sleep training revisited

I don't think I ever blogged about it but we attempted "cry it out" sleep training this summer with Emery after a long battle over bedtime and constant night waking with a normally great sleeper. (And you don't abandon them to let them cry... you comfort them periodically. I'm not totally nuts.) I was terrified to do it, but it worked great, she was sleeping great, waking up happier, happier all day. It was awesome. Then we moved back to Utah. Sleep training DESTROYED. Yikes.

I've been too chicken to try it again, especially since I don't have Aaron home to be moral support now, but last night I was going CRAZY!! She has been being so wild at bedtime. She wouldn't go to bed with a binky, a bottle, nursing, nothing! She was staying up so late she finally just conked out in my lap. So I decided to revisit sleep training.

Good news! She only cried for 5 minutes last night and 5 minutes tonight. This morning she slept until 8:00!!! Today for her nap she just whined for a few minutes and then fell asleep without even really crying! I love it!!

And just for fun... a few funny pictures of my destroying angel and her cute friend, Alisa. Em loves Alisa and I sure love her mom. I'm thankful for good friends.

they used to be so tiny and sweet...but now....

em: haha, she's eating the leaf!

alisa: she's older than me... maybe she's already tasted these and they're good...

em: haha, i ripped her leaf and it was so FUN!!! (the destroying angel)

alisa: she ripped my leaf. :( (the angel, no destruction whatsoever)

em: mmmm... potatoe masher. yum. doesn't my headband look cool? i'm rambo baby! (thanks, kimberly for the super cute rambo bow!)

a wounded soldier finds her strength!!

Before last night Emery got from here to there like a soldier whose legs had been wounded in battle. Short demonstration below.

But on the floor of The Quarry (the climbing gym) last night she regained the use of her legs! :) Here's the video from this morning (obviously we didn't have the video camera at the climbing gym with us, but we were psyched that - like her parents - Emery finds her inspiration from climbing. haha.) And yes, like the dorky mom that I am, I totally got teary! I can't believe how big she's getting!

Other fun videos below... since we haven't posted any in a while. Some recent, some not so recent.

This one is from June... disgusting, but hilarious! (Watch her nose if you aren't seeing it.)

She's learning how to climb up on stuff. Here's a good crash and burn (from our camera instead of our video camera so it's grainy... sorry!).

Here's the kind of thing that typically happens when I leave Em with dad to go to the gym. Nice do girly!

Okay... this one is a little long, but it's hilarious to watch her bonk heads with herself in the mirror!

9 months of Emery

My baby girl had her 9 month birthday yesterday! We haven't gone to her doctor's appointment yet, so I'll do an update on her fat stats later. I can't believe how big she's getting. Mommy did a photo shoot and Emery cooperated by NOT smiling in the one outside and trying to escape from the one inside. She's so cute. Aaron and I still find ourselves sitting around laughing about how funny she is after she's gone to bed and getting so excited to hear her chirp in the the morning. There's nothing better than being Emery's parents.

Milestones: 8 teeth (see picture below), army crawls like a champ (is getting really close to real crawling), can pull herself up on things, loves to feed herself but is too wiggly to like nursing anymore :(

Favorite pastimes: ripping up magazines, growling, playing with anything that isn't a toy, biting, giving head bonks (if you'd like one just ask!)

i might look sweet, but these chompers bite... HARD!

ooohh... paper to eat... what is this 9 doing on here?

i'm crawling off the couch... you should have known better than to put me on here, mom.

Nanny and Auntie Chef in Las Vegas

Emery and I spent all last week in Las Vegas helping to watch my niece and nephews while their regular afternoon nanny (grandma) was on vacation. It was a fun week of practicing for when I have 4 kids who need to go to 3 different schools, soccer, baseball, dance, birthday parties, have school presentations, need naps (Emery), etc, etc, etc. I also decided to be their personal chef and make dinner every night which was quite an adventure. (Read more about that and get recipes on The Skinny Bovine's Kitchen). Here are some fun pictures from the week... and a video even!

cute Abe and Emery on our picnic

pretty girly

Emery loves her cousin Jacob

camping attempt and a baby blessing

we went camping on friday night in aspen grove... or should i say attempted to go camping. apparently since the last time we went camping emery has become more aware or foreign surroundings and more unwilling to have her mobility bound than i'd realized. she went to bed okay... with me sitting there helping her. about an hour later, aaron and i were enjoying just laying under the stars, drinking hot chocolate, talking and reading when we heard em crying in the tent. she was not to be consoled. she was cold, but wouldn't stay under the blankets (she's a wild sleeper - all over her crib) and was clearly alarmed by waking up in the tent instead of in our room. needless to say we bailed out of there at 9:30. haha. we were sad that we couldn't finish our night in the mountains, but we'd do anything for our little critter. she's so worth it! :) and regardless, it was so nice to get up into the mountains!

discovering leaves (and no, that's not our RV - we do tents)

cute grumpy face

love that face

on a happier note, we got to spend lots of time with Aaron's family yesterday because our nephew, Railay, was blessed. he is a seriously cute little dude! we were posing he and emery for pictures, so there is a cute one below. oh - and we became an aunt and uncle AGAIN yesterday! welcome Hailey Belle! we can't wait to meet you!

Foot Tattoos: The Wilkinson's TV-free entertainment

so we got rid of our TV... and it rocks! partly because we do silly stuff like this instead, partly because we watched GOP VP pick Sarah Palin's speech on a live stream on FoxNews.com the other night, partly because we have more room in our apartment and partly because we are reading again! yahoo for no TV!!

can anyone identify either of the scenes on our feet?

just because they are so stinking cute...