Sleep when the baby sleeps.....yeah right

Ok so Ashton is finally asleep again. It is 3:15. He has been up since 8:30 this morning. I fed him, changed him, got him to sleep in my arms and then I put him down and.....he wakes up after like 15 minutes! I couldn't even get a cat nap in. So, he just kinda grunts for a couple of hours (his grunts mean: mom, put my binky back in...now!) After his grunts get more frequent and more demanding, I feel like maybe he's still hungry. We start the routine again....change diaper, nurse (takes forever because he keeps falling asleep but when I try to move him he wakes up and is ravenous), sleeping in my arms and BAM! He wakes up after 10 minutes. I put him down anyway, cover my head with a pillow so I can't hear him whining (which doesn't work because then I feel guilty) and try to get a quick nap in. My dear husband calls to see how I am doing (which really means he needs me to do something) and I tell him how his son refuses to sleep. He shares some advice with me (yeah right, like he knows): go for a drive or a long walk. Um, yeah did he not just hear me almost cry about how tired I am and want to sleep. Does he not realize how much of a process it is to take Ashton out (no because I always get his things ready). I have to get bottles ready in case he starts screaming his little head off and extra clothes because he sometimes leaks through his diapers, etc. It is not a "grab my bag and leave" process. And no I do not want to walk -AKA exert energy-when I have none.

The End

Oh wait, you may have asked yourself well he's asleep now why are you blogging about not being able to sleep??

I will tell you. Because I am not tired anymore. I got out of bed exhausted and am now wide awake while my little one is fast asleep. I want his job.

P.S. Lorin is a great dad. He can actually put Ashton to sleep in less than an hour. So, I probably should have listened to him but I was upset so in my mind he is wrong about everything and I won't listen to his advice because he is not a Mom!

Tagged by Miss

8 Favorite TV Shows: (in no particular order and please don't judge me based on my shows....guilty pleasures)
1.Grey's Anatomy
2.The Office
3.Ugly Betty
4.Everybody Loves Raymond
5.Friends
6.Samantha Who?
7.
8.

8 Fav Restaurants
1.Sette Bello
2.Solo Pizza (italia)
3.Macaroni Grill
4.Magelby's
5.Thai Ruby
6.India Palace
7.
8.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
1.Received a package
2.Went on a walk to the park
3.Caught up on TV shows
4.Watched Indiana Jones
5.Changed diapers
6.Fed and put Ashton to sleep
7.Dusted
8.Washed bottles

8 Things to Look Forward To
1.A good nights sleep
2.Christmas at home
3.Seeing and spending time with family
4.Baby's blessing
5.Twilight
6.Thanksgiving dinner
7.Halloween candy
8.

8 Things I love about fall
1.Clothes!
2.colors
3.thanksgiving dinner
4.foliage
5.pumpkin pie
6.
7.
8.

8 things on my wish list
1. new clothes
2.new mac
3.new boots
4.tv
5.purse
6.cute flats
7.skinny jeans
8.warm weather

8 people I tag
1. Lupita
2.Nadia
3.Kathy
4.Julia
5.Breanne
6.Tiffeny
7.Kate
8.Lorin (ha he won't do it)

Catchups (Party/Halloween/Park)

Where does time go? I have been meaning to post something but always have something else I need to do. I have so many projects and no time to do them. All a baby does is sleep so why don't I have the time? Well this baby likes to be awake at least 4 hours during the day. He'll just hang out making his funny noises and fussing. Maybe I don't have time because I just want to absorb everything he does. Yesterday, I put him in his bassinet in the morning. He stared up at his mobile for like 2 minutes. Then I wound the thing (why do mobiles always have cheesy songs- they should change that to something cool like something by Dave or Journey...) and Ashton totally loved it! I have proof. I recorded him smiling and making his happy noises. I will post that when I figure out how to do it.

What else have I missed? Ashton is finally learning to nurse with the help of a little gadget. I'll have to wean him off that eventually but for now I feel like he is learning and being patient. Yay!

