A Nap! Finally! Kind Of . . .

Shane hasn't napped once since we switched him over to his big boy bed 3 weeks ago.

We tried a new approach this weekend. Instead of calling it "nap time", we called it "quiet time". Essentially, it's some "down" time in his room with the hopes that he'd eventually fall asleep.

Well it worked! Kind of. Just before dinner on Saturday I walked into Shane's room to check on him and found him asleep, in his chair! Cutest thing on earth, but seeing as how it was 5pm, we couldn't let him continue sleeping! So we woke him up and thought we'd try it again on Sunday.

Well, it didn't work yesterday, but it did work this morning! Shane is, as I type this, successfully napping in his big boy bed!

Way to go, buddy!!

These cutie shots are from Saturday evening before we woke up the little guy:

5 On Friday - The Getting Back On Track Edition

1). It's been a long, busy week and it's looking to be an even longer weekend filled with LOTS of rain! Do you know what it's like to have to keep a VERY active 2 year old cooped up indoors all weekend because it's raining outside? Especially an active 2 year old that doesn't nap anymore!!! Any idea as to how much of a challenge that is?!?! We do plan on visiting our beloved Stepping Stones at least one of the 2 days, but that'll only kill about 3 hours - if we're lucky!! I'd love your suggestions, thoughts, ideas on other things we could do this weekend that keep us from playing in the rain and that don't break the bank! What do you have for me?!?!

2). I'm sad to admit I haven't picked up the camera in well over a week now. :-( I've been in a photography slump and I'm not entirely sure why. I do plan to remedy that situation while we're cooped up inside this weekend. I have plans to re-read Understanding Exposure (great book and I highly reccomend it to anyone wanting to know the basics of photography) and practice, practice, practice on my favorite subject - Shane!!! Hopefully I'll have some shots to show off next week that are better than what I've shared lately. Though I prefer natural light, refuse to use the onboard flash, and don't currently own a speedlight . . . so I'm not sure how awesome these indoor pictures on a gloomy, rainy weekend will be!

3). The Wiggles have ALWAYS held a special place in Shane's heart, but lately he's been REALLY enjoying them! This morning, as I sat on the couch drinking my coffee and admiring my 2 year old, Shane was busy dancing along with the Wiggles and mimicking their "dance moves"!! It was seriously the cutest, funniest thing I've ever seen!!! It also makes the $150 we dropped 2 weeks ago, to go see the Wiggles live on stage in November, burn a little bit less! Just a little bit though!

4). Shane's doing better in his big boy bed! We're still working through some kinks, but we've managed to keep him out of our bed the majority of this last week, which is a HUGE accomplishment for us! Now we just have to work on Shane not waking up at all in the middle of the night and looking for us (okay, me) and on getting him to go down at night without us (okay, me) sitting in the room with him waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for him to fall asleep! Other than those few issues though, he's really doing great. He's not in and out of his bed all the time like we thought he would've been - so that alone is HUGE!! We'll be putting the final touches on his room this weekend and I'll be sure to take pictures and share them with all of you next week!

5). Have I ever mentioned how much this kid LOVES to play with my hair?!?!

Life . . .

. . . is busy. We spent the entire weekend running errands and helping Uncle Jay put up drywall in his new living room. Never once picked up the camera this weekend! It's going to be a "light" week for photos unless I can find some "oldies but goodies" that I never shared!! Keep your fingers crossed!

. . . is exhausting. Shane keeps us on our toes all the time these days. His days of napping seem to be long gone and with them went our treasured moments of quiet and relaxation. He's got us going non-stop and the only time we sit down these days is when he's asleep for the night! With all these new developments, we're a *little* behind with a lot of things to say the least! Exhibit A - last night we watched the season/series finale of Shark (that we tivo'd) from May 20! Only took us 4 months to find the time to watch it!! By the time we're finally able to sit down and un-wind, we just want to go to bed ourselves! We're WAY beyond sleep-deprived these days!

. . . is fun. Busy and exhausted as we may be, we still have a great time. Shane makes us laugh on a daily basis - either by something he says, something he does, or an accomplishment he's made. When he's finished eating his yogurt, he no longer leaves the empty yogurt cup and spoon sitting on the table (or the floor, or the couch . . . if I'm being honest!) he now throws the empty yogurt cup out in the garbage can (this warms my heart) and the spoon goes right back into the silverware drawer (yogurt remains on the handle and all)!! So in addition to fetching Shane all day long, we're also fetching dirty spoons out of the drawer!

. . . is good. Most of all, despite everything else, life is good. We need to remember that a little bit more some days!

