Feeling Inspired

Now that Campbell is a sleeping super star, I've found myself with time to accomplish things around the house. I spent last week cleaning and organizing closets, pantries, drawers, the fridge, freezer and so much more! By the end of the week, I gave myself permission to sit down while Cam napped one afternoon and I joined Pinterest. If you haven't joined yet or don't know what it's about, it is essentially a website where you can collect ideas and inspiration for your home, style, kids, and really anything you can think of. I have been browsing and "pinning" for a couple of days now and got bit by the crafty bug. My brain started swarming with ideas to re-do every inch of our house. I feel inspired to organize and create, and it feels good! I got a little out of control with showing Rick all my ideas this weekend, and  he has quickly decided he does not like Pinterest.

Well today, Cam and I went to the craft store and picked up a few things for my first project. I've been wanting to re-do our bedroom for a long time. I've never LOVED how it looked. We still don't have a bed frame, our drapes are really cheap (and cheap looking), and we've had either a dog crate or Pack n Play in one corner for the last two years! So, this was the first room I wanted to start to spruce up.

Last week, Rick made a comment that he thought we needed a new duvet cover because Maizey had really roughed ours up. He didn't realize his comment would lead me to run to West Elm where I've been eyeing a duvet cover for a while now: 

 Since we still don't have a bed frame, (anniversary present perhaps?!), I wanted to put something on the all above the bed to simulate a headboard of sorts. So I picked up some fabric, three 12x12 pieces of plywood and a staple gun and came up with this:

I'm thinking I may even add another row of three. I have to sleep on it :)

I used some extra fabric to cover an old pillow that Maizey destroyed... I need to actually hem it together, but I just wanted to see how it would look, and I think it goes nicely with the bedding!

 
I'm fairly pleased with how the bedroom is coming together. It's such a nice retreat now that Cam is sleeping in his own room!

MoJo

As a replacement for Cam's pacifier, we introduced him to a "lovey" to offer him some comfort while he sleeps. This kid is nothing like his mother and takes to change very easily... he and his lovey were instant friends.

Rick and I were obviously thrilled that Cam had attached himself to something and it was helping him sleep. Our only dilemma was coming up with a name for Cam's new friend. We sent out cries for him from our family and friends and after many suggestions, we decided to stick with a theme as we name this and future loveys and stuffed animals. Our chosen theme: Ann Arbor. Shocking, right?!

Ann Arbor obviously holds a special place in our hearts and has been a part of our courtship, marriage and expanding family. From walking into the fight song at our wedding to naming our dog after the Michigan school colors, we thought it only appropriate to name our children's comfort items after our beloved city.

So, ladies and gentleman, I introduce you to MoJo. 

(For those of you who aren't as well versed in Ann Arbor landmarks, Mosher-Jordan (aka MoJo) is one of the dorms on the Michigan Campus.)

Sleep, Glorious Sleep!

I've been afraid to blog about, thinking I may jinx it. We all know that Cam has super mind-reading powers and the minute we even THINK about his great sleep habits, he goes and changes them. But after a solid week of super sleep, I feel like it's time to celebrate our little man and document the journey we took to get to this point.

Last week Cam had his 4 month check up with his pediatrician and a follow up with the GI specialist. Both doctors gave him a gold star and said he looked perfect (we already knew that). They also both encouraged us to begin sleep training this bugger because he was big enough, healthy enough and his reflux is under control. Rick and I were eager to start that weekend because we were both exhausted and had had enough of waking up every hour for the past four months.

So, I did my research, talked to my friends asked my questions and Rick and I drew up a plan of how we were going to teach Cam to put himself to sleep and stay asleep. Our goal was NOT to eliminate a night feeding because he really hasn't been waking up all the time to eat. He's been waking up because he doesn't know how to get back to sleep on his own. For the past four months he had been relying on us to rock, bounce, shhhhh, and hold him to sleep. Rick and I formed a plan on Thursday night, and all day Friday I kept looking at my little muffin thinking, "poor baby has NO idea what's about to hit him tonight." I felt sad for him knowing that his life as he knew it was about to change, but I was anxious to get started because all I wanted was a decent night's sleep.

So, Friday night begins and it was horrendous. The kid cried almost the entire night and just could not get comfortable in the crib. Our doctor told us we needed to be consistent and do the training with naps as well, so by Saturday night, he was exhausted and cried for 8 minutes before falling asleep Saturday night. He slept all the way until 1:30 am without a peep. He had never done this before. Ever. After we fed him, he went right back to sleep. Until 6:30 am. He did the same thing the next night, and the next night and the next night. (Though his wake up times varied from 1-3 am).

Rick and I were beside ourselves with excitement. Not only was he catching on quickly at night, but his naps were also working themselves out. He maybe cries for 1-2 minutes now before "talking" to himself, rubbing his lovey against his face, sucking his thumb a bit and falling asleep. It's remarkable. Almost unbelievable.

We know we will have setbacks, as we have to still wean him from the Rock n Play that he sleeps in (an elevated cradle that has done wonders for the reflux). But as of now, he no longer uses a pacifier which we believe was the biggest issue holding him back from restful sleep.

I am so proud of him. I'm so proud of us. We did it, and the kid has been so happy all week because he's finally getting good sleep. Here's some proof:

It took us four months. Four long months, but we have reached a point where Rick and I are finally starting to see what all the doctors, friends and family were talking about when they kept saying, "it only gets better!"

No Judgment

My sister sent me this article a few days ago, and I had seen it before, but when I read it over again today it struck a chord. Hard.

I, like so many women, am guilty of judging those around me. I'm guilty of passing judgment on my family, friends and the ones I love. It's not something I'm proud of. In fact, I feel anxious and tense when I think someone is judging me so I feel terrible for inflicting those feelings on someone else. For some reason, we women are really good at passing judgment. And as soon as I became a mom, I realized that mothers are some of the worst judgers out there.

So, starting today I am making a vow to judge no more. I promise to remember that everyone's situation is unique and I'll never know exactly what they're each going through. I'll remind myself that when others want to judge me for formula feeding, it's because they don't know why I had to stop nursing. When they want to judge me for letting my baby cry it out to learn to sleep, it's because they don't understand why I've had to let him sleep on me for four months. And when they feel the need to look down upon my use of disposable diapers (which I realize are filling up a landfill!), I know it's because they can't comprehend how disgusted I am at the thought of putting poop in my laundry machine. I promise to remind myself each day that I'm just doing the best I can. Period.

To all you women out there, especially moms, I applaud you for doing the best you can. Keep up the freaking hard work!

Roly Poly!

Look who's moving and grooving!

How Do I Stop This?!?!

I asked my mom that question this morning... "how do I stop him from growing up so fast??" Our little Cam slept in his crib for the first night last night (pretty well, too!) and rolled over this morning. He's just getting so big so fast. I wanted to make sure I documented these momentous occasions despite not having pictures for proof... but here are a couple from the last few days:

The Many Faces of Cam

"How YOU Doin?"

"Yee-haw!!"

"Wassup?!?!"

"What are you staring at?"

"Yipee!!"

"Okay, enough already!"