Night Night

Its no secret Tayden is an awful sleeper. Its not something I love to brag about, but its not something I hide either. Since returning from Idaho, it got bad. Really, really bad. It would take over an hour every night to get him asleep. Sometimes two. I would have to stay in his room, or lay by him, or follow some other ridiculous request of his. He was literally coming in to our bed every single night. I know, I know...I was doing everything wrong. But, with Scott working so much--I just didn't have the energy to fight him at night. That was the most frustrating thing. I knew I was just fueling the bad habit fire, but I just couldn't get myself to fix the problem. Just thinking about it made me exhausted. I was at the end of my rope.

Last Friday (when I missed my Relief Society party) was the straw that broke the camels back. I looked at my situation and decided I had to find the energy and will to fix this growing problem. So, I set up a reward chart and went to work. The first few nights were full of tears, screaming, and major break downs. However, its getting better. Slowly, but surly. Not perfect yet by any means, but he is going to bed on his own. He gets to watch PBS kids on the ipod for 15 minutes in bed and then picks one toy and its off to bed. I check on him every 5-10 minutes to praise and encourage. Tonight, I went in about every 15 minutes and there was zero crying. That is a major improvement. I am confident that by the time this baby is born, Tayden's bedtime will be completely under control. 

The reward policy was simply. Going to bed alone equals one sticker. Seven stickers equals one toy of choice. He knew from the very beginning he wanted a Captain America shield. He picked out Avengers stickers for his chart and had me draw a picture of the shield on it. He was dead set on that goal. The one he really wanted was at Costco, so we packed him up and took him to the big store. True to Costco form, they were out of Captain America shields. He was devastated. We made a trip to Walmart to get the second best one. He headed straight for the shield, grabbed it, tried it on and loved it. Do you think he took it home. Nope? Haha. Funny kid. He saw a small Buzz Lightyear out of the corner of his eye and just had to have it. He lost his about 8 months ago and needed a new one. After a long conversation to make sure that is what he wanted, he walked out door with a new Buzz. He couldn't be happier. 

(Any suggestions to make him stop with the cheesy smile? His natural smile is to die for, but when ever the camera comes out--this is all we get!)

I am so proud of this boy. It's been a rough week, but he is really doing great. And I'm totally looking forward to having my evenings and bed back.

 Good job Tayden boy. Love you!

Baby Update

Doctor appointment today. Update for the family.

Things are good. My CMV blood work came back and is still semi puzzling. There are two antibodies of CMV. One level saying you have had CMV in the past and are now immune and one level saying you have a new infection. So either your infection is old or new. My blood work is rare and conflicting as both my antibodies are positive. Saying I should be immune, but have had a new infection. The ultrasounds have not shown any major concerns indicating the baby is infected and the doctor says its likely he'll receive a clean bill of health. Regardless, the baby will have to be checked for CMV after he is born. And we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

His bowel hasn't changed since the last appointment. It is still echogenic, but has not gotten worse. More importantly it is functioning and not dilated. So again, we'll have to check that out once baby comes.  

And my favorite part of the appointment. Dr. R told me he would induce me! I have been very concerned about Scott's job and his availability during the delivery. I have wonderful friends who have volunteered to take the children at a moments notice, but am relieved to know we can make arrangements for them. It will be a huge blessing to be able to plan trips for our parents and family and make arrangements for them to come. We are looking at October 11th (yay Linds!) or the week of. 6 1/2 weeks and counting! I guess I better start washing some clothes for this boy! 

All in all it was encouraging and I'm growing more and more excited to meet this sweet baby boy. Its coming up quickly and I can't wait to become a family of five! 

Happy Birthday.

Yesterday was a great day. It was my birthday. I turned 26. I am officially closer to 30 than I am 20. I used to think that 30 was so old, but as I am drawing closer and closer to it--I realize its not old at all. In fact, it is still quite young. 

This year for my birthday, I told Scott I wanted three things. 1-I wanted to sleep in. Since he had the day off this was totally doable. 2-I didn't want to change any poopy diapers. 3-I wanted to go to my Relief Society Fiesta without any worry about what was going on at home. 

