Monday

Today is a Monday. I'm really struggling today.
I know I mentioned that I was going to work on being more cheerful and positive but today I'm just having one of those days. Everyone has those kind of days right?
I woke up an hour later than I wanted to and from the time I woke up this morning, it's been going down hill. Not to mention, it's cloudy and dreary outside. Bad moods and cloudiness don't mix.

David and I have been trying to get Eric to bed earlier and for the past week it has been getting better. As far as the naps go, Eric doesn't seem to like to take naps. Today, he hasn't taken any and it's almost 4pm. Maybe he's teething or something. Anyway, he's been cranky today.
(I want to thank you all who shared your thoughts on the "putting a baby on a schedule?" post. Thank You!) I don't know quite how to implement a plan to put Eric on a napping shedule or if it will work for David and I. As far as the book goes (Babywise), I guess maybe I need to learn how to filter things that I read a little bit more.

I'd like to get outside but I'm afraid that it even if I did, the deary looking sky would only make me feel worse. I also need to give Eric a bath.
Blaaaaahhhh!! Today is just a blah day.

I'm praying for a better perspective tomorrow.
"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow .... All fear is gone etc.... " (One of my favorite hymns).

smiling at the beach

Here are a few other pictures from the beach. My cousin was able to catch him smiling.

beach boy

Yesterday I went to the beach with my cousin. It was great to be able to talk about Mom stuff and encourage each other. I haven't been to the beach since I was pregnant with Eric. What an experience! It was so calming to look at the ocean and hear the waves. I think it's a nice time of the year to go to the beach because there is not very many people. Of course it is nice to come in the summer but then you have lots of people and the parking is the pits. Anyway, I would come out to the beach even when it's cold just to have some peace and quiet.

What made it a little challenging was when Eric had to have his diaper changed. I knew that if I didn't change it right then, he would be screaming at me and he wouldn't calm down. He does not like to be dirty or wet.
It's quite a job changing a diaper on the sand. (Much different than the nice, sturdy changing table that I have at home.) I had my diaper bag and a changing pad with me. Fortunately, I also brought a couple of extra blankets. I put a blanket down first and then the changing pad and managed to change him with out getting too much sand on him. It seems like when I'm at the beach, no matter how careful I am, I always end up getting sand all over everything. He didn't seem to mind though. In fact the whole time he seemed pretty happy. Except when he started getting hungry again. I am so glad that I brought these great little bottles of formula called "nursette bottles". They are so convenient because they are ready to feed. All you do is put the nipple on.

Another thing that has made my outings a little easier is this car seat frame that I bought. Originally I bought it for my trip to Northern Cal in a few weeks. The other one that I have is big and bulky and doesn't travel too well on the air plane. This car seat frame looks like a stroller but it's much smaller and folds up really nicely. This has made my shopping trips a little easier too. Thank goodness for modern conveniences!

Yep, you read that right. I'm flying to Northern Cal (and yes I got David's ok :-) and I'm taking Eric with me. Whoa! What am I thinking? Taking a infant by myself on an air plane? Apparently I didn't get scared off from our last plane trip to South Dakota. Well, that trip wasn't that bad and now that I did it, I feel much more confident.

reading on the couch

Looks like Eric likes to read. He's even holding the magazine with his hand. It must be an interesting article.

Yay!

Last night it worked. David tried to put Eric to bed while he was still awake. We've been working on putting him to bed at a decent time for a little while but he just seems to want to play. Especially when he looks up at his crib mobile with the colorful fish that move.
David and I wanted to watch a dvd together so we fed Eric and then rocked him a little bit and then put him in his crib. We put the crib soother on and swaddled him and put his pacifier in. For about 20 minutes he fussed and wiggled around in the crib.
We tried our best to ignore it and pretend we didn't hear it. After about half and hour, we went back in and discovered a smell and said to ourselves "So that's why he didn't want to go to sleep".

So after we changed him, we swaddled him again and put him back to bed.
We went to go finish watching the movie. It worked. He fell asleep by himself without me having to nurse him to sleep. That's usually what I have to do.
Hopefully, this will continue to work and David and I will be able to have part of the evening free without having to work extra hard to put him to sleep. I know that in the past Eric has been quite fussy in the evening and doesn't want to go to sleep. This is progress!

Another good thing: Yesterday Eric rolled over on to his back. I've been giving him some "tummy time" so that he can work on his neck muscles and be able to hold his head up. It was so neat. I put him on his stomach and he rolled onto his back and smiled. I cheered and encouraged him to do it again. I tried it a few times and he continued to roll over. I also tried to laying him on his back to see if he could roll the other way, but so far he hasn't.
I think it's easier to roll from stomach to back than back to stomach. I'll keep trying though. I know he'll get the hang of it. He's such a strong little boy. I'm so proud of him.

Putting a baby on a schedule?

Last Sunday, Eric turned 4 months old. Whoohoo! He now weighs 14 1/2 lbs. Whoa! What a heavyweight. :-) He has such a good appetite that little boy of ours.

-----(I may have to cut this post short because he may be waking up from a nap at any minute)---

I have recently been reading a book that seems to be full of .......? wise stuff that claims that if you follow it, your baby will sleep through the night. Well, actually Eric isn't to bad of a sleeper. At around 2 1/2 months, he started sleeping through the night. Which was about 9hrs.
Anyway, he's not consistant but he's getting better.
This book also describes putting your baby on a schedule. I think it's a little to strict to be putting a little baby on anything too rigid when they are so young. It also mentions that if you put your baby on a schedule, then they will get into a routine and start to fall asleep by themself at night and go to sleep at the same time each night.

I haven't actually tried this yet so I don't know for sure if this theory will work.
Do any of you Moms out there have any experience with this scheduling thing? Would you recommend putting a baby on a schedule or just let the baby make his/her own? I'd like to know what you think. Thanks!

Little Eric strikes again

I just thought it was a cute title. :)

Things are getting better. I have discovered a Mom's Bible study. The nice thing is that I can bring Eric along. It's so nice to be able to be together with other new moms. I am finally starting to feel sane again. I feel so relieved that I can talk to other moms about similar things and problems and to be able to pray together. It's great. I really think this is what I needed to help the depression that I've been feeling lately.
Last Tuesday was the first day that I was able to come to it and one of my friends (who goes to our Church) called me in the morning just to make sure I was awake to get me to come. What a great friend. I am thankful for her. Even though I was tired and had a hard time getting up (it was in the morning) and I had gotten up at 3am to take care of Eric, it was worth it. I ended up spending the rest of the day at my friends house. We prayed together and talked about "mom" things.

What's Eric doing these days?
He's becoming a noise maker. He's making some funny, raspy, awwwwwwhhhh sounds. Believe me, it's cute. :)
He's batting at his hanging rattles (from his infant rocker) and he's starting to grab things that move or look interesting. He smiles and giggles at his mommy and daddy.