Cassie vs Photoshop...I win Round 1

Ok so after having a serious meltdown trying to figure out how to use photoshop I have made a break through..... my blog is finally cute! I still have a long ways to go but I feel very accomplished at this very moment! I do not see how people use this it is so insane. I googled some tutorials and have slowly started figuring stuff out! I hope to make my blog even cuter as time goes on but for now this is it I just had to share my excitment with everyone. As for life its same old same old which is good with me! We celebrated my moms birthday this evening by cooking steak and fries...YUM! I also made it to moms group this morning and really enjoyed todays chapters. Especially the chapter on Fear it put a lot into perspective for me. And to make it even better I found out that the author of the book we are read " My Bathtub is overflowing but I feel drained" is coming to hope in January to speak to the moms groups...YEAH! More details to come. But as for me I am gonna go back to exploring the wide world of photoshop> More to come :)

New Moms Group Kick-off

Before I was a MOM

Before I was a Mom I made and ate hot meals.

I had unstained clothing. I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom I slept as late as I wanted.

And never worried about how late I got into bed.

I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was Mom I cleaned my house each day.

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a Mom I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on,

pooped on, spit on, peed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts,

my body and all my feelings. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child

so that doctors could do tests or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle of the night,

every 10 minutes to make sure all was OK. I had never known the warmth, the joy,

the love, the heartache or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much............before I was a Mom.

Author Unknown

They read this poem in our group this morning and lets just say it was a tear jerker to all. It made me realize what a special job GOD has given me and that is to raise my son right and take pleasure in every minute ! which leads me to my next topic...getting Will baptized! I have contacted Father Bruce who took me through my RCIA program to become catholic and who also married Joey and I. I cannot think of anyone else i would have baptize my precious little man. We meet with him at the end of the month to go over everything and then hopefully we will set up a date !

Time flies when your having fun!

My little Will is getting so big so fast! It just seems like yesterday we were bringing him home now hes eating baby food, cooing and trying to act a lot older than he is by standing (while mommy or daddy is holding him of course) sitting up (with support as well but not much!) and trying to feed himself! Where does the time go? I love every minute I spend with him and I also love the month old stickers that Jess got for me because I go back and look at how hes changed and it just brings tears to my eyes!

We are having so much fun learning new things together everyday. I have learned to let him have tummy time a little more than i was giving him ( I have come to the realization that i cannot hold him 24 hours a day) Will however has learned that all he has to do is pout that bottom lip and mommy comes a running which doesnt help the prior lol! We have also learned peek-a-boo he just giggles when i move my hand from my face it is great! Other valuable lessons learned 1-he hates carseats 2- he loves bath time and 3-there is a man out there who can pass worst gas than my husband and thats his son WILL!!!! i guess its true what they say like father like son but in this case its just not cool!

So obviously we've been to the beach :) We had such an awesome time! It was Will's first trip to the beach an all in all he did fabulous the only downfall was the ride home (note to self begin ride home in dark when you have a child that hates his carseat...hehe) he loved the ocean but leave it to me to have the one kid in the world that isnt put straight to sleep by the crashing wave sounds. He is so nosy (just like his momma) that he cant close his eyes hes just to afraid he might miss something good! I loved taking pictures on the beach this year of course Will was reason number one because theres absolutely nothing better than little piggy toes in the sand but the second reason was because I got to take tons of pics of my sis-in-laws (Jenn) twin girls. They are 2 now and they were all over the place which made for some great shots! I am also very excited because a friend of mine told me about a continuing education class at the u of m in october for photography. I hope to go so that I can learn more skills and hopefully start to turn my passion into something I can share with more people!

As far as everything else goes Will is now 4 months! I cannot believe he is growing up so fast! He was 14lbs and 25 inches at his last doctors appt. He did great with shots and was such a great trooper for the rest of the day. He LOVES standing, with assistance of course but if i try to make him sit he gets fiesty, but given the choice between laying down and sitting up he will gladly sit up! He has also rolled over and luckily me and Joey were both there to see him do it. He hasnt done it again after the first two times but in his defense we went to Florida so he didnt get much "tummy" time last week!

