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Monday, December 22, 2014

Sleep... It is a beautiful thing!

So, I fear in writing this that I am going to jinx it, but Aurora has been sleeping through the night for the past two weeks! It has been AMAZING!!! To get to sleep for 6-7 hours in one stretch, is just awesome! Granted, I am getting up between 5-6am, but after getting 6 hours of sleep!! This has not happened in over 15 months! So, life is very grand indeed! :)

Now, it could be a coincidence, but this started happening when I started to use essential oils on her. I finally decided to get DoTerra Essential Oils as I had been interested in them for awhile. Well, I got the box and that first night, I put OnGuard on her feet. Now, this oil is not meant to help with sleep, but rather to help be an immunity boost and to help fight infections. But, that night she slept, all night long. And then again the next night, and here we are two weeks later...

Now, my husband calls this hokum. Which it very well may be. But, hey, it worked, so I will just keep on using it, just to be safe!

Update: I have still been using it, and she has still been sleeping well! Last night in fact, she slept 12 hours!! And she woke up happy. This past month has been just fantastic! Again, could all be a coincidence, but I am going to keep at it and just bought my second bottle to make sure I don't run out!

www.mydoterra.com/karissaoien


Monday, December 8, 2014

325 days...

That is how many days I pumped at work (ok not actually because at the end I wasn't pumping weekends but close enough!). Almost made it a full year. It is really crazy to think that I almost pumped for a full year at work. Before I returned to work, I had no idea how long my breastfeeding/pumping journey would take me. I set small goals for myself. First, I wanted to make it to six months (which would have been March). That came and went and I was still going strong, then it was nine months, then a year. I made all those goals and while I had some issues throughout, overall, I was very successful! I was really proud of myself as I heard so many horror stories and failed attempts at being able to pump at work. I feel I was so successful though because I do have an amazing boss and work team that was very supportive of my taking the needed time to go and pump. I also made it a priority and put it in my calendar so I would make sure I did it. I did have to pump in a bathroom, but I made the best of it, and actually kinda got attached to that bathroom (an odd thing to be attached too, but I spent  a lot of time there!).

Once, I hit the year mark of breastfeeding, I wasn't sure what to do. We started to introduce regular milk, and I was going to start weaning. Well, she had a reaction to the milk, so I held off. Then, we tried other types of milk, and finally found that goat's milk worked for her. So, I cut out one session. Then the next week, I cut out another session, and then when I returned from vacation, I did not bring my pump.

It has only been one week without pumping now, and still every morning, I swear I am forgetting something! It is also so weird at night to not be rushing to clean bottles, pump parts, and the like. I was hoping that by gaining this added time would be so nice, but I have just filled it up with other items. I actually kinda miss my pumping time, as it was a forced time to stop in the work day, and catch up on a show :) What I do not miss though is the sound of the pump, cleaning, and worrying if I am making enough milk!

So, goodbye pump, see you when the next kid comes along! It was a good almost year that we had :)

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

15 Months!

I have all these other blogs I plan to write, but never have time to write to them. I am determined to keep up with these letters though, so here we go!

A,

My oh my, how you keep us on our toes! Just last night, you learned how to crawl out of your crib! I was shocked to walk in and find that you were waiting for me at the door! We quickly lowered it further and your mattress is now basically on the floor. You were not a fan of this and spent most of the night letting us know your displeasure! I am hoping you get used to it, because you (and us) need sleep! :)

You had quite a busy month this month! You had your first night away from both me and daddy. We went to Cambria to celebrate our 6 year anniversary so Grandma (my mom) came to stay with you! You had such fun with Grandma (Gamma as you call her at the moment) that you didn't want her to leave once we got home! Then over Thanksgiving Week, we went on a family vacation to Hawaii! It was an absolutely amazing trip! You did so well on the plane, only got antsy a bit, but mostly was very calm and relaxed and played with your toys. You really enjoyed looking at all the sights, but loved the water (wa wa) the most! You also liked the geckos that came to visit us at our first place we stayed. You truly made this vacation one of our best as watching your excitement for all the things around you and how you took it all in, was just amazing and made each day so much better!

Right now your diet consists of breastmilk (mama milk) in the morning and before bed and the goats milk during the day. You also eat pretty much whatever we are eating, unless their are blueberries around and then you will only eat them and ask for more!

You are now talking up a storm! We counted the other day and counted over 40 words that you can now say! You really are our little genius! You have started to say people's names which makes them very happy. Grandma of course, and your favorite teacher at school, Miss Cheryl! You love Miss Cheryl and said her name all the time when we were at Hawaii looking for you! You know when we turn into daycare because you now clap your hands and say, Miss Cheryl! It makes me so happy to know that you love your teacher so much as I know you are getting lots of love and attention while I am away from you!

You almost have all your teeth (you overachiever you!). The doctor said this morning your final molar and eye teeth are coming in! After that, you will only have your two year molars that hopefully will wait until you are two to come in! :)

I mentioned sleep earlier, but this is the one thing that eludes you. You do not like to sleep. You still wake up at least once a night. We have tried everything and just keep hoping and praying that one day you will decide to sleep through the night. I know it will happen on your schedule! You already let us know you want things done your way and that you have your own opinions! If I try and put a bow in your hair, you rip it out, but you will bring me a bow to put in, and then leave it in all day!

We love your impish grin as we call it. You know you are doing something you shouldn't and you just give us this little grin as if to say, well, I am cute, so I am going to do this! It is so hard not to laugh and smile back at that face!

Lastly, you have also taken it upon yourself to start using the potty! I already wrote a post about this so won't go into too much detail. But, just like with all things related to you, you only go when you want to. If we try and put you on, no way, you just get mad and walk away. If we are not around, you will sit and go potty like you have been doing it forever!

We love you so much and you have made our lives so much better than we ever thought possible! I crack up when people tell me how much weight I have lost, well, it is easy to do when I am just trying to catch up to you! :) I look forward to another amazing month watching you grow and learn and am just so thankful that I get to be your Mommy!!

Love always and forever,

Mommy

Friday, November 7, 2014

Proud Mommy Moment!

So, I am a very proud Mommy today!

We were getting ready this morning and normally, Aurora, follows me to her room to get dressed. So, today I was in her room picking her outfit out and realized she was not behind me. I yell out, Aurora, we are going to be late, where are you! I am yelling this as I am walking down the hall and I get to the bathroom. I look over and she is sitting on her little potty reading a book. I walk in and ask her what she is doing and then look down and realize, SHE PEED IN THE POTTY!!! All by herself!! I was shocked and immediately started to praise her and tell her good job and what a big girl she was! But, again, so shocked as I did not expect that to happen! And so proud!! I am love the fact that she was reading on the potty, I find that hilarious! Still though, mostly shock, especially because this was the first time she went in the potty (this potty). We bought her the small potty last weekend because little miss independent did not like us holding her on the big potty anymore. So, we stopped doing that and got her a little one she could use. All week we just say her on it, but she never actually went. We didn't push it as she is still young and I don't really care right now if she does, she just had seemed interested and every time she goes she says, Uh oh, and looks down. She really enjoys sitting on her new potty and carrying it around the house, but again, had never actually gone in it. So, we had not yet even praised her for going in it, and yet, all by herself, she did it!

So, yup, one very proud Mama today! :)

Of course, this could be a one time thing that she never does again, but I am still proud :)

Monday, November 3, 2014

14 Months

Well, there goes another month flown by! I swear these months seem to be going faster and faster!

You have finally hit the 20 pound mark though you are still growing taller every day and are now 31.5 inches! This month you went whale watching, you won a costume contest, you went Trick or Treating for the first time, and had two weeks where you slept till 5am each night (though you haven't this past week!). It was quite the busy month!

Talking: You are learning more and more words every day. Like today, you said purple, and were actually talking about the color purple! It amazes me each time you talk as I still expect you to be my little baby, yet, here you are running around and now talking! Shoes is probably your favorite word at the moment. You love to go find our shoes and walk around the house saying shoes over and over again. I feel this is because you know you need shoes to go outside and this is your way of telling us you want to go outside! Your other favorite word is book, which really makes me happy! You will go pick a book our of your stack and then say book and come sit on my lap so I can read it to you. Granted, you usually only sit there for half the book before you get up and grad a different book to read, but that is ok! You also now say Mama quite regularly which I still get so excited each time you say it. You also say, Dada, pup pup (dogs), wawa (water), and then random words that you repeat back like the other day you said Thank You (thak oo), which shocked Daddy and I!

Activities: You are still little miss active! You want to be outside all the time and you love to run and walk! You are our little wanderer as that is what you do any time you are given the chance. I like to watch you sometimes when we are outside or at a store, and I will set you down and I just watch you wander around. You are so curious and just love to look at everything there is to see. You also love your trains you have to sit and ride on. You push them all around the house (or yesterday around the whole block!) or ride them around. You love to look at flowers and plants and you especially loves birds (burd as you say) or airplanes that fly by. I have only seen a few occasions where you are sitting still and that is only when you have a book that is a flip book and you will sit and turn the pages and flip to see the hidden items.

