YEE-HAW!!

Howdy Cowboy!

Today we went to the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo!

Corin had a great time looking at all the animals.

He even got to pet some, which he really enjoyed.

This was such a cute pig.

Don't worry it didn't spit, it's an Alpaca.

At the petting zoo feeding a goat, what moochers they are!

We got swarmed by goats as we were trying to feed one.

Petting a lamb

What a Night!

Last night I woke up at 1AM to use the bathroom. I heard Corin whinning, which he sometimes does when he loses his pacifier and can't readily find it near him (he still hasn't learned to get up out of bed and look for it, but sometimes he is in the limbo mode of half asleep and half awake) So, I was just going to leave him to whin and fall back asleep on his own, when I thought I should go in there. Actually, this is normal for me to always want to go into his room to help him out. I know, making him dependent, but that is just what I do. It could be for my own self perservation that I want to fall back to sleep and I can't when I hear him; it wakes me up and continues to keep me wake until all is quiet. I was SO glad I went into his room! It smelled like poop and he got up and told me he was poopy. When I went to pick him up I noticed that he was wet through and then....he didn't have a diaper on! It had come unstraped and was hanging! Yep, you guessed it, it was a mess! I took him into the bathroom and we had to carefully get his pajamas off (I was glad they were the feeted one piece ones, so it wasn't all in his bed and floor) The poop had fallen to the foot on one side and was all down his leg and on his foot. We had to have a 1AM bath, which he wasn't happy about, rinse out his pajamas, get new ones on and change his bedding! I was SO grateful that Shane woke up and helped even though I continued to feel bad because he had to be up at 2:40AM to get ready for work and Target! I was also grateful that Seamus, didn't get messy or else we would have and a rough night and honestly I don't know what I would have done.

Chocolatey!!

As a special treat tonight we made cookies! Corin loves to make cookies, especially putting the eggs in. We always do simple cookie recipes or the mixes. Tonight we did one that I have that uses a cake mix. I remembered the ingredients, but couldn't exactly remember the temp. of the oven or how long to cook them for, so I guessed. Corin had fun eating the cake mix powder out of the bowl. He would find a clump, pick it up and stick it into him mouth. Then, when we added chocolate chips and mixed them in, he would pick them out. Well, they came out a little on the light side and consequently very messy!

And here are the results: However, they were still yummy and we all enjoyed them!Chocolatey goodness mess!

He thought it was silly to be so messy!

Milk was definitely a neccessity with these cookies.

Naptime in a Big Boy Bed

Corin has now been in his Big Boy Bed for 9 days now. I had a curious thought today and thought I should write it down. Posting it on the blog seems to be the best place for it since I seem to be a bit better at writing on the blog than in a journal. For the first 2 days, I believe, Corin did really well at taking a nap in the afternoon, but than he got out of that habit. It may be because it had the freedom to get out of his bed and play with his toys and so he would much rather do that instead, since stillness is not a quality he possesses. I believe on Sunday he took a nap, but he was really whinny and crabby and then just crashed after I had to help him find his pacificer. (No we haven't grown out of that, but we are better at only having it for nap and bed time, most of the time. Actually, I have noticed that since he has been in his big boy bed that he has wanted it less, especially when we are out in public and doesn't throw as much of a fit about it as he used to, hmmm....that is interesting. Today is an example, he asked for it and I told him it was at home and he crabbed a little but than was easily distracted by wanting his trains when usually it has been a bigger fit. Also, he is better in public than he used to be as well. Growing up) Got on a tangent, so, back to the naptime in our big boy bed. He has put all his toys on his bed to play with instead of getting out of his bed and playing with them on the floor, which I thought was interesting and funny. He just really likes his bed now! So, at least for this week (starting Monday), since I can't exactly remember last week, he has not taken a nap, but today he is! I am wondering if not napping has caught up with him and he is so tired that he crashed today. He sleeps well at night. He doesn't always go to sleep right away when he is put down at 8pm, I can sometimes still hear him playing, with less toys than at nap time, at around 9pm, but than he falls asleep and if he wakes up in the early am, around 5am or so, he plays, or is crabby, and then is back to sleep til about 8am. Since his night schedule is fairly consistant, I don't think that is contributing to him napping or not napping because also there has been somedays when I have had the thought "He will probably take a nap today because he is crabby and tired out" and nope he hasn't. Monday, we got snow and were outside for about 3omin (we was SO snowy, getting cold and wet and kept losing his gloves that we couldn't stay out any longer) that I thought it would take a nap because of playing outside, but he didn't.
So, I am going to try and keep a record of what his habits are in regards to naptime, for my own curiousity and benefit to see if my idea of no naps during the week catching up with him is true or if naptime is just sporatic. An experiment of sorts on Corin, it's a ethical one, don't worry =0)

An Adult Bed!

