roll over, roll over....

Rolling over is a big milestone for little itty bitty's, and yesterday, mine finally accomplished such a feat!! I can't explain how happy I was. It's so exciting to see your little one achieve something that to their little body must seem so hard.

As with all milestones, there is no specific time any one baby might roll over. Some babies have the ability to roll over right from the start. Such as I, who was so angry my first night at home, apparently I rolled myself over in a fit of rage. So fitting. While my offspring appears to have the same tenacity, those thunder thighs clearly require a lot of strength to move. Therefore, it hasn't been much of a shock to me that rolling over has seemed to be of little interest to her.

As we were pushing our way through tummy time bootcamp I started to notice she was beginning to kick her legs over as if to roll herself over. So I took that opportunity to start showing her the world of rolling from tummy to back. She appeared to just enjoy the ability to suddenly be returned to her backside and would immediately start sucking her fist, unamused, amid my cheers.

Then last night, I put her on her tummy and as I was paying no attention whatsoever SHE ROLLED OVER. What the...!?!? Why is it that any time your not being a good parent (ie, staring at the TV, wrapped up in a Nicholas Sparks book on your phone, clipping your toenails...) something huge happens!? So of course, I put her back on her tummy and made her do it again. I just couldn't believe she actually did it without my help. And wouldn't you know, she did it again. And again.

When I frantically got out my phone to video it for her daddy on the FOURTH time, my phone decided it was too full. (Thanks to the OtterBox case, I still have a phone today). Minutes later, Adam walked in from work and of course at that point, Adly decided she'd had enough of her new trick and threw a fit. Such is life.

Today was a new day, and thus time to see if it was a fluke or if my little puppy daughter really had learned a new trick. And sure enough, she has.

Ignore the soccer mom cheers from the sidelines. 

Reading

These days, technology is all around us. Children are introduced to it from the start of their young lives both intentionally and unintentionally. But sometimes, in some cases, I think that technology can be a more of a hinderance than a help. I recently read an article about children learning how to read soley by reading books on iPads. I shuddered at the thought. We just can't get rid of books all together. To quote my favorite movie of all time, Elf, "But the children LOVE the books!"

We use many forms of technology in the classroom, including iPads. And I am all for it as a compliment to instruction, because technology is the way of the future and our children need to know how to best utilize it. But to learn how to read?! To me, there is nothing that compares to the power of a real, in your hands, feeling of turning the pages of a book. Especially when you are trying to introduce the magic of reading to a young child.

And what magic it truly is, that the simplest of books can invoke awe, wonder, and excitement in even the littlest ones.

Whooo-Whooo!

Halloween.

A time when everyone gets to be someone they're not. For most girls, it's a time when they get to be the slutty pirate they've always dreamt of. For most boys, it's a time to live out that comic book fantasy of being able to fly and destroy people with lasers.

I greatly dislike halloween. I know, it's terrible. It has always been such a pain for me to come up with a costume. Don't get me wrong, I lived for it as a kid and in college I slutted it up with the best of them. But as I've gotten older, dressing up has just become a drag. To help myself deal with this awful holiday, I've begun coming up with costumes that allow me to attempt to get away with 'dressing up' but not really dressing up. Last year, I threw on a red turtleneck and some red lipstick. Viola! I was the Target lady. The year before, I borrowed my husband's Brett Favre jersey and went as a Packer football player. All this just to fit in with Halloween aficionado's everywhere and not have to be questioned all night, "Why didn't you, like, dress up!?"

Now I have a child. Uuugggghhhh.

That's right. I guess I have to start enjoying halloween on some level. At first I balked at the idea of getting a costume for Adly. I mean, she's 3 months old. She could give two shits about what she's wearing unless it's uncomfortable. More than likely, the whole time she's wearing the thing she's going to be pissed as hell at me. But I caved anyways. And boy, did I ever cave.

I found the cutest darn Halloween costume ever. (Of course, it's from a chain so there will be millions of other kiddo's in it whose parents will be convinced their child is the cutest ever). But who cares. She's my cutie.

