We're having a.....

GIRL!!!

Despite almost everyone's boy predictions, despite the different pregnancy and totally opposite cravings, Baby Bway 2.0 is a girl!

To say I was shocked is an understatement. I don't know why. From the start I really wanted another girl. But then I spent so much time being told it was a boy and telling myself it was a boy, I think I honestly believed it was a boy. And then I started to really want to experience having a little boy. So when the card read GIRL, it took me a full few minutes to soak it in.

We found out the sex at our 20 week ultrasound so they also examined every inch of her teeny little body, and everything appears to be very healthy. She was very tired and all balled up for most of the examination, but would move throughout the poking and prodding so they were able to get a good peek at her. This is different than her older sister, who was very stubborn and took two doctors pushing, poking, and prodding to be able to get a look at her. However, just like her big sister, she appears to already be self soothing through thumb sucking. How did I end up with two thumb suckers?!! Orthodontists everywhere will love us in 15 years. 

Our plan had been to keep the sex a secret until Adly's family birthday party next weekend, when most of our family would be present. I laugh out loud at this decision now. I don't know who we were kidding. We are the WORST secret keepers that ever lived! Literally as soon as we found out, I dried my tears, Adam slammed some wine (TWO girls!?!) and the appetizers arrived, we were ready to head home and call our families.

Adam always knew he wanted to carry on his middle name, Farrell, to one of his future children. Once we found out Adly was a girl, we decided to pull her middle name from my side of the family. For the second baby we decided we would use Farrell for the middle name, whether it was a boy or a girl. Soon after Adly was born, we began talking about another girl name, and how it could it ever be just as special as Adly's name. That was when Adam brought up the idea of carrying down his grandma Eleanor's name. I loved the name from the start, and although I was never able to meet her, I had heard many amazing things about her. From that moment on, we planned on using Eleanor, were we ever to have another girl.

I'm so glad we ended up doing it the way we did, and not waiting another week. We were able to share the news and the decision of the name individually with our parents and it was very special. When we called his mom to tell her the news last night (Eleanor was her mother), she was beyond thrilled and it was a very special, emotional moment.

So, meet little miss Eleanor (Ellie) Farrell. Sucking her little thumb from the start, just like her big sister!

Cooking With Your Toddler: Banana Muffins

I am not a baker. I don't claim to be one, I don't really even strive to be one. However, cooking isn't always the easiest to do with your child, as it usually involves a stovetop and raw meat of some kind. And my child happens to love being right next to mommy, cooking away.

So in order to solve that problem, I began baking with her. It's easier to keep her entertained, she can stir things that aren't hot, and none of its going to kill her if she eats it as we go (since that's what she does. Every. single. time.)

I've tried out a lot of recipes and one that has become our favorite are these banana crumble muffins. We have made these so many times and every time they come out tasting delicious. They are also great to take to friends houses or any brunch events.

They mostly are an awesome recipe to cook with your toddler mostly because of the crumb topping. Who doesn't love a bowl of brown sugar/butter yumminess? When applying the topping, Adly likes to follow the golden rule of "some for you muffin, some for me". Sorry, people who have had them. You've definitely had a little bit of Adly love, mixed in. 

When I first began cooking with Adly, I'm not going to lie, it was really hard to keep my patience intact. I would get very frustrated when flour spilled or when things dropped on the floor. Over time, I've tried to keep reminding myself that a mess is a mess. And it can always be cleaned up. What can't be replaced is the fun your toddler will have, being a part of what mommy does and acting as a helper. She seriously gets so much joy out of pouring the ingredients in, stirring them with a whisk, and then tasting everything as she goes.

She even has her own apron, thanks to her godmother who sewed her one. This apron is essential to Adly's cooking process and must always be worn.

Another benefit to these baking sessions with Adly has been the growth in her imagination skills. She loves her play kitchen and now really loves pretending to cook. I hear her using the same terms we use as we bake as she makes her own creations, playing on her own in her kitchen. Although she gets a little crazy with chicken and ketchup and french fries in her one-pot-wonders. 

I honestly follow the recipe to a tee, except that after reading comments from others, I add cinnamon and nutmeg to the flour mixture.

I encourage you to give this recipe a try, with your toddler. It has made so many rainy Saturdays much more bearable in our household!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 bananas, mashed 3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten 1/3 cup butter, melted 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3.	In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Picky Eaters: How We Dealt with Ours

Picky eating phases suck. 

There is no other way to put it. They are unbelievably frustrating for parents and make mealtimes become dreaded for everyone involved. This is a terrible feeling for someone who enjoys cooking and sharing food with others. Imagine making an entire, healthy, delicious meal for your loved one only to have them turn their nose up at it, refuse to try a bite of any of it, ignore it, or just throw it all on the floor. Now imagine when all of the above happens during one meal time. 

It will bring any sane person to tears. And that was what our mealtimes started coming to. Around 18-20 months, Adly began deciding what she did and didn't like. Most things, she didn't like. So many things she had once loved became yucky or things she would eat one bite of and say "Adly no like it". Then would come the whines to get down or for other foods she had decided that day she wanted instead. It is the most frustrating feeling to make an entire meal and then have this little person try to dictate five other things they'd rather have instead. 

Out of frustration, I did what I always do in this journey of parenthood I know nothing about, I started to read. I wanted to know about others' experiences, I wanted to hear ideas that worked, and I wanted it to fit our family. 

One day I came upon this article. It had me from the start, mentioning having a picky 6 year old and 5 years from now, still fighting the food battle. Oh hell no! Was my first thought. She goes on to have some amazing ideas that, as with everything, made perfect sense and made me be all like "now why didn't I think of that?!?" 

I loved it so much I bookmarked it and sent it to Adam. Adam admittedly doesn't always love reading about raising children as much as I do, so he usually just trusts what I say and runs with it. (See?! He's amazing like that. I love when people listen to me!) But the picky mealtimes had definitely been a source of tension between the two of us, and I wanted it to be a plan we'd both be on board with. Back to the frustrations picky eating brings out, at least in our household, mealtime fights put everyone on edge. I think it's important to have a solid frontline when dealing with a picky toddler to ensure you are doing the same things to create consistency across the board. 

He read the article and agreed with it too. So we jumped in full force the next day. And lo and behold, it worked!! 

We tweaked her ideas slightly in order to fit our family. This has created a ton less tension between all of us during mealtimes. I've let go of the guilt I used to feel when Adly refused to eat one bite. I've stopped getting mad at her whenever it happens. Essentially I've just let it all go. Because I know in the end she'll be ok.

Here are the eating rules we live and breathe these days. 

