Flash Me Friday: your extra room

This week's flash me friday: your extra room. To join in the fun, head on over to Jen's blog and leave your link!

We don't really have a "bonus" room. In a previous blog post, you saw our sitting room we rarely use. And we do have an unfinished basement we never go down to unless we have to change the furnace filter or reset our internet or something. Well here is another room we never use. It's a "loft" area in our upstairs. Someday I'll probably turn it into a play area when Ryder is a little older. (that's our bedroom through the double doors and the laundry room to the right of our bedroom)

If you turn to the right at the top of the stairs, you see our random "loft area" (ryder's room is the door on the right). You'll see my college desk, which I never use. A picture that Joe won recently at a golf tourney and a little shelf thing that we'll someday put somewhere in our house ;)

Oh, and I forgot that we also have two bins with Ryder's clothes he's outgrown. The first one on the left with the cover is 0-3 months---yes, ALL is 0-3 months clothes...The second bin with the open top is the start of 3-6 months clothes that no longer fit...ryder has a LOT of clothes!

A better night for Ryder (and mom!)

Last night was even better :) It really does give me hope---even though there is one thing I've learned about babies since being a mom: just because they do something for a day or two does NOT mean it's their "new schedule". Just when you get happy that they are doing something the way you like it, you tell someone about it and then the next day they change it. Just to spite you.

Anyways, so last night ryder went to bed at 745pm. He woke up at midnight, which is when I turned off the monitor for 15/20 minutes. I turned it back on, and he had put himself back to sleep. Then at 3am, I got up and pumped and I heard Ryder at 330. I turned off the monitor and waited 15 minutes and turned it back on and alacazam: he put himself back to sleep again! Then I didn't hear him till we got up for good at 710am. So he slept for almost 12 hours (with the exception fo waking up twice) and I never once had to get up and give him his paci. He put himself back to sleep too! woo hoo. And the last few days I also lay him down for his nap and he fusses a bit and then falls asleep on his own. Like I said, I'm cautiously opptimistic :) I do work this weekend, so Joe is going to hold down the fort and not cave in and go get him right away. I'll keep everyone updated on how the weekend goes early next week. Also...stay tuned for a Flash Me Friday later today hopefully!

Day three...damn rain storm!

Night #3 of this experiement went about the same as before, with the exception of the dang crazy rain storm last night. Ryder was sleeping by 730 last night. He woke up at midnight and I let him cry for 10 minutes. Gave him his paci and he slept for about 10. Then he woke up again and I let him cry for 15 min, then gave him his paci and he fell back asleep till 3am. Of course, the hurricane that happened in Mayer last night started around 1am and kept me up basically all night, regardless of whether Ryder was awake or not! Stupid--I could have actually gotten SOME sleep if it weren't for that. Anyways, at 3am, I let Ryder cry it out for 15 minutes to start and then gave him his paci. He slept then till 550am. I fed him at this time and he went right back to sleep till about 8-830 or so. So his sleeping wasn't terrible even though he did wake up three times. I took molly's trick and had Ryder sleep in our main level and I slept upstairs and would just turn the monitor off while he cried so I wouldn't have to feel so dang bad (ha, I sound like an evil mom) but anyways, it seemed to work. I could still hear him when he cried loudly, but other than that I couldn't. I guess we'll just keep on trying this tactic and hopefully it gets us somewhere. Ryder has gotten better about putting himself to sleep for naps, which he never used to do, so I'm hoping that carries over into the night and he can learn to put himself back to sleep sooner rather than later!!

Also, I work all weekend, so it's up to Joe to continue this...wonder how that is going to go???! He's such a softy, that I don't know if he can do it ;)

Day 2 of no sleep..but better at least

So last night Ryder went down at at 7pm like we usually try to get him down at for bed. He woke up for the first time at 1045 for a brief five minute cry before he went back to sleep on his own. Then!!!!......He woke up at 1230, 1, 130, and 2am. Each time I gave him his paci and he fell right back asleep. I think he kept waking up during this time because he's used to getting fed at this time normally. He never really had a "cry out" session where he really cried, but that's because I gave him his paci. Like I said yesterday, he usually gets more mad at night when you try to give him his paci and he spits it out or just won't even open his mouth to take it at all. So I don't know if I've opened a new can of worms here or what. I think he's discovered, 'well, since she won't feed me, I guess I'll wake up and take the next best thing: my paci".

