Friday, May 30, 2014

Switch

So this happened yesterday.
We went cold turkey on the switch from the Rock N Play to the crib. I just wanted to get it over with. It hasn't been easy but I'm powering through. I'm also breaking every baby rule out there. Bumpers are in, I've got a pillow in there plus some blankets to make it feel like the Rock N Play, and I've even left a teddy bear in the far corner. Campbell keeps wiggling down and ends up being completely flat so I think I'm going to take it all out before the weekend is over. I was just trying to make the transition a little easier for him but it doesn't seem to be making a difference.
Scott and I are starting Baby Wise tomorrow. Cross your fingers that it works for us. I really want to get this little peanut on a schedule. I owe it to him....and to me. Enjoy your weekend folks!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Flat

My Mom and Grammy just took off after being at my house for almost a week. It was nice getting to hang out with adults for a little while! Ha. I enjoyed getting out for lunch every day and having someone to run errands with. By running errands I mean, Campbell is happy when we get out so I have to get out a few hours a day. Even when I have absolutely nowhere to go or nothing to do!! I was hoping I would be able to take advantage of them and let them babysit for me while I hopped over to the pool for a few hours but it's been cloudy and rainy here so that didn't really work out for me too well.
I considered sending the girls home with their Gamma. Not because they get in my way or make life harder but because I sometimes feel like they need a break!! The crying gets stressful to them (especially Ivy) and life just isn't what it used to be. No more calmness, not as many bye bye trips, no more good sleep....I sometimes feel bad for my girls. I decided not to send them down to Little Rock though because I'm selfish and just can't part with them for very long. I need my nuggets!! I think they miss their Momma and Daddy after being away from them for a few days anyway. Maybe we'll make a trip down to Little Rock soon for a little getaway/change of scenery!
This little peanut has suddenly become a fan of laying flat. He used to hate it but now he's so content. He coos, smiles and kicks his feet and is totally happy! It's kind of really nice! We're going to attempt to make the transition from the Rock N Play to his crib this weekend. I've had a tiny bit of anxiety about it. Just as we're finally starting to get more sleep around here, I'm gonna go and mess it up. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think though. Especially since he's enjoying laying flat now. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Twenty Nine + Memorial Weekend

I had a fun and eventful weekend! The neighborhood pool opened for the first time this year so you know where I was!!
Scott and I brought Campbell to the pool with us for a little bit then Scott took him home so I could relax and enjoy friends + sun without worrying about my baby. Campbell doesn't know it yet but he's going to have so many great summers at the Hyde Park pool. I know he'll enjoy spending so much time there with his future neighborhood friends. There are so many babies born within weeks of one another in this neighborhood so Campbell most definitely won't be short on friends! I love, love that for him.
Later that day we went to Brad and Jaclyn's house for dinner. Right when we walked in the door with Campbell, Emmy was fascinated. She kept pointing at him and saying "baby" and giving him kisses. It was the sweetest thing!!! I think I took about a million pictures of it. These photos will be priceless one day. We'll have to pull them out for their high school graduation slide show or something!
My birthday was on Sunday and my family was in town which was great! We went to Crepes Paulette for lunch then I came home and headed out to the pool. I really didn't get to enjoy the pool much because Campbell kept being fussy and wouldn't nap well therefore I kept getting summoned. Plus it rained a little. Regardless, I still had a good time at the pool even if it was short lived. Later that evening we had some friends over to our house for pizza on the patio!
That night Campbell slept horrible and I thought it was all my fault for not being completely hands on with him all day. He kept waking up every two hours and when I was rocking him in the middle of the night, I was boiling mad at myself for feeling the need to celebrate my birthday/being away from him more than usual. I can kind of laugh at myself for that now but I'm so neurotic about his schedule because keeping Campbell on his schedule/routine = better sleep for his Mommy. It's just not worth it to me to mess it up! I was in an absolute panic all day on Monday that I was going to have to start all over and it would take weeks for him to sleep 5+ hours again. So the entire day I was obsessive about making sure we did our regular routine with Campbell. Thank heavens it was just a fluke (I guess) because Campbell settled back into his regular 5+ hours of sleep last night. Whew! I thought I was going to end up having those day dreams about running away to the Double Tree again.
All in all it was a great long weekend and a fun birthday. The whole weekend was spent with friends and family which is always the perfect way to do it in my book.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Two Months

Our little peanut is two months old today!!! 
Weight: We go in for our two month check up in one week. I would guess Campbell is around 10+ pounds. I'm always so anxious to know how much he weighs!

