• Hadley is teething...and I think I'm ready to just fill 'er up with Baby Tylenol for the next few months.  Holy cow, it's an ordeal.  The funny thing is that so far, we've only had a couple days where I recall her being completely out of sorts (where I've attributed it to teething) and for some reason I felt like we had slipped under the radar in the teething battles.  Granted, we had no teeth during these times and now she's got a little tiny baby tooth on her lower gum that's not popped up yet but is visible.  This morning she woke up screaming at 5:30am and didn't stop fussing until I laid her back down at 7:30. Should be an interesting day considering her first morning nap is typically around 9:30...
• We're finally, finally getting warm weather!  I know people probably think it's low-class, but I love taking Hadley out with little bare feet.  It's the only time in life that you don't have to wear shoes so why rush it??  Her little feet poking out of her stroller is just too sweet :)
• I've recently started grocery shopping on a budget.  Like...writing down the cost of everything I put in my cart and adding up the total on my cell phone before I check out.  I know this is totally normal for lots of people but up until now I've just gone grocery shopping as much as I want and bought whatever I want, which really is not a wise way to shop when you're trying to save money (obviously).  I felt a little self-conscious doing it, but that feeling of only spending my allotted money - and not a penny more - when I left the store felt good.  
• You know how they say that your feet can get bigger while you're pregnant?  Well, my feet are the same size.  My hands, though...I swear they grew because even though I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, my wedding ring is pretty tight half the time.  It's weird cause it's only tight on my left hand, but not my right.  I'm considering getting it sized up a little but I hate to do that.  But I really hate not wearing it, so....?
• I have a list of projects to accomplish this summer that's about a mile long.  And I am excited to tackle them! Stuff like re-doing our laundry closet, sewing/updating our living room curtains, keep a little garden, organize our storage benches, etc etc etc.  
• I ran with our jogging stroller for the first time yesterday and it went really well, super easy and smooth to push, though it was quite the workout!  I told Brad how it was kinda difficult and he was all puzzled and like, "Why?!?"  Clearly he has not tried to run while pushing a 23lb baby in a stroller!

Happy 7 Months, Hadley!

 Weight/Height/Head:  Not quite sure where she is with stats since we're in the lag between the 6 mo appt and the 9 mo.  I'm guessing she's well over 20lbs and is getting close to the 30" mark.

Hair:  It's looking lighter all the time.  It's still dark in the back, under her bald spot, but the top and sides are a wispy dark blonde.  Almost looks like it will have some wave to it?  

Eyes: Bright blue 

Diapers: Size 4

Clothes: She's comfortably wearing 12-18 months now.  In Carters she's in 9-12 mo onesies and I recently bought her some 18 mo leggings that I figured she would wear in a few months.  Nope, she's wearing them right now and I suspect that within a month those will be too small.  

Eating: We're (obviously) still doing formula.  She's still taking around four 8oz bottles a day with a few 4oz bottles here or there if she's inclined.  As far as solids, this has been tough.  I've definitely followed the Baby Led Weaning methodology like I planned - as long as we're eating something healthy I will put some on her tray and let her at it.  But in reality, this method has been tough because we don't always eat things that lend themselves to little 7 month old fingers or digestive systems.  On the other hand, I'm just not crazy about pureeing a million kinds of foods and spoon feeding her for every meal.  So, there's times that if I'm not in a mood to clean up a big mess I'll mash up an avocado and feed it to her.  Or I'll make whole wheat banana pancakes and give those straight to her.  I've bought a fair amount of pouches from Ella's Kitchen or Earth's Best to just try something different.  So, it's a big mix of things right now.  

Sleeping: She's sleeping well these days.  She's taking around 3 naps a day, most days.  Due to our ridiculous system of time changes she now wakes up around 6:30 every morning and isn't going to bed until 8 or 8:30.  However, we've been SO busy the last month with traveling that it's taken a toll on her routine.  We're working at getting back on track now and trying to get a bit more of a schedule for bedtime.

