Dinner with the Bonnetts

Some of our sweet seminary friends, the Bonnetts, were back in NC for the week for a wedding. Jeremy and Kenneth used to work together at the seminary and they lived around the corner from us in seminary housing.

On their way to Wilmington, they made a pit stop in Wake Forest so we drove back to have dinner with them. The Bonnetts moved to upstate NY to pastor a church so we haven't seen them in almost a year! It was fun watching them get excited about sweet tea and hearing country music. The Chasteens joined us and we had a great time catching up and feeding our faces.

Before we left, we decided to take a few pictures. Thanks to Leigh for remembering the camera.

The Bonnetts and Coxes

Leigh's daughter Ava with Hayley Bonnett and Owen

Hayley is going to be such a great babysitter.

All the kids, Emet, Elijah, Ava, Hayley, and Owen

Bonnetts, thanks for making us a part of your trip! We enjoyed our time together so much!

P.S. Going to Wake Forest made my heart hurt. I wanted to be back there so badly! Because we got there early, we drove around town, back through our neighborhood and my school. It's amazing how much stuff has popped up in the last 6 months. We miss that place and those people so much. Can we move back please?!!

Small Victories

I'm doing a little happy dance.......Owen has taken 2 (count them..dos!) naps today both 2 hours long!!! Each time it took him less than 15 mins to fall asleep! He also went down last night after only 30 mins of crying!

We're not getting ahead of ourselves but we'll count the small victory!

Spring Purse

Remember a few months ago win I won that fabric in a blog giveaway? Well I finally got around to using. It was such fun fabric that I almost hated to cut it. I wanted a new spring bag so for the past 2 weeks in sewing class, I have been working on it. It is finally finished and I think it turned out pretty well. I wish the handle was a little longer...it doesn't quite fit across me like most hobo bags but oh well I only had a yard of fabric.

7 months

Our little man turned 7 months old today! He is getting so big and getting farther farther away from being our little baby.

Here are his stats (by my measurements since we don't visit the doctor this month):
Weight: 19 lbs exactly
Height: 28 inches (ok random...they said he was 28 at his 4 and 6 month appts but last week at the ENT they measured him 26 1/2. We keep getting conflicting measurements. I think someone doesn't know how to measure!)

(Look his tongue isn't always sticking out anymore!)

At 7 months, he:

• is eating more solid foods. He has tried: avocados, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. His favorite is banana and oatmeal.
• is rolling over from his back to stomach pretty often, but can't seem to roll the other way.
  
• is making all sorts of new sounds. I swear I heard mama the other day. :)
• loves jumping in his exercisaucer
  
• likes wearing hats (His Nana and Papa gave him this one. He wore it last week for a stroller ride around the neighborhood. He has a cute Gilligan hat too..I'll have to take a pic in that one too!)
• can move an object from hand to hand
• can grasp and pick up an object with his thumb and pointer finger.
• loves to bounce on our knees
• is quite the little chatterbox (would you expect any less knowing his mom?)
  

I still don't see any teeth emerging and he makes no real effort to crawl. Lately when put on his belly, he looks like turtle stuck on his back. He put all of his limbs in the air and rocks on his stomach.

I don't really have to discuss his sleeping, because I posted about that yesterday. This last week though he has stopped waking up for an early early morning feeding, which has been great. If only getting to sleep and naps was easier, life would be grand! He is sleeping on his stomach half of the time. Sometimes I think it's because he rolls over when he gets upset and doesn't know how to get back. Out of exhaustion, he just resigns to sleeping that way.

Owen is such a joy in our life. His smile melts our hearts and we can't imagine what our life would be like without him.

Sleeping revisited

We continue to have issues with Owen's sleeping. He is still not going down for a morning nap and fighting the 2nd one too. He is obviously tired in the morning as I catch him slowing down and yawning. I have set up nap routines and I have adjusted his times. Nothing seems to work! This is now affecting his nighttime sleep...he is crying for almost an hour every night and he cried for 2 hours last night and still didn't go to sleep. At that point, I went and fed him again as it had been almost 3 hours since he ate. He went to sleep after that at 9:30! Dude, what is your deal?

I am beside myself in frustration. I have taken everyone's suggestions and have tried to apply them in some sort of fashion. I just don't know how to help him sleep.

Why Moms are at Risk for Internet Addiction?