Cousins

Last weekend we took a drive to upstate New York to visit all of Chris's cousins and to help celebrate Charleen's 40th birthday. To say that Shane had a blast playing with all of his cousins is an understatement!! The kid had an unbelievable time and enjoyed every single minute of the day!

Timmy had so many toys that Shane doesn't have and I swear the kid thought he was in the middle of Toys R Us. His face lit up when he walked into the playroom and he just didn't know where to go first!

Here are a few quick snapshots of the kids playing around outside. It's nice to be able to get together with these guys, as many of them have kids Shane's age (or close to it) - and they're family to boot!

Shane, Jack and Timmy in the wagon:
Daddy taking a break from pulling them up and down (and up and down, and up and down) the LONG and HILL-Y driveway!!

The 3 Amigos again:
For some reason Shane thought it would be fun to hop out of the wagon and pull Jack and Timmy himself! Much to our amazement, he was actually able to do it, and he did pretty well . . . as long as he stayed on the driveway!

GramZ, Daddy and Shane - this is what happens when you use a flash! Look at their faces!! (still a cute shot though!)
We all had a blast and we're looking forward to getting together again with everyone for the holidays!

Wordless Wednesday

Baby In A Big Boy Bed

Shane's been in his big boy bed for just over a week now and aside from the fact that I've yet been able to come up with a new, workable bedtime routine, it's actually going really well!

Each night that he's slept in his bed, he's fallen asleep within an hour of us having put him to bed (not counting the time it takes to give him his bath, put his pj's on, watch a little Elmo and read a few stories) - it's just that what happens in that hour changes each night and that's what we're trying to work out.
*************************************************************************************
The progression of Day 1 with the Big Boy Bed:
1) He thought it was more comfortable than sitting at the table! (and "thanks" again Grandma for supplying him with an entire bag of chips . . . )

"What, you're not supposed to eat chips in bed?"
2) He thought it was more comfortable than sitting on the couch to watch Elmo!

He looks thrilled with me here, doesn't he?!?!
3) He FINALLY gets it right!! We're working on finishing the "transformation" of his room now! Stay tuned for pictures of Shane's Big Boy Room!!

5 On Friday

1) The BIG news in our house is that our little boy spent his first night in his big boy bed on Sunday!!! We've had a few struggles here and there and we're still working out some of the kinks, but the transition is going much smoother than we expected it to and Shane is doing great! Here's a quick shot that I took with my cellphone on Sunday - I have much better (and cuter!) images that I'll process this weekend and share the early part of next week. As you can see, we left his crib in his room in case the bed didn't work, but Shane has wanted nothing to do with his crib since his twin mattress hit the floor on Sunday! This weekend we'll be taking down the crib and actually putting up his bed. I'll be sure to take pictures of the room as we make the transition and then once it's completed! Makes me SO sad to see the crib go! Hopefully we'll be blessed enough to have the opportunity to use it again!

2) Trains and trucks still rule our house! He can't go anywhere without one of them and neither is ever very far! He goes to bed each night with one train book and one truck book! The lucky book changes night to night, but it's always one of each! I love that he knows what he wants!

3) Speaking of knowing what he wants . . . last night we went to Wal-Mart (I HATE Wal-Mart, more like despise, but knew it was the best place to go for this specific purchase) so that Shane could pick out a set of sheets for his new big boy bed. I've already purchased 2 sets that actually MATCH his new bedding, but I thought it would be fun for him to have something he loves to sleep on at night! Despite my hatred for character based kid rooms, sheets can be easily hidden by making the bed, so I knew this was the way to go!! Wal-Mart didn't have much to choose from for boys (Cars, Spiderman, Transformers . . .) but the second Shane saw the pretty, bold, Cinderella sheets - he knew they were the ones for him! And I really can't blame him!! They were quite lovely! Very colorful, very vibrant and they definitely looked like they'd be fun to sleep on! I knew Shane's Daddy wouldn't be thrilled with his son sleeping on Cinderella sheets, so much to Shane's dismay they stayed at the store! We did buy the Cars sheet set though, and Shane *almost* loved them as much as he loved Cinderella!!

4) I've got a few ideas for some neat craft things to make for Shane's new room; I want to make some pegs to hang some photos off of, I'd like to create some sort of magnet board, or magnetic chalk board, something he can use to create different scenes, etc. Now all I need is a free weekend! I'll have to try to squeeze one in between Halloween and Thanksgiving!

5) Off to upstate New York tomorrow for a birthday party! Shane's looking forward to playing with all of his cousins! Pictures to come, you can be sure!

Goodnight

One day, far too soon, when you aren’t so little anymore, I’ll be tucking you into bed and after you’ve pleaded for just one more story, you’ll look up at me with those big blue eyes that I’m such a sucker for and say “Mommy, tell me about when I was a baby”… and I will.