Height: Again, I'll have to update this later. He seems pretty tall to me though....or either he has long legs because his pants are always short on him.

Sleep: Well....we slept for 5 1/2 hours 3 nights in a row. Before that we were going good at 4 1/2 hours for a little over a week or so. Then last night we had a major setback and slept in 2 hour increments all night long. I've been stressing over it all day! I'm praying it was just an off night because the 5 1/2 hour stretches of sleep have been amazing!!

Eat: We're still breastfeeding. Campbell eats about 7-8 times a day. Most of the time I nurse him but when I give him a bottle we do 3 ounces and he seems pretty satisfied with that. Sometimes I'll nurse him afterwards in case he's still a little hungry. Campbell loves his bottles! He typically gets 2-3 a day. I always give him a bedtime bottle (it's part of our bedtime routine) and Scott gives him a bottle first thing in the morning so I can sleep.

Clothes: We're in an awkward clothing stage right now. Newborn clothes are starting to get too small but 0-3 month clothes are way too big. We just make due the best way we can!

Diapers: Pampers are still our favorites and we're still in the newborn size.

Likes: Bath time, car rides, when Daddy swings me in my car seat, running errands with Mommy, gripe water, childrens tylenol (on the rare occasion we give it to him--he's obsessed), gas drops, ceiling fans, laying on my changing pad, being outside.

Dislikes: Getting out of my bath, when Mommy uses the Nose Frida (even though Mommy is oddly obsessed and enjoys doing it a little too much), taking prevacid for my reflux, and evenings (hello witching hours).
Month Two: Month two started out terrible. The first few weeks of month two were the hardest of my life. The last few weeks of month two have been so much easier. It's actually pretty amazing how much easier things are now. Campbell is a much happier and content baby these days and gives us the sweetest smiles. I seem to fall more in love with him every day and he's quickly becoming my best little buddy. Life is definitely different but at the end of the day, I realize I would much rather be snuggling my baby boy and rocking him to sleep than doing anything else. He's my favorite priority! We love our little peanut!!!

Friday, May 23, 2014

Five Hours & Twenty Minutes

So this happened last night.
It's the longest Campbell has ever slept!! So exciting except I didn't get any more sleep than I normally do. I woke up at 1:30 because that's when Campbell usually wakes up. I looked at the clock and sat straight up in bed then grabbed my monitor and saw Campbell wasn't awake yet. He's always swaddled which means he doesn't move which isn't good for my middle of the night anxiety. I stared at the monitor for a good 5 minutes before I finally hopped out of bed, ran up the stairs and decided to check everything out for myself. He was fine, of course. Ugh when am I not going to be paranoid? I'm going to go with never. Which means I'm not going to get good sleep for the rest of my life.
Once Campbell finally did wake up, he gave me this smile when I went to get him. I know he's saying "yay I did so good Mom!" I mean, the morning smiles make my heart melt into a huge puddle on the floor. Nothing makes my heart feel like this. The smiles are everything.
Gracie is here!!! And suddenly everything is right in their world again.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Out

