New Traditions

I'm all about starting new family traditions now that HH is around.  Pinterest has been very helpful in giving me ideas for things we can do during the Christmas season, and one idea I found was to have a daily activity to do as a family.  I made little cards and stuck them inside the Santa Christmas countdown calendar we have hanging in the kitchen.  We are doing 20 activities together (since we will be traveling for the latter part of Dec.) and I'm really looking forward to each one!

Day 1: Take a Picture With Santa

We took Harbor to see Santa yesterday at a local mall.  This Santa was legit.  Real beard, awesome suit, even a fireplace in his Santa lair.  I was curious about how Harbor would handle it all, considering she is having some separation anxiety issues, and the screaming baby in front of us didn't do much to ease my mind.  But lo and behold, HH loved Santa!  She happily sat with him, smiling, laughing, and tugging on his beard.  It made for some pretty darn cute pics if I do say so myself.








Day 2: Shop for Angel Tree Child

On Saturday, we stopped by the mall and made a visit to the Salvation Army table to choose our Angel Tree child.  In years past, we have filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We missed the boat on that one this year, and I thought it would be fun to "adopt" a child for the holiday season.  We decided to make this a yearly thing and choose a child that was roughly the same age as Harbor each year, so she can help in choosing the gifts.  This year we shopped for a 5 month old little boy.  We had a great time strolling down the toy aisle in Walmart and letting Harbor be the guinea pig  choose the toys.  We also picked up a few cute outfits and some shoes.  It was fun to buy onesies with puppies and dinosaurs for a change.  It's really important to us to teach Harbor the importance of giving to others in need, and I'm excited about what this new tradition will teach her over the years. Although we certainly aren't wealthy, we are extremely blessed and want to help in the small way that we can.  Hopefully this sweet baby and his family will enjoy Christmas with these few small things we can provide.

A Perfect Day

Today really took me by surprise.  I'll admit that I've been having a tough time lately.  I've been feeling pretty down about being away from HH with a busy work schedule and feeling like I was missing out on so many important things going on with her, and it was starting to affect the time I spent with her at home.  I felt like any time she was fussy or cried, it was somehow my fault.  Something lacking in my parenting that was causing her to be upset. Maybe if I was home more or nursing more often or whatever my irrational mind decided was important at the time, she'd be happier.  That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself. Long story short, I have not been the most pleasant person to be around lately because of it.  But today helped me to put things in perspective a little.  All because of a trip to the pumpkin patch.

The weather was beautiful, the company was excellent, and we had a wonderful day.  I just got to enjoy being with my baby and relishing in one of her firsts, even if Baby's First Pumpkin isn't a milestone in the baby book, it was special to me.  I may miss things like her first step, her first word, the first time rolling over, or the first time she found her feet (which, by the way, I did miss this week), but I can still be a part of some special firsts, even if they are a little silly.

So here's to the Working Mommy Milestones, starting with Harbor's First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

Sleep, What's That?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a clueless first time mom.  When we first brought Harbor home, I was perfectly happy to sit and hold her every second of the day (or night).  Everyone said, "Don't worry, you can't spoil a baby this young!" Wrong.  You guys were wrong, all of you. Because my adorable baby now refuses to fall and/or stay asleep when not being held.  This causes a teensy problem for this working mama when she's up most of the night trying begging to get this tiny baby to sleep.  I will say that we've got a rockin' bedtime routine down and Little Miss drifts off into dreamland very quickly with (usually) minimal to no fussing involved.  However, Josh and I are trying to perfect the fine art of gracefully placing a sleeping baby in her crib without jostling her awake.  After she goes to bed around 7:30, we spend the next 3 hours taking turns going back into her room to re-insert the paci or rock her as needed.  I have flat refused to nurse her to sleep, she has enough bad habits we will have to break her of later.  I leave her in her room until she wakes up for the first time to eat, which conveniently is right about the time we go to bed.  I've stopped fighting the Pack n Play fight and just let the little spoiled baby sleep in our bed for the rest of the night.  We've mastered side lying nursing, which helps me to get a little extra sleep.  But this kid is the floppiest, snortiest, squirmiest sleeper ever. And she refuses to sleep anywhere but right.up.against.me. So I basically cat nap.  Let's not forget about the 4+ times she wakes up to eat and snuggle back to sleep.  So sweet and precious that she loves and needs me that much, but geez I'm tired! Well this weekend I've resigned myself to end what I call the Sleep Cycle of Shame.  I read this fantastic book:

Much to our surprise, it turns out that Josh and I have some pretty hippy ideas when it comes to parenting, such as co-sleeping and babywearing, so it's no surprise that we are 100% against the cry it out method of sleep training.  That's where this gem comes in.  Starting tomorrow, we will be completing a nap log, pre-bedtime log, and nightwaking log. Based on this we can create a plan to help her go to bed without a huge Broadway production and *hopefully* stay asleep for more than 2 hours at a time.  