Here's the cutest little owlet there ever was. Oh and that brown thing holding her? That's the tree she lives in. See what I mean? Easiest costume possible.

I'm gonna fly away, mommy!

You Know You're a Mom When...

You've been up for hours, you've gone through two outfit changes yourself (not for style, people..usually you still haven't brushed your teeth or hair), your child has gone through two outfit changes (poop happens), you're starving (when did I last eat?), you're exhausted (how many games of peek-a-boo have we played?) and you stop and find yourself thinking,

"Man, this has been a loooong day. Surely it must be almost bedtime, right?"

Then you look at the clock and it's 9:30am.

I hear ya sister...I can't believe it either. 

Oh Tummy Time

So, when I had a baby I thought that tummy time was instrumental in helping babies learn to crawl. And of course my daughter is going to be the best, smartest, and earliest one to do everything. Right?!? Soon after we arrived home I began placing her on her stomach every so often. She immediately seemed to want to move.

Wow. She's already the best, smartest, and certainly going to be the earliest crawler, I thought! So I encouraged her by placing my hands under her feet and helping her to launch off of them. I laughed at my poor husband when he'd put her on her tummy and just let her lay there. "Pssshhh! That's not tummy time!" I'd say and feel content knowing I knew what was best for our smartest, best, earliest daughter. She wasn't to just lay there. No, we needed to get her moving. 

On top of all this, she hated it. Tummy time became a thing that I dreaded because I knew she'd cry the entire time. That always stressed me out so naturally, I implemented avoidance. What that created was a newborn who was not used to being on her tummy and began to hate it even more whenever it did happen. 

It wasn't until about a week ago that I watched a video on tummy time for babies at age 3-4 months, the age of my munchkin. I couldn't wait to see how she measured up. I know, I'm that mom. But when I saw the video I freaked out. I was all wrong on how I'd been pushing tummy time. The babies on there had no problem lifting their heads up off the ground and looking around. My little pumpkin wasn't even attempting to lift her head at this point. And then I was all like, "Oooooohhhhh. Oh wait, so THAT'S what tummy time looks like!" Turns out, my husband hadn't been that off. But we won't tell him that. 

In my quest to push my sweet pea to be the best, earliest, smartest, I had actually stunted an integral part of her growth process. So since watching that video, I've pulled out my whistle and gym shorts to integrate tummy time boot camp into our lives. Adly now spends every waking moment of her life on her tummy. "And lift 1,2,3..." 

In all seriousness, it was just one of the millions of learning curves we're going to be thrown as new parents. Now we that know the purpose of tummy time, we are working hard with her....not to make her the best, smartest, earliest anything. But to help make her just right for Adly.

I'll do anything for a glimpse of my beautiful face..including lifting my head. (Vanity in its purest form.)

Anniversary Trip

To celebrate the end of our first year of marriage, Adam and I planned a trip to Door County, WI. This place has been very special to us for many reasons, but mostly because we got engaged there.

It was the best way to enjoy all things from this year together. Something about up north relaxed all of us--including our lovely baby who has been incredibly cranky when it comes to spending time with her daddy lately. We ate out, walked along the water, had some celebratory cocktails and took in the beauty of the fall leaves. This has been by far my most favorite time to be up there. Gorgeous!!

Before I get to the pictures I have to tell one very crazy story. The night Adam proposed, we went out to a steakhouse in Ephraim called Alexander's. At the end of dinner, he ordered a peanut butter and chocolate dessert to go. I thought nothing of it because he loooooves chocolate and pb. When we got to our cottage after dinner, he was carrying the dessert and champagne we had brought up. As we got to the door, he had me go in his pocket to get out the keys since his hands were full. There was the ring. So sneaky!

