It's only been two days so I realize this could change...but holy cow, Moms on Call has it figured out.  The funny thing is that it's seriously so common sense that you feel stupid doing it, but at this point I don't care!  I just wanted my child to sleep without crying for 30 minutes before passing out.

I'm not going to give any tips or anything because who knows, it could be a fluke, but I've applied their sleeping principles and it's been like putting a different child to bed.  Here's what worked:

1 - Darkening the room.  I had to nail up sheets over the windows cause the white curtains and blinds that are pretty to look at just aren't doing the trick.  Someday here I'll see about putting room darkening shades in but for now, we are lookin' white trash and I couldn't care less

2 - Playing a sound machine on white noise, fairly loudly (loud enough to hear it outside of the door of her room)

3 - Not waiting too late to put her down for the afternoon nap.  I've only been giving her about a 2.5hr window between the morning and afternoon nap.  It creates a stretch between the 2nd nap and bedtime that's a little tough, but by the time 7:30 rolls around she is more than ready for bed

I really think the biggest things that helped was darkening the room and playing the white noise. I'm still in shock that it's been so much easier all of a sudden but I can only attribute it to these two things.  I also got rid of all the pacifiers so thankfully we are DONE with that stage.

Next up, weaning from the bottle, which we're starting tomorrow.  Help me Jesus.

The Weekend and a Non-Sleeping Baby

My peanut is down for a nap right now and I'm curious, do any other Mommas feel like they're on borrowed time while their baby naps?  I swear, I'm just waiting to hear the crying start...and I just put her down 30 minutes ago.  We had a terrible weekend, sleep-wise, and I'm at my wits end....but I'm feeling a little hopeful thanks to Moms on Call!  (More on that at the end).

So we had a great weekend.  Friday night we were all in bed before 9pm and it was so wonderful.  Saturday Brad blessed my heart and let me sleep til 9am while he got up early with Hadley - I seriously felt like a new woman after all that sleep (though she did wake up about 4 times that night, ha.  No rest for the weary).  Brad went fishing on Saturday for most of the day so Hadley and I hung out at home, then when he got home we went to dinner at Famous Daves, which was super good.  I have to add, we went there after we tried to go to the new Mexican restaurant in town and were told that they didn't have high chairs.  DIDN'T HAVE HIGH CHAIRS.  Now what in the name of the sweet Lord is a restaurant thinking by not having high chairs?  I'm sure they're planning to get them, but in the meantime, that's just bad business.

Sunday we had a great day again, went to church in the morning and then.....went to visit our new puppy!

Drumroll....

This little guy, a Boston Terrier, will be coming home with us in two weeks!  We're so excited, needless to say.  We sadly had to put down our sweet Lab, Bo, back in November and we've been thinking about getting a puppy for the last couple months.  However, we have a pretty small house so I had two requirements for our next dog: it had to a small breed, and it had to low-shedding.  As much as I loved Bo, he shed like no tomorrow and it seriously scarred me.  I know Bostons shed, but terriers have more of a wiry hair than that long hair that Labs have.  The best part of all is that Hadley loves puppies. Specifically small puppies, so I'm excited to see how she interacts with him.

I was joking with Brad last night, the funniest thing about these dogs is you wonder, which way are you looking??  Haha

Sunday night I parked Hadley out on the deck and manned about a million different things, trying to get dinner ready while Brad washed his truck and mowed the lawn.  I had the grill going outside with chicken on it, green beans on the stovetop and mac and cheese in the oven.  It was a great evening with some great food.

Trying to get a picture of us with my big 'ol camera...kinda tough

I snapped this picture of Hadley last week while we were visiting my sister-in-law.  She had put her on her son's little tricycle, and I kid you not, Hadley was so proud of herself for sitting on there!  Plus she has such an adventurous spirit, she's recently taken to standing on her walker (like on the edge of it) and trying to climb on top of the dishwasher door when it's down.  She's going to give me gray hair by the time she's 5, ha!

