The latest

Well, Sami is still not sleeping through the night,...sigh...
She's had a few good nights where she slept 6, 7, 8 hours straight, but they weren't uninterrupted hours. She woke one night and finally soothed herself back to sleep. She's had a couple of days where she's been off schedule so then I feel bad and give into her at night. We really have to come to a sleeping agreement, lol. Last night she went down at 9 pm (she had a late nap so she was up a little later) Woke at 10:30...I gave in and nursed her :( then she woke again at 11:45, but soothed herself back to sleep and slept until 5:30. I got up with her, nursed her and put her back down and she slept until 9am. So it is getting a little better, but we're still not quite there yet. Her normal bed time is 8pm. I've tried keeping her up later so that she will sleep later in the morning (she normally wakes up around 5:30-6:00am to nurse) but the later I keep her up the more she wakes during the night. I don't get it. I guess we'll just keep working on it and see how we do...


In other news....I DID IT!!! I made my very own Mei Tai! And I am so incredibly proud of myself, lol.
It's not perfect by any means...it's definitely "homemade" lol. But I did it! Once I started I just couldn't stop. I was so excited to finish it. I stayed up last night till midnight working on it and was the first one up this morning so that I could try and finish it before Sami woke up, lol. Ian made breakfast and took care of Sami so I could finish working, and Voila...here it is!
I can't wait to make another one. I kind of did my own thing, which was kind of funny since I've never owned or used a Mei Tai, but I've been researching them for a few weeks now and I tried to incorporate the ideas I liked from each of the ones I saw. There are a few things I will do different in my next one, but over all I love it!

Here are a few pics. Let me know what you think...

I couldn't do it...

Last night we tried the Ferber method with Sami. I just couldn't do it. I tried. I tried REALLY hard. But in the end, she was crying, I was crying, my head hurt, my stomach hurt and I felt like I was dying inside, lol...but really I did. It felt like I was crushing her spirit, and mine as well. Her screaming and crying and coughing only made me want to hold her more and more and nurse her and keep her close.

I'm so on the fence with this method. I do believe in it...especially at her age, but damn it's hard!
She woke up at 3am, which means she slept for 7 hours straight, which I think is great! She cried for an hour!!! Me going into try and comfort her only made her more upset, and in turn made me more upset. As soon as I stepped out of her room I broke down. I couldn't stand to see her like that, and not help her. I knew what she needed, she knew that I knew, so why wouldn't I just help her? OMG it was breaking my heart!

I know she was fine, there were a few breaks in the screaming where she would drift off for a few minutes but then it would start up again. I felt like my head and heart were going to explode so I gave in.

Not sure what's best at this point. I'm convinced that she truly was just hungry...hell, Ian and I were both laying in bed with our stomachs growling too, lol. So I got up, nursed her, held her tight, changed her and nursed her on the other side. She was still awake when I put her back down, so it's not like I nurse her back to sleep...that's good right? LOL
She always puts herself to sleep, I 98% of the time put her in her crib when she is awake, looking at me and alert. So that has to count for something....right? Help me justify this people, lol.

So now here we are 9am and she's still sleeping!!!!! She was only up the one time (be it for an hour and screaming the whole time, but hey who's counting).

Mei Tai

I SOOOO want one of these!!!

BabyHawk, EllaRoo, Kozy....I can't decide!! Or maybe an Ergo?

I think I'll try and make my own...The only problem is I can't sew! Ian bought me a sewing machine last year, so I guess it's time to break it out and try and use it. Honestly, I think I'll probably break down and just buy one, but I really can't afford it. These things are outrageously priced. $60-$130!!

We've booked our first family vacation to TX in Feb. I'm a bit nervous about flying with the baby girl. Any tips for flying/traveling with an 8 month old? There is so much to bring! Ugh.

I want the new wrap/carrier for the trip, so I have less than a month to figure out how to make my own or pony up the money to buy one.

Drea is my inspiration to try and make my own. She has made a few that she posted on her blog and I LOVE them!