Sleep: We had a good two week stretch there this month! You were going to bed at 8 and sleeping all the way until 5am! This was quite a miracle for you and made me so happy to finally get sleep. Now, the past 5 days you have gone back to waking up 2 times a night, but I am hoping we can get back to sleeping till 5, or hey 6:30 would be nice too! :)

Food: You love fruit! Blueberries are your absolute favorite at the moment, but pretty much any fruit we give you, you gobble up! Veggies, eh, not so much. You don't seem as interested in that, but we will keep trying! You did seem to like the corn on the cob we gave you! You also really like pork, when we make carnitas, you eat that up so quickly! We try and make it about once a week because you love it so much! Milk has been a bit of an issue for you. I got sick and lost a lot of my milk production so you were quickly forced to real milk. You did not do well on whole cows milk. We were trying coconut milk for awhile which you seemed to like, but it doesn't have all the nutrients you need, so we tried goats milk! This seems to be working pretty well now and you are tolerating it well. I still do breastfeed you at the morning and night time. Eventually, I will stop and wean you, but trying to make sure you really are tolerating the other milks first! Plus, I am not ready to give up completely and admit that you are not my baby any longer!!

Even though you think you are becoming a "big" girl now, you still are my little baby girl! I love you so much and each day you amaze me with what you are learning and doing. I am so proud to be your Mama and look forward to each moment I get with you!

Love you always and forever,

Mommy

Halloween

When we were trying to get pregnant, three Halloweens passed us with no baby. Each Halloween got more and more devastating. All I wanted to was to be able to go Trick or Treating with my child and have fun with them as they got dressed up.

Last year, was my first Halloween with Aurora. And it was really fun to dress her up and take her around to visit, but she was too little to Trick or Treat, and she didn't quite get what was going on. So, this year was the first real year we got to participate and it was AMAZING! It was all the things I had hoped and wished for all those past Halloweens.

Aurora was Maleficent this year! I wanted to do the twist on her name and not do the princess like everyone expected. I made the tutu for the costume and was really proud of my work! She also seemed to enjoy her costume and really surprised me by even keeping her horns on for most of the events!

We went all out this year and did multiple events. The first one we did was our first ever, Trunk or Treat event. We decorated our trunk with all our Halloween decorations and got our candy ready. We did not know what to expect since it was our first time at such an event, but it was really fun! Aurora at first helped pass out the candy to those coming by. She also enjoyed taking candy from our bucket and filling up her bucket! I then did take her around to the different "trunks" and she seemed to have a good time doing that. She really just enjoyed putting things in her pumpkin we got for her to carry around!

We then went to a story time reading with Maleficent and costume contest at our new local bookstore, The Open Book at the Oaks. They had Maleficent read a few stories, which surprisingly, Aurora sat and listened to pretty well. Then we went back up to the store and got to decorate pumpkins and get pictures taken with Maleficent. Aurora really enjoyed decorating her pumpkin. The best past though was the girls working came up to us and said that, Aurora had won first place in the costume contest! I was so excited, especially when I saw the prize was books! Aurora is obsessed with books and already loves looking a them! Plus, since I made part of the costume, I felt some pride that my work was good!

On Halloween, Aurora joined me at my work event. This was the only time she was not Maleficent, but instead was someone from Gryffindor House as I was dressed as Harry Potter, so that way we matched. She seemed a bit unsure being at the party, especially because we walked over with a super creepy court jester. She did warm up a bit at the end though and was wandering around the party checking everyone out!

Then, that night, was what I had been waiting for, Trick or Treating!! We put her back in her Maleficent costume, and right as I was taking pictures of her, she fell and face planted onto the sidewalk! I felt so bad! She calmed down pretty quickly, but her whole face was scratched up pretty bad :( She didn't let it stop her though as we were going to take her back inside, but she started walking down the sidewalk, so we went with it! We only did our street, but that was more than enough for her and she was getting pretty tired by the end. We do seem to have a bit of a dud street though as 4 houses had their lights on but then answered and said they had no candy! One lady felt so bad though that she ended up bringing candy to our house later to make up for it! Aurora also was a big help in passing the candy out to the Trick or Treaters that came to our house once we got back.

Overall, it was an awesome holiday full of fun! It was exactly what I had hoped and envisioned and now am even more exited for next year!! :)

Monday, October 13, 2014

Mama

It is amazing how one syllable can mean so much. Aurora has been saying Dada for a long time now, but for some reason, has not wanted to say Mama for me. She has said it in the past, but never for me. Usually, she was just saying noises, or more recently, for milk. But, on Saturday, when I went into her room when she woke up in the middle of the night, I turned on the nightlight, she looked at me and said, Mama! She looked right at me, said it, and got this big grin on her face. I about melted right then and there! It was probably the best feeling ever, I didn't even mind that I was awake in the middle of the night (for the 357th night in a row...)! The fact that she recognized me and then actually called me by name (and happily!) was just amazing. It was funny, because when she said it, I actually jerked a bit because I was so shocked at what I heard. It was one of those times where I wish life had a tv remote (they made a movie about that once) and I could go back and rewind it, just to make sure I actually heard it! Even without rewind, I know it happened (or I guess it could have been a dream, I was half asleep) and am counting it, and so happy about it! :)

Monday, October 6, 2014

13 Months!

A,

I decided that I would keep doing these, even though we are now past your first year (so sad!)

I still can't believe that you are already one year's old! And you looks like such big girl now! You are very independent as well. You do not like it when we try and feed you or do things for you, you want to do everything for your self! It is exciting to watch you as you figure things out, and then the joy you have when you do figure something out, is so amazing! The facial expressions you have been making lately have been so adorable! You have this face you make, that I will not be able to accurately describe, and of course, you never keep it long enough for me to catch a photo, but its this look of shock and awe you get when you hear the keys in the door and know Daddy is coming home, or you see something like a bird, that is just the coolest thing ever to you. I just love to see that face, because I know it means you are happy and excited and learning.

We listen to Disney on the way to and from school each day (and I really need a new CD because I have now heard the same 10 songs over and over!), but you are starting to clap along and the other day you even tried to snap with the music! You have also started to dance and will purposefully go hit one of your toys that makes noise and then dance to it. So, super cute!

Dada, that is your favorite word at the moment. You will wander around saying it over and over again. Unless you want food, then you say Dad do, which for a long time we though was you saying dad do something, but then your daycare teacher told us she realized it was Thank you! Every time we hand  you food, we say thank you, so you learn good manners, which you associated with, if I say it, I get food! So, now we are working on please!

You also are an outside, rough, and tumble kind of girl! We have been working on being gentle with you, as you have a tendency to hit when you get excited. You also have been hitting the babies at daycare, which we really need to stop. You have been having a lot of fun with your classmate, Paul though, as he is also a rough and tumble kind of guy! I watched you two play one day and you were like two little puppies rolling around and wrestling with one another!

Coloring has become a new activity for you. I am shocked at how well you sit and color! Granted, it is all scribbles, but still, impressive! You will switch up your colors, and just go to town on paper (or the ground when we give you chalk)! So, we may have an artist in the making!

We also started the slow weaning process and switching to milk. We started you on Coconut milk, which seemed to go ok, though you don't like to drink your milk from your sippy cups yet. Then, this past week we switched to regular whole milk to see if you would be ok. I was worried about it because you had issues when you were just born, and I went off milk and you seemed to get better. You seemed ok on it, but were getting rashes at the end of the day, and the Thursday you came home with a horrible rash! I felt so bad! So, I stopped the milk and finally it cleared up. So, back to just breastmilk for now, and then will go back to coconut milk for a while.

Your smile and your laugh are the best things in this world and you are starting to laugh and giggle a lot more, which just makes like so amazing! We love you more than words can say and you have made our life the best!

Love always and forever!

Mommy

Friday, September 12, 2014

12 Months!

So, this was delayed this month. More so because I think I am in denial about the whole thing...

A,

Wow, here we are, you are now one years old! I truly cannot believe it. I mean, everyone tells you how quickly the time flies by, but it is one thing to hear that and then another to see it actually happen. It feels like it was just yesterday when I held you so tiny in my arms and all you could do was sleep, eat, and cry. And now suddenly here you are, this big girl, with a mind of her own, taking on the world!

You have certainly gotten my stubborn streak that is for sure! Your personality cracks me up so much and oh, boy do you have a personality! You let us know exactly what you want and if you do not get it, well you let us know what you think about that too! You now like to run everywhere. Crawling is a thing of the past and everything is done at a walk or run now. You are very independent and want to do everything yourself. If we try and feed you, you shake your head no (so cute) and wait until we put it down, and then you will go and pick it up and feed it to yourself! You have even tried to put on your socks and shoes now as well! You haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet but it is so awesome that you are trying!

You still love your food but are becoming a bit more picky now. You LOVE blueberries and if you see one, you will take out the food in your mouth so you can put the blueberry in! It is hilarious, though we are trying to teach you that you can swallow your food and then have the blueberry. You drink great from any sippy cup now as well. You, much like me, do not seem to love your vegetables. We are working on that!

