Sleep training, day 2

Derek is off at his weekly firefighting training, so it's just me and Adelyn tonight.  Girls night! Although that means I get to listen to the crying all by myself... Yippee.

7:30 Dozed during her last feeding for the night, so I put her in her crib and she fell asleep easily.
7:42 Woke up crying, so Momma went in, comforted Addy with a kiss, pat, and "Momma loves you, goodnight baby!".  Crying begins again as I leave the room.
7:46 Silence.  What?! Seriously???? Woo hoo!
7:50 I can hear her moving around in there, she's not really asleep.
7:55 Sounds like she's working herself up, not really full-out crying, but definitely not happy.
7:59 I think she's asleep right now...
8:29 Still sleeping! She must have been one tired little bug.

Well, tonight hasn't been too bad so far, but Momma needs a cookie. Or a cocktail.

Sleep training

Background: Addy still doesn't sleep through the night yet.  She wakes up 2, 3, 4 times a night: sometimes to eat, sometimes to be held, sometimes it's gas pains.  Sometimes she falls asleep while nursing, othertimes we have to walk her to sleep in the snugli.  Things got worse over Christmas because of her cold, but now that she's better, we've decided that we need our sleep too, so we are going to "sleep train" her to fall asleep on her own.

Y'all, this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done.  Harder than labor, you ask? Well, that's a different kind of "hard"... This is emotionally painful.  It is almost unbearable, listening to your child scream like this, especially when they rarely cry in the first place.  I know all parents go through this, it's a rite of passage, etc., but it doesn't make it any easier...  We are in the process of doing our first night of sleep training, so I'm hoping that blogging about it may distract me and make the crying easier to handle.  Oh please, let blogging make the crying easier to handle!

Here is the play by play so far:
8:50 Adelyn had been asleep for about 2 hours at this point, but decided to wake up (she had a long busy weekend and fell asleep while nursing).  I fed her one last time to make sure her tank was filled, so to speak, and then we decided to start "progressive waiting" (Ferber method - leaving baby for gradually longer periods of time before comforting.  No picking up!)
9:00 Hmmm, maybe we will have to try tomorrow, she's falling asleep again... Opps, no, Nova knocked something over in the next room and definitely woke her up (grrrr... free cat, anyone? I kid.).  And so begins our adventure.  I make sure she is calm, then put Addy down in her crib and leave. Crying ensues.
9:05 Derek goes in to check on her. Put the pacifier back in, quick kiss and a soft pat, "Momma and Daddy love you", and it's right back out the door.  More screaming.
9:10 Momma's turn, same as what Daddy did. Peanut quieted down, thinking I was coming back to feed her.  Sorry babe, no such luck. Momma leaves, screaming continues.  Breaking-the-sound-barrier type screams. Screeches, if you will.
9:20 Daddy goes in, repeat above.
9:30 Momma goes in, repeat above.
9:36 Silence????
9:43 Screams again, Daddy's turn
9:51 Silence again?! Could it be working???
9:52 No. Back to screams.
9:53 Wait for it... She may be winding down here...
9:58 Well, she's not screaming, but it sounds as if she's playing with her Fisher Price sea creatures on her crib?
10:04 More crying.
10:18 Crying continues off and on, like she falls asleep and then has a bad dream and wakes up.  Poor angel. Here's hoping things are drawing to a close...
10:33 I think this is it!  Addy seems to be sleeping :)
10:45 Houston, we have a sleeping child.  Now it's time for sleeping parents.

Derek says he wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle it, but I'm proud to say that I hung in there! Same thing tomorrow night, and the next night, and the next, until Adelyn has mastered putting herself to sleep.

Oh yes, and I wrote this on my phone again (no internet, remember?)  Talk about using all of my concentration, trying to push the right keys on the keyboard! Ha!

I promise I haven't forgotten about the blog! We don't have internet or TV at our house yet (we have to wait until weds... Grrrr), so I'm updating by phone. It is very difficult using the little keypad, so this will be a short entry.  Things here are going well, we are slowly settling in, unpacking boxes, etc.  Addy is basically all better from her cold and ear infection (fun trip to the doctor on New Years day... More on that later...)  It's freezing freezing freezing here!  Currently 25 degrees, feels like 12.  Brrrr. Perfect weather for staying in and drinking hot chocolate.  I guess that's it for now. Sorry no pics, I guess you will just have to wait until Wednesday! Maybe I'll put up some pics of the house too :)  Sorry, boring entry this time around. I will try to make the next post exciting and upbeat.  Ha!

As 2009 draws to a close...

