Little Buddies

One of the most important things in life is to have friends who will look out for you...
and who will comfort you when you are down.


(Cohen with Dylan, Jen and Carter's baby, they are three months apart.)

ALOHA!!!

On Saturday we went to the Home Expo where we won Hotel Accomodations for a 5 day/4 night Hawaiian Adventure on the island of Oahu! Neither Scott nor I have ever won anything and we thought there was a catch, but there's not! We can use it anytime in the next 12 months so we are thinking of going in the Spring when the baby is a little older. We were planning on going to Hawaii next year anyway, this just makes it a little easier now! YEAH, EXCITING!

Working Mom

I work for my mom so I am over at her house A LOT! She does energy work called Theta Healing. (Take a look at her website for more information. It is really amazing work and helps so many people with physical and/or emotional healing. http://www.newdimensionsinhealing.com/) I am her assistant and I schedule appointments for her, make phone calls, work on classes sign up, marketing and I do a ton of other office stuff and random things. It is really great because I get to take Cohen with me and I can basically work around his schedule.
My mom does so much for Scott and I in supporting us with everything we do. I really appreciate and love her for who she is and am thankful I have her as my mom.

Cohen with "Sean Connery"

No, it is not really Sean Connery it is my step dad, (basically) Kay, also affectionately known as Kayloni by me. He just doesn't have the accent, but other than that I think he could be his double!
Cohen knows Kay as Pa paps and enjoys playing with him and having him as a part of our family!

The REAL Sean

Izzy's Recovery

Izzy is healing up great! We did have one set back when she chewed out a couple of the staples and then the stitches down inside, (EWW!) but since then the incision has closed up and she is using her leg pretty well. Sometimes she limps or carries it, but most of the time she runs around the house acting as though nothing happened. This poses as a problem since we aren't suppose to let her run. We can't even take her on short walks for another couple weeks. How are you
suppose to prevent a puppy from playing though?
It seems as though the surgery was a success and was worth it, her leg is stronger and straighter than before and that is what we were going for. Now she just better live a really long time to use the very expensive leg for a very long time!

Playing with my different camera settings...

Sleep Deprivation

So it turns out that you can blame almost anything on the lack of sleep. I have used this to my benefit since most of the time it is true, (I assume).
Me staring into space = sleep deprivation
Forgetting what you just told me = sleep deprivation
Being "uncharacteristically" snappy = sleep deprivation
Lack of creativity and productivity = sleep deprivation
Me telling you what I already told you earlier = sleep deprivation
My cravings for ice cream, chocolate, "Pudding on the Rice" and slushies are all attributed to sleep deprivation because I need the sugar rush to keep me going!
It's not that I am not getting enough hours of sleep it is that it is interrupted sleep, the average length is 2-3 hours which is better than it was a month ago so I have hope for the future!

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"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one." — Leo J. Burke ****************************************************

Three Months Old!

Dear Cohen,

Today you turned three months old! The first few weeks of your life I was pretty overwhelmed with the responsibility of this little person that depended so much on me and I had a hard time thinking of anything other than your well being and what I needed to do for you next. Now you fit into our family comfortably and it seems like you have always been around.

You noticed Izzy for the first time a couple weeks ago. You watched her intently while she walked around the front room. You seemed to like her and I am sure you will have years of fun following her around pulling at her tail. She hasn't taken to you quite as well, I never knew dogs feel every emotion people do. She is pretty jealous of you at times and will look at me as though I have betrayed her. She has tried to take your place in the center of your blanket by sitting on you, trying hard to get the attention I am giving you. Of course I prevented her from doing so and that seemed to bother her even more.
The other afternoon you were sitting in your bouncer on the back patio and I was watering the lawn at the other end of the yard. I noticed Izzy sitting by you protectively for a while then she walked away to investigate the grass, but I think you are growing on her.

I never knew parenting could be so confusing. There are so many decisions to make everyday! I know I will make mistakes, but I don't want to. I look at you everyday and want the best for you more than I thought possible. My world now revolves around you, my sweet baby, and every decision I need to make on your behalf. Everyone has their different opinions on what works when raising a child and every baby is different so asking for advice when it comes to parenting is difficult, but I was given this parenting book called "Baby Wise" so I decided to read it. It set a schedule that would outline the day and supposedly make you sleep through the night. You are still waking every two to three hours for 30 minutes or more at a time so I have become quite desperate for sleep. I decided to take the advice from this popular method, but this required you to put yourself to sleep. Some say you can never spoil a newborn so I took this to heart and have held you and rocked you and nursed you to sleep more than I can already count. When I laid you down awake you looked at me longingly wondering why I was abandoning you to fall asleep alone. The crying lasted half the night or more off and on and most of the morning. I tried to console you without you falling asleep in my arms, but that wouldn't last long. The next day you really hadn't slept much (you actually don't sleep much during the day anyway), but you were exhausted from protesting. I decided there has to be a better way and that this just doesn't work for us. I then picked you up and rocked you while holding you closely and vowed that I would never let you cry like that again. You sighed and quickly fell asleep for almost two hours. I tell you this because I always want to do what is best for you and I may make a few mistakes along the way, but I will always do my best.
This month you rolled from your tummy to your back for the first time and you are mastering play time by reaching and grabbing at your toys! You did this for the first time last week and haven't stopped since. You befriended your hands, that are usually in a fist, and you have decided they are great fun to suck on and lick. You can hardly part from them while you are eating and on several occasions you try to fit both in your mouth at once! You are pretty good at holding your head up now. You have so many facial expressions that make me laugh. You still loath tummy time and generally only put up with it for a few minutes before you start to complain even if I try and distract you with every toy imaginable. Your favorite thing is to be carried around and to be on the go. I try and talk to you while we are doing all the mundane tasks we do so I make up dumb songs about things like making sandwiches and doing my hair.

I love our long conversations that consist of cooing, naaing, and aaaing. Your little voice is one of the many things I love about you. When you are a teenager I hope we still have long conversations about the girl you like or your favorite sport or what is going on at school. That seems like an eternity from now, but I know it will happen quicker than I think.


Love,
Mama