"Crying it out"; quite possibly the finale to the saga

I am ridiculously excited to share the last three nights with Brayden's "cry-it-out" progress...

Eight minutes
and then ten minutes last night
but nothing is better than the TWO MINUTES tonight.

He also turned nine months old tonight.  Where (seriously; WHERE THE F***) does the time go?  He turns nine months old at 11:44 pm anyways.  It's a good story about 11:44 on April 29.  Maybe I'll tell it one day ;)


Celebrating two minutes by watching stupid TV with the hubster,
xoxo- Lyn

Crying it Out

“It’s YOUR turn”

Glaring with envy at my husband laying in bed with our five year-old, I can hardly get the words out without sobbing of frustration, guilt, and a broken heart.  Really though, it’s his turn.  I just spent an hour nursing the baby, who by the way is a 8-month old monster about to pop teeth, and then another thirty minutes swinging, dancing, and patting said 8-month old.  How had it come to this? When he was a baby, I’d nurse on each side twice, lay him down, and he’d pass out.  Around the time he started sleeping all night (two months) was the same time that he wanted to be snuggled to fall asleep.  I was perfectly okay with that. I’d nurse both sides twice, throw him on my shoulder, and firmly pat his but until he’d nod off.  Then someone started the bounce-swing-pat and Brayden has never returned from that black hole.

Just after I’ve showered, gotten ready for bed, and I’m finally laying down, my bliss is inevitably interrupted;

“Are you sure he’s not still hungry?” daddy dearest has to ask the one thing that’ll throw me over the ledge.  Because getting sucked raw is totally the top of my to-do-twice-in-one-night wish-list.  Why not, huh?

Flash-forward another hour and I’m finally cleaning up the kitchen from dinner and the prospect of bed looks like its really nearing. Until… Yep, I spoke to soon. Thank everything or everyone that is holy or has ever even used the word holy, Ryan jumped up quick enough that he’s on put-back-to-bed duty. 

Nearly three hours later Brayden is finally asleep for the night.  He’s asleep so Ryan and I get to meet up with our pillows. Hit our pillows and sleep for a total of five hours before the alarm clock blares at us to start the day all over again.  

*****************

This was happening every night, and nights were awful.  I actually started to resent Brayden at night.  I desperately wanted to read a bedtime story to Kien and snuggle him in his bed until he fell asleep.  I wanted to doze off in Kien’s room like I used to.   And I wanted to go to bed before 11:00 at night.  It was all these things that made me finally ready to let Brayden “cry-it-out”.  You can read my Ferber vs. Brayden entries and see that I have been against any form of letting my baby cry.  I couldn’t even handle the five minute intervals in the Ferber Method.   But this time, I was desperate.  I hit limits in myself that I hadn’t known existed.

The outcome: After SEVEN nights of Pandora on BLAST in my headphones we’re still going strong.

Night 1: 55 minutes of straight screaming.  This was so hard for me.  I couldn’t hear him during songs on my iPod, but between each song my heart broke more and more. 

Night 2: more Pandora echoing off my eardrums; this time for only 45 minutes

Night 3: under half an hour!

Night 4: 40 minutes :(

Night 5: 30 minutes

Night 6: 5 minutes!!! 5 minutes!!!!!!!!

Night 7: 20 minutes but I also put him in bed a little sooner than normal. He was wide awake (but tired) when I put him down tonight.  The other nights I let him drift off in my arms and THEN put him down and he woke up.

Now I’m totally ready for bed by 8:00.  I’ve had “me time” listening to music and working on Created by Lyn or making myself a new pair of earrings.  I’m a happier person, a happier wife, and a happier mommy.  I just have to get past the 20 minutes of heartbreak, but it’s so much better than resenting my baby for two hours every night.

I don’t in any way think that this approach is for everyone. I will not dare to begin preaching that this is what all families should do.  I was so completely against even the thought of it!  It’s all up to the baby and what his/her parents feel.  Brayden never had tears when he cried for us at night, so I know that he wasn’t hurt or anything, he just wanted snuggles. He gets so much affection during the day that I’m not worried anymore about him feeling neglected or deserted. We needed to do this for our sanity.  After all, what good are we are parents if we are completely loony, exhausted, and pissed off?

Seeing results, getting work done and going to sleep at a decent time,

Lyn

project: Yarn Wreath

I finally got to check off one of my Craft List To-Dos!  It's exciting and oh-so-rewarding when I get to look at something pretty and know that I did that

I've been seeing these yarn wreaths all over Pinterest and in magazines. I finally got to make one and for my first run, well,  I love it.

Pink spring daisies and orchids

Created by Lyn will be featuring some themed ones very soon!

Love my front door,
Lyn

The mind of a five year old

Over the past two weeks we've spent a lot of time at the condo where my parents are staying. The best part is that the pool is practically in their backyard. During said two weeks, Kien has begun to confidently swim and has learned a few new terms.

