Tooth # 11

Last night Mackenzie's 11th tooth came through (with many tears and a lot of complaining on her part). She still only woke up once, but before bed and when she woke up she was really upset. Poor thing. It is her front bottom right molar. Now she has 3 molars! Watch those fingers...she can really chomp down :)

BINGO

And Night number 5...Mackenzie slept all the way through the night without waking up once! Praise The Lord.

4 Nights and Counting

Many of you know that my daughter Mackenzie pretty much hates to sleep. And for most of her life when she did fall asleep she would only stay that way for 1-2 hours at a time. She is a very light sleeper, and if she thinks she is missing anything...she wins.

A few months ago I began putting Young Living's Lavender essential oils on the bottom of her feet just before her bedtime routine to help her sleep, and it worked. Instead of waking up every 1-2 hours she would wake up every 3-4 hours which meant instead of me waking up 6-8 times a night I was now only waking up 3-4 times a night. When you are not sleeping that is a great improvement.

Well, I ran out of Lavender and I was not ready to order more yet. Literally, the night I quit using the Lavender Mackenzie began fighting to get to sleep and then went back to her horrible routine of waking every 2 hours. Ahhhhhh! What could I do?

Then I went to a Young Living seminar and found out that the essential oil Valor can also work as well (if not better) as Lavender. So what did I do starting 4 nights ago? I put Valor on Mackenzie's feet just before her bedtime routine and PRAISE BE TO GOD...she only woke up 1 time in the night. You heard me right. For 4 nights straight now I have been using the Valor and she has only woken up ONCE each night. This is a miracle, and another testament to why I LOVE Young Living Essential Oils.

Now I have my Lavender, my Valor and my other 9 Every Day Oils and the Thieves Kit (which, by-the-way, I LOVE).

Young Living Oils are AMAZING (and 100% therapeutic grade and pure. No additives, so you can even eat them without harm), and if you don't know anything about them, their uses or what they can do for you and your family feel free to contact me. I am completely sold, and not just because of the sleep. They have been helpful in my own family for reducing fevers, taking away pain, removing a sty from my eye, removing a cold sore in 12 hours, stopping snoring, soothing PMS and arthritis, cleaning without toxic chemicals...you name it, there is an all natural oil that can help (or even several oils that can help).

So, for now...WE ARE SLEEPING AT THE SHERWOOD HOME. I will let you know how things continue :)

***For more information on Young Living Products you can visit www.youngliving.us or contact me. Member # 1069772***

I need to update

I have a lot of things I need to update on here. We have been really busy, and I suppose that will not stop until Wayne's Dad returns to the U.K.

This past week was filled with family, and it was all good.

Friday was Wayne's sister's rehearsal and dinner. Saturday was the wedding. Sunday was Resurrection Sunday, so church, family reunion then post-wedding bar-b-que.

In the midst of all the action Mackenzie decided to try her hand at walking and she also decided to cut tooth numbers 9 and 10. As you know, Mackenzie cuts teeth her own way, so instead of the next two in line she decided to go ahead and cut two molars. Ouch! She is working really hard on them, chewing, biting and sucking on EVERYTHING...including me. Yes, she has been biting me, but I am able to divert her attention to a teething ring or a cool sippy-cup of water. She is not done cutting these two, but I am sure in a week they will be complete. Oh, and she has had a very low grade fever with these two teeth. Nothing worrisome, just yucky for her.

By-the-way, she is also down to nursing only once in a 24 hour period. That once is in the middle of the night, but what a change in lifestyle. She is still waking up twice during the night, but I am sure that once she is walking/running all day long that she will sleep much more soundly. She is trying very hard to do so now.

I know I have the most precious little girl, and I can hardly believe how quickly she is growing up!

I need to upload pictures and post them. I need to send out my play date pictures too. Hummm. Where does the time go?

We Have Lift Off

Yesterday was a BIG day in the Sherwood house.

