The Latest on Us

First and foremost, I should say that Braydon has been sleeping through the night for a little over 2 weeks now and it's WONDERFUL! His naps aren't as fabulous as they once were, but I'll take sleeping through the night over short naps any time, any day!

We've decided to take our house off the market. We're hoping to ride out this slump and try to sell once the economy has hit rock bottom and ascending towards stability once again. Right now the market, as you know, is over-flowing with people desperate to sell, and flooded with foreclosed and short-sale properties. It's truly a "buyer's market" and it's not one that's been friendly to most who are trying to sell.

Ty's busy with work and enjoying being his own boss. It's going to take time before things "take off" but he's hard at work and I have complete and total faith in him (and his partner) and SR Commercial.

Nothings new with me. I'm just enjoying my little man and basking in the joy that is being a mommy:)

Braydon's mastered crawling, standing, pulling up to a standing position, feeding himself (with his hands), saying Mama, Dada, and babbling A LOT, and is enjoying being able to nibble certain foods from our plates. He lives to eat and I'm thinking of changing his nickname from Moose to Tank, because that's what he is -- a Tank. He really enjoys shower time, playing independently, exploring, and being on the move. He also loves to laugh, make others smile and laugh (at him), and flirt with the ladies. He's grown and changed so fast, and I cannot believe he'll be 1 year old in a little over 2 months, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's also walking by then. My goodness, where does the time go?

Well, that's it for us. I'll write more when there's more to tell:)

More Braydon Pix (9 Months)

Braydon: finger foods and playing with his new toy from his Mimi

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Happy 9 Months, Moose!!!

I cannot believe we are only 3 months away from his first birthday!!!

Not Me Monday

I'm not upset about having to resleep train my almost 9 month old - AGAIN! Who needs a good night's sleep? Not me, that's who.

I'm not using Braydon's naps today as downtime for me.

I'm also not pretending that my messy house is clean. I'm not one who puts off a necessary cleaning.

I also didn't forget that our pest control guy was coming today due to total sleep deprivation. I did not forget and let him drive across town, only to find out I wasn't home. I don't forget things like that.

Lastly, I do not wish it were Saturday so that Braydon was already spending the night at his uncle and aunt's house. Not me, no sir. I'm so not looking forward to a night off to sleep through the night, sleep in the following morning, getting chores accomplished, and getting a haircut before picking him up. I'm not a mommy who needs a little down time.

Sleep Training ALL OVER AGAIN:(

Well, for about 2 months our latest sleep trainer was a miracle worker. In fact it got us on a fabulous nap schedule and *almost* sleeping through the night, but like the Ferber Method, this trainer has run it's course. I say good-bye to Healthy Sleep Habits: Happy Child. Allowing Braydon to cry it out no longer works for us and in fact, it has worked against us. Up until Braydon's latest onslaught of teething, massive diaper rash, cold, croup, more teething, and the diaper rash revival we were beginning to think we had Braydon's sleep issues solved, but once again we shall train again.

So, we are now (starting tonight) implementing Sleeping Through the Night by Jodi A. Mendell Ph. D. It has many of the same beliefs as Healthy Sleep Habits, but accomplishes quality sleep without using the Crying It Out method. Yes, for a while we did let Braydon CIO, but for the last couple of weeks letting him cry only added fuel to his fire. Ultimately CIO caused Braydon to SCREAM for HOURS and destroyed everything we (I) worked so hard to achieve. Besides being extremely frustrated, Tyson and I are totally sleep deprived.

For many babies with special needs, they need a different way to learn proper sleep and soothing habits and that's what we're now trying to achieve once again. With the help of a lovey, my patience, the tools/advice from this trainer, and a lack of sleep on my end, we should reach our desired goal permanently within a couple weeks. Once we do reach our goal, we can then work on weaning Braydon from needing a 3-4am feeding.

Keeping our fingers crossed that this works for us -- it's so hard having a baby that doesn't sleep well through the night. If not for such a huge set back early on with Bray's health, this would be a complete non-issue. Curse you reflux, slow moving stomach, and dairy allergy!!! Curse you!!!