oh henry.

i had a meltdown of sorts yesterday. one that should never have happened, and i'm glad nobody was around to witness (except steven...poor steven. he had to talk to me on the phone mid meltdown. sorry steven). henry was screaming in the car on the way home from the aquarium. i'm talking blood curdling scream...like someone was cutting off his left arm. the 'i cannot handle this for another second' scream. and then i realized that i was lost, and i didn't know where to turn or how to get home or even if i was headed toward my house or away. even if i hadn't gotten lost, i was a good 20 min from my house, and he wasn't about to let up any time soon. i can't look at the map on my phone in new orleans traffic...too dangerous, and too hard. so...long story short, i kinda lost it. not kinda, i really did. and this was all because BEFORE we went to the aquarium, henry refused to sleep. 

so...i need some serious help with my henry. s.e.r.i.o.u.s help. the kid is the worst sleeper on the planet. i spend about 50% of my day trying to get him to sleep, and about 40 % trying to keep thomas quiet enough that he won't wake him up. we've done the cry it out thing a billion times. we use white noise (really loud white noise, mind you). we sing to him and bathe him and do all we can to calm him before he goes down. i try not to let him get over tired. i'm telling you, nothing helps. he will usually go down great...no crying. but after about 15-30 min, he will start screaming. if i let him go...he will go for hours and hours and hours. it's bad. if we do let him cry, i have to leave the house. either that, or i have a big fat meltdown...and it's not a pretty sight. i'm not opposed to the cry it out method, but i'm just a big weenie and i can't take it. so...what do i do? he's nearly 13 months old. he neeeeeds sleep. he is always tired, and always rubbing his eyes like an hour after he wakes up in the morning. sometimes even before that. he clearly needs two naps. actually, i swear he still needs three...but that's probably because he's such a bad sleeper that he's always exhausted. i've read two sleeping books cover to cover...and i swear they are talking about every child EXCEPT MINE. honestly, if henry was my first baby, i would probably be more okay with the whole ordeal. but since i also have thomas running around and being lonely while i spend SO much time trying to help henry sleep, it's really a problem. and this is not a new problem, it's a problem that's been going since henry was about 3 days old. no joke. months ago (when henry was still pretty young, and thomas was just barely three) thomas said something about someone being lonely. i asked him if he knew what lonely meant...and he said 'yeah, it's when you have to play by yourself because they are putting the babies to sleep.' i started crying. the whole sleep issue really makes my life hard. i stress about it every single day. i hate thomas being lonely because i spend so much time fussing over henry's sleeping habits, and i hate that henry is always  tired because he can't seem to get it right. and i really hate that no matter how hard i try, i can't seem to help him figure it out.

if you were a fly on my wall, you would see that i go without showering because i'm afraid henry might wake up and scream when i'm in the shower, and then i would fee so awful. i never dry my hair when he's sleeping because it will likely wake him up. you would see that i text steven and ask him what i should do because henry is screaming and i've already spent an hour trying to get him calmed down enough for a nap. you would see me googling why on earth my one year old can't burp on his own, and wakes up screaming in pain because of it. you would see my poor almost-4-year old watching superman because i've reminded him to be quiet so many times that it's the only solution i can come up with.

do any of my brilliant momma friends have any answers for me? does anyone else's older baby have problems burping? does he have refux or something? or is he just really defiant? it seems like if he was just being a stinker who doesn't want to sleep, he would cry when i first put him in his crib...which he usually doesn't do. and if he does, it only lasts until i close the door. should i just let him cry and cry and cry? my momma heart breaks when he cries, but i will do ANYTHING that will help him sleep in the long run.

p.s. he has been crying on and off the whole time i write this. and he went down for his nap without a hitch about 30 min ago. oh henry.

baby ruby

the story of this sweet baby, ruby jane, just breaks my heart. i seriously cannot imagine what this would be like. steven knows ani, ruby's momma, from college and i have been following ruby's journey via facebook and their blog. ruby's family has asked for fasting and prayer on ruby's behalf this sunday, specifically for comfort for ruby and for a liver to become available so ruby can have a liver transplant. we will be joining in the fast, and i hope you will too.

even if i don't know this sweet baby or her parents, i know what it's like to be a mother. i know that if i had a sick child, i would want the whole population to be fasting and praying for her to get better.

get better, cute baby ruby.

we are here, we are happy. i just never seem to get around to posting it! so...here are some of my recent thoughts:

henry is 11 months old and i hate that. 

i said i would only nurse until he turned one, but now i don't know if i can stick to that. it's just so sweet!

but...i want baby #3 to come sooner rather than later...so nursing may have to stop soon, 

and i'm really bummed about it. 

thomas is so old! he still flies/drives anything he can find. he still launches 'rockets'

several times a day. he is also into 'mighty heros,' namely the original superman cartoon. 

he wears a cap and super hero mask around a lot, and it kills me. i want to eat him up. 

we just went to disney world, and holy cow, that place is nuts! 

thomas had so much fun! he rode big kid rides, and wasn't even scared on 

splash mountain. actually, after we went down the big drop off at the end, 

he turned to me and said 'where's the really big one?' my little guy is so big!

steven's summer schedule has turned out to be amazing. i was dreading the fact that he has

mph classes when all other med students have the summer off. 

but his classes are only 3 days a week for a few hours, so it's very much

like we are on vacation. plus, he still gets financial aid, and we get to stay here

for the summer. we have done a lot of working out and swimming in the evenings. 

i want to train for a half marathon, but it sounds daunting. training day one starts tomorrow. when i consider that it's 13 miles, it sounds doable. but the thought of a half marathon just seem 

so much harder. i'm going to do it though.  

i don't know if we are going to be able to go to oregon this summer, which is so sad. thomas 

asks to go to oregon multiple times a week. it's also a bummer that henry 

will have his first birthday and nobody will be here but us. and thomas will

have his fourth birthday here,too. but, such is life.

henry is a horrible sleeper. i try and try and try...and he still wins most of the time. 

now that we are back from florida it seems to have gotten a bit better, but man he

has given me a run for my money. he's so dang cute though, it's hard to be mad at him. 

i think heavenly father does that on purpose. 

our 5th anniversary is in 3 days. i seriously can't believe it's already been 5 years. 

it has been the best 5 years of my life....cliche as that may be. i may complain about silly

things, or get frustrated about the never-ending cycle of laundry, but i really 

have all i could want. i have it pretty great. i sometimes text steven

in the middle of the day to tell him that i 

am spoiled because i'm playing in a pool with two cute boys on a tuesday

afternoon. not such a bad life, eh? 

here are just a few pictures from disney world...we were too busy to take a ton.

This is what happens when Steven plays the violin. Henry baby is too sensitive for such dramatic music! Actually, all babies do this.

My no-so-little-anymore Henry baby.

...more to come. My computer isn't letting me upload any more pictures. I promise to keep working at it.

Nie nie is doing it too..click here for info.

Win this? Yes please!