Milestones:  Once again, so many!  It's like they hit 6 months and they become a different baby.  This month she has done the following:

• Crawling forwards
• Rolling from her belly from her back (I realize this one is a little late, but seriously it took this girl forever to do that!)
• Walking in her walker
• Pushing up to stand when you're holding her all.the.time.  I can no longer just set her on the floor, she immediately does the stiff leg, ha!
• Takes steps when holding her hands
• Trying to pull up on furniture
• Reaching for myself or Brad (well, it's more of a lean towards.  But it clearly means "please take me")

One milestone we're still waiting on is TEETH!  The girl has ZERO.  I know this is probably normal but I have considered Googling "my baby has no teeth" and seeing what comes up :)   

And just some random things for our memory - 

• While she's shown recognition for Brad or me in the last month, lately she has absolutely lit up when she sees us, especially Brad.  This girl loves her Daddy.
• She loves when I sing to her, which is really funny because I am practically tone-deaf.  The three songs I sing to her are Jesus Loves You/Itsy Bitsy Spider/I'm a Little Teapot.  Totally random songs and I'm trying to throw a few more in there, but I can't remember any kids songs!  It was funny, last night we met some friends and family out for dinner and on the way home Hadley was super fussy in the car.  It was just me and her so I couldn't do much to help her, so I started singing to her and she immediately quieted down and fell asleep.  I have no idea why on earth my singing is comforting to her but I will take it :)
• After the bout with pink eye we had another small cold.  Otherwise she's been very healthy (and the girl has never lost her appetite, no matter how badly she seemed to feel!  Definitely my child).
• She loves playing with tags or strings.  It doesn't matter if the girl has a $2 toy or a $20 toy, she finds the manufacturer's tag on it and studies it, then chews on it.  Same with strings, I have a jacket that has strings on it and she'll grab hold of them and chew on it.  We went on a short trip this last weekend and during the car ride she was getting fussy so I gave her my winter scarf that has long tassels on the end.  Entertained her for about a half hour :)

Happy 6 Months, Hadley!

Weight/Height/Head:  19lbs 9oz, 27" long (95%/75%)

Hair:  Still dark brown in the very back and sides and coming in blonde on top.  Looks like it might have a little wave to it?

Eyes: Bright blue 

Diapers: Size 3

Clothes: Definitely varies.  In Carters she can still fit in 3-6 mo onesies but we're getting ready to retire those for the next size up.  She's wearing 6-12mo at Baby Gap and Old Navy, although onesies/tops in those sizes are a little loose on her still.  Our BabyLegs are getting a little too small for her chunky thighs!

Eating: We started her on solids this month!  We decided to follow the Baby Led Weaning approach and I've really liked it.  She has ate red peppers, squash, quinoa, pasta, chicken, bananas, avocados, pear, mangoes, plain greek yogurt, baby pickles, hummus on veggies and banana pancakes, just to name a few.  I will occasionally spoon feed her the little pureed pouches by Ellas Kitchen or Plum, but mainly use those to mix into her yogurt.  I'll mash up a banana on her tray and give her a spoon and she will mostly play in it but definitely eat some.  We've not had ANY choking and it is really neat to see her spit back out big bites.  I watch her like a hawk, though, and am never ever far from her when she's eating solids on her own.  We are mostly still doing formula (which is good cause that's technically all she needs to get her nutrients right now!), anywhere from 8-10oz 4x a day.  

Sleeping: Six months has not been her best month for sleeping!  While we were all sick she slept terribly, obviously.  Woke up a ton in the middle of the night, didn't nap too well.  We just started her in the Pack and Play so we can transition her to the crib (which we had started right before she got sick and it went really well, so hopefully we won't have to do this for long!) and it's been pretty terrible, if you want to know the truth.  She goes down really well, I don't do any rocking or coddling to get her to sleep.  Unfortunately she just wakes up a ton at night and while she's napping.  And it's not the kind of waking up where you just let them fuss and they go back to sleep, it's like she's waking up crying.  Seems to also be when her dang Sleep Sheep turns off.  I think we need to get a sound machine that runs all night long!  However, napping is getting much better now that I can just put her down and she'll go to sleep.

Milestones:  So many this month!  