"cotton ball"

"cat pool"

Okay so when he used these terms I (along with anyone around me) was completely confused before figuring out what they mean. "Cotton ball" needs only a little explanation. It's what he thought a CANNON BALL jump was. Picturing a jump that could possible be coined a "cotton ball" was by FAR the highlight of the moment.

"cat pool".... WELL.... I'm already giggling... I called the small kid pool a "kiddy pool"... So of course Kien thought that I was saying "kitty"...and the rest is humorous history.

I love the innocence of a child.

Wants to be five again,
Lyn

So many ideas, very little energy

I'm stuck in an inspired creative rut. Explanation: I have a billion ideas I want to do (craft and home related) but I've been so tired lately. And then my brain goes on overload because of these ideas trying to burst out and then I kinda shut down. Makes no sense right? I'm tired because I stay up too late at night and I'm still not adjusted from Christmas break to early school mornings.

I finally got Christmas decorations down. Sort of :P. the tree is naked but still in the living room. I've converted some Christmas stuff to winter/spring decor, and the lights outside are now in a pile in the garage. So I've made a little progress :P

Our bathroom renovation will start soon ! We finally have all the supplies and flooring and wainscoting and all that good stuff do whenever Ryan is ready to start, he can! I know I should probably clean off the bathroom floor and in the soon-to-be-garbage vanity... But like I've already said; I'M TIRED :(

Before Christmas break ruined by routine, I had one big goal a day. There's the normal day-to-day stuff, and then I'd have a goal to accomplish. Like "reorganize closet", "purge clothes", deep-clean Kien's room", etc. well those goals have gone out the window with my dead wreath. I should get back on those. I JUST GOT AN IDEA. Man I love "talking" things of with myself ;P. I'll write down all my day-goals and put them in a jar and pull one each day. That might be fun. Maybe I can make myself start Monday. Tomorrow I need to deep clean the ENTIRE house; tomorrow evening I'm babysitting a family of four kids, ages 9,3,2, and 2 months. Holy moly, right?! It'll be fun. So I'm gonna toddler proof everything in hopes of a smooth night.




I'll leave you with some adorable pictures of Brayden.

Need more sleep but I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday,
Lyn

The grass is coming in, slowly but surely.

Latest mini-project

Brayden is mobile now and keeps me running all over the house.  He ROLLS faster than a normal human walks, and he vanishes with the ease of houdini.  One second he's in the living room with me and the next I hear Kien's toybox in his bedroom topple over.  He's trapped in his highchair right now ;).  Anyways because of Brayden's constant movement and his need for attention, the only projects I've been able to fit in during the day are small ones.  This one that I did yesterday took me away from the boys for less than five minutes TOTAL, and that included the four times I went back to the project.  It also cost me NOTHING since I already had the materials.

The picture is self-explanatory so I really don't feel the need to instruct or caption.  I ultimately did four coats of chalkboard paint on the jar, and let the final layer dry 20 hours before using chalk on it.  I probably should had sanded the jar a little bit to rough it up, but I didn't think of that until I was putting on the second coat. 

TA DA :)

Baby room

Brayden is eight months old (even though he was born yesterday) and his bedroom has been ready for ten months. BUT I wanted to share how damn ADORABLE his room is.

Overview of the baby room, looking in from the door

When I was pregnant I started to obsess over the woodland owls that were everywhere.  Of course they needed to be incorporated in to his bedroom :) Especially after my baby-shower ended up owl-themed.  My amazing crafty friends made a bunch of owls which are placed throughout the room

bits and pieces of the room

I made the elephant, bee, owl, and B prints.  The bee has since been replaced with a "You are my Sunshine" print [that I also made]. The same "You are my sunshine" and the owl are currently available in my Etsy shop.

the wall where the door is

I also made that alphabet next to the window to match Brayden's name. This customizable print is also available in my Etsy shop. I call it the "nalphabet".  corny? yes!

Changing table. I now have a white lamp between the pad and the alphabet frame.

The one window in the room

I made the crib skirt, window valance, trim on closet curtain, and light switch plate all with three yards of this black-and-white fabric. I was so glad to be able to do this :) It was hard to find a modern-ish black and white fabric that wasn't girly (damask is everywhere).  I had my mind set on polka dots but when I found this I fell in love.

The fabric I used. 

The greatest part about this room is that it's not considered super "neutral" (no yellows or greens here!), but if a baby girl Campogan comes along soon she can still have this teal room because it's also not BOY or GIRL. If I do get to convert this to a girl baby room I'll add a SPLASH of mermaids and seahorses to this teal beauty and VOILA.  Or if our little family doesn't grow beyond four, this teal room will made a perfect work & craft room / office.

New Created by Lyn logo

I have done numerous logos and business cards for customers but I have still not made either for myself! At least not until tonight ;). Okay this is probably still a work in progress but so far I like it :) 

You can check out my new Etsy shop banner by visiting my shop.  Nothing new listed to Etsy recently, and I plain-out have no excuse for slacking on that. Kien goes back to school tomorrow so maybe I'll have more time. HA! Kien isn't the one who limits my productivity...

Ready to get ON IT,
Lyn