Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Helpful to remember
After a week of nasty sister drama, immeasurable stress, and a pretty nice visit from some cousins, I am certain I have the best husband in the world!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Un-sleepies
My 5 month old baby has been on a kick, a waking up kick. Every 20-40 minutes until I come to bed at night. So many thoughts go through my head.
She used to be a good sleeper. Did I mess her up? Contaminate her with un-sleepiness? Come rescue her too son? What did I do WRONG?
Is she ever going to be easy to put to sleep again?
How do I fix this?
Is this really from crawling or teething or some now permanent bad pattern?
I cannot handle going in there one more time. I just can't do it. I'm going to wither and die if I have to sing one more song. Feed her one more time.
Of course, she wakes up, and I go in again. Lullabies, calming. This is the life of a Mom.
She used to be a good sleeper. Did I mess her up? Contaminate her with un-sleepiness? Come rescue her too son? What did I do WRONG?
Is she ever going to be easy to put to sleep again?
How do I fix this?
Is this really from crawling or teething or some now permanent bad pattern?
I cannot handle going in there one more time. I just can't do it. I'm going to wither and die if I have to sing one more song. Feed her one more time.
Of course, she wakes up, and I go in again. Lullabies, calming. This is the life of a Mom.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Baby Town
It is really high maintenance to have a baby, everything else takes a back seat to baby and lately that's a lot of stuff. Emaline care, my husband and my relationship, house maintenance, all of it has to wait most of the time. Hannah is much more needy when she's teething which is a big part of it, but even when she's easy it takes a lot of time to care for a baby. I need to remember this when I'm trying to figure out why things are so hard these days, why getting anything done is truly an uphill battle. We are in baby-ville, the Brown family. We are not in preschooler land like some of my other friends with one child/older children, we have a baby too. So I won't be heading out for as many fun things as them, nights out, or outings with Emaline. I won't be getting involved in extra projects, volunteering my time, dressing well, or even appearing like I have it all together. Or even mostly together. This is what having a baby is like! It's hard to remember sometimes.
Friday, April 20, 2012
indeliberate
Would be how I'd describe a lot of my parenting, especially the last few weeks of my pregnancy. Physically, it is really tough to wrangle a toddler and a new baby! Hannah is 3 1/2 months old now, and its easier having a new baby and being Emmi's Mom than being pregnant. I regret yelling at Emaline and others during that hard time, hormones also really make it hard to be even keeled. Note to self: remember this when your girls are teenagers, awash with crazy hormones of their own. Have sympathy. Teach them Grace (something they both are named, Hannah also means grace) and how to apologize for their mistakes.
Emaline is 2 1/2. She has reinvented herself yet again as a person, and now converses in sentences. She knows all her colors and is learning letters and numbers. She has make believe discussions with her "Bert and Ernie." Yesterday she was giving pretend shots to Sesame Street characters, telling them it would feel better. I asked her what would help them feel better afterward and she said "ice cream cone!" So I think when we get her shot next week, thats what we'll do.
The shots: we are catching up on her vaccines for preschool. Yep! April 3rd she is starting a mothers day out program, 9-1 on T and Th.
(this is a post from Martch I never finished)
I've decided to post things here in tiny snippets, like I do on Facebook. Because maybe then I'll really do it regularly.
I was thinking the other day, Man, my children have aged me (while looking at a photo of myself). Then I thought, well it really started when I broke up with my boyfriend in 2004, that's when I got my first gray here. and then I realized, that was 8 years ago and I'm just getting old!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Busy being a Mom
Well hello there! My I have been busy the last few months! Summer is exciting, lots of people visiting and trips. As of now, I have gone on a trip to Kentucky and New York, and had lots of family visit.
When Emaline is bigger, and if she asks the question "why didn't you write more when I was a little girl?" the answer will be, "because I was too busy being your Mom." And it's true. I have a lot of time during the day and most of it is spent playing with, caring for, teaching, and otherwise raising Emaline. Other times I'm tending to my houswife duties, and often teaching and playing with Emaline while I do that as well. She is showing the effects of that attention, she is an exceptional little girl!
The biggest news this week is that our girl is now officially toddling. She started walking just before her 10 month birthday, and just this past few days has begun walking most of the time. She toddles side to side, sometimes seeming to lift into the air vertically on her little twinkle toes. She is excited, we are excited, it's a good time to be a Brown. Funny, the last time I wrote a blog was when she started crawling all the time!
Em is has officially been in her bed alone since around 8 months. She got used to being in her room after a few nights sleeping there with Mom, and after a week or two I transitioned her onto her mattress on the floor. We went out of town for 3 night and my two sisters put her to sleep there. The night I came home, Em wouldn't stay asleep on that mattress, wouldn't sleep in our bed, it was a mess. So the next night we transitioned into her crib. We did kind of a Ferber light technique. My main goal was to get her to fall asleep alone, and to get her used to not having someone pick her up every time she woke up. I don't remember all of it (I was sleep deprived!) but after a few rough nights she started falling asleep easily at bedtime. Now, she still wakes up every 2-4 hours (sometimes 5) but is easy to put back to sleep. We are much happier with her in her own room and she isn't as bothered by noise in there. She falls back to sleep on her own sometimes now, and I see it just getting better as time goes by. So, we still aren't where we want to be, but for our particular baby it is much much better.