• Sitting up unassisted
• Recognizes her name
• Scooting on her belly backwards
• Pushing up onto all 4's and rocking
• Shows recognition for people she knows besides Brad and me
• Eating all sorts of food
• Drinks from a sippy cup
• Starting to hold her bottle (although it's not for long)

We are seriously so in love with her and are always talking about how much we love being her parents!  She's got the sweetest little personality, is very vocal and I have a feeling she's not going to be afraid to tell you what she wants (which I love but we may have to work on redirecting that, ha).  My favorite part of the day is waking up in the morning and she's got a smile on her face and we sit on the couch and snuggle.  There are not enough words in this vast English language that could begin to describe how thankful I am for her.  I always think to myself, I would love other babies and know that I would love them just as much as I love her....but if I am only ever blessed with Hadley, I will live my life so gratefully fulfilled because being her Momma has been my greatest joy.  I pray every night that God will help us to love her in the very best way we can and that we will always try to lead her to Him!

The worst time of year

note - I just noticed that my last post was titled "the worst month EVER". see, I'm not lying about my general state of mind, haha

I'm living in it right now, folks.  

I wouldn't say that I'm a "rainbow and sunshine" kind of person.  I can tend to think in "glass half empty" terms if I'm not careful.  I get annoyed more easily than I should.  These are on my good days, people.  

This time of year, though...I am the above x 1000000.  Seriously I am the most annoying, bad-attitude-having, negative, grouchy person.  And I would like to thank the terrible weather and never-ending gray days for being the source of all my misery.  

I can't even begin to tell you how much it DRIVES ME CRAZY - CRAAAAAAAZY - to see people on FB, Instagram and blogs start proclaiming the "beautiful weather!" and wearing sandals and shorts this time of year, and posting pictures of green leaves and blooming flowers.  Because today?  I put on leggings, tall socks, boots, two shirts and a winter coat.  I had to tromp through snow to get to my car.  Our thermostat is at 72 and half the time I'm still chilled.  Our warm-mist humidifier is running.  My hands are dry and cracked and seriously don't get me started on my nails.  I usually don't give two cents about the state of my fingernails but right now they are a mess of splits and breakage and that's a problem cause they're always snagging on my SWEATERS.  

I'm sure what makes this difficult for me is that I grew up in Illinois, and around there, spring started towards the end of March.  By May 1st, it is beautiful.  I have memories of being in school at the end of May/beginning of June (back when they made you go that long into the summer!) and wearing a tank top and shorts.  In northern Wisconsin in April, you're still getting big snow dumps.  Shoot...I remember getting a dump of snow in May in Minneapolis one year.  But even worse than the snow - I can handle that, it usually is pretty and melts really quick that time of year - is the lack of sunshine.  It seems that every year around the beginning of March, the sun must go on Spring Break to Florida or something.  For like the whole month.  Cause we hardly ever see it around here.  

The only thing that makes me feel better is the prospect of a beach trip, which this year we're unfortunately not doing.  BUT we are going to see my family in Georgia, so the prospect of 65-70 degree weather is very exciting to me.  The other thing is online shopping.  Ha.  

And this little lady can usually put a smile on my face, too -

The worst month EVER

No, really.  The last 3-4 weeks have been just terrible, cause our little family of 3 was hit with every imaginable flu/bug/cold out there.  Here's what it looked like - 

Saturday (a few weeks ago?) - Brad comes down with a 48hr stomach bug
Sunday night - I feel a cold coming on
Monday-Friday - I've got a full-blown cold, with a sore throat, sinus pain, headache, etc
Friday - Hadley starts coughing a little.  We had her 6 mo appt that day so Dr listened to her chest but all was good. I'm feeling better but starting to get a nasty cough
[Weekend was decent, we ventured outside a couple times to get some fresh air.  I am having coughing fits at night and Hadley is sleeping like crap, though.]
Monday - notice Hadley's eyes are gunking up a lot
Tuesday - Hadley's definitely got something going on with her eyes, looked like it could be pink eye but I was certain it wasn't cause where would she have gotten that??  Tuesday afternoon she's running a fever so I schedule a Dr appt for Wednesday
Wednesday - Find out Hadley has pink eye.  In both eyes.  Turns out that if they have a cold their congestion can come out in their eyes and it's a form of (contagious still) pink eye. BUT - Brad and I are feeling good, so I get her eye drops and figure we'll clear it up and move on from sickness. 
Thursday - Brad calls from work and says he's coming home early cause he feels achy and sick.  This is significant cause Brad NEVER EVER misses work.  EVER.  I literally cried on the couch cause I was so worn out from sickness.  Then I make him go to the Dr to make absolutely sure he doesn't have influenza.  Definitely an overreaction but I am bound and determined to not expose Hadley to it, if that's the case. Plus Brad and I didn't get flu shots and we didn't get it for Hadley.  He goes to the Dr and doesn't have the flu but  they give him amoxicillin for...something.  Still not sure what.  (Sending a man to the Dr and trying to find out what they said is like sending a 5 year old, in my opinion.)
Friday-Monday - Brad still doesn't feel great but is better
Tuesday - Brad's feeling better!  I feel good!  Hadley's eyes are cleared up and she's not coughing much! 
Tuesday night - I start feeling nauseous and just....off.  All night long feel like I need to vomit
Wednesday-Saturday - I have the stomach bug.  I felt nauseous, headache-y and worn out.  No appetite.  
Sunday - Finally...all 3 of us are feeling better!  