Happy Thursday everyone! Today feels like the beginning of the weekend to me for some reason. I have to keep reminding myself that it's Thursday, not Friday. 
Speaking of the weekend, I'm really looking forward to it! Our neighborhood pool will officially be open and I plan on parking my behind next to it for as many hours as possible. My birthday is on Sunday and all I want is the chance to hang by the pool and get a tan. I really hope that I'm able to get to hang out at the pool a lot this summer. I know it will be different this year and I won't be able to live there like I usually do (sad face) but I'm hoping I'll be able to figure something out to where I can still spend a lot of time there. It's always been my happy place and I need to be able to get in my pool time with my neighborhood friends for the sake of my well being. I'm being for real y'all. 
Yesterday Scott and I had a lunch date and, of course, we brought the little peanut along with us. It's always so scary because you just never know what may happen! Campbell was a perfect little angel the entire time! It always makes me so proud. I've learned that Campbell really likes getting out and about with me. I've been running errands with him every day this week and he loves it. He's always wide awake and just looks around and takes it all in the entire time we're out. It's a nice change of scenery for the both of us I suppose! 
I was playing with the girls and throwing their toys this morning. I accidentally threw one behind the bed and it's been pure torture for Madison and Ivy. I can't figure out how to get the toy out from behind the bed so there has been almost non-stop barking going on ever since. Lovely. Daddy is going to have to handle this situation for me when he gets home. In the meantime, I'm going to do my best to distract them with outside playtime. Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Two Years & Eight Weeks

Two years ago today I brought home my precious little girls! 
It's hard to believe they've been in my life for two years now. I love these babies so, so much. They bring me so much happiness and joy!!! I love having two puppies versus just one. They play with each other all day long and sometimes it seems as if these two are in their own little world. I know I say this all the time but I love how much they love each other. They are the best of friends and their love for each other runs so deep. It makes my heart so full. If you want to take a trip down memory lane with me, you can read all about their first day at home with us hereIt's kind of crazy to me how pegged I had each of them after only being around them for a few hours!
This little peanut is 8 weeks old today! It's kind of crazy how different Campbell is today than he was just 2 weeks ago. He's awake most of the day now and is a lot more content sitting in his swing or bouncy chair while I take care of things around the house, instead of needing to be held the entire time he's awake. He's so, so smiley in the morning and it melts me! I love his smiles. We have a bedtime routine and it seems to work pretty great. Around 7:30 we do bath then bottle then he gets rocked to sleep and is out around 9:00. He sleeps until 1:00-1:30. After that you just never know. He's gone back to sleep and slept for 5 hours once before (it was the most amazing thing in the world) or he may only sleep for 2 hours....like last night. I'd actually like to try to push his bedtime routine back a little bit to allow more sleep for me. I tried last night and he was super fussy. We'll keep trying!
Now that he's 8 weeks old, I would love to get him on a daily routine but I have no clue how to go about doing that. I've googled and flipped through books and there doesn't seem to be a guide for me to follow. I need a guide. Like, should I feed him before he goes to sleep or after he wakes up? I pretty much feed him on demand now. And he likes to snack. Do I stop that? How many naps should he take and how long should they be? How long should he be awake for between naps? I have tons of books but I don't have time to read them. I honestly wish these baby books would just get to the point. About 90% of what I'm reading is just ramblings. Can't you just say 'do this, this and this' in just a few short pages and let that be that? Ugh, annoying. 
I'm pretty sure my little peanut is going to wake up soon so I better hop off. So much to do and so little "free" time to do it in....

Monday, May 19, 2014

thirty

We celebrated a big birthday over the weekend! Scott turned the BIG 3-0 yesterday!!! We helped Scott ring in his 30th year with a crawfish boil all day on Saturday and it was a blast!!
It was at Craig and Jax's house and the event kicked off at noon. The little peanut wasn't quite ready to go that early so I arrived about 2 hours late. Everything was in full swing by the time I got there and lots of our friends were there to join in on the fun!
I had Ricks do a crawfish boil themed cake. I thought it turned out pretty cute!! 
I'd like to rave to you about how delicious the crawfish was but I realized once I got home that I never got the chance to have any. Such a bummer!!! I heard it was fantastic though! The party went until the wee hours of the morning but Mr. Campbell started his evening fussiness around 6:30 so we had to leave the party early. 
Apparently after I left this happened.
Twice. 
That's my baby's daddy! We're so proud of him. 
Scott told me the next day that he had a better time at his 30th birthday than he did his 21st! Glad you had a good time babe! You were due for some fun. Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Friday, May 16, 2014

