sleeping babies or not so sleeping babies

let's talk about sleeping. babies sleeping. or in my case 1 particular baby named maxson

i was constantly asking other moms what they did for different sleep issues etc so i thought i'd add my 2 cents to my blog about the subject for mine and other's future interest/reference.

like i've mentioned, maxson's sleep habits were like a stock chart, huge peaks with lots of dips but a general upward trend. we're plateauing out (thank heaven's) at a beautiful spot on the chart and i'm sooooo happy. "how a mother's day went" is often measured on the child's sleeping (or lack there of) that day.

those first few months (up to nearly 5) I was at Maxson's beckoning call (which i'm ok with, i had/have only 1 baby, that's what i'm to do right now: take care of that ONE baby). He'd always been swaddled, and in my mind since he didn't have his hands nor could he roll, he would likely have a hard time soothing himself. Probably not so, but that's how i saw it. I was constanlty questioning myself "should i hurry and go in to put the binki in in hopes he'll sleep longer if i catch it at the perfect moment, should i let him cry a little and see if he'll put himself back to sleep, if he's in the car seat should i rock it, should i pick him up from the crib, should i this or that" the list and questions to myself were endless.

we kinda always had the same general routine though: swaddle, lights out, turn noise machine on, binki in, read good night moon (started that at 5 months), 3 primary songs (teach me to walk in the light, i am a child of god, love is spoken here. those 3 kinda just happened). now days at 7 months, lights go off, fan on (upstairs is hot hot hot!), binki in (his cue to cuddle my shoulder, love) read book sometimes, 1-3 songs, put him in crib awake to cuddle monkey and i'm gone. he never cries and goes straight to sleep, it's vundervul!

for more details month by month, keep reading

a list of awesome things

here's the cold hard truth:

life has been super wonderful and fun lately.

reasons why.

1. MAXSON IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!and when i say maxson is sleeping through the night i mean 10-11 hour stretches meaning i'm sleeping through the night too, hallelujah! all this crawling and pulling himself up on everything all day long business is wearing him out good. he's sleeping all night long and nearly always takes long naps during the day, i think we're turning a new leaf over here!

2. casey finished his last class/final of his first year of dental school, hip hip hooray! now he's got boards to take in a couple weeks and the first and hardest year of dental school will be behind us!

3. maxson figured out the pincer grasp last weekend (thumb and pointer finger to pick things up) and has been trying to pick up those baby puffs all the time. he used to gag hard core when i'd put them in his mouth, but he doesn't mind putting them in his mouth himself, so fun learning new things!

4. i've also discovered other things he's learned that i didn't realize i teach him: 1) if he's crawling around looking for me he goes to the kitchen first 2) he's learned if he wants more food while i'm feeding him to leave his mouth open and look to me/the spoon. seems like a strange thing to realize he's "learned" but he really did have to learn it! 

5. i took a "facebook fast" for a week and am so much happier for it. i realized i was getting on it like a jillion times a day just to see what was new and it was wasting my time. i deleted it off my phone and didn't get on it on my computer for a week. during that week i got way more projects done that i'd had the past few months (pillow covers, stenciled shirts, organizing clothes/rooms, better meals). it was such a wonderful week! i still do get on facebook now i just don't feel so compelled to do it all the time. so friends, do a facebook fast, seriously, it's well worth your time

6. but before you do your facebook fast, get on there and go like my photography page! i've been wanting to "officially" set up a photo blog/business/fb page for awhile now but always felt so inadequate. there will always be people better than me but i too have something to offer! something in me just decided to finally suck it up and do it and i'm so happy! going through all my old photo shoots helped me remember how much i really DO love taking pictures. and the more photos sessions i get to do for others the better i'm going to get for future ones! it's so fun how they turn out and seeing the happy people in front of my lens. i'm hoping to do a bunch of fun sessions this fall so let me know if you want to schedule ;) the blog page is here: kcutlerphoto.blogspot.com

7. i finished listening to a fun book called the chase by clive cushier. quite the fun historical fiction mystery read if i do say so myself

8. i've been diligent at working out again the past few weeks during the first time period that maxson is awake and i'm feeling great! that feeling of being sore and tired and pushing your body to the max feels great.

9. i'm more than halfway through the book of mormon! the last 2 weeks i've been more than pitiful at reading everyday and have let other things get in the way and i truly have been missing out. tell me, are you reading it too? if so where you at???

here's to a great week!

catching water // picturas de iFono

i read this on a new blog i found today and connected with every word completely. she described EXACTLY the way i feel as a mother right now. 

