Rader Pumpkin Patch

We met Laura and Dave in our Childbirth classes while we were both pregnant. We never exchanged numbers or anything and though Laura was due 5 weeks after me, she ended up having Izzy 2 days after me. Travis ran into her at the hospital as we were leaving - just by chance! We're so glad or else we wouldn't have hooked back up. Since then, we've kept in contact and have gotten together a few times. Yesterday we went to lunch at Moe's (YUM!) and then took the girls to Rader's Pumpkin Patch. It was C.O.L.D.!!!!!! but we had fun. We got a few pics anyway and I thought Ava looked super cute in her 'So Cute It's Scary' outfit even if her ski hat didn't match! :)

Quirky Girl

I LOVE this picture! The other night I put Ava in her bathrobe after her bath to take some pictures. I loved how this one turned out--my total favorite! Then I had Lori do some touching up to make it look a little more 'professional.' :-) Then I had some fun on picnik.

Revelation!

Thanks to everyone that has listened to all of my questions and thoughts on Ava's sleeping habits. This morning I had a REVELATION!

Being a parent brings upon so many questions and doubts---'why is she doing this or that, is this what's best for her, why won't she do this?' etc. I've realized you have to go with your 'gut' feeling. You know what is best. You can't compare your child to anyone else's child. Each baby is their own person--unique and special in their own way. It may be hard to hear that so and so's baby is sleeping through the night or that so and so's 3 year old is 'already reading' but you can't let any of those things bring you down or make you feel like you aren't doing your job. :) I've realized that once you REALIZE all of that and accept it, it is then that you will really be able to be the best parent you can be. It is so true. All babies are different. They are little people and that's just how people are, right? Different.

My revelation happened this morning when Jeanne asked how Ava's night was--if it was better. It really got me to thinking as I answered saying "Well, it's not that she's not sleeping well, it's that she is getting up once in the night to eat." Jeanne asked what time she was going to bed and as we were discussing I realized something. #1 Ava is going to bed at 8pm and sleeping until almost 2am (6 hours) and that in itself is great!! Like I mentioned in my last post, she is also taking TWO - 2 hour naps during the day where she goes to sleep in a crib on her own. So I'm thinking little Miss Ava doesn't have any sleeping issues. It was ME that had an issue feeling like 'why is everyone else's baby sleeping through the night by this time' or having these preconceived notions of what should be happening.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want her to get in the habit of waking up at night to eat but I am thinking with the introduction of some baby food, hopefully her little tummy will start getting more full for longer and hopefully her 2am feeding will turn into 3am, 4am, 5am, and eventually disappear! :) I've realized that if she isn't hungry and is just waking up, the paci or her blanket works to put her back to sleep and if it doesn't work, then she is hungry. Dr. Emm also didn't ask what time she was going to bed so I think all of those things factor in. I admit it. I was feeling like 'by now' she should be sleeping 12 hours (haha) and what is wrong that she isn't.

I doubt this is the ONLY time I will have to stop and remember that Ava is her own little person - special and unique - and will do things on her own time! I am very blessed to have such a sweet, happy baby. She is definitely her daddy's girl. Smiley all the time. And at least Travis and I are aware of things that could lead to bad habits and we'll try anything to help our little girl.

4 month Appointment

Ava had her 4 month appointment last Friday with Dr. Emm. She is doing great! A healthy 13 pounds 11 ounces and 24 inches long. Her head is still in the 90% :-) She is a happy baby and is really getting into a nice routine at Jeanne's - taking two 2 hour naps a day. She also takes a little catnap at about 5pm each day. Dr Emm said that since she has had formula (I'm still pumping but I can't quite keep up!), we can continue the rice cereal but also start solids. Fun!! We started with peas----the first night she actually seemed to like them but every other night since she literally gags when I put them in her mouth. Too funny! Travis and I both hate peas.


I am still awaiting the night she sleeps THROUGH the night, however. I'm in such total debate about what to do about it. Is it an issue?, I don't know. When I mentioned it to Dr. Emm, he asked "Are you feeding her?" I said, "Yes." He said that she is old enough and big enough (he said he would not have said this at 2 months) to not have a middle of the night feeding. He also said if I want to get more sleep in the long run, I should not feed her in the middle of the night, however, it is my choice and he can't tell me what to do. The getting up doesn't bother me because she nurses and is back in her crib quickly. I just don't want her to be eating out of habit so the real question is "Is she hungry?"

