Courtney Cowgirl

Courtney got this pony for Christmas and has really enjoyed it. We thought it was extra cute when just put on the hat and hopped on. She started saying "cowgirl" and "yee haw." Hope you enjoy!

To Cry or Not to Cry

So I have a little problem. My problem is my sweet little fitful sleep monster. Yes, my sweet little Miss Courtney does not sleep well and never has. At 20 months old she has probably only had half a dozen nights on which she has slept through the night and maybe a dozen or two on which she only woke up only once. On an average night she is up two to four times a night and on several nights she has been up five or six, or more times. Most times she goes back to sleep quickly once I get her and rock her, but on a few nights it takes an hour or two to get her back to sleep.

I know that this is a problem that I have created. More or less I unintentionally trained her to be a bad sleeper. I trained her to be so dependent on me to go to sleep. For the first year and a half of her life her crib was in my husband’s and my room. So she had easy access to mom. First it was the nursing to sleep for bed and naps. Now it is the rocking or bouncing to sleep. When she was still in my husband’s and my room it got to the point where my husband would sleep on the couch just to be able to get some sleep. He would offer to help and even try but that seemed to turn out worse because she would just cry and cry and I wouldn’t get any sleep because I knew if I would just take her she would stop. So now I am up throughout the night getting her back to sleep.

After twenty months of this I have decided it is time to really do something to train her to sleep better. With the older two we used the “cry-it-out” method and I can testify that it works. But it isn’t easy to sit in the other room while your child is screaming for you. The experts say to go in every few minutes to check them and comfort them without picking them up but that only seems to make things worse. They cry even harder once you leave again. So eventually we got to the point where we would stop going in. After about three nights of this, each night getting better, we finally had success. They would go to bed with very little fuss and sleep well through the night because they no longer needed me to rock them to sleep. We tried this with Courtney but it didn’t work for a number of reasons. Reason 1) Her sisters couldn’t stand the crying. They would feel really bad for her and start crying and have a hard time going to sleep themselves. 2) Courtney got hysterical and had a hard time being calmed. 3) There was only so much of the crying that my husband and myself could handle. Maybe it had been too long since we had last been through this being that Courtney and Shaylee are four years apart in age.

I can honestly say that I don’t mind rocking her to sleep. It is actually quite enjoyable most nights. The biggest problems are that 1) I have to put her to sleep. That makes it hard for me if for some reason I wanted to go somewhere in the evening and needed to be able to have someone else take care of her. 2) She wakes up so many times, which sleep expects say is normal but most of us know how to just roll over and go back to sleep. That doesn’t work for my sweet baby. She needs me to help her and to be honest I am tired.

So now I am reading a book about the “No-Cry” method. We will see if it has any good suggestions. In the end “To cry or not to cry?” That is the question. And those tears may not be just Courtney’s.

"How Firm A Foundation"

Okay so my sister Amy called me about 7:45 this morning and started singing "How Firm a Foundation" to me. I immediately knew that our foundation for our house was being poured. She has the wonderful opportunity to be living next door to where our house is being built so she often keeps us updated on the progress. Here are a few pictures of it.

They should be framing the foundation area for the garage tomorrow and pouring it on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the weather. The lumber for the framing arrives Thursday afternoon or Friday! It is so exciting to finally see the progress and know that in just over two months we will have our own house.

Our House

Well, our house is finally on it's way. We are having it built by Hughes Custom Performance (Brian Hughes) and are so excited and can hardly wait. Here are some of the pictures from the first few days of building.
They are going to have to move that electrical pole that is smack in the middle of the property. There goes another $1500 or so. It is for a good cause in the end.
There is a little bit of a hold up right now because of the rain. He can't pour the cement until the weather is good. He should get that done the first part of next week and the framing should start the end of next week. If everything goes well we will move in March 31st! We are so excited and look forward to owning our first home. More to come.

Flu and Merry Christmas

Life has been a little crazy this week. I am sitting here typing this with one hand and holding my sleeping baby who is sick with the flu. My husband husband has also been sick with the flu. So between trying to take care of them as well as my two other children. It has been a little crazy. Because of this, I haven't had a chance to get my Christmas cards in the mail. So just in case I don't I am posting my Christmas card on this blog for all of you to enjoy. Merry Christmas!