Halloween Update: Ashton will be Batman for Halloween. We'll be going around Provo visiting our old neighborhood. He will be sporting his Batman costume and Batman pail. Lorin will be the Nurse Joker and I will be Robin. I have to handcraft it myself because for some reason Halloween for girls is a free pass to be scantily clad. Yeah- I can't do that so I am putting it together myself.

OK, now for some pics. On Sunday, October 20th, we celebrated Ashton's 1 Month Birthday. I should have taken pics of the cupcakes that took me hours to make and decorate but everyone ate them before I got a chance. I watched as Dallin ate the last Mummy cupcake but it was too late. Anyway, I'm sure the idea is silly for most but I was sooo excited to (and still am!) to have him with me!! I have this irrational fear of SIDS so I really am so grateful for him. I'm not going to lie, those late night feedings are rough for both Lorin and me and sometimes I would just love for him to sleep. But, being a mom is such a wonderful feeling and I would do absolutely anything for this little rat...yes, even spend hours making Mummy and Pumpkin decorated cupcakes for his one month birthday bash that he won't even remember...ha.

Here are some of our guests. We thank you all for coming out to humor me and to celebrate a non-birthday.

Here I am spending some quality time with the month-day boy on our sweet couch. I love it how he just stares at me- probably trying to figure out who the blurry blob is.

Mike, Bev, and Brooke drove from Bountiful (!) to come celebrate with us. Now those are dedicated friends! We heart you guys. I love this picture. Ashton is getting antsy because we took like a billion pictures trying to get it right. Here is Brooke trying to console him, isn't that cute??

Another take-minus Lorin because he was on the phone....sound like anyone familiar?

Dallin and Shannon joined us for some SNL: Best of Will Ferrell at the after-party. I think Ashton is semi-smiling.

Lorin is closing his eyes like always, Bev isn't looking and smothering her baby, Ashton is crying and I look like a goof and Mike is being goofy. Brooke (not the baby) is the only one that looks normal.

Brooke and Brooke.

Ashton and Erin having a nice little talk. Erin and I are friends from freshman year at BYU. He just got back from his mission in the Ukraine.

Kevin and Bree. I think Kevin is getting better at not being afraid of holding a baby- nice work!

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Janelle- so cute!

Jason and RuRu

Erin and Brooke and Ashton crying.

He is pooped from staying awake the whole party!

Here are some pics that I took at the park when we went for our walk. It was chilly out so I put on his little "chuyo" (peruvian hat) that I bought for him in Peru this summer.

I'm afraid Ashton does not like to be his mom's entertainment...at least not for a long period of time.

binky

Is it bad that I have come to rely heavily on his binky to quiet him down and eventually put him to sleep??

see what happens when I take it out? That's why he holds on to it (pic above).

Currently, he is sucking on his binky and I am praying that he will fall asleep soon. But, he keeps spitting it out and then fussing so I have to put it back in and wait until his eyes start to close...only to be dissapointed again as he spits it out and wakes back up! Will this cycle ever end?

Anyone know if having him suck on his pacifier is bad? I've heard different things and I am worried that my child will suffer because of my lack of knowledge on how to soothe him!

Day 17

This may seem like a super long post but it is really mostly pictures... and me bragging about Ashton.

My mom left this morning- she abandoned me in order to take care of her other children. She chose to go already missing her company and help. She was with me during everything! She walked around with me during my contractions, stayed up at night to make sure I didn't die from the pain and kept walking, kept me calm during labor, brought me breakfast in bed every morning, took care of Ashton in the mornings so I could sleep some more, took care of my home and even finished up all my nursery projects (she stayed up at night to sew the crib's bedding, my pillow cases and curtains!!) It really is amazing how unproductive a new mom's day is. All I did today was sleep, sterilize bottles, feed and change Ashton. My mom took such great care of us and did it effortlessly. I was able to rest and spend time with Ashton while my mom took care of the home. I've only been home alone one day and I feel like nothing got done (dishes in sink, eating leftovers, piling laundry baskets, etc.) Here is my mommy with her first grandchild.