So for our anniversary dinner we knew we had to go back to Alexander's. While we were at dinner, your typical music was playing--songs, not classical music. All of the sudden, we noticed the song I walked down the aisle to--Quelqu'un Ma Dit was playing. Its a classical melody. Weird. At the end of our dinner, after a major blowout and a freezing cold diaper change, Adly had had just about enough. So we were quickly packing up to leave when the waiter dropped off a dessert to go "on the house" for our anniversary. We both looked at each other....seriously? Sure enough, it was the same dessert Adam had ordered on that fateful day. Such a fun way to spend a weekend reminiscing and celebrating such a busy, wild, and fantastic first year of marriage.

Where we going, mama!?

Hours of failed attempts at answering Trivial Pursuit questions.

Goats...on a roof!

Famous dessert. 

Fantastic resort!

It's a Flat...

Have you ever thought about what would happen if you were driving with your little bitty and you got a flat tire? I have. And today, I found out!

For the first time in my life, I didn't cry and I didn't call my dad. I know, I'm growing up so fast! Instead, I first looked up any auto repair places near me. The tire was completely flat so I knew I needed a tow. I then spent about 5 minutes cursing myself for not registering our new car with AAA. Adam and I just discussed it while on vacation. Go figure. Then my itty bitty started screaming. That's when everything got real fun. So I called my husband to figure it out. Hey, we can't all grow up too fast.

When all was said and done, we found a fantastic auto repair shop and they set me up with a tow truck. But what I wasn't sure of was, what do I do with the car seat in the tow truck? As you may remember, setting up the car seat was something of a small feat for me. Therefore, I haven't touched it since Judy secured that thing with all her might. I started to panic about having to take out the base and secure it into the tow truck seat. Then I asked the guy, "Can we just leave her in the car on the truck bed?" To which the gruffest tow truck man I've ever seen, stopped, glared at me and responded, "Seriously?! Umm no. She goes in the truck with us."

What he didn't understand was, I was serious. I was not about to undo the whole car seat, base and all. So without any further instruction from tow truck man, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I strapped Adly into her car seat and tossed her into the truck in the car seat. She seemed to enjoy her new sitting place and fell fast asleep--thank goodness. I then held on for dear life terrified that we could get in an accident and she wasn't locked in. But lo and behold, we made it around the two corners just fine.

So that's that. A short little outing turned into quite an adventure. Never a dull moment around here!

Upon initial investigation, it was thought to be a slash from a vandal who is clearly out to get me. According to the auto repair place it came from debris on the road. Whatever you say.....

Where the hell am I and WHY am I here MOM?!

1 Year Ago...

Can you believe this happened in ONE YEAR?!!?

Preggo and didn't know it.

Yep...I guess after 3 tests they must be reading correctly. 

 Faking it!

 First ultrasound. 

Woah..something is IN THERE.

 Shit started getting real. 

 5 days before the big show. Soooo big. 

 Oh, hey Adly. 

 I learned shortly after this she needed more head support. Oops. 

Smiles to light up our world.

If one year was this amazing...I can't wait to discover what's in store for the rest of our lives. 

Happy One Year Anniversary to my best friend, partner in crime, baby daddy, and love of my life!

3 Months...

As Adly turns 3 months old, I'm noticing a lot of changes. This has me really excited for what's ahead in the next month. 

-She is discovering the sense of touch. This is a really neat progression to watch. I notice her touching everything on me, my shoulder, tank top straps, my nose, my mouth, and then her blankets and clothes...anything that is up close to her. She feels it or holds on to it, sometimes staring at her hands as she does so. It's almost as though you can see the connections happening in her brain that what her hand is touching is what she feels. 

-Her hands are getting stronger at grabbing objects. She is particularly interested in a light up rattle at this point. She can hold on to the rattle, shake it around a bit, and just the other day she put it in her mouth. Funny, soon enough I'm sure I'm going to be freaking out over her putting everything in her mouth. But to see it happen for the first time with an object was so cool!

-As we work hard on tummy time, she's able to push herself across her play gym mat when I put my hands under her feet to give her something to push off of. It's incredible to see the amount of effort and strength it takes for a baby to move themselves. She still doesn't love being on her tummy, but seems to be learning to deal with it for short periods of time. 