Another big change for us is Emaline is eating real food now. We were having trouble getting her to eat any baby food with texture in it, she'd gag and often throw up what she'd eaten. Then in her second round of teething, she decided to stop letting me to feed her altogether, and those non textured baby foods weren't something she could feed herself. So, we have a multi-pronged approach these days.
First, I started making her oatmeal in the morning, nice and thick. I can put some on her spoon and she holds it and licks it off. This is an awesome learning tool, she'll be feeding herself soon. Second, I bought some squeezable baby foods (to get more food in her tummy than feeding herself will allow). She likes them, and when she's really hungry will suck an entire one down in a minute or so. We have been buying Ella's organics Plum Organics.
And Third, Emaline made it apparent to me that she wanted to eat what was in MY bowl. She became so excited when I cooked, and got more excited and impatient as I ate my food. Num num was her demand, give me some of that! So one day against my better judgement, I gave her the most non spicey piece of chicken I could find out of my stir fry. She ate it right away, and proceeded to say Num Num (I like this!). She ate lots of chicken, and some more the next day. Since then I've given her bits of lunchmeats, more chicken, some barbeque (turkey, brisket, and even a little pork ribs) and Em has proven to be a true Texan. She loves her meat. So much for texture problems! But I have been needing and trying to cook more healthy meals during the day, since she wants to share with me. The meals I make for my husband and I are usually eaten after she goes to sleep. It's good for me and good for her, and I want to encourage her desire to eat what I am eating. That means less cookies/crackers/bread and more veggies!
My daughter has proven to be a super loving little girl. Her newborn cousin came to visit and she hugged him and rubbed his head when he cried. She also lays her head on and hugs me and her Dad, and especially the dog.
Well that's my post for now, a bit of catching up, but the overall tone in my mama-hood right now is IN LOVE. I am absolutely in love with my baby, with my ability to spend so much time with her and with my husband and the family that we have together. This is my life, and I love it!
When Emaline is bigger, and if she asks the question "why didn't you write more when I was a little girl?" the answer will be, "because I was too busy being your Mom." And it's true. I have a lot of time during the day and most of it is spent playing with, caring for, teaching, and otherwise raising Emaline. Other times I'm tending to my houswife duties, and often teaching and playing with Emaline while I do that as well. She is showing the effects of that attention, she is an exceptional little girl!
The biggest news this week is that our girl is now officially toddling. She started walking just before her 10 month birthday, and just this past few days has begun walking most of the time. She toddles side to side, sometimes seeming to lift into the air vertically on her little twinkle toes. She is excited, we are excited, it's a good time to be a Brown. Funny, the last time I wrote a blog was when she started crawling all the time!
Em is has officially been in her bed alone since around 8 months. She got used to being in her room after a few nights sleeping there with Mom, and after a week or two I transitioned her onto her mattress on the floor. We went out of town for 3 night and my two sisters put her to sleep there. The night I came home, Em wouldn't stay asleep on that mattress, wouldn't sleep in our bed, it was a mess. So the next night we transitioned into her crib. We did kind of a Ferber light technique. My main goal was to get her to fall asleep alone, and to get her used to not having someone pick her up every time she woke up. I don't remember all of it (I was sleep deprived!) but after a few rough nights she started falling asleep easily at bedtime. Now, she still wakes up every 2-4 hours (sometimes 5) but is easy to put back to sleep. We are much happier with her in her own room and she isn't as bothered by noise in there. She falls back to sleep on her own sometimes now, and I see it just getting better as time goes by. So, we still aren't where we want to be, but for our particular baby it is much much better.
Another big change for us is Emaline is eating real food now. We were having trouble getting her to eat any baby food with texture in it, she'd gag and often throw up what she'd eaten. Then in her second round of teething, she decided to stop letting me to feed her altogether, and those non textured baby foods weren't something she could feed herself. So, we have a multi-pronged approach these days.
First, I started making her oatmeal in the morning, nice and thick. I can put some on her spoon and she holds it and licks it off. This is an awesome learning tool, she'll be feeding herself soon. Second, I bought some squeezable baby foods (to get more food in her tummy than feeding herself will allow). She likes them, and when she's really hungry will suck an entire one down in a minute or so. We have been buying Ella's organics Plum Organics.
And Third, Emaline made it apparent to me that she wanted to eat what was in MY bowl. She became so excited when I cooked, and got more excited and impatient as I ate my food. Num num was her demand, give me some of that! So one day against my better judgement, I gave her the most non spicey piece of chicken I could find out of my stir fry. She ate it right away, and proceeded to say Num Num (I like this!). She ate lots of chicken, and some more the next day. Since then I've given her bits of lunchmeats, more chicken, some barbeque (turkey, brisket, and even a little pork ribs) and Em has proven to be a true Texan. She loves her meat. So much for texture problems! But I have been needing and trying to cook more healthy meals during the day, since she wants to share with me. The meals I make for my husband and I are usually eaten after she goes to sleep. It's good for me and good for her, and I want to encourage her desire to eat what I am eating. That means less cookies/crackers/bread and more veggies!
My daughter has proven to be a super loving little girl. Her newborn cousin came to visit and she hugged him and rubbed his head when he cried. She also lays her head on and hugs me and her Dad, and especially the dog.
Well that's my post for now, a bit of catching up, but the overall tone in my mama-hood right now is IN LOVE. I am absolutely in love with my baby, with my ability to spend so much time with her and with my husband and the family that we have together. This is my life, and I love it!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
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