Toddler Bed Drama for this Mama

Alright, basically this whole toddler bed thing is NOT working out for me. I just want to put the crib back together so he's trapped again. haha But I know since I've already got this far, I need to keep going and be consistent. It's taking a while, but I can see an improvement. The other night we put him to bed at 8 and he went down great and slept all night! Last night he fell asleep in the car, and when we got home and changed him into his jammies, he was wide awake and played for an hour and a half. We have to leave his lamp on in order for him to stay in his room. Which bothers me. I want him to learn how to sleep without that, but baby steps right? So he will stay in his room but is noisy and keeps opening and closing his door and wakes up the baby. Last night he came in our room at 4:30....and slept there all night. If that becomes a habit, I'm going to scream. haha I want him in a toddler bed, I just want him to stay there and sleep well all night! Wishful thinking, right mom's? I guess overall the fact that he stays in his room, and eventually falls asleep and usually stays in his bed all night will have to do;) Any tips for this transition? Earlier bedtime? no naps? Sleeping on his floor with him? Or do I just let him kick and scream until he gets it?

Toddler bed Drama!

If you haven't read my post on our family blog about Damon being in a toddler bed....and the pain in my you know where that it's been, read it here!
www.meetthemorleys.blogspot.com
I could use some advice!!

National Breast Feeding Week!

So, I had no idea that there is a week dedicated to us breast feeding mothers. But I'm glad there is!
Check this out!
www.uddercovers.com  You can get free 10 pairs of reusable nursing pads OR a free nursing cover. (those things save my life!) All you have to pay is shipping. You can also get one of their gift packs which is 2 pairs of nursing pads and a cover. It ends up being like $16. Great deal!
www.sevenslings.com   I have one of these slings and I love it! it's a little tricky to figure out at first, but it comes with a guide on how to fold it and all the different ways you can wear it. It holds kids up to 35 lbs. But I've never tried to put Damon in it;)
So if you are in need of either of these, go check out these sights! They have lots of super cute patterns! And they are good quality!


Speaking of breastfeeding, Rafe is 7 months old today. I nursed Damon to a full 10 months but he had 8 teeth at that point. (I know that's crazy, but he teethed so dang fast). So I stopped at 10 months because the teeth were so big, they were kind of catching me when he nursed, and he was super distracted, and wanted to eat table food. So I stopped. I was excited to start it back up with Rafe because I had such a good experience with Damon. ( I know not a lot of moms can say that, Nursing can be painful and pain in the butt) But since Rafe was tongue tied, it made it a lot more painful. So now that that's gone and it's doing much better, he has decided to start biting. Thankfully he has no teeth. But he is teething. So I'm debating if I should stop nursing and just start more solids and formula.
I have a TON of milk saved up so he could probably keep getting breastmilk for the next month or two a few times a day. And I can keep pumping, but that's a pain! But unless he stops biting, then I'm done. I'm not one of those moms who wants to nurse my kid until he's 2 or even past 1. There comes a point when I'm ready to be done playing mommy cow.
The other thing I'm concerned about is I'm getting my tonsils out on Sept. 25. I think all the drugs and pain killers that I take after could affect my milk. I don't want that to transfer to him so maybe it is time to call it quits. What would you do in my situation? Is there anything you do that has worked to stop your baby from biting and gumming you while you nurse? I've squealed so loud and scared the crap out of him, but he still does it. Every. Time. HELP!

Nap time is the best time!

So the last few days I've let Damon skip his naps so we could put him to bed earlier. It's been weird to see the change in him. He has actually been better than when he gets naps! How is that even possible? He's so sweet that we let him stay up late just so we can be with him. Usually we are counting down to bedtime! He usually goes to sleep around 9:30 and sleeps until about 9 A.m. then gets his nap at 2 and sleeps for 3 hours. But lately it seems like the time he's awake in the evening isn't long enough so he's never ready for bed so he stays up and talks to himself for like an hour an a half at least!
I put him down for a nap today so lets hope he wakes up happy. Maybe he's been so good without a nap because the worst of the fits are over? Or he's learning how to deal with his anger better? Either way we are leaving for Florida in 5 days and I want to have this worked out a little better. And I like having nap time! It's time that I can have to myself and even if D is ready to ditch the nap...I'm not...too selfish?
It's always the best when Damon and Rafe nap at the same time. Like right now...AMAZING! It's so quite and I can just relax and not worry about them for a few hours. Rafe's sleep was getting thrown off but has gotten much better the last few nights. He went to sleep last night around 9:30, right after Damon, but then he woke up around 11 and was just inconsolable. So I just let him cry and after about what seemed forever, he just stopped. and went right back to sleep. It was so weird, but then he slept until about 6 then woke up at 8 and was wide awake for a bout half hour then went back to sleep until 12. What in the world. It's the weirdest thing.
Does it drive anyone else mad trying to get their kids on good sleeping schedules and same nap schedules? This is getting better, lets just hope it stays that way!

