Picture Drama

We had an appointment last night to have Sam's 6 month pictures taken and decided to try and get some family portraits done as well. I had grand plans. I wanted pictures of Sam, ones of Bo & Sam together, a family picture to update the one on our wall from 2 years ago, and a cute Christmas picture to send out with Christmas cards.

I knew this was ambitious but I was optimistic. Probably falsely so, but hopeful still. I really thought it would all work out. Sam is so easy going and smiley and Bo has always been a ham in the past, so why wouldn't it?

I ran around town all morning looking for outfits for the boys. I would have done it sooner but I just booked the appointment 2 days prior and this was my first chance to get out. I never found exactly what I was looking for but wasn't ready to give up.

So, later, after naps, totally last minute at this point, I did another whirlwind trip through Old Navy on the way to the studio. And I mean whirlwind. Clothes were flying, sales people were scurrying, and Bo was crying, but by golly I left there with a bag full of clothes in a matter of minutes, and damn it I was going to get the perfect family picture.

Some how, though, in all the chaos, Bo never got the memo.

4 stores, 9 purchased outfits, 2 trips to town, bribes of chocolate, an orange Popsicle, and 1.5 hours of studio time later, we NEVER got a decent family portrait.

We did however, get some great shots of Sam. He is so much fun and such a happy baby. He was smiling at anything and everything. And really, he was the main reason we went to the studio in the first place so I shouldn't complain.

Besides, now I have an excuse to not send out Christmas cards this year. Things could be worse.

It's Time For Tough Love

We got back from Nebraska Monday night and are trying to get back in to the swing of things. I will write later about our trip and all that we did but right now I want to talk about Sam.

Sam will be 6 months old next week and is still up all the time at night. All. The. Time. Lately he's been up every 1-2 hours. It's been getting worse the past few months and is getting really old really fast. I partially blame him having a bad cold and being sick all of October, traveling, him getting his first tooth last week, and me always sticking him on the boob every time he wakes up, but something has got to be done.

We are traveling again in 3 weeks and it is my goal to have him broken from the nightly boobcapades by then. I am exhausted and want a normal night sleep. It won't be easy on any of us, I'm sure, but this is my vow to try.

I actually started last night by only feeding him if it had been over 3 hours. (How pathetic is that?!) The other times he woke up in between, which was many, I went in, rubbed his head for a minute, turned on his mobile and walked out. The longest he cried was 10 minutes so not bad. I was impressed.

And after doing this all night, he finally slept a 3 hour stretch from 3:30am-6:30am this morning. Yay. It's a start and I'll take it.

I am too much of a softy to cut out all feedings cold-turkey but I will get there. I will.

The Longest Sleepless Travel Day Ever

15 hours, 3 flights, 1 horribly long layover, 3 screaming fits, no sleep, plenty of Valium, and lots of patience later, we made it. Thank God!

I will update more later because, even though we have been here for 3 days, I am still severely exhausted (thanks to Sam not sleeping more than 2 hours in a row since we've been here) and can't think straight enough to write, but I will leave you with some funny Bo moments . . .

After we got our luggage off the belt once we got here, I dug into Bo's suitcase to find his coat. One glance inside and his eyebrows completely furrowed. "What happened? Where toys?"

The first morning we were here, Bo woke up and came out into the living room which is floor to ceiling windows, looked up at Grandma and asked, "What's this light?" (Poor deprived Alaskan kid.)

Priorities

I have been looking for a suitcase for Bo for a long time and finally found one. I ordered it quite a while ago and it arrived yesterday. (Just in time for our trip to Nebraska tonight.) Bo was so excited. He loves it.

He pulled it all around the house, played with all the pockets and zippers, and spent the majority of the afternoon packing for Grandma & Grandpa's.

He says he is all ready to go . . .

Another Poop Story

Bo likes his privacy when he is on the potty so I left him in the bathroom as usual this afternoon to take care of his business. A few minutes later he came running out to tell me he pooped and was so excited to show me.

We ran in to the bathroom, he stood there buck naked, pointed down at his poop, and with ear to ear pride said, "like a hot dog!"

It doesn't get much cuter than that, but I really might think twice next time I am offered one.

Life's Not Fair

Sam's first rice cereal - He didn't really dig it

Every bite that went in, came right back out

Sam got cereal, Bo got chocolate pound cake batter


The jealousy begins

Not Quite Getting It

Bo pooped in the potty for the first time today. He came running out of the bathroom. "Poop, Mommy. Poop!" I was so excited. He was catching on. (Or so it seemed.)

Like we have been doing with every potty success, I carried the bowl over to the real potty for him to flush it and what did the little booger do? He stood there along side the toilet and peed on the floor. Come on! Seriously? And then to make things worse, he stepped in it while trying to reach the flusher.

One would think it would be difficult to celebrate using the potty when you're standing in your own pee, but apparently not when you're 2. All you care about is getting your wet socks off and picking out a new car that will match your gray shirt.