I found this article by Rachel Mosteller on CNN.com this morning and felt like she could be writing about me. I have copied the article below....what about you? Are you addicted?


I was scrolling through family photos on my computer, admiring my two beautiful babies, when I spotted a disturbing trend: My laptop was open in almost all of the pictures. There's my daughter, at 8 months, playing at my feet while I typed away on the couch. There's me and my son, a year later, with the laptop at my side as I held him in my arms. (Ok there aren't pictures of me on the computer!)


I'd heard about Internet addiction before, but always assumed it was something limited to socially challenged guys who played too much World of Warcraft. Now it seemed my Internet "habit" was slowly but surely crossing the line. Sometimes I found myself up into the wee hours of the morning, surfing the Web while my family slept. I read the news, kept up with friends, and looked up answers to endless questions. I wrote my personal blog and read dozens of others, just for something to do.

It turns out I'm not the only mama who plugs in and zones out. Coleen Moore, coordinator of resource development at the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery in Peoria, says that she's seeing more and more women coming in for Internet addiction. They're young, they're often new mothers, and they're addicted to blogs, message boards, and Second Life, she says.

These moms are contributing to a growing global addiction. There's a movement among psychiatrists to recognize Internet addiction as an official mental disorder (just like alcohol dependency). And a recent Stanford University national survey found that 14 percent of Internet users find it hard to stay away from it for several days at a time (yes! I went through withdrawal when our computer was broken!); 9 percent try to hide their "nonessential Internet use" from their loved ones; 8 percent admit they use the Web as a way to escape problems.

You're likely not the kind of addict that Moore has seen -- women who don't bathe and abuse drugs to help them stay "up" for more online time. You may have noticed, though, that going online has become an imposing part of your life, which, at the least, means a load or two of laundry goes unwashed (and who cares about that?).

But it may also mean you're missing out on time with your baby -- something you probably do care about. Here, why we're so susceptible as new moms to that blue glow of the screen.


'I feel like I'm going crazy'

Tonya Barksdale's son Joshua was born prematurely and released from the hospital under the condition that Barksdale keep him at home for two months without any visitors. Since her husband works long hours, Barksdale was alone most of the day.

"When my husband got home from work, I was clingy and dying for someone to talk to. I started to feel like a crazy person. I was becoming depressed without any interaction," she says. Parenting: When postpartum depression lasts

Desperate, she went online and found the community she needed. "I'd talk to people in chat rooms for hours." But not about babies or parenting. "I needed to feel like a normal person who could have normal conversations that weren't about breastfeeding or how many ounces my son gained." Soon, she was spending as many as eight hours online every day.

"In addiction treatment, we talk about the fact that there's a void," says Moore. "Whatever that void may be -- whether it's emotional, spiritual, physical -- typically, we're trying to fill it."

For many new moms, she says, that void is the isolation -- both the tangible isolation of being home alone with a demanding newborn and the mental isolation of diving into uncharted waters -- they often experience during the transition to parenthood.

"Being a mom of young children can be very solitary," agrees Jay Parker, cofounder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Washington. So it's easy for them to turn online, he explains, to find other parents and create a world there where they are not alone. Once that world is created, it becomes an escape that moms may turn to whenever they're stressed, lonely, bored, or sad. In addiction, they become dependent on that escape. Parenting: Ways to beat new-mom stress

"I called it my 'avoidance cycle,'" says Jessica Rigby (her name has been changed), a pregnant mother of three from Idaho who used to write four blogs. "Whenever I felt overwhelmed, I would escape into mindless Web surfing. I'd find myself circling through the comments section on my blogs to my photos on Flickr to see if anyone had commented on them, and then over to Twitter to see if anyone was chatting with me there. I'd waste hours just waiting for someone to respond to something I'd said or posted." Because she'd skip errands and allow her kids to make a mess of the house, she says, her stress only amplified, and she'd dive into the avoidance cycle all over again.

And even now that Barksdale's son is a healthy 5 months and allowed to socialize, she still finds it hard to resist the Net. "Today, I had to unplug my computer so I wouldn't go online," she says. "I probably spend the same amount of time online as I did when it was all I could do."

'I can be a different person'

If it were just an escape that moms were looking for, however, they could flip on the TV or pick up a book. But according to a recent Babytalk.com poll, more than double the number of moms choose the computer over books or the boob tube during their babies' naps, showing that they're looking for something more than an escape: connection, yes, but also a way to express themselves.

