Our Weekend in Pictures

I finally got around to editing my photos today from our weekend. As I said on Friday, it was a busy one. 

Friday night we went to the Cardinals vs. Royals game at Busch Stadium. I ended up just taking my little point and shoot camera, however, I hadn't used it in a while and didn't realize that the battery was almost dead. :-( So I only got about 3 pictures with it. Thank goodness for phones with cameras!

Inside Busch Stadium.

My sweet boy at his first baseball game. He was not a fan of the loud clapping and cheering.

The Cardinals Dug-Out.

Having a cold one at the game. ☺

Busch Stadium with the Arch in the background.

Jackson at the game.

My little family of 3 at the game!

Then Saturday, we worked out in the yard and then Jackson and I went with my parents, my sister and her boys, to our cousin's wedding.

The Bride and Groom.

This is a picture of all of our cousins on my Dad's side of the family.
My cousin Brandi, my cousin Chelsey, my sister Ashlee holding her son Mason, myself and Jackson, my cousin Wesley (the groom), my cousin Brice holding his new baby Dallas, my sister's son Landon, Wesley's son Brayden and then Brandi's daughter Kinley.

Jackson sitting on his Great-Grandpa's lap. (My Dad's Dad)

Then Sunday was Father's Day! We went to church that morning where Jake won the prize for being the youngest dad! After church we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for appetizers. For some odd reason, we didn't get a lot of pictures that day, unfortunately. I didn't even really get a picture of Jake and Jackson together. :-( But these are some of the pictures I did take that day.

Mason and Jackson playing by the front door.

Jackson ♥

Jackson loves my Dad's giant cup.

The only picture I got of Jake and Jackson that day. 

Mason standing at the table with no hands!

The babies had a wrestling match, LOL. Jackson did not like being pinned down. Ha.

Where's Mason??

There he is!!

 My aunt Karla swinging Jackson. He loved it.

After hanging out at my Aunt and Uncles house, we all went to dinner and then Jake and I headed home for the evening. 

We had a great weekend! Looking forward to another great weekend coming up. We are heading to Kansas City on Friday morning to attend Jake's cousin's wedding. It must be wedding season!!

Trying Out Crying it Out

Have any of you mom's used this method or had trouble getting your babies to sleep at night? Jackson used to sleep great and fall asleep easy, but after his ear infection in late March, he started to get a lot harder to put to sleep. He is also still waking up 2 to 3 times a night to eat!!

Let me start by saying, the cry it out method was not ever something I was a fan of. I always felt like it was mean and I just couldn't stand the thought of letting Jackson cry. Its just natural to want to comfort your crying baby. But after standing up for an hour, holding and bouncing your 21 pound baby to try and get them to go to sleep, you become a little desperate.

We had been in the habit of giving him a bottle to soothe him to sleep, and though this works for him, it isn't helpful when its not really time for a bottle at bed time. I also don't want him to rely on a bottle to be able to fall asleep. We've waited to put him to bed later at night, thinking he would sleep better and longer, but for some reason this was doing the opposite and was just making him crabby in the evenings.

We made up our minds that we would not let him cry for any longer than 10 or 15 minutes. My heart just couldn't take much longer than that. Little did I know that when your baby is crying, even 5 minutes feels like an eternity. But we managed to give it the full amount of time, and surprisingly, that was all it took. We've tried this the last 2 nights and both nights he only cried/complained for around 10 or 15 minutes.  Thank Goodness! We also tried putting him to sleep earlier at night, which I read can help them sleep better and longer, and it really has.

The first night, Sunday night, I gave him a bottle a little before 8 o'clock, which is normally when he starts getting tired. It was actually time for a bottle and I expected him to go right to sleep, but he didn't. So I rocked him for a while and then stood up with him and bounced him for a while, none of which worked. He was just fighting it! So we decided it was a good night to try seeing how he would do if we just layed him in his crib, sang him a song and then stepped out of the room. 

