A Boys Best Friend.

Because of all the time we have been spending at my parents while Jared's away at the Academy, Lincoln has grown very close with their two dogs, Lacey and Brady. Lacey is a 10 year old German Shepherd/Akita mix. She is actually my dog, but when I got married decided it was best to leave her at my parents. That was her "home," and taking her from there would have been upsetting to her. She is seriously the sweetest, gentlest dog I have ever known. Brady, is a 7 year old Golden Retriever. He acts like a puppy. Lincoln and him are best buds. Here is my sweet boy giving the dogs their bones :)
And here he is a few months earlier watching TV with Lacey :)

And how sweet is this, holding Brady's paw?!?!

Right now we don't have any dogs at our house, just our crazy cat, Oliver....which Lincoln adores. I really really want to get a puppy for Lincoln. However, I'm not sure if now is the time to do it, or if we should wait until after we have baby #2. If we wait though, we won't have a dog for a few years. There is no way I'd want one and have a newborn. I'm contemplating getting one maybe this spring.

I always had a dog growing up, two to be exact. And I want my children to have dogs as well. And, I'm not going to use my kids as an excuse to get a dog...I really want one as well! It drives me nuts not having one in the house now, especially with Jared away.

What do you think is a good age to get a puppy for your baby?

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Bye Bye Bottle

Lincoln is 100% rockin' the sippy cup!

It really doesn't even matter which kind....regular sippy, or straw sippy, he takes both happily! We've been bottle free for about 3 weeks now, and it's going great! I started the transition by dropping his two daytime bottles and replacing them with either milk or water in a sippy. He still got his morning & evening bottle. We did this for a few weeks, and then dropped his morning bottle. The following week we dropped his evening bottle, and here we are :) ...well, until we decide to have baby #2 anyways! Here is my sweet boy enjoying a yummy fruit smoothie :) :) :)

...and here he is again saying, "Mom, enough with the pictures already!!!"

The transition was A LOT easier than I imagined it would be, thankfully! I still have a couple of bottles in my house in the event he gets sick and will only drink from a bottle.

The next step..."Operation No More Paci!!" Yeah...I don't think that one will be happening quite yet...my sweet boy is slightly attached to his beloved pacifier :::sigh::: We'll get there...

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Wordless Wednesday

My wee baby boy at 2 months old...

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Reviews/Giveaways & such...

I took a bit of a break from product reviews & giveaways during the Holidays. However, I am ready to get back into the swing of things! I just had a question for you, my readers. What products are you interested in seeing? If you have something in mind, please let me know and I can contact those companies!


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Home Away From Home

Naturally, my parents house is like a second home to me. And it seems to be Lincoln's as well :) Just look at how "at home" he is raiding the cabinets [such a smart boy, this is where his food is kept] ;) Lincoln and I actually spend more time at my parents these days than our own house. Lately, we've been spending the entire week here while Jared is away at the Academy. It works out great, for the both of us. Lincoln misses his Daddy terribly when he's away. Normally on Monday mornings he would be extremely clingy with me at home. Being at my parents offers him a distraction. He gets to see his Grammy & Grandpa, and Uncle! My brother still lives at home. He is absolutely amazing with Lincoln....and Lincoln loves his Uncle SO much!

I think my sweet boy enjoys being here with me during the week, what do you think? :)
....umm, and incase you were wondering, just 20 days left until Jared graduates! I'm not counting down or anything ;)

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Wordless Wednesday

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26 Days

That is how long until Jared graduates from the Police Academy :::throws bucket loads of confetti:::

I thought this day would never get here, but, low and behold, it's finally arriving. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I am SO ready to have my husband back. Yes, I know I have had him home on the weekends, and trust me, I am so grateful for that...however, I'm ready. I don't think there's more I can say other than that.

I give loads of credit to military families. What I have endured the past 5 1/2 months has been SO hard. I would say, "I don't know how you do it," but I do. You just "do." You do what you have to do. You may not necessarily like it, and it may be hard, but you just do what you need to for your family, and yourself.

I cannot wait to have my entire family home every night. To eat dinners together, as a family. To ::gasp:: cook for my husband! Anyone who knows me knows I despise the kitchen ;)

I absolutely cannot wait!