"There is something magical about having a baby. Your baby. The way you know just how they like to be held. The way their eyes light up when you walk into a room. The way you can understand every noise they make (most of the time after you have put in some good sweat and tears to figure that out). The way your heart feels like it just may burst out of you when you watch them sleep at night. I looked forward from the time I was practically a baby myself to that time when I would be able to carry my own around on my hip, their pacifiers as a ring." 

source here

this first year of motherhood/first year of maxson's life is slipping away too quickly.

it's like trying to catch water pouring out of a firehose with just my hands.

as hard as i try, i can't keep it for longer than a few seconds, before it goes away and new water comes pouring in.

i have tears in my eyes thinking that how fast max is growing.

it's all just too fast.

my heart is so full of love for him.

i just love that little boy like mad.

***

on a lighter note,

here are some phone pictures of recently

a family trip to yorgutini.
maxson loved.

a. a beautiful view of the nebraska horizon
b. babies who sleep all night make for incredibly happy mommas
c. swinging but the lawn mower is way more exciting that the swinging action
d. up and coming local artists in our driveway

a. our 4th of july weather, are you shocked?
b. casey was a delegated pancake flipper for the 4th of july breakfast. although many of the older generation constantly commented that his pancake cooking/flipping skills were not up to their wishes, he did wonderfully, didn't you, babe?
c. a very sweet birthday card from my parents with a not so sweet amount of confetti in it that got all over that maxson promptly decided he must try to eat. that's my momma for ya
d. old man maxson: his little hawaiin shirt we got on our babymoon last year was too tight after his dinner, i had to unbutton it for his own comfort (and the extended quality of the shirt). cutest thang ever.

a. my toe ring of nearly a decade got caught on the floor while i was racing to maxson for one reason or another and BROKE :( that was one sad moment. my sweet dad let me pick it out with him on the side of the road at an indian stand overlooking the grand canyon all those years ago and i've ALWAYS worn it. R.I.P. toe ring
b. my little cub scouts doing some heavy duty tree digging!
c. whenever i drink out of my waterbottle maxson immediately wants his mouth on it too, always. he usually get the handle while i get the straw part.
d. twinners!

a. the most beautiful sunset. those clouds were GORGEOUS!
b. like a kid in a candy store: picking out all his fireworks. he'd pick out 3 or 4, put 2 or 3 back to compensate for a bigger and better one he wanted and that continued for 20 minutes until there were about 8 different "buy 1 get 3 free" kinds of fireworks in his basket. he loved it. i secretly did too.
c. out to dinner
d. our nightly ritual: cocoa pebbles. always

a. confining this mover to this contraption so i could get some sewing done!
b. he LOVES this activity table. he walkes circles around it all day long pushing the buttons, falling, getting back up, and continuing his circles (and excited spitting)
c. / d. bike rides!!!!

a. / b. sleeping baby max kills me. i never want it to end. except when he sleeps too long and i feel like i barely get to play with him during the day (2 months ago i would have never DREAMED that would be a problem!)
c. the weird paci again, it's just so funny in person
d. his little hawaiian outfit kills me. i wish he could wear it everyday.

the end.

happy birthday to me!

i celebrated my 23rd birthday this last week!

although it was a different paced birthday than i've had before, it was special none the less!

highlight of my birthday:

my new bike!!

i've been begging for one for much too long we finally found the perfect one.

i put the bike seat on it and maxson and i go for little rides around the neighborhood,

i love getting out with maxson, it's just so fun!

that day we went to a friend's house to check on their chickens and garden while they're away.

maxson watched the chickens suspiciously for 20 minutes while i watered the garden.

it was kinda the hottest day ever on my birthday so after those 20 minutes of watering plants/watching chickens all 3 of us were soaking from humidity/sweat/heat.

maxson wasn't so happy about this hot sweatiness, ha, poor thing

during the rest of the day we picked up a few birthday freebies from firehouse subs, buffalo wild wings, culver's custard, and iHop.

in the evening before maxson went to sleep, i got a a humble version of happy birthday from casey sung to me, with maxson moaning along and a donut cake before me lit with candles.

as i held a wiggly maxson who cared less about the candles in arm's length, i blew my candles out to celebrate my 23rd birthday, my first as a momma in nebraska :)

here's to another great year!