Our latest issue would be feeding. At our 4 month check up the Dr said we could start feeding him cereal...well there is only one teeny tiny problem HE HATES IT! He literally cries and Ive tried feeding him a bottle before and during our attempts but we are completely unsuccessful?!?! The nurse in me gets worried that if he is this upset and we keep trying that he is going to associate feeding time with stress and fear so I dont want to force him but I dont want him to get behond either. Technically I know that they dont even recommend baby food till 6 months so I prob shouldnt worry but I am a worrier for those who didnt know. Does anyone have any opinions on this or suggestions? I have also tried mixing it with juice and fruit with no lucky either go round.

But enough about that overall I dont have a single complaint about my life, I love having so much time to spend with my sweet baby boy! Speaking of which I am trying to play blog catchup so more blogs are coming!

Fathers Day 09- 4 generations of Bousson men

(fuzzy pic i uploaded the wrong one..too late now!)

Playdate for cousins!

Ready for the pool

Big Smiles because I am one month older!

Had to take a pic of the HOMEMADE mac and cheese I made

it was soooo good!

Ok so I thought being off 5 days a week and all that I would have tons of time to blog but man was I wrong! Me and Will are always on the go! This is the first week that we have not gone anywhere during the day and its been very nice! I finally had to go back to work and so far so good. I love that it is only two days a week but i would love even more if I could just be a stay at home mom hehehe! Ive been practicing some meal making some working better than others! Joeys first Fathers Day went Great, we got a wonderful 4 Generation pic. Will turned 2 mths heck hes almost 3 months now, he is growing so fast he is 13.5 lbs now and he just smiles ALL the time. If I ever feel down all i have to do is look at him and i cant help but be greatful! We've been cooking out lots with the Hannahs, the Shives and the Schoals. What can I say life is good! Joey did very well on his exam and we hope to hear something in the near future. He's been a Great Dad since Ive been back at work with the exception of a golf game hehe no seriously he has amazed me and I think he is having a lot of fun ! So long for now more to come sooer than later...promise!

Its not very often he's sad but this face is priceless!!

Daddy and Will

Mommy and Will

Jackson showing Will how to play

Whats been going on these past few weeks

We have been busy little bees the past few weeks....2 weekends ago we went to Franklin TN to have Will's newborn pictures done (yeah I know they are a little late but I had to find just the right photographer to capture what I was looking for) We used Amelia Moore her website is mintandsage.com , I am excited because our proofs should be ready today, I cannot wait to see them. Poor Will was not happy about getting his picture taken but she was so patient and waited out the tantrum and then I think we got some great pics! I will post the link as soon as I get it! Since we were in Franklin we of course visited our family up there. Uncle Fred, Reed and Big Will were all home so we got to show off our little man and enjoy some family time!

It was nice to travel and it was Will's first road trip and he did very well! the remainder of the week was low key but thursday we headed out again. This time we set out for Georgia. We were going for Joey to take his air traffic contol test (which he passed with flying colors) and after that was over we set out for the Croxdales home in Canton. We had such a great time. The y have a little man themselves, his name is Jackson and he just loved him some Will. He even shared all his toys from when he was a baby with him! Unfortunately the weekend went by way to fast and we had to head on back to memphis.

LUCKILY we were out of town for Hurricane Elvis Part 2. Straightline winds and tornados stormed through Memphis while we were gone! I am a nerd and have it set up on my phone that I get text messages when bad weather is coming because I am deathly afraid of storms and while in Georgia I kept getting text after text about thunderstorm warnings and then all of sudden i got one saying tornado warning! So we called home and everyone was safe but no one had power (xcept for our house which is so funny since we didnt need it seeing we were out of town) and by the grace of God our trees survived the storm as well! One day I will get those bad boys cut down because I am sooo afraid of them!