Anyways, so then he slept from 2 to 4. He woke up at 4, I gave him his paci and he fell right back asleep till 540am. I fed him at this time and put him right back to bed and he slept till about a little after 7am. So, like I said, I never had any cry fests for Ryder last night, but now we're doing the whole get up a million times anyways for a paci fix. So my question is: do I let him cry it out without his paci so that he doesn't develop the habit of HAVING to have his paci to go back to sleep??? What do you think? I am open to suggestions....

The first day after the cry-out

So, I decided that now that Ryder is getting rice cereal in the morning and in the evening, he's not starving and he doesn't NEED to eat in the middle of the night. So I thought I'd see how it goes with trying to let him cry a little. We put him to bed for good at 7pm. At 1am he finally woke up, I caved and fed him. He went right back to sleep but was up again at 330. He fussed for the first ten minutes, but then he started to really cry at 340. I would go over to his pack n play every five minutes or so (he was in his pack n play in the living room downstairs so that dad wouldn't hear him all night. Mom slept on the couch by him) and give him his pacifier-which he refused to take and it would just tick him off even more. So I did that about three times and at 4am when I did it the third time he accepted the paci and fell right asleep! No need for feeding him.

After that, he woke up three times between that 4am time and when he got up for good at 8am. But each time I just gave him his paci and he fell right back asleep, which he never does. So he only fed one time between when we put him to bed at 7pm and when he was up for the day at 8am. That's really good in my book, even though I was awake a TON and slept ZERO last night. We cut out two feedings the first night! I'm hoping it goes better tonight and the next and the next until he just sleeps. We'll see.

Tonight my goal is to not cave in at the midnight/1am feeding and let him cry it out. I never thought I would be the mom to let my child cry it out. But after five months of no sleep and ESPECIALLY the last two nights before this, I thought...okay I'll try A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. to help. So I'll try again tonight like I said, so cross your fingers.

As usual....

My Flash Me Friday posting is not on time...typically I post on a Thursday or a Saturday or a Sunday even. And now we can add to the list: Monday. Oh well. I was really busy on Friday and then we left first thing Saturday morning for Alexandria, MN for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary (50 years!! Joe and I are coming up on 2 years in October. Times that by 25...that's a loooong time!) and then we didn't get back till last night late. SO: better late than never. This week's Flash Me Friday is your dishes.

These are our dishes. Nothing special. Thank you to Target.

This is our dish cupboard. The blue plastic bowl that's in the center of the middle cupboard is from my Freshman year in the dorms. I love that bowl: the perfect cereal bowl. Joe would like me to get rid of it, but I just can't!

This is Ryder's cupboard. He already has so much crap with all of his bottles and now bowls etc. It's too hard to keep organized. So I just shut the door and forget about it :)

Weekend update

We went to the Haskins' cabin this weekend. Probably the last one of the summer in Park Rapids (I work Labor Day weekend...booo). It was absolutely gorgeous up there; also probably one of the nicest weekends we've had up North this year. There was some boating, kayaking, and a LOT of ice cream eaten ;) Here is a picture of Ryder riding in the car home. Just chillin like a homeboy.

I love this one with his bucket hat and swim trunks on...he's seems slightly annoyed, doesn't he?!

Anyways, so just as I was thinking about updating the blog saying that every person who ever told me that rice cereal helps a child sleep better at night was lying to me. It's all a bold-faced lie I tell you. (there is one exception--molly---who told me that it's not a guarentee. I chose to listen to the others who said it helped. Hey--I needed some sort of hope to hold on to, right?) Ryder still, even though we've been doing rice cereal every night for two weeks will still wake up 2 sometimes 3 times a night. stinker butt. BUT then (and it may be a fluke...but I hope not) last night I fed ryder and did his night time ritual of cereal, bath, nurse, bed. He was sleeping in his crib at 10pm. He slept until 530!!! then I fed him and I put him back down at 6am. I heard him chatting to himself for a little bit, but I fell back asleep. Then I woke up at 9am and went in there and he was already awake but was just staring at his little crib mirror. I LOVED it. So I'm sure you're thinking, wow, Carly got a GREAT night of solid sleep. Nope. Joe and I got into bed around 1045. My boobs woke me up a little after 3 because they were full. I pumped a little and tried to go back to bed around 345, but I was thinking he was going to wake up at any time to feed, so it was hard to fall back asleep. Then I finally fell asleep at some point and I woke up at 5 panicking because I thought Ryder MUST have been smothered otherwise there was no other reason I hadn't heard him yet. (thankfully, that wasn't the case). I guess I can't complain totally. I did sleep four hours straight before my boobies woke me up. Let's just hope this is not a one time only thing.

On one other side note, ryder is now doing every three weeks for physical therapy rather than every other. Progress!!! Have a great week everyone.