2 is enough!!

Things have become a little more hectic around here lately. For the first month or so, Ben was a great sleeper. He took long naps, and never had a hard time going to sleep on his own. Then things changed! He is definitely a snuggler, and pretty much wants to be held all the time. I am lucky if he takes one good nap all day.

He usually cries for 10ish minutes when I put him down, and then falls asleep, only to wake up a half hour later screaming. And he doesn't cry himself back to sleep. He'll cry like mad for a while, and eventually gets himself unswaddled. He tolerates the swing or bouncy seat for a few minutes, but always cries to be held. I love to hold him, and would sit on the couch all day holding him if I could. But he has a 2 1/2 year old sister that needs attention, and I just can't hold him all day long. That leads us to long bouts of crying in the swing or his crib, when I just can't get to him and hold him. My stress level skyrockets when he's crying.

When Madi was a baby, she would be content to be in the swing or bouncy seat for even an hour. And she didn't cry much compared to him. She was sleeping through the night at 12 weeks, for 8-9 hours. Ben's 10 weeks now, so he better hurry up and learn how to go longer at night. Last week he had a couple 7 hour stretches of sleep. But last night he woke up every 4 hours and wasn't settled in between either. I was constantly reswaddling him, and putting the Nuk back in his mouth.

I am trying to go by the Babywise parent-directed feeding method, but it's very difficult because he is not sleeping well throughout the day. I tried putting him on his belly a couple times for naps last week, but it didn't make a difference. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Aside from all that, we are doing well. On Saturday, Me, Gregg, and Ben went to Hershey for my cousin's wedding. Then on Monday, I went with my parents and the kids to my sister's house in Baltimore. The girls had so much fun together, and I am glad they got a chance to be together again. Wednesday (my birthday) was pretty crazy. Darryl was home and watched their friend's little boy, Owen. So we had 4 kids to watch. :) I don't think I want 4 kids. 2 is more than enough for me!

Here are some pictures from the last couple days.

God is using Craigslist in amazing ways!

I have a story to tell....God is making himself evident in my life like never before!

Gregg and I got married when I was 19, and at that point most of my friends were off at college. I stayed home and went to community college, and did not make many Christian friends. For years, Gregg and I tried to find a church for the two of us, where we could really feel like we belong...so I didn't really make any new friends at church. I have been telling myself a lot lately that I don't have many friends. I need Christian friends that I have stuff in common with. This is where the story gets good!

About a month ago, Gregg and I decided it was time to find a new home for our dog. I had been talking to him a lot about it for about a year, but the timing was never right. We both felt that if we gave our dog away, that we were betraying her, and that she should be a part of the family just like any of us. But when Ben was born, our house became very chaotic, and we decided to look for a home for her. We were planning on going away over Memorial Day week, and would be gone for the entire week. We needed to find her a home by Friday because we were leaving early Saturday morning. We talked about what would happen if we couldn't find her a home by the time we were leaving for vacation, and we decided I would take her to a shelter on Friday if I couldn't find her a home. So I put up a post on Craigslist. I got a lot of responses at first from scammers, and I got a couple real emails but the families just didn't sound right. But on Thursday, Gregg and I decided that we could not just drop Chasey off at a shelter, and that we would pay to send her to the kennel during our vacation, and find her a new home when we got home. Well, I was changing Ben's diaper on Friday, about 10 minutes before I was leaving to take Chasey to the kennel, when my phone rang. It was a 20 year old girl from the next town over who saw my post on Craigslist and wanted to meet Chasey. She sounded really sweet, and she really sounded like she was excited! I called Gregg right away at work to tell him, and we were both excited. The girl said she would be over soon to meet Chasey, and she was bringing her Border Collie. About 15 minutes later, Ashley arrived at our house with her dog, her dad, and brother. Chasey and Ivy, the other dog, got along as well as could be expected. There was some growling and barking, but no fighting or biting. And we could tell that they were warming up to each other. I told Ashley and her dad that if they took Chasey and they realized that it was not working out, to just take her to the kennel that we were going to take her to, and that we would pick her up when we got home. So we packed up all of Chasey's belongings, and she got in the car, and left with Ashley and Ivy. I have to be honest, I was a little sad. I knew Gregg and I would both miss Chasey. And I was worried that she wouldn't be happy. I wanted her to have a family that would pet her, and hug her and make her theirs. Ashley and I exchanged phone numbers and emails so we could be updated about Chasey.

