Adventures in Night Weaning- NIGHT 1

Night 1 wasn't as bad as I had anticipated it to be. Here's how it went:

10:45pm-Moo nursed to sleep.
11:00pmish-I fell asleep :)
12:00am- I woke up. N was fussing and tossing and turning.
12:30am- Moo woke up. N woke her up, actually, because of the ridiculous tossing and turning. Hubby's snoring probably played a roll in it, as did my anxiety over her possibly waking up.

I nursed Moo for a minute or so, and unlatched her before she fell asleep (but was groggy). She wasn't having any of it. She cried. A lot. Over the course of about 3hrs, she fought, cried, I sung to her, etc. Hubby decided to move to the couch. I don't blame him. About halfway through those 3 hours, I was feeling really cruddy (I almost never use that word, haha). I decided to take my temp, and had N (who was wide awake) turn on the light for me. I pulled out my old basal thermometer and I thought it said 106!! I thought that couldn't be right (battery was low, lol) so I pulled out the celsius thermometer. My fever was only 102, but since I was so out of it and dizzy (REALLY dizzy) I took some medicine. Back to bed, lights out, and continued with the "please sleep" fight with Moo.

3:50pm- Moo was finally asleep! I got her that way by rubbing her belly and singing a lullaby to her.... about 300 times.

I tossed and turned and finally fell asleep. Then hubby started snoring again, so I had to go to the living room and jostle him a little so he'd stop.

4:30- Moo woke up, largely due to the fact that big sister N was still tossing and turning and making a racket in her bed. BUT, she crawled over to me, laid across my chest, put her head on my shoulder, and started rocking herself to sleep! (I think she gets the big idea now!).

After she fell sound asleep, I laid her next to me. I then tried to sleep, but couldn't because our lovely cat Artemis kept sleeping on my head.

5:30ish- Moo woke up again. Wide awake and in a really good mood. I decided to call this the end of our "7 hours" (though it was only 6.5...) and nurse her. We're now up for the morning.

So in a nutshell, she woke up:
12:30am, 4:30am, and 5:30am.

We;re also trying to fix our sleeping patterns right now- but I'm fairly happy with how things went tonight. I got an hour of sleep and will be exhausted until naptime, but I think I'll survive!

Adventures in Night Weaning

So, the time has come. I've decided to nightwean Moo, if she'll let me. She has been waking all night to nurse, constantly, and I'm far too exhausted to be mama in the mornings. My back has also been killing me from nursing her in a weird position ALL NIGHT, so it's time. We plan to implement Dr. Jay Gordon's method, since it is fairly gentle and I've heard great things about it. The first three nights, from 11pm-6am, I'm supposed to nurse her, but put her down awake and soothe her to sleep. Fingers crossed it doesn't get too ugly. She's a brutal little kiddo.

I'm also battling a cold.. so I must get to bed.

Happy Winter Solstice!!

It is only 2 something AM, so our Solstice festivities are not yet underway. Photos are still to come.

I feel such a warm presence around me, I feel incredibly spiritual and filled with light. Today is the solstice, and there was a total lunar eclipse (though I did not get to see it, Mother nature was being quite modest with her cloud cover tonight!). The energy I feel at the moment is very profound.

I have taken this time to meditate, nurse M, shuffle around the snow outside, and breathe in the cold winter air. I have reflected on the past year quite a bit and there are some definite changes I'd like to make in the coming year. I feel like I need to get closer to Mother Earth. I need to feel more grounded. The feeling I've felt tonight is a feeling that I last felt when my mother passed on.

Right now I am making the garland for tonight's (later!) solstice celebration. N told me that she wanted me to make garland for the tree outside, for the "Snow Angels". I've been stringing dried orange slices, apples, carrots, and raisins into garland for the "Snow Angels" to come and eat. We're also going to hang a lantern or two in the tree so the snow angels can find their way on the darkest day of the year.

Whoops! (=

I just found out that the solstice is actually TUESDAY, not wednesday. Woohoo (=

Here a MOO, there a MOO..

...everywhere a MOO-MOO!

Today we had a party for little M. She had a blast. Her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday (also the solstice!!). The party was quite large, but since we had one just like it for N's first birthday, I figured we'd do the same for Moo. She especially loved her cupcake from The Bleeding Heart Bakery. They're an awesome organic bakery who uses local ingredients and sustainable practices.. if anyone is in Chicago, I highly suggest you check them out. Their red velvet cupcakes are divine. I'm rambling..

The party was fun, I got to see a few friends (some old and some new!) and was overall wonderful.

Also, MOO TOOK HER FIRST STEPS TODAY! N didn't take her first steps until she was 14 months old. I'm very excited and oh so proud of my little one.

Whether the weather be cold...

...or whether the weather be hot,
we'll weather the weather,
whatever the weather,
whether we like it or not!

It's COLD! Granted, it could be worse, it's actually 25 deggrees out right now. Last night it got into the single digits, and I'm sure the temps will continue to plumet. Something is up with our furnace and it's not heating the house at all (I went and felt the side of it when it kicked on and it doesn't get warm at all!). I've got a space heater going and that's not exactly ideal. I might order another one from Amazon because this one isn't effectively heating the house. Without the space heaters it's between 55 degrees and 60 degrees during the day! The space heater kicks it up to about 70 and it makes all the difference, but it only heats one portion of the house at a time (so our bedroom are is significantly colder, and the bathroom and hubby's office are both around 50 degrees. Brr!

Anyways, Moo is having a big party on Saturday for her birthday. It's not very Waldorfy of us, I know, but it's a tradition that we have a big party for our children's first birthday. That said, all of the food will be home made (except for the cake, which needs to be quite large and I couldn't afford our local organic bakery) and the treats will be natural not toxic-laden ones. No real games, just a big activity table set up for kids to color and create, etc. It should be pretty fun :)

With that said, I've got to continue cleaning. I don't have much energy and want to curl up in a ball as it is FREEZING in here, but I think I'll survive!

Back for business.

Well, after a brief hiatus, I'm back.

I had stopped to contemplate taking photos down. A few months ago I requested on facebook that family & friends not post photos of my kids on their pages. Most of those photos weren't OK'ed by me. Currently, I feel that yes, photos can be posted, but my permission needs to be attained before hand.

As for the blog, I have decided to continue posting photos here, as I normally have. I want my children to grow up knowing that photos of themselves matter, and being in a blog with stories about them, little vignettes, almost, is a great start. At least, in my opinion it is.

So. Updates!

My darling husband Jaime has gotten me a sewing machine! It was for our anniversary last month. I'm still learning to use it, but so far I have made Moo a pair of longies and N a pair of under-mittens from a felted wool sweater.

I may be starting an online business. Hint: has something to do with breastfeeding advocacy. Check for updates in the coming weeks!