New Year. New thoughts. Or not?

This past weekend we faced the 2 toughest nights as parents so far. Round 2 of teething hit and it hit hard! I had OK9 home 1 night to help, the 2nd I was on my own. Both nights I felt attacked. I had these thoughts that were horrible. Not in any way harmful to my son thoughts, but damaging to me. Emotionally. Spiritually. These thoughts were not from the Lord, yet I gave in to them. I believed the lies. It made the middle of the nights worse. It made me feel like an awful wife and mother. I realized by day 2 what was going on. I purposed right then that the last thing I would read before bed was the word. That when he did wake I would consume my mind with familiar verses and promises that were from God. I purposed to overcome the enemy with my sword and armor. (Eph 6.)It was a good 3rd night. I expect an even better 4th night. God has not forgotten me or Bug. So really these are old thoughts I knew but had forgotten. I am finding them again. I am remembering. I am engulfed in God's grace, patience and strength, to name a few and so thankful. Otherwise, I fear this would have gotten the better of me.
I am blogging from my iPhone for the first time. How'd it work?
Blah! Can't do a picture. Will post new 8 month pictures soon!

More giveaways!

I know....I don't post about our goings ons anymore, just about awesome giveaways! Hey- I want to win free stuff and I just know it will happen one of these days.

Anyway, remember this photo of Bug at 2 weeks?

My good friend, Genesis at Genesis Ann Photography, did his photos and has a giveaway just in time for Christmas cards! Check it out! She is doing our family photos this Thursday and I can't wait to try Pixy Print Lane for our card layout this year. Anyone who lives locally should really consider booking her for a family shoot, a graduation shoot or a newborn shoot. She had perfected her craft in the past 6 months and even invested in some fancy equipment. Just check out her blog for some photo samples. I really am excited to get some nice photos done of us to use for our Christmas cards and for gifts for our family.

And, what would a giveaway post be without my fluff addiction giveaway? My favorite site, The Cloth Diaper Whisperer had their Fluff Friday up and I am very excited about this one! It features my favorite company, Bum Genius. This week it is their Artists series in the Elemental. I have to try this diaper and would love to! We absolutely love our BG's in this house! So go check it out. A giveaway would be a great way to try diapers without the investment.

Next week, the 24th to be exact, Bug will be 7 months. *sniff sniff. He is starting to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. Any day now our lives will change. Let the craziness of chasing baby begin!

Giveaway time! *UPDATE

No, I'm not having a giveaway but some of my favorite bloggers are!

Kim over at Dirty Diaper Laundry is having a fabulous giveaway on a 4 pack of Aden & Anais muslin swaddle blankets. She reviewed them and they sound awesome, with many uses besides just swaddling. I hope to win!

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer has their weekly Fluff Friday giveaway going on as well. This week you can win a Bum Essentials diaper pack. They look adorable, of course!

Just found out that Nicki's is also giving away and A&A wrap in the moo print. This one is super cute!

Best of luck to all!

I need to go finish disinfecting my tub which bug has now pooped in twice this week. Oh the things they never warn you about!

The "It's been a while" post...

I have no interesting reason why I have not blogged. Other than OK9 was sick, like really sick and then he started vacation so I have just been enjoying my family for the past 3 weeks! The most exciting thing we did during these 3 weeks is switch Bug's carseat to his convertible. He loves it! I don't have any pictures of it.

We started solids. He loves them!

We bought a diaper sprayer off ebay. We love it! If you CD, may I highly, highly recommend one of these! We paid $20 for ours, free shipping. Worth every penny! Especially since starting solids! I don't have a picture of it.

James 1:2-3
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

I can do all things...

through Christ who strengthens me (Phl 4:13.) That's what I keep repeating to myself this week as we embark on the lovely phase of teething.