Okay, so our sleeping dilemma.  This could turn really long so I'll paraphrase my struggle up by saying, I don't have a dang clue what we're doing when it comes to sleep.  To those of you that have it all figured out, my hat is off to you and please email me all your best tips and tricks.  The bottom line is that I've struggled with when to put her down for naps, and putting her to bed without having a crying match every single night.  No joke, I've been putting her to bed awake for the last MONTH and to this day, she cries every single night, for at least 15 minutes.  The sleep books say that this shouldn't be happening at this point, but what do I do?!?

I have zero answers, but I'm feeling somewhat hopeful after reading the short little Moms on Call book for 6-15 month olds.

I'm a little confused why this tiny book cost $11 to download, but whatever.  I will paraphrase their sleep suggestions - 

1 - Set nap times and stick to them.  Within 4-5 days it will be a routine for your baby

2 - Put baby to bed between 7-8pm, have a consistent routine that includes bath time and feeding.  Put them to bed awake, and if they cry just let them be

3 - If they wake at night crying, leave them be

4 - Get a good sound machine with a white noise setting, make the room very dark

Now, though I think the book is a little pricey, it is helpful.  So this morning I decided that I would put Hadley down at 9:30, and when that time came she went down pretty easy.  Unfortunately it's her afternoon nap that we struggle with, as well as when to put her down for bedtime.  My plan today is to put her down again at 12:30 and hope that I can get her to nap for at least an hour and a half.  Then for bedtime we'll try the recommended Moms on Call routine and put her down around 8.  As for the letting them scream in the middle of the night...I like the idea but in reality, that's just tough to do.  I might have to tweak that to fit us a little better.  

Speaking of which, my little lady is up.  Wish me luck!  Happy Monday :)

5 On Friday

I'm linking up again with these sweet ladies for "5 On Friday" - A. Liz Adventures, Carolina Charm, Hello! Happiness and [the good life blog].  Check them out!

1 - My first week as a stay-at-home-mom was so, so good.  SO good.  I had a clean house all week, laundry is all done for the weekend, and best of all, I was able to spend whatever time I wanted with Hadley without feeling guilty or feeling a pressure that it was time that I would have to make up, work-wise, at some point.  I do find myself at the end of every day asking, "Okay, what did I get done today?" and then going through a checklist of kitchen cleaned, laundry, baby food making, special projects, etc.  My only "downtime" has been while Hadley has been napping and I use that to blog or check FB, or fold laundry and watch Mad Men :)  Otherwise I'm staying busy.  The best kind of busy!

2 - So, my Christmas gift this year:

A Starbucks Verismo, similar to a Nespresso (I think it was designed like the Nespresso but more budget friendly?) Anyway, I was super excited to get this and at first was a little dismayed at the pricey cost of the coffee and espresso pods - $13 for a box of 12 pods.  But now it's just got me ticked off.  First of all, I can't buy the pods locally, so I either have to order them online or drive an hour and a half to buy them.  Second of all, after spending $35 to buy 3 boxes that last for a month and a week - and that's only drinking one cup per day - I just feel like it's becoming a nuisance to keep myself stocked, especially now that I'm trying to lower our unnecessary expenses.  And as much as I love popping the pod in and having my one cup made in 30 seconds, I do sometimes miss a hot pot of coffee brewing and being able to have as many cups as I want!  So....I'm buying a coffee pot ASAP.

3 - There is nothing cuter than a baby in short shorts.  Nothing.  Look at those rolls!  Note to self...I think it's time to clean the carpet, as that rug is supposed to be a light tan, ha!

4 - I'm so sad my TV shows are over for the season.  I got sucked into Hart of Dixie and Nashville, and they're both over until the fall.  In the meantime I've been watching Mad Men, which is about as dramatic as I can take a TV show.  I'm a fan of lighthearted TV watching and reading.  So I'm welcome to any recommendations!

