Thursday, March 22, 2012

Bathing Baby♥

Giving your new baby a bath is such a fun and special time.  It can also be a great way for you, or your other child in this case, to bond with baby:)  Putting them in a warm tub of water, and watching them soak and splash while trying to figure out what this new liquid substance is and why it is so much fun to hang out in, is all a part of the experience.  The sweetest thing about Scarlett's bath time right now is that Bentley wants so badly to wash her.  He jumps all over my lap just to grab the washcloth and clean his baby sister.  It is truly the most precious thing to watch one baby give another baby a bath♥ He loves his sister so much, and it's so obvious. Scarlett enjoyed this, she thought he was just playing with her and had the cutest little grin on the entire time.
Here are some of these bath time moments.

Smiles♥♥


B trying to get in on the action


This is Bentley washing her:)


scrub scrub scrub!


We left the shampooing for Mommy!


All clean!! Thank you big brother!

Muah!


♥, The Happy Wife

Monday, March 19, 2012

No Sleep In Sight.

As Scarlett turns 4 months old today I'm reflecting back on Bentley at this age and remembering that we had promptly moved him into his own room at 3 months old. I never wanted to get into the habit of Bentley sleeping with us at night. Yes, I love my babies, and though I spend every waking hour with each of them, would love to cuddle with them at night as well, but am a firm believer in establishing healthy sleeping habits for all of my children. As well as a little sleep independence that will benefit them in the future. But at this time, I am not ready to move Scarlett out quite yet. Here is my reason, its a good one...

If you don't already know our situation, the day we brought Scarlett home from the hospital is the day that Bentley's impeccable sleeping habits went out the door. I had no idea that bringing home a sibling would effect him in this way. B.S. (Before Scarlett;) Bentley would gather up his blanky, Mr. Moo, and Giraffe (pillow pet) and tell us good nights, in his own language at the time, which sounded more like "goggen goggen". We would put him in his crib and he would suck his little thumb and peacefully fall asleep:) AND sleep straight through the night! These days, my poor husband has resorted to sleeping on the floor next to his toddler bed every night, or sleeping on one couch while Bentley is on the other, and then transferring him to his room at some point. He will no longer go to sleep on his own and usually freaks out when he finds that he has been moved to his bed in the middle of the night. He wakes up 2-3 times, crying, and Andy takes care of it all! I love my husband so much more for doing this!! He is sacrificing much needed sleep just to help me out, what an amazing man I am married to:-)
I can't imagine when or if Bentley will ever go back to being the amazing sleeper he once was, but for now we just have to make do, each of us sleeping with our designated child .
So this why I am accepting of the fact that Scarlett will be sleeping in her bassinet for a little while longer until we can get Bentley back on track;) And I don't have to sleep alone♥

I thought you might enjoy some precarious sleep positions, Bentley style! See if you can spot Mr. Moo in each of them;)








♥, The Happy Wife

Monday, March 5, 2012

5K For A Cause

One of the many things we want to instill in our children is to live an active and healthy lifestyle.  This is the way that I was brought up and would like to pass down to Bentley and Scarlett.  My parents were always active and avid runners growing up.  My Dad has run the L.A. marathon multiple times and I remember joining both of them for 5k and 10k marathons when my sisters and I were young.  We would do the family fun run which was 1 mile, recieve a little medal and feel so proud of ourselves.

This is what I remember and this what I want my children to remember when they are older. And so it begins....

Andy and I took the babies on their very first 5K run on Saturday.  Finish Chelsea's Run is dedicated to 17 year old Chelsea King, the Poway High student who tragically had her life cut short while out on a run in Rancho Bernardo.  This 5k run is to help raise money for Chelsea's Light Foundation, which provides scholarship's to college-bound teens whom have "embraced Chelsea's service-over-self ethic." Needless to say, we were more than happy to participate.

We started the race in a sea of thousands, all there to show support for Chelsea's cause.



Bentley and Scarlett had no idea what was going on, but I know they will appreciate our efforts in the future♥


On a side note, at this time in Bentley's life, strollers are a thing of the past. He doesn't believe in sitting in one, and would much rather "walk like a big boy". This is a battle we do not believe is worth fighting.  He is very good about walking right beside us or holding onto one of our hands.  But for this race we HAD to put him in the stroller.  Let's just say he was less than thrilled and probably screamed his head off for the first quarter mile, but it quickly sank in that he wasn't getting out, and he settled down to enjoy the rest of the ride.

At one point we were running on the 163 fwy. 


The last 1/2 mile or so was all up hill,  and once we had about 200 yards to go, we let Bentley run to the finish line;-)


Everyone was cheering him on:) It was one of my proudest moments as a mommy, seeing my little guy running as fast as he can, so excited to cross that line♥


Our time- 49:06. Not bad, considering the jumbo double jogger we were pushing the entire way;)


After race festivities


We look forward to our next 5k as well as Finishing Chelsea's Run again next year!♥


♥, The Happy Wife