This morning

Look how sweetly she's sleeping!!Ha! Fooled you!

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More contests

I've got to stop, I know... but now I'm entering to win a $50 gift certificate to Kangaroodle via Sophistishe - If I won, I would probably buy this, since Aurora had her first shopping trip in the cart seat yesterday and I practically ran out of wipes trying to get the cart clean enough for her delicate butt!
I'm also entering this one for an awesome summer sling from KimzKreations - that Solarveil fabric would be SO wonderful here in Yuma - it's already hit 110 degrees and of course that sunshine is brutal! Plus you can wear this one in the pool, which would be great for us.

Never fear, I also have fresh new pictures of the head of our household, taken today while she was playing on the floor. I also have some video of her crawling backwards - and she moves pretty fast! I may post it if I don't come across any more contests to enter :)

Cool!

For Aurora's five month birthday, I managed to win a cool "Stop Global Warming" t-shirt for her from Mum's The Word! These blog contests are so fun - I really think I am addicted! Which reminds me, I never posted a photo of the Technorati t-shirt I won from POH:

You can see I still cannot master the art of the "mirror shot":So I tried to prop the camera in a candle holder and use the self timer:

Oh well, you get the idea!

And here's our little one on her 5 month birthday, sharing Father's Day with her Daddy:

My kid? Spoiled?? Nah...

So I ordered this for her:

And in order to snag free shipping, I also ordered this inflatable duck:My house is being overrun with plastic, but she doesn't seem to mind!

Another contest

Now here's one I REALLY want to win - a $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga. I know exactly what I would buy, too:

Unbearable Cuteness - now with a slideshow!

Okay, ever since my rant, sleep seems to be getting better and better! Her shortest naps now are 50 minutes (improved from 20), and she's spending a lot more time in her crib and tossing and turning a lot less at night! Thanks for all the advice and sympathy - I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and I hope things keep improving on that front. Now, on to the cuteness!!

Watching mommy dance like an idiot while cleaning the kitchen:
Please ignore the saggy diaper - she was enjoying the breeze on her naked butt but when the camera came out daddy quickly threw the diaper on to protect her modesty :)
Also ignore my crazy hair - it was very windy!My babies:
Updated: I just found out you can embed slideshows from Picasa! Behold:

Update!

Well, I know one night isn't much to write home about, but last night was pretty darn good! I massaged her belly all day yesterday, and the gas was pretty much nonexistent last night! She still slept in bed with me most of the night, but she didn't toss and turn nearly as much. And I left the bed at 6:20 this morning, and she stayed asleep until 9! The world is a LOT brighter when I've gotten some sleep :) I got to catch up on emails and blogs and read the news and drink a cup of coffee in peace - now I can tackle the chores I didn't do yesterday!

WANTED

Good Nights' Sleep

The bandit gang Toss, Turn & Flail has taken over our sleepy town!
It's been over a month since Good Nights' Sleep has been seen round these parts.
Sheriff believes the ringleader is the notorious GAS,
but so far the crime spree continues unabated.

If you have any information as to the whereabouts of our beloved Good Nights' Sleep,
you are urged to contact authorities immediately!

WARNING: Extended cry for help ahead! Proceed at your own risk!

In all seriousness, I am about to LOSE MY MIND if I don't get her to sleep somehow. Right now its 4:30 in the morning and she is babbling in her bedroom after tossing and turning and nursing ALL night long. I really want to transition her into her crib but so far its not working.

Here's our typical night:

7:00pm Bath, Massage, Jammies, turn on "Rainy Ocean Waves" white noise
7:30pm Two books, 0.3mg Mylicon, nurse to sleep
8:00pm Place in crib
8:30pm Cry, Nurse some more, return to crib
9:00pm Cry,Nurse some more, return to crib
9:30 - 11:30pm Sleep quietly in crib
11:30pm Cry, come to bed with exhausted mom
11:30pm - 7:00am Toss, turn, kick, punch, pinch and nurse in bed with exhausted mom

Of course, she wakes in the morning just as happy and bright eyed as can be - but do you see any time in that schedule where MOM sleeps peacefully?? I do get that blissful 2 hours between 9:30 and 11:30, but that 2 hours just isn't enough to sustain me. And of course she won't nap during the day longer than 20 minutes unless I nap with her - and even then we get an hour and a half, max. Now, I am fully aware that part of the problem is that I have gotten her into the habit of nursing to sleep and sleeping with me, so I need to teach her how to fall asleep without me and stay in her crib. I am working on that - I've read Weissbluth, Sears, Pantley & Hogg, and I totally get what they are all saying, but I am just SO FREAKING TIRED that I can't implement any of their solutions and be consistent with them. So I know I need to work on that - but I think right now I could get a bit more sleep if I could just figure out how to cure her gas. I give her Mylicon before bed, and I burp her every time she eats, and I massage her, but she still has massive farts when she wakes up in the morning. So all that gas is floating around in her tummy all night long, making her pretty uncomfortable, I'm sure. She's strictly breastfed, and hasn't shown any sensitivities during the day to the things I eat - no gas during the day, just first thing in the morning. I thought she might be getting all her calories at night, so I've made a conscious effort to feed her every 3 hours or so during the day - and I tried rice cereal a couple of nights but that just gave me an extra dirty diaper to change in the middle of the night. Anyway, enough rambling for now - to sum up, I know intellectually what I need to do in the long run to get her to sleep all night in her crib, but what can I do immediately to get the sleep I need to be able to deal with making those changes? And if it is gas, what are some tried and true tricks that work? I'm seriously looking for any advice moms out there can give me - the only thing I won't do is let her cry it out, so let me know if you can help.

Homemade Chai Snickerdoodles to the person with the best advice!