6 Weeks Old and My Big Brother

Tucker is 6 weeks old tomorrow and since I didn't get a 1 month picture (sorry-second child), here are some pics of him and of his Bog Bro- Griffin loves his Little brother so much and it is so sweet to watch him with Tucker.

More pictures

Update

Just an update on our last post. Our wonderful friend and nursery expert Bandi gave us the idea to play some music in Griffin's room when he went to bed. Simple, but we had never thought of it. The last 2 nights he has went right to bed and to sleep without a hitch. Hopefully this will continue. Thanks to Bandi and to all of you for your advice. I am storing it all away in case we have a relapse.

Sleepless at the Smiths

I know that this title and the fact that we have a newborn would lead you to believe that our little Tucker is keeping us up at night...that would be wrong. Oh, he still wakes up a couple of times at night to eat, but usually goes back to sleep right away and overall is doing pretty good for a one month old. No, this post is about our OTHER son, our two-and-a-half-year-old, Griffin. God bless him, but he is driving us crazy at night and I need some advice from some of you who might have been through this before. Nathan puts him to bed and they already have a rather long routine- he is usually in the room with him for 20-30 minutes. Lately, though, Griffin has been staying awake and keeping us up much longer than that. He calls us back over and over, often crying, with one excuse or another (potty, drink, my cheek hurts, you name it, he has said it). It was just a few times, and then he would go to sleep, but it is getting worse. THe past couple of nights this has gone on for almost 2 hours. He will finally go to sleep, but has also woken up the last 2 nights at around 1 and kept us awake 15-30 minutes. We have tried being nice, being mean, spanking, leaving him to cry...and we are out of ideas. If any of you have gone through this before and have any ideas for me, please let me know. Between him and the baby, we are getting very little sleep.

Aunt Courtney and Cousin Lily

My sister came to visit this past week. She flew in with her 9 month old daughter Lily. We had a full house and never a dull moment, but it was a lot of fun. Griffin entertained Lily and kept Courtney busy reading books and playing games. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Who is that in the Baby Monitor?

Tonight we put Tucker in his room for the first time. Nathan was getting his bed ready and hooking up the monitors and Griffin of course was getting stuff out of Tucker's room and generally making a mess. Nathan went into our room to test out the monitor. He spoke into it and said, "griffin, it is time for bed". Griffin came running out into the living room and said, "Daddy, that man on the toy chest (that is where the monitor was sitting) told me to go to bed." Being a Big Brother can be so confusing!

Robert David Fant

I just wanted to take a minute to honor my uncle David, who died this past week. He was diagnosed this past spring with an inoperable brain tumor. David was first and foremost a devoted follower of Christ, as well as a loving father, and a caring doctor. I wish we could have had more time with him here, but I know that he is at peace now with Our Father. Today was David's birthday and funeral and our thoughts and prayers are with my family in Kentucky- my dad (David's brother) and my mema, my Aunt Suzanne, and most especially my cousins and his daughters Charlie and Jessie. Nathan and I wish so much that we could be there to grieve with them and to honor David's life, but our current circumstances made that impossible. We are reminded at times like this of how short life is and how important it is to cherish our time with our family and friends. As we have been blessed with new life, I know that Charlie and Jessie have experienced a loss I cannot even comprehend. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...blessed be the name of the Lord.

Christmas, part 2

Well, it is Friday, January 2nd, and now I can officially say that our Christmas is over. My Dad came down last weekend bringing presents from all of our family, including a basketball goal from them and a keyboard with microphone from my brother. He LOVES the microphone- whether he is clothed or not! They left on Monday and Nathan's parents came this past Tuesday and left this morning. As you can see from the pictures, Griffin's Christmas gifts just kept coming. I thought that we were keeping things simple this year and doing good by only getting Griffin one big gift from "Santa" and some stocking stuffers. Now I know that I could have skipped the gift all together and he would not have known the difference. He got so many games, books, candy, toys, etc... from both sides of the family...he is so spoiled but also so lucky. His favorite gift this go around- and mine as well- was his scooter. He looks so cute riding around with his helmet and pads and he is really pretty good. I just love it! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that does spoil us every now and then.

Along with the end of "Christmas" comes the beginning of our "new normal" life as a family of 4. It will really hit home on Monday when Nathan goes back to work. Our little Tucker is doing so well. He had his 2 week check today and has already gained over a pound in a week and a half and has surpassed his birth weight by 11 ounces. So far he is very good-natured and easy going, hardly ever crying unless you take all his clothes off- the boy does not like to be naked (unlike his brother as you can see)! He is still keeping us up some at night. Good news...he has started stretching his first "nighttime sleep" to around 4-5 hours...only problem is getting that to start around 8 or 9 rather than 6. No matter how tired I am, I just can't go to bed at 6! The rest of the night he wakes up about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours and goes back to sleep MOST of the time. Around 3 or 4 he sometimes thinks it is time to get up and be awake for a while, so that is keeping us up some, but he still doesn't cry- just doesn't go to sleep. Now that everyone is gone, I think we will try to put him in his own bed and see if we can get into some sort of a routine that will help us both get some sleep. All-in-all we are doing great and we are as ready as we can be for the challenges ahead.

We hope that all who are reading this had a wonderful Christmas and a great holiday. Because of our busy season, we did not send out Christmas cards but plan to send a January letter and a birth announcement in the coming weeks