So that brings us to today.  I woke up with a bit of a headache, but I will happily take that.  I am not kidding, I have NEVER in my life gone through anything like that.  And believe me, I know how fortunate we are to have this be our "big ordeal", many millions of people struggle with much harder things.  But truly, sickness can just be the most discouraging thing to deal with.  By this last week, I was going crazy, telling Brad we needed to have the air quality in our house tested and inspected for mold or all sorts of nutty things.  (Keeping in mind that 90% of our town has been going through all of this for the last month).  I think another thing that contributed to my craziness was a lack of sleep.  We had moved Hadley to her room early in all this sickness stuff and I know I didn't sleep well those nights, and then when she got sick and was waking up a lot we moved her back into our room, and she was sleeping terribly so that obviously affected me.  But we're all cleared up now, so back in her room she will go.  

All that is to say, I am SO HAPPY we're over this sickness crap. I've been opening the windows to get some fresh air in the house and washing our hands like crazy.  I'm not a Lysol/bleach user but if I were...I would be going nuts with the stuff, ha!  

Happy 5 Months, Hadley!

side note - I'm behind!  We're currently 6.5 months, ha...6 month update should be coming soon :)

Weight/Height/Head:  Unofficial weight was 19lbs (just on our scale).

Hair:  Dark brown in the back and sides but growing in light brown/dark blonde on top.  Sooo...guessing it will be a light brown color?  Still not sure.  Definitely has a bit of a wave to it.

Eyes: Bright blue, just  like her Daddy's

Diapers: Size 3

Clothes: Shoot, this is where it's hard to do her updates a month late.  I'm pretty sure that at 5 months we had moved her up to 3-6 month onesies, and she was wearing mainly 3-6 month clothing.  Sometimes it's hard to tell what her size is cause I honestly don't shop much for her, only when I get to Minneapolis or Duluth, and even then I tend to buy her clothes that will fit her RIGHT NOW and then I get them home and end up complaining the next week that they're too small.  So I need to work on that.  

Eating: At 5 months we were still doing all formula and little bit of baby oatmeal.  Towards the end of the month I started giving her pieces of fruit or avocado slices.  She was eating around 4 8oz bottles every day, give or take a few ounces. 

Sleeping: The girl was a great sleeper at 5 months - going down at 7:30ish and sleeping until 7am the  next day, not even waking once.  She was still in our room at 5 months (in her Rock N Play)

Milestones:  Unfortunately I'm not remembering too many right now, so I'm just going to skip this section for this month :(  I'm definitely going to start writing things down!

And maybe one of my most favorite pictures of my sweet little lady (with her cousin, Micah):

Beginning the "Foods Adventure"

Before (and when) I was pregnant, I remember thinking, "I can't wait to puree my baby's food!"  I was so excited at the thought of blending up sweet potatoes, squash, avocado, apples, etc, putting them in little ice cube trays and popping out a couple to feed my baby.  Something about it seemed so wholesome and it appealed to the part of me that wanted to raise my baby on good, healthy, homemade foods.  

