Like I said...for then...

Success last night...not so much today. Note to self...next time do this when Jimmy is here so that I can go shopping or be out of the house...the crying just tears at my heart strings.

Naptime....not so great today. That's all I will say about that.

Nighttime...not awful but sad. She started crying when we went in her room to read a story. That never happened before. Now she knows I'm going to leave her. When we were almost finished with the story she kept saying "no, no, no." Oh it's so sad! I keep telling myself it will get better and be better for both of us but right now it's just sad.

Tonight I shut her door and went and did laundry. A much better and more bearable approach than what I have taken the past few days...you know lay by the door and cry with her. Hey, this is my first kid...no poking fun. Ha ha.

Success...for now.

Naptime yesterday was a nightmare. She cried and cried and when she finally fell asleep she was poopy...again. So of course I carefully changed her. This time she woke up and there was no way she was going back to sleep. So, two hours later I just let her out of her room and she didn't take a nap until about 3 hours after that! It was my fault...I did wake her up afterall....who can blame her?

Last night was AWESOME! I am so proud of Madeline. We did our little routine and then I laid her in her bed with her sippy, blanket, and teddy. She protested but as soon as I left the room....quiet. I waited a while and then peeked in at her. The stinker was sitting in the rocking chair with blankie, teddy, and sippy in hand. Just waiting....quiet as could be. I laughed...how could I not? She has me figured out. I went in and put her back in bed...again a little protest but after I left the room...quiet. I waited longer this time and then checked on her and she was sound asleep in her bed. Even better, she slept all night long and woke up after 7! Yahoo! I am so happy and relieved.

Sleep

I have to admit that I have always rocked Madeline to sleep. I love this time of day. We get to cuddle and read books and sing songs and she loves it too. It has always worked really well for us...that is until daddy got deployed. After Jimmy left to Iraq Madeline suddenly got really needy for mommy when she's tired. She started waking up frequently and wanted me to hold her or snuggle by her. At first I thought that maybe it would just take some time for her to adjust to daddy being gone and the four eye teeth coming in but a month and a sleep deprived toddler and mommy later I have decided that something needs to change.

We are trying the cry it out method. It's hard. Last night was our first night. She cried hard for a good 45 minutes and then zonked out...in her bed. I was so worried that she would fall asleep somewhere other than her bed but the stinker crawled right back into bed and fell asleep there...thank heavens. I went in to check on her when I knew she was asleep and boy did she go crazy in the room...toys and books were everywhere, she even pulled some clothes out of the dresser. She also cried so much she pooped herself. I had to risk changing her and thankfully she slept through it.

She woke up several times at night crying and it was hard not to rush in and hug or hold her. I feel so mean. She has had a lot of adjustments in the past month....is this a good idea? She really needs her sleep and she ended up sleeping until 8 this morning! That never happens. Has anyone else had to do this? I'm sad that I have to let her cry and I'm sad that I don't get to rock her to sleep anymore. I feel like a mean mom. Right now she is crying again....nap time. I'm tempted to run in there but hopeful that if I don't she will end up falling asleep better and staying asleep better...in a couple of days right?

Alonun Pumpkin Patch

We went to a local pumpkin

patch to get our Halloween pumpkins.

Madeline loved wandering around in

the patch. And tried to pick up

just about every pumpkin.

I thought we found some really great

pumpkins for carving, but Madeline thought

we should wander and look

a little bit more....

It was a cute pumpkin patch

and they had so many things to do.

Like take your picture as a

tomato...

go for hay rides....

Madeline loved the hay ride so much

that afterwards she kept saying

more, more, more.

visit the petting zoo.....

She loved petting the pigs...

Sitting with the goats or lambs...

petting the animal...whatever it is.

After all of the fun we went to the

food tent and ate hotdogs and

drank caprisuns....

Madeline had so much fun and got

sooo DIRTY.

It was a wonderful fun day! This little

girl wore herself right out.

More Madeline

We of course always have tons of

pictures of Madeline

so I like to post some of my favorites.

Still thrilled with the idea

of her new big girl bed.

Her little collection of friends.

She likes to line them all up

on her bed and read to them.

Silly girl.

Notice "Daddy" in the bunch.

RAAAAR!

Her favorite movie at the

moment is Jungle Book.

Her favorite part is where Baloo the

Bear is teaching Mowgli how

to roar. This is her imitation of them.

Sweetie Pie

Stinker face. She sure

can pull some pretty dramatic and

telling faces. I get a kick out of them.

20 weeks

Here's my baby belly

at 20 weeks.

I am way bigger with this baby than

I was with Madeline.

I'm saying that it's because the baby

is a boy, it has nothing to do

with the fact that I haven't

got a single ab muscle.

ha ha.

Baby is doing great. At

16 weeks the heart rate was at 150 and

at 20 weeks it was 156.

Baby currently weighs about 12 ounces.

I feel him wiggle and kick all the

time and he likes to push

out, so I feel that pressure on

my belly too.

We are just so excited that

we're having a little boy.

Now it's time to pick that name....

it's not going to be easy.

Big Girl Bed

We turned Madeline's crib into a

big girl bed.

We're trying to slowly transition her into

a big bed so that when baby comes we

can switch out matresses.

Anyway, SHE LOVES IT!

She got so excited to climb

on and off all by herself.

She celebrated by jumping back

and forth and squealing.

Ashes was pretty excited too.

She has always wanted

to get into Madeline's bed and now

she can. Lucky dog.

She loves to just sit up on her bed

with a good book and

flip through the pages.

Sweet little Lou.

She's growing up way too fast!

Primary Halloween Party

Our ward had a primary sponsored

Halloween party.

Madeline is a puppy this year.

The girl is obsessed with puppies and the

second she has this costume on, she amazingly

enough becomes a puppy.

Tongue licking and all.

This little obsession has become

quite serious. Instead of

giving the puppies their treats,

Madeline has been known to sneak little bites

of them for herself. Disgusting, I know.

I decided to go as an elephant,

or half of an elephant anyway.

I loved watching her walk in this costume,

It has a cute little ring of padding

around the tummy and it makes

her waddle.

We had so much fun playing games,

trick-or-treating, and eating yummy food.

This is Madeline and her little friend Ridge.

She adores him. Everytime she sees him

she has to hold his hand.

It's fun to watch them together. She can't

seem to get enough of him.

The cutest little puppy I ever did see.

IT'S A BOY!!

Here's the evidence folks.

We are expecting a little baby boy!

I had the nurse at the hospital put the gender

in an envelope so that me and Jimmy could find out

together. It was the best!

He has the cutest little profile.

You can click on the picture and it will make it bigger.

His ultrasound reminds me a lot of what Madeline looked

like at this point. Can't wait to meet this

little guy!