Who are you and what have you done with my children?

This phrase has come into my head a few times this last week. Trying to figure out a good way to discipline for fits, dealing with no naps,  and having a baby who slept GREAT for the last 3 months suddenly switch to 3-4 hour stretches...who are these kids? I want mine back. The fact that we are going to Florida in a week is kinda discouraging to my efforts. Their schedules are going to be so thrown off when we go, part of me is like what's the point of trying to fix it now.  I can try to keep them on the same schedule....but that'll be tough. Damon has been going to sleep around 11. sometimes later. He just hangs out and talks to himself in his crib forever!!! and his naps are always hard. Today he climbed out of his crib....he hasn't done that in a really long time.
Rafe has hardly been napping lately. Probably because a few minutes after he falls asleep, Damon wakes him up! He's so loud and doesn't understand when I tell him to be quite. He just says "Yeah" then goes on yelling. Rafe is also teething and constipated. So that could have something to do with his weird night time schedule. He used to sleep from 10-7:30ish. It was amazing. Now he goes to bed around 10 and wakes up at 2:30 or 3...not too bad, but from there it turns into every 2 hours. I don't know what to do. I usually swaddle him. when he breaks out, he wakes up. He doesn't take a binky real well so the only way to calm him down at night is to nurse him. I'm worried that he will adjust to eating during the night if I keep doing that. So i need help! What should I do. Is it just a phase? Is it a growth spurt? Ear infection?
And how should I handle Damon's fits? Today I've started Time outs and it's actually been working pretty well. My ped. said to really only stick him in timeout if he does something wrong. that it's ok for him to be upset over certain things and he shouldn't be punished for that. I totally agree with that.....but he just needs to learn not to freak out whenever he hears the word no, or doesn't get his way. I don't really say anything when I put him in timeout. I just say, stay here and throw your fit, when you're done you can come back. It's worked ok, I just didn't know if anyone else had anything else that worked well for their kids.
Here's a little story for you that some of you can probably relate to.
Dan and I went to the mall. We decided that Damon can just walk next to us and that he doesn't need his stroller. He fights it every time and we end up letting him get out and walk next to us. He's really good about it and way better behaved...so we thought.
We walk into Dillards and he spots the escalator right off the bat. So I take him up, then back down, then say let's go find dad.
Que fit.
UGHHHHHH
So there I am. Trying to calm him down. Pick him up and he starts hitting my face. Not hard, but enough that I was about ready to loose my shiz. So I put him down and try to talk to him. Meanwhile everyone is staring at me....probably thinking that i never discipline my spoiled rotten child. so, I just walked away. haha I just walked around the corner and watched him throw him cry with his little hands in his mouth. Then after about 30 seconds I came back and said, you want to go up the stairs? He stops crying immediately.  I pick him up and say "too bad!" hahahaha and we found Dan who was pretending he wasn't the dad to that screaming child and he was pretty good the rest of the time we were there. But let me tell you. I hated it. It was so embarrassing. What am I supposed to do when that happens? I would have taken him outside but we just happened to be smack dab in the middle of the store. awesome. anyways! Have a good laugh at my expense! I laugh looking back at it now, but it was so not funny at the time!

Does Mommy ever get a break?

