The one about being "babywise"

If you have spent any time reading parenting books you will be completely befuddled by the udder contractions spelled out in each one. Some same feed every 2 hours like clockwork, some say feed whenever baby is hungry.  Some say use a swing to lull your baby to sleep and insure a nice long nap, some say No! Some say take your baby out and socialize, some say keep baby away from others because they might have germs! Each book does a great job of convincing their take on the subject and disputing the opposite. It's enough to make one go crazy and just give up!

I had heard a lot about the book "Babywise" but was never too interested in reading it. All i knew was that it has to do with establishing a schedule for baby. Me being free-spirited (aka disorganized) have not been capable of living by any kind of structure since Judah arrived. Scheduling seemed like a chore. I was not interested and therefore not interested in Babywise.
For unknown reasons i decided last week to read it anyways. The first thing i learned was about helping baby sleep.

The three most important things according to Babywise:
1) Do not rock baby to sleep (this includes rocking chairs, swings, and car rides)
2) Do not nurse baby to sleep
3) Do not sleep with baby

Hmmm.... 3 strikes, I'm out!

According to babywise I'm a total failure. I couldn't even fathom how to get Judah to sleep aside from the aforementioned taboos! After reading the rationales about how these sleep props become crutches and soon baby won't be able to fall asleep without them. Well I guess Judah was living validation of that. So i decided to set out and correct my mistakes.

The other things I learned was that hyper-scheduling is crazy, but some structure adds needed predicatability to his life- and mine. Even though it was contradictory to the first books i had read and how i had been living i decided to go for it. It spelled it out and made it seem simple:

feed... wake... sleep

that's all there is too it, and gives a rough time line but mainly just feed for 30 min or however long it takes, play with baby (it even gives ideas: read, sing, etc...), then put him in the crib while he is still awake so he learns to fall asleep on his own.
The first 2 days were a bit rough (coincidentally the day of and after his shots so that might have had something to do with it), but now he is doing pretty well. He sleeps in his crib!!! Woo-Hoo! and he only wakes up once at night to eat. According to the book it shouldn't be long til he sleeps completely through the night with no night feedings, so i'm looking forward to that.

So in conclusion, amidst the plethora of parenting books out there I'd say baby wise is a winner. I'm glad Judah's been such a trooper in adapting well to the schedule. (we'll see how well that lasts when grandmas and aunties want to hold him all day!)

 sleep time- shhh...

play time!

The one about shots

Judah is 2 months old today! I had to take him to the Drs for a check up. Judah is now just over 11 lbs and 23 inches long. He's still growing- that's a good thing :) He is in the 50% for both weight and length. Way to be average Judah! Oh, except one thing- his head is in the 70%!!! Judah has a huge head for his size. The Dr said its cuz he has such a big brain. However everyone knows its not the size that matters. I know Judah's going to be a smart cookie big head or not.
They save the worst part til the end. The nurse came back in and gave him 2 shots: one in each leg. His face instantly turned as read as a cranberry and he let out the loudest wail I have heard to date. It broke my heart. I saw him tear up for the first time. Seeing him in so much pain brought tears to my eyes! I felt so bad. I couldn't say anything to comfort him, he doesn't understand english yet! (and Spanish wouldn't work either!) The nurse put a sparkly silver band-aid on one side and a brightly colored Garfield band-aid on the other as he continued to wail.
What was a mama to do? If he was older I would have taken him out for ice cream, but the only treat for a 2 month old is milk. So milk it was... and pretty soon he was calmed and cooing.
Good boy Judah- Way to be strong!

The one about his name

Judah: From the Hebrew meaning "thanks, gratitude", "The praise of the Lord,"  Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah


Phinehas:Numbers 25 The Zeal of Phinehas ¹⁰And the LORD said to Moses, ¹¹"Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.¹²Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"






We pray that Judah will be one who worships the Lord "in spirit and in truth" We have heard over and over again at Mars Hill that we are all worshipers. Everyone on our planet worships something. Some may worship themselves, some their possessions, others glory, power, popularity... I give thanks that God has given us such a beautiful son and pray that God would help me to keep my priorities in line. That i would worship Christ alone, my next love would be my husband and that Judah would be #3. I pray for Judah that God would always be #1 and no other thing in this world could steal his affection.


I pray that like Phinehas he would be zealous for the Lord. I hope he will learn to love what Jesus loves and hate what Jesus hates. I pray that when he sees unholiness in others he would be able to in love lead them back to Christ. I pray he would live as an example to his future siblings, and stand up to them and for them in Christ's name when they sin

merry christmas 2010!

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Coming to a mailbox near you!

i'm new

Forgive me i'm new at this and who knows how consistent i'll be (its hard to type with a baby in one arm). I never thought I'd be one to blog, but here I am. I always thought blogging was a little narcissistic. Who am I that anyone would care to read about the mundane moments of my everyday life. Now I'm a mom... and still no one really cares what I do, but for some reason a baby spitting up or sitting up for the first time is news worthy.


I dedicate this blog to Judah's grandmas who don't get to see him on a daily basis. I hope this will help you feel a little bit closer. Thank you for your hands-on help, your ceaseless prayers, and the countless gifts you've given!

So... Sleepless in Seattle

I don't know if it is the most accurate title because Judah doesn't spend a whole lot of time crying at night. I've been blessed to have a decent amount of sleep most nights. We do wake up at least 3 times still for feeding, and possibly a diaper change, but usually we go right back to sleep. (praise the Lord and knock on wood!) However, there are some nights when he is a little more fussy, like last night. Usually it's gas.

Sleep while he's sleeping...

I must have heard this a million times! Unfortunately, Judah seems to fall asleep while I'm running errands. Should i immediately lie down in the produce section of Albertson's so i can catch some zzz's? Wouldn't that be a sight! Even if we are at home those naptime minutes are my one and only opportunity for doing dishes,straightening the house, showering. So though it may be good advice i consider it to be: mission impossible.

The kicker is- no matter how tired I am I can't go get a coffee (Seattle's Rx) cuz the caffeine will keep the baby up even more. Oh well. I had some great training in my college years on how to live without sleep! I'm pretty much a pro. So while he's sleeping (and I'm not) I'll have some time to update my blog :)