So far this week we had Will's 2 month check up . He did great during his shots but hes been a little puny after the fact-thank goodness for infant tylenol! Right now he is 24.5 inches long (90%) and 12.6 lbs (75%) so he is taller than he is round lol! All is well with our baby and that makes mommy and daddy happy :)

and more to come later including pics but I just have to brag.... I DONT COOK, but I decided to try last night and I actually made edible food!!! My meal included pork chops (joey grilled those) asparagus wrapped in garlic bread, Home made mac and cheese (which now has many nicknames) and brownies! I am gonna have to do this more often because I actually enjoyed myself! But gotta go little man is sleeping and I wanna curl up with him :)

Italian Fest....Family Style!

Pool Date with Adelyn

My Baby is getting so BIG-look at his SMILE!

Playdate with the cousins and my new hair do!

Well sooo much has been going on over the past few weeks. First off my little man is 6 weeks old can you believe it? I cant! Besides that we have been very busy around the Bousson household. Italian fest was this past weekend and we went thursday and saturday. It was a lot of fun and definitely different than last years experience hehe. Saturday we had Knox's Birthday and then on sunday we had my sister Kayla's Birthday followed by a cookout at the Mclemores home. I felt like we were going non stop! So the beginning of this week has been a lazy week. Yesterday I got my hair done thank goodness my roots were horrible. It was sad to leave my little angel but we both survived :) Today was put aside for cleaning house and laundry so much fun but we are heading to Franklin this weekend to visit family and get our first family portraits done I cannot wait the rest of the week will be spent deciding on what to wear for the big shoot! I have a little romper for Will that Joeys mom gave me. He actually wore it when he was little, its so cute it is ble and white and has a giraffe on it so I think it will be sweet! As for me and Joey who knows but time to run-going to the Bagwells for dinner...yummy tata!

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Will is 5 weeks old today :) Yeah he is getting so big I think he is almost 11 pounds now! He is such a little piglet he ate 6 ounces at 1 time last night and slept 6hrs straight. I can't wait for his smiles to start coming I got half a smile at 4 am the other morning so hopefully a full smile is just around the corner!
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My First Mother's Day

Mothers Day was fun! We started the day by going to church and my mom came as well so it was really fun. On the way into church I found a card from Will (my mom) it was really sweet! After church we went to lunch with my mom and sister. After a filling lunch we headed to Joey's grandparents house to spend the rest of the afternoon. It was only today that I realized I did not get a picture of my first mothers day. If you know me and how insane I am about pictures you would know that figure this out brought tears to my eyes!!! I know I dont need a picture from one day to enjoy being a mother but I am still sad that I didnt get one regardless. After visiting with the grandparents Joey and I went out to the Villages of White Oak in Arlington. We have decided to put our home on the market and head back out the Bartlett way. We found some homes that we really liked so hopefully someone will like ours and everything will work out but if it doesnt there is nothing wrong with our house so we will just have to wait till the time is right! Hopefully the time will be right sooner than later lol I will just continue to say my prayers! Today Will took me to get my mothers day gift haha (I told Joey what I want but he likes for me to go get things bc hes afraid he will get the wrong thing :) so we ventured out to more than words where I got my waxing poetic necklace (waxingpoetic.com) its a big silver charm with and old english W stamped on it- it looks like an old wax stamp, and I also got a little birthstone pendant to go with it so now i will always have the little man with me wherever I go! Thats it for now I need to start getting the house "show" ready :)

Its a Brand New Week

This week was the first week I could get out and about and I loved it! I must admit that driving with Will in the car scares me to death because Memphis drivers are so wreckless but we ventured out and survived! Monday was our 2 week check up (see post below) tuesday we went shopping with Mimi , Aunt Jenn and the girls and we had sooo much fun! Wed we went to a new mom play date at our church (Hope Pres) and it was sooo much fun. Of course Will is much younger than any of the other kids but it was nice to meet other young moms and they were so kind and welcoming. I cannot wait to go again next week! Thursday was a lazy day that ended with dinner at Gigi's with Aunt Jess and Kamden. That brings us to today which was another lazy day but I did get my one goal for the day accomplished which was to turn in the little mans insurance info to work! Our first week back to normal is coming to an end. I have to say that this week was even better than last. Its hard to believe that Joey and I were lucky enough to be granted the wonderful gift of Will, we are so grateful and it trully is the best job in the world being a mommy. Several friends told me that while I was pregnant and its so evident now in every smile, cry and even dirty diaper. Well enough gushing for now more to come later including pictures from bath time....