These are the proud grandparents. My dad also came for the birth of his first grandchild. He was so good in taking care of me- holding me up when I couldn't take the pains of the contractions anymore. He also fixed the little quirks we had in our home and touched up the outside paint. He is a great handyman and made sure I was getting my rest and nutrition.

Ok, now I feel a need to be productive and people have been asking for updates on the little one.
Every new parent wants to think that their baby is special and smarter than the rest of the newborn babies. I will take part in that- Ashton is developing so fast right before my eyes. I'm sure all babies are like that,blah blah blah but I'm his mom and I'm going to think that he is better than the rest when I'm sure he is just average. He stays pretty alert and calm for 1-2 hours, sometimes 3 like today. He is so curious about his surroundings that he will just look around the room and look at us trying to take all this new stuff in. He has a little friend, this purple monkey toy that came with his little chair, that he just loves to look at. We have him wear little mittens because I am not quite ready, I'm scared really, to cut his fingernails. He has managed to take them off (using his mouth) and scratch himself. He is always in a boxing position (his mittens look like boxing gloves and he keeps his hand right at his chin) and that makes it really hard to feed him but he will support his bottle from time to time. He makes the funniest faces in his sleep and I wish I could capture them all but he's too fast for me. This pic is his blue steel:

annoyed

pensivecurious really annoyedcalmpeaceful
starving! this kid already chugs down 5 oz of milk. he eats like we haven't fed him in days. satisfied- the milk knocked him outmid-sneeze

He laughs and cries in his sleep which breaks my heart. We're told that he makes the sad faces and cries because his tummy probably hurts. I thought he was having bad dreams and just wanted to wake him up. I couldn't bear to see my little baby be so sad! Yes, the crazy protective instincts are here and don't expect them to go away just because I am married to Lorin. I will try to protect him from his father's crazy ways as long as I can. One more "my baby is best". When we went for his first doctor's check up, the nurse was impressed that little Ashton was so brave during the PKU test (that's when they prick baby's heel and squeeze his little heel 6+ times to draw blood out. She said most babies scream their little heads off, but no, not Ashton. He quietly whimpered (which still broke my heart and left me wanting to hurt the nurse that was hurting him) and took it like a man (just like his dad). He didn't even cry when he was circumcised- he only cried when they were undressing him because he was cold (he's taking that after his mama- I hate hate hate the cold). Ok, I am done bragging (that was for you, Steve R.) Sorry if I annoyed anyone or offended others with newborn babies that think their babies are just as good :)

So, we have also had lots of visitors stop by to take a look at our little babe.

Here he is with Uncle Dallin, Aunt Alisha and Aunt Janelle when they came to visit us in the hospital.

Uncle Eric and Kathy and Mark also stopped by. I love the look Kathy is giving Eric as he is holding a wittle baby.
Here is Auntie Brooke/expert nurse/my old roomie of forever! I heart her. She is now working in the NICU in Provo.

Aunt Janelle and Uncle Bryan.

Our new friends, Bree and Kevin. Aunt Alisha

We had Bev (heart her, too) and her little girl, Brooke. Brooke was very curious and wanted to get closer to the little guy on the bed.

My friend, Kim, from high school had a layover in SLC so we decided to meet up in the airport so she could see little Ashton. She is so great and Ashton loved being held by his new friend.

My uncle, aunt and cousin who live in Layton stopped by yesterday after conference (which was awesome) for dinner. I failed to get a group shot but this one is a closeup (we have a lot of those)of Ashton with Aunt Alida.

We also had Janelle, Bryan, Alisha, Shannon and Nat stop by last night. Here he is with Aunt Alisha, who has graciously volunteered to help me out a little by watching him while Mom gets some sleep. What a sweet aunt!

Our friends Steve and his fiancee, Tricia, stopped by, too! They were in town for conference but are heading back to Las Vegas tonight. It was so good to see Steve and meet Tricia for the first time.