You still are not a sleeper, either. You take 1-2 naps a day and then wake 1-2 times a night. While I do look forward to the day you actually sleep all night, I know I will miss those cuddle times! You did give us 5 days in a row where you slept until 5am and I thought you finally had started to sleep through the night, but alas, it was just a phase as you have gone back to your nightly wake ups :)

You have become much more talkative as well lately! It is so cute trying to see you repeat what we say. Usually, you can get out the first part of a word such as shh for shoes and fssh for fish. And then sometimes you surprise us by saying the whole word very clearly! I pretty much understand what you want most of the time and have figured out your language. You still do your signs as well which really helps and you are a master pointer! You will point at what you want until we get it for you (or don't and which point you throw a fit). And yes, even though they say babies do not throw tantrums until they are usually 18 months you have already started those! I try hard not to laugh because I don't want you to think that it is good what you are doing. But it is really funny sometimes! You kick your little legs and get this epic cry face that is just hilarious. Even in a tantrum you are adorable!

I mentioned earlier about your running, but boy, do you run! You love, LOVE, love to be outside and walking around. You will walk to the front door and just pound on it asking to go outside. When we go on walks, you now like to push the stroller around rather than sit in it! You are also quite the gatherer, and like to stop and pick up everything on the ground. Your favorites are leaves and rocks. If you see a leaf or a rock, you will walk straight towards it and pick it up. If there are more than one you will not move forward until you have one in both hands. You are really sweet and try and then give them to me or Daddy and then go get more to hand to us.

You have also become a better listener which is great! If I tell you to wait, or to pick something up, most times you will do it. And the times you don't, is because you don't want to and are purposefully ignoring us, because I know you get it!

We had such a great time celebrating you turning one! We had a party on August 31st at our house. It was ducky themed as you love your ducks right now! So many people came to celebrate with you. You seemed to enjoy your day and coloring with chalk and playing in the "duck pond" (ball pit) at least when the boys were not going crazy in it! You were very funny with your cake! You did not know what to do with it and were very dainty at first. You just played with the icing and kept trying that. You then wanted to share and put a whole handful of icing on my face to share with me! After, Daddy and I helped you with your cake, you got more into it and then got it all over your face!

Then, on your actually birthday, we took your to Disneyland! It was such a fun day! Luckily, it was very empty and so you were able to walk Main Street and ToonTown without fear of being knocked down by crowds. You started the day seeing Pluto as soon as we walked in and you were so excited, so we got in line to meet him. You were so funny with the character (we saw Daisy and Mickey as well!) because far away you really wanted to see them but once we got close, you got a bit scared! One of your favorite things though was not actually part of Disneyland, but was the ducks that because it was not crowded were just hanging out all over the park. You got SO excited everytime you saw one and wanted to follow them! You loved the Tiki Room and the Parade as well. You liked waving to all the characters in the parade! It was such a wonderful day and I hope we can make this a new family tradition! :)

I still don't know how a whole year has gone by. But, to watch how you have grown and flourished this year just amazes me. I often times call you perfect and while you are testing us every day to see your boundaries, you truly are perfect in our eyes. When you smile, it warms my heart, and then when you laugh and giggle, well there is no better feeling then to hear that wonderful sound! I love you more than I thought it was possible to love and feel so incredibly blessed to be your mommy! I look forward to our future adventures and can't wait to see what this next year brings us!

Love you always and forever my precious girl,

Mommy

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

11 Months!

A,

Ugh, how did we get here, 11 months, already! That means we are one month away from you being ONE! How did my little baby girl get to be almost one! I am so not ready! But, at the same time, each day is so exciting!

You have really grown so much this month! It is really amazing to watch you and how you just take on the world! You are now running, walking is too slow for you, that you now run everywhere! You hardly fall anymore either, you basically, see what you want and run to it. My favorite thing you do, is at the end of the day, when I pick you up, I crouch down, and you will run to my arms and give me a hug! It is the BEST feeling in the world. I love that you now hug! Such an amazing feeling! You also say Mama and seem to use it for me! I didn't think it really meant me when you said it, but the other day I asked where was Mama, and you looked at me and pointed. Oh, and your personality is showing to, the look you gave me, I could just hear you say, duh mom, you are right there! You have also gotten so giggly and smiling and you just love to play! Your favorite game is peek a boo! You will now go and "hide" somewhere and then poke your head out. This makes you laugh and laugh! You also love to say, uh oh, bubble, mama, dada, and it sounds like mama but have realized it is actually your version of more. It also appears that you have your own language as you are constantly babbling but I just have been able to translate yet!

You still LOVE your food! You still love your fruit and not so much your veggies (really do take after me!) but also enjoy the bread and other foods we have given you! You also really like to feed your self and have even fed yourself with a spoon a few times! You are doing better with the sippy cup as well. We have tried a few different ones and you are slowly getting the hang of it.

Sleep, oh what can I say about sleep. You do not sleep through the night. I have become ok with this though. I know one day you will sleep through the night. And at first, I will be happy to be getting sleep, but then, I know I will be sad that I don't get the precious cuddle time with you. Because, you see, right now, you are so active, and adventurous, and curious, that you don't want to stop for cuddles. But, at night, all you want is cuddles to help you go back to sleep. So, I will enjoy my cuddles and the sleepy pats and gazes that I get at night.

We love you so much! It is true all those cliche things that I read about how your heart grows more each day. It is so true because each day I love you more and more. I just look at you sometimes in amazement that you are here and how blessed we are to have you in our life. You make both mine and your daddy's lives so much better, we are better because of you, and the joy you bring to us, oh so much joy, I cannot completely describe it to you. Thank you for being such an amazing and wonderful daughter and make us the happiest parents! We love you always and forever!

Mommy

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

10 Months!

A bit late on this one - I am going to blame the holiday! :)

A,

As I posted over the holiday weekend, what I think is one of the most adorable pictures of you, you are our little firecracker! Your personality is really shining through and I love watching you grow! You are also now officially a WALKER! You took you first steps on June 22, 2014. And the good little eater that you are, what got you to walk for your first time, was a plum! Which you really enjoyed :) You LOVE food, you could eat all day long if we let you! You eat almost everything we give you, the only thing I think you have thrown away was some chicken. But if it is a fruit, veggie, or carb, watch out, because you will eat it in a second!

You also have been using sign language a lot more this month! We have done the signs for you but this month you really started to use them. You now will do milk, more, and food. You also made up your own sign for come here which you use often! You also love to point. This is your main means of communication. You point, and make some noise to let us know what you want! It is pretty adorable :)

You are also talking a lot more. Most of it is still babble, that I know in your mind, you are telling us something! But, you also will say real words, your favorite at the moment is, uh oh! You make the cutest face when you say it as well. Though Daddy's favorite, is when he says, maniacal laugh, you will do a bahahaha laugh! Again, so adorable, but not sure we should have taught you a maniacal laugh!

This month we also got your photos done with Grandma (my mom). I have a picture of me when I was a baby with my Mom and Grandma, so I wanted to make sure you would have a similar picture. Grandma also came up and spent almost a whole week with you! You had a great time playing with her and Grandpa (my dad)! And got very spoiled every day :) You light up whenever you see your Grandma, and I am loving watching this relationship grow and see how much you guys love each other.

Sleep... we don't know what that is in our house! You still wake up 1-2 times a night. Daddy will get you the first wake up and rock you back to sleep, and I will get you on the second one to feed and rock you. You wake up anywhere from 5:30am-7am for the day. I know at some point you will sleep through the night, but you don't seem to inclined to do so at the moment. And that is ok, I will take my extra cuddles, because I know when they are gone, I will really miss them!

You also started to go poo on the potty this month! This makes Mommy VERY happy as it is one less diaper to clean! It is more elimination communication than potty training as you just make your "poo" face and I put you on the potty. But still, makes me happy and you seem to like sitting on the potty. I have a great picture I will use to embarrass you later in life of you sitting on the potty reading a book!

Your teachers at daycare are constantly telling me how smart you are! And you really are! I can just see your mind working and trying to figure out the world. When you see a problem, you just set your mind to it, and come up with a solution. Your latest, has been to use Daddy's chair to be your walker to help get where you want to go. You also have learned how to climb up on things, which means that Mommy and Daddy are in trouble as now you can walk and climb on anything!

You got 4 teeth this month as well! The middle four of your top teeth came in. Your smile just keeps getting cuter and cuter each day! They did not follow the normal patter coming in either. Normally, they come in middle two and then side two, but you got your far right tooth in first (right eye tooth), then middle right, then middle left, and the middle eye tooth just popped through last weekend!

We love you so much, and you continue to make us happier than we even thought possible. When you laugh, it is the most amazing sound I have ever heard, and I just want to do anything to make you laugh again. When you crawl up to me and hold on to my pant legs, I just love it! If I could, I would cuddle, hug, and kiss you all day long! Though now you are starting to want to cuddle less and explore more, which makes me sad and excited at the same time. We will love you always and forever!

Mommy

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Disney World Trip!

This past May, I went to DISNEYWORLD!! If you couldn't tell from the caps, I was pretty excited about. As a long time, Disney and Disneyland fan, I have always wanted to go to Disney World. So, when my friend and I saw that a conference was happening in Orlando, we made sure to put in a proposal to present so we could attend. Well, they accepted our proposal (because we are awesome) and suddenly my dreams of going were a reality!

