Quick Takes (36): The state of affairs around here

--- 1 ---

Sleep.  I got 4 solid hours of sleep two nights in a row...woo hoo and then slept another 3 hours!  R has been waking up 3 times overnight to nurse, and we've slowly been trying to get it down to none or at least 1.  The hardest part has been figuring out what sleep training method we think will work best for her: cry it out, no cry sleep solution, baby whisperer, Ferber method, etc.  We briefly dabbled with CIO and NCSS, and it was very clear those were not the methods for us.  I picked up a copy of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers, and have been reading about how to make her feel safe and secure and to trust I will be there in the morning, how to develop clear routines, etc..  I've been implementing a few of the strategies, and maybe they are working?!?  I still think we need to do something more direct with the overnights, but baby steps, folks.  I'm looking at the positives.

--- 2 ---

Cow's milk.  R doesn't like it.  Her pediatrician said as long as I'm still nursing, I don't need to introduce cow's milk, but I was trying to get her to drink it thinking that would help reduce the overnight feedings.  She loves her sippy cup of water during the day, so I tried to add a little milk to that...nope, wouldn't take it. I tried mixing a small amount with my milk...nope.  She doesn't really like dairy either (cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese.....she won't eat any of it).  Do I just keep offering her dairy and eventually she'll take some?  What if she has a dairy allergy?  I have a dairy sensitivity, and I did have to cut out dairy while nursing early on because of her reflux.  Hmm...not sure how to proceed with that one.  I'll probably just give it some time and things will work out. That seems to me my mantra around here.

--- 3 ---

A 3 year old.  A friend posted on Facebook about how her daughter was turning 3, and all of a sudden I remembered that this was the good friend who told me she was pregnant shortly before I found out I was pregnant for the 1st time in 2009.  And it hit me....I could have had a 3 year old right now if we hadn't lost that baby to miscarriage.  June 2nd was our due date with baby #1.  It's a date that I always remember, but it short of snuck up on me this year.  And for some reason, I feel sadder now thinking about what might have been.  Perhaps because I've seen what joy R has brought into our lives, it makes me sad to know what we missed out on with baby #1 (and #2 for that matter since R was #3).  And while I can't imagine my life any different right now with an older child, I still mourn the loss of those babies I haven't yet met.  But June 2nd is also the date of our sponsor child's birthday.... someone we choose specifically because of her birth date and wanting to honor the memory of our 1st baby, so beauty does rise up from the ashes.  It does.

--- 4 ---

Women's conference.  I'm going to a women's conference this weekend.  I'm really excited because my soul needs some filling.  Everyone from church that said they would join me has bailed, and since I had already purchased my ticket to the event, I'm going alone.  At first I was really depressed about it saying, "I don't have any friends here," "Poor me, I have to go alone," blah, blah, blah.  I was mad that I had already purchased my ticket because I would have just decided not to go, but I'm too cheap to lose the money since I've already paid for it.  And now I'm ok with going to the conference alone and am looking forward to seeing what God is going to speak to me because I'm ready to listen.

--- 5 ---

Ants.  We have ants in our house.  Mainly they are in the dishwasher, but nothing has gotten rid of them yet.  I run the dishwasher and while it's still hot in there, the ants are still crawling around inside.  I don't know what to do to get rid of them.  We have traps set and I daily clean up things in the kitchen.  Ugh.

--- 6 ---

Raccoon.  We also have a raccoon on the roof. Lovely.  I heard a bunch of thumping around two nights ago when I got up to feed R around 2am. I still heard it around 4 or 5am.  Then that morning around 6:30, I was looking out the window towards the roof to see if I could see anything on the roof, and a little raccoon face peers around the chimney on the roof!  It's like he was looking right at me mocking me.  ha, ha.  I kept you awake last night.  I tried to chase him away from inside, but he just ran to another part of the roof and came down later because then I saw him was walking on our deck at 7am.  Once we determined he didn't look rabid, I made DH run outside and chase him away!  Ugh.  We are so ready to move from this rental.

--- 7 ---

June. I can't believe it's June tomorrow!  We're entering our summer travel time with lots of trips coming up.  I'm excited for them but also nervous to travel with a toddler who likes her routine, familiar surroundings, and sleep.  We'll how that all works out in the coming weeks and months.

Happy weekend, y'all!

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