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Bedsharing

I said I would never do it. That was probably my first mistake.

Let me begin by saying Lincoln has NEVER been a good sleeper. The first night home from the hospital was torture. He refused to sleep in his cradle. The second we put him down, he would scream. This continued night after night, until Jared and I ended up sleeping on the couch with him. He would sleep on Jared's chest. We did this for the first two months.

Looking back on it now, and because I'm slightly more knowledgeable about babies, I think Lincoln had reflux but was never diagnosed with it...poor baby. He spit up like a champ....and I don't mean a little spit up. It was more like a waterfall of spit up. Whenever I mentioned it to his pedi, she never seemed concerned. However, I never mentioned him screaming the second we put him down. We live and learn I guess.

At 2 months we were able to transfer Lincoln to his crib. I would rock him to sleep with a bottle, and then he'd go down. He'd wake up once or twice during the night for another feeding. He would also sometimes cry in his sleep. He still does this and it breaks my heart. I *think* he could be having night terrors. My brother had them as a baby, and my Mom seems to think Lincoln has them as well. It is so sad to see your baby crying in their sleep.

At around 4 months Lincoln was sleeping through the night for the most part. He would wake up crying in his sleep still, but either Jared or I would go into his room and rub his back for a bit...most of the time he'd drift off to sleep.

Fast forward to Jared entering the Police Academy. I am home alone with a baby who despises sleep. What did I resort to? Bedsharing. I attempted the first few nights alone with Lincoln in his crib, but it was awful. Lincoln woke up tons and I was miserable, he was miserable, it wasn't a good mix.

Lincoln LOVES bedsharing. And honestly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it too. He is the sweetest baby boy and loves to cuddle. He reaches for me in his sleep, which melts my heart. He still does cry in his sleep though...I really hope this goes away soon.

Bedsharing does have a negative aspect though. When Jared comes home on the weekend, Lincoln absolutely will not sleep in his crib. Which means, the three of us all sleep together. Sounds sweet and all, but I know Jared is getting sick of it and wants to sleep with his wife again...alone.

We are planning on transitioning Lincoln out of our bed when Jared graduates from the Academy in February. I'm not sure yet if I want to try the crib, or attempt a toddler bed. I don't know if he'll feel better sleeping in a toddler bed because he's been in our bed for so long.

If anyone has any experience in this whatsoever, please help a girl out! If you bedshared, how did the transition go? What did you do? I absolutely HATE the "cry it out" method. We've tried it hear and there with Lincoln and he gets SO upset he practically makes himself sick. Any and all help on this topic is much appreciated...thank you all in advanced :)

I guess my whole purpose of this post [other to get some advice from my fellow bloggers], was just to say that when it comes to parenthood, anything is game. Just because you swear up and down something won't happen, doesn't mean it won't! I never ever ever thought I'd be bedsharing....but here we are!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday

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Happy New Year!

Unfortunately, this post will not contain any pictures of my sweet boy because I'm at my parents house, on my Dad's laptop. Perhaps I should start bringing my own when I visit them :)

How did you ring in 2011? Me? Well, Jared and I managed to go to bed at 9:30pm because my Mom was rocking Lincoln. Pure heaven let me tell you. We kissed eachother goodnight and said, "Happy early New Year!" Then Lincoln promptly woke us up at 12:30am to wish us a proper New Year :)

While I don't normally make resolutions, there are a few things I think I should change in my life. First and foremost, I need to get my body physically stronger. I need to start exercising. I am so out of shape since having Lincoln. I mean, I lost all the baby weight, and honestly weigh less now than before I was pregnant with Lincoln, my arms are SO strong, but my legs, not so much. Because of the osteogenesis imperfecta, I have been having to use my wheelchair around the house a lot more than I ever have had to. I cannot carry Lincoln while walking, but I can carry him while I'm in my wheelchair....which is why I've been using it tons more this past year. I never used to use it in the house before....now I use it everyday :(

Lincoln is walking now, so he needs to start to learn that when Mommy's walking, she can't pick him up. It might be super tough at first, but he's going to have to learn eventually.

The walking more will definitely help my body. I also need to add some low impact exercises to the mix.

Saying I need to do this is the easy part....actually doing it is what I need to focus on. Wish me luck on my new little endeavor!

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