5 - In a couple weeks Chris Cagle is playing a festival not too far from where I live, so I've already arranged for Hadley to have her first overnight stay at her Auntie's so Momma can really enjoy herself!  I'm a big fan of his music....cheesy looks aside (sorry, but he does have a cheesy look, right?  Maybe it's just the photo)

Garden Plantin'

I got my garden in!  This is a feat, if you want to know the truth, between getting my husband to build the beds and put the dirt in (only because this is his busy time of year with work), and me actually getting the plants in the ground.  However, we got it all done yesterday and I'm really excited to see how it will turn out. Because we only did two 4x8 beds I don't have a ton of room, but I was able to get tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, one serrano pepper plant (for salsa/guac), and a girlfriend is giving me some onions and garlic.  I have a little bit of room left so I may do a few herbs.  

Here's a shot of the beds (which are NOT in full sunlight, I didn't realize that until after we got the beds filled.  #fail)

And here's my little lady keeping me company.  It was so nice, I was able to put her on a blanket with a few toys and let her play.  She had made her way from her blanket back there to come over by me and would stand and play in the dirt.  That's what summer and being a kid is about, right??

I took Hadley in today for her 9 month check up and though she's healthy as a hog she has another dang ear infection.  To be honest, it's kind of a defeating feeling - I never felt guilty for not breast feeding longer but when you start seeing your baby get sick in what seems to be once a month, you start questioning yourself.  My doctor is so nice about it and just says that it's that time in her life when she will start getting sick as she's exposed to more and doesn't have the inherited immunity to protect her, but still.  So, because we just had the double ear infection less than a month ago we're on Augmentin, which is a stronger medication to treat ear infections.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't deal with these repeatedly.

Also, while we were at Walgreens I had the scare of my life with her!  We had been walking through the store waiting on her prescription to be filled, and because she was getting antsy and I didn't have the diaper bag with me I opened up a container of Puffs for her.  We were walking through the aisles and I was feeding them to her, and then went to wait in line to pick up the meds.  As we were standing there she started coughing (while strapped in the cart) and I was patting her back, but then her face started turning red and she started silent coughing, which is the true sign of choking.  HOLY COW, PEE MY PANTS, HEART DROP.  I try to pull her out of the cart in my panic but realize she's buckled in, so I'm fumbling with the straps.  Finally I get her out and she seems to be working it up some but then I see a flash of silver in her mouth and she starts choking again.  So then I am doing the finger-swipe like crazy, or trying to, cause the booger wouldn't let me in there.  At this point people are coming over to try and help me and I have Hadley nearly upside down cause I could see the foil in the roof of her mouth.  One lady said very nicely, "Be careful with her upside down, you don't want to shove it deeper."  Oops.  I did manage to pull the foil out and she was totally fine, but seriously, it shook me up so bad.  I still don't know how on earth she got it but the foil must've come from off the top of the Puffs.  Talk about a heart attack.

Alright, my peanut's up from her nap and is playing on the floor, so I think I'm gonna join her (still loving this SAHM business!)  Cheers to it being Friday tomorrow!

SAHM!

This is my first official week as a stay at home (non-working) Mom!  I have to clarify because, if I didn't mention it before, I worked from home while taking care of Hadley.  Yesterday was the first real day and it was such a great feeling to have my mind be exactly where I wanted it: on Hadley and my home.  I had so many moments during the day where I stopped and thanked God that I was finally in this place.  I know that every day won't be so incredibly amazing and we'll have our rough times where I will probably wish I was out of the house, but I really have waited SO long for this time in my life and I plan to make the most of it.