Indulgence

I got to indulge in a special treat today! My nuggets and my peanut got me a massage for Mothers Day and today I decided to turn in my gift certificate! I had it done at Premier Dermatology here in Bentonville and O-M-G is that place amazing. I can't believe something like that exists in Arkansas to be quite frank. I felt like I was in a whole other state...or country. The decor is absolutely gorgeous and the spa was heaven. It is officially my go-to place for self-indulgence.
If you live in NWA you absolutely have to treat yourself and go to Premier Dermatology for a day at the spa. I can't say enough wonderful things about it!
After my massage I did a little shopping around town then headed home for some Papa Murphy's pizza. Do y'all do Papa Murphys? Scott and I get the take-n-bake probably once a week. We love.
....and just because they're so stinkin cute! I love these two SO MUCH. My sweet girls.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Turning A Corner

Something crazy happened in this house last night. Campbell slept from 9:00-1:30 then from 3:00-8:00. Say whaaat?!! I was so excited when I woke up and it's all I've thought about all day! I have a feeling (knock on wood) that we're going to start getting more sleep in the Johnson house from now on. I think we've turned a corner in the sleep world. For the last week Campbell has been sleeping for longer stretches. He used to only sleep for 2 hours but now he never sleeps less than 3. It's amazing how much of a difference one hour can make.
I think one reason we're getting more sleep around here is because, as of 1 week ago, we've officially moved Campbell into his room. He's still sleeping in his rock-n-play but instead of it being parked next to my side of the bed it's now upstairs. When he was sleeping in our room, once he started making his little hungry, grunting noises I would pick him up and nurse him. A couple of nights ago, I heard him grunting through the monitor so I started to get up but then he stopped. I watched the monitor for a few minutes then he fell back to sleep for another hour. I almost wonder if I would have been getting more sleep a long time ago if I had moved him up there sooner. Let's not think about that though....
We don't really hear his grunting noises anymore and I only go upstairs when he starts to cry. Scott and I both agree it's made a world of difference in our sleep! I thought that I would hate climbing up the stairs all night but it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I like it better. I love being able to rock him to sleep now and I feel like he goes to sleep faster. I honestly think he really likes being in his room too! We have black out curtains in there so it's nice and dark and I'm pretty sure he knows the room is all for him! Yay for better sleep for all 5 of us living under this roof!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Lunch Dates

Today has been such a great day! I got so much sleep last night so I felt so, so good this morning. If you haven't noticed by now, I really love sleep. Like, more than the normal person. Scott gave Campbell his late night bottle so I went to bed early. Campbell woke up around 1:00 to eat then again at 5:30. Scott said he was wide awake at 5:30 so he just took it upon himself to take care of that feeding too. Whoop! I told Scott if he always wanted to do that he was more than welcome to :)
Since I woke up feeling so refreshed and human-like, I texted my buddy, Jaclyn, to see if she wanted to have lunch. Pre-Campbell that's something we did once a week...sometimes twice. Since the little peanut has arrived we've only gotten to have lunch together once and I've missed it so bad! Since I'm typically not up and moving until noon most days, it's been hard to get together. But today was the perfect day to have our lunch date---so we did! Campbell did great and snoozed the entire time. As Jaclyn said, when you bring them with you somewhere it's such a risk!! You never know if they're going to be quiet or not even when you think you've timed it out perfectly for them to sleep! Thankfully he slept and we got to have our long lunch!
The activity mat is a big hit around here. Well, with everyone except for Campbell. He really doesn't like being on his tummy for very long and he hates being on his back. I'm worried it's going to be really hard to put him in his crib when the time comes. I've tried to get him to nap in his crib to slowly get him use to it and he just screams. Any tips on how to make that transition easier would be greatly appreciated!
We put on a 0-3 month outfit today and it almost kind of fits! Campbell has lots of cute 0-3 month clothes so he needs to hurry up and do just a little bit more growing so we can put him in them! He'll be so stylin!!