Will's 2 Week Check-Up

Waiting to see the Dr.

Baby Hands

He's getting soo BIG

Stats:

Weight: 9lbs 8.5 oz

Length: 22 1/4 inches

I cannot believe it my little man has grown so much in just two weeks. He has already surpassed his birth weight and he has grown a whole inch longer. CRAZY I tell you, it just seems like a few days ago he was born. The first two weeks went pretty good. I had a little dose of the baby blues but I think that it had a lot to do with the fact that his birth was a little traumatic (I had and emergency c section) and I couldnt drive for 2 weeks so I was cooped up in this house until today! so far he has been the best little baby he only cries when he's not fed fast enough or not changed fast enough. Other than that he is completely content with life. Like most babies he sleeps most of the time but the few hours he spends awake are wonderful he just looks up at me and it absolutely warms my heart. When he is awake we read all the books he recieved at the baby shower the Hannahs threw for us. I think he enjoys story time, probably a lot better than singing time bc well I cant sing, but I try-hopefully he gives me an E for effort :) Im trying to make sure I dont hold him all day but its just sooo hard, thats all I find yself wanting to do but I dont want to create a little monster hehe. We are gonna put his swing together tonight I think he's big enough for it! We are finally getting better about our days and nights as well, all it took was a swaddle me blanket! It is my new best friend! Thats it for now the little mister is stirring time to eat!

Joey's Birthday

Joey's Birthday was April 30th. His Aunt Kathy, Cousin Amanda and Baby Kate brought us a steak and potato dinner and boy was it YUMMY! We are very lucky to have such wonderful Family because I havent quite managed to take care of a new little one and cook dinner. One day I will be Betty Homemaker...HA lets hope for Joey's sake I get the hang of it! After Dinner we went to Target to pick up a few baby things and we had to go jump of Amanda's car. I didnt get that picture but it was funny :) Im glad in the end Joey's birthday stood out, since it came 10 days after Will was born I was afraid he would get the short end of the straw. But we did get him his mountain bike he wanted so now he can train for all the races he wants to do..although he has only got on it twice since he got it (but shhhh dont tell).

How sweet it is...

Well today is the first day that me and the little man have spent alone at home :( Daddy had to go back to work which was sad but we have made it through the day and cant wait for him to get home and play. As for us we had a busy morning, well it started off with a busy night hehe i think he is a little confused...When daddy woke up to get ready for work I greeted him with a please help get the little one down look , and of course like yesterday it only took two seconds and he was asleep in the bassinet...CRAZY!! But that allowed me to get a quick hour nap and then we woke up and ate and then he was out again which let me get ready for his Dr. Appt. Normally you dont go till 2 weeks but in the hospital he was a little yellow and since he is just breastfeeding they wanted a weight check to make sure he was getting enough! And he is! He is 8lbs 12 ounces not jaundice..yeah. On a down note he seems to have a little infection in his left eye but we are gonna get some ointment to make it all better. We go back next week for his first official visit so more stats to come! Other funny things happening our washing machine went out a day after we came home go figure and yes the little man pees everywhere so we better get one soon or we will be in trouble :) The dogs are slowly getting adjusted to the new addition, Will doesnt even budge when they all go crazy barking! Thats about it for now...stay tuned

I'm back

Ok so I had to run bc little mr Will was stirring. We are working on his feeds so hopefully it will all come together soon. He weighs 8lbs 8oz today so he's still a big boy just a little smaller probably due to the massive amounts of poo he has hehe, he's a stinker! The dr said he and I look great so the game plan is going home tomm! I can't wait to see what the pups will think of him?! More oics to come....promise!
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Our Precious Will has arrived!!!