This last weekend was a super busy one - Saturday we spent the day at a local auction.  It was my first time ever going to one, and while it was pretty sad when you thought about a person's whole life all being sold off for bids starting at $1, I did get some great deals on a couple household items that appeared to be unused.  We met the homeowners that Brad is currently building for and it's so funny cause every time I go out to the job to visit Brad, the husband always takes a family photo of us.  So it was no different on Saturday, Steve pulled out the camera :)  I joked with him that the photos he takes of us are literally among the handful of family photos we have....SO SAD -

For the record, we were at this auction early...hence the no makeup and weekender clothing ;) 

How cute is my sweet girl and her Daddy?  I swear I need to start putting her head-to-toe pink, she's called a boy all.the.time

Sunday we drove to Duluth (the big city!) and hit up Sams, and also bought our lawn mower.  I swear, buying a lawn mower ranks around buying socks.  Totally necessary but completely un-fun.

Monday we got lots of work done in the yard.  I'm bummed cause I don't have a very good "before" picture of our house when we bought it, but trust me, we've done a ton of work!  Here is the finished picture:

I still have to paint the flower boxes (the same color as the trim).  We're also planning to paint the porch the trim color...one of my many summer projects!

Yesterday Hadley and I drove to the next big city over so that I could make an Aldi's run - okay, really, the prices there are so crazy cheap - and also pick up some organic produce from a mother/daughter team that sell it for super low prices.  I got apples, kale, spinach, lettuce, avocado, peaches, bananas and frozen butternut squash, peas and broccoli all for less than $50.  Such a great deal!

Today I'm going to buy the starter plants for my garden and hopefully get those planted today.  Pictures tomorrow (if I get it done, ha!)

5 on Friday

I'm participating in a "5 on Friday" link-up with a couple of my favorite blogs, notably Hello! Happiness and [the good life blog].  Check them out!

1 - Garage Sale-ing 
I'm not gonna lie...I used to turn my nose up at garage sales. I just felt like, "I don't NEED to garage sale."  But because of some big life changes recently (more on that next week!) I have changed my tune, and to be honest, I'm wondering why on earth I waited so long to jump into the wonder of garage sales!  I have gotten SO much stuff for Hadley in the past couple weeks that she's probably fully outfitted for summer now.  I've purchased a nice baby monitor to keep at Grandma's for $1, a baby gate for $5, clean, new toys for $3-$4 a piece, little Converse tennis shoes that look brand new for $2....it's amazing.  I will fully admit, I am ashamed of my past attitude and now laugh at people who buy baby toys and other things full price.

2 - Sam's Club
We're getting a membership this weekend and I am so dang excited.  I don't even know why.  We're mainly getting one because Brad takes his lunch every day and let me tell you, it gets expensive buying things the same things at the grocery store every single week (he is totally a creature of habit and has pretty much taken the same stuff for lunch since we've been married.)

3 - Daddy & Hadley


This isn't the greatest picture at all, but seriously, how funny is this?  Most nights I do the bedtime routine with Hadley but last night I had a killer headache and just wanted to take a bath after we got home from church, so I left it up to him.  When I got out of the bath I about died when I walked out to the living room and saw them both asleep in this crazy position (well, crazy for Hadley, not so much Brad, haha).  Not sure how on Earth Hadley ended up like that but she seemed pretty comfortable!

4 - Summer Playlist
Now that summer is finally arriving, I've been creating my "Summer 2013" playlist on Rhapsody.  Here's a few of my picks (yes, I'm a total country music girl):

"Runnin' Outta Moonlight" - Randy Houser
"Tell Me How You Like It" - Florida Georgia Line
"Tip It On Back" - Dierks Bentley
"Pirate Flag" - Kenny Chesney
"In Love With The Girl" - Luke Bryan (okay, pretty much any and all LB songs are on my summer playlists!)
"When She Says Baby" - Jason Aldean
"American Beautiful" - The Henningsens

5 - The Last Day
Today is my last day of work.  I have a post coming up about it, but needless to say, my heart is absolutely bursting at how excited I am to begin spending my days with my sweet girl.  I've waited years for this day - even before I had kids! - and for it to finally be here is almost unbelievable.  I'm so thankful for this blessing, both to God and Brad for giving me the opportunity.

Your 8 Month Old NEEDS These Baby Items!

Now that I have a NINE MONTH OLD...[where has the time gone], I figured it would be a good time to share some of our favorite "must haves" that get us through each day!