7 Months...a little late...

So here is the princess at 7 months. Proudly showing off her two front teeth.
These days she is just go, go, go. She wants to move! She loves exploring and doing new things. She is learning more and more by the minute. She can crawl on all fours, but is not convinced that it is faster than her military creep that she does. When she really wants to get some where and fast she plops down on her belly and creeps there. It's a pretty funny site. If she's just playing with her toys she will crawl from one to the next. She's been trying more and more to stand up. If she had the balance she'd be doing it already. She pushes her self up and tries to walk with her hands on the ground and up on her toes. I swear one of these days she's going to do a somersault! She's been pulling up on everything she can get her hands on, but doesn't quite have the upper body strength to get herself upright just yet. She goes from sitting to crawling and rolling and back to sitting no problem now.
She loves singing with Daddy...who by the way, she is calling Pa Pa lately. She can't seem to get Da Da down, but we've been trying. She concentrates so hard and watches our mouths as we are saying it, but when she tries, all that comes out is "Pa Pa." It's really cute.
She's doing good eating, and trying new things all the time. Her latest is Zwieback toast. She LOVES that stuff! But my gosh is it messy! She loves anything she can feed herself and is still getting used to new textures. The other day I chopped up some bananas and then ground up some cheeri0s to coat them with. Bananas are so slippery that it was hard for her to handle them. Once they were coated in the cheeri0s she could pick them right up and pop them in.

I think we are in for a few more teeth soon...
This is how she really felt today :(

She was such a good sport though.


This is my little curious one. Always exploring and figuring out the unknown.

Still so behind...

I've been meaning to catch up, but just haven't had a free moment to do so.
Christmas was great. I had a blast watching Sami open all her gifts and was so excited that she was actually into it. I wasn't sure that she would be ready yet this year, but she loved opening and ripping up the paper and crinkling it.

Scott woke up early. He was up at 4am on Christmas eve! Then up at 5 am on Christmas day! I think he was a little excited, lol. He loved all his gifts. Ian and I got him a professional drawing table this year. We were both a little nervous about whether he would really like it or not. He LOVED it! We were SO happy. We tried to make this Christmas more about his interests, other than video games. It was kind of weird having Christmas morning with no new video games, but it was nice, and everyone was satisfied with their gifts....oh, wait, lol. I got new video games!! LMAO. Usually the boys get tons of new games or new systems every year...this year I got a DS!!! I love it! I really wanted one, and I love Scott's, so it was awesome! I love those Brain games.
Ian and I also both got new phones. I ordered his months ago and waited until the last minute to activate it. Something got screwed up and I had to drag both kids out to the Veris*n store on Christmas Eve. We got it all worked out and I was satisfied, but a little nervous that Ian would freak out when he realized his phone wasn't working.
Little did I know....he was doing the same thing for me!
So I get home and I go to use my phone...and.....nothing! It doesn't work! I was pissed! I thought for sure that they messed it up and activated Ian's new phone on my line, and I had already wrapped it up and had it all set to go. So I go online and look at our account and much to my surprise...I had a new phone too! LOL
Ian did the SAME thing! After activating my phone (on his lunch break at work) He went to use his phone and it didn't work. So he got pissed and went back to Veris*on and told them they screwed it up and now his phone wasn't working. The veriz0n lady looks up our account and says, everything looks right...."you have the voyager, right?"
"Um NO!" LMAO I guess the lady felt really bad about giving up the surprise. She thought she ruined our Christmas.
Actually we both thought it was pretty funny, and we both got our presents Christmas eve! LOL.

Ian also got me an external hard drive for all my pics, so I don't clog up my laptop. I so NEEDED this!
Unfortunately I haven't taken any pics since Christmas day :(

I'm totally behind on Sami's 7 month post. She's getting so big so fast!
I have to get a 7 month photo shoot done for her...maybe next week. Things just have not slowed down here yet. Crazy!!
Big events with Sami are...
She is feeding herself Cheeri0s! This was a big moment for us, lol.
She is military crawling all over the place! Can crawl on all fours when she's in just a diaper, but hasn't seemed to figure it out with clothes on, lol.
She is trying to pull up on just about everything she can get her hands on. But she doesn't have the upper body strength yet. She usually gets really frustrated, but she will not give up.
She's been fighting me with her food. She wants what she wants, when she wants it and she refuses to give. It's all a big power struggle, because I refuse to give too. We've come to a compromise with cheeri0s and what ever Mama wants her to eat.

