Sleep Training?

So my son is now almost 4 months old. He's super cute and cuddly...but still doesn't always sleep the way I want him to.

I have mixed feelings about sleep training. On the one hand I REALLY want to sleep--and some nights I do; he can sleep through the night, he just doesn't most of the time. On the other hand I don't really like the idea of "training" my poor little boy for selfish reasons. I also want him to be able to sleep on his own-a skill he will really need. I've heard of kids 7 years old and still unable to fall asleep without help calming down.

When it comes down to it I think I could go with a no-cry method. I can't stand letting him cry. I mean there's a reason it gives me a stomach ache right?

So right now the method is nursing him to sleep--which a lot of people don't like. I've read all kinds of objections to that online. The only really objection I have is that it doesn't really make him sleep through the night. He actually seems to sleep longer when he falls asleep in his crib. Also, it means that every time he wakes up I'm up for about 20 min feeding him and making sure he is asleep enough that when I move him back to the crib he doesn't wake up.

So I'm researching the no-cry method. So far I've found some commentaries on the Pantley method but haven't actually found any of the real tricks. All I've learned is to put him on a predictable night time schedule--do the same things every night before putting him down. Now just to figure out what time is a good bed time....

I'll keep ya updated as I find more information on this subject

Love to win!!

So you already know I love free stuff! It's even better if the free stuff is BIG and I won it through a sweepstakes. Now I've only actually won anything once, I think. It was a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt, decal, and hat I think. I had entered to win a jet-ski but was ecstatic about the 2nd prize stuff! Especially since I had forgotten all about entering!

So I found a sweepstakes online I thought I would tell y'all about--it's hosted by musicSHOP.

The coolest thing about this sweepstakes is the prize changes every week! and it's going until 12/14.

Now you do have to make an account if you don't already have one, but that's super easy and simple. And it pulls it up for you when you click to enter the sweepstakes.

I don't yet know if you have to re-enter every week but I imagine so. But seriously, it doesn't take that long to go to the website once a week.

And while you're there you might just find some music you want to buy for someone for Christmas. They have a nifty search engine--You can choose artist, genre, etc just like with every other online store. But they also give you price ranges you can pick from. I choose to look at Josh Groban with prices $10.00 and below. More results than I thought!!

The coolest thing about this site is their musicSHOP Player (look in the mid-upper right hand corner).  It gives you a taste of loads of songs, and you can skip through them to find one you like before you buy! I'm likeing it!!

Dairy Allergy

So I am allergic to dairy. At first it's like... man! no cheese! But that's really only the beginning... we'll get to that in a second.

I lived with a dairy allergy for years before actually knowing that I had it. Being allergic to dairy doesn't mean you break out into hives, or your throat swells up and you're in the hospital. It means headaches, and not breathing well. Because, if you are allergic than your body simply makes too much mucus in your sinuses when you eat dairy. This leads to a sinus headache for me. For others it may just be a stuffy nose, some to the point that they feel they cannot breathe.

Now being allergic to dairy is very different than being lactose intolerant. When you are lactose intolerant your body does not have the right enzymes, or enough of them, to properly digest the lactose in milk. This causes stomach aches and most often gas. Being allergic means your body doesn't like the specific proteins in dairy, and reacts to them. This means that lactaid and lactose free milk is no use for those allergic.

Dairy allergy is most common in younger children, and they usually grow out of it. But that's not true for everyone. I actually grew into it--around high school. I didn't know what it was because my headaches tend to feed into other things. I'll get a sinus headache that will make my shoulders and jaw tense up, and then it's a sinus and tension headache--but I only thought it was a tension headache so I never thought there was anything wrong with my sinuses.

Now how to test if you are allergic to dairy. You must first cleanse your body of all dairy, then have a lot in one sitting (ie a milkshake!) and see what happens. To cleanse your body of the dairy you simply do not have dairy for 2 weeks straight. I say simply but most do not realize what that entails. You cannot have milk, cheese, ice cream (or cream of any kind), most cakes, most chocolates, or anything containing any kind of dairy. You will need to read the labels on all the foods you eat avoiding anything that has whey, or cream, etc.
Then if after eating your massive milkshake you develop a headache, or stuffy nose, etc. you will know you are allergic to dairy. If you wish to avoid that headache, etc you will need to be careful what you eat from then on in.

I have gotten to the point that I can have small amounts of dairy--like chocolate chip cookies--on rare occasions, but I'll pay the price if I overdo it, so I've learned to be careful.

I hope you do not have a dairy allergy, as it is very annoying in a culture revolving around milk--but if you do, just know it is managable.

Free Things!

So I love free stuff! Free samples, junk others are giving away, junk mail even! I love to receive mail so I don't mind signing up for junk mail if it means I'll get something good once and awhile. I thought about setting up a free stuff blog but I'd only be copying stuff from my favorite free sites so I think I'll just post those sites here.



Walmart.com
http://absurdlycool.com/
http://www.freestuffheadquarters.com/page/3/?gclid=CNKL0rnk0ZYCFRsRagoda2Wu3A
teenfreeway.com
http://www.freemania.net/samples



And there are loads more...I just can't list them all.

A Re-Introduction

Aloha!

It's been awhile (like more than 2 years) since I last posted on this blog. At that time I had just returned from my internship in China and was finishing up my college degree. That was also the semester I first met my now husband of almost 2 years. Needless to say I was busy and blogging wasn't at the top of my list. Blogging has recently come closer to the top of my list--not because I have any more time (really I have less since I like sleep more these days) but because I needed an outlet for my thoughts.

A quick look into who I am. I graduated from BYUH in Psychology and Theatre. I still work for them long distance mostly completing the research projects I had started when I still resided on the island. I now live in Provo with my husband (who is a gunsmith) and my chubby adorable 3 month old son. Other than the part time long distance job with BYUH I am a stay at home mom and I love to find creative ways to stay healthy, happy, and hopefully eventually rich--or at least long term financially stable. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am a conservative who likes Glenn Beck. I love to sing and swing dance (though there isn't much time for that these days). And try to be an overall optimistic person.

The thoughts that will fill this particular blog might be somewhat random, but I hope still useful. I will be writing about the things I learn from what is happening in my life. It won't contain much, if any of my "personal life" so to speak. Though I will probably give brief introductions into each post that gives a glimpse as to why that topic has been on my mind.

Expect to see posts on: child development (as my son grows), emergency preparedness (a hobby/passion of mine), security, evolutionary psychology (my job), religion, and some politics. For information on food storage and my favorite recipes, see my other blog --Healthy Eating. I might mention posts in that blog when discussing emergency preparedness since food is a large factor in that.

As a last note of ...caution I guess... since this is a hobby and outlet of mine and I do not have much time. There may be spelling and grammar errors. Hopefully not so many that you can't understand the point. But I don't have time to re-read and edit my posts. Sorry :)