Mackenzie decided to try her had (or feet) at walking. She wouldn't just take off and walk, but she would steady herself in front of me and walk toward me. The first time she did it she took 4 steps. The only problem was that she also likes to steady herself in front of me and just fall forward. I was standing up when she decided to 'fall' instead of walk, and it was very strange to watch my little girl fall FACE FIRST into the carpet and not even flinch. Of coarse, she did start crying and when she sat up...BLOOD. Yup. Busted lip #2. It was a tiny cut on the inside of her lip, and no swelling. Daddy was there to witness it all and even told her to learn from her mistakes. Did she? Not really. She still wanted to play the 'falling' game for another good hour. Yuck :(

Later in the afternoon, when Daddy was at work, Mackenzie decided that it really was time to try to walk, and for an hour or more she would steady herself in front of me and walk...no really, WALK. Her shortest number of steps was 4 in a row, and her longest number of steps was 13 in a row. Her average was about 8 straight steps. And she insisted on doing it over and over and over again. The only thing is that she will only walk toward me, and I have to be on the floor in front of her. Oh, and we are using a pillow in my lap just in case she decides to 'fall' without warning, again.

Pretty cool. My daughter is on her way to walking. Oh, and we also had to put cabinet locks on the cabinets...she realized how much fun it is to open them and get into stuff. Only the critical cabinets are locked. The others she can get into :)

Now, that may all sound BIG to you, but I haven't told you the best part yet. Yesterday was also my Dad's Spiritual Birthday. My Dad accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior 22 years ago yesterday. The same day Mackenzie started walking. Does this mean she will be a spiritual giant? or will walk with God through her entire life? I don't know, but I sure hope it does. Oh, and not to mention...it was also her cousin, Little Wayman's, birthday. Now that's what I call a BIG day.

Walking. Sleeping. or Both

Mackenzie has a lot going on recently. As many of you know her Grandad and Nana are visiting from England, and Mackenzie is really enjoying them (although they have both had colds).

Last time Grandad was here Mackenzie decided it was time to start crawling, and that is exactly what she did. I think she was waiting for him to fly over so he could be the first to see her crawl. Well, we are in the same boat again, but this time with walking and sleeping.

Last night Mackenzie took her first step from the table over to Nana without holding on to anything. Then later that evening she took two steps from the table to the sofa without holding on to anything. Although I do not consider her as having taken her first steps until she has taken three in a row without holding on, I do consider this a BIG FIRST and a step in the right direction. She will probably be walking before Grandad leaves!

Now, after those one and two steps Mackenzie must have felt a sense of accomplishment because last night she slept 6.5 hours straight. Definitely a FIRST for her.

Love Her Through It.

Mackenzie has started a new sleep routine. It is half good and half REALLY BAD.

Last week Mackenzie started the good part of her new sleep routine. Out of the blue she decided to sleep two five-hour stretches; only waking up once to feed. That is ten hours of sleep for her. It was awesome, but just in case it was a fluke I didn't want to blog about it. The next night she went right back to her old sleep habits waking ever two-and-a-half to three hours. Then the following night she woke up after two hours, then after three hours, but then she slept fiver hours. So we are seeing good stuff.

The next night is where the bad sleeping habits started. In the middle of the night Mackenzie decided she no longer wanted to sleep in her crib, but she wanted to sleep with Mommy. I knew this was the case becasue as long as I would hold her or lay her down beside me on the sofa or in our bed she would sleep, but as soon as I would put her in her crib she would SCREAM and CRY. After doing this three times I decided we were going to cry-it-out. Not the typical cry-it-out where you put your child in the crib and let them scream and cry, but a modified version. The Mommy version. I sat in Mackenzie's glider and rocked and kissed her, wiped her tears and snot away and let her scream and cry in my lap. I LOVED her through it, and three hours later she stopped crying and screaming and finally went to sleep. Now she is doing some version of this every night before bed when she realizes it is bed time. Typically it only lasts for about thirty to fourty minutes, but I still hold and lover her through it, then she finally decides to go peacefully to sleep.

My Mom reminded me that God does the same thing for us. When we throw our tantrums here in this life He holds us tight and wipes away our tears, but He also allows us to go through the struggle so we can learn. Wow, God sure loves us.

Hopefully the bad won't last too much longer. Plus, she is getting in some five hour stretches of sleep almost every night now. That is a GREAT thing.

Maybe she is about to hit another milestone (like walking) and that is why she is upset at bedtime. I have heard that just before each milestone a child's sleep pattern can get really messed up.

Just to make up for talking about Mackenzie's bad, here are some good pictures. (Turning the TV off and on, Walking with help, and Food in her hair).

Veggie Garden Update

First Yellow Squash

















Yellow Squash Flower
















Cilantro




















Cherry Tomatoes

Carrots