I convinced my husband that this was a great opportunity and that we should turn it in to a family vacation. At first, he was hesitant, as he did not want to take our 9 month old daughter on a long plane ride. I got where he was coming from, but I could tell she would be a good traveler and thought we would be ok. So, he finally agreed and the planning began! Aurora did awesome the whole trip, I was so proud of what a good traveler she really is!! :)

We decided to stay on resort (helps that the conference hotel was sold out) and ended up going with the Fort Wilderness Cabins. We originally were going to stay at another hotel, but my Mom was also going to join us and felt a standard hotel room would be a bit cramped! So, she upgraded us to the Cabins!

The Fort Wilderness Resort was AWESOME! It did make more sense to be there with so many people as we had a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and my Mom had a cool murphy bed in the living room! That way, we each had our own space, and a night, we could put Aurora down in the bedroom, and we could still be up chatting and getting ready for the next day without bothering her. The resort also had an awesome restaurant, Trail's End, which had a wonderful dinner buffet. We liked it so much we went twice! We didn't leave ourselves any free days, so we did not get to utilize the resort as much as we would have liked. So, we will definitely be returning here someday!!

Our first day, we went to Epcot. I was like a child that morning as I was SO excited! When the bus pulled up that said Epcot, I literally squealed in excitement! We were on our way to our first park!! The bus was a pretty quick ride (the whole bus system is awesome and really makes staying on a resort worth it)! As soon as we pulled up, I saw the huge iconic ball, and was thrilled beyond belief! We got in pretty quickly and high tailed it to the World Showcase. I kept thinking, wow, it is so calm today, no one is here, this is amazing! Well, come to find out the World Showcase doesn't open until 11! No wonder no one was there yet! So, we made our way back to the front, and did the space ride (well Aurora and my Mom sat that one out!) and it was really fun. Then we walked over to the Nemo Ride with our fastpass. It was a fun ride which Aurora loved but what she really loved was the huge aquarium that you end at! I had no idea they had an aquarium! We saw rays, turtles, manatees, dolphins, and so many other fish. Aurora, was in love with the aquarium! I think she would have been happy there all day! But, it was now past 11, and I knew Princess Aurora was going to be in France and I needed my Aurora to meet the princess, so we hiked it over to the World Showcase! We spent the rest of the day here and LOVED it. All the countries, all the food, all the excitement! We also got to meet Mulan, who was so good with Aurora and spent a lot of time with her! We also did the ride in Norway which was similar to Pirates. We ended the night with their firework show which was really cool. Aurora again surprised me as she wasn't phased at all! It was SO loud, and if I didn't already know she could hear, I would worry she was deaf as she did not react at all to the noise! After the show, we made our way back to our cabin to get ready for the next day!

The Animal Kingdom was next. This became my Mom and Jon's favorite of the parks. I sadly was only there for a couple hours as I had to leave early to go present (you know, the whole reason we got to come here in the first place...!). I couldn't get a fastpass for the safari so we ran to that first as it was the one thing I really wanted to do! Luckily, it wasn't crowded again, and we got on in 15 minutes! It was a very cool ride! They actually drive you around their open park area where the animals are just chillin. The animals were actually really close to us and we saw a ton, the coolest being the elephants! After, we walked through one of the trails that they have to see more animals. We also then rushed to the Dinosaur area so we could ride the Dinosaur ride, which was really fun!

The next day, we actually went off Disney property and went to Universal Studios, Island of Adventure! Basically, we were going for one part of the park, Harry Potter!! And it was better than I imagined! They really have made the books and movie come to life there! The castle ride they have is probably one of the best rides I have ever taken (sorry, Disney!)! We loved it so much we rode it twice (and I really was trying for a third time!). Just walking down the street and seeing Honeydukes, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Express, eating lunch and drinking ButterBeer at the three broomsticks, was absolutely amazing. The only bummer was the that we missed the opening of Diagon Alley by 2 weeks! But that just means we will have to come back :)

Our last full day of our trip, we saved for the Magic Kingdom! I am glad we saved it for last because it was a FULL day! We met a ton of characters (Ariel, Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Belle, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and more I am forgetting!). I really liked the new Fantasyland that they have. Having all the castles there just makes it look so magical. I think my favorite ride though was the People Mover, because I loved that ride at Disneyland, and because Aurora LOVED it! She laughed and smiled the whole time! It was so cute! We also did Jungle Cruise, Pirates (totally not the same as Disneyland!), Ariel's ride, and I think others but now I am forgetting! We also did the Tiki Room, which was another big hit with Aurora! And my favorite, getting Dole Whip after! Then we watched their Castle and Firework show. The castle show, if very, very cool! They put all these images on the castle and it was amazing what they could do and they even made it appear as if it were moving at times! We kept meaning to leave, but, then would get caught up by something, like the shows, or buying presents, or seeing a sign for Snow White and "Princess" which I had to go see! So, we were there for a good 12 hours and I loved every minute! Oh, totally forgot to mention we also got to eat at Be Our Guest! This is the Beast's castle and they have three rooms decorated just like from the movie. It was again, amazing! Best part though was having dessert, I had - "try the gray stuff, its delicious!" and it really was! :)

Overall, this trip was better than I even imagined. I knew I would love it, but I loved it so much! I can't wait until we can plan our next trip out there as there is still so much to see!! :)

Monday, June 23, 2014

Walking!!

This deserves its own post!  At 9 months old, on June 22, 2014, my little one took her first steps on her own!

She has been walking assisted for almost two months now, but she just wouldn't take those steps by herself. She would stand there and hold her hand up and wait until J or I gave her our hand, and then she would start walking. Or, she would find things she could walk along, or move along, to get her where she needed to go. But, yesterday, we found the motivating piece to get her to take steps on her own - PLUMS!

We went for a walk to the park to check out a potential birthday site (that is coming up WAY to quickly!), and J had brought a plum for a snack. He was eating and she seemed really interested in it so we have her a bite. Well, she LOVED it. So, I said, let's put her down, maybe she will walk to it. I was totally joking as I did not think she would do it at all. But, I put her down and J held the plum out, AND SHE WALKED TO IT! I was in shock! Granted, it was only three steps, but still three steps, by herself! I was SO proud! She did it!! Of course, once the plum was gone, she didn't do it again. Clearly, we need to go buy more plums!

I am one very proud mama today! :)

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

9 Months!

A,

Another month has flown by! And this month you went on your very first airplane ride! :) This was a very busy month for you!

You are eating more and more food! You LOVE your food! You also are already very independent and want to feed yourself as well! We just got a new spoon for you that seems to be working a bit better. Now you take one bite with you spoon and then one bite with your whole hand. It is messy, but so great to see you having fun and enjoying yourself! There is plenty of time to work on proper eating etiquette later in life! You seem to really enjoy bananas, I think because they mush between your fingers and you can play with it! And of course, your puffs, you just light up when you see the puff container! The purple carrot ones are your favorite flavor. You have also used a sippy cup with water a couple of times. You are slowly getting the hang of it! You have tried lots of different foods, but sweet potatoes seem to be the thing you have the most of, I think you will be like me and be a potato girl! :)

You are our little curious girl as well. You just love to see everything and want to know everything going on around you. You now point at things and make this "oo" sound. It is adorable! Or, my favorite, is you will fling your head back and make this OOO sound and the cutest face with it. You also keep Daddy and I on our toes as you are very active! You crawl everywhere and into everything! You also immediately crawl to anything that you can find that you can stand up on and then try to stand. This usually works out fine and you will stand and then walk around holding onto things, but occasionally, you find something wobbly and we have to run and catch you! Which means, you have had a few things tumble on you, but you always just keep trooping on to the next thing and try and stand right back up! You have also stood up now on your own quite a few times! I always get really excited when you do that! And while you haven't walked unassisted yet, you walk really well when you are holding on to someones hand or something solid and I see you thinking about taking a step and know it will happen any day now!

You totally have your own language as well. You babble away and carry on conversations with us. You have said a few words, Mama, of course being my favorite word you say :) But you have also said Dada, Hi, and Tag (this one really shocked us because you pointed at a tag and said tag!), and then some other words that you have made up that we know mean something, we just haven't translated yet!

This month was our big DisneyWorld vacation! You did SO amazing! You did awesome on the both flights and just loved waving at everyone and laughing!  You liked crawling between me, grandma (my mom), and daddy and seeing all the different things you could see. At all the theme parks (Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Universal) you had a blast meetings characters, watching the parades (your favorite!), and even riding some rides (People Mover was your favorite I think!). It was so fun to experience these theme parks with you and see what got you excited and seeing the joy on your face. You had so much fun that you did not want to take naps, so I would just put you in the Ergo Carrier and you would pass out for your nap! You even took some rides that way! I know you won't remember this vacation, but I took plenty of pictures to show you when you are older! It looks like you are going to be a great traveler, I see many trips in our future!

Each month, you amaze me more and more each day and each day I am filled with more love and pride for you. I am so excited that I get to be your Mommy and when I see your smiling face each day, it just makes me happier than anything! I love you more than words can say, always and forever!

Mommy

Monday, May 5, 2014

8 months!