She has also been going to sleep much earlier - in her crib asleep around 8pm, which is still going great. She goes to sleep on her own with her blanket and paci. Anyway, for example, last night she woke up at 1:45 (almost 6 hours!). They say that sleeping through the night for a baby really means 5 hours but I'm not sure what age that is referring to. A book I was reading also said that some babies may need a middle of the night feeding up until 9 months (and maybe even 2 feedings), however, you shouldn't feed them if they are not really hungry (duh!) and awake because all babies have a period of partial awakening and if you go to her during one of these, you could cause night-waking or night-feeding habits. A little confusing!

I let her cry it out when she woke up at 1:45, and she did finally go back to sleep (Yay Ava!) after almost 45 minutes or so. THE CATCH----she woke up about an hour later at which time I fed her. I figured it had been 8 hours since she had last eaten and I just felt she was truly hungry.

I'm in limbo about what to do. I understand the cry it out method for older babies or for when it is at their bedtime, but I am not sure what to do in the middle of the night considering she is only 4 months old. She nursed like crazy at 4am and went right back to sleep. I've explored some possibilities: dream feeding=getting her out of her crib right before I go to bed and nursing her to make her able to go a longer stretch; feeding her the first time she wakes up and then letting her cry it out the second time if necessary; or just feeding her both times she wakes up (if she does...and no more than 2 times) and hoping she is ready to sleep through the night soon!

I've just heard from so many people that 'my kids were still up in the middle of the night at 1 1/2'---OUCH! I think for now I might try the dream feeding or the other option of feeding her the first time and seeing how she sleeps after that and letting her cry it out. Not sure if that is the right decision or not but after one night of getting no sleep, Travis and I both are zombies, and not to mention we both overslept until almost 7am this morning! And really, I'm hoping if I do feed her once in the night, I can focus on weaning that out soon. She's adjusted so well to everything else (no more swaddling, going to sleep on her own) that I'm just praying for the best!

Any of you moms out there that have any advice, feel free to fill me in! :)

Sleepy Girl

Well, I just had to write about Ava's nighttime progress. Last night we went to Springfield for dinner with Trav's family for his brother's birthday so Ava's routine was a little off. She ate in the car and fell asleep for a little bit and then woke up when we got home so I changed her and was getting her ready for bed. Knowing she had a full tummy and that she was tired, I thought I'd stick her in her crib without rocking her to see what would happen. (She's been sleeping in her crib since about 4 weeks but is usually asleep when I put her there...). I have been trying to transition her out of needing to be swaddled also just because I have a horrible vision of her being 2 1/2 and still needing to be swaddled! LOL! Anyway, I swaddled her from the waist down--arms out, and gave her the binky and a blankie and watched her as she rubbed the blanket on her face putting herself to sleep!! The sitter has been also doing the same thing so I knew she COULD go to sleep on her own. It took about 15 minutes last night. Well, tonight it only took about 5 minutes or less and instead of the 1/2 swaddle, I put her in one of those sleep sacks that zip up. I also created a 'sleep positioner' of my own with one of our couch throw pillows (it's long and skinny so fits nicely in her crib) covered with a blanket, and another blanket on the other side so she feels nice and snug and secure. :) I guess she likes it!

I thought it was ironic that in my last post I said we needed to work on this whole going to sleep on her own thing...and now she seems to be a pro!

Now all I have to say is that we need to work on this whole sleeping ALL THE WAY through the night thing.

I'll get back to you in a few days with that progress. haha!

4 months old

Ava was 4 months old yesterday! We got some really cute chair pics. She is getting so big and her personality is really starting to come out. She has also found her voice (again)! She was jibber jabbering there for a while and then we thought she had stopped a little but this past week she has started talking nonstop! She has also learned how to scream---cute at first, until she started doing it when she wakes up in the night! :-) (I'll post some videos soon). I guess she thinks it's playtime! Luckily she does go right back to sleep. I'd love to know what she is saying and what is going on in that little mind of hers.

She continues to be the sweetest baby ever! I think she is somewhat getting into a routine with her naps and we've been experimenting with her bedtime. I read that babies her age need about 15 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period with 10 of those hours being nighttime sleeping. WOW! (uh...me too...haha). She still gets up in the night but usually it is still only once so I won't complain. It's a quick process. :) The only thing that will take some adjusting to is not getting to see her in the evening as long.

She has even been napping in her crib but we're going to have to work on the whole "going to sleep on her own" thing.

This and That...

