Special Moments

As many of you know I have been spending the past few weeks teaching Kelsey how to sleep and working on getting into a routine. There have been many challenging moments and many time where I wonder where I went wrong as a Mom and if I'm doing the right thing for her. But through it all I have learned a lot! I've learned so much about patience and endurance! Little does Kelsey know she's a great teacher! After all the discouragement I decided to look back on the time and find some special moments.
So here are a few:
1.Kelsey never has been a very cuddly baby, but through this process she has learned to cuddle under my chin during our wind down time and now I know when she's tired when she will let me put her head on my shoulder or under my chin.
2.She also has started to hum with me. I always have music playing when I put her to bed and lately I've been humming along with the music. She has started to hum with me to put herself to sleep. Its so precious and every time she does it my heart melts.
3.While she falls asleep she loves to hold onto something and my finger is her first choice. Its almost like as long as she can touch me she's ok!
These are moments that I hope to treasure for many years, as there will be a day that she won't want to cuddle with me, sing with me or hold my hand! Thank you Lord for giving me this precious gift and for teaching me to look for the positive in the negative.

video

Ok, so I think I finally figured out how to put a video on here... so here it goes.
:)

To sleep or not to sleep!!

I'm sure u won't want to read this all and that's fine... its more for my own knowledge and record keeping, and a place to right down triumphs and frustrations.


So for the past few weeks we have had a lot of trouble getting Kelsey down for naps. She has been doing amazing with going to bed... usually sleeping from 7:30ish till 6:00am. But when it comes to going down for a nap and staying asleep for longer than 45 min. it's been difficult. So I decided last week that this week would be the "Nap training" week. I decided that I would do nothing but stay at home and spend time with Kelsey teaching her how to nap longer than 45 min. and to get us on a routine of sorts so that hopefully no matter where we are she will sleep. Kelsey's personality is a lot like mine. She doesn't want to miss a thing and will only sleep when she is so past exhausted that it actually is hard to fall asleep because she's over tired. I believe i was a lot like that when i was little, so she comes by it honestly. So I guess I can't really complain... :)
Day 1 - Didn't go so great. I tried to follow my schedule that I planned but she woke up earlier in the morning and threw it all off. She is on a 3 hr feeding schedule and that's all fine but she doesn't want to sleep between those times. So I would start putting her down 1 1/2 before her next feeding and for some of the naps it went well but then others it took a full hour to get her to sleep. A little frustrated and wondering if this is worth it... but reminding myself that naps are important and that Kelsey will benefit from this in the long run. Went to bed GREAT!
Day 2 - Started off a lot better. Woke up at 6 (which is when i want her too) and the first nap went really well, but the 2nd nap only lasted 1/2 hr. I tried getting her back to sleep but it resulted in 45 min of crying and ended with me feeding her (it was very close to her next feeding time and i think that she was just hungry after all that crying). 3rd nap started off well, but had to go back in after 1/2 hr and rock her back to sleep... but she eventually slept for 2 hrs total. Went to bed great but then woke up again, but cried herself back to sleep. Hopefully it will only get better from here!
Day 3 - so far it hasn't been the best. she woke up at 5, and wouldn't go back to sleep so I fed her a bit and put her back to bed, only to realize that she was soaked from an over wet diaper, so i changed her but this woke her up too much and it took 1 hr for her to go back to bed. Then she woke at 7. She was sleepy by 8 so she went down only to wake 1/2 hr later... this resulted in a 1 hr battle to get her back to sleep... only to finally give in... what do I do?? After hearing her cry for over an hour I just can't take it anymore.
Day 4 - well, didn't go much better than any other day. the first nap of the day went really well and she slept for 2 hrs, but it was all down hill from there. She goes down really good for naps, only to wake up 15-45 min later. I've tried letting her cry it out, that does no good, she doesn't stop crying. The longest I've let her cry was 1 1/2 hrs. After that I knew there was no way she was giving in. I've tried going in right away and giving her soother, that doesn't work, she just spits it out and cries more. I've tried picking her up and rocking her back to sleep and that sometimes works to get her back to sleep but the moment I put her into her crib she wakes up again. It's very frustrating. and now she's not sleeping good at night either! I don't know what to do anymore!!!!!
Day 5- MUCH BETTER! First 2 naps were Great! The last nap was split into 2 but that's alright. She was much happier today and ate better too because she wasn't as tired or grumpy! We are finally getting a routine and system that seems to be working. Started feeding her some cereal in the eve's to help her sleep longer at night and it seems to be working very well! She eats it really well and it is helping her last a little longer at night!