After giving birth, says Moore, many women feel like they've given up their identity to the all-consuming role of "mother."
Health Library

"It's another sense of loss common in new moms," she says. Flirting with ex-boyfriends on Facebook or buying a handbag online may remind us of the people we used to be -- the working woman, the woman who had time for art projects, the woman who wore skirts and lipstick.

"I'm just a mother in real life, but online, I can be a whole person," says Ashley Bryan, a mom of 2-year-old twins from Las Vegas, of her four-hour-a-day online habit.

On virtual-living sites like Second Life, where users create avatars, moms can become anyone from a leather-wearing motorcycle chick to a college cheerleader. In moderation, trying on different personas can be healthy, assures Moore. It becomes problematic when the online identity becomes so appealing that you neglect your real-life role. Parenting: Moms' dirty little secrets

"My husband feels like I don't spend enough time with him," says Bryan. "He says that every time he's home and can watch the girls, I dash online."

'I have so much to do!'

Online, you can pay bills, order diapers, upload photos, and look up possible causes of your kid's constipation. In fact, you can almost accomplish too much online.

"Ticking items off a to-do list is intoxicating when you feel like you don't have much control over other parts of your life," says Parker (and what's more uncontrollable than life with a newborn?).

Diane Anderson, mom of a 7-month-old in Memphis, knows the feeling. "I started following coupon sites and became so engrossed in finding deals that I neglected the important things, like time with my son, for a while."

After the Internet, real life can seem, well, unproductive. "When I play with my boys, I feel like I should be getting something done," says one mom of 18-month-old twins in New York City. "I almost get antsy just hanging out with them, and I take regular breaks to check my e-mail, respond to a Facebook friend request, or order photos from Snapfish. I'm addicted to online errands." Parenting: Getting over new-mom guilt

Going off-line

Think you might be hooked? Try keeping a journal of how often you go online for a week. Then assess what you're missing out on when you do it -- sleep, family time, work?

Also note in your journal what was going on each time you decided to sit down at the computer. Was it right after a fight with your husband? Were you bored? By figuring out the triggers that send you seeking refuge online, Moore says, you can come up with alternative activities that help you deal. If you're stressed, for example, you might take your baby out for a walk.

Moore also suggests making small weekly goals that get you involved with the real world: Join a playgroup or grab coffee with a friend. And if you can't control your habit on your own, talk to a therapist who deals with addiction. Parenting: Eight ways to be a happier mom

As for me? I quit blogging after six years and am working hard to meet new people. Jessica Rigby is doing the same. "Getting off-line has helped stop the flood of mama guilt I had all the time. I still have guilt over different stuff, but at least now I don't have to lie in bed and think about all of the times my kids wanted something and I shooed them away because I was absorbed in my Google Reader."

Wordless Wednesday

And sleep......

I love sleep...always have. I can sleep in the car, in class, on the couch, just about anywhere. So why in the world is it so hard for my son? For the last 2 weeks we have been battling with him over sleep. For a while, he was going down great at night. He would cry for maybe 5 mins then drift off to dreamland. Last two nights, cried for an hour and still wasn't asleep until I fed him again. Though he did sleep through the night those 2 nights, so it's wasn't all that bad. :)

Naps have been a bear, especially the morning one. The kid does not like to take a morning nap. We have tried everything. I have created a nap routine where we wind down for 15 to 20 mins by reading and rocking. I try putting him down before he yawns, after he yawns. I have tried an hour and half after he got up and I've tried 2 hours. I have numerous books and tried to follow all of their advice in the last 6+ months of his life. Yesterday I talked to all my mommy friends, in hopes of getting some advice.

Suggestions I have heard:

• Maybe he doesn't need a morning nap.
• Wait longer before putting him down.
• Leave him be once you lay him down.
• Put him down earlier because maybe he's over tired.

So today, we tried the waiting longer. He was showing visible signs of sleepiness. Rubbing his eyes and yawning so we went upstairs and read. I rocked him until he was about a sleep and then laid him down. He only cried for 5 mins!! Not sure if it was fluke or the solution but we'll see. One thing different today too was that I woke him up at 8 before he woke up. It was weird how long he was sleeping but he may just be catching up on his zzzzs.