Will made his arrival into this world on April 20th 2009 at 6:55 am. He was delivered via c-section and weighed a whopping 9lbs and 5 ounces, he was 21 1/4 inches long as well! He is just perfect and we are so thankful for him! The story of his birth is quite remarkable...We were set to be induced on Monday the 20th at 5 a.m. But in true Will fashion he makes the rules so I had been awake since 1:45 b/c I just couldnt sleep, I started to contract and they felt a little stronger than normal so started to write them down. They werent to close together when all of sudden my water broke! It was 2:30 so I jmped out of bed and told Joey to get ready. Unfortunately there was no getting ready for me I was running around like a crazy women, but in a few short minutes we were on our way. As we got to Meth. G'Town my water completely broke, I guess the episode at home was just the beginning. I was then checked in and my labor had begun. Well I never said I had much tolerance for pain but things became unbearable fairly quickly I was 3-4 cm but my contractions were coming like every 2 minutes apart there was no time to relax. I asked for my epidural and thirty minutes later it was in! There was just one slight problem.....IT DIDNT TAKE! And this was the beginning if the end. Since I had the epidural the nurse prepared to cath me and I began bleeding. Next thing I knew there were people everywhere and I was being rushed to the operating room. Of course by this point I was crying hysterically and had no clue what was happening , all I knew was that since it was and emergency situation that Joey was not allowed to come with me. to make it even worse once in the OR I realized that it was still to early for my doctor to be in the hospital yeat and I did not know the dr that was coming to deliver Will. They tried to give me more meds through my epidural but it did not take as well so they had to put me to sleep....THE SCARIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! But as soon as it started it was over I woke up in recovery and they said everything was fine and the Will was 9lbs and 5 ounces. So overall the bad situation ended up being a blessing b/c there is no way he would have come out! After it was all said and done I found out that the fear that turned my delivery into and emergency was that they believed my placenta had ruptured or was going to so the staff was proactive and kept me and my child safe, which I am eternally greatful for! We are especially greatful for Dave with anesthesia he took a video of Will getting weighed and emailed it to Joeys phone so that we had a part of the delivery to treasure, and not to forget to mention the rest of the l & d staff EVERYONE was amazing and I am blessed that we were cared for so well. I think thats about it for now Will is starting to stir so that means feeding time :) More to come later!

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I am sooo excited that Will's letters FINALLY came in! They are so fun and I can't wait for Joey to get home so he can hang them up :)
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Forgot to mention

After 8 long weeks Jude amazed us by passing his puppy class! He did really well the first 6 weeks and then he struggled a bit, but the night of his test he listened to his daddy and got a passing grade! We are still working on things at home he thinks since his brothers didnt go that he doesnt always have to listen when they are around but he is slowly getting the hang of things. It was fun and he made lots of puppy friends! He was so photogenic with his graduation cap on! What a cutie.

Not so patiently waiting

Well its been crazy the past few weeks, hard to keep up on the old blogging! Joey and I have been getting the house ready for Will's arrival which I feel like will NEVER get here. I feel like I have been on a crazy roller coaster ride, sleep has pretty much been out of the picture and I know that this will continue once our little man arrives but atleast it will an exciting adventure at that time. For right now my sleepless nights include incredible discomfort and awful reflux, theburning wake up with it in your mouth kind-sorry to be so graphic but thats just to explain how severe it is. Not to mention I am so anxious of his arrival that every different feeling or pain makes me think "is this it?". I know everyone says "you will know when its real labor" but I am very nervous that I wont because I have contracted for so long! I just pray that it all works out and everything goes well! On a good note with Will's birthday fast approaching it has made me think that I need to always be prepared so even when I dont feel like it I have been getting up and getting ready hair and makeup and all, I always get ready but the past few months looking my best hasnt been top priority. And to top it all off the whole getting ready thing has made me feel better, I still have the cankles but I have been able to make it through the days. On an even better note this is my last week of work after friday I will be off for 9 weeks a much needed break I might add, my emotions have made me feel very overwhelmed so getting to be at home with our newest addition will bring back some joy I am desperately needing! Other than baby news there hasnt been to much going on All of our friends babies are doing good, not to mention they are tooo cute! The pups our well and life is grand! Heres to hoping that spring will come back soon and that our little man wont wait till his induction date to come into this world, I dont think mommy could handle his birthday being 4-20 lol :(

The Past Few Weeks...an Update!