-She coo's and talks all the time. In the last week she's begun making sounds starting with "g-g-g". Maybe the start of some "goo-goo, ga-ga"? 

-She continues to sleep through the night, although this relies heavily on her napping properly during the day. Not enough naps=overtired baby who wakes up every hour at night. Speaking of naps, right now she's taking four 1-hour naps a day. I haven't figured out how to move those to two longer naps a day. I'm open to suggestions!

-The battle of the swaddle continues on. I'm not sure how to deal with the fact that she wants to suck her thumb at night. Usually this results in her arms getting loose and then her being kept up all night. However last night, after I was awakened at 2:30am, I went in and let her arm loose so she could suck her thumb. She calmed herself down right after and slept through the rest of the night. The rigid me is scared of the upcoming change of letting the swaddle go (nooo! I just caught up on all the sleep I was missing!). But the rational me can see that the swaddle just isn't going to last much longer. Fingers crossed for us!

-She is now a full blown thumb sucker. I'm actually relieved to have this finally happen as she is learning to use it as a self-soothing tool. For so long when she was upset she'd attempt to find her thumb by shoving her whole fist in her mouth. That just ended up upsetting her even more and would sometimes make her gag. Now she's usually able to find her little thumb and get it into her mouth in order to calm down.

-Her smiles continue to flow and make me giggle like a child every time. She is so happy at times. Every so often she'll smile so hard she attempts to giggle, but hasn't quite gotten there yet. 

Visiting a New Mama

Before I get into this, I have to add a disclaimer. The idea for this post didn't come from my amazing mind spaces. I actually saw a post similar to this recently and it made me think over my own experience. Of course, everyone's experience with the people in their life is different, so I wanted to add my own two cents to the party.

I was one of the very first of many of my friends and to have a baby. Let me tell you, baby world is uncharted for not only myself, but many people in my life. After reading the aforementioned article, I have to say I think I am unbelievably blessed with amazing friends and family. I was extremely lucky when it came to visitors, what they brought, and what they did.

Here's my advice, now that I've been there, done that in entering the jungle of mommyhood. One more disclaimer, I'm a dumb-dumb when it comes to this stuff, so I'm not afraid to admit I've NOT done many of these things when visiting friends prior to having my own. My apologies in advance and thanks for still being friends with me. Don't feel as if you have to do all of these things, but you should try to do at least one as you make your way over to visit the new earthling. 

-Bring Food. Seriously. Any type of food. A snack, a homemade meal, something you just picked up. It doesn't matter. As an avid cook myself, I prepared many freezer meals in advance to feed our family after baby. Unfortunately, once baby was here, even the thought of boiling water on the stove became overwhelming. Even when a new mom says, "no, no don't bring food." You need to immediately shut them down and insist on bringing food. I'm telling you, it will save their day and in all likelihood it's the only thing they'll eat that day. I had countless visitors bring over food and I always felt awkward about it. I'm an adult, I can buy my own lunch/dinner! But as soon as they arrived, I was able to hand Adly over and actually eat a meal...usually for the first time that day. I think, above all other things you can do, this packs the biggest punch. 

-Cut the Chat, Help them Out. I was terrible about this--and this was all my fault. Whenever friends came over, I was dying to catch up with them and hear about anything that was going on outside of babyland. So most often, I would sit my friends down and accost them for information about their lives. This is fine and dandy. But what I didn't realize until weeks down the road was I had chatted away precious time I could've used to throw Adly in their arms and shower, clean, do laundry, grocery shop, brush my teeth, pee...you name it. Now when I visit a new mommy, I'll insist they at least get up and brush their teeth while I get to gobble baby up all by myself. I'm pretty sure most people would jump at the chance to be able to hog baby all to themselves without the new mom hovering over them like a hawk. (Noooo, I never did that!!)