HURRAY!! Shane and I have FINALLY purchased for ourselves a new bed and not just any bed, but a KING size bed! Since we have been married, which is now 5 1/2yrs, we have been sleeping on a Full size bed. (the gasps are audible) Every time I tell someone what size bed we sleep in they cannot believe it. Till now we just have never had the resources to be able to purchase a new bed and also since we were in apartments and didn't know now long we were going to be in each (which ended up being a year for the first 2 and 2yrs for the third apartment) we didn't want to keep moving it and didn't know if it would always fit in the apartment we had since more than just bedroom furniture had to go in it. Also, another reason and maybe the main reason why we had a full size is because we didn't have to purchase the frame. I was given a bedroom set by my grandmother (bed frame, vanity and dresser) It was a set she had in her house that I always loved and so it was given to me. Now, when you are newly married and don't have to drop major dollars on furniture when you don't have major dollars to drop its a big plus, so we decided to make do with what we had. (for a while in our early parts of marriage the only couch we had and a futon that made a twin size and it was more like a lounge chair than couch and low to the floor) For the early years of our marriage we seemed to do fine with the Full size. Hey, it was cozy and we were newly married....

But things needed to change as the years went on. We weren't getting the rest we needed and I was having back problems. I go to a chiropractor, but I knew that part of it was from not getting a good night's sleep because I don't move and lay in a position that was comfortable for my back.

So, on New Year's Eve (because American Furnture Warehouse was having a sale) we went out and purchased a King Size bedframe! And on Saturday, Jan. 2nd we went to Denver Mattress and purchased the mattress. We decided to get a bit more expensive mattress because of my back problems and we knew that we wanted it to last. It's called the "Madison" for anyone who wants to know and it has individually wrapped coils and its a plush mattress. It is super comfy, I LOVE sleeping on it and helps decrease movement felt when either one of us rolls over. I have noticed since sleeping on it that I don't mind sleeping a majority of the night on my side. I am usually a side and stomach sleeper, but since I can't sleep in my stomach because of Baby Declan growing, than I am limited. I don't feel the pressure points in my hip and shoulders. Our old mattress was a firm, which I used to like and Shane can sleep on anything, but not anymore. It seems to be really true that having children does change your body. So, our whole bed was together by Wed. Jan 7th, seems to be the day of new beds for the O'Berry family!! When we had decided that this was going to be the year (well, 2008 was when we decided and it was a Christmas present to ourselves, but we didn't get it till the beginning of the year) I had found a bedding set at Kohls that I LOVED, so we purchased that early and had it ready by the time we got our bed. And than just this past weekend we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and got curtains to match the comforter, so I really feel like we have an adult bedroom. We are still using the antiuqe dresser and the vanity (not in yet), but we are starting slow (and couldn't get everything) but its a start and of course it's the most important piece. The bed does take up a majority of the room and it may look a little furniture heavy, but we really wanted the King size bed and felt that a queen just didn't seem that much bigger than the full we were currently sleeping on. We are SO incredibly happy with the King size and also with the bedframe we got. I have to thank Shane for the bedframe choice. I liked it in the store, but was really looking at a sleigh bed and had a lattice work on it (we knew we wanted something more open in the frame since the room is smaller for a master bedroom. Shane really liked this one and I said that was fine and part of it was due to the price difference between the two beds. (that just shows also a difference in our personalities, but I was being practical too) Once this bed go into the room I was SO happy with it! It works great with the size of our room. The sleigh bed would have stuck out a bit too much and we wouldn't have had the space needed at the end of the bed to put the dresser and vanity. Since this one had flat, straight edges it is able to go directly against the wall and the footboard doesn't stick out as high or deep, just straight across.

The vanity isn't in the room yet, it will be back in our bedroom after Declan is about 3months old (we thought why put it in when it's going to have to be moved out), since we need the space for the pack-and-play which in will sleep in in our room for a while (I like the newborns being in our room for a few months and than move him into his own room).

Big Boy Bed

This is the bed without the toddler rail, which we decided to put on. (small steps please, probably more for me as his Mom than for him, but I like to say it is for the both of us)

He couldn't hold back his excitement, he couldn't wait for it to all be finished.

He just had to climb in, which made the process of re-assembly for Shane a bit more difficult, but all the excitment Corin had was fun to watch.