He complained for about 10 minutes or so, crying only a little, and then we heard him talking to himself. He talked for close to 20 minutes. It was so sweet to hear him jabbering. Then we just heard silence.

I couldn't believe how well he did. He still woke up a couple of times that night, but I was able to get him back to sleep once without the bottle.  He then slept til 8 the next morning, which is pretty late for him as he normally is awake by 6 or 7!!

Then last night we tried again. He started getting tired at around 8:15, so I gave him a bath and let him play in there for a little while. After his bath I put his jammies on him and then layed him in his crib. I sang to him and rubbed his back and he layed there and acted like he might fall asleep real easy. I kissed him and then stepped out of the room. I didn't hear anything from him for close to 15 minutes or so, so I thought for sure he was asleep. Then he started crying. :-(  I don't know if he just woke up, or he never actually went to sleep in the first place. He cried for around 10 or 15 minutes again and then finally went to sleep.

He slept well, only waking up twice, and one of those times I was able to just hold him and comfort him back to sleep really easy. He was still asleep when I left for work this morning, which is rare these days.

So, this method seems to be working well for us so far. Even though its super hard for me, I know it will get easier and will be better for all of us in the long run. I also know their sleep patterns can change in an instant, but I'm hoping this continues to go well and we can eventually get him sleeping all night without waking up for a bottle and without any crying.

The Upcoming Weekend

This weekend, like most others, is jam packed.

Tonight we are taking Jackson to his first Baseball game. Its a Cardinals/Royals game at Busch Stadium. Jake is originally from Kansas City, so even though he moved here when he was like 3, he is still a tried and true Kansas City sports team fan. He's way more into Chiefs football than he is into Royals baseball, but when asked his favorite baseball team, its always the Royals. One of Jake's brothers and his family (who are actually Cardinals fans) and his mom are going with us. Jake's mom ordered Jackson a little Royals outfit and I am having him wear a Cardinals baseball cap. So he will be rooting for both teams until he can actually decide for himself. Ha! I will have pictures for you guys next week.

GO CARDINALS!!

Tomorrow, Jake and I plan to work out in the yard in the morning and then we are going to my cousin's wedding that evening.

Then Sunday is Jake's first Father's Day! We are going to church in the morning and then to my Aunt and Uncle's house that afternoon to celebrate Father's Day with all the men in my family. I believe we'll be swimming and going out for Chinese! Yum!

My 3 favorite Men!

Then Monday, I'm off work. So I plan to have my niece come over and play with Jackson, while I clean our house and steam clean the carpets. With Jackson crawling around now, I really need to get the carpets cleaned. 

So those are our plans for a jam packed weekend. Do any of you have a jam packed weekend planned or are you going to be spending your days off relaxing like I should be doing? Either way, I hope its great!  

Happy Friday! 

Jackson is 33 Weeks Old!

Jackson is now 33 Weeks Old. 

Not much has changed since last week, other than now when he pulls up on something, like the couch, he will walk along side of it and even walk from one thing to another while holding on. There is a end table next to our couch and he will walk from the couch to the end table, while holding on!! I seriously wouldn't be surprised if he walked sooner rather than later.

He's saying Mama, Dada, Baba and Bla Bla a lot now. He's also moving his hand and saying ba ba (bye bye). He will only do this when your changing him for some odd reason, but its a start. ☺

We are going to start working with him to get him to go to sleep on his own. As of right now, we usually have to feed him a bottle or take him for a car ride to get him to go to sleep. Which is not ideal! So I've been doing some research on how to brake him from needing the bottle to go to sleep. I especially want to get him sleeping through the night. As of right now he's still waking up 1-3 times a night for a bottle and sometimes its not even time for a bottle. Its almost impossible to get him to go back to sleep without the bottle in the middle of the night, so I'm in desperate need of figuring out how to brake him from the bottle at night. If you seasoned mom's have any advice, it would be MUCH appreciated! A night of uninterrupted sleep would be like heaven to me right now.