I wanted to reflect on what a great year it was! An eventful one too...

Adelyn joined our family!
Kim graduated from Texas A&M and got a job in Houston at KBR Engineering.
Dan and Nancy retired and moved to Florida.
I finished my Masters degree in Planetary Geology at Rice.
Derek fulfilled a life goal and started his own oil production company.
We moved to White Oak, TX.
(Side note: my parents have helped my sisters and I move 5 times this year!! 5 times!)

Best wishes to everyone, and may you have a wonderful and exciting 2010. Let's start the new decade off right!

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas! 4 days late...

This should have been posted ages ago, but things have been a bit crazy around here.

First off, Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope it was as wonderful for y'all as it was for us. We spent Christmas with my family in Austin, and it was definitely a full house: my sisters came back home, my Grandma drove over from Tucson, AZ, and we had 3 extra pets in the house (2 cats and a dog). We had a lot of fun, chit chatting, playing cards, having a "poker night" where we all dress up as different characters (haha, it's fun!)... It's hard to believe how quickly it went by. Things have quieted down some, Kim has gone back to work and my Grandma is visiting more of our family up in Canada, so we've settled into the lull that comes between Christmas and New Years. Ahh, 2010 is right around the corner!!! Unbelievable.

Adelyn turned 7 months old on Christmas day, and what a Christmas it was for her. She sure is one lucky, spoiled little girl :) She received so many nice things - clothes, all sorts of toys, an engraved silver cup and porridge bowl... oh, and books! She has quite a nice collection of bedtime stories now. This makes us very happy! Thank you :)

Despite the wonderful gifts, it was a rough Christmas for Addy. She's been sick since Christmas eve. And I mean sick sick sick. She is so congested and miserable, it is the saddest thing. Luckily she's still in pretty good spirits during the day when she's playing, but she isn't sleeping well because she can't breathe, and she wakes up coughing and choking. I think she's finally turning the corner now, although she still has a nasty cough. All I can say is I'm glad we made it to 7 months old before getting a cold like this. If she were any younger, it would have been unbearable. Poor girl.

It's about time I post some photos too, but I have so many that I want to put up. I will try to limit myself so as not to bore everyone :)

Early Christmas present - Pooh Bear Train!

Addy greeting Great Grandma Diane after her long drive from Tucson!

Addy and Auntie Kim

Ace, decked out in Christmas attire.

This is a grouchy Christmas Nova

Auntie Mikaela and Adelyn

Haha, poker night! (Back, L-R) We have a firefighter, a fisherman, a biker chick, a bushman, a nerd accountant, a hippie geologist and a trashman.

Sleeping angel after a nice long walk.

I love Christmas ornaments!

I like unwrapping presents too.

Christmas baby on Christmas eve!

Christmas baby!

Family :)

Merrrrry Christmas! Christmas morning.

Addy and Daddy!

I help Daddy unwrap his presents!

I LOVE THIS FACE!!! This is her "OOh, I want that!" face.

I help Momma unwrap presents too.

I love toys!

Having a delicious Christmas breakfast.

Zivney family before Christmas dinner

Farrell and Zivney families before Christmas dinner

Adelyn says "I'mmmmm cute! The End!"

We are moving!

It's official! On Sunday, we will be moving to White Oak, TX. Where is White Oak, you ask? It is near Longview, about 2 hours east of Dallas. We are moving there to be closer to Derek's third baby, his oil well :) Here is the house we are renting (below). We're excited to be starting this new adventure!
That being said, I hate moving. Scratch that. I hate PACKING. Hate. With a capital "h" and a capital "ate". I like the idea of moving, starting somewhere fresh, re-organizing everything. It's the packing of all your stuff. What a pain. And packing with a 6 month old? Now that's a party. At least she's capable of entertaining herself... sort of...
Haha! Just kidding! We only put her in the box to take a picture :) But truly, it is difficult to pack when you have a child. Luckily my parents are coming to Cypress on Saturday to help us finish any packing we may have left. Whew! I'll update with pictures once we get settled.

6 month photo shoot

Last week, my friend Heather took some photos of me, Derek and Adelyn and she did an AMAZING job!!! Below are just a few of my favorites, and there are more posted on her blog. She also has a website (www.heatherdalton.com) that I recommend checking out. Anyone in the Houston area who is looking for a photographer to shoot weddings, engagement portraits, children, individuals, families (the list goes on!), you should check her out. She does great work! :)

Zivney family

Happy Angel!

My absolute favorite!!!!!

Adelyn loves Daddy.

"I like leaves."

" I like rolling, too!"