Well, hopefully this is the start of a better napping life and good long nights. :) Here's hoping! :)

Phoenix

I guess I should also mention that we have a new addition to this household. Her name is Phoenix. She is a little smoky gray kitten that we got just over 1 wk ago. She is very fun loving and is very funny to watch sometimes, and she is a cuddly kitten. She loves to curl up at your feet or somewhere near you and she can purr like a machine!! I hope that someday her and Kelsey will be able to enjoy each others company and have fun together!

motherhood

You know I never realized how much my Mom did until I became one. My Mom always told me that someday I would understand what she goes through on a daily basis and I didn't believe her. I thought that it would be easier I guess or that I would be different somehow. But now I understand a little more of what her life consisted of for many years. The other day I was just thinking and I realized that there is no one on earth that will ever know Kelsey longer than I do. I mentioned this to Brian and then he reminded me that that was like our Mothers. It sure made me appreciate my Mom a lot more and made me realize that all those times when I didn't think that she new best... well she did!! My prayer is that my daughter will figure that out sooner than I did.
I really do love motherhood, even though there are days that I wonder what I've gotten myself into. Like last week.... it was a rough week in the Degelder household. The temp was quite warm and that of course always makes one a little more cranky and Kelsey and I had a busy few days at the end of the week. This resulted in cranky Mom and Baby. (Daddy was just fine... which was a blessing!!) Kelsey was refusing to nap and then was taking forever to go down at night. I spent so many hours of my day just holding her and then to put her to sleep it was a workout. I HAD to stand up (she didn't want it any other way) and I had to rock and swing her so hard I thought that my arms would fall off. And this would last for sometimes up to 1/2hr. The breaking point finally came friday night. I was DONE!! I couldn't do it anymore. That eve it took both of us 3 hrs to get Kelsey down for night. After that night and after talking to some family we finally decided to let her cry it out that eve if it happened again. I just couldn't do it anymore. My in-laws and sister and brother in law were over for the eve and after getting her down around 9 with no problem we thought it was going to be a good night. Nope! she woke up around 9:30... with big smiles ready to go again! So Brian and I looked at each other and said ok... this is it! So we let her cry. 35 min. later she fell fast asleep and slept the whole night. It was the hardest 35 min. of my motherhood life! (other than the actual delivery of course! :) ) But since then nap and nights have been much easier. There is still some crying but usually if I go back in and give her her soother again she will fall right asleep. This is making it much easier. As hard as it was it has made me a much happier Mom and I think in the long run it will be much better for Kelsey. I would rather do this now than when she's 2 yrs old and can get out of bed and she can talk back to me.
So after that... let me tell you of the wonderful moments of the past few days.
I LOVE IT WHEN SHE SMILES!! There is something so incredibly wonderful when she looks directly at you and gives you this grin that takes up her whole face. Or yesterday when we were at a friends birthday party. Brian was holding her and she was facing me and as I was talking to someone else she just kept grinning and smiling, especially when my conversation would get more excited... she would respond accordingly. I love it!! Also she's been starting to figure out her voice. She now will just sit there and "coo" to herself. She's finding out that she can do different sounds and she will sometimes do this for a long time all by herself. Before she would only do it when you would "talk" with her.
Kelsey does not usually cuddle. She would prefer to look around and see what there is to see. but every once and awhile when she's very tired she will rest her head on my cheek, still with her face looking out so she can see things, but she will just hold her head there. I love those moments... and treasure them because they are few.
I look forward to many more trials and tribulations that come with motherhood, and I thank my Lord Jesus for blessing me so much with this family.