-Every meal offered contains a protein, dairy, fruit and a veggie (most days. I am admittedly terrible with vegetables). Sometimes a grain.

-Every meal contains at least one thing I know she loves. This allows Adly to feel like she has choices in what she eats on the plate. This also gives her the independence she was seeking during meal times. 

-In our house, she can have more of something (usually fruit) once she eats a few bites of the protien (usually what she doesn't eat).

-She doesn't have to eat it all, and when she is done, she's done. For Adly, she gives us her plate and says "all done" when she's done eating. There is no snacking after dinner. 

-Afternoon snacks have become lighter to help with dinner eating. 

-Dessert is unknown. We don't use it as leverage or even talk about it. Any time we have mentioned "dessert" she says yes to it and she is presented with applesauce or yogurt. They're sweet, right? 

-My biggest takeaway from this article? Six words. You don't have to eat it. 

I swear to you, since we instilled this plan into our mealtimes, not once has Adly refused her entire meal. Not once have I cried. Not even once have I gotten frustrated. (And this is coming from the most easily frustrated adult-toddler there is!) It was as though we saw the light. Seriously, that cheesy. I also believe that once my attitude got an adjustment, Adly picked up on it as well, and the battles ended. Toddlers are so much more intuitive than we give them credit for. 

That article saved our mealtimes. And as soon as it did, mealtimes became fun. A time to relax and talk and sit back and laugh. Or just relax. 

There are days where Adly doesn't eat hardly anything. And I'm ok with that. She lives with it and then eats like a monster at breakfast the next day. She is always fine. There are also times where Adly's sensitive stomach gets a bug and she has days of diarrhea. This is when we go back to the age-old BRAT (banana, rice, apples, toast) diet and our normal diet is completely out the window. So of course, this, like everything else when it comes to babies and toddlers and kids, takes flexibility. 

If you're stuck at home, crying in the corner of your kitchen because your kid threw yet another delicious meal on the floor, I suggest you read this article and/or try some of the ideas out! It saved our family, hopefully it will help yours too. 

"Adly silly. Take a picture mama!"

The Costco Files: My Best Finds for Moms

You know you're a mom when....

Costco happens.

Let's face it. Before you have offspring there really is no reason to have a membership to the worlds greatest mom-hive. I swear this place is constantly swarming with moms of all types, racing through the store to fill their carts with plentiful amounts of everything from fruits to wine to sleepers to diapers. Even when you show up right before the store opens. There are lines to get in! I have been to this store at every imaginable hour and never once have I seen it close to "empty". You know how you can find those sweet spot hours at your favorite shopping stores where no one else seems to be there? Never. Never, ever, ever, does this happen at Costco.

But why would it? This place is a magnet for people with kids. Their prices are unbeatable and oh my God have you tried their pizza?!? Let's be honest, you know most people (including myself) plan their eating schedule that day around getting to mow down on a heavenly piece of Costco pizza. Bonus points for when you don't have to have a child in tow. 

A mom friend of mine once said something along the lines of: you know you're a mom when your favorite outing of the week without your kid is a peaceful trip to Costco. Where you can wander the aisles in peace, not having to worry about entertaining your child. And she was so right. 

I've seen a lot of "What to Buy at Costco lists" out there, and I love reading them because I'm always looking for new buys there. However, I'm kind of a creature of habit. So I definitely find myself sticking with some of these trusty standbys. I thought I'd share my favorites to help any newbie Costco-goers (aka; new mommies) navigate the great aisles of this amazing store.

-Kirkland formula (for before one year). This had a major impact on helping our budget. So much cheaper than the name brand. Same ingredients too! So don't you worry all you over-protective-first-time-mommies.

-Kerrygold Irish Butter. Organic, grass-fed cows. Pure butter at a great price. 

-Organic strawberries. OMG their strawberries. Adly and I go through these in a matter of days. They are in season right now and beyond amazing. But I've personally enjoyed them all year. Never had a moldy batch, which is not something I can say for the smaller batches I buy at local grocers. 

-Belvita Breakfast Bars. I was introduced to these by another mommy. They are a great, nut free on-the-go snack for both of us. Love these. 

-Bananas. Organic again, and at an incredible price and taste.

-Kirkland Applesauce Squeeze Pouches. At about 18 months, I gave in to the ease of buying pouches. They still weird me out, so I check every one by giving it a little squeeze before giving it to Adly. I still argue that making them is better, but for now I just don't have the drive to make them. 

-Wholly Guacomole! These are sold in little individual serve packets and great for snacks. I haven't bought these yet only because I wasn't sure if we'd go through them all in a timely manner. However, I think my guac-loving child is definitely ready for them, so we will be picking them up next time we go. 

-Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese. Costco is making a big push to provide more organic products at a great price. Annie's recently switched their Mac and cheese boxes to all organic at Costco. I've since started buying these there. I actually prefer making my own Mac and cheese, but these are great for the times in between. 

-Condiments. We buy all of our staple condiments here like ketchup, mustard, Franks red hot, etc. All three of us are dip lovers so we tend to make use of these things pretty quick. 

-Huggies diapers. There are no doubts about it. Diapers here are so much cheaper! I prefer the Huggies because we are used to them. I hear Kirkland are just as good.

-Huggies Natural Care Wipes. I haven't been able to switch to Kirkland wipes simply because Adly has such sensitive skin, and Huggies wipes have always been good to her. However, I hear they're just as good and are sold at a better price. 

-Toilet Paper & Paper Towel. The Kirkland brand of both are staples in our house. To me, there is no argument that it is a great deal. I buy these items at most, 4 times a year now. That to me is so worth it. 

-Laundry Detergent. Our last big jug of detergent lasted us almost a year. And most of their brands are the "free and clear" types which are great for my sensitive skinned child and newborn. 

-Carter Jammies. You cannot beat the price of sleeper fleece footie jammies for $7.99. I stock up on these for the winter time. They also have the great 4-piece cotton jammie sets for around $9.99. Another great deal. 

This is our usual list. Sometimes I get a little crazy and stray out from the norm to try something new beyond our regular items. But that depends on how wild I'm feeling that day. 

What other items do you love from Costco?

Big News....

Yep. It is official. I spent enough time in a few bottles of wine in Napa to decide that why yes, being pregnant and having a newborn was so fun I'm up for it all over again!! Let's do this thing!

As it so happens, Adam and I are apparently extremely fertile. He so much as looks at me and BAM! There's a baby in there. We decided to start "trying" in February because it would mean the birth of our second child would happen at the end of Adam's golf season. 