4th of july in nebraska

4th of the july was such a blast this year, as usual!

monday night my neighbor, katie, and i decided we needed to have a 4th of july party in our backyard area (we share a nice, secluded backyard).
plans were made, invites sent out, and low and behold, all our friends came thursday afternoon/evening with food in hand to share and activities ready for all.
we had the most wonderful time all night eating, talking, playing games, holding children, and watching fireworks.

all our friends brought the most wonderful festive foods to share:
cake pops, r/w/b trifle, r/w/b fruit shish-kabobs, a huge r/w/b cake, smores pull apart bread, salads and chips galore, and you can't leave out the ginormous watermelon slices we snacked on all night long.

the weather was so perfect all day and night long.
it wasn't the least bit hot or humid!
we sat around in our camping chairs/lawn blankets under the large shade trees all evening chatting, watching the husbands grill, trading children around and going back to the food table over and over.
it will definitely go down as the least hot 4th of july i will probably ever experience.

after most people we done with their first/second rounds of food (of the 2038505 rounds) we began on games.
there were water balloons
races,
3 legged races,
costume/flag races,
bubble gum eating contests (14 for the female winner and 23 for male!),
hot dog eating contest ,
and a pie (whip cream) eating contest for the children.
it was all so much fun for everyone.

i secretly want to request guests to wear color coordinated clothing to all events i plan, it's so cute.

funniest part of the evening:
the 3 legged race for kids!
it was mostly 1 parent paired with their 3ish year old,
but there was one set of 4/5 year olds who bravely did it together, and although they were the slowest it was the funniest thing i've watched in a long time.
one would fall and as soon as he got up the other would fall and while each one was down the other was trying to drag/pull their partner with them to the finish line.
by the end they were both on the ground and even crawling wouldn't get them there.
laughter was a plentiful commodity in our backyard during those 3 minutes.

after we all recovered from our laughing attacks, we did an adult/spouse 3 legged race.
casey and i made quite the pair and i was surprised i kept up with casey!
i would have thought one of us would fall and our race would end up in blaming the other for us losing, ha.

our wonderful 4th of july crew!
(missing a few who had to leave early)
we played a very fun game of "i've never" with everyone.
almost every adult was holding a child during the game while running to find a new spot in a different camping chair that you could not quickly/easily get out.
it was such a fun hour.

after everyone was sufficiently stuffed from food and food eating contests,
i brought out some homemade ice cream sandwiches!
this M&M cookie recipe was so good,
after i made the cookies, i squished some softened ice cream between 2 and threw them back in the freezer.
because i have no self control i tried to devour the cookie straight out of the freezer, i swear i nearly broke a tooth, but the last bite was sufficiently softened and tasted wonderful!

we ended the night with sparklers for the children and small fireworks for the dads/spectators.
this was the first year (in our marriage at least) that casey has gotten to buy an actual bag full of fun fireworks to light off for the evening.

i think that man was in heaven.
once a boy, always a boy :)

thank you dearest friends for making it such a fun night.

another night to add to our nebraska memories.

hope you all had a very fun 4th of july!

i truly feel so blessed to live in the USA,

the freedom to live, love, and believe.

the founding fathers created a most wonderful framework to build our families on, i feel so blessed to call myself an american!

happy independence day!!!

ps- only disappointing thing of the 4ht of july: the country radio stations!!!! where was toby keith and god bless america all day? my american music/country loving heart was gipped!

pps- when i video chatted with my mom later in the evening when we were done with our festivities, they were having to spray themselves down with spray bottles as they were sitting, waiting for the fireworks to go off, heh heh, glad i wasn't having to do that this year.

ppps- lincoln sounded like a war zone non stop from the evening of july 3 to 1 am july 5.
everyone and their dog bought a gajillion dollars worth of fireworks and lit them off non stop it seemed.
don't know how my baby slept through it all!

the crew

we had quite the crew to celebrate 4th of july!

more to come soon!

7 month update

7 months, here we are

now EVEN CLOSER to a year and EVEN FARTHER from being a newborn, tear

what this little one is doing!

