Sunday, June 24, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Putting Maddox to sleep on his own...DAY 4!
I've read the books, looked on the Internet, even talked to other moms. Nothing has prepared me for what we were in for these past few nights. Maddox is finally sleeping in his own bed. This may seem like such a small hurdle, and yes...if we had started him earlier sleeping in his own bed this would have never happened but the nights where we would all be cuddled up in our full size bed would be so comfortably warm. That is until we found a finger up our noses at 5am, or he would be completely turned around facing the edge of the bed, we would be in these puzzle like positions in the morning just trying to fit somewhere in the bed. It just wasn't working but more than that he couldn't put himself to sleep without one of us holding him and to no surprise this came to lead to many nights where we would be off to sleep at his bed time 8pm and miss out on catching up on dishes and laundry. We made it through and loved the time with Maddox but the time was here as soon as summer rolled around. We had more time to spend with Maddox and to really get him on a firm routine. Ha! The idea of a routine is funny to people who have so much going on they are just trying to fit everyting in to a day...but we HAD to create a sense of routine in our family for Maddox but most of all we needed it for ourselves. The first night we actually did great. I thought I was going to run in there, this theory was supported on a previous attempt which had failed miserabley, but I just listened. A half hour passed and the crying turned in to these cute little sobs and Maddox was off in his dreams. He proceeded to wake up at 11pm crying putting him back to sleep, then at 2am, then 5am, then of course his normal time at around 7am. What a night that was...just hoping that he was just crying it out. What if he is sick?? It could be his teeth! I could just run in there for a second...but we stayed strong and stuck it out. The second night Maddox fell asleep in 10 mintues...not to bad and he only woke up at 2pm...and it's hard for me to tell you how long. I was half way in between sleep and being awake. Knowing that this was part of the process. The third night fell...yes the third night was the hardest...not for him but for me. I just missed sleeping with him. The bed felt different, there were no legs over me, no finger in my nose and ear, no baby cuddles....I have to admit and I don't know how I SHOULD feel about this although I knew how I WAS feeling. I missed my little Maddox at night...I hate to hear him cry and love when I know that he is safe. I'm doing the right thing I kept telling myself that third night when 2am rolled around and Maddox struck again. This time with screams that made my brain go in to automatic flight mode....go to Maddox and make sure he's okay. Logic was yelling back that I had to let him fight through this. He'll thank you one day....he's better off learning to put himself to sleep in his own bed. It's the first step of many towards independence. I leaned over and shook Randy..."Do you hear that??", I asked nervously. "Do you think he's okay?" "Yeah he's fine. Leave him in the bed.", Randy's sleepy voice mumbled next to me. Well courage I had but by the 3rd day I was exausted and my reseilence to my son's crying was wearing thin. Tonight is the 4th day....I am sure Maddox was worn out by spending the Day with Tee and Tyler and going to the Summer Solstice with Grandma La and I. We brought him back, changed his diaper and gave him some milk and within 10 minutes we have a sleeping baby in his own crib....for now.
First Day of Summer with Tee & Tyler
Maddox enjoyed a wonderful day with Grandma Tee and his cousin Tyler! It was a beautiful first day of summer and he got to enjoy it with family! Here are some pictures of them outside playing and out to dinner.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Hiking in Chimney Rock
We had a blast in Chimney Rock...4 hours of hiking with Mom & Wes. Maddox loved every minute of it! He got to play in the waterfall half-way on the hike and just look around on the hiking backpack and he just sat there looking around, sometimes we would get the occassional "OHHHH" from him. They filmed the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" there. It was really breathtaking and challenging having a baby on your back during the hike. We went last Saturday when Randy was out with his Dad and 2 step brothers Mark & Todd to a Atlanta Braves baseball game! He came home with no voice...that has to show what a great time they had together.
White River Rafting on the Nolichucky River!!!
We are so lucky to have opporutnities such as these in Maddox's first year. Randy's mom "Tee" watched Maddox overnight on the 25th of May so we could drive up to the Nolichucky River in Tennessee and go White Water Rafting....that was the plan at least. We are driving all through these winding back roads of the mountains....our stomachs growling which seemed to progressively grow louder with each turn of the road that reveled no restaurant in sight for the next hour or so. We left after work and were still on the road by 9pm....but then luck was on our side....a small town....one Hardies....with eyes bigger than our stomachs we ordered meals big enough for a family of four. Two burgers for the each of us, 3 french fries, we were almost at our hotel and our stomachs were ready to dig in. Unfortunatly for us that grease didn't seem to agree with out stomachs too much and we ended up spending some time in the bathroom that night but as the morning light started to come in to our rooms we were ready to go. Our anticipation had gotten the best of us and although we had to meet the bus at 9am we were up getting our coffee at 7am....taking turns getting coffee, talking about how excited we were, and just watching the clock until it was time to go.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting we got in our car and drove over to the bus pick up site. There were a group of what seemed like young college kids all huddled around and some women that were in their late thirties. It looked like a good group, we tried to blend in and not seem like we were these excited newcommers to rafting so we lathered our lotion on and like experienced rafters we climed on the bus. About 20 minutes our guide was giving us a whole book of what to do in case you end up in the water, saftey tips, etc. Not a big deal to us...we listened and enjoyed the beautiful scenery around the mountains. We arrived to a dirt lot right next to the river with a comotion of many other river rafting company buses and people scattering all around. We decided to take a funyak which is a one person raft sort of like a kyack. It was strange...many people decided not to take that choice and stayed on the raft...but we were told it was going to be the best way to see the river and really fun too!
In the water we started out really well...following our guide and trying to make it over the rocks and rapids by ourselves. I don't know who was the first person to go in the water, Randy or I...but out of our group of 6 funyaks we were the ones most in the water! By the halfway point where we stopped and got our lunches Randy and I were exausted but felt so refreshed. We were in the middle of a canyon with trees all around us...beautiful fresh air....and a feeling of accomplishment. We felt this feeling for a while before the realization of the fact we had to finish our rafting trip. We got our gear back on...and went back in the water. After a big battle with the river Randy decided to switch with one person in a raft who really was wanting to jump in a funyak and he finished the river out on there. The weather started to change and the last stretch of the river ended with a light rain that was progressively getting wetter. By the time we arrived at the buses the sky decided to downpour and we were running to take cover and change our clothes in to some dry ones along with the rest of our group who were all scattering every which way to get some kind of cover. The group back in the bus were all talking about the great time we had, it was like we shared some kind of bond together. We had made it through the river as a group and shared this wonderful adventure together.
We got back in our car...It was a challenge, we had done something we had never done before and made it through. I was so proud of the both of us and know that over the summer we will be planning more trips like this. It makes me want to challenge myself and my family to new adventures, see the world, and live life to the fullest.
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