I have been a serious blog slacker! But this is my craziest busy season so just need to make it 3 more weeks and then life should get back to normal. And I then I will have a super fun post in June on our trip to DISNEYWORLD!!! But for now, just jumping on to do my monthly letter (trying to at least keep up with these since I can't keep up weekly!)

A,

Eight Months, my goodness! You have grown SO much this past month! You really are starting to look like a little girl now and not like a baby anymore. It makes me a bit sad to see the baby go away but at the same time it is so exciting to see you grow and see your personality continue to shine and show us who you are! :)

This month you got TWO teeth! Your first tooth came in on April 15th and your second tooth followed very quickly on the 20th. I was getting very nervous about teeth as I have heard horror stories about teething but you seemed to do okay! Hopefully, all your teeth are that easy :)

This month you got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. Actually, your whole class at daycare got it! It started with a fever and you were not a happy camper while you had the fever. But once the fever broke, even though you had the spots still on your body, you were in good spirits! Mommy and Daddy took turns staying home with you as you had to be home all week from daycare. We were sad you were sick but enjoyed the extra time with you!

You are still our little mover! You are an expert crawler now and can get across the room SO fast! We have to keep our eye on you at all times as you love to beeline for the dogs crates or their food! Playing under the dining room table is also one of your favorite places to go. You also have gotten really good at pulling yourself up to a standing position and have even started to walk around while holding on to things. You just started very recently to reach out and take steps to things away from you, so I know walking is in your very near future! I wouldn't be surprised if in next months letter, I am talking about how you walk everywhere! :)

This month was your first Easter! You had a ball!!! We went to Good Friday service which you did not seem to like and fussed the whole time! Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) came up and we went and saw the Easter Bunny! You were not to sure of him but you did good and didn't cry! Then on Easter Sunday we went to church and Grandma held you during the service and everyone commented on your beautiful dress (that Grandma bought you and was so excited to see you in it). After church, we went home and you got to open your Easter Basket. You really loved the stacking cups and Grandma snuck in candy and you would not let go of a Kit Kat bar! It was so funny. Luckily, you couldn't figure out how to open it as you are still too little for chocolate! We also took you outside with some eggs for you to crawl around and "find". You loved being out on the grass (though the grass tore up your legs, sadly you have mommy's sensitive skin!) and searching and picking up the eggs, clapping with the eggs, and even put one back in your basket!

You have started to eat a lot more this month as well! At daycare you usually get oatmeal, one or two baby bullet sized foods, and puffs! So far you have had apples, pears, peaches, zucchini, sweet potatoes, mangoes, pumpkin biscuit, spinach/kale/apple biscuit, bananas, and more that I have lost track of what else! So far, you have loved everything we have given you! You love your food and you love to feed yourself as well! :)

We love you SO much and love watching your personality shine! You are the best thing to ever happen to us!

Love,

Mommy

Friday, April 4, 2014

7 Months!

A,

I know I have said this every month, but my goodness is time flying! I can't believe you are already 7 months old! You are really coming into your own now and your personality is shining! It is so amazing to watch as you grow more and more each day. You are really keeping your daddy and I on our toes with how active you are! This month you learned how to clap your hands, which I must say is one of the cutest things ever. You also are now a pro at crawling and you also decided that crawling was not enough for you and can now stand! As soon as we put you on the ground you immediately crawl over to something that you can climb and use to stand up. You love to stand in your crib now, too. Which can be really cute unless it is bedtime! You are "talking" more and more as well, and I think I may have even heard your first "ma" noise! I know it is not in relation to me yet but it is still nice to hear. You have also started eating real food this month! So far you have had: Avocado (slight rash), apples, peaches, pears, and sweet potato. We need to start adding some more veggies into you diet! You have been a great eater though and love everything we have given you so far and always want more!

We took your 6 month photos and they came out so amazing! They really did a great job of capturing all aspects of you! I can't wait to print them and put them up on our wall!

Your are such a happy girl (unless it is bedtime :)) and when I pick you up at the end of the day and you give me that big grin and laugh of yours, it just makes me day! You have the best smile! You don't have any teeth yet and I think I will be a bit sad when you do finally get teeth as I love your little gummy smile that you have! You just have the biggest grin and your whole face lights up, and if you are really happy, your whole body will shake too! It is the best thing to see!

You did not sleep super well this past month. You used to sleep until 5am but this past month I was lucky if you would make it until 3am! Some nights you woke multiple times or would wake early and not go back down and just cry. It has been a bit tough, but I just remind myself in these moments that these moments will pass so quickly and I just try and enjoy these midnight snuggles with you. Besides, who really needs sleep anyways! :)

You had your first St. Patrick's Day this month and wore a super cute four leaf clover outfit. Not too much else for this holiday but wearing green is pretty good!

We have done a couple hikes which you still love and this month, I carried you on my back for the first time! You really loved that! You could see better and just looked around at everything, and then when you got tired, you just laid your head on my back and went to sleep. It was a great hike and I loved having you so close to me! :)

I love you my baby girl, more than I could ever imagine loving someone. You truly are my sunshine and brighten my day, everyday! Daddy and I are so thankful that you are in our lives and that we get to be your parents. Until next month! Love always and forever!

Mommy

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

GroVia Cloth Diaper Review

I have mentioned the GroVia diapers a in a previous post about using cloth diapers at daycare. We are now 6 months in of cloth diapering and GroVia are by far my favorites! I love them so much!

They are an All in Two product which means they have a cover and an insert that snaps in (awesome!). I like these systems the best as you can reuse the covers multiple times! I have used their covers, prefolds, biosoakers, stay dry soaker pads, and organic cotton soaker pads. So, a lot of their products! Here is a breakdown of each item:

Covers: These are my favorite covers (ok I will stop saying favorite as it will get redundant!). I love the prints they have as they are so adorable. Drift and Poppy are probably the cutest of a very cute bunch! I don't have the older prints and really want to find some to add to my stash. I also like how easy they fit on A. One of the fastest covers I have to put on. And as A has hit her very wriggly, I want to roll all over the place, phase, having a cover that I can easily close (aplix) is fantastic. I also like the mesh lining covering the TPU. I find that they breathe better than my covers that have exposed PUL or TPU. I usually only need 1-2 covers a day as well!
Poppy, Drift, and Pudge Prints!
Stay dry soaker pads:  The stay dry part is super soft! I find that these also hold a lot and are very trim. The fact that they just snap right into the covers is so amazing and again make those changes much faster and easier. These also tend to dry a bit faster than the organic cotton soaker pads. And they do not seem to stain as easily.

Organic Cotton Soaker Pads: I love these one the best. Just like the stay dry they fit right into the covers. I like that they are organic cotton against her skin. They do stain easiest out of all my diapers but I just put them in the sun to dry and like magic, the stains are gone! They do also take longer than others to dry but again the sun helps with that. I also feel that these hold a lot more in them than other inserts that i have. The gussets also help keep any of her poos from getting out (stay dry also has gussets).

Bamboo Prefolds: I had a service for the beginning of our cloth diaper adventure (where I fell in love with the GroVia covers) so when we decided to go it ourselves I wanted to try GroVia prefolds, too. I only have a handful as we only use at home (daycare does not like prefolds) but they are so great! They are softer than the cotton prefolds we used with the service. They seem to hold a TON! I can padfold them into the covers when I need to do a quick change, or do the jelly roll fold and snappi it shut when she is calmer and will sit still enough for that! I got size 3 (Infant Long) which was just above her weight but wanted to use them longer and haven't had any issues with them being a bit bigger. I just fold the back down a bit and we are good to go!

Biosoakers: These are the disposable inserts that you can use in a cover when needed. We don't use these often as it is so easy to just use an actual soaker pad but when we have used them they worked great. My only suggestion is to not pull the sticky part off and just lay it in the cover. I  didn't have any issues with it moving around by not be attached and the sticky part was too sticky in my opinion. We are taking a vacation this summer where we will be flying across country so planning to use these for our trip!

Thoughts:

Cost: The covers are around $17 and the soaker pads are between $17-19 for two of them. So, they are a bit pricey but the covers can last for more than one change which helps with the cost. The ease of use also makes it worth while for me!

Trimness: I find these to be very trim! The only item that I would consider bulky would be the prefolds and that is because I got the bigger size. If I am using either of the Soaker Pads, they are one of my trimmest diapers. She is able to fit in clothes no problem and I have not had to go up a size because of these diapers.

Ease of Use: I feel I covered this already, but these are super easy to use! Snap in the Soaker Pad, and put on baby! I can do this one even with all her flipping and wriggling!

Overall: I think the GroVia system is the best one. My daycare also loves them which just adds to my love for them. In fact, the first day I brought the soaker pads in rather than prefolds, when I picked up A, they sought me out to say how much they LOVE the new diapers. And then another day, I overheard them telling a mom whose son has bad diaper rash to consider my diapers! Such a big change from our first days diapering with them! I would highly recommend this diapering system!