Not all three wishes panned out. Some stupid neighbor dog was up barking at 6:30 and went on and on for a good long time. It woke everyone up and the boys refused to go back to sleep. Scott offered his ear plugs, but at that point the babe in my belly was up and moving and refusing to let me get anymore shut eye. So after some fun cuddling in mom and dads bed, we all got up nice and early. Boo! 

However, I did not change any poopy diapers! Best gift ever. It was awesome and Scott never complained about having to do it. Its funny how things change as life changes. I never thought a day without poopy diapers would be so fantastic. But it was.

Number three. No go either. You see, I have this 3 year old that is a terror when it comes to bedtime. I hate dealing with it and didn't want to leave that up to Scott to take on by himself. It can get pretty ugly. Since Tayden woke up so early, he took a nap, which meant late bedtime. And that resulted in no party for mama. But, that is all changing tonight. We are on the right track for bed tonight and with any luck in a few weeks he'll be going to be independently again. I'll keep you posted.

The day really was great. It was nice and relaxing and Scott pretty much took charge of the kids. It was a nice day off for this pregnant lady. We went to the library, out to lunch and grocery shopping. Kind of silly things to do on your birthday, but so amazing to do them with an extra set of hands. 

I felt an overwhelming sense of love. I got numerous cards, phone calls, texts, treats and facebook messages. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people who love me like they do. 

And who can complain about texts like these?

Aren't they all the cutest? Being an aunt is awesome!

Thanks everyone for making my day so special!

Its Raining, Its Pouring

I love a good Vegas thunderstorm. When it rains, it pours. The ground is so dry and hard that it doesn't soak up the rain and we get sweet flash floods. Its awesome. As the clouds rolled in this morning, I knew we were in for a treat.

The boys were so mesmerized by the rain. I let them go play on the back patio in it before it really started to pour.

 I kicked myself all morning for letting the battery in my camera die. I could have got some super cute pictures. Luckily, I had my phone on hand.

Beckett would splash his hand in the water and run over to show me. He was having a blast.

 Bahaha. He thinks he is just the funniest kid. He's kind of right.

This is out our front door. If you notice off to the left the stream of water. It was about 4 inches deep and running like a river.

On our way home from running morning errands, we passed the community golf course as usual. Only this time, there were lakes in place of the fairways. The water had pooled up all over the course.

It was just the rejuvenating break I need from the scorching heat of the desert. I welcomed the rain and cooler temperatures since the triple digits have been exhausting on my ever so pregnant self. Hopefully we'll have more rain in the future. Or at least cooler temperatures!

Challenges

Day 6 of 30: What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?

I have been so lucky and blessed in my life. I have been challenged and I have faced trials, but haven't had to experience anything I would consider 'life changing hard'. I have a hard time narrowing down one trial as the hardest point in my life and feel like I would be insulting so many people by even trying to pin point a minor set back, when I know people who have had actual devastating trials.  

So, with that being said--I'm changing the challenge to: What is the hardest thing you are experiencing now.

I'm at an interesting place in my life. Happy with so many aspects, yet I'm facing regular trials that bring more frustration then I've known before. I've been struggling ALOT lately with Tayden and his bedtime/sleeping. Seriously, to the point of tears. He doesn't go bed without a fight and refuses to sleep all night in his bed. Most nights it takes over an hour to get him bed. I am so sick of giving up my evenings to a ridiculous preschooler. Being hugely pregnant and being on my feet all day, I just don't have the energy to fight him each night when it comes time to bed. I give into his tactics when I know I shouldn't. I let him sleep by me, because that's the only way I get to sleep. I'm doing everything wrong and I know it. It frustrates the heck out of me. 