December 10, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Yeah, it is Christmas time once again! We hope that your year has been a great one! This year has just flown by, but it seems that is just the way life is now. It never slows down and each year comes to an end all too quickly. Our year has been full of lots of fun and everyday life. We also have much to look forward to in the New Year.
Courtney is now eighteen months old and is as busy as ever. She is getting in to everything. Even at this moment she is pulling CDs out of their cases. I’ll have to watch her close or she will try to stick them in the VCR like she has done in the past. She has learned to climb on chairs, open the refrigerator and if we leave the bathroom doors open she is often found playing in the toilet. Jeremy’s cell phone can testify to that (Well if it could talk.) She is learning to talk quite well. One of her favorite words is “candy.” Maybe this next year we will make sure she learns the word vegetable. Courtney gets to spend most of her days with just mom but loves it when her sisters and dad get home and can play with her. We have really enjoyed getting to know her better and discover her personality throughout the year.
Shaylee is now five. In May she graduated from preschool and in August she started kindergarten. She is really enjoying school. She has gotten to go on field trips to the firehouse, the bus barn, the apple orchard and the museum. She has been making friends and comes home telling us all about the kindergarten drama. She has even learned to read and write a little. ;) She enjoys painting quite a bit and playing with her sisters. She is as sweet and loving as ever. She is always one to give great hugs and kisses.
Kelsi turned seven this year and is growing up way too fast. She is in the second grade and doing quite well. She is also our little artist and is becoming increasingly interested in drawing. She has discovered a love for wearing gloves. Just look at her picture. We often have to ask her to take them of for dinner, or other times when what she is doing would be better to do without gloves on. Drama must be a girl thing because Kelsi also comes home with stories of all that is going on in the second grade. I guess we are just grateful that they tell us about it. We hear about who likes whom and whom she is going to marry and other fun details of her life. She is a great help with her younger sisters and loves playing with them.
Cindy keeps busy trying to keep the kids fed and the house running. She has finally started to get the hang of having three kids. It really helps that the older two are able to help so much. She is enjoying reading several new books she got for her birthday from her family and sewing whenever she can. She is also spending much of her time de-junking the house to prepare for the house we are having built here in Thatcher. We’ll hopefully be moved in by spring 2010. It isn’t going to be a big fancy home but it is going to be our first home and we are excited.
Jeremy is as busy as ever. For some reason this time of year is a busy one at work. He is still working for Freeport-McMoRan, which we are grateful for considering that so many people have lost their jobs. The company is currently doing well and isn’t planning on any more layoffs. Jeremy is still out numbered at home but doesn’t mind so much. He loves his girls and is grateful they are part of our family.
We all look back on this year and know that both good and bad have come to us but it is amazing at times how it is the good that stands out the most. We are blessed to have each other and family and friends. The love we share as a family and with you is the best gift we could ever hope for. We hope that you have had a wonderful year and that the New Year brings much joy and happiness to you and your family. Thanks for being part of our lives! We love you all! Merry Christmas!


Love,
The Hunt Family
(Jeremy, Cindy, Kelsi, Shaylee and Courtney)

Merry Christmas!

Gila Valley Temple

I just recieved this e-mail. How exciting! I can hardly wait. It is such a blessing to have temples at all let alone one just a couple of miles away.

Dear Gila Valley Arizona Temple Mailing List subscribers:

The First Presidency has announced the opening dates for The Gila Valley Arizona Temple as follows:

OPEN HOUSE: Friday, April 23 to Saturday, May 15, 2010 (except Sundays)
CULTURAL CELEBRATION: Saturday, May 22, 2010
DEDICATION: Sunday, May 23, 2010 (three sessions: 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 3:00 p.m.)
OPENS FOR ORDINANCES: Monday, May 24, 2010

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Sincerely,
Rick Satterfield
LDSChurchTemples.com

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/gilavalley/

More Halloween Fun

Here are just a few pictures of the girls Halloween costumes. Shaylee was Hannah Montana.
Kelsi was Miley Cyrus. She came up with her costume.

Courtney was our little lady bug.

Between the birthday party that Shaylee got to go to, the ward party and the school party we all had a fun and busy night.