Update 1.10.15 - Now 16 months into cloth diapering and GroVia is still our number one go to diaper! I have also added Grovia's Kiwi Pie fitted and wool to my stash and they are also amazing! And my daycare still enjoys them as well :) End Update

28 Weeks! (and a slight rant...)

Wow, I have been a serious blog slacker! Being a working mom has been WAY more difficult than I ever thought it would be. I mean, you hear that it is tough, but man, is it TOUGH! And it makes a huge difference on childcare as well. I am now very envious of those who have family that can watch their kids. I have heard people who complain about family watching and I realize there are probably some issues with that but to me, they seem very LUCKY and should feel blessed to have family watching their children. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with the daycare we have and am very happy that she got in where she did. But, it is expensive (and that is with my discount) and she gets sent home a lot for being sick! And part of me can never fully concentrate on my work because I am always checking my phone in case the daycare texts. Now, the two days my Mom was here to watch her were so amazing! I didn't worry about her (well I worry always as I am a worrywort but not to the level of daycare worry), I was super productive at work, I could stay at work a bit later than normal, it was just an great two days. But, this is not what we have, so we move forward and find the positive in what we do have! Which IS a good daycare, that is close by, with teachers who do care about her!

Now on to the update :)

28 Weeks 3.18.14

Sleep: Sleep is still all over the place. She did have two nights where she slept 11 hours (AMAZING!) but that was right after her shots and then she went right back to waking 2 times a night.

Clothing Size: This is all over the place as well! Anything from 3-12 months seems to be in rotation at the moment!

Favorite Toys/Activity: Basically anything in front of her she sees as a potential toy and item she can chew on!

Milestones: So many things! She is crawled for the first time on March 10 (a day after daddy's birthday). She had been doing army crawling but that was the first time we saw a real crawl using hands and knees! March 15th she started to clap her hands. It is so adorable to watch her clap her hands! She is also starting to pass objects from one hand to the other. She is starting to really pull herself up to a standing position as well. She has mostly only done this on the couch but I have seen her try other areas as well so I bet she will have this down pretty soon!

She started solid foods! Her first food was avocado on March 8th. The next day she broke out in a rash so we stopped and waited 4 days. I don't think it was actually related but to be safe we will wait a bit on that. The next thing we have given her is apples. She REALLY likes eating the apples. But we then realized it was making her a bit constipated so have stopped that as well! Will be trying peaches and sweet potato next! We have been making the food ourselves as well which has been really great and easy too (at least according to my husband who does the actual making!).

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
There have been so many! She is starting to do little hugs and has started to (I feel) purposefully grab onto me. She will also now crawl to me if I am anywhere in the room and then put her hand on my foot and look up at me! It is adorable! I just really love watching her figure out everything going on around her though. The expressions she makes and her curious nature are fascinating to watch!  She is really becoming a little person now, I can't believe how quickly it is all happening! 

Monday, March 3, 2014

6 Months!!

A,

A very, merry, half birthday to you! Wow, half a year already. I do not know how that is possible. It cannot have been only 6 months ago that you came into this world. Some days it feels like you have always been here and other days it feels like it was just yesterday that you were born.

This past month was a bit of a rough one has you got a really bad cold. I don’t think you made one full week at daycare this past month. So, that just meant lots of extra snuggles with mommy and daddy as we tried to make you better!

You just keep amazing me each and every day. I feel so proud of you when I get my updates on where you should be development wise and you are already way ahead of where they say you should be! You are for sure a mover girl! You want to see what is going on and be a part of it. You roll, crawl, sit up, giggle, stand (with help from mommy and daddy!), feed yourself, the list goes on and on! I was looking back at pictures from your other monthly photos and it is amazing to see how much you have changed already! Thursday will be your official weigh in and measure day but we did it at home and it looks like you have grown an inch in a month which puts you just over 26 inches! That means in the past 6 months you have grown 5 inches. Such a tall girl! Your hair has come in now on all sides, no more balding man look! And it seems to be getting a darker red which just makes your blue eyes stand out even more! I know I am biased but you really are the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen. And you are such a happy girl, too. I love to see you laugh and smile and you get this light in your eyes as you figure things out. My favorite moments are when I pick you up for daycare and you look up and see that it is me, and then give me the biggest grin! It doesn’t matter how bad my day was, as soon as I see that, it instantly makes me day amazing. You are “talking” more and more now as well. Your babbling is so cute. Daddy loves it as you have started to say da, you haven’t quite gotten ma out but I am hoping soon! It is not associated with us yet, but I know that is around the corner! You do say ba, da, la, ha, and a squealy hi type noise. We say hi to you all the time so we will see if that is your first official word! I know you will love when we start to give you food this weekend. You love your oatmeal and so I feel you will love to get some real food as well. We may even start a sippy or straw cup as you keep pulling at our cups and try and drink from it! So many new exciting adventures to come!


These past 6 months have probably been the most stressful, busy, make me feel I am going crazy time of my life but I wouldn’t change one day of it because you also have made it the most amazing, better than I could imagine time of my life as well. Watching you grow and learn and stealing little baby hugs and cuddles truly is one of the best things in my life. I know it goes the same for daddy as we “steal” you from one another for extra baby time! You are such a light and joy in our lives and it is hard to imagine any time before you! We love you so much our little biddle! 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

25 Weeks!

25 Weeks - 2.25.14

How has it already been 25 weeks! Time is going so quickly! Especially, now that I am back at work, the days just all run into one another. She is growing up so quickly, it is just amazing!

Sleep: Sleep has been all over the place. She was sick for the past week and that really messed with her sleep! I am hoping we get back to going down at 9:30 and waking at 6:30 soon!

Clothing Size: 6-9 month with a few 12 months thrown in now!

Favorite Toys/Activity: She just got a Sophie the Giraffe and seems to love that already! She also switched which toy she likes by the day. One day she loves her ball, and the next day wants nothing to do with it and wants to play with the zoo toy!

Milestones: She sits up by herself for a very long time now. She can even get from a sitting position to her tummy and then will start to crawl to whatever she wants. She is an expert army crawler and can make it across the room in no time! She loves to explore and look at everything. Her favorite is to be outside and take in the fresh air, but it is getting harder and harder to hold on to her as she is constantly trying to fling herself to the ground or towards something she wants to look at!

She has had a very bad cold :(. That was no fun at all. She was out of daycare for a whole week and I just wanted to do anything to make her better but sadly there is not much you can do at this age. We did have to do breathing treatments which she hated and I hated having to do them!

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
The past two weeks she has cried when I have dropped her off at daycare. It has made me really sad to drop her off as I hate to leave when she is crying but daycare shoos me away as she won't calm down if I am still there. So it makes me so happy, when I go pick her up, and she looks up and sees it is me and gives the biggest grin! It is so nice to see that she knows who I am now and is happy to see me! Even after the worst day at work, seeing that just makes me day!!  

Friday, February 14, 2014

Valentine's Day!

I failed at getting the weekly update out this week! Work has just been so crazy,  I barely have time to get cuddles and play time in with my little Valentine. She has been growing leaps and bounds again. She now army crawls like a champ and has started having her oatmeal at daycare as well. They kept saying she was starving so decided to add in a feeding at daycare and hope that makes the day a bit easier.

Not doing much for the holiday. We have a cute heart outfit for A and I did a mini photo shoot (not really any different than a normal day!). She is still to little for anything else so didn't really do anything else special for the day. Just lots of extra love and cuddles :)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Cloth Diapers at Daycare

So we have almost hit the month mark of A being at Daycare. There are a lot of things I could say about this topic but for now will focus on Cloth Diapers!

I wasn't sure if we would even be able to do our cloth at daycare as a few places we looked at flat out refused to even consider doing it! Luckily, we got into a great daycare and they were willing to try! I read a ton about diapering in daycare but was getting discouraged because everyone suggested taking AIO's or Pockets as they are easy and very similar to disposables. Well, I don't have any of those kind, so was starting to worry, that maybe I would not be able to cloth diaper at daycare because we use prefolds and covers.

So, we went the first day and brought our prefolds and covers. The teachers were so great about it and said, sure, we can do this! They had never done prefolds before but had such a great attitude about trying which really makes a difference. That first pick up day, they asked questions, and I asked if they preferred a particular diaper cover over another and slowly we found what worked best for us!

Their favorite covers are the GroVia hook and loop(velcro) as they are super easy to close and they liked the mesh material better (as they don't wipe and reuse covers anyways). GroVia was one of my favorites so I was happy for an excuse to buy more! They also use the Angel Wing Fold which they found the easiest for them to do. I had offered that they could padfold (basically just folding prefold in three and placing in cover) so they didn't have to worry about using a snappi or anything but they said they are fine with the Angel Wing Fold!

The only issues I have found is they tend to forget to tuck the diaper into the cover so she goes through clothes a bit faster as they get dirty. And a few times they have put her in disposable because they said they didn't have time to mess with getting the cloth on! Though, I had taken a few disposables the first week and never replenished them (and won't when they run out unless they request it) so don't see this being used that often.

We have gotten into a good system now where I drop off at the beginning of each week all the wetbags for the week. ( Originally we had less but I would forget them and just found it easier to buy enough for each day and take on Monday and know they were all there!). I drop off about 10 diapers which lasts about 2 days so usually bring diapers in Monday, Wednesday, and the Friday if we don't think we will make it that last day. Then at the end of the day, they leave the wetbag out for me to pick up with my used bottles from the day and I take this home and add to my diaper pail at home and do laundry on Wednesdays and Saturday or Sunday depending on what is going on during the weekend.