Challenge number two. Scotts job. Let me say this first. I am so grateful for his job and the financial stability it provides. I am grateful he is doing something he enjoys. I am grateful that it brought me to Vegas and has introduced me the people that we are associated with. I am grateful I get to stay home with my children. With that said, he's job is a struggle for me. You have to understand, he is gone 14+ hours a day, 4 days a week. Depending on the shift he's working, the kids will go all week without seeing him. I have no way to get ahold of him during the day, unless it is an emergency. Like, major major emergency. Sometimes he calls me during lunch, but the conversation never last for more than 2 minutes. I have zero idea what he does, where he works or who he works with. In truth, its like we live two different lives for a majority of the week. For some people, this wouldn't be to bad. For me, its horrible. Aside from being a 'single mom' every other week, I hate the day to day absence of my husband. I hate that I can't pick up the phone and call him or text him. It's lonely. I don't want to get into too many details or complain too much, but this has been more of a learning experience than I had bargained for. Again, let me say...I AM grateful for his job, but its still a challenge for me. 

Life is hard, but I am thankful that this is as hard as its been so far.

I am really am blessed.

Batman

Beckett's already coming up with ways to hide that nasty owie.

Today, he decided to sport batman.

For a good portion of the day.

Love this boy.

Beckett Sean at 18 Months

As Scott left for work at 3:30 this morning, it dawned on me that Beckett had shots today. It had completely slipped my mind, but we had to suck it up and do it anyway. I hate when my kids have to get shots. I seriously prepare myself for a couple days prior to stick. I didn't get that luxury this go around. 

The doctor said Beckett was great and on track with all of his milestones. He is right where he should be. He weighs in at 29 lbs and is 33 1/2 inches tall. 

I wanted to do some fun pictures with him today, but he was not having it. The shots took quite a toll on him today. He cried for a good portion of the day and was not having anything to do with the camera. Which is a shame, because this kid is seriously cute. 

Either way, at 18 months Beckett:

-Has quite the attitude. His favorite word is NO and he uses it very forcefully. He has a mind of his own and gets upset very quickly if things don't go his way.

-Is a major climber. He is constantly climbing onto and into things. Hence, the forehead issue.

-Still has beautiful red hair. He gets compliments on it almost every time we go out.

-Loves his brother. He does everything Tayden does and follows him around all day. 

-Is the best little sleeper. Tayden is an awful sleeper, always has been, so its great to have a baby who falls asleep on his own and sleeps all night.

-Is a fantastic eater. He eats pretty much anything we give him, short of lettuce. 

-Loves horses and any kind of ball.

-Is doing great in nursery. He's been twice and has stayed the whole time.

-Is ready to be potty trained. I can't keep his diaper on him for anything and he knows exactly when he is doing his duty.

-Is very polite. Says thank you at all the appropriate times without much reminder.

-Is the best addition to our family. We love him so much and he makes us extremely happy.

I love my Baby Beckett. 

Mama called the Doctor

I made the best decision! I switched doctors. As I mentioned in a previous post I began to lose trust and confidence in my previous doctor. I had the nagging feeling to switch, but was hesitant because it was so late in my pregnancy. I finally gave in an found another perinatal (high risk) doctor in the area. Could not be happier with the results. 

After I spent the last week and half on the phone with the new office trying to figure out the insurance situation, I finally got to meet them today. They introduced themselves to me and were extremely efficient with the paperwork and everything that involves switches perinatal doctors. I was impressed from the get go. 

I went back and did the ultrasound with the tech, just as the other place, but the tech I had was fantastic. Extremely nice, helpful and the atmosphere was so relaxed. Ultrasounds make me nervous, but I was at ease with this new office. They showed me some rolls of skin on his belly, his little bum and some fuzzy hair. (Amazing what these high resolution ultrasounds can do). Point being, they showed me stuff that was fun and put me at ease. It was a nice change to say the least. 

I met with my doctor, and I felt like I was back at home with my OB in Idaho. I immediately liked him and knew he would be someone I could talk to and trust with my concerns. That was the first time I have truly felt that since I have been pregnant. Again, such a nice change. 