He was so cute when I went to check on him this morning...evidently he has found out how to sleep on his stomach (new development!) Hey maybe it helps!

Family Pictures

We received our family pictures in the mail on Saturday. There were a whopping 683! Courtney did a great job and to save you time I have gone through and posted the best ones. (60 of them...hey that's almost a 90% decrease!) I have created a Facebook album for your viewing pleasure, just click on the picture above!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner AGAIN

I won another giveaway just by reading blogs!

This time I won a key fob from the Prayer of Hannah blog. I've been reading this blog for quite sometime as I know a couple of the women who write on it from seminary. If you don't read it, you should...I have learned so much from them!

Tongue-tied no more

Owen has his appointment with the ENT to examine his tongue. She said he was definitely tongue-tied but it wasn't that tight. She said that it could eventually stretch out and we could just wait unless he was having difficulty eating. I told her how he had difficulty staying latched on and I had to help him a lot. She thought it was best to go ahead and clip the frenulum.

I was surprised how short and painless the whole process was. Jeremy held Owen's arms down while the doctor took a pair of surgurical scissors and made a fast small cut. Owen didn't even cry and it only bled a tiny bit. The doctor had me nurse him immediately to help put pressure on the spot as well as provide comfort. Owen was so fine though and cared very little about taking a whole feeding. He wanted to play instead!

I feel good about the whole thing. I'm glad that we won't have to worry about it in the future and worry if it could affect his speech. Now if he talks funny, we know it's because of us! :)

Crayon Roll

I have started taking a sewing class on Tuesday nights at the community college that Jeremy works at. I have some basic sewing skills but wanted to learn more and thought this would be a great opportunity, especially since the class is only $21. Little did I know that it wasn't really a class, but more of a club. Upon arriving, I found out that it is a "class" that senior citizen women take every semester. They use the time to work on their craft projects. All of them already know how to sew and use it as a social time. There were about 5 of us in there who are actually in it to learn, which left the "teacher" a little dumbfounded at the first class.

Tuesday was our 2nd class and we were supposed to bring in a pattern and some fabric to start a project. I didn't have a shower gift on the horizon or anything particular to sew, until I remember that last week was my niece's 2nd birthday. We weren't able to make it to the mountains for it so I forgot to buy her a present! Whoops! Therefore, in honor of Madison, she gets my first sewing class project....the crayon roll.

Finished productInside
Outside
Look at the fun detailing...It's little bows!

Stacked with fun colors
Tied up and ready to go...complete with crayons and 2 coloring books.

Easter 2009

I hope everyone had a great Easter and celebrated the amazing sacrifice of Jesus made for us on the cross. Easter was a fun time of family and eating for us! Here's a little picture recap:

My parents gave us a swing for our front porch. Here is our little Easter bunny sitting on it. (Cousin Cindy gave Owen this outfit way before he was born...look closely to see that it says My 1st Easter. Seriously the kid has had my first every holiday outfit!)

He is such a ham for the camera.
Daddy and Owen enjoying a swing.

The outfit came complete with bunny ears and a tail.
Isn't he sweet?
The bunny wanted to get down.

The bunny in his natural environment. Hopping in the grass.
Papa and Nana came over for dinner.

On Easter day, we went to church with my family and then over to my parents for lunch. The lovely family shot.
Thanks Ms. Stell for letting us borrow your pretty tree.
My Ma-Ma with her grandkids and great-grandson.
Mom and Dad with Owen.
Jeremy tried to set the timer to get a whole group shot but this what happened. Nice butt shot!

After this we finally got to change. Everyone was extremely sleep and everyone took a nap and watched the Masters. Overall it was a great day!

A little bragging..

I have to brag on my husband a little. Over the last few months, he has been working hard to refinish this tv cabinet. We were given the cabinet when we moved in by my aunt and uncle. The cabinet was originally a white wood and we wanted it a cherry to match the rest of our stuff. When Jeremy started this project, he had no idea the beast it would become. From wood breaking to a veneer finish, it just presented more and more challenges. Jeremy persevered and this weekend we finally moved it in. It looks great and adds so much to our room. The picture doesn't really do it justice due to the lighting. But it really is great!

Another one bites the dust..

