Sleep Coaching

Today is a big day, Mary is officially night weaned and sleeping! I have enjoyed the last 18 months of night nursing and bonding but Mary is now old enough to not need the nursing and is ready to sleep better. I was very nervous about night weaning thinking it would never work. My plan was always to let her wean herself but it was clear that she would need some gentle coaxing. I sought the advice of other mothers who co sleep and night nurse to formulate a plan. We were not interested in any type of cry-it-out methods so were seeking the input of other like minded mamas. The plan we settled on was to nurse her to sleep and then tell her no more milky until the morning. To my amazement Mary responded very well and we had very little protesting. She will give little short cries because she is tired and trying to learn a new way to fall asleep. I put my arm around her and say shhh and very quickly she goes back to sleep. Last night was our sixth night and Mary slept 8 hours, then some quick shushing and she was back down. She slept a total of 12.5 hours! And all of this while in our bed with us so if anyone tells you a co-sleeping or nursed to sleep baby won't ever sleep I submit exhibit A for their consideration. I am so proud of my big girl! To celebrate she got a special treat and a trip to the Disney store to pick out a Pluto and Goofy.

 Don't worry, she didn't eat the whole doughnut

You are enough

When I look at Mary I think to myself that she makes me want 10 more just like her. We would LOVE to have more children and when God is ready we will be thrilled. We are open to welcoming a new life and leave it all in God's perfect timing. We get a lot of questions about why we aren't pregnant yet. Some may wonder if we are intentionally waiting (we are not). Breast feeding kept my fertility away for quite some time allowing a natural spacing. We trust God with that spacing. As a few months of returned fertility have gone by I've had a chance to reflect on what we would do if we didn't get pregnant again. What if Mary is all we are blessed with? Again, I look at my sweet girl and I know that she is enough, she will always be enough. The blessing of her is more than my heart had ever previously experienced and if she is the only child we are blessed with our hearts will still be full. It is so important to trust God with family size. We are often asked how many children we want and my answer is always, "however many God blesses us with." Being open to life includes the possibility of less little lives than we may desire. So while we stay open to new life we do not miss a moment of appreciating the life we have been given and every single day loving her and trusting that she is enough. I believe God will send us more children and if not from my body from our hearts in adoption. It is so easy to get caught up in the "what's next mentality" but when it comes to children live in the moments with your current little one(s) and abandon all else to a loving heavenly father who from all eternity knows the best path to heaven for you and your family.

18 months and more

So many fun things happening for the Mattson family!
The most exciting of all is that our little girl is 18 months today! Happy half birthday Mary Therese!! Either I am an overzealous mother who thinks my daughter is advanced (don't all moms?) or I just had no idea how much toddlers can do at 18 months. 

Mary is a little chatterbox (wonder where she gets that from??) saying well over 100 words with several new ones being added daily. I feel like every day I hear her say a word or two that I hadn't heard from her before. She can put two and three words together. Her first sentence of course was "I see Minnie." She understands how to ask questions, just this morning she saw a bee on her baby's shirt and then pointed to her own shirt and asked me "where bee?" 

I am having so much fun teaching her! She is learning to count, the names of colors, and her ABC's. She knows pretty much every body part and its name and lots of animals and the sound they make.

She understands pretty much everything we say to her and follows directions very well. I always heard people say that you can't reason with a toddler but somehow you can with this one. When she is refusing to put on her shoes I will say to her "if you want to go to the park you need to wear shoes" and she will promptly come sit down and let me put them on. 

She loves all things Minnie Mouse, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Elmo.

She has mastered self feeding and uses her own fork and spoon like a pro.

She likes sitting on her potty. She hasn't yet gone pee pee but liking the potty is a fun start.

In the last week she has mastered wooden puzzles.

A little thrill seeker she loves when daddy throws her up high in the air. She is a very active toddler who loves to run, jump, and go to the park (the slide is her favorite). She loves dancing and we often have after dinner dance parties.

Beyond all these things her favorite is definitely her babies. She has a baby with her almost everywhere she goes. She hugs and kisses them, pats their back, eats with them and loves to share her food with them, change their diapers, give them milky by putting on my nursing cover and "nursing" her baby, and rocks them in their cradle for night night time. She is a great little mommy! 

Mary still nurses and I love that time of bonding with her. 

The K-9 teeth have been her enemy but after several months we almost have them all in and then hopefully she can get some better sleep. Speaking of sleep, we have so much fun hearing the things she says in her sleep. She must be a good dreamer because she is very animated and says clear words such as Elmo, Tootie, Baby, Dada, and bye bye in her sleep. 

Mary has a very sweet temperament and loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. She likes to end each day with a big bubble bath and an hour of books in bed with mommy and daddy. 

This age is so much fun and filled with so much learning and amazement. We look forward to the new things she does each day!

