Justin and Brooke

Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Brayden Everett Doggett

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Thursday, July 22, 2010

New Beginnings and Updates

I have been MIA lately but for good reason. Most people who know me know that I work at Hinds Community College. They also know that I have to drive 45 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) to and from work every day. I have done this for two years. This has gotten old real quick plus having a child who is in daycare 45 minutes away from you isn't a good idea. With that said, I interviewed at Blue Cross Blue Shield and got the job. I will be an ELearning Specialist (in other words or for my husband that still doesn't quite know what I do...I train people and create training materials especially online based training materials). The best part about this new job...drum roll please...it is 7 to 10 minutes from my home. Wow, I am not going to know what to do with myself. I am nervous about switching from education to corporate America, but I am willing to take the risk. Education is so laid back and flexible, but as many people have told me, change is not a bad thing. My new job has a strict dress code. I have to pull the pantyhose out for this one ladies...yes, I said pantyhose. DISCLAIMER: if you see me out and about in Flowood sporting pantyhose...do realize this is not by choice.

Now onto Brayden...oh how he has grown before my eyes. It is crazy to think that a few months ago, Justin and I were trying to console our screaming baby from 6 pm to 3 am every night of the week. Now, he is so much more happy and calm. His tummy troubles are over! Thank you Lord for seeing us through those times. He is talking to himself a lot. He also sings to himself especially when he is trying to go to sleep. I did not know what he was doing until he did it at the doctor's office. The doctor said, "You must sing to him, because he is singing himself to sleep." My heart melted...he is so precious. He smiles 24/7. His head is not bobbing as much so pretty soon I am going to get his jumpy thing out (not sure what to call it) for him to jump around.

The only issues we are having with BDog (what Justin calls him) is spoon feeding. If you are a mom and you read my blog and have advice...please comment b/c I need advice big time on this one. He ate cereal from a spoon fine one day. Since that day, it has been downhill big time. He gags and cries with every bite. I am not sure why I am calling it a bite b/c every bit gets pushed out by his tongue. I mix two tablespoons of rice cereal with some of his formula. I even add baby food fruit. He still doesn't like it. My friend Kelly talked on her blog about Clark (her little boy) eating up a storm. She said he loves sweet potatoes. I tried just sweet potatoes...he gagged even more. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Am I not holding my mouth the right way? I even give him cereal in between his bottle feedings because most people say it is not good to spoon feed when babies are hungry.

The last issue...SLEEP or Lack there of again, if you have advice on this issue send it my way. Our son has the craziest sleep schedule in the world. A good night for us is when Brayden goes down around 9 or 10 and sleeps until 5 in the morning. This night is a rare occasion. Brayden never sleeps past 5. No matter if he has been up all night, our little man will be alert and happy at 5 am. This is okay until he decides that he wants to wake up every 1 or 2 hours. We have tried the cry out method (our doctor made us)...it does not work. Here was my conversation with our doctor:
Me: Dr. Edwards, Brayden is still not sleeping at night.

Dr. Joe: Really? Are you letting him cry it out?

Me: Well..you see...our child doesn't stop crying.

Dr. Joe: What do you mean he doesn't stop crying?

Me: I mean that you told me he will stop after crying for 1 hour...our son cried for two hours and never stopped. I try to look at the positive side of this doc, when he gets older he will never give up and be a very determined athlete, student, or whatever he decides to be.

Dr. Joe: Well, you have to realize crying has never harmed a child. He will live no matter how many hours he cries.

That was my answer. Well, I know crying doesn't hurt a child, but when my baby has swollen eyes from crying for two hours straight...I put my foot down. I just can't do it. I keep thinking to myself, one day he will be a sleeper, and then I read on facebook how my cousin's two year old still is not sleeping. I guess people were not lying when they say that when you have children you can say bye bye to sleep. I can see it now, Brayden will be 18 and I will still be losing sleep, which brings me to a funny/psycho mom story.

Justin and I were talking about something and all of a sudden Brayden and cell phones came to my mind. Here was the convo:

Justin: talking about something that had nothing to do with Brayden or cell phones

Me: Oh my gosh, hold that thought, honey...we have something more important to discuss. When should Brayden get a cell phone?

Justin: Not saying a word...just looking at me like I was insane and wondering why we had to discuss this while our son is only 4 months of age

Me: Well, I thought maybe when he started driving, but when he is younger he may want to go to the mall and I need to be able to contact him.

Justin: Honey, we all know that you would never let Brayden go to a mall in Jackson, MS...you will have him in a bubble.

Me: My point exactly! You see I want to buy him a cell phone with a GPS chip so I can know exactly where he is at all times soooo...if I see that he is at the mall...I can call him and tell him to get his booty back at home. So my point is that we shouldn't wait until he starts driving. I say middle school or maybe even earlier.

Justin: Poor Brayden

Me: What? I know what you are thinking...I am not going to be a psycho mom. Psycho is not the word for it...I am going to be an overly cautious mom. Oh gosh, I am going to be psycho...poor Brayden! I just don't know how to not be psycho.

Yes, you should feel bad for my child/children. I hope they don't end up hating me. Maybe I will become more relaxed and less of a worrier as I get older.

Justin, Brayden, and I are headed to Chicago the week of August 3rd. I am so excited! Justin has training so Brayden and I decided to tag along. I am nervous about the plane ride and traveling in general with a baby. I have read everything from car seats in cabs (yes they are required) to bring Playtex disposable bottles so cleaning is easier to babies ears on planes and so on. I should be an expert after this trip. I will blog about it when we get back. I have rambled enough...have a great weekend! We are off to Shubuta to visit Mimi and Paw Paw.

2 comments:

Aaron and Kelly said...

The little man will figure the food thing out soon, I promise! I didn't introduce real solids to Clark until he was 5 months old, and he's never eaten rice cereal. He hated it! Also, this sounds crazy, but experiment with different spoons. The shallower a spoon is, the more likely it will fit in his mouth and not choke him. But you shouldn't feel any pressure whatsoever - they say that its not crucial at all to introduce solids until something like six months.

And for the sleeping issues, is he getting enough naps in the day? Or have you tried putting him down earlier, like around 7:30? Just some thoughts. I'm still trying to figure out how to get Clark to sleep past 5:00 too. These babies are stress inducers for sure but its so worth it!

Brooke and Justin said...

Thank you, Kelly. Did you like your shout out in my blog? I thought about waiting until he was 5 months. I think that maybe the route to go. He has three naps during the day. Is that enough or too many?