Well the past month has flown by, I have been so busy getting ready for Will that it has been hard to get a second to hop on here. Everyday my belly continues to grow, I am officially ready to POP! I am 37 weeks so only 3 more to go if he hangs in there that long. Last week at the Doctor he said I would be dilated by this week so lets hope so. I have been feeling more contractions here and there so hopefully he is slowly getting ready for the big day. I go to the Dr. again tomm and we are going to discuss the game plan of delivery. I told the Dr. that I didnt want to be induced unless I was going past my due date so he said we could discuss a date that we where both comfortable with just in case. We will see :) A few weekends ago our good friends Sandra and Cliff threw us a couples shower. It was sooo much fun the boys being there definitely made it memorable lol! The above pic is of Wills first monogrammed onesie and blanket, as you can see I was really excited! We have finally finished the nursery I will post pics soon, it looks awesome if I do say so myself, it is very simplistic but thats what I like about it! Now it is just a waiting game.....I still havent finished packing my bag for the hosiptal, I am almost there though! Speaking of hospital both the Cantrells and the Bagwells have had there little girls over the past 2 weeks the Cantrells welcomed Kate on the 19th and the Bagwells welcomed Adelyn on the 23rd. Me and Joey went to visit them both and they are just dolls! Will is gonna have lots of little ladies to watch over! Thats it for now I think more to come!

33 weeks, SNOW, and Baby Showers

My cake was way cute!

Can you tell I was excited...we finally got our stroller,
Joey's grandparents and uncle got it for us!

My shower week- Will got a glo worm just like his mommy had :)

Check out the memphis SNOW! We got about 8 inches!

The past few weeks have flown by..as usual! I cant believe in a matter of weeks our little man will be here. After long discussions Joey and I have finally chosen a name....William Edward Joseph Bousson! Crazy I know but we just had a hard time, we had so many men to honor in his name that it all couldnt fit in 3 so we had to make room for four hahaha! He will go by Will which is what we have like for some quite some time, my husband Joey is a fourth and although we knew we werent doing the 5th my husband still wanted to keep his name tradition in the family so thats how we settled it! The confusing part will come later as far as initals go lol but if little Will ever wonders where his name came we will have a wonderful story to tell him because we named him after some truly amazing people that have made huge impacts in both mine and Joey's lives.

But enough about that I must say that I have had two showers already and we truly have the bestest friends and family known to man! Will got soooo much stuff! I mean almost every big item on our registry was completely, so that means Daddy has a lot of assembling to do these next few weeks! Not to mention all the clothes and little things that we will use sooo much of. I honestly dont know where we are going to put everything, its all currently in our formal living room hanging out! My mom is going to come over soon and help me organize everything, that is not my strong point I am a pack rat so I have to learn to make room for Will's stuff by getting rid of or packing up some other stuff hehe!

And lastly can you believe it Memphis got SNOW and lots of it! Our whole back yard was like a winter wonderland for the pups. The went crazy. Sam had frozen snow balls stuck to him and it looked like the hugest deodorant balls ive ever seen under his arms! We had to bust out the blow dryer! Jude pranced around like a deer it was funny he definitely liked the snow. Jake didnt know what to think about it but he has had some trouble this week. We though he might have broken his back some how but after a visit to the vet we discovered it was probably just a strain and after a week of steroid therapy he is doing much better! He even jumped on the couh last night which we told him was a NO NO!

Thats about it for now this week is going well so far, I go to the Dr. next week for my 35 week check up and then I will start going every week..yikes! work is still going good I have had some good days and bad days it all really depends on how much rest I get, and that depends on how many times I get up to pee and how bad my reflux is but thanks to Pepcid Ac and Benadryl my nights are going better :)