The Dance

Part of Kerrigan's "deswaddling" process has been to get her to take naps without being swaddled. Easier said than done!

I have found the best way to accomplish this is to lay down with her on my bed until she goes to sleep-her favorite position is to be nuzzled under my armpit (try and explain that one to me : ) with my face on top of her head so she can feel me breathing (which I have to do deeply to make her think I am asleep)...talk about a girl who knows EXACTLY what she wants! Then the trick is to be very, very sneaky and remove myself from the bed. Also easier said than done!

She still flails all her limbs when she tries to go to sleep, so sometimes I have to "manually swaddle" her with my hands until she goes to sleep. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating, but today I realized how funny it really is. This is how we "tango" at naptime:

Lindsey: lay Kerrigan down and position body to suit her fancy

Kerrigan: Start waving left arm, hitting self and mommy in face

L: Hold down left arm with left hand

K: Grab binky out of mouth with right hand, then cry for want of binky

L: replace binky in mouth

K: Grab binky out of mouth with right hand, then cry for want of binky

L: Replace binky then hold right arm down with right hand

K: Start kicking legs vigorously...blanket gets kicked off

L: thinking left arm has calmed down retrieve blanket with left hand

K: Simultaneously kick off blanket and take binky out of mouth with left hand

L: Retrieve blanket with left hand, put legs over Kerrigans legs, hold left arm with left hand

K: whip head back and forth and spit out binky

L: replace binky with left hand, contort body so left hand is holding right arm AND holding head still, while right arm holds binky in and blanket up...

...2 seconds after achieving complete manual swaddling....SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, I did it. Slowly, one at a time, remove hand and leg restraints and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddeeee of the bed....bed creaks.....Kerrigan wakes up.....and again we DANCE!!!!

*hope this doesn't sound too bad, it is done with love and really does help her go to sleep*

Happy Easter

Help Needed...

Kerrigan slept in her own crib all night last night...HOORAY!!!! She did her 4:00 ritual wake up, but I went in and rocked her and she fell back asleep until about 7. Great news, right?



It really is, but when I went in at 4, there were 2 problems that needed to be addressed immediately: 1. Her legs were stuck in between the bars of her crib and 2. She had broken free of her swaddling and it was wrapped around her neck- YIKES!

Problem 1 was easily solved today...I went and bought bumpers today at Target. Unfortunately the only bumpers they had were really ugly, but they will get the job done, so legs in between slates... FIXED.

Problem 2, not so easy. Apparently she is tired of being swaddled, every night she manages to escapes the supposedly inescapable Miracle Blanket. Really, I think her swaddling days are over, however...

I don't know how to de-swaddlize my child. She is still very wiggly and flaily when she sleeps if she isn't swaddled. Has anyone faced this situation where the baby still kind of needs to be swaddled but doesn't want to be?

Do I just stop swaddling her and hope that she adjusts? Do I just kind of swaddle her so she can break free without waking up because of the struggle to get out?

Any advice would be great!

Kerrigan Talking

This video cracks me up-it has all the elements of a great movie: screeching, fist sucking, gargle talking and of course enlightening commentary by Jared!

The Best 3 Years

Jared and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a beautiful long distance phone call!

Sad, huh, I was out of town for our anniversary...sign me up for wife of the year : ) So since we didn't really celebrate it yet, I thought I would commemorate the event by telling our love story (I am copying Erin's idea, which she did for Valentine's Day). It is kind of long, so I will tell it in multiple parts.

Chapter 1: The Encounter

In January of 2005, I headed up for a much needed visit to BYU-Idaho to visit my BFF Andrea. I had just broken up with a guy I was seriously dating, and wanted to get out of town for awhile.

One of the hot items on the to-do list was OF COURSE attending the blue grass concert. We got all dressed up in our most fashionable hick attire and met up with Andrea's brother Jeff. He told me one of his roommates had just had a date fall through, so had me call him to get him to come. I think I had some cheesy conversation that went something like this, " Yo J-dawg, blue grass is in tha house...Be there or be square"...no, really I think that is a fairly accurate summary of what I said- smooth, huh!

Anyways, we are sitting at the concert, and this ridiculously good looking guy wearing a backwards hat (be still my heart) and plops down next to me. Had I known how cute he was, I probably would have pulled out the big guns when it came to my phone flirtations, but apparently it worked for him.

We talked as much as you can talk with killer blue grass music playing, and then afterwards we went with the group to play games and watch 8 Second. Sounds like the right mood for romance, right...wrong!

The mood would have been set by the movie. Unfortunately, Jeff Fox had dared me to eat a GINORMOUS cup of chocolate pudding...which I did! However, during the movie when Jared went to put his arm around me, the chocolate pudding decided to make a surprise appearance...and I made a mad dash to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach.

I returned to the couch, and spent the rest of the night with my legs in between me and Jared (because of a lack of gum) and his arm awkwardly resting on my knees (which he claims was due to the fact he had already committed to making a move, so wasn't going to back down)....

*This is is a picture from when Jared met the whole family for the first time*

My Little Energizer Bunny...

...just keeps growing and growing!

I always used to giggle when people would say "I cant believe I have a ____ month/year old"...how can you not believe it- you have been there every day of their lives?!?!? Well, now I get it, and now can truly say I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE A FOUR MONTH OLD!!!!

Part of me feels like Kerrigan just arrived, yet part of me feels like she has always been around- its a very confusing feeling, which I am sure doesn't make sense unless you have experienced it first hand.

Today was K's 4 month appointment- which she ROCKED!!!! The doctor says she looks awesome. She is now in the 50th percentile with her weigh in at 13 lbs 10 oz and in the 75 percentile for height at 25". Can you believe my little peanut who was barely in the 25th percentile at birth is now taller than 75% of the 4 month population? As for the weight...its all in the thighs my friends, all in the thighs!

At 4 months she can now...

- sleep 8 hours at night (though it is less when we make her sleep in her own crib- we really have got to crack down on that!)

-roll over...kind of. Well, she did once anyway, so I feel like I can list it in her major accomplishments of life.

-grab her toes...Daddy's favorite thing right now. He loves when she lays there holding onto her fat feet- she even does it in her sleep...so funny!

-talk and scream...also a Daddy favorite.

-reach up and grab stuff- and then promptly place it in her mouth. It really helps us find the motivation to be cleaner when we know if something is in reach of her, it has a very real possibility of ending up in her digestive system.

- can work a crowd. What do I mean by that? I am glad you asked! Kerrigan is a real crowd pleaser. When we are in public she is a perfect angel, and has a 6th sense about people. She can tell if someone is grumpy or mean, and sees it as a personal challenge to go over the top to make that person smile. I have yet to see her fail- she has the cutest gummy smile and is NOT afraid to use it!

-She still blows at of nearly every diaper we put on her. Also passes gas with the best of them. I love watching people's faces when my petite blond beautiful child rips one that could put a grown man with irritable bowel syndrome to shame...one of her many talents : )

We just cant get enough of our sweet Rose Bud!!!!

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