CRAWLING.

he's constant, and can sure go when he wants to.

definition of want to:

there's a piece of paper/plastic/computer chord on the ground.

iPad/iPhone/computer on the ground.

momma is not playing with him and he needs to find her.

but we LOVE it!

as of Sunday he also decided that he can pull himself up anything

definition of anything:

exersaucer.

people.

other babies.

unstable toys.

laundry baskets.

luckily we lowered his crib saturday afternoon in thoughts that he may be getting there soon.

stairs.

he's also thinking he can conquer stairs and steps,

he's made it onto the big first landing by himself of our stairs but can't quite figure out the rest of them.

looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time there over the next while

eating.

he's always been a great nurser,

but now he's up to 2-3 servings of baby food with oatmeal in them 1-2 times a day.

he's loved everything we've given him thus far.

he does gag if you put bits of food in his mouth like a puff or small piece of banana,

but we'll get there.
sometimes i use this food mill (that i found at a garage sale) to smash up some of the already soft stuff we eat that he can have like bananas, avocado, green beans, peas, blueberries, etc.

toys.

oh he loves exploring toys and all things are toys to him.

i won't diminish the importance of real baby/kid toys because that's what he mostly plays with.

but truly all things are new and exciting to him so my sunglasses, wallet, random kitchen item, etc are all great toys.

he does not segregate.

moaning.

he has continued on the tradition of moaning maxson.

he's a great little moaner

and a great non crier.

i would take his small sweet moans over his real cries any day and i honestly haven't heard a real cry from him a a long time it seems.
he was probably moaning in this picture on the right, he bites in his lower lip and MOANS away

he seems to have found his tongue and has it out a lot more often, as evidenced by all the pictures on here with his tongue out.
seriously it's ALWAYS out these days!
pretty cute.

still spitting with his tongue/blubbering his lips.

it's so fun to do it back at him.

he totally has the head shaking no method down.

i'm absolutely sure it's just a developmental thing and not a i'm-telling-you-no thing.

it's funny how we've been conditioned our whole lives that head shaking back and forth horizontally means no and so when he does it i 100% automatically think he's telling me "no i don't want that song, no i don't want that toy, no i don't want that food" but i KNOW he doesn't know that.

but it's so hard to not assume he's giving me a preference when he does it.

he loves facetiming.

as soon as he hears the ringing and sees his face on the screen he gets so happy and smiles real big at himself.

he smiles much more easily now for family on the screen while he watches them.

like i mentioned earlier, i often have the iPad or iPhone on the floor when we're chatting with family so they can see him crawl/so he can have motivation to crawl and he goes with such determination to get that screen.

but poor guy, as soon as he reaches it, i move it to the other side of the room to make him keep crawling.

his sleeping is still getting better and better.

he goes down in the crib, by himself, awake, cuddling the little BYU sock monkey, with nearly no complaints/crying, it's sooooooo nice.

and he OFFICIALLY slept through the night once last week, a full 10 hours, of uninterrupted parent sleep.

probably one of the highlights of june for me.

i realized it was the first time in about 14 months i did not once get out of my bed all night long.

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

hopefully he can get the sleeping through the night stuff down by himself soon because oh that was nice.

he mostly varies from sleeping a 7-8 hour stretch and then another 2-3 hour stretch waking up around 8 to start the day!

i'm looking forward to the day when he begins to help hold his weight on my hip by holding on with his legs.

right now he just hangs out like dead weight leaning back way far like a chilled out gangster,

it's strange when you look at him and realize just how far he's leaning back, silly baby.

can i just say how HARD it was to capture a majority of these pictures?
for every 1 good, in focus picture there at least 10 blurry ones
most these pictures were done in just 5 minutes on different days because he wants to be on the move at all times.
now that he's crawling, ooy, he just moves as soon as i put him down!
tried my hardest to get a picture of him just sitting by the BYU monkey and as soon as casey let go, he was off!
he's quite the wiggle worm but we love it dearly!



happy 7 months maximus!

happy 4th of july!

i'm so excited for today!

i think i've said this before but 4th of july is my favorite holiday next to christmas.

bbqs, family, friends, summer, pool, hot weather, patriotosim, games, etc.

there's no expectation other than to be with people you love, celebrating a country you love and yummy food.

i remember in last year's 4th of july post i mentioned to casey that "in 1 year we'll have a baby with us for 4th of july!"

and here we are, with our cute little maxson we love to death, celebrating our first 4th of july as a family of 3 in nebraska,

wow have i grown up from 5 years ago!

we started off the morning with a pancake breakfast with our ward at the park bright and early at 8 am.

blueberry pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, and orange juice.

(the pans of bacon were cooked in our oven at 6:30 am, and now my house reaks of maple sausage! there could be worse things in life, right?)

we played with friends, maxson smiled at strangers all morning long sticking out his tongue and shaking his head no to show people his new trick, i love that baby.

tonight we're getting together with friends in our backyard for games, food, and maybe a few small fireworks.

hope you have a wonderful independence day

let freedom ring!