 

 

The shirt says it all! A quote from her patron Saint Therese, she is a small thing with great love!

In other news:

Yesterday we spent a nice family morning at Knott's Berry Farm. Every year Firemen and Law Enforcement get in free to Knott's as an appreciation for their service. The first time we went was mine and Eric's third date. Mary was still a little small this year for most of the rides but she did love the trucks and Eric was able to walk right on to a few roller coasters since the park was very empty. 

We are also very excited because we just booked an RV trip to the river in Parker in February. We go several times each summer but this will be our first winter trip. We are looking forward to a week of fun with Grammy and Grampy!

A favorite new spot

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was a 2 year membership pass to Frogg's Bounce House (thank you wonderful husband). It is an amazing place a few miles from our house that is basically a huge room filled with different inflatables, Foosball tables, mini cars to drive, and other toddler toys. Mary is a little thrill seeker so she loves crawling through the huge inflatables and going down the biggest and fastest slides including one that launches her off the end. It is a wonderful way to get us out of the house and let her get some exercise and energy out. It will seriously be the gift that keeps on giving because I think she will grow to love it more and more as she gets older. I can already see this as a weekly trip (if not more often).

Disneyland fun

Yesterday was our final trip to Disneyland before our passes expire. I am so thankful that Eric surprised me last year with a Disneyland pass for Christmas and then his parents surprised him with one too. We had a wonderful time making memories and visiting the Magic Kingdom with our little girl who is now completely in love with Minnie Mouse and her friends. Our favorite sites at Disneyland included It's a Small World, the Aladdin live stage show, and Disney Junior on Stage. Here are a few pictures from our final visit.

"Mary do you want to get a little close to Pluto?"

"No no"... too close dada

Family picture by the beautiful Christmas Tree on Main Street 

Mary and Daddy doing "scrunchy face"

New Year Resolution

It is my New Year's Resolution for 2015 to keep up with our blog. So to kick things off here is a quick review of 2014.

January: We bought an RV! Eric has wonderful memories of taking RV trips as a kid so when the perfect RV was for sale we had to grab it and start making our own family memories. I had never done much RVing but am already loving it! In 2014 we took our new home on wheels out for many adventures along side Eric's parents who are RVing pros.

February: February of course brought Valentine's Day and Eric loved having two Valentine's to celebrate with this year. He also continued the tradition begun by my dad of bringing his daughter and wife flowers.

March: In March we had our home blessed and enshrined to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Now we really can make this place a "cradle for saints." Also in March, Mary began swim lessons and we quickly realized we have a little fishy who loves the water.

April: April was the month of our first RV trip down to Campland in San Diego for the vintage trailer show. Grammy and Grampy got to show off their cute new toy. We celebrated Easter with both sides of the family at our house.

May: In May we spent a week at the River in the RV. We discovered that May provides great weather and that staying in an RV on the river is really fun. Mary unfortunately got her first ear infection but was a trooper staying happy on the trip. I also had a beautiful Mother's Day.

June: Starting the last days of May and into June we were on our years biggest RV trip to Lone Pine, June Lake, Lake Buena Vista, Lake Tahoe, and a quick tail end stop in Manteca and Modesto to see our friends the Gooch's, Vallejos, and Websters. We all agree that Lake Tahoe will be a definite repeat as we really loved it. Eric celebrated Father's Day with a Shrimp boil at my parent's house.

July: July was a big month for the Mattson's. Mary T. turned 1 and Eric turned 37. We had a fun beach party planned but at the last minute the party was moved to our house (thanks Raider Nation) and was as fun as can be! We ended the month with another trip in the RV, this time to Pismo Beach. Eric and I got out for a date afternoon riding quads.

August: In August we went back to the River for the annual Mattson family trip. Mary loved spending time with her cousin Sadie!

September: Eric's parents took an anniversary cruise to Alaska so in September we got to dogsit Mister. Mary T. loved taking him on his daily walks. At first Mister wasn't so sure of his new friend but by the end he was...tolerant of her.

October: In October we went to Houston for Eric's cousin's wedding. Mary and I loved meeting the amazing Houston family and felt immediately like family. At the end of October I turned 34 and Mary was the cutest little kitty (Chico, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's kitty to be exact) for Halloween.

November: In November we spent Thanksgiving at LAFD station 3 since Eric had to work. Grammy joined us at the station for a meal catered by one of the local hotels. It felt appropriate to be at the fire station since we are so thankful for Eric's wonderful job.

December: Of course December is filled with many fun Advent and Christmas activities. Some of our traditions include stockings on the feast of Saint Nicholas, visiting the Snoopy Christmas display at the Costa Mesa City Hall, seeing neighborhood Christmas lights, visiting Santa, being with family to celebrate the birth of Christ, and of course the annual squished cheeks picture. Mary T. loved opening presents this year and was showered with lots of fun new toys.

We are excited to see what 2015 will hold for our family!