So, you CAN cloth diaper at daycare with prefolds and covers! Just takes some willing teachers but they got it down pretty quickly! We are now looking into getting some of the GroVia inserts to try those out and consider adding those to our rotation but for now the prefolds are working for us! Update 3.18.14 - We have now switched to the GroVia soaker pads and covers for daycare and the daycare is in LOVE! No more complaints and they were even trying to convince another mom to switch to cloth because her son gets really bad diaper rash! See full review of Grovia here End update

Here is a list of covers we use at daycare and the thoughts about them:

GroVia Hook and Loop - Both the daycare and our favorite at home. I love the fun prints and the hook and loop is nice and stong and easy to do!

BestBottoms Snap: This is one of my husband's favorites. This is my second favorite after GroVia. I like the double gussets and the trim fit. Daycare does not like this one though because they struggle with the snaps.

Flip Covers Snap: These are probably my least favorite (though still good covers). I wrote an earlier post about Flip so you can see my thoughts there. The daycare does prefer these ones even though they are snap, the larger size and stretchy sides do make them more disposable like and easier for them.

Thirsties Duo Size 1 Covers Hook and Loop: These were my favorite when A was first home until about a month ago. Once she hit 4 months they started to not fit as well. They still fit now at 5 months but these are probably the last ones I go for now versus being the first ones when she first got home. The daycare seems to use these ones after GroVia and Flip but before Best Bottoms. These ones also seem to be the ones she gets the most leaks with at Daycare as they don't always remember to stuff the prefold in and the other covers fit well over that if you forget to check, the prefold is still usually covered. Whereas now, with these you always have to check and stuff the prefold in.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

5 Months and 22 Weeks!

So this week because her monthly and weekly dates are one day apart and I am super crazy busy, I am going to just do the letter :)

A,

Wow, the time is going so fast! I always would hear people say how fast time went, and I would feel this as well but until you joined us, I never really understood how quickly it goes! In this past month, you have amazed me so much! You can now sit up all by yourself! You can roll both ways, though it took awhile for you to decide to roll from tummy to back, you got there! I think you just liked to be on your tummy so didn't see the need to roll. But now, you see things you want to get to and realized rolling can get you there. You also just this past weekend so just squeezed it in before officially turning 5 months, started to army crawl! You are officially on the move! I love to watch you as you take in the world around you and see what is in front of you and if you want it you go after it. I hope you never lose this and that in life, you always go after the things you want. It is hard sometimes as you find now when you get yourself in a position and are unsure of how to get it, but know that mommy and daddy are right there and we are cheering you on, and giving help when needed. We let you do everything you can first and are so proud when you make it to that toy, or blanket, or my favorite towards me, but when we see you trying and need a little help, we jump in, too. You are such a quick learner and I look forward to watching as you learn more and more each day. We started oatmeal this month and you picked that up right away. After the first night, you realized the spoon brought you food and you opened your mouth right up and would even try and grab the spoon and feed yourself! Now, most nights we give you the spoon once we put food on it and you feed yourself pretty well! Of course, there is some mess with this but that just makes it more fun!

This past month has been a whirlwind of emotions for me as I had to go back to work and you had to go to daycare. It really makes me appreciate every second I get with you, even if it is the middle of the night! I am very lucky that we were able to get you into the daycare at my work, and so most days, I go visit and feed you at lunch time. That is my favorite time of day! You have been doing so well though and adjusted to being at daycare with no issues. It makes me so happy to know that you are having fun and able to enjoy yourself while I work. I wish I could be with you but seeing your smiling face at the end of the day just makes my days so much brighter!

I love you so much, more and more each day. These past 5 months have been the best months of my life because you are now here and you make each day just that much better!

Love always and forever,

Mommy

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

21 Weeks!

21 Weeks - 1.28.14

Sleep: She seemed to follow her routine from the week before of waking between 5-6am. I do find it funny though that on the weekend she goes right back to waking up a bit earlier (between 4-5am) but then going right back to sleep until 8am! Makes me happy as I get a little bit more sleep on the weekend then :)

Clothing Size: No change here! Still 6-9 months :)

Favorite Toys/Activity: She is starting to actually play with the electronic toys she got for Christmas. I appears she is purposefully hitting buttons now rather than accidentally hitting a button!

Milestones: She had quite the active weekend! She decided that she was going to be a big girl and sit up all by herself! She did so good and holding herself up and not toppling over! She sat that way for quite a bit playing with her blocks until she finally started to topple and I caught her.

She also is now officially rolling over both ways! She had been doing back to tummy for a while now but hadn't quite gotten down tummy to back. Well, this weekend she was a rolling machine and had no issues going back and forth!

She also is becoming a master scoocher! She sees a toy out of reach and she finds a way to get it! I see crawling in the very near future as this weekend she got her legs under her and her hands up in a crawl ready stance but then wasn't sure what to do so went back to her tummy and rolled instead :)


Highlights from the Week: 
  • Sitting up by herself
  • Rolling tummy to back
  • Hike on Sunday to top a hill to see 360 view of Thousand Oaks/Westlake/Oak Park

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
Watching her sit up for the first time. I just got filled which such pride watching her grow and learn. She amazes me each day and I am continually surprised by all that she is able to do! I have never felt so proud of someone either and I found it funny how proud I was over sitting up! It seems like such an easy thing to do but suddenly with a baby you realize how big of an accomplishment that truly is. I just love to watch her play and interact with the world around her and feel like one very lucky momma to have such a wonderful baby!  

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

20 Weeks!

I really do intent to blog more than just these weekly updates, but at the moment this seems to be all I have time for!

20 Weeks - 1.21.14

Sleep: This past week was a sleepy week! She realized the routine of daycare and so would wake up around 6:30/6:45am each day. Only had a couple of night wakeups that she would either put herself down or we had to briefly go in and pat her. Not bad! I feel like one lucky momma!

Clothing Size: No change here! Still 6-9 months :)

Favorite Toys/Activity: Paper! Haha anytime there is paper around her she wants to grab and play with it. Whether it be her daily sheet from daycare, the friendship slip at church, or a post it lying around, she wants to grab it!

Milestones: Not officially crawling yet but we have a scooter! We put toys just out of her reach and she wriggled and scooched herself to them! She also is sitting up much better unassisted! Still toppling over after a bit but lasting much longer than she has before :)

Last week she started solids but was pushing out more than taking in. This past week she stopped thrusting her tongue out as much and seems to have grasped the concept of eating the oatmeal of the spoon!

Highlights from the Week: 
  • Fun day with Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday (My parents)
  • A full week at daycare
  • Three day weekend! 

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
We had yesterday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it was SO awesome to be able to spend an extra day with her! J had to work so it was just A and I and I loved every minute of it! We went and met J for lunch and sat outside enjoying the sun. We took a nice walk. And my favorite part was taking a nap together! Not only did I enjoy getting more sleep but I just loved every second of cuddling with my little one! It made me miss doing that everyday but I am just going to enjoy these extra days the best I can when we get them!  

Thursday, January 16, 2014

19 Weeks

Looks like I will be running late on getting these out!!

19 Weeks - 1.14.14

Sleep: She has been sleeping pretty good. Most nights she would fuss around 4am but would usually put her self back to sleep. And then would wake up to feed between 5-5:30am. This was fine before daycare because she could get more sleep in but since we have to wake up at 6:45 for daycare she hasn't been getting as much sleep as normal. Also, she doesn't nap very well at the daycare so she is a tired baby!

Clothing Size: No change here! Still 6-9 months :)

Favorite Toys/Activity: This past week she enjoyed the other side of her whale toy! She always enjoyed the toys that hung from the tale but it also had this water feature with fish in it when she was on her tummy. This past week was the first week where when she rolled over she really noticed them and played with them!

Milestones: Starting Daycare! She did much better than I did. I cried the first day when I had to leave her. Luckily she is in a great daycare that I trust and is right by my work as well so I can still see her at lunch time for her lunch feeding!

Another big milestone is she started solids! Well, it is not really solid but it is oatmeal and is 1 tablespoon oatmeal and 4 tablespoons breast milk so still basically a liquid! I was actually very against starting food at 4 months but J wanted to start her at 4 months and her pediatrician did say to start her on cereal now. So while I disagreed, we did decide to move forward with oatmeal! She seems to love it! Well, she loves the spoon I think more than the food! It is pretty adorable though to see her sitting in her high chair like a big girl and she quickly learned that it was food she was getting and when we would hold the spoon up she will open her mouth wide!

Highlights from the Week: 
  • Started Daycare - 5 days a week from 8-5
  • First food - Oatmeal Cereal 

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
I walked into the daycare to pick her up and could hear her crying. I quickly made my way to her room and saw the teacher holding her and A was fussing. The teacher said I think she is hungry and wasn't sure what to do. I grabbed her and held her and she immediately stopped fussing and smiled and babbled at me and was just fine! It melted my heart and made me feel good that all she needed was cuddles from Mommy! (Though I don't want her upset at daycare but so happy I could easily fix the problem!).  

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

18 Weeks!

Well I started this yesterday but didn't have time to finish until today!

