The End of the End of the World?

A few months ago Last month I mentioned some sleeping troubles we were having with Aiden. I played it as nicely as I could in my post, but it was tough stuff...probably one of the most difficult behavior issues we encountered  with Aiden so far. Looking back, I can't believe that was only six weeks ago. It seemed to go on for months. After the first two miserable weeks, we started rewarding Aiden with stickers for every night he stayed in his bed.....and his sticker chart is looking pretty good these days! He is proud of it, and every morning he is excited to get his sticker.

He gets the sticker for sleeping in bed, but it's not an indicator of how Aiden went down. Ryan perfectly described the bedtime bawling one night when he said, "I wish the world wasn't ending every night." Even though Aiden was ending up in his bed, we had to endure at least 10-15 minutes of crocodile tears and heart wrenching cries. I usually couldn't listen....just made me too sad.

But last week we made some strides and tears lasted less than a minute, multiple nights in a row. (This was a huge blessing because Ryan was out of town all week, and I didn't know how I was going to get through the bedtime crying by myself.) I can't believe I'm writing this because I'm sure I'm going to jinx myself, but, Sunday night, for the first time in what feels like forever, there were no tears. Not a single one. Silence never sounded so beautiful as we walked out of Aiden's room. We had less than a minute of crying Monday and Tuesday and today we had the same peaceful evening that we had on Sunday.

So, maybe the world has quit ending every night? I would really love that. Here's to hoping this lasts....and here's your chance to admire Aiden's sticker chart.

Oh Baby, Baby!

I guess Aiden will have to scooch over a bit on the blog and make room for the upcoming arrival. It's crazy to think I will have two little ones to blog about in just a few short months! Today is 20 weeks...which marks the halfway point of the pregnancy (though I could be more than halfway there, if baby decides to come early....ummm, what?!?).

We have our anatomy scan this week....but I'm doing the crazy person thing and not finding out the gender. I say 'I' and not 'we' because Ryan isn't actually on board with this plan, but he's participating because well, what choice does he really have? If I had to make a guess, I think this kiddo is made of sugar and spice (not to say Aiden isn't a sweetie...). Just some differences between this pregnancy and the last that make me feel like we've got a little gal on the way. But, we'll be super happy with whoever shows up in a few months.

I am going to do the monthly bump pictures like I did with Aiden. I actually had to go back and see if I took them on the monthly "due date" (which would be the 5th of every month for this kiddo), or if I took them every four weeks. Turned out I did the four week approach so here's this baby popping out at the start of months 4 and 5. (I should mentioned that I got bigger much faster this time....as in, I busted out the maternity pants during my first trimester. Here's to it not being the first kid - and to not being in any sort of shape this pregnancy!)

Motherhood

Motherhood is the one job I was never sure I wanted.....and now it's my favorite job that I've ever had. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it.

So grateful for this little man (and for his daycare making adorable gifts - anything "personalized" by Aiden with handprints or footprints is at the top of my gift list....seriously. I'm sappy like that these days.)