Monday, May 12, 2014

My First Mothers Day

I had a great first Mothers Day! It all began around 4 in the morning when Campbell woke up from a 4 hour slumber. Scott told me he would get up with Campbell and give him a bottle so I was able to fall back to sleep and get some more Zzz's. I haven't gotten that much consecutive sleep in over 6 weeks so it was pretty amazing. I told Scott all I really wanted to do for Mother's Day was go to church since we haven't been since Campbell was born. Everything with Campbell's schedule was working out perfectly for us to make it to the 11:00 service. We were really hoping that Campbell would fall asleep in the car on the way there but he didn't. And he was wide awake the entire time we were in church. We sat on the very back row in case we needed to make a quick exit and a few times I thought he was about to make some noise so I hopped up with him and walked out but he never got fussy. It was so great to be able to go back to church. It may not always work out with his schedule (or lack thereof right now) but I'm hoping we'll be able to make that a part of our Sunday routine again.
Once we got home, Scott took a couple of photos of me and the little peanut and I love how this one turned out! We finished the day with a nap, a walk and an early bedtime.
Campbell has slept for 4.5 hours in the middle of the night for 3 nights in a row now! The first night it happened it totally freaked me out. I woke up at midnight and saw that Campbell was still asleep. I shook Scott awake and asked him if he had fed Campbell and when he said no I hopped out of bed, grabbed my phone and shined it in Campbell's face to see if he was okay. Once I discovered he was fine, I watched him for an entire hour thinking "what is he doing, why is he still asleep?" Geez. All I've wanted is for him to sleep longer and the first time he does I can't even enjoy it.
I'm so, so happy to report that Campbell's medicine has done wonders for him. He never cries now. It's amazing considering that's all he's done for the last month or so. I actually didn't realize how much he cried until he stopped crying. Scott and I went all around town with him this weekend and he never fussed. It was so nice! Our life doesn't feel so chaotic and stressful now. I honestly just thought that babies cried a lot and he was normal but now I'm starting to see how wrong I was. It makes me so happy that my baby is feeling better. Thank you Lord for answered prayers! And extra sleep!!!! Hopefully we can keep this up!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Dear Mom,

Happy Mothers Day to my best friend who I just so happen to call Mom! I'm so very lucky that God chose me to be your daughter. You've always gone above and beyond for me. Never has there been a moment in my life where you haven't always put me first. You're my favorite person to talk to on the phone and my favorite visitor to have at my house.
You've been such a life savor for me so many times during these last 6 weeks. Sometimes I don't know what I would do without your help! Thank you for watching Campbell so I can get some rest and for discovering that the sound of a hair dryer is a sure fire way of getting the little peanut to fall asleep! You work just as hard as I do whenever you're around our sweet precious boy and I'm always so grateful for your help.
I love you more than you know and hope you never forget how amazing you are. Love you always!!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Colic

I took my little peanut to the doctor yesterday and the poor little guy has colic. The doctor said it wasn't an extreme case but that definitely explains all of the fussiness we've had the last 10 days or so. Campbell is on three different medicines now so hopefully they'll make him feel better. He cried and cried all day yesterday. It's so exhausting!! I'm not one who can just shut the door and let him cry. I feel the need to do everything I can to try to make it stop. I just can't stand a crying baby! Last night, after his bath, Campbell was just so precious and cuddly. I think I kiss his cheeks a million times a day. He's starting to get some meat on his bones and I love it!
Campbell did a lot better today and hardly cried at all. I'd like to think the medicine has kicked in and is working already but I honestly think it's just my answered prayers. I've prayed and prayed over Campbell for the Lord to make him feel better so he can be a happy baby. My heart breaks that he feels bad. I can just tell that his tummy bothers him all the time and it kills me that I can't fix it for him right away. We've had 2 really great days this week so hopefully we're on the road to recovery.
My little Ivy has been so needy today. I'm getting pretty good at holding her and Campbell at the same time. Madison has been needy too. She's been relentless about wanting me to play toys with her. My heart gets really sad for them sometimes. With Campbell being fussy like he has, it's demanded nearly all of my attention. Any time he's asleep I grab my girls and shower them with as much attention as possible. I don't know how Mom's manage when they have a newborn + other little ones in the house. I imagine it's so challenging and you feel guilty a lot. My little peanut just went down for bed so I'm going to hop off now so I can spend some time with my little nuggets. Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Classic View

