8 weeks old

Baby Jack at 8 weeks old in his awesome baby gap outfit.

So we are now 8 weeks into this parenting thing and I must say it is the hardest thing I have ever done and loved the most. I have heard people say it's the hardest job you'll ever love and I think that is totally true. This week has been composed of attempting to get on a semi schedule. I am not a huge fan of a strict schedule for a baby because I just don't think it's practical, but after a night when Jack decided to wake up every 2 hours I figured I needed to try something new, so I went to the library to get all of the books I could on sleep training, and a couple of friends had suggested Babywise, so I got that one, The baby whisperer and teaching your child healthy sleep habits.

So this week we have been trying the babywise schedule thing, we eat, then have play/awake time and then nap time. The first few days did not go as mommy wanted, and mommy had a mini meltdown, but since Monday the schedule has really worked well. It makes for a happier baby in the evening which is nice for Jake and it has helped at night too.

So our normal day now looks like this

up around 7-8, eat, play then nap for about 45 minutes in his crib

up around 10, then eat, play, and either walk, errands, or nap in crib for about 1.5-2 hours

then around 1 eat, play, then walk/errands for another 1.5-2 hour nap

around 4 we eat, play, and then most of the time daddy gets home so daddy time and then nap in the swing while mommy makes dinner and works out.

then 7 eat, play, and try to stay awake/cat nap until bath time

then bedtime consists of bath, eat, and Baby Jack goes to bed.

So far this is actually working quite well. I am learning to know my little man, some days are happier than others and the crib napping doesn't always work well and with errands and walking napping is often taking place in his carrier, but we are figuring it out.

Overall we consider ourselves very blessed because Jack is such a happy little man. Very little upsets him. He goes down to sleep pretty well and even though I definitely think kids can cry it out at times he is not too much of a crier.

It is so hard to know what is best for a child, and in the end that is what you want, you want them to be loved, happy, and cared for.

It is so crazy to love another little person so much. The capacity to love that God gives you when you have a child is amazing. Well, I hope you enjoyed a look into the days of Hillary and Jack, I'm sure it will change soon, but for right now we are off to eat and play :)


I am terrible and can't figure out how to turn this picture, but this is his awesome rock star outfit with kangle hat at 7 weeks

Jack and daddy. or Jake and his little clone.

5 Weeks old

Merry Christmas from the Sweatlands
This is our picture from Christmas Eve. We were in Winona Lake and left baby Jack in the nursery for the first time, he did very well, so they told us. We had a great time in Winona Lake, we went to see Christmas lights, spent time with grandma and grandpa and met great grandparents, great aunts and cousins/2nd cousins. Baby Jack traveled very well and overall the traveling was really good, we were gone a total of 10 days and by the end we were ready to come home.


Touring the Christmas lights at Center Lake



Baby Jack's playtime mat.

So today Baby Jack is officially 5 weeks old, he is getting so much bigger and so advanced, when he was first home he loved to be cuddled really close and holding him tight would calm him, now he is getting much more independent. He likes his mat time, tummy time, just stretching and being free. He is starting to almost smile. I don't have any good pics of that, but it is cute, we'll try to get one this week.

One of his favorite things that he makes the best faces to is kisses here is Daddy giving kisses.



We had a very nice new years with Dave and Holly from down here and our friends Cory and Melonie and their son Jackson who came down for a couple of nights. We went to a turkey fry for the Rose Bowl at some nieghbors and then on Saturday we were able to meet Adam and Laura Bennett in Louisville for lunch, we hadn't seen each other in over a year, how fast time flies. Today baby Jack is 5 weeks old. We skipped church today because we are having our first episode with a really upset stomach, last night we experienced a new pitch of crying we think due to gas. So mommy is going to need to watch what she eats a little more closely now. But today we are all feeling better and getting ready to go to Bible study. Jessi, Carrie, and Kim, I will try to keep up a little better now that we have more mat and swing time and mommy can get to her computer. :)

Laura and me and Jack, who looks very big in this picture I think...

wow baby

Baby Jack's first trip to the grocery
I haven't blogged in a long time because we have had some very exciting events happen. Jackson Connor Sweatland was born 11-29-09 at 0240. He arrived at 8 lbs 5 oz 20.5 inches long. He was a week early. No one tells you that you can be in early labor for 2 weeks, but that is what happened with me. I was 4 cm dilated for 2 weeks, we kept walking and jumping but he was not interested in coming out until the 29th. I was in labor for 5.5 hours and did things naturally until 9 cm, I got a spinal at that point and my contractions essentially stopped so after an hour they came to give me a little pitocin to get the little guy out and his heart rate dropped to the 60's. So they told me to push him out now or I would get a C-section. So 10 minutes later he arrived with the help of a vacuum and my wonderful midwife. He gave us quite a scare, and once he was out he didn't cry right away, so I was very scared, but Daddy could see him and kept telling me he was moving. He pinked up right away and was completely perfect. Our first family shot is at the bottom of the page.
After the birth we spent 2 nights in the hospital, we were all very excited to come home. Jack is a good sleeper and has been sleeping about 4 hours at a time at night since he came home. We then started having a lot of visitors. My mom and dad, jake's mom and dad, scott and rob peters, my grandma and cousin, friends from post here. It was great to show off our little guy, and helped to prepare us for Christmas.

We feel so blessed to have our little boy here. He is such a joy. He is a very mellow baby and has been a real pleasure. I am so thankful for modern medicine without which our little guy may not have been doing so well. We are also thankful for our families and their excitement and enjoyment of little Jack.

One of the other things we are very thankful for is for the birth of our friends' Jessi and Mike Burns twins. They were born the 30th of November and we have had fun comparing and talking about our new experiences, one of my favorite things is looking at how little her babies look compared to Jack. especially in the godfather onesie picture. Jack was never able to wear newborn clothes and his 0-3 month outfits are getting snug. We are so glad little Nora and Holden are here.

Well my next blog will be with new Christmas pictures, we hope you all had a great new year.







Giant baby in godfather J outfit.




Our first family picture