And then I came across this blog post by one of my favorite bloggers - BLW FTW, OMGah

Reading this blogger's experience made me want to explore the idea of Baby Led Weaning for Hadley, and I'm SO glad we did, because here we are:

Eating her first banana

Eating sweet potato wedges & banana

Eating steamed carrots, which I later discussed with my best friend and she advised waiting on carrots until 9 mo due to high levels of nitrate in carrots and honestly I'm not sure why that's important BUT she's super smart so I listen to what she says.  And yes that's Brad's beer can that he snuck in the picture and I didn't notice until later

Eating quinoa and sauteed peppers and yellow squash

So, we've jumped in headfirst to this whole "baby led weaning" adventure and so far, it's going well.  I'm not going to go through all the principles off because I don't have much time for this post to begin with (it's TOUGH working full time at home with a baby, y'all), but it basically follows the thought that anything you eat can be ate by your baby, with the exceptions of nuts, honey, and excessive salt or sugar.  There is a recommended amount of salt that you can give a baby but I've decided to forego it altogether, so for instance, when I sauteed her peppers and squash I used a tiny bit of unsalted butter.  And we'll also be avoiding any added sugars/juice for as long as we can.

There's so many thoughts out there about what you can and can't give a baby, and for a while I tried to read up a lot on it, like delaying certain foods such as berries, grains, dairy, etc.  I think at this point I'm planning to just go with my own instincts and trust that if it's not a good food for her then we'll see the repercussions from it and adjust necessarily.  That doesn't mean I'm planning to load her up on noodles and strawberries, but we're not going to avoid those foods completely.  We will give her small amounts of whole grains and berries (probably in smaller quantities and definitely not all together, just in case we do come across an allergy) and we'll avoid cow's milk dairy foods for some time.  But otherwise, the options are limitless, and that excites me!  Yesterday when I made my lunch I had to think, "Okay, what can I eat that she can eat?" so I made the quinoa, peppers and squash and it was SO good, and so healthy for me too.  So there's benefits in it for our whole family.  

I think the biggest reason I'm choosing to do this is that I want Hadley to grow up appreciating the foods she eats.  I am terrified of raising a child that has a picky palate and I will do everything in my power to avoid that!  My belief - and the belief of BLW - is that, if you start them on a variety of foods at a young age where they're able to taste it, touch it, experience it, they won't grow up with that whole "Ew, I'm not trying that!" attitude that you see in so many children.  That's not to say they won't develop preferences - God knows I won't eat an olive if I can help it - but they won't shy away from foods just because they're unfamiliar.  

I also like the fact that it teaches a baby that they're a part of a family and not the "main event" - they eat whatever the whole family is eating, and they eat whenever the whole family's eating.  Mom doesn't have to feed the baby her special foods while Dad eats and then she gets to eat, or doesn't have to delay dinner another hour because she's feeding the baby their meal before putting the rest of the family's meal on.  

One last thing, Hadley has begun "eating" food but there's not a lot of actual eating going on :)  The BLW book says that for the first couple months of beginning foods the baby will probably not ingest most of the things they eat, and if they do, it will be small quantities.  But they say that a time will come - usually when the baby can chew and move food around in their mouth more easily - that things will "click" and they'll start really eating.  So, that quinoa up there?  Most of that didn't even get in her mouth, but she was able to taste it and touch it, which is a win in my opinion because that's how babies learn.  This is a learning experience, for both me and her.  And the whole choking thing - which is the first thing that crossed my mind - while I do worry about this and never walk away from Hadley for more than a second while she's eating, I've noticed that if she bites off something that's too big for her it comes right back out of her mouth.  The book explains that babies basically have a built-in gag/choke preventing reflex that prevents them from swallowing foods that are too big.  The key with this is that they must feed themselves and control the food going in their mouth.  Plus, the sooner a baby learns how to chew her food and know how much to put in her mouth, the more likely she'll know later on how much is too much to bite off.  We've had one instance where she coughed a little, but I'm honestly not too worried about her actually choking on her food.  And God forbid that happening, but if it should, I've read up on baby CPR and am planning to take the Red Cross course!  

So to all you Mommas, while I reserve the right to completely change my mind and start puree'ing her food, I  have to say that right now, I'm so excited to really jump into the adventure of food with my girl and see where it goes!  Here's to an adventurous eater :)