Checking out how this new bed works. He had to try it out MANY times.


Good Night!

When we purchased Corin's crib we decided to go for a convertable one, so when a toddler bed was needed we didn't have to purchase another bed. So, we have finally converted it to the toddler bed and Corin is no longer in a crib. I bet some of you are gasping that Corin, being that he is almost 3yrs old was still in a crib and there are some reasons to this, mainly due to me and not him. Shane and I have been talking about doing it for a while and we just never got around to doing it since it didn't seem like that big of a priority. But the main reason is that I was feeling that he wasn't going to nap if he had free access outside of his crib and thought keeping him contained would be better. He's the first child so it is all new and experimental for us. I also had friends say that it wasn't a big deal and to leave him in a crib as long as possible, so why not? It wasn't hurting anything at the present time until recently and the main push to get it done. Corin has started napping on and off for a few weeks, I never know if it will be a nap day or a non-nap day even when the days schedule is pretty much the same and getting out and running errands or playing hard doesn't seem to affect it; Corin sets the nap schedule. So, on those non nap days, he started jumping in his crib. I'm not talking about a few bounces, I'm talking about full on, major jumping. It was driving me crazy!! I can't exactly say what about it was driving me so crazy except for that I thought he was doing to damage his crib and I didn't want anything to break or for him to hurt himself. No, he didn't climb out, well once he did but never again. The mattress lowers, so it was hard for him to get out. So, even though I wanted him to take a nap, it was more of a stress on me for him to be in his room jumping around in his crib like a crazy monkey (singing "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" didn't help) So, the crib came down! He was SO excited that he got a "new" big boy bed! He calls it new, probably because it is different looking than his crib and also he can access it all by himself. He was so excited to watch Shane take it down and put up the toddler rail, but I think the most fun for him was the ability to climb into it all on his own and take ownership over his bed. He LOVES it and wants to "sleep" on it all day long. Nap time is still the same, he will nap somedays and not the others, and there is still a bit of jumping (at least that is what I sometimes think I hear, but there is more to do than jump, so it doesn't go on for very long) but I feel less stressed about it. I have come to the mindset that it is happening and to let it be and not to get worked up about the noise coming from upstairs, that I can still have my down time as well. There are quieter toys in his room for him to play with and so it has become more of a rest time instead. He is fairly good about staying in his room and playing if he isn't going to sleep, there is some complaining that I hear, of course, I figure it wouldn't be normal without it. Bed time is actually better, which I was worried about. I thought since he knew he could get out and had toys to play with that he would, but he has surprised me. This could be the fact that he hasn't taken a nap so he is exhausted, which after rest time I do see the effects of, which can cause a bit of frustration for the later afternoon and evening. I haven't found him asleep, yet, on the floor in the mornings. He is always in his bed in some position or another and hasn't fallen out either. He does wake up EARLY, but I just leave him in there to play and he does for a little bit than climbs back in bed and falls asleep til 8:00AM, which has been a normal wake up time for him since the beginning (after an early AM meal when he was an infant) He as never been an early bird, which I am grateful for, since I am not either. When was in his crib he would wake up early, but than fall back asleep (no jumping at that time).

So, that is the whole story of Corin getting into his BIG BOY BED! =0)



Corin already for bed for his first night in his "new"big boy bed!
It was an exciting step for our little boy, he is growing up.




A CRAZY THOUGHT OF MINE:

One of the first thoughts I had when I was taking pictures of this event was, "He doesn't have one a cute outfit" He did have on a cute outfit during the day, but with a diaper leakage and being messy at dinner time this was the result of what I put on him afterwards. So, guess it is my own fault as to what he is wearing, since I'm the one that picks out his clothes for the day, or as in the case of today what other items of clothing he'll be wearing. I know, crazy of me, but I do like to have him wearing cute clothes when I take pictures of him and I do take TONS of pictures. But, I got over it because capturing it was more important than the clothes he was wearing.

A True O'Berry

Quite a few people comment on how Corin takes after my side of the family. If you look at a picture of Corin at 3months and my youngest brother Austin and 3months they look SO similar (scary I know!), but Corin does have some habits and taste buds that come all from the O'Berry side of the family.

Can you guess what Corin and Shane are eating?

It's the Que Bueno cheese!

When Shane was growing up, every Sunday was nacho night. They love this canned nacho cheese. Since I love my husband we get the big Costco size cans of it. Since Daddy eats it, Corin has acquired the same taste and love for it. I personally don't like it, but the boys can eat it and enjoy it all without me, I don't mind one bit, it's bonding time!