While it lands in the middle of my school year, we decided Adam being home was more important. Well, I had the main influence over that. Baby number one was extremely hard on me mentally and physically. Hard to imagine now that she's almost two and so good. SEE??!! This is why people do it again. They forget. They forget everything. Anyways, on top of that, Adam was gone 90% of every day. Throw in the fact most of our family lives far away and a dose of PPD that caused me to want no help whatsoever created a big storm of a hell I hope never happens again. I wrote about all of it when I was coming out of it and I hope one day I can find the strength to share about it all. 

But that's besides the point. Let's get to the fact that we started trying in February and by the end of February some funky spotting was going on so on a whim I took a pregnancy test. I mean, there was no way I was pregnant....right?

Sure enough, that little test showed up a nice faint positive. This was quite different from Adly's three tests in a row that turned a bright blue positive immediately. I called the doctors office to find out the chances of a false positive test. The regular nurse wasn't in, so I spent an hour on the phone with the hospital, trying to convince them I didn't need to come in and that I wasn't having a miscarriage. I mean, I spent two weeks heavily bleeding with Adly, hence why we didn't know until around 8 weeks. Plus, I was so early this time I didn't think there was major cause for concern. I went in the next week for blood tests and sure enough, I was pregnant at about 4 weeks along. 

Knowing you're pregnant so early suuuuuucks. I felt like crap for most of it and had nothing fun like a hangover to blame for it. Then there's the constant, incessant worry. I would much rather live blissfully unaware until the end of the rocky first trimester and then be all like "Oh! I'm pregnant! And I only have 28 more weeks to go! Lovely!" I started to feel amazing again around 9 weeks after feeling pretty crappy, which of course in the twisted world of pregnancy is never a good sign. At 11 weeks I was a nervous wreck as we went in for our next ultrasound. As soon as we saw inside, that little baby was a kicking and a punching, which put my mind at ease....for a week.

Then we went to Mexico and I felt soooo good, I just couldn't believe I was still pregnant. So by the time I made it to my 13 week checkup, I was convinced something had happened. I mean I didn't feel pregnant in any way. I could've easily been drinking my way though Mexico, dancing the night away (until 10pm because oh my God I cannot stay awake!!)  Sure enough, she found that little heartbeat be-bopping away immediately. It's just another reminder that this time is no different. We pregnant ladies are all CRAZY, no matter how many times you've stepped into the ring. 

Now comes the waiting game of finding out the sex. This is our last and final child and I want to know more than ever. With Adly, I had a feeling of her being a girl from the moment we found out. It was just this weird feeling. This time, I'm not having a strong feeling either way. Some days I feel it's a boy, some days I feel it's a girl. However the other day, I came home from work and Adly was feeling quite snuggly. She leaned up against my stomach, rubbing it saying "Mama got a baby in her belly. Adly be gentle." These sayings are all normal. Then she whips out "mama got a brudder in her belly."

I'm sorry, WHAT!?!?

Never before have any of us mentioned her possibly having a brother. If anything, I'd expect her to say sister since we always call her a big sister. So either my child is a creepy psychic or its just by chance. But I swear if it turns out to be a boy, I'll be watching her from now on out of one eye. Always.

Being a second time preggo mom with a toddler is very different. I can tell poor baby number two is definitely going to get the shaft in pregnancy. I'm sorry in advance child. I'm exhausted most of the time and I have a toddler who likes to "work" on my keyboard as I do, so blogging about it seems to be extra difficult. And the nursery. Or as we call it, the guest bedroom, will remain that. Baby number 2 will be getting the crib from Adly. The one with beaver chew marks all over the railing (apparently we don't feed her enough). And the same changing table and rocking chair. As far as decorating, I'm not nearly as concerned as I was with baby #1 now that I know they'll spend most of their time pooping, peeing, and spitting up all over any decorating I do get done. And the belly pictures...I keep thinking about starting them but that takes work. And I'm kind of burnt out from working my day job and then my mommy job by 7pm. Heaven forbid Adly actually help me take pictures. I mean, what gives?! Hopefully I can get on board with those sooner than later.

After getting through 3-4 weeks of feeling terrible, eating only cereal and toast, and all kinds of nighttime yucky nausea, I've been feeling amazing since 9 weeks. And THAT I can't complain about. But of course, I'm me, so I will find something. You want to know what is the most not awesome thing so far this pregnancy? My OBGYN went over my charts from Adly at my appointment on Thursday (she wasn't the one who delivered me) and as she did, she balked at the size of Adly at 8lb, 13oz, who was born one week early. Adly had been hiding in there. She hadn't measured big, so we weren't prepared for a giant baby to exit me. I specifically remember the doctor going "woah that's a big baby!" as soon as she came out. Therefore, my doctor is now concerned I may have developed late onset gestational diabetes. I don't know, it may have had something to do with the bags and bags of Sour Patch Kids and cookies and ice cream Adly made me eat, but I'm trying not to point fingers here. Anyways, this time I get to take that God awful diabetes test twice! Let the fun begin. It's ok, I'll just keep stockpiling these moments of amazing things I did for them to bring back up when my children are in high school and want to hate me. 

So there you have it. We have officially entered the rollercoaster of pregnancy and new parenthood one more time. We will be becoming a family of four sometime November 2016! 

Navigating the World of Playground Etiquette

Adly is at the age now where her favorite place to be is the neighborhood park. She asks to go daily, sometimes more than once a day. We live in a city, with no backyard, so I get it. It's her place of freedom where she can run free and be a kid.

As a parent, it's a whole different world. Suddenly I'm finding myself thrown into a whole new social gathering that can be nice, awkward, and sometimes just plain hurtful or rude.

Adly isn't old enough yet for me to just sit on the bench and let her play. She still likes to make random daredevil moves towards high up openings. Or she just enjoys mama watching her as she runs like the wind to go down the big slide for the fiftieth time in a row. Therefore, I'm up walking around with her the whole time, along with five other parents hovering over their own little daredevils. 

Adly is very social with other toddlers now. She looooves making friends at the park. She calls them by their names, they hug, they hold hands, and they run and yell together. It is so cute and always tugs at my parent heart strings. Adly is one-on-one with an adult every day still, and I always second guess whether she's missing out on something socially.

Anyways, that's besides the point. So far, Adly has met some really nice toddlers to run and play with, who also have relatively nice moms with them. We follow the girls around and have quick conversations about their ages, how silly they are, when we're having a second child, etc. You see, all of the other parents following their kids around are always other first time helicopter parents. When the second child comes, they'll be running free as soon as they can walk so mama can get some quiet time on the bench. 