This is what Campbell and I look like almost all day....
This is his favorite way to sleep. We spend many a nights like this. Surprisingly, I can actually fall asleep pretty well this way. Except for last night because he was wiggling like crazy and I never got any good sleep. I'm running on about 3 hours today.

This is what Ivy and Madison look like almost all day....
Bone for Ivy, toy for Madison. Always and always.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

It Takes A Village

Hey all! I'm back from my unintentional blogging hiatus. I decided last week that I needed a little change of scenery so on Thursday Campbell, the girls and I drove down to Little Rock to spend a couple of days with my parents. I was so excited about being there and it was so nice to get out of my house (and have extra help with the little peanut) for a few days. However, the trip ended up being a bit of a disaster. Campbell decided to be the grumpiest baby on the entire planet and he literally screamed every minute of his every waking hour that we were there. It was horrible!!!
The first 24 hours I thought he had turned into a bad/fussy baby. Then I decided something was wrong with him because it's just not normal for a baby to scream all. day. long. I can't tell you how many hours I spent on google and how many Mom's I was calling/texting to ask them if they had any ideas what his problem could be. He would only take naps for about 45 minutes at a time (instead of his usual 2-3 hours) and Mom and I worked so hard all day to keep him from crying. I would give him multiple baths a day because he loves baths and that would keep him quiet and happy for 20-30 minutes. I ran out to Babies R Us and bought a swing to see if maybe that would help. We went on walks, car rides....we did anything and everything we could to try to keep him happy. It was exhausting. I had only planned on staying through the weekend but there was no way I was going to attempt a 3 hour car ride with a screaming baby. By Monday night he finally started to calm down a little bit so on Tuesday morning I hopped in my car, said a prayer, and headed back home. Campbell slept the entire way home and yesterday he hardly cried. Today he's been a perfect, happy, smiley baby.
I was really concerned that maybe something was wrong with my milk so I made an appointment with a lactation consultant and Campbell and I met with her this afternoon. The first thing she did was weigh him and I was flabbergasted to see that, since last Tuesday, Campbell has gained almost an entire pound!!!! He went from 7 pounds, 14 ounces to 8 pounds, 11 ounces...in eight days! Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I realized that his screaming was most likely due to a major growth spurt. I'd heard that babies have a big growth spurt somewhere between weeks 5-7 (Campbell is 6 weeks old today) so I guess that's what his problem was. I'm hoping that's what the problem was anyway. Just in case I made an appointment with the pediatrician simply because I'm paranoid and anxious by nature and just need the peace of mind that nothing is wrong with my little guy!
I feel terrible that Campbell was so exhausting for his Pops and Gamma but I'm also so glad that I randomly decided to go down and visit when I did because I think I would have absolutely lost my mind if I had to deal with him on my own. My Mom (and Dad) saved my life. That saying "it takes a village" is no joke. I told Scott he was super lucky he got out of that little episode! Mom's are essential to have in your life when you're raising your baby. I didn't realize how much I would need mine! She's been my saving grace more times than I can count in the last 6 weeks. If only we lived in the same town....
It's only been about 24 hours of non-fussyness but I'm hoping we're out of the woods with that one. It was terrible! I hope it never happens again. Happy babies are way more fun and a zillion times easier to work with!