I’ll snuggle down next to you and kiss you on your forehead and tell you how when you were a baby you were so sweet, that you had such an infectious silly laugh, a favorite blanket that you slept with, and little chicken legs that everyone loved.

I’ll tell you about how I used to sing a special song to you when you were upset, or when you couldn't settle yourself down and how, from that, you learned to sing yourself to sleep at night.

I’ll tell you how much you loved your trucks, your trains, your books, your dogs and Elmo - we must never forget your love for Elmo.

I’ll tell you about how when you were a newborn you would squish up your face like a little bird when you were waiting for that bottle to find it's way back into your mouth. About how angry you’d get when you didn’t get your way, and that you made sure everyone knew you were angry. How when you hurt you would take it out on the object (or person) closest to you, because you didn't know what else to do with the emotions you were feeling.

As you start to get sleepy, I’ll kiss you on your forehead again and tell you how so many nights I would sit with you in the rocking chair in your room with your head on my shoulder knowing full well that you didn’t need to be rocked to sleep, but not wanting to let the moment go. How in those last few minutes before I laid you down I would close my eyes and just breathe in the memory, sometimes letting my heart swell until my eyes got teary realizing that one day, all too soon, you wouldn’t be so little anymore.

My son, you were an amazing baby, you are an amazing toddler and I have no doubt you will become an amazing man. My baby, my first baby. You were more than I ever could have dreamed, and I love you more than I ever thought possible.

Goodnight.

Wordless Wednesday

Kent Falls, CT

Over Labor Day weekend we took a drive up to Kent, CT. GramZ had been wanting to visit Kent for a while and this seemed liked a good time to make the trip!

Before we stopped and walked around the town center, we drove up to Kent Falls State Park and enjoyed spending some time hanging out at the falls and snapping a few quick photos.

Shane LOVED walking up all the steps that lead up to the top of the falls (200 feet up!!). While we never did make it to the top, we did make the "start" several times! Talk about a nervous Mama!!!

As much as he loved the steps, he wanted nothing to do with the falls themselves. There are some really nice (and refreshing looking!) pools at the bottom of the falls that people were hanging out in. With his new-found love for pools, we thought he'd be all over this - but once again he proved us wrong!

Shane's nothing if he's not his own little person!

The Falls:

My boys. My heart. In these last 2 you can see how much Shane *loves* to pose for pictures! This why we tend to stick with "action shots" of our little guy!!

With Mommy & Daddy:
With Daddy, Grandpa & GramZ:

Busy, Busy, Busy. Tired, Tired, Tired.

More to come . . . we promise!! Including shots from our trip to Kent Falls State Park over Labor Day weekend!

Here's one for now.

"WOW!!!"

A Sign Of Things To Come

I sure hope not!!! If it is then we're in for a lot of trouble!!

We had a little family get together at our house on Saturday for Labor Day and Shane spent the better part of the afternoon running around the backyard in his birthday suit! This is one of the only shots I felt comfortable enough to post on the internet!

The good news is that now that summer is winding down Shane has finally figured out that the pool is actually a pretty fun thing! We can't keep him out of it now - with or without clothes on!

Return To Oz

Our Oz anyway - Stepping Stones Children's Museum!

We went back a few weeks ago and this time we took Grandma with us!!!! Shane had a ball showing Grandma all the fun things he loves to do at Stepping Stones! He slid down the slide, splashed around in the water area and had some fun with bubbles out in the courtyard!

Afterwards we went and grabbed some lunch and then we all went home, exhausted, and took a nap!

What to do first?!?!?!
"Grandma, watch me go down the slide!"
Building a race car out of lego's (Ok, fine, DESTROYING a race car made out of lego's):
Water Play!!!! His FAVORITE!!

"Like this, Grandma!"

Hording all the water play toys. I've got THAT kid!!
Ahhh! We LOVE Stepping Stones! We may actually move in there once winter hits CT!

Brady James O'Neil

Katie and Jim O'Neil brought a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby BOY into the world during the early morning of September 1 - Labor Day!!

Brady James was born at 1:03am, by c-section, weighing 5 lbs 10 oz and measuring in at a whopping 18 inches!!!

Congratulations you guys!!!! Enjoy all the wonderful moments that lie ahead of you!!!

Meet Brady James O'Neil!!!

Brady & Mommy:
Again in B&W, because I'm a SUCKER for B&W baby pictures!!!

Brady & Daddy:

TONS more pics from this weekend and from last weekend that I'll be posting throughout the week. The long holiday weekend allowed me to finally start to catch up with all the editing that's been sitting there waiting for me!!

Congratulations again to the new Mom & Dad!!!!!