Most of these moms are cordial. It's awkward and I get it. For the most part we chat quickly, smile, and then focus on our own kids. One time, I met a mom that was very friendly. She asked so many questions in such a great conversational way. I liked her immediately. Within minutes of chatting and moving into a real conversation, I learned that she used to be a teacher too. Of course she has great conversational skills. We talk for a living! That day, Adly was in a non-friend mood and more interested in doing her own thing. I was bummed because she was genuinely someone I would've wanted to become friends with. We left shortly after Adly jumped down from her swing, so I didn't get a chance to reach out and ask for her number or to set up a play date.

Meeting new mommy friends is totally like sober dating. You start chatting, ask a few questions, see if you're on the same page as moms. They have a daughter around the same age. You like talking with the mom and the girls seem to like each other. You awkwardly ask for their number or ask to meet again. Or you consider all of these options, but don't actually have the balls to do it--which is usually my case. You leave feeling elated at the score of a new number- and possibly a new friend. Or you leave bummed that you missed an opportunity. 

See that there? Yeah that's what we used to do with the help of a lot of Miller Lites and help from the darkness of a stinky bar and loud music. Now it's just us, our coffees, the sun, and shrieking kids. 

Then there's the other type of kids and parents. Ugh. Thankfully I've only run into them once. And it was yesterday. It drove me to write again so I'm clearly fired up about it still. These are the bitches of the playground. (Excuse my French, but as I told Adam this story and my daughter chimed in with "nitches!!" I felt the retelling deserved credit with the word, since clearly Adly and I felt the same way). 

It started with the kid. Adly was happily sliding down the toddler slide with a handful of other kids, going down, running up the stairs, and going down again. Round and round. They each took turns as they went, being very nice to each other. Then this adorable little girl with long blonde locks entered the scene. Adly turned to her at the top of the slide to say hi. With her back to me, all I saw was the little girls head shaking in the shoulder-popping, finger-shaking "oh no you di-nt!!!" style. Full of attitude. Adly balked at her, as if saying "Umm you're weird." Then she slid down the slide and went on her merry way. 

Minutes later, Adly wandered over to a pink push car just like ours- but it's pink. Adly loves these little push cars (she just got a red one) and she loves the color pink. Perfect storm. She was looking intently at it as I was trying to guide her away from it explaining that it wasn't ours. The mom guarding it never looked up from her phone while Adly and I had the exchange about the car in front of her. I redirected her back to the slides and she went down a few more times. 

Minutes later, Adly headed back towards the car. This time, I see the same little long haired B of a girl taking to her mom. "Ohhhh..." I think. "Now I see where the kid gets it." I know. I'm a total Judgey McJudgerson. As soon as the girl sees Adly walking near, she jumps in the car and goes "You can't come over here! This is MY car!" 

I jumped into teaching mommy mode by saying to Adly "Yep, that's her car and we have our own. Let's go back to the slides or swings or we can go and see our car." As I'm doing this, and guiding Adly away, the mom stands up in a huff and says to her little girl, "I think we have to go now, since it's clear this little girl doesn't want to leave your car alone."

I'm sorry, what?!? I was so taken aback I didn't have the thought to stop to let my typical inner Kage Rage out. But seriously?! I'm sorry my child wanted to "look" at your child's car that is just like hers- but in pink. Yes. You are the better mom for buying your child every gender specific item she ever dreamed of. And NOW I see exactly where your child gets her demeanor from.

Humph. And that's when playground etiquette is hard. When you have to deal with bitches. And unlike in the good ole bar days, there are no bottles to send flying when someone cuts you and your daughter down.

For now I'll be working on my sassy, undercutting comebacks in the event we run into any other awful mother/daughter duos. You know, the kind of remarks that the person won't realize were a total cutdown until you've starting walking away with a smug smile on your face.

I know, I am definitely not a bigger person. 

Miss Manners

A while back, Adam began to make it his mission to get Adly to start saying things like "please" and "thank you". I think that manners are SUPER important and I can tell you from experience that it is very easy to spot children who come from homes where politeness is considered important.

However I can't say I fully agreed with enforcing it so early. I'm not sure why, I guess I just didn't think it would stick yet, so why bother? Thankfully Adam is in charge over the winter, so he began enforcing it on his own while home with Adly. 

His biggies were to say "please" when asking for things-not just demanding. Say "thank you" when someone gives you something and say "bless you" when someone sneezes. Simple enough. 

Ironically, these small phrases began to stick pretty quickly. She especially took to saying "bless you!" after someone sneezes which, while polite, is also beyond adorable.

The other day as we were driving I sneezed a few times. When I was done I hear "Bless you mama!" from the backseat. I mean, come on. When I hand her things now, I usually get a "tank you mama" or when asking for things she usually adds on a "pleeeease". 

While she uses these phrases pretty regularly, I know that she still needs time to fully understand the meaning of being polite. Recently we had a dinner conversation that went like this:

Adly: Mama get a pancakes please.

Me: I don't have pancakes.

A: Mama get a pancakes please.

Me: Adly, I don't have pancakes.

A: Mama MAKE a pancakes please.

Me: I can't make you pancakes.

A: (growing frustrated, furrowing her brows, deep breath)

A: Mama make a pancakes! I SAID please!!

Here is where some more understanding of the word "please" might've helped out the situation. See, some days Adly decides to act like a finicky royal highness toddler at mealtimes and demands any other kind of food that isn't on her plate. This was one of those instances. Of course, I being the mean mom that I am, refuse to give her anything other than what is offered. But in this case, she was very frustrated and confused as to why she couldn't get the pancakes because, after all, she said please!

In an unintentional way, another use of "polite words" has entered Adly's vocabulary. These days I find that when she is annoyed by me touching her, or being in her way, she'll say, "I'm sorry mama". And move whatever is in her way. The other day we were on the couch next to each other, so naturally I put my tender loving arm around her. Apparently, this annoyed her and she immediately moved my arm off of her as she said, "I'm sorry, mama." Sometimes she'll move into my territory and decide she doesn't like something, only to move it saying, "I'm sorry, mama." Like when she came blasting through the house pushing her baby stroller and ran into my legs. She stated, "I'm sorry mama." But not because she was sorry she ran into me, because she was sorry I was in the way. So in other words, it was a "get out of my way!" type of sorry. This phrase always makes me laugh when she uses it in these situations. 

I love how people in the South use ma'am and sir to address adults, yet I don't think it fully fits in with our Northern nasally dialect. Therefore, using simple words like please and thank you have been our way to make sure we feel appreciated on some level throughout the day. And it's working! So I guess it never really is too early to try enforcing those small, yet very meaningful words. 

