Bedtime

From the time Stetson was tiny I have tried everything to establish a bedtime for him, but nothing has worked. Stetson is the type of guy that does things when he is good and ready; he eats when he is hungry, and he sleeps when he is tired, if he is not hungry or tired there is not a dang thing you can do to get him to eat or sleep. The good thing about this is that he has always been able to roll with the punches and deal with my crazy schedule. However, being a pretty scheduled person myself I have a hard time dealing with his "no scheduled" life.

Here is an expample: It is 8:00 and Stetson didn't have a nap, so I am thinking that he might actually go to sleep early (this does happen sometimes), so I turn on a movie in hopes that he will fall asleep watching it. Nope, movie is over and Stetson is awake. So we try plan B: I lay by him in bed and read him a story, and then another story. . . and after about 6 stories it is now 10:00 and I am getting a little sleepy. So on to plan C: I tuck him in bed, give him a kiss, tell him goodnight and shut his door, locking it behind me. After half an hour I can still hear him, so I continue to clean my house. At 11:00 it is finally quiet, so I open his door and this is what I find:


He IS naked, I covered him with the sheet to keep this blog G rated. He has removed all the bedding from his bed, and I can barely open the door because of the pile of books he unloaded from the bookshelf. Now, that is no way to fall asleep! Any ideas?

Now with Lucy, I just wrap her up like a little burrito and she goes right to sleep. Though Stetson thinks it is pretty cool to get wrapped up like his sister, this would never work for him (I tried it when he was tiny and he just screamed). My little burrito babies:

Lucy is 2 months old!

Has it really been two months? I guess so. I have decided that from day one, Lucy has been in a hurry. She was in a big hurry to get here, and she seems to be growing and progressing very quickly. Sometimes she acts almost frustrated that she is stuck inside this tiny body that she doesn't have a lot of control over yet. Here are a few things about Miss Lucy:
*she is a cuddle bug, and loves to cuddle (the problem with this is that she doesn't like to sleep in her own bed)
*she usually wakes up once in the night to eat, but is a very early riser - just like her mom
*she has a good grip and loves to have her hands in fists (providing Stetson the opportunity to give her "knucks" quite often)
*she still has baby acne on her face, and now a red heat rash on her chest and arms, I guess this will go away in time
*she still has very watery, goobery eyes - hopefully the drops and ointment will help and she won't have to get her tear ducts opened up.
*she is a little collicy, and is usually worse when I have eaten something spicy (Mylicon drops have been a lifesaver!)
*she just started reaching for toys when they are put in front of her
*she loves to be wrapped up tight, even when it is super hot
*she loves to be outside
*she still sleeps quite a bit, but when she is awake, she is very alert and smiley
*she likes to hold her head up when she is on her tummy, and can do it for long periods of time now
*she likes the swing and the bouncer (with the vibrater on)
*she stretches a grunts a lot - super cute!
*she loves her bath
*she loves her big brother
MORE CUTE LUCY PICS:
5 WEEKS

6 WEEKS

7 WEEKS

8 WEEKS


Lucy went in for her 2 month checkup on Monday, July 19th. The doctor said she looks very healthy, and is growing good. She is now 21" long, putting her in about the 5th percentile, and weighs 10 lbs 8 oz, putting her in about the 15th percentile. So, even though she has grown a ton, I guess she is still pretty small for her age. She also had to get the dreaded shots. She did very well, in fact her cry was so delayed I started to wonder if she was going to cry at all. Then she calmed right down when I wrapped her up tight and held her close - what an angel!

She slept for the next several hours, woke up screaming then slept for several more hours. I kept watching for a fever since Stetson ran one with every set of shots, but it never came - thank goodness! However, Stetson started running a fever that evening, and I thought 'wow, what a nice brother to suffer the after-shot symptoms for his sister.' After a rather rough night of 'nothing hurts, I'm just tired and can't sleep' I checked his throat, and knew it was strep - so I took him in. Sure enough! And he got a shot too! Here is the tired little boy, finally getting some sleep - poor guy!

Aren't cousins great?

My sister and I have been very lucky to have kids around the same age. It makes it even better that we live in the same town so they can be friends. Ever since Lucy was born we have been wanting to take some pictures of them, and finally got around to it. Please note that I am NOT a photographer, and I do NOT have an awesome camera OR amazing photoshop skills, but hey, we had a good time, and I don't think they turned out TOO bad. . .

STETSON AND JD




LUCY AND ASPEN

A busy weekend. . .

It started on Friday with the Frost Black family reunion. We all met up at Kenny's Uncle Arvid's cabin and Kenny's parents were in charge. We were missing most of the Pincock family because Uncle Dick was in the hospital recovering from surgery due to a tear in his esophagus. He is doing better than he was, but still has a long road ahead of him; he and his family are in our thoughts and prayers. Anyway, the reunion started at noon with a yummy lunch of sloppy joes, chips and watermelon. We arrived a little late because I was at work trying to get monthly reports done (yes, I am still on maternity leave). Suzie did a cute craft with the kids, stars to wave at the parade. Then she helped people decorate notebooks; I didn't make a notebook, mostly because Lucy and I were having a nap, which was wonderful! I was supposed to go to my 10 year class reunion that evening, and had actually planned on it, but Kenny wouldn't go with me and I am a bum and didn't want to go alone - sorry class of 2000, hope you all had fun! Instead I stayed at the family reunion for a dinner of marinated chicken and dutch oven potatoes, followed by a program dedicated to Kenny's gradparents. It was a lot of fun, and Stetson impressed everyone with his dancing skills, yup that's my boy!
KENNY AND LUCY ENJOYING THE REUNION
STETSON ENJOYING THE FOOD AT THE REUNION

The next day was the 4th of July Celebration.
4TH OF JULY LUCY
FOURTH OF JULY STETSON
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
THE GIRLS
THE BOYS
I was really excited that I actually got to watch the parade this year; the drill team girls marched, and did a very good job.
Stetson had a BLAST catching candy with his cousins
And Lucy enjoyed being snuggled up in Grandma Black's arms in the shade
The highlight for me was getting soaked by the water truck as it came by.
Stetson was a good sport, and just laughed about getting wet. After the traditional navajo taco lunch I performed at an Independence Day Program with Brielle, Jo, Kelli and Shaeli. It was my first time clogging since Christmas and I felt a little out of shape, but it was a lot of fun! We had dinner with my family and then watched the fireworks. It was an incredible show! Stetson LOVED it (for the first time in his life) and talked my ear off the whole time. It was fun to see the show through a child's eyes.

And Sunday was Lucy's blessing day! My mom made her a beautiful blessing dress and afghan for her special day.
She was blessed by her father, along with three other babies in our ward. Curtiss and Maggie Bradford blessed their baby boy, Declan Bevan Bradford, Derick and Nidia Jones blessed their baby girl, Kloe Brooke Jones, and Chad and Tiawna Moses blessed their baby boy, Andrew Chad Moses. I wish we could have gotten a photo of the four of them together, but it just didn't happen. The blessing was beautiful, and the spirit was definately there. Lucy was so good the whole time, and was actually awake! Thanks so much to Suzie for taking some pictures for us - she does such an awesome job!
OUR FAMILY
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA BLACK
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA GROVER
THE GROVER FAMILY
WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!