Ferberized

At six weeks Norah starting sleeping from 8:00 p.m. to around 4:00 a.m. when she woke to eat and then went back to sleep for another four or so hours. The first time it happened I felt like I won a prize. Then she started doing it all the time and I felt like the luckiest new mom on the planet. Then I starting working again. And then she started waking up two times a night. Then three. Then four. Then sometimes five or six.

Problem was I had no idea what to do. I thought that by feeding her I would help her sleep longer; but the more I fed her, the more she woke up demanding a bottle. And the more she woke up demanding a bottle, the less sleep I was getting. Can you see where I'm going with this? Exhaustion. That's where.

I posted something on Facebook and Siouxzy recommend this book:


I read Baby Wise and researched the Internet and asked other parents and all that, but I had yet to find anything that seemed doable for me. Until this book. God bless this book and the man who wrote it. I had heard of Ferber before, but didn't pick up the book because all I knew about him was he's the cry it out guy. And yes, Norah's had to cry it out at night, but it's not heartless and impossible like I thought.

And now. Now, we've gone from five or six nighttime wakings and feedings to zero feedings and only one waking in about a week. One week! I'm a changed woman.

I'm not going to go through all the details of how it works; you can read the book if you're interested. I just wanted to shout to the universe that we're getting sleep again. Glorious, glorious sleep.

And for anyone who still thinks I'm heartless, this clip from Modern Family is for you.

On November

So. November. Ahhh November. If you ask Nic what he thought of last month, he'd probably say that November can suck it.

We started out the month with yet another knee surgery. This one's been a while coming, but I made sure Nic got it done before the end of the year so at least we wouldn't have to pay copious amounts of money for it. Turns out it's really easy to meet your deductible and out-of-pocket when you have an ambulance ride, ER visits, colonoscopy, some other weird test involving dye on your insides, culminating in the removal of your gallbladder. Put it all together and you get free knee surgery!

And no, he didn't take any time off. And yes, I think that is ridiculous.

Nic's also been working on a job in Ogden that spanned all of November and is just now wrapping up. Hence the reason he didn't feel like he could take any time off. It's good because usually this time of year is slow, but bad because he's been working crazy hours and has to top it off with a two-hour drive each way. So basically it's been girls night each night at our house, which is awesome when you're in California, but not so awesome when there's nothing to distract you from a baby who has her first cold and won't sleep.

All of this is just to say that I haven't really been in a blogging mood. But this month is already proving to be so. much. better.

So suck it November. Suck it.

Totally worth a minute of your time

You really should, but if you don't read Alissa's blog, take a look at the vacation recap she put together. Then be jealous that I have such an awesome friend.

We know how to party

Besides being one of my very favorite people on the planet, Alissa is the best vacation buddy because she is happy to go at Erin and Norah speed--which is slow. We can only handle about one activity per day. But what we do get to do is pretty much awesome. Like hang out and be adorable at Laguna Beach. Seriously. Everyone needs a Norah or an Alice. Put them together and get ready for a cute overload.







I love that you can see all four of us in this picture; just check out the reflection.

And, oh, did I mention that Norah got to go to Disneyland? Now when she's older and telling me how I've ruined her life, I'll just remind her how It's A Small World blew her mind and how she should be grateful to her mother for taking her with me.

It was just a little too loud.

I won't remind her of the Finding Nemo ride though--she did not like that one even a little bit.

All that fun was exhausting.

See what I mean about a cute overload? Whole groups of people did double takes at Disneyland for Miss Alice.

To top it all off, us moms got to make our annual pilgrimage to the So You Think You Can Dance? tour. This year it was at the Staples Center and we were right smack in the center floor only six rows back. I completely lost my voice. I can't even describe how good it was. I'm obsessed. Our favorite dance? This one:

We cried.

Thanks to Jon for watching the kiddos while we went and acted like children. And thanks Alissa, Russell, and Alice for having us. We'll do it again soon!

Halloween

Norah's first Halloween was more of a three-day lobster fest. Friday it was party at my work; Saturday party with the Stewarts; and Sunday party with Mom and Alexi and off to the neighbor's for more partying.

You can't tell me you've never wanted to just gobble up a baby--especially one this delicious.

By the time we made it to the last party, she was done and done. But even when she wasn't a lobster, she was still in costume: Say hello to our little boy.

Chilly

Now that it's freezing, it is getting more tricky to walk the dogs with Norah when Nic isn't home. And they have to be walked; it's either walk them or strangle them or just open the front door and hope they don't lick a neighbor child to death. (That last option is starting to be really appealing, especially considering some of the neighbor kids.)

Last night was one of those times when I was on my own. I typically try to avoid their gazes as long as possible, but as the evening progresses I can't even walk by the door or look at a pair of shoes without sending both dogs into an Oh-Boy-She's-Really-Gonna-Take-Us-On-A-Walk-This-Time frenzy. Now they've also caught on to the fact that if I get Norah ready to go somewhere, they typically get to go too. So you can imagine their reaction when baby appeared in this:

I think it blew their minds. And hers too, apparently.

So the bunting bag I bought on clearance last year is still a little big. But you guys, it is so warm. I couldn't get her to smile at the camera, but the mirror? She loves the mirror. And those HUGE bags under my eyes? That's because she's decided that she needs to wake up every three hours at night again. I forgive her only because she is so adorable.

But the walk was a success. I didn't have to murder my dogs and Norah was warm and happy the whole time. That means I win.

I'm only, like, two and a half months behind

So remember how I mentioned Norah's blessing and said that there'd be more to come? Well, here's the more. The hold up was that in my post-baby haze I didn't take any pictures of my own and I just now got some of the pictures that Dennis took.

This first picture kind of sums up how Norah felt about the whole event. And this was even before the blessing, so you can imagine how happy she was afterward. But she did look adorable even though she acted like a turd.

We blessed her on August 1, which was particularly awesome because Josh and Jessica were in town and so were Alissa and Jon. That means that minus Nic's sister, all of our immediate family was there. And yes, Alissa, you count as immediate family.

And I know that I have mentioned the incredibleness of Norah's blessing gown, but oh my goodness, it is incredible. Seriously. Debbie made it out of raw silk, complete with hand pleating and embroidery. Norah's even wearing little handmade bloomers under there. Thank you again, Debbie, it really is a work of art.

I didn't get to visit with everyone as much as I would have liked because of one screaming five week old, but thanks again to everyone who came out to support our little family. We felt very loved.