Since moving to Nashville, it seems like we have had the worse luck with our stuff. First our refrigerator died then our vacuum cleaner and now the computer. A month or so ago, the computer stopped charging and the power cord would not work. We had it looked at it and they replaced the AC outlet. It worked fine for the last month until this week when the computer would start freezing for no reason. Finally this weekend it finally would not come on anymore. After some research, we found out that the motherboard went out. Due to the age of our laptop, there was no point in trying to have it replaced. Because it would cost more to fix it, we decided it was better just to replace it.

Though we don't really have the money to replace it right now, we needed a computer. My husband is trying to do some freelance graphics work and he needs a computer to do it. He really wanted the new MacBook Pro but sadly they are $2500 and we do not have that kind of money. We compromised and got another PC (which was SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper) and as he gets jobs he can save up for the MacBook. I am very thankful to have a new computer. It's sad how dependent I have become on having one.

We are praying that the rest of our stuff will stay in working order. We really can't afford to replace anything else!

We've Gone Global

A while back Jeremy installed Google analytics on our websites. The analytics program allows you to see traffic on your site as well as get stats on who is coming, what they are looking at, etc. I decided to check on mine today to see who was stopping by.

On average I have about 50-80 visitors with 80% of them being return visitors. (Thanks guys! Are we really that interesting? Or is my parents continuously checking for pictures of Owen. :) ) But on March 23rd I had a spike of a 188 visitors! I went back to find out why exactly this would have happened and realized that was the day I won the fabric contest on Sew, Mama, Sew. As a winner, they posted my name and link to my site. Because of that day I had a jump in traffic of about a 100 people. Now people from all over the world are visiting our little blog. Here is a list (are you one of them?):

• Turkey (I know who you are!)
• Canada
• Mali
• Spain
• France
• Switzerland
• Australia
• Brazil
• UK

If you visiting our blog now from one of these countries, would you leave a message and say hi? I'm curious as to who you are.

Thanks for reading about our little family. :)

VICTORY!

There'll be a Carolina Victory
When cross the field the foe has fled
Cheer the team to Victory
For we are Tar Heels Born and Bred (Rah! Rah! Rah!)
Glory Glory U.N.C.
Our hearts will live with thee
Fight! Fight! Fight the Blue and White are
Rolling to Victory!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2009!!!

I'm so proud of my alma mater!!

Ball Pattern

Many of you have asked for the pattern for the ball.

Click here for the directions. Have fun!

New Craft Project

I'm always looking for fun new things to make. While searching around, I found this ball online that you can make from your scrap fabric.

It was a time consuming project but fun nonetheless. Owen seems to enjoy it!





Keep scrolling down...I posted 3 times today!! Aren't you impressed?

Owen at 6 months

As promised, Owen's new developments....at 6 months Owen is:

• a happy and friendly baby...rarely does he meet a stranger he doesn't like
• able to sit up by himself
• eating rice cereal, oatmeal, avocado, and sweet potatoes
• breastfeeding every 4 hours
• able to say hey (well at least that's what it sounds like to us!)
  
• putting everything in his mouth (come on teeth...come out already!!)
  
• just this week, sleeping through the night again
• FINALLY taking a nap in his crib for LONG period of times
• smiles when either one of us enters the room
• the cutest baby in the world!!
  

6 month checkup

Owen went to the doctor for his 6 month check up today. Here are his newest stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 3 oz. (75th %)
Height: 28 in. (100%)
Head: 18 in. (95th %) He's got a big head!!

The doctor said he is doing great. He did notice a dry spot on his face and gave us some cream for it. Dr. Baliga also told me that he has ankyloglossia aka tongue-tied. This means he has an unusually short, thick lingual frenulum, a membrane connecting the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. He can not move his tongue past his bottom teeth. Come to find out this is why it looks like his tongue is always stuck right there in front....he can't move it!

I've been trying to read up on this afternoon. Evidentally this can be to blame for him not being able to suck on a pacifier as well as being a messy eater. Many children with this have difficulty breast feeding. It is by the grace of God that Owen has been able to breastfeed with very little problems. Maybe that's why he had such difficulty in the beginning...luckily he adapted.

The doctor has now referred us to an ENT on the 16th. They are probably going to have to clip the fraenulum under his tongue so he can have full range of motion. I'm worried that if we don't do something, it could affect his speech later. Anybody out there had this done? Do they put the child under sedation? What is the recovery time? Do they have trouble eating at first because of pain? I would love your insight!