18 Weeks - 1.7.14

Sleep: The past week she seemed to settle into a pattern of going to bed at 9:30pm and the waking between 4-6am for a feed. She would then go back down until 9am! It was a great schedule that I wish I could have enjoyed the extra sleep until 9 but going back to work ruined that! And starting this week she goes to daycare so she doesn't get the extra sleep either! We will see how that goes...

Clothing Size: Almost all 6 months and a few 9 month have made their way in as well!

Favorite Toys/Activity: She loves her crunchy block still and also the stroller toys that vibrate! Pretty much any toy you give her though she seems fascinated by! We went on a hike this weekend, and she seemed to really enjoy looking at the trees and flowers!


Milestones: She had her 4 month doctor appointment! She has gone down percentage in weight (now 30th percentile) but is still up there for height (89th percentile!) So we for sure have a long, lean, baby on our hands! She also got her second round of vaccines. She cried when they gave them to her and was fussy for a few hours after but not as bad as the first time! She also went to the beach for the first time. She loved it! I think because we use a sound machine with the waves sound for her to sleep, she liked seeing the real thing! And it put her to sleep after about 15 minutes of walking on the beach :) The beach was also special because it was where we had taken our wedding pictures so we took a picture in the same spot with her! She also had her first New Years Eve! She didn't make it to midnight, but we went into her room and had a toast above her crib!


Highlights from the Week: 
  • First hike with daddy and then hike with mommy and daddy to TO Botanical gardens 
  • First trip to the beach
  • Saw where Mommy and Daddy got married 
  • Had two days at home with just Daddy 
  • First New Year's Eve and New Years 
  • Turned 4 months old! 
  • 4 month doctor appointment and second round of vaccines 

Favorite Mommy Moment: 
Taking her to the beach right across from where we got married and taking a picture in our wedding spot at the beach was probably my favorite! I will cherish that picture! It was also fun to see her look at the ocean and hear the noise she was used to hearing but seeing something in nature and not a box making the noise! I also enjoyed carrying her as we walked along the beach and getting in all my cuddles and the next day was the day I had to go back to work. 

Friday, January 3, 2014

4 Months

Wow, this is my 100th post! That is pretty exciting! :)

A,

Well, these past 17 weeks have seriously been some of the best if not the best in my life. We have big changes on our horizon as I have had to start back to work. I am sad that this is your first monthly birthday that I have had to miss. Don't worry though, I gave Daddy lots of instructions on what pictures to take! :) I know I was lucky with as much time as I had home with you as I did but selfishly I wanted more. You are becoming a little person right in front of our eyes! Your personality is already shining through and I love to watch you learn and discover. You have just discovered your toes and it is so cute to watch you grab them and realize that they belong to you. Your face just lights up! And, oh, your smiles, I love your smiles. You get these big grins now that just melt my heart. Last night, after being away from you all day, I rocked you to get you to sleep, and as I was about to put you down, you looked right at me and smiled. It was the best moment of my entire day. You hear a lot of about how much you will love your children and everyone says you don't understand it until it happens, and they are so right. I knew I loved you from the moment the doctor put the embryo inside of me, and the love grew as I felt you grow inside, and then when you were born, I thought I couldn't possibly love anymore, but each and every day, you prove me wrong. Smiles and moments like that just make the love grow stronger and brighter every day.

Next week you will attend daycare for the first time. I am worried of course but I know you will do great. You are already a social butterfly and love to be around people. Just know that even though I am not around you all day any more, I am always thinking of you, and always love you. Luckily, you are nice and close by so I will try and check in on you every now and then too! Five o clock used to be a good time anyways as it was the end of the day, but now it will be my favorite time as I will be rushing to pick you up and hold you in my arms once more!

I think we found a new favorite place for you as well. We took you to the beach for your first time on the 1st and loved it! You weren't able to play in the sand and water just yet, but you were fascinated by the waves and watching them. I think because we use the sound machine and put it on the wave sound, you were excited to see what actually made that sound. Of course, the sound also put you to sleep while we walked along the waters edge. You had such a peaceful nap as we walked. It was also a special beach that we took you too as it was the one right across the street where Daddy and I got married! I even took a picture of the three of us in the same spot we took our wedding photo!

I seem to be working backwards in time here but that is ok! Your first New Year's Eve was pretty quiet. We didn't go out and you needed your sleep so you didn't see midnight. But, Daddy and I snuck into your room at midnight and had a toast for you and each gave you a kiss to ring in the new year. :)

Christmas was very busy! You had your first night away from home. We all went down to your grandma and grandpa's house (my parents) for the night before Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with them and be closer to Disneyland in the morning. You didn't quite get opening presents yet but did enjoy grabbing at the paper once it had been torn off! You slept pretty well away from home and did not seem bothered that you were not in your room. You stayed in a room with us though and I think you liked being back with us! The next day we went to Disneyland for our annual Christmas Eve tradition! This was our 25th year going as a family and so it was very exciting to start your first year on this special year! I look forward to the next 25 with you! I really hope you enjoy this tradition as much as I do! We only went on one ride, The Little Mermaid, but you seemed to have fun. Daddy and I held you and you just stared at all the things we passed. You were very focused on it all, it was so cute! The rest of the day we spent walking around and looking at the different lands, and of course lots of pictures!! We also took you up in Sleeping Beauty's Castle so you could see the story of Princess Aurora :) We left around 7 as it had been a long day and we knew we had to drive back home. We then did take you to the candlelight service that night as it is one of our favorites. You slept through the whole service but that is ok, lots of people came by to see you and say how cute you looked in your Christmas dress!

Christmas Day we went to your other grandma and grandpa's house (Daddy's parents). There we spent the day with his family opening gifts and eating dinner. Your cousins wanted to play with you so bad and I know when you are a little older you will love to play with them too!

Overall, you had a wonderful holiday month of December! You experienced so many new things, like Santa for your first time! And you grew up more and more each day. You now "talk" so much all day long, you grab at toys and love to stare at them, you have started to teeth which means everything goes into your mouth, you had your first cold (which you did so well with the nose spray and sucker!), and just continued to grow into your own person. I look forward to what this next month in the new year will bring us!

I love you so much, more than words can say. I will always be here for you, even when I am away.

Love,

Mommy

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Flip Cloth Diaper Review

So I have been doing cloth now for almost 4 months and thought it would be helpful to review some of the items I am using! :)

Currently, we use a diaper service so they provide the prefold diapers and we have to provide our own covers and wetbags. I like variety so I have quite a few different types and want more... haha

This first one I will do on the Flip diapers. I actually bought a set before A was born which included 2 covers and 6 inserts. On our laundry day, I decided to use the inserts myself to see how they worked and if I liked them as we are considering stopping the service and delving into doing it ourselves!

Out of all the different covers I have these ones are probably one of my least favorite. The reason for that is because I do not like how they do the snaps vertically. I have some other covers like best bottoms where the snaps go horizontal and I prefer that. I also feel that the flip covers are very wide and they do not have the double gusset that some of my other covers have which contains messes very nicely! Now, I will say that I really disliked these when A was young but as she has gotten older they have started to fit a bit better but are still seem a bit too bulky for me. I do like that they easily wipe clean between uses and are very easy to wash and hang dry.

The inserts are microfiber with a stay dry suede on top. I did find these to be very absorbent and the stay dry was true to its word! It was a very different way to change from the prefolds which are always soaked. When I changed her I could tell it was full but I could barely feel the wetness touching her. I bet she appreciated it too! The inserts were much faster to change than a prefold (as we still use a snappi and fold versus pad folding) though I did find that they moved and bunched a bit which I did not like.

She just happened to not go number two when I was using these so I was not able to gauge how well they would hold up in that aspect. The reason we do not padfold is because when we tried the covers always got dirty which defeated the purpose of reusable covers!

Washing them was very easy and didn't seem to have any issues the first time. Again, no poopy diapers so can't speak to that yet but the process was pretty easy.

Overall, they worked much better than I thought and did like the stay dry part of the inserts. They were faster to change than what we currently use but still seemed bulkier even with the insert versus the prefold. Actually, with the insert it seemed more bulky in between her legs than it normally is with prefold. These are great for my diaper bag as a back up cover!

Back to Work

So today I had to return to work. I cried a lot about it the past week but oddly this morning I did not cry. I actually feel like a vampire that turned their humanity off. I just feel a bit dead inside. I realize this is my way of coping by basically denying what is happening. Hopefully, I will feel again soon and not just sadness but happiness that I have a great job and that A has a great place to go during the day and will be well cared for.

It is weird because before A arrived, I never in a million years thought I would want to be a stay at home mom. I knew it was not for me. And while I still do not (even if this past week I said I did), I can now see why you would do it. It is so filling being at home with my daughter and being her everything and seeing those smiles all day. Even her fussy days I was able to hold her and rock her and comfort her. And it is hard to think that when she gets upset, I won't be there for her, and even the selfish part of me that I will not be getting her smiles and may even miss some milestones as well. She is interacting more and more and is so fun that it just makes it more difficult to leave. Today, it was easier to leave as J is home with her so I did not have to deal with dropping her off at daycare. I think that will be when I really lose it.

I know that all working moms go through this and that they survive and I will too. This is just the next step in our journey. I just did not realize how difficult a journey it would be.