We've both been sick since New years and are just now starting to get better. Scott has his buddy here this weekend and having 2 teenage boys in the house is exhausting.

I'll try to update more...soon. With Sami starting to be mobile, finding time has been rough.

A few more...

Playing in the box...silly girl.

Beautiful Baby Emma!!

More Christmas pics

Santa Baby

Playing with Ryleigh...

Opening presents with Uncle Timmy

Christmas Morning

Opening presents...

Scott was so excited to help her open her gifts...He's such a great big brother, even better than I knew he would be...it just amazes me.

Sami was a little shocked by the Vsm*le Baby that Santa brought her, lol...I LOVE this pic!!

She looks SO interested in it!....guess we better break it out of the box, huh?

Christmas Eve

Sami did great opening her gifts. I was so suprized that she was really into it. Ripping the paper and playing with all her new toys..she loved it!

Funny faces are all I get from this one lately...

Jammies on....ready to go home and wait for Santa!

Quick update...

We've been a little busy around here. Sami got to spend almost a whole week with her BFF Chris Jr. It's amazing to see how much she develops when he's around. He's 6.5 months older so she tries to keep up with him and is amazed at how he can cruise all around on his own.

He encourages her to try and crawl and I am certain that we are just days, if not hours away from a fully mobile baby. My world is really about to change, lol. She is scooting all around and can get anywhere she wants to be, she just hasn't put it all together into a graceful motion yet. She's even tried pulling her self up with her baby gym. (The one in the pic behind her.) She grabbed the side of it and lifted her upper body! I couldn't believe it.

She has 2 teeth! The second one came in the day after the first. Still no complaining from her. She LOVES her cheeri0s!
Right now the whole family has a cold. Yuck! Scott had one two weeks ago when he was here and I think it may have lingered and just caught up to us. Sami is FULL of snot. Ian and I both feel like crap...just yuck, and sore throats. Nothing too unbearable, just an inconvenience.
Christmas shopping has been most difficult this year. You would think that since I'm not working I would have more time to get my shopping done. So not true. Everything seems more difficult with a baby sidekick. My shopping has to be planned around her napping schedule, and eating schedule...then when we do get out, Sami starts to fuss and the lines everywhere are a mile long and there are people everywhere and I just can't be bothered. I grab the few things we "need" (food, diapers, etc.) and head out.

I'm excited for Sami's first Christmas. She's already trying to get at the presents we have under the tree. She loves the paper, I know she's going to have fun crinkling it all up.

I'm having some issues with differences in mine and Ian's traditions, but I'll write about that another time...Scott wants to play chess, so I gotta go.

Until next time...

 

 

 

 

Sami's First Sleigh Ride

Sami had her very first sleigh ride this weekend! She LOVED it! And so did her brother and father. I've never seen them smile so much. These boys love this girl SO much!

She was laying down inthe sled first because I was afraid that she wouldn't be able to hold herself up while he was pulling her and if she fell backward from a sitting position that would have been the end of it for her. She looked incredibly awkward laying down so we got the Bumbo and wedged her in it, lol. It was a snug fit with her snowsuit on, but it worked perfectly!

They had so much fun!!! It was AWESOME!

She was really happy, but I think it was too cold for her to smile, lol. She enjoyed it so much, I wish she could have stayed out longer but it was cold and I was getting worried. She never complained a bit and when we came back inside to warm up, we played for about 2 minutes and she was ready for a nap. The fresh air felt good.

Continued...

Daddy had to have his turn too. Ian was so happy, I've never seen him light up like this. He was just so proud of his kids and was soaking up this moment.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Breaking News...

This just in....Sami's first tooth!!!