Alright Mommies, I'm going to preface this and say that I absolutely love being a Mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. That being said, Can I go on a vacation?! hahaha
Damon has hit a phase where he throws fits....quite a bit. Some days are better than others, and this week has been A LOT better than last week. Last week I thought I was going to snap. We took away his binky and his bottle and those have made a huge difference. Usually the binky makes him happy if he gets upset, now that that's gone, the fits have hit....hard. If he gets told No, or doesn't get his way, he has a meltdown. I just walk away and let him work it out and when he calms down, I try to distract him from whatever he wanted. If he does something mean, he goes in time out for a minute where he throws his fit, then I come back and get him and tell him why it's mean to hit mommy or throw toys or whatever it was. I feel like it's a pretty good system and it works well for us. He's slowly learning how to deal with his frustrations. Me on the other hand, I'm starting to lose it a little bit! haha There have been times when I put both babies down and just go in another room and close the door for a minute. Rafe has been super constipated and is teething and has just been so fussy lately. He can't take a binky real well because of his tongue so it's hard to soothe him. Add that to the cranky two year old and my days are really fun;) They usually nap at the same time, but all last week and this week they have been on exact opposite schedules. This isn't so bad because most times I'm just dealing with one kid. Especially in the morning. Rafe's afternoon naps are really short because Damon's so loud and whenever I put him upstairs away from the noise, it's almost too quite for him, or Damon will want to go up and get him....which results in me trying to pull him away from the stairs, which causes crying, and the baby to wake up haha.
Anyways, I just needed a little vent shesh and to get these thoughts down. It helps me for some reason when I can type this all out. I know someday I'll look back and laugh at these times. Each day seems to be a little better than the one before, so that is awesome. But the last 6 weeks or so have just worn me out. (that's when we all got sick, sleeping sucked for all, fits started, and teething started.)
Right now they are both sleeping and it's wonderful. I get a little peace and quite and can do something I want, which is always nice;) I know there are lots of you that can relate to me right now, if you have any advice leave a comment or write on my Facebook!
Love you Mommies!

Rafe William Morley

Hey Mommies!
It has been far too long since I have updated my blogs. We got rid of our internet since I graduated and felt like I didn't need the internet anymore. I missed updating my blog, but find having internet can be too distracting for me. So it's nice to have it back....kinda;)
Well I wanted to put an update because this for me is sort of a journal. I put very personal thoughts and feelings on here for my own record, and to hope that maybe someone can relate to what I'm feeling or what's been happening in my life and with my kids. I hope to be better at updating this, and I would love to get feedback and comments from anyone who actually reads my ramblings! p.s. this is a long and detailed post!
SO in my last post, I was 33 weeks pregnant. My whole pregnancy with Rafe I was worried about the delivery. Most of you know how my first delivery went, and I didn't want the same experience with the second baby. Knowing that Damon was well over 8 lbs, my Dr. told me that vbac's are easier with a little smaller babies. So I needed to get him out before he was too big. (He didn't say that, but I knew that's what he was implying). At my 38 weeks apt I had him strip my membranes with the hope to get things started. I felt like I finally had everything ready and my house had been cleaned 20 times with Clorox wipes haha! I was ready to get this baby here and stop thinking about how the delivery was going to go, and just get it done!
My mom talked to me about taking castor oil. I heard a lot of negative things about it and lots of people just said it made them sick from both ends. Didn't sound that appealing. But it worked for my mom every. single. time. So I had her buy a little bottle and she came over to my house and I was thinking about taking it. It was January 5th about 2 p.m. Damon had just woke up from his nap, so I was getting him something to eat. I just had a good lunch of tortilla chips and queso dip with a dr. pepper. Really healthy I know;) Little did I know that was going to be my last meal for 24 hours. haha. I went to the fridge to get Damon some food, opened the door, and my water broke.
Me "uhhh, I think my water just broke!"
Mom "No way! Are you serious?!"
Me "......uhhh yup! That's not me peeing my pants!"
I really did have to stop and think about it before I called Dan and told him what happened. It was so cool to have that moment that you always see in the movies and stuff. Dan came home, I jumped in the shower. (Which was pointless. It just keeeeeeps coming!)
Off we went to the hospital. I was expecting contractions to start soon....but nothing was happening. They checked me in, I had a few contractions here and there and started walking around and bounced on the yoga ball. Nothing too strong. When you're doing a VBAC you don't really want to be induced. Something about pitocin increasing the risks to a VBAC, so I was really nervous to start it. After talking to my Dr. I felt more confident about it. It was 11:30 at night and I had been there since about 3 in the afternoon. I didn't want to start creeping up the 24 hr mark and not have enough progress. So they started Pitocin and I started having pretty intense contractions. Knowing from my last labour, my body has trouble relaxing and doing it's thing. After 3 hours I was in a lot of pain and they were coming so frequently and hard that I was ready for an epidural. I had little food in my system, it was almost 3 AM and had been in labour for 12 hours already and was getting worn out before the real work began. So I had the nurse come in and check me.
3 cm. 80% effaced.
That's what I came into the hospital at! What the heck is going on?! I was pretty defeated. I thought I would be at a 6 or something. So I was tired, and hungry, and ready for the epidural. Once the epidural was in, I could relax and get some rest. I wanted to talk to my Dr. because I needed a little pep talk. He came in around 4:30 and reassured me that even though things seemed to be going slow, things were going good. The baby looked good and was in the right position.....but he was face up. Same as Damon. That's why it was hard to progress. In the end, I couldn't push Damon out because he was too big and he was face up. SO all my worries about having to have another c section were coming back full force. Even if the baby was a little smaller, could I still do it? I was too tired to even think about it so I tried to go back to sleep.  around 6:15 I started to feel some pressure. I was at a 7 and fully effaced. 45 minutes later I was ready to push. I had maybe 2 hours of sleep and was exhausted. Luckily my adrenaline was starting to kick in and I was ready to do this.
After about 15 min. of pushing, my Dr. had to leave to go into surgery. He told me he would be back in 20 min. about 45 min. later he came back. I pushed through the pressure while he was gone, but was so tired. About 30 more minutes of pushing and he had to leave again. The lady in the other room was going natural and was crowning. Totally understandable. He was back about 20 minutes later. Each time he left I felt so abandoned. I needed him to be there. He promised he would be there through the whole thing. Having a vbac has risks and I was worried if he wasn't there something bad would happen. The second time he came back he was there for good. I pushed...and pushed...and pushed. I wanted to give up so many times. I was so tired and felt like I wasn't making any progress. According to the dr and nurses I was pushing the correct way, but because he was face up, it's just harder. I didn't know how much longer I could push and part of me just wanted to throw in the towel. My kids have huge heads and like to come face up...doesn't make it very fun for me! haha luckily I stuck with it and after about 2 and a half hours of pushing on and off- little Rafe finally made his big appearance at 9:33 am on January 6th weighing in at 7.11 and 21 1/2". I was so glad that he was finally here!