Embrace The Camera

Linking up with Emily at The Anderson Crew

Embrace the Camera is where you'll take a picture of YOU with your kids, spouse, friends, etc. The point of embrace the camera is to get in front of the camera and to document a bit of yourself.

I tested out the timer on my new camera for these pictures of Jackson and I. I took them Monday evening, after I had just gotten home from getting my hair cut and colored. I had asked my stylist what size curling iron I needed in order to get some loose curls, and since I never curl my hair, she asked if I'd like her to show me how. Of course I said yes and I absolutely love how it looked.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

♥ I'm loving that this time next month we will be on our 5 year anniversary trip on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

♥ I'm loving the little book I made from Shutterfly of my pregnancy with Jackson. I was so pleasantly surprised with the quality and everything about it. I can't say enough about their books. And bonus, it took less than a week to get it back. ☺

♥ I'm loving my sister's blog. She started it a couple of months ago, but has recently been updating it more regularly. I helped her with the design and its really cute. She has 2 little boys, Landon and Mason, that I talk about frequently on my blog. If you get a minute, stop by and check out her blog.

♥ I'm loving these cute pictures of Jackson I took over the weekend.

Standing up and blowing raspberries.

Crawling around.

Big smile. ♥

So silly.

♥ I'm loving that we're taking Jackson to his first pro. baseball game this Friday night. Cardinals vs. Royals.

♥ I'm loving that I have a 3 day weekend coming up! Yay!

♥ I'm loving that I finally got to get my hair cut and colored this past Monday. ☺ It hadn't been colored since last November, Yikes!

I'm loving this necklace my mom made for me. She found the idea on Pinterest and ordered the kit for it. It has a little picture of Jackson in it. ♥ I need to take a closer picture of it for you to really see it, but this is all I have at the moment.

♥ And as always...

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Fun Things to do with Jackson this Summer in St. Louis

There are so many fun things I want to do with Jackson this summer. I thought I'd put together a list of my top 10 places I want to take him here in St. Louis. I thought this would be a good list for those of you who live here in St. Louis (or close by) or for those of you that may be visiting St. Louis in the near future.

These aren't in any kind of order.

1.) Grants Farm

Its been several years since I've been here and I can't wait to go back with Jackson. There are many animals to see and you ride a tram through the farm while looking at the animals.

2.) Missouri Botanical Garden

I went here with my mom, sister and nephew Landon a couple years ago. Its one of my favorite places here in St.Louis. I can't wait to take Jackson. They have a fun Children's Garden that I know Jackson would love.

3.) Purina Farms

I've only been here once and its been a very long time ago. I really want to go back and take Jackson to see all the cute farm animals and dogs. 

4.) The Magic House

There are tons of cool things for kids to do here. My sister just took her kids a couple of weeks ago and Mason, who is only 12 days older than Jackson, had a blast. There is even stuff for the babies to do. ☺

5.) The St. Louis Zoo

Though, we've already taken Jackson to the zoo earlier this year, I'd really like to go back and let him ride the train and go into the children's petting zoo. We didn't get to do those things before. I think he would get a kick out of petting some of the animals. Plus, when we were there earlier this year, they were still working on the new Sea Lion Exhibit and I believe its supposed to be done this month!

6.) Splash City Family Water Park

This is a little water park, right outside of St. Louis, in Collinsville, IL. They have parent/tot time on Friday mornings (a special time for kids under 7) that I'd like to take Jackson too.

7.) St. Louis City Garden
This is a beautiful new garden downtown that has a bunch of cool fountains for kids to play in.

8.) St. Louis Cardinals Game at Busch Stadium
We are actually going to a Cardinals/Royals game this Friday night. Jackson's first Pro Sports game! My husband is a Royals fan and I'm a Cardinals fan, so Jackson is wearing a Royals outfit and a Cardinals Hat! LOL.

9.) Butterfly House
I've never been to the Butterfly House, but have always wanted to go. I hope to make it there this summer sometime.

10.) St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park
I thought this would be a fun thing for Jackson. He's old enough now and sitting up on his own, so I think he would like this.