It broke through last night. Just a sharp little tip, but it's there. I have a feeling that the one next to it isn't far behind. She's been taking it like a pro. No complaining from her, no fever, just drool....lots and lots of drool!
She did great at her 6 month appointment too. Weighed in at 16 pounds (50th percentile) and 26.5 inches (75th percentile). She did great with her shots. Screamed a bit, but was quickly consoled and even smiled for the nurse immediately after the last shot when I picked her up. No fever after the shots this time either.
This morning she wanted nothing to do with her cereal so I gave her some Cherri0s and she was in heaven. I guess she just wanted to try out her new tooth, lol.

The boys took off first thing this morning on the snowmobile....well....Scott's snowmobile. Ian hasn't picked his up yet, or it hasn't come in yet. Either way, he's pretty jealous and has been using Scott's just about everyday since the snow started flying.

6 months!!

Wow, I can't believe it's been half a year since my baby was born!! Where does the time go?

I sent out pics to family this week from her 6 month photo shoot I did and they all said 5 month photo shoot, lol. I don't think I'm ready for her to be 6 months yet.

6 months seems like a big milestone. In all the baby mags and books it is the separation of the groups that they categorize our babies in. She's really becoming a big girl now.

We are in Kind*rmusik once a week now and she LOVES it! It's nice to be out and interacting with other moms and babies. There is a baby in our class that is exactly one month older than Sam and she is so tiny! I never thought Sami was big for her age until I met this little peanut. In another class that we previewed there was a girl that was 2 or 3 months older than Sam and they were the same size! Weird. I can't wait to go to the dr. this month to get her measurements. We go on Wednesday.



So as far as her milestones go...

• She can sit up unassisted


• rolls both ways


• is eating solids breakfast, lunch and dinner


• Has had...Blueberries, apples, bananas, pears, peaches, pineapple, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and of course rice cereal and oatmeal, and multi grain cereal.


• She is just starting to get up on all fours and I assume crawling isn't too far away...we shall see.


• She is saying Ma ma ma and Ba ba ba ba, but neither of them actually mean anything to her, they're just the sounds that come out, lol.


• She is finally starting to take two regular naps a day(I'm sure I just jinxed that, lol.)


• She does not sleep through the night and we've tried EVERYTHING!
• We've tried Cheeri0s and gerb*r puffs, but I'm not sure she's too fond of them yet. I'm enjoying the faces she makes though.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some other amazing stuff she does, lol, but you've probably stopped reading by now anyway.

She absolutely loves her Jump a roo and her doggies. She just thinks that Bruno and Patches are the greatest things on this Earth and is constantly looking for them and laughing at them. They don't even have to do anything, she'll just look over and see them and start giggling away. It's so cute!

The other night she was having a hard time falling asleep and I tried to let her cry it out, didn't work, tried to nurse her, didn't work. Every time I would lay her down she would scream. So I held her and rocked her in her room (We finally moved the rocker to the nursery) and she cuddled in on my chest and held me tight and fell asleep. My heart grew 10 sizes! Sami is not a cuddly baby. Never really has been. She likes her bed and would rather sleep there than with you or have you rock or hold her, so the fact that she wanted to be held and snuggled was a rare treat for me and I soaked up every second of it!

Then it was back to, "Put me to bed Mama!"

She has truly changed our lives and Ian and I are loving every minute of this little girl. She's our pride and joy and I am forever thankful for her.

This morning I woke up with yet another clogged milk duct and am in incredible pain. This one is WAY worse than the first one and I am praying that it passes quickly, because I don't know how much more I can take. Anyone who has dealt with this...please give advise!!!!

Oh, I almost forgot...

Her first Thanksgiving went well. No turkey for her though :( Not from a lack of trying by Poppy, that's for sure, lol. He was trying to give her gravy and everything else he could dip his fingers into for her to taste.

She slept through dinner which was nice for us because we got to sit down and enjoy the meal with out passing her around. Dinner was EXCELLENT! We went to my mother's for dinner this year. We got to see my aunt and uncle and my cousins that I haven't seen in years! It was really nice to have them all together. One of my cousins. Nick, was recently diagnosed with brain cancer and has just started chemo and radiation. He's only 19 years old!! He seems to be doing well so far, but if you're the praying type, please throw in an extra prayer for him. Thanks.

6 month/Christmas pics