He was pretty beat up so a lot of the brand new baby pics are actually kinda scary. I hate even looking at them but it's the only ones I have so I don't want to delete them. I had blood vessels that burst in my face and neck and shoulders so I looked pretty scary as well haha.

Looking back and remembering that day and how hard it was to push out a pretty good sized baby face up, I don't know if I would want to go that route again! haha I know that might sound crazy to some of you. I don't know if it was the lack of food and sleep and my dr leaving my side so much and having to push for such a long time...but I just don't know if I could do it again. There are definite pro's and con's to both. The healing time on a vaginal delivery is so quick! C sections take forever. and you can't pick up your baby by yourself for the first little while and you're pretty sore for a few weeks. I was up and moving and feeling great like a few days after Rafe. C sections take away the labor, the dialating and effacing. You know when your baby will be born. You don't have to push for hours. Whenever I have my third baby, I will have a lot to think about. 

I hear women's birth stories about quick and fairly easy labors and I'm so jealous. I wish I could do that. I just think that my body has a hard time relaxing enough to do it's own thing naturally. I feel like I need an epidural because that's the only way I progress. I need pitocin to get things moving. and both times I've had to push for well over 2 hours. It's hell. Having babies is hard work! haha

If there are any mom's out there who have had babies who are face up, I would love some advice. How was it for you? And same for any mom's who have done VBACS. Some VBACS go so smoothly for some and it doesn't matter how much their baby weighs or if they go over their due date or anything. Is it just my body type? Is it just hard for me to deliver babies? I wish someone could just tell me what to do. I'm not pregnant and I'm not even thinking about having a third child right now, but when that time comes, I don't want to stress the whole pregnancy about what's going to happen when it's game time! Anyways, this is where I ramble. Thank you for those who have read this far. I know it's been super long and super detailed. But like I said, it's kinda a journal for me;) 

so feel free to comment and leave your thoughts with me!