-Offer to Watch Baby. Again, we scored big time in the friend/family department. I can't even count how many people have willingly offered to watch Adly over the last few months--and meant it. At first I thought it was just people being nice. I'm not one to ask for help for anything, so I kind of just brushed it off. But then friends kept offering and after a while, I slowly started accepting. Eventually I even started asking for help here and there. Of course, I don't ask all the time or on a regular basis so as not to (I hope) make anyone feel overused. When I say, "offer to watch baby", I mean offer to watch them so that mom can run to the grocery store, go get a mani/pedi, a massage, take a walk for 20 minutes. Anything to get mom out of the house. She may not think so at the time, but she needs it. And you can bet that most new moms would never ask for such help, so as not to be a burden. So offer away--if you feel comfortable doing so.

-Clean...if You Can. This one's tricky. I say that because I don't know that I, myself could bust into someone's home and say, "where's the vacuum. I'm cleaning up this dump!" But if you ever find yourself in a position where you are in their house alone for a bit...CLEAN. Oh my word. I had a few friends who found themselves at our house while I was out. And when I came home and found a clean house, I could've cried. In fact, I'm sure I did. While I never thought I needed that kind of help, once it happened I realized just how messy the house had gotten. You have no idea how hard it is to wipe up the kitchen, clean the bathroom, vacuum, etc. when you have a newborn crying their head off for most of the day. 

-Schedule Your Visit. Don't just "drop by". In my normal life, I'm all for drop-in visitors. In post-baby life, you wouldn't believe how much it can screw up your day. People don't do this intentionally, in fact I think most people don't even realize they're doing it. But the weeks/months following birth are a blurry mush of madness. So many people want to make their way over to see baby as soon as possible. This is great and all, but the new mommy, daddy and baby need to have time to themselves too. Scheduling your visit allows the family to have people over when they're most comfortable with it. Additionally, if a mom is breastfeeding, your scheduled visit will allow her to attempt to make sure thats done and over with before you come over. Another little piece of advice is go back again. Seems simple enough, right? But the reality is everyone comes over in a huge wave at the very beginning and then as life normalizes, the phone calls stop coming. Check back in on the new mommy. Meals a month or two afterwards never hurt either...because, as I can attest, life takes a long time to become any kind of new normal.

-Gifts. Again, we had numerous visitors who came over bearing gifts. I cannot say enough how loved Adly really is. And the truth is, people just love giving babies gifts! If you'd prefer to bring a gift when you visit your new mommy friend and baby, then my suggestion would be clothes. Anything in older sizes. I guarantee that baby's nursery is chock full of newborn and 0-3 month outfits. And as you pick out the cutest little 6 month outfit, make sure that it is weather friendly for when the baby will be wearing it. For example, don't buy a winter coat for a baby that will fit into it in the middle of summer. No matter how cute it is. If you're stuck on what to buy, you can never, ever go wrong with onesies. Another idea is to think about the mommy! I once said on here (before giving birth) that I myself would want bottles and bottles of wine. I still stick to that...wine doesn't go bad (believe it or not, it took me a while to jump back on that wagon). I had one friend bring a whole case of wine over! She knows me too well. I also had a few people bring over a whole bunch of nursing supplies. They knew I was breastfeeding and I have to say, I used and am still using everything they brought over. See what I mean? We have the most thoughtful people all around us.

The bottom line is that new mommy's just love visitors. So get over there! It's amazing as a new mom to see how excited your friends and family are over your new bundle of joy. And it makes the new mommy feel loved too. Even if you don't do any of the above, I guarantee that any new mom will be glad to have you even just visit for a while...that is, unless you show up unannounced at 4pm while she's breastfeeding in the pajamas she's been wearing for four days without a shower. Trust me...it happens. 

Pumpkins for My Pumpkin

Fall is finally here and that means apples, pumpkins, football, and colorful leaves.

Of course, we couldn't let this season pass without torturing our child by doing things like apple picking on a sunny day, shoving her inside a pumpkin, and surrounding her with large gourds. That's what she's here for anyways, right?

Child abuse at its finest. 

Seriously mom!?! The pumpkins AGAIN!?

You want me to smile?? How 'bout I kick over this here pumpkin instead. Oopsie daisies!

My favorite pumpkin is the one thats naked and in the green.