I thank the Lord each day that I did not have a colicky baby. I may have gone crazy! This has been a difficult week of teething. The torture of it is than I know it's nowhere near over! Not even one has popped up yet! Ugg! Bug wakes crying all night long. Some nights it's just a couple of times and by midnight he settles in for the night. A couple of nights though he's been up every couple of hours just crying! As soon as I go in he just wants to snuggle and be soothed. It breaks my heart! I've tried it all, by the way. Each night he has been getting a dose of acetaminophen (formally known as Tylenol but they can no longer be trusted with my son so we use Target brand now. Way cheaper as an added bonus!) Thankfully they just re-stocked the dye free stuff. Do you know how difficult it was to find dye free teething gel? I finally found some by Hylands. By day he gets gel, teething tabs if needed and chews on everything. By everything I mean everything! His fingers, my finger, cold washcloth, teething ring, connector loops, toys, his clothes, the mail (he tried that today, I had to stop that one!) He is still my happiest baby ever, even with his lack of napping. I think this week has been particularly difficult because OK9 really only was with us half a day. His first day off, he slept until noon then we had family time. He usually takes the most care of Bug on his days off, to make up for time lost. His 2nd day off he had training and then his 3rd he was called for OT-a huge blessing that we needed! So it's just been mom this week and this mom is tired!

This too shall pass though. While I did have a moment yesterday where I thought "If I just had a job then I wouldn't have to deal with this." I immediately regretted my thoughts and asked for forgiveness. Many do not get the blessing to be home with their child. He is hurting, it is not his fault and during this he needs/wants his momma and I want to be the one providing him comfort. So I just keep reminding myself of the title scripture and leaning on Jesus daily to fill me, morning, noon and night with love, patience, strength and everything else I need to get through this stage and savor each moment of it. Before I know it it will be gone.

Sleep, oh precious sleep

Napping during our mini-vacation to the Ocean

Now, Bug has been sleeping 12 hours from day 1. Granted, those 12 hours have always been quite choppy. Waking every 2 hours, then every 3, then every 4. Now, as we inch up to 5 months, I can safely say that Bug sleeps through the night. Not the 6 hours through the night but the full 12 hours. Occasionally he will wake about 5 or 6 for a quick dipe change and feeding but then it's right back to bed! The problem? Well, as a momma this makes me a bit sad. Is it weird that I miss our precious nighttime feedings? Those quiet moments in the middle of the night, when it is just him and I. The quiet sound of him swallowing, the sweet touches as he grasps onto my hand while he eats. The snuggles that inevitably follow his feeding just before I lay him back down. Is it weird that I miss not getting a full night's sleep? I THINK NOT! So the other night when Bug began stirring, not the full blown waking up but just a stir, I let him stir for a few minutes then padded over to his room. I smiled as he smiled at me, I hugged tightly as he hugged me when I picked him up and we sat in that comfy recliner I barely sit in anymore and I enjoyed the sound of his suckling. I felt a slight tinge of sadness when I laid him back down and he drifted off to sleep on his own. My big boy!

Rainy day

It's a rainy day here in the Pacific NW. Big surprise, right? I think Mother Nature has decided to bring us fall early. At least that is what the weather and the trees think. I keep looking outside to yellow and orange leaves cascading down. The air feels like fall. Starbucks has released the fall favorite, Pumpkin Spice Latte. I am ready to decorate my home with reds, oranges, yellows, pumpkins, leaves and everything Autumn! I even have already begun planning our trip to the Pumpkin Patch in a few weeks. Yep, fall is here early and I like it, no I love it!

So does Bug, formally Baby K9, who can wear warm fleecy pullovers in the fall and snuggle up close to mom and be warm! I was thinking yesterday that calling him Baby K9 was like we had not decided a name for him yet and we were just calling him Baby. It didn't fit. Now that we have come to know him, he is my bug. Sometimes my Snug-as-a-bug, other times my Stinker bug, and often times he is just my Bug. So from here on out on Blogger he will be known as Bug.

I have 2 blogs I would like to share with you. The first, I stumbled upon. I don't even remember how, but I just remember it was late in the night and I was blog surfing while feeding Bug. I ended up reading for over an hour. Now, her posts are encouragement. They bring laughter. Bring the Rain, I love the song, I think that is what first perked my interest.

The 2nd, is from Matt of Sanctus Real. If you haven't heard, their newborn son has recently had open heart surgery. The blog follows his story from the beginning of finding out to now. I wanted to share so more people could be praying for them. God hears them all! If you read some of the more recent posts you can see how amazing the story already is and how full of answered prayers it is. Bowen's Heart will bring tears to your eyes. Well, it did mine, so if you are a major cry baby like me, you will definitely cry when he read their story!

Romans 10:9-10 Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.