1 - Praise Baby Worship Songs
We were given this DVD by my best friend at my baby shower and I kid you not...as a work-at-home Mom, I have needed lots of different things in my Keep Hadley Entertained arsenal.  Now, I know most people are not fans of sitting their baby in front of the TV, but two things: one, I had to do what I had to do and have never felt any guilt about that.  Secondly, this video really is educational - it was developed by a baby psychologist and I really believe it expands their little brains.  Hadley doesn't give two cents about anything that's on TV, ever, but when she hears the opening song on this DVD her little rubberneck is snappin' around to watch it!  Plus I like that they sing little worship songs.

2 - Carters Tank Onesies
Generally speaking, Hadley has lived in nothing but Carter's onesies since Day 1.  I am such a fan of putting her in a little white onesie and leggings, so even though I'm showing you a picture of the tank onesies, I really loved the long sleeved ones as well.  I recently purchased a package of these tank onesies and seriously...I just die seeing her little chubby baby arms in a tank top.  They're also really practical to put underneath long sleeved onesies and shirts on cooler days.  Side note, but I never realized that Carter's products that are sold at WalMart, Target and the Carter's store are different qualities.  The onesies I've bought for Hadley at WalMart are nowhere near as soft as the onesies from the Carter's store!

3 - Ology All in One Soothing Baby Wash & Shampoo
Who knew that Walgreens started carrying an all natural line?  I went in there one day to look for some baby something-or-other for Hadley and saw this soap for $3.99.  Besides the price, the best part is that it has no harmful chemicals or parabens in it.  The scent is Lavender & Chamomile and at first, I wasn't crazy about it, but now I looooove how her little head smells after a bath.  It's the sweetest smell.  Did I mention it's $3.99?

4 - Bob Revolution SE Jogging Stroller
 When Hadley was born we purchased the Britax B-Agile stroller, and while I really loved it for being at the mall or on nice even sidewalks (which we rarely saw either of those things), it just didn't hold up very well on our unpaved roads and uneven city sidewalks.  When she turned 6 months old we decided to break down and buy the Bob Revolution stroller, and though it was mega-expensive (in our opinion), it has been worth every.single.penny.  I would only suggest purchasing this stroller if you plan to run with your child, or live in a place where you don't have access to smooth, nice walking trails and sidewalks.  Some of my favorite things about it are the way it absolutely glides over bumps, how easily it steers with one hand and how it easy it is to push while running.  I am not a huge fan of the storage compartment under the stroller; I feel like it's way too small and hard to get in and out of.  I also wish it came with a more affordable handlebar console for your beverages.

5 - Baby Stacking Cups
These are nothing special, but Hadley loves them!  Really any toy that fits into another or stacks on top of something is super entertaining in her book.  She loves to bang them together.

6 - Nuby No-Spill Cup with Flexi-Straw
When it comes to giving Hadley water, we started out with this Nuby sippy cup but she really never took to the technique it requires to get it out (reminds me of those water packs where you have to bite the straw to get some out?)  It might have also been that she's not yet holding her bottles so she didn't want to tip a cup back to drink from it.  Who knows.  I wanted to get her used to drinking water and not just out of my water glass, so I figured we would give the straw cups a try and lo and behold, she likes them.  It's still a little difficult for her to get water out but she's doing better with it than she was without the straw, so I figure it's just a matter of time.  And anything that doesn't leak works for me.

7 - Fisher Price Walker to Wagon
The toy in the picture above is actually not the one we have, the link will take you to our toy.  They're pretty similar.  Anyway, to be honest, right now toys are just not on her radar.  She's recently mastered pulling up onto furniture and moving anywhere and everywhere, so that's about all she wants to do.  This toy is one of her new favorites, though, because she stand up with it and take steps (every day she gets a little braver walking with it!)  And when she doesn't feel like standing up, she can sit or kneel and play with the toys/gadgets on the front of it.  By