So, the news everyone really wants to hear.  How is Baby Cache --his name as of now (having a hard time deciding with this one)? Things look great. Honestly, better than I could have imagined for just having an ultrasound 2 weeks ago. He has grown considerably. He has moved from the 9% percentile to the 26th. A nice big jump. Still smaller, but now in normal range. His bowel is still a little echogenic, but not anything to worry about as it seems to be resolving itself. Heart, spine and brain all look great. However, I did have more blood work done to check on my CMV infection. My new doctor explained it as having a car. Sometimes you have a Chevy and sometimes you have a Ford, but a car is still a car. CMV is CMV, but their are different strains of it. With the additional blood work we will be able to determine if it is the same infection or a new one. Luckily though, he sees no indicators that the baby has been infected. Which is the main concern. He literally walked me through every major marker and showed me the absence of them on my baby. He isn't too worried about the baby having CMV, but because I am positive for it, we have to follow it. Its just not optional to ignore. 

I walked away from the appointment knowing exactly where we stand and what we discussed. Best news of all, Dr. R took me on as a full time patient and I get to see him exclusively. No more pregnancy team and doubling up on appointments. I have one doctor. One really good doctor. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for that. He asked me to bring in the family so he could meet and become familiar with everyone. I thought that was awesome. I am actually excited about this pregnancy again. And that is the biggest blessing of all.

So, tonight, we went out for a little celebration. We took the kids to Rain Forest Cafe and they had a blast. The food was okay, but the entertainment value for the kids was awesome. They loved it. It was fun to get out and breath without (much) worry.

I am so grateful I followed my gut. With all of the bumps in the road I have failed to realize I only have 10 weeks left in my pregnancy. I have no idea where the time went, but I better start preparing for the arrival of this new little man and enjoying my last few weeks. I know now with my new doctor that my last 10 weeks will be infinitely better than my first 30.

I am having a baby. And I am so excited!

Copy Cat

Beckett loves to do anything and everything his brother does. He follows him around all day mimicking his every move. So, I guess we should have been surprised when B decided he needed a head wound of his own.

We were just getting ready to walk out the door when we heard a giant crash. I was in the kitchen and heard some major screaming from my baby and Scott saying, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" I ran to the front room and saw our entry table on top of Beckett. He had managed to pull it down and caught the edge with his head. Scott pulled the table up and I scooped up Beckett. We noticed the huge pile of blood on the floor and knew stitches were going to be involved.

I grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding and we loaded up. The most frustrating part of the whole process was trying to decide where to go. There are several hospitals and a few urgent cares within a few miles of us, but we haven't had experience with any of them and weren't sure where our insurance would be the most effective. We tried the urgent care, but they were closed. So we headed to the ER. It turned out to be a smart choice. We were in and out rather quickly and they were very caring and efficient. 

Beckett was a champ! I have been so impressed with my boys and their traumatic experiences as of late. Beckett stopped crying on the way to the hospital and was soon back to his playful self. The nurses and doctor mentioned what a calm (haha... yeah right) and well behaved boy he was. He really did great. 

And Tayden, he was the best big brother. He was so concerned about his brother the whole time and kept asking if his head was going to be okay. He was very protective while the nurses were checking him out and stood right by Beckett to make sure he was okay. However, he was confused why we weren't going to see Brad (our friend that did his stitches). Apparently, Brad is our go to owie guy. 

Scott snapped a few pictures with his loaner phone. His is getting fixed...again. They are a little blurry, but better than nothing.

 I love this picture because you can see both of the boys head wounds. Haha. Looks like raising boys...especially these crazy ones...is turning out to be quite the adventure.

Just playing with the truck, that T brought in from the car for him, while waiting to see the doctor. 

We tried to get a good after picture, but the kid wouldn't slow down for a minute. I had to sneak in his room and take one while he was sleeping.

The doctor ended up gluing it because the direction of the cut was good and didn't want to risk bad stitches due to a squirmy 18 month old. 

So, needless to say. It was another eventful night at the Packard house.

Boys are fun.

Boys are crazy.

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Trouble

Tayden got hold of the reunion tattoo prizes.

Hope this isn't a glimpse into his future.