I'm one Proud Daughter!

I wanted to give a shout-out to my amazing father who is being honored by the Boy Scouts of America as a Distinguished Citizen on Saturday night.

I've known that I was the luckiest girl in the world since I can remember. My sister Mandy and I were talking about him a few weeks ago when we realized that as kids, we thought my dad could do no wrong. Now as adults we have the priviledge of knowing it! The boyscouts have this little motto they stand by, that they work to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. I was asked by an interviewer which one of those described my dad best--truthfully, he's not one of those more than the others, nor does that list even come close to touching the type of description my father deserves.

He's not only an upstanding citizen, but he is exhibits upstanding character in everything he does.

I thank my Heavenly Father daily for giving me the opportunity to be raised by someone like my dad-- who I can honestly say is what he ought to be, does what he says he'll do (unless that's be home for dinner on time :)) and goes above and beyond what is expected. He spends countless hours at the office, at church, serving here, giving advice there, and never expects anything in return and does it with a smile and sense of humor that can't be beat.

Thank you Dad-- Thank you BSA for honoring him for being what I've always known he's been!

I LOVE YOU DAD!!!

4 Month Check-Up

4 month stats:
13 lbs 8 oz
24 inches long
25th percentile for everything
Let me just say this is a far cry from the 3rd percentile we started out on when he was 4 weeks early! YEAY BAUER-- you're doing sooo good.
Dr. Pang (who was just as excited as I was) is so excited about his progress. He said if that would have been the first time he'd seen Bauer, he would never have known he had complications at the start. That's what I like to hear! Dr. Pang also admitted that he initially had had some neurological concerns with Bauer (something that came up in the NICU multiple times) but that those concerns are long gone now. He's happy, healthy and thriving-- music to his mothers ears.

@ 4 months Bauer loves....

• Toys-- he's starting to really like having them in his reach. He grabs them and tries to put them in his mouth. It's so amazing to watch him learn and develop.
  
• being played rough with-- he's all boy!
• kicking and splashing in the bath
  
• Laughing more and more-- a nice reassurance for mom, maybe I am doing something right!
• looking up at mom and smiling, laughing and talking while he's suppose to be eating! (hard to resist let me tell you!)
  
• his hands...still, but also mommy and daddy's hands. He'll grab our thumbs and pinky fingers and just look and stare as we move our fingers. Cheap toy huh!?
• Laying on his back-- thank goodness because with the remodel we've been having to just put him down when we're all painted up and stuff.

@ 4 months Mommy loves...

• Making Bauer laugh and smile all day long
• just watching him figure out the world around him little by little
• singing my country favorites super loud to him while he lies on his mat and I feverishly paint the new house
  
• helping him figure out his new toys
• cuddling with him when he lays his head down on my shoulder
  
• sleeping more since he's doing a 5-7 hour stretch in the middle of the night! woohoo!
  
• loving him more than I ever though humanly possible!
  

4 months and cuter than ever!!!

Dear BauerMan,

I can't believe how fast these first 4 months have gone! You are an absolute joy. You are my little miracle baby-- I didn't know if I would ever be able to have a baby of my own. I promised Heavenly Father that I would be happy with any baby if He'd just give me one. He did not just give me any baby, He gave me you. I LOVE being your mom. Some of the greatest moments in my life have come while holding you in my arms.

Thank you for being so strong during the trials of your first couple weeks of your life. Thank you for your smiles and your laughs. Thank you for being so happy and easy going. Thank you for brightening many-a-days. Thank you for being patient with me as I learn this whole Mom thing. Thank you mostly for being You.

I love you more than you can ever imagine. Everyday with you gets better. I love you-- happy 4 month birthday Bauer!

Tired Mommy!

(I ran across this picture while looking for a good one of Bauerman sleeping and brought back a flood of feelings from Bauer's first couple weeks of life~ I can't believe how much he's changed in 4 short months!!! so precious!)

Let me preface this little post by saying that Bauer man is such a good baby! He's even becoming easier lately-- he sleeps super good in his carseat while I run in and out of HomeDepot, CFM and Miller Paint. He's been loving this little mat thing my mom has that has the toys over it. Yesterday he even fell asleep just laying there. But he's still not sleeping very good at night.
He'll usually go 3 or 4 hours til 2am, then it's anywhere from 30 min. to 2 hours after that. When he goes 3 hours he wakes up and has a good eating-- if he's hungry, I'm OK with it-- being a month early, I'm so glad he's growing-- but lately he hasn't been really eating very good when he wakes up; instead he smiles, laughs, and talks to me--VERY CUTE but it's not helping my lack of sleep problem. My tiredness has slowly turned to exhaustion and with the stresses of buying and remodeling this house, Andrew's long hours and other everyday stresses. It especially bothers me because as hard as I try, it's effecting the type of wife I am being. Andrew is super patient with me, but I find myself a little more short tempered, a little more sensitive, and a little more naggy (or A lot of all of those things...) I don't want to be that wife and Andrew sure as heck doesn't deserve it!
I've read most of Good Sleep Habits, Happy Baby and liked it-- Bauer's taking better naps in his crib during the day and he goes to bed around 7. I don't have trouble getting him to sleep really...
I don't really know what advice I am looking for...or maybe none at all. I know every baby is different and some just don't sleep fantastic (Bauer sure has many other endearing qualities!!) Some ladies I got together with from my ward on Friday night were talking about BabyWise-- i had never heard of it, but thought maybe some of you (or the 3 of you that look at my blog) may have. I heard it's a little intense, but would you recommend it? what parts did you find particularly helpful? I've started to let him cry it out a little here and there (i was hesitant to do so before now since he had the crying/breathing issues at the beginning) and I'm not opposed to it if that's the training that works best, but I just want to make sure I'm following a plan and doing it right if I'm going to start it.
Maybe my answer is just-- your a mom now, get use to it...and if that's the price I pay for having the extreme pleasure and blessing of being Bauer's mom, than I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING-- not even a full or even half night's sleep!