Vacation from a Vacation

It's been quite some time since I've written. I apologize for the late update. My husband successfully completed Phase 1, IFS, of training. After which we took a 10-day trip to visit family in Texas. We spent several days in Houston and a couple days in Austin. My biggest concern was keeping Mariah on her schedule. I didn't want to completely abandon what she's been used to for so long. I also hoped that she would continue to sleep through the night though we were in a completely new place. All my Babywise friends told me to expect her to get off schedule, enjoy the time with family, and worry about getting back on schedule when we return home. Did I listen? No! So, I packed up her bassinet, swaddle, portable bed, and everything else she is used to. My husband and I literally had 1 suitcase in our entire SUV. The rest was all her stuff! (should have taken a picture of that madness!) I honored her awake and feed times on the road, which turned an 8 hr trip into 11 hours. We didn't mind though. Once we'd arrived to grandma's house in Houston. We setup our room EXACTLY how she was accustomed to things are at home. She did pretty well actually. The first few nights she woke up at an odd hour. I gave her the pacifier and she went back down. After about 3 nights, she was back on routine. Her biggest struggle was napping during the day. Everyone wanted to see the baby! I think people that haven't had kids in a long time forget HOW LONG NEWBORNS SLEEP! I often heard folks mumble, "that baby is always sleeping!" Well, it's true she did nap quite a bit...but HEY that's what she is used to...that's what she likes. (Remember, daytime sleep begets night sleep.)

All in all the family enjoyed meeting her! She had a grand ole time and loved all the attention. My grandma, Mariah's great-grandma, would take her after her early morning feeding and just talk to her! Mariah loved loved loved it! She just eats up all the attention. She'd sit there and smile and listen and even try to talk back! She also was able to get some tummy time and watch her Your Baby Can Read video a bit.

She did quite well, I think. While we were in Houston, I surprised my husband with two tickets to the NCAA Final Four Championship. He and my uncle went and had a grand ole time. Though they did say the game itself left much to be desired. It was apparently a low scoring game that seemed to drag on forever. We also visited my FAVORITE church in Houston, Second Baptist Woodway Campus! I always make a point to attend there whenever in Houston. In fact, it was Mariah's first time at church! It was so special. :)

When the time came to travel to Austin, I wasn't sure she'd transition to traveling again! We were only planning on spending two nights in Austin so by the time she settled in, we'd be on the road AGAIN! She did okay. Her night time rest went well. But yet again, her day time naps were off. This led to interruptions in her nighttime sleep. It became quite challenging at times. But, we were glad to be able to visit family. One night in particular was hilariously fun! I visited with my aunt, cousins and high school/college bff. We all had a blast flipping through old photo albums. When I say old I mean, pictures of my aunt and my mom as kids. Pictures of my maternal grandparents, now deceased. I saw a few pics of myself that I'm more than embarrassed to show! Ha ha. Good times. Lots of laughter. I'm sure I burned at least 300 calories from laughing so hard!

We are back home now and things are back to normal. I've tweaked her schedule (below) just a bit to prepare for the next Babywise milestone: dropping her last feeding so that she transitions to 10-12 hours of continuous sleep. I've been getting back in the swing of things because after all that driving I needed a vacation from vacation!

12-wk Babywise Schedule

7:00 am FEED
8:00 - 10:00am NAP

10:00 am FEED
11:00am - 12:30pm NAP

12:30pm FEED
1:30 - 3:00pm NAP

3:00pm FEED
4:00 - 5:30pm NAP

5:30pm FEED
7:00 - 8:00pm NAP

BEDTIME - 8:00pm FEED and go directly to bed.

DREAMFEED - 10:30pm (will drop at 16 wks to yield 11 hrs of continuous sleep!) YAY