Here was the scene a couple nights ago when HH was still awake at 11:00 (I'm blaming teething).

Wish us luck!

The Woes of a Working Mommy

School officially started back this week, and I had a harder time leaving my little HH than I thought I would. Don't misinterpret: I love my job. I work with an amazing group of people and I have an incredible opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child, but I couldn't help but feel homesick after having spent every day of the last three months with my sweet little baby. I am so fortunate that she gets to spend the days with her daddy rather in daycare somewhere, but I MISS being with her. I (selfishly) worry that she will start to prefer Josh over me, or that I'm laying the foundation for years of therapy because she's developing abandonment issues because her mom wasn't around when she was little. Score one for me, I only cried the first two days on the way to work and managed to narrow it down to a whimper or two by day three, but no tears were shed. Everyone says it will get easier with time...I'm hoping they're right.

Now for what you really came for: baby pictures.

She LOVES her mobile. As soon as you turn it on, she smiles like this and coos at the ladybugs.

Officially outgrew her 3mo onesies. Couldn't get it over her giant noggin'.

Smiley Girl

Harbor smiles at the kissy noise. Please ignore my irritating mommy voice. :)

Big, Enormous, Epic Update

I cross my heart that this entry marks the beginning of my dedication to this blog. I had a lot of people recently ask me if I was still planning to keep it and the answer is yes, I am. So here we go...

We've been super busy lately! Last week we got back from visiting family in AL. This was HH's first big road trip (she did great) and the first time most of our family and friends got to meet her. The day we left was HH's 2 month birthday. which meant 2 things: well baby check up and shots!! The doctor had all sorts of great things to say, like how strong she was and that she was developmentally right on track if not a little advanced!

Two Month Stats

Weight: 13lbs (91%)

Length: 23 1/4 in (78%)

Milestones: LOVES to smile, but you have to earn it! Recently found her hands and loves to suck on her fingers.

Sleep: Sleep is overall pretty good, but still touch and go. She likes a late night snack around midnight, and will generally give me a 5 ish (sometimes more like 4 and even as long as 6) hour stretch before wanting to eat again. She still needs a good swaddle and is sleeping in the Nap Nanny most nights, but we're working on getting her at least into the pack n play in our room. She is still not a fan of being flat on her back.

Favorites: "talking" to me or Josh or the ceiling fan, singing songs, sitting in the bumbo, blowing spit bubbles

She did great on her shots. I however, had to go stand in the bathroom with the water running. I was able to nurse her right afterwards and she calmed right down. Never ran a fever or had any fussiness after the shots, which was excellent.

From there we headed to Hilton Head to see Josh's family and spend the 4th at the beach. Here we are right before fireworks.

We then headed to Lake Martin to spend the week with my family. There HH went on her first boat ride, and got to meet her great grand parents, including her namesake! She also went to Greenville to meet her other great grandmother, Uncle Alan, Aunt Donna, and cousin McCall.

We then went to Auburn for a few days to meet more friends, extended family, and have HH showered with even more love. It was so great to see everyone, but we were happy to return home and see one lonely cat.

We're Still Here!

We are still here! Turns out that having a newborn is incredibly time consuming, yet it's one of the best things I've ever done! I've been working on writing Harbor's birth story, but I get emotional every time, coupled with the fact that it's a tad on the lengthy side and needless to say it is still a work in progress. In the meantime, here are some pictu
res of our Little Dove (due to the dove-like coo sounds she makes in her sleep)! We are over the moon in love with her!

brand new baby!

Sleepin' hard with my paci

First family photo

We have been working hard to get on a schedule, and things are really coming together. I attribute our success so far to On Becoming Babywise. I was hesitant to read this book at first, but it really has been a lifesaver. I would recommend it to all my new mommy friends. It has given me the confidence boost I needed to feel like I was doing the right thing! Harbor sleeps like a champ because of it and Josh and I actually have time to get things done around the house in between all the kisses and cuddles with Harbor.