ER Initiations

I think that every parent needs to be initiated into parenthood by some sort of emergency room visit. That, or some episode that scares the living shit out of you enough to remind you that these toddlers are still just babies and anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Until then, you really haven't lived as a "parent".

A few weeks ago, we received our initiation. After moving, things were everywhere. After moving, I also had some insane bouts of insomnia and a cold. Fun times. Before heading back to work on Sunday, I wanted to make sure I actually slept, so I put a bottle of Nyquil by my bed in the event I woke up in another coughing fit. Thankfully, I slept the entire night through just fine.

The next day I was at school teaching when Adam called. He's at home with Adly still and I thought it was weird that he was calling knowing I was at work. There was another teacher in my room at the time so I ran out into the hallway to answer. Adam didn't have good news.

Adly had gotten into the Nyquil on my nightstand in the matter of a minute Adam had walked around the corner. She had it in her mouth and down her shirt. To start, Adam called poison control. They recommended to immediately head to the ER, because any amount she drank could have serious consequences.

After I hung up, I went right back to teaching, convincing myself she'd be fine. She was in good hands. She wasn't at a daycare or with a sitter, she was with her dad. I went through the next 30 minutes until lunch as normal. When I got to lunch I kept texting Adam, who was at the ER already, for updates. He had no answers other than that it was definitely starting to effect Adly and that they were running a lot of tests.

All normal, considering the situation, I thought. Then came the news they'd need to keep her for another 3-4 hours to continue monitoring her. He didn't have her blankie or any bottle or food for her. I knew I had to get there. There was some sort of unnerving feeling as a mom that I just had to be there for her. My baby was in a hospital. How could I not? My boss was amazing and worked it out for me to leave within minutes. I ran home, got Adly's favorite things and headed to see them.

As I went to the hospital, my mind was racing with questions. I just couldn't figure out how she had gotten into the the bottle in the first place. Had I not screwed the cap on tight? Is she a superwoman? Maybe she's an extraordinarily talented toddler and has a super skill for opening bottles. It just didn't make sense to me how a toddler could get into a childproofed medicine bottle. Because, after zillions of lawsuits, aren't all medicine bottles childproofed these days?

When I got there, Adly was out of it, tired, with super red cheeks. They asked me how much was in the bottle before she got to it...but who ever pays attention to that? She doesn't know how to drink out of a cup, so that was a good thing. We just couldn't fathom she had actually swallowed that much. Shortly after I arrived to the hospital, Adly started coming around to her normal self again as the effects of the medicine began to wear off.

We thought we were home free and would be fine to take her home finally. This was when the doctor came in to deliver the news that the next step was to test for Tylenol poisoning. Tylenol, which can cause severe liver damage in small doses for little ones, is apparently in NyQuil. To test her levels, they had to run an IV. By now, we've seen plenty of shots be stabbed into our sweet little girl for her regular vaccinations. But nothing can prepare you for watching them be stuck with an IV needle. (Ok, I still have to turn my head when I get stuck for things...so maybe needles are a little rough for me in general). They wrapped her up in a swaddle-burrito with just her arm hanging out. We kept telling her they were going to do tests on her. She kept looking at us with wide eyes saying, "Adly tests. Adly tests." I held my phone in front of her with her beloved Peppa Pig playing to distract her while they poked her. She didn't scream or cry. There were only big tears falling from her eyes as she looked at me like "why are they hurting me mama?" Of course, I was sobbing. Then within seconds she was totally fine, while I had to take some time to recollect myself. My toddler is way stronger than I.

As we waited, we also got the delivered the super embarrassing, yet mandatory, lecture on medicine and children. We do keep all medicine in a cabinet above the sink. This was obviously a fluke incident and a moment of absentmindedness from myself. Still, it's hard to hear someone remind you of these simple steps and not feel like you failed as a parent in some way. The ER doctor had asked me to bring in the bottle of medicine with me so she could examine it. As soon as she got it into her hands she twisted it off. Turns out, to my shock and utter disbelief, not all medicines are childproof. How on earth this is plausible still boggles my mind. I guess I had become accustomed to the notion that all were treated the same, and therefore had never even considered it a possibility that a cap might simply twist off. 

Thankfully, the tests came back low and so we were cleared for release soon after. It was a scary day and hopefully our last visit to the ER for a while. As parents, there is nothing worse than sitting helplessly next to your sick child. Clearly, I married Adam for a reason. He is the sanity to my insanity in these kinds of moments. Always looking at the positive outcomes, while I, ever the realist always think the worst. I'm so grateful it was him at home with Adly during all of this. He who had the clear mind to take responsible action calmly and quickly, whereas I would've been sobbing, panicking, and running around like a madwoman.

It is also not lost on me that we were the lucky ones. Our ER visit was short and ended fine. I've come to follow a few journeys of toddlers from my home state who are battling horrific cancers or terminal illnesses. How do those children deal with the pain every day? And their parents. The strength they have is inspirational. This job called parenting sometimes finds a way to show you just how weak you can be, or how strong you actually are, when you least expect it.

Snuggles with mama and her beloved nye-nye. 

Do you likey my dress?

When it smacked me in the face that my "big girl" is still such a small baby. Tear. 

Here Piggy, Piggy

So last night I was hanging out with Adly in her bedroom before bedtime when she wandered into her closet and started saying "Piggy! Piggy!" over and over again. She said it enough times that I got up to find out just what kind of piggy she had found in the closet.

This is what I saw.

Naturally, I picked up the piggy to give it to Adly, thinking she just couldn't reach it and that was why she was so panicked about it. As soon as I did this though, her eyes grew as big as saucers as she stiffly backed away from the closet, myself, and the apparently scary piggy. She looked beyond terrified of the thing. So of course I did what any nurturing, loving parent would do. I tortured her with it.

For what ever reason, I thought it was hilarious that this random stuffed pig was terrifying my daughter. At first I thought it had to be a coincidence so I walked toward her again with the piggy. She backed up quickly, running into and falling over her training potty. Oops. But I couldn't stop it there. Nope. Because I'm a jerk like that.

I tested it out a few more times because I just couldn't believe she was actually scared of this random stuffed pig. Each time I held it out towards her, she'd whimper and back up even farther away saying, "mama!" I couldn't stop laughing.

I then put piggy on her dresser, looking into her crib and told her it would be there all night to haunt her dreams. She responded with a quivering whisper of "piiiggy?"

Hiiiii Adlyyyyyy....I see you!

I then picked her up to take her to the kitchen so her dad could get a load of the "scary" piggy and what it was doing to our daughter. As I brought her out laughing hysterically I was all like, "Look at this! Isn't it hilarious!?! Watch what she does when I put piggy near her!" To which my husband immediately told me I was the worst person ever. And then he ended my fun faster than anything else could have with these cutting words: "at least we know who will be on duty tonight when Adly wakes up from nightmares yelling, Piiiiiiiggy!"

Any talk of losing sleep is like my own personal nightmare, so I knew I had to immediately backtrack the emotional trauma I had already inflicted. So much for scaring the crap out of my child for fun. I spent the next twenty minutes of book reading time deflecting Adly's worried requests for piggy that had by now been hidden by Adam. From me there was a lot of "Piggy who?!" and "Ooooh, look at that! Wow! Let's read this!" all followed up immediately with a "Piggy??!?" from my scared child. Curses!

I put her down and crossed my fingers that the damage had been repaired and I wouldn't suffer any sleep loss over my little fun with piggy.

Thankfully, I can state today that no, my daughter didn't have nightmares after this hilariously traumatizing event. This afternoon, as I snapped these pictures to demonstrate on here how ridiculously not scary this piggy is, Adly followed me everywhere carefully watching Piggy's every move. By bedtime she was carefully kissing Piggy night-night, so apparently she is just fine emotionally...at least for now. 

Sweet dreams, little piggy!

One....or two?

Being a parent is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I think I can also speak for my husband, and pretty much any other parent out there. However, as everyone says, it has also been the most rewarding thing I have ever done (now that we're out of that pesky newborn stage). I love being a mama to Adly and I love her being the center of our world.

When Adam and I got married, we came into our marriage both wanting two children. Back when we were young and foolish, we thought it would be fantastic to have twins on the first go around to get it done in one fell swoop. Having been through the hell that was infancy and post-partum for me, I now bow down to mommies of multiples. I can't imagine having two or more at the same time. Since having a child pop into our married life immediately, I've spent the better part of the last two years together re-thinking my original thought that two kids are better than one.

As a mom of one, my mind has regularly swirled with thoughts such as:

Maybe I was only meant to have one. I don't think I'm cut out for two kids. Can I really do this again? What if I can't stand the newborn phase again? Will Adly think I love her less? How can I possibly love another child as much as I love my one and only? What if another effects our marriage? I can't have only one. I want more than one. No, I don't. Only one. 

So many parents cycle through these totally rational questions before deciding to go ahead with another, this I know. And there's definitely comfort in that. For me though, it's definitely been a lingering, nagging string of thoughts. It has been something Adam and I have bounced back and forth on multiple occasions through many deep, adult conversations. Its funny how realistic these conversations are now that we know. We are fully, cognitively aware of the hell we will be putting ourselves through this time. Maybe that knowledge will help us when we're knee deep in burp clothes, spit-up, and no sleep again....all with a toddler running around? Hah!

On the other side of the coin, there are a lot of other thoughts that swirl through my head (it's very busy in there). Now that we're veterans of infancy, we know how much love there is to be had. We know that through the struggles, there will be one snuggly little baby to give us endless hugs. There's also the thought of never being pregnant again that nags at me. And I see Adly, playing with her baby, and think how good of an older sister she would be. 

Then there's the layer of fear that comes along with a second go around of creating a baby. I have many friends that have struggled with infertility, getting pregnant, and miscarriages. We were very lucky to get pregnant with Adly with ease and have no problems during pregnancy. We also didn't find out until the end of the first trimester. Surprise! However, that allowed me to skip the uneasy weeks of the touchy first trimester where you just don't know. I bled a lot during that time (which is how I didn't know I was pregnant. That, and I'm an idiot). What if that happens again, but this time I know? How will I handle those ups and downs? I fear something will go wrong. I fear we actually won't be able to get pregnant this time. I worry about how I'd handle any of those situations.   

In all honesty, up until a few weeks ago, I don't think we would have ever made an actual decision to have another one or not to. Sure, we have set a "trying time", but in order to make it difficult to happen I had put a lot of caveats into our plan to "try". I'm pretty sure I would have found excuse after excuse to not try once the time came. I think it would've had to have happened by accident again to force me into the scary world of pregnancy and newborn-hood again. Instead, someone recently said something to me that struck a chord with me and has helped me to change my outlook and my mind.

It was the usual conversation that's been coming at me more and more these days.

"How's Adly? She's so big now! So, when are you having another?! It's about that time, isn't it?"

You wouldn't believe how often these conversations come about one your child turns one. When inside I'm all like, "Come on! My body just got back to normal! Mama needs a break!" Instead, I kept those thoughts to myself and answered like I usually do. 

"To be honest, I don't know if we will. I can't imagine doing it all over again. I just don't know when I'll really be ready."

In response, this person stated, quite frankly, that I'm never going to be "ready". She wisely stated that no sane person sits down and says, "Why yes. I do want to put myself through all of that craziness and misery again. Why not!? I LOVED not getting to sleep for months on end. It was so fun the first time!" Instead, they think deep inside within themselves and ask if having more is something they truly want. If it is, then the rest will fall into place as it comes and you eventually adjust to another "new normal".

Deep down inside, I know I want more than one child. But having so many fears and unsure thoughts has taken a hold of making a decision to make that step. It wasn't until I thought about it in that way that I knew. I knew we'd have another some day. **As I type this, I'm enjoying a huge glass of red wine, so I am absolutely not pregnant, people.** However, I am finding myself sitting with comfort in the fact that a decision has been made, and it's one we both feel good about. Will it be easy? No way. But parenting is never easy. Will there be a lot more love to go around? Absolutely yes. So now I'm taking on the outlook that if we are lucky enough to be blessed by another little one in our family, I'm more than happy to take on that role.

Some day down the road of course.

Don't worry mom. We got this. 

Car Seats: Baby Gear Blunders

When I registered for car seats, I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I had my trusty Baby Bargains book that helped guide me with so many decisions. Btw, every new mom needs that book! But I don't know, blame it on the pregnancy brain, I did not register or buy correctly when it came to car seats. So let me try to help others from making my mistakes.

We found our infant car seat and stroller when Adam was shopping around for bargains. It was a steal and we couldn't pass it up. Was it the best or the coolest? No. But baby stuff is so expensive! It's made by Graco, was safe and I thought that was fine enough. 

An infant car seat is one that can be removed from a base and carried around. I still think it's a must-have when you have an infant because they sleep so often. Then you're not carrying them in and out of the seat. Infant car seats can also be sold as a set with a stroller they can snap into. This is handy to get your newbie to and fro without much movement, although the strollers tend to be more bulky.  

We also registered for a bigger Graco car seat because I did know that eventually she'd grow out of the infant seat and need a bigger one to move into. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I registered for a seat that is only forward facing. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing until 2, however, many people turn their child forward around one. To each's own.) I didn't realize the next seat we received was only forward-facing until Adly was 8 months, I had thrown out the box, dragged it into the car and spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to secure the seat in a rear-facing position. Apparently, despite recommendations by the AAP, manufacturers still sell front-facing only seats for baby 20 pounds and up (which happens between 8-12 months). At that point, I knew I couldn't return it, so we kept up with the infant seat and I figured I'd just switch to the other seat when Adly was older than one.

Since then, here I've been, tra-la-la-ing all around here and there with Adly in her infant carseat. I knew that the weight limit was 30 pounds, which she is no where near. But the height limit was 30 inches, which she has surpassed.

It wasn't until I actually thought about the fact that Adly was still in an "infant" seat and she is now a toddler that I started to do research about when to change seats and what kind to change to. This was all a lot of overwhelming and conflicting information. I spent weeks reading reviews and manufacturers recommendations and stressing over whether we just front-face her now. The reason for this was because I found myself at the crossroads of needing to buy yet another car seat to essentially last us for 10 more months until we can use the next one, or just flipping Adly front-facing and using the seat we already had.

In all of my research, the one piece of information that made me decide she needed to be out of the infant seat was this: when a child's head is less than an inch below the top of the car seat, they are too big to be held in properly in the event of a crash. I had no idea about any of this before I started reading.

Now, I have to start by saying that I think when to turn your child front-facing is a personal and individual decision. I based my decision on the fact that Adly is comfortable sitting rear-facing. There are numerous studies that wee ones are safer riding rear-facing until 2. That said, riding in a car has never been an issue for her. However, for many babies it is. I can say for a fact that if Adly was screaming every time we got in the car, I wouldn't have blinked an eye at flipping her as soon as she turned one. You cannot judge the safety of that until you've tried driving a car with a screaming child in the backseat. That alone will cause an accident faster than anything else.

Because she's fine riding rear-facing, Adam and I ultimately decided to purchase a convertible car seat that can hold from 5-65 pounds and can rear-face until 40 pounds. This car seat could easily last Adly until she was ready to be out of a booster seat, however we still have our other car seat that she will be able to use when she's ready to front-face. Our reason for purchasing was also based on the fact we think we may have another child and in that event, we'll need another car seat anyways.

So, for a rundown, I recommend purchasing the following types of seats when you find yourself with child:

-Infant car seat/stroller set OR infant car seat (ensure it can click into strollers)

-Convertible car seat (which changes to front-facing, then booster seat)

While it was a very drawn out decision that took a lot of time and energy, I'm glad I spent so much time on it. It was ultimately the right decision for us and our family as of now. And the best part is, someone else seems to enjoy the new seat as well....

15 minutes into first car ride with the new seat:

Sleep Habits

Lately I've been finding that I'm getting more and more comments and questions regarding Adly's sleep schedule, so I thought I'd write about it. My favorite comment has been, "wait, you just put her down and then she goes to sleep?!" Before I get into it though, I have to add a disclaimer. Google "sleep training" and you'll find a plethora of information. Go to a book store in the baby section and you'll find books upon books offering different ways to get your baby to sleep. And as soon as you get into reading about it, you'll quickly find there are a thousand different opinions on how to get a baby to sleep or how not to. Everyone has different views on babies and sleeping. So whenever I tell people what we did with Adly, I always start by saying something like "everyone needs to do whatever they are comfortable with". Because everybody is different. And every baby is different.

If you read this blog, or know me in any way, you'll know I'm a planner, I like routines and I like to have some semblance of organization in my life. As you can imagine, have a crying newborn at all hours of the day certainly provided some stress in my life. I can remember when Adly was 5 days old wearily going into the pediatricians office desperate for help. "How do I get her to sleep?!" was the first thing I wearily muttered to the pediatrician as soon as we were in the exam room. 

As with many things during the newborn phase nothing ever made sense until someone would say something with clarity. Our doc first recommended to start a "night time routine". I couldn't believe we could actually begin that early....that idea had never even entered my mind. Additionally, she stressed having a dark, quiet room to signify sleeping. Oooohhh....so maybe our late night music, lights on, talking feeding sessions were sending mixed signals to the little miss. Who knew?! That night we set to putting together some sort of bed time routine. Of course we had no idea what to do so we just winged it. Around 8pm, we gave her a bath, I nursed her in a quiet and dimly lit nursery, then put her down in her rock n' play and left the room. She slept for about 3 hours. HEAVEN. 

From that night on, we kept with the night time routine listed above. Sure enough, as the weeks went by, her sleeping stretches became longer and longer. Don't get me wrong, there were still plenty of random sleepless nights; including a 3 day stretch around 6 weeks where she was up every hour on the hour. That was a hell I hope I never know again. 

But for the most part, she began to recognize night time as "sleep time". At her 8-week checkup, the doctor informed us she weighed enough to make it all the way through the night without eating. Her recommendation was around 11 pounds. This was fantastic news to me and of course I gleefully put her to bed that night telling her she was going to sleep through the night now. Because, you know, newborns totally listen. She didn't. It was also around that time that I moved her out of our bedroom. Babies are noisy and I wanted my room back. We did a gradual release by starting with her sleeping in the nursery in her pack n' play and then transitioned her to her crib a week later.

After Adly had transitioned to the crib and was 10 weeks old, there was a night where I had a large glass of wine. On top of that, I was exhausted. Adly was going on day three of another no-sleeping binge, which meant so was I. That night I hit the pillow and was out cold. I didn't wake up again until 5am. I shot out of bed thinking, "Oh my god! My baby! Is she alive!?! I'm the worst parent EVER! Of course, she was and she was fine. There's no telling if she woke up at her usual 3am feeding time or not that night, as neither of us heard a thing (you'll find that men have amazing sleeping super powers and almost never hear cries at night). The next night, when she woke up at 3am, at the encouragement of my much more stable husband, I didn't go in and let her cry it out. She cried for a little bit and then fell back asleep. Same thing the next night. A few days later, she was sleeping solidly from 7pm-5am. Oh my goodness I can't even tell you what sleep like that does for a human being. It was from that point on, that I did everything in my power to maintain her sleeping patterns.

Through some trial and error over the last year, we've created one very routined sleeper. There are upsides and downsides to this, but overall, it has really worked for our family. Therefore, I thought I'd put together a list of the things I've found that worked well for us in getting Adly to sleep through the night. Take some of it, take all of it, take none of it. I will add that most of this came from bits and pieces of advice I've received from many different moms throughout the last year or so.

Routine, routine, routine. In my biased opinion, routine is so important when it comes to babies. The same is also true for older kids. Therefore, from the start, we created a routine for Adly to help her "expect" when it was time to go to bed. This is the same for nap time as well. She goes to bed at the same time every night (for us, it's 7pm). There is no exception. This piece of advice came from a mom of three I used to babysit for. I babysat a TON growing up, and I've never seen kids go to bed as easily as these three. I probed her for a lot of advice when Adly was a newborn and I took it all to heart. The most important thing she told me was to always make sure Adly was in bed at the same time. No matter what. Yes, it sucks for your dwindling social life, but this, I believe, was key to Adly's sleeping. Additionally, we do the same little things every day to make sure she's aware it's bedtime. Silly things like we made up a song about bath time and sing it every time. She now hums the tune as we sing and and she crawls her way to the bathroom. We also have a song for bed time. It's as simple as, "It's nye-nye tiiiiime." Seriously. But she knows whats coming. Here is our bedtime and nap time routine:

Naps:

-Head into nursery, put on sleep sack. 

-Turn off the lights, on the fan

-Kiss night-night, lay in crib. 

-Say night-night, close the door. 

Bed:

-Bath

-Lotion

-Nakey quiet play time to air out her bum. She loves to read her books during this time. 

-Get dressed into pajamas and sleep sack

-Read a book together in the rocker

-Kiss good night, lay down, turn off lights, shut the door. 

The Roller Coaster of Naps. Naps were the bane of my existence for so long. The fact that she would not nap at certain times every day drove me nuts, since it was impossible to plan for anything. Unfortunately, I think this ability only comes with time. I had one mom friend who's son started napping regularly at 6 months. I set myself up to think that on her 6 month birthday, she'd just start napping at 8am and 12pm and 3pm. Not so much. It took us until around 10 months to get to a time nap-time. Meaning, she goes down at a usual time, not when she's tired. Until then, we lived and breathed looking for sleepy signs (yawning, whining, rubbing eyes) and would immediately put her down for a nap then. Until about 8 months, she was taking three naps a day. Now she is down to two naps, for about two hours each a day. The length of naps also took a long time to settle down. When she was younger, naps could last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. And every baby is so different. I've also met a handful of moms who's babies refuse to nap at all. The difference is, a cranky baby and a happy baby. If your child is happy as can be without naps, then obviously they don't need them. If your child becomes an alternate personality that closely resembles the devil reincarnated when it is time for "nye nye", the kid needs to sleep!

Sleep Buddy. Going into parenthood, I did not want a thumbsucker, I did not want blankies, I did not want binkies. I know how hard all of these soothing habits are for kids to break. Unfortunately, I can't control everything. As karma would have it, my child came out of my belly sucking her thumb. "Awwww look at her self soothe!" the nurses exclaimed as I shuddered at the thought of having a thumbsucker. However, over time, my opinions have changed. I now think they are vital to getting a baby to sleep. We'll deal with breaking the habit someday when mom and dad need to take a vacation and the grandparents are watching her.

Once she was old enough (she could roll over easily and was moving around her crib) I introduced a blankie for her to sleep with at night. She actually picked the blanket itself out on her own, as she began snuggling up with it whenever she was tired, so one day I put it in her crib with her. To her, the blankie now means sleep and comfort. Because I'm mean, I won't let her take it out of the crib. This is because it is my philosophy that it helps to even further signify sleep for Adly. It's not something she can have at any time, but only when she's tired. On a recent long road trip, I was worried about her sleeping in the car seat because she never does anymore. In the car, as soon as I tossed her the blankie, the thumb went in the mouth and she was out soon after.

Crib Only. Adly only sleeps in one place: the crib. This is a sticking point for a lot of moms I know who love that their babies can sleep anywhere. And to be honest, I'm somewhat jealous of them. We are pretty tied down to our house for nap time and bed time because of the routines we have set in place. Additionally, those delicious baby snuggles have all but disappeared. I think that is largely due to her sleeping habits. However, anytime I get sad about missing my baby snuggled up on my chest snoozing away, I think about how blissful it is to sleep through the night and to get things done during nap time. For me, it's for the better. She still snuggles when she's really tired or hurt or having her morning ba-ba, and I can live with that.

Cry It Out. The dreaded words. There are two major camps on this subject, and obviously I am in the cry it out camp. Those who are not, I totally think whatever you chose to do is fine too. Crying it out just seemed to work best for me and for our situation. For my own mental health, I had to get a good nights sleep. I can't say that I was totally fine with it at the time or that it wasn't hard for me. As new moms, our instinct is to stop the cries. and to help our babies in every way we can. As you read above, our crying it out adventure began unintentionally. I can't say for sure I would've done it that early otherwise. However, I do believe it is the best way to get your child used to sleeping through the night. Once we got the go ahead from the pediatrician, I felt comfortable with implementing it for our child. When she was younger, I would keep her awake while feeding, kiss her goodnight, lay her in her crib and walk out. Now we don't do a night time bottle, so the routine has turned into putting on pajamas, kissing goodnight and then laying her down. I don't rock her, hold her, or stand and rub her back to get her to sleep. It's my belief that she should be the one to be able to get herself to sleep, and she does. 

Be Prepared to Do Over. This part is tough because you've set in place some amazing routines, you've got your baby sleeping like a champ and then.....it all goes out the window. Sleep is a fickle thing with babies and it comes and goes like the wind. Anything that is "off" can change a baby's sleeping patterns. The usual culprits are the 4 month sleep regression, teething, and illness. If you choose to do cry it out, you usually have to re-do your hard work around these times. It never gets easier to hear your child cry, but I swear, it always resets itself in one night or two.

Where to Start. Like I said, I never actually read a sleep training book. Instead, I chose bits and pieces from all of the people I talked to and research I did online. In the beginning, some of the most important steps to get Adly sleeping, that I found, were the following:

-Create a quiet, darker environment for them to sleep in

-Look for any sleepy cues: rubbing eyes, yawning, fussing (when not hungry)

-As soon as you get a sleepy cue, put them to bed immediately

-Use some sort of pajamas to signify sleep. We've always used a sleep sack. 

-Same bed time every night no matter what

-Have a routine in place to signal that its bed time

-Let them cry for at least 10 minutes before going in to soothe

To all you new mommies or seasoned mommies looking to get some sleep once and for all, I wish you luck! Sleep is a beautiful thing and we all deserve it. However you go about getting it, I hope that some of these tricks of the trade can be helpful to you. 

Sweet dreams!