When we got home from Canada the following Saturday, I called Ashley right away and she said Chasey was doing great! Ivy and her were getting along well, and she was definitely happy. She finally had a fenced in yard to run in! We exchanged a bunch of emails with pictures of Chasey in her new home, and talked about how she was doing. To make this story a little shorter, I found out that Ashley is a born-again Christian. She is a pastor's granddaughter, went to Christian school all her life, is a big scrapbooker, and has other similar interests that I do. We both said that God had a hand in our friendship. She really is a sweet girl, and I can't wait to get to know her better! We are going to hang out sometime soon! So there's one new Christian friend that God brought to me!

Here's the second story:

About a year and a half ago, I met online (on MySpace) a girl named Kim. She is also born-again, around my age, with a daughter just a couple months younger than Madelyn. We both said that we would have to meet sometime and let the girls play! But then Ben was born, and with the way our house has been so chaotic, I haven't gotten to meet her and hang out.

Just last week, I posted again on Craigslist. This time with an inflatable swimming pool for sale. We had used it a couple times, but decided it was too big, and wanted a smaller one. So I got an email from a girl named Kim that was interested in the pool and wanted to see pictures. I emailed pictures to her, and she said she would take it and would be by sometime this week to pick it up. She said she was going to her parents house in New Jersey for a few days, and would come get it when she got home. I knew that the Kim from MySpace had family in New Jersey, and for a split second wondered if it was the same Kim. Well today she came to pick up the pool, and we both looked at each other and said, "I met you on MySpace!" It was amazing! I have never ever put anything on Craigslist before. So in the last month through Craigslist, God brought me two new Christian friends, and I cannot wait to get to know both of them! A friend reminded me that I keep saying I don't have many Christian friends, and that God finally said, "Here are your new friends!"

One more picture

Here's one of the two of them. I just got it now. :)

Back to Blogging!

Ok, so I know it's been a while. That's why I am going to play catch-up a little bit. I know I need to post Ben's birth story, but that will have to wait. For now I am just going to let you all see a bunch of pictures.



This is the day we brought Ben home. My mom and dad and the kids.

The day we brought him home. It was about 85 degrees outside!

Still in the hospital getting ready to go home. This little outfit was NB size! And he was swimming in it! Now he's about 9 1/2 lbs and wearing 0-3 months.

Madi getting to know him the day after he was born.

Gregg's sister's kids, Kyle and Becca getting to know Ben on the night he was born.

The night he was born, Gregg got me a Wegman's hoagie. I was so hungry for one after not being able to have one for the whole pregnancy. It was delicious!

Madi getting to know her brother only about 15 minutes after he was born.

Mommy sees Benjamin for the first time!

About 30 seconds before I started pushing. I hoped it would happen quickly. They said I pushed for 11 minutes, but it felt like one minute. Ouch!

Waiting to get to 10 centimeters.

This was just a couple weeks ago. Madi was having a little tantrum! She loves to get into the Desitin, and then she comes to me with it all over her fingers. She got in trouble this time.

Over Memorial Day week, we went with Gregg's parents, his brother in law, his brother in law's brother, and our niece and nephew to Cranberry Lake in Ontario. It was a lot of work, and we were happy to come home, but we had a great time. Here Madi is eating a roasted marshmallow by the campfire.

These girls love each other! They had so much fun together during the week. And Becca was a big help. She entertained Madi so I could relax too. They even had a sleepover in our cabin one night. :)

Becca, Madi, and Kyle on our boat.

Madi playing in the backyard last week. I got her a cheap pool and she loves it!

Ben had been using a new blanket that was fuzzy. Here's the fuzz between his little toes! :)

Just hanging out outside while Madi played in her pool.

I think he looks just like my brother, Evan, in this picture! Does anyone agree?

Here he is last week. Madi was taking a nap so I took the opportunity for a photo shoot. :)

Last week a friend of mine went with Madi, Ben, and I to Jungle Fun. It was nice to get out of the house on a rainy day. Madi took such a good nap after this playtime!

Madelyn is teaching Ben all about the hanging animals. They play nice together already! And Ben loves his big sister.

Madi loves playing with water, and will sit in her highchair for hours just pouring it from one cup to the other and soaking it up with sponges.

Ben loves bathtime.

When I am not paying attention, this is Madi's favorite thing to do. Get into the pantry.

Daddy worked all weekend putting up a swingset and now it is finally done! We spent most of the day yesterday outside and a lot of today too.

Ben smiling at my dad last night.

I told her to smile and show me her teeth.

That's it for now. I hope to write some more this week! By the way, I go back to work this week. :( I am only working Wednesday this week, but will be going back 2 days a week starting next week.