time is flying by

I can't believe it... Kelsey is almost 3 months old. You know people always say that when you have children time flies by, so enjoy every moment... I didn't know just how true that was! I like to think that I am enjoying every minute... I really hope I am, I'm trying to anyway. Motherhood has been everything I've imagined and yet so much more. I absolutely love being a Mom. I wish I had some incredible words to put down to explain just how much I love it but I'm not that good with words. So far it's been the most trying and at the same time most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life. There are so many moments when I just sit there and look at her and wonder if I'm doing the absolute best job I can and whether I'm doing the right things for her and if I'm loving her enough and giving her enough and whether I'm being a good Mom. I hope and pray that I'm making the right decisions for her and helping her grow up correctly. I know that this will only get more difficult as she gets older, and this is what worries me sometimes. Then I remember that there is no way on earth that I can do this parenting thing on my own. I can't imagine ever doing this without the help of God. So many times when I'm rocking her to sleep or folding her laundry or just cleaning up around the house I have little conversations with God just asking Him to show me what to do in every situation. My most frequent prayer is that someday our little Kelsey will choose to follow Christ and allow Him to be the Lord of her life. And I know that the only thing I can do is allow God to work in me to be the best parent I can to her and help her see Him and the rest is up to Him to work in her life.
Life with Kelsey has been incredible these past 3 months. She has changed so much and it's been amazing to see her change from this very helpless little infant into this little baby who has an opinion and a personality and is able to do so much more. She has learned so much. She found her hands a few weeks ago and now loves to suck/chew on them all the time... so much drool!!!! She loves to look around and is rarely content just to lie in your arms. She always wants to be standing up and looking around. She loves her exersaucer because this way she can stand, chew her hands and move around as much as she wants. She also loves to "talk". She is starting to "say" so much more and LOVES to smile. She has this incredible infectious smile that no matter how rough my day has been or how short my night has been will always make me smile with her.
One of her favorite places (other than the exersaucer) is the change table. Almost all the time.. even if she is in a grumpy mood... if you put her on the change table she will start smiling. She really enjoys getting her diaper changed. She also loves getting baths now. With the hot weather we've been having she has been getting a bath every night because she sweats so much. She loves looking at the mirror and splashing and kicking with her legs.
Well... not that I'm running out of things to say about my little girl but I should say a few things about the rest of our lives.
We have been enjoying the summer, although not getting out as much as we've been wanting too. After our holidays to Manitoba we've been mostly just hanging out at home. Brian and I have enjoyed a few evening walks when the weather finally cools off a bit. Kelsey and I went to the lake the other day with some friends. We've had a few play dates and a few birthday parties to attend. It's amazing that when you have a child all of a sudden there are so many parties to attend! :) It's been fun though, getting together with other mom's and discussing kid stuff.
Brian is almost finished with the tile in our bathroom... it was put on hold for too long after Kelsey was born, but should be done by the end of the week.
My garden is doing ok... some plants better than others. I can't wait till we have cucumbers and tomatoes, I'm really looking forward to some great cucumber salad!!
Oh, and just the other eve our family grew a bit. We have adopted a kitten into our family. She is a little gray kitty that was a bit under fed and needed a little TLC. But even after 2 short days she is already looking better and has made her self at home. We even had a bunch of children over last night and they were petting and playing with her. She did so great with them and didn't scratch or get aggressive... just ran and hid when she got sick of them. :) We haven't settled on a name yet but are thinking Phoenix might be a fun name!
well, I should get running... off to a play date!! :)

2 months old

Wearing some of my clothes from when I was a baby:








With Great Grandma Peters


I can't believe that Kelsey is already 2 months old.... time has flown very fast!! It's amazing how much she has changed in the past 8 weeks. She has recently started sleeping through the night which I've been enjoying a lot! We just came back from our first vacation with her to Manitoba. It was an interesting vacation. The first 5 days were really rough. Kelsey had thrush so feeding was very difficult as my production was really low so she was sometimes hungry but would refuse to take formula no matter how we would make it. Then on our 2nd night there Brian came down with the flu which lasted 5 days!! It was not very much fun for him, he unfortunately had to miss a lot of fun events. But after we all got better the rest of the week was much better. We had a great time seeing lots of family and friends! Kelsey got to spend time with both her Great Grandma's which they enjoyed immensely!! She also got her first horse ride, which I think I enjoyed more! :) She wasn't to thrilled to be up there... but hopefully someday she will be!
Well, I would love to write more but of course the lady of the house is calling me!! :)

Love this pic - 2 month picture