking and making sure that our family could handle the extra responsibility. Josh was very supportive and although I'm not sure where I'm going to come up with the extra time, I am sure that we will be blessed for it. :-)
Cole hasn't been sleeping super great this week. It hasn't been too bad, but basically he wants to only snuggle with me if he's nursing, otherwise he wants to sleep with Daddy. I know Josh is feeling special that Cole is wanting him more, but I think it's causing both of us to get less sleep than normal.
Work has been going wonderful for Josh as usual. He's staying really busy and that is good. He also got a call back about a pt job with AmeriCorps doing stuff with the trails and parks around Longview. The extra money would be nice and at the end of the contract Josh will get a 2300.00 scholarship for school. YAY!
Ryan is doing wonderful too. His attitude has improved greatly. He still has his moments, but we aren't having the complete and total meltdowns that we were. We are still trying out some things. He's responded really well to some things and not so well to others. He did have to sit in the blue (timeout) chair at school because he took a chunk out of his hair with the scissors. When we spike his hair up in the front it's not as noticable, but there is really no way of hiding it completely. Oh well. I honestly think cutting hair is a right of passage or something. A few of you know that I don't have a lot of memories from my childhood, only a handful from before the age of 8 or 9. But I DO remember very specifically sitting under my mom's sewing table and butchering my hair. It was so bad that my mom actually made Jenn get her hair cut super short too so I wouldn't feel bad. Thanks Jenn. :-) So yeah, things are going better with Ryan and I'm hoping that it continues and keeps getting better.
I'm doing well...tired, but okay. School is going well and so is work. I'm glad that I have a job that I like to go to and it doesn't require me to have to worry about it after I leave. :-) We don't have school tomorrow, so they did a little halloween party in the student center today. They had kareoke and I got up and busted out a little Black Velvet...so that was fun! :-) After work and my Chem group, I picked up Josh and we went and got the boys. Miss Carolyn had made special Halloween cookies for us and when we got in the car, Ryan asked if we could go "looking around". That meant he wanted to take a drive up in the hills to look for deer. We got VERY lucky this time and got to see two deer. Ryan and I got out of the car and got very close. We were probably no more than eight feet from the deer. They were both does and kept a careful eye on us while we watched them. We drove around a little more after that. The trees and leaves were just beautiful. Ryan kept saying how pretty the golden leaves were. :-)
Tomorrow I don't have school or work, so I am going to take the Ryan to school and spend the morning with Cole. Then I am going to take the boys to Miss Carolyn's for a couple hours after Ryan gets out of school, because she is making a special Halloween lunch for them and then I can have time to finish Ryan's Spider costume. We are going to get the boys in their costumes and if it's not raining we are going to take the boys to the lake and get some pictures of them. Seriously, the leaves and trees and so gorgeous right now! Then we are going to trick or treat in the neighborhood around the lake cause I hear that's where the best candies are. :-) After that, it will be off to the church trunk or treat and carnival. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures, but I can't guarantee when I'll get them put up. :-)
So I think that's about it...how's that for a super long post! LOL!

Coler-Bear...

Cole had his four month check up today...yes I know he's five months old. :-) Anyway, he's 16lbs 8oz and 25.5 inches long and his head is 42.5cm. He's basically in the 50th percentile for everything. :-) Unfortunately, the poor baby has thrush, a yeast infection, teething and a cold. :-( He was SOOOO happy for the dr today! Dr. Bartlett just sat there and held him and played with him while he talked to us. He also got three shots today. He wasn't very happy about that, but once daddy picked him up, he was just fine. We talked to him about Cole's sleeping issues and he said that he doesn't think it's colic but that he's getting overwhelmed with all the changes in his little life and once things settle down, he thinks it will get better.
We asked him about Ryan's attitude that he's had lately and he thinks Ryan is overly tired and overwhelmed also. He told us to encourage Miss Carolyn to have Ryan take an after school nap and not just quiet time. He said to keep his bedtime at 7pm and if he comes into our bed at night during the week to take him back to his bed because he's probably not sleeping well if he's in bed with us. He said he thinks if Ryan is in bed with us and Cole is in the same room (not to mention Josh's snoring) then he probably isn't sleeping WELL, so he's still tired. So basically we've been prescribed sleep! :-) I'm okay with that!
Tomorrow they are having a free harvest festival (can't beat a free fun day!) and we have to meet with the bishop at the church at 10am. So I should probably get myself and Cole to sleep! :-) Ryan's already asleep and I don't think Josh is far behind him! LOL!

Cole in his cute panda outfit!

Cole and Ryan

Cole showing off his cool Snoopy bandaids!

TGIF!

Yesterday we were able to go to the park in the early evening cause the sun finally came out for us. It looks like today we have some high clouds, but they seem to be burning off and I see blue skies! I'm hoping that after nap, it will still be nice and we can head out to the park again. I don't think it will be warm enough to swim...so at least being at the park will get us out. :-) Cole was awake most of the night, just wanting to be held and to nurse at his leisure. I was thinking he was like Ryan and didn't like being swaddled because basically since we left the hospital, every time I've tried to swaddle him, he fought me...kicking and moving his arms all over. Well Jenn mentioned to try it again this morning and low and behold it worked. So either he's okay with being swaddled or he was just so tired he was will to let it slide. :-) Either way, I'm okay with it. Cause after only about an hour and a half of sleep, I'm ready for a nap! I'm going to get Ryan's lunch made and then get him down for a nap so I can doze for a little bit too.