Sleepless in September

Lucy is 5 months old today, and what a month it has been at our house! We have been going through "Sleep Boot Camp" in an attempt to get Lucy to sleep better. Our social calendar has been almost nonexistent as we focused on consistency and patience. I do think our efforts are paying off, as Lucy began the month getting about 9 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period - and being quite cranky - to getting about 11 and a half hours. She is much happier now, but we still have a little bit to go. I can only imagine how content she will be when she gets closer to the 15 hours a baby of her age should typically be sleeping. Who knows why she has been sleeping so little, but we are trying everything to modify that. I've been reading up like crazy on sleep and know way more about sleep cycles than I ever thought possible. Last week I took her to see a pediatric therapist that does cranial sacral therapy which so far seems to have helped the most. We go back this week, so hopefully we see even more improvements.

Here are some pictures of our little lady, as she pulled an "all-monther" (think "all-nighter" just without coffee, and for an entire month!).

Will took an early morning shift with Lucy on a Saturday morning this past month, and when I woke up to a quiet house, I got out of bed to investigate. I found Daddy and daughter sound asleep on the floor. You can't tell from the picture, but Lucy had her fingers tightly wrapped around Will's finger. When you are sleep deprived, it is amazing the things you will try to get Lucy to sleep!Here Will is trying to take a nap, but Lucy clearly has other plans.

When we weren't busy trying to get Lucy to take a nap, we were picking the plethora of tomatoes from our garden. Here's Lucy holding on to some of the harvest. It's a little ironic to me because a year ago at this time I was pregnant with her, and tomatoes made me want to gag!

We were excited when Lucy hit the four month mark, because it meant she could finally play in her little activity center we have for her. Her feet were a little shy from touching the ground, but we found something to put under them so that she could fit. She has a love hate relationship with the little purple hippo she is holding in her right hand. Nothing excites her more than to get that into her mouth, and nothing frustrates her more than not being able to.



Lucy loves to play on the floor. She surprised us both a couple of weeks ago when she rolled over as we were trying to put her pajamas on. Will and I think she was trying to escape bedtime. We were happy we both were there to catch this major milestone. She also has discovered her feet and likes to play with them while we change her diaper.Yesterday we went on our annual apple picking trip with the Timmerman side of the family. It was a big day for Lucy, as she represented the fourth generation of the Timmermans who have been picking apples in the same orchard for over 40 years. The Timmermans are extra excited because on September 24, another fourth generation Timmerman, Gavin, was born. Hopefully next fall Lucy and Gavin will be gnawing on apples together. Here we are below with Will's dad standing in front of a Golden Delicious apple tree.




Will's back at work now, and Lucy and I have found a new routine. We can still hardly believe that Lucy is finally here in our arms. When I was pregnant with her I couldn't wait to hold her and cover her in kisses. Little did I know just how kissable she would be with her chubby little cheeks. We still miss Luke in ways that we can't even begin to describe, but it is a comfort to be able to tell his little sister all about her big brother in heaven. And as we whisper to Lucy when she cuddles her head into our shoulder, Lukey is with us every day and is so proud of his baby sister.

A Day at the Portrait Studio

Lucy had a big day today, as she hammed it up in front of the camera! You'd never know that she screamed most of the car trip there. She knows when to turn on the charm and we had a riot watching her pose for the different shots.