I realized I never blogged my pictures from our weekend in Grafton over Labor Day weekend. For the 2nd year, the Bettis group (my mom's side) has met in Grafton, IL at Pere Marquette Lodge. On our way home, we stop in Kampsville, IL to eat at the Kampsville Inn (my great-grandparents lived in Kampsville before they passed away). We rode the ferry, an old tradition, and stopped off at the waterfall where my Grandpa Bettis was baptized as a child by his father, my great-grandfather--it has become a photo op for the family.

My Grandpa Bettis passed away 4 years ago after a long battle with cancer and we've all missed him so much. This tradition is in honor/memory of him. It makes me sad that he never got to meet Ava but I think it's so neat that our whole family is able to gather at this special place and feel close to him.

I don't know the exact year but I'm guessing around 1947!

2009

We aren't actually standing in the water like they were but I think we are right in front of the spot they were. Travis and I got in last year (along with my cousin Nathan and wife Megan---pre-babies). :) It's quite slippery and rocky!

Another shot...

"Super Ava" with her Daddy

Hanging out at the pavilion.

We cooked hot dogs, smores, and sat around while my Uncles played their guitars and sang. Reminds me of the good ol' days growing up. I grew up camping---"actual camping in tents" until my grandparents bought a 'cabin' as we called it near Shelbyville, IL and our whole family would go there for all of the summer holidays and stay all weekend. Everyone that had a camper would bring it and my Uncle Darren would usually get a campsite so we could go to Lake Shelbyville to swim. It was soooo fun! Brings back a lot of memories of sitting around the campfire singing songs. My family is very musical so we had tons of fun! Now we all stay at the lodge in the cabins there and we joked we saw more bugs there than if we had actually been camping. I guess I was a little preoccupied this year but last year I got pictures of the HUGE spiders that are lurking all over the place and not to mention the mosquitos. I think Travis' legs are still covered in red dots.

Shopping in Grafton

I thought the "Not a Shop" sign in someone's yard was pretty comical. Don't go knockin' on their door!

Well, I figured I might as well make this one Loooooooong post. It's been a B.U.S.Y. couple weekends for the Cunningham's. We left right after school on Friday to head back to Jacksonville for Trav's cousin Justin's wedding. Another chance for Ava to wear all those cute dresses she has! We stayed at Travis' brother Rob and Abby's. She's the other blonde holding Ava. Someone said we could be sisters and I guess I never really noticed how similar we looked until looking at these 2 pics. Must be the hair. :)


Far left--Proud Grandpa!

The next morning, we got up and headed to see Travis' Grandma in Winchester. She is very ill right now and we just pray that she isn't in too much pain. After hanging out there for about an hour or so we were back in the car heading to Decatur for a family get together with the Bettis fam in memory of Grandpa B. As I said earlier, my family is very musical and I think it all started with my Grandpa (and his parents). He produced records with various quartets and I have fond memories of him and my uncles playing guitar and singing at the Decatur Opry. The service Saturday evening was in honor of him. The money raised will hopefully help support a young person someday who is interested in pursuing a career in music ministry. (Thanks Megan, I couldn't have described it any better!)

Here are a few photos from the night. There are now FOUR great-grandbabies in the family all under the age of 1! From the left:

Macy/Landen (3 weeks old)

Steph/Ava (almost 4 months old)

Abi/Dasani (almost 6 months old--I THINK!)

Megan/Reddington (almost 7 months old)

and the babies with their Daddies!

Brock, Travis, Donovan, Nate

My Aunt sang, my Uncle sang and played guitar, niece Isabelle played piano, cousin Brock played piano and my great Uncle sang and also played saxophone (ok, not at the same time), and his wife, my great Aunt, played piano and sang and my cousin Megan B. also sang. Whew! I think I got it all!

After the celebration, Travis, Ava and I stopped to see my friend Casey who was in town at her parents. She now lives in Chicago area and it just so happened she was in town the same time we were. It made for a late few nights for us but was great to see her! I am very happy to say that after all of the traveling, we stayed home today and just chilled. Ava slept until after 9 (after only getting up once in the night, and then at 6am) and then took a nice morning and afternoon nap. I guess she was recovering!

She has been so much more alert and aware of her surroundings lately and I swear she watches me when I'm eating saying..."Give me some!" so we decided to give her rice cereal for the first time tonight (one week early...shhhh!). Not to mention, the tries to drink out of the cup I use to rinse her hair in the bath. :) Anyway, she seemed to really like it! Gotta love the SPAM bib--her Uncle Jeff works for Hormel in Austin, MN and we've visited the SPAM museum (yes, SPAM has a museum) on a few visits to see them.