Gideon Archives | Bow and Arrow photography

Boys shared room plus free printable

12.29.20

I’m so thankful the boys like each other enough to share a room! They moved back in a room together once quarantine started back in March, so it’s been fun rearranging this space. Also, we made our extra room into the homeschool/movie watching room! Check that out here!

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Gideon 12th birthday party

08.12.18

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An advent calendar that goes with my living room

12.11.14

Gideon has been begging for an advent calendar, so last night we scoured the internets and landed on one! My prerequisites: no candy, nativity centered laced with scripture, artsy, goes with my living room. Yeah, kinda crazy list, right?!! I’m certifiable sometimes, but etsy came through as it does always. Every day you read a...

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White balance makes a big difference {photo tip}

05.31.12

One of the many settings on your camera is white balance. This will determine the tone and color casting in your image. It plays a huge factor if you are shooting inside particularly and without flash like I prefer! Take a look and note in the top image, see the yellow color casting to his...

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How to get your baby to sleep through the night {mostly}

03.01.12

{Boaz as a newborn} So I”ve mulled over this post for quite some time now because I realize this topic opens a can of worms and if you don’t believe me just google it! I’m willing to go there and share because of my terrible experience with getting my first kiddo to sleep. I beg...

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Erin (Out on a Limb)March 1, 2012 - 3:11 pm
You're so brave to put this post out there! Having a new baby in the house is such a whirlwind in so many ways. We sort of used the Babywise model with our first, our daughter and she did sleep through the night well pretty early, but I think it had more to do with her and her personality than us. She has always, even now at almost 6 been an easy transitioner. Plus she's a thumb sucker. We approached our son, baby #2 with the same method more or less with incredibly different results. Each child is sooo different. At 3 weeks old he would be up for hours and I mean hours during naptime. He'd fall asleep and nothing could keep him that way. Swaddling was a joke. We finally learned during tummy time that he liked to sleep on his belly, (a no-no, I know). Suddenly he slept. He always needed more rocking, singing and patting to help him wind down than my daughter, and would sporadically wake up looking for reassurance during a random night, but in time, we figured it out.

I remember feeling frustrated and like a failure when I couldn't figure these things out, or when some mom would brag about her own experience, that far exceeded mine. I survived with trial and error and the wisdom and support of others.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It can be so hard and often dark when you're sleep deprived, muddling through this. I'm sure you've helped several new moms out there to feel reassured.ReplyCancel
AjaMarch 1, 2012 - 6:02 pm
Thanks for sharing this! I agree- moms can be hard on one another. And it's so strange, since we are all (hopefully) just trying to do what's best for our baby and family. I had a tough time with my daughter sleeping, too. She now does really well, but I read nearly every book and tried all kinds of things. Why no one ever tells you to try and prepare to "teach" your baby to sleep, I'll never know. It's such a big thing!

So glad Bo is sleeping well for you!ReplyCancel
SarahMarch 2, 2012 - 2:23 am
Thank you for this! I was the same way with No. 1; we got into the bad habit of nursing to sleep so he didn't learn to self-soothe and was still waking up 3-4 times a night until about 9 months. Torture. I'm a total believer in letting them learn to self-soothe. It's so tough for a few days, but the payoff is worth it and the baby is much happier in the end. Will do so with baby No. 2 this summer.ReplyCancel
AnonymousMarch 2, 2012 - 9:05 pm
A couple of things that worked for us:

1) Wait a bit (a minute at the most), if they cry during the night. I think they wake up between sleep cycles, and if we don't interrupt, they go back down to sleep.

2) Food, food, food. If they wake up during the night hungry, try to increase the amount of milk (or solids, if appropriate) during the day.

3) Dream feed: this is from the Baby Whisperer (LOVE HER). She recommended to put the baby to bed at his/her normal naptime, but then go in around 10:00 pm or 11:00 pm, quietly, with very little light, just give him/her another bottle. Usually, the baby barely wakes up, you don't have to burp if they are asleep, and put them back to bed. It worked for us.

Also, the music box or mobile is a must for us, as well as the white noise machine, and putting the baby to bed awake but sleepy. A routine is also very important.ReplyCancel
KirstenMarch 3, 2012 - 3:00 am
I have followed your blog for a while, but this is my first comment. I am SO thankful you put this on here! We have a 13 month old little girl and have/are experiencing many things you mentioned with your first. At 6 months we did the "cry it out" (which I know people are against), but we had to for our sanity. She took 2+ weeks of 2+ hours of crying…it was not fun. Now she puts herself to sleep at night time, but naps are still a nightmare.
Do you think because with you second you laid him down awake at an early age this helped him fall asleep easier? I am curious for the future.ReplyCancel
Lindsay N. StricklandMarch 7, 2012 - 6:56 pm
Thank you for posting this!! I'm reeeeally nervous about this whole baby sleep thing and I really can't comprehend the lack of sleep in the months to come. Yikes. I'm glad there's hope (and real honesty)!ReplyCancel

Happy Love day

02.14.12

Hubs and I celebrated Valentine’s Eve yesterday with flowers and some great conversation, what more could a girl want? But of course a little dinner date will be in order for this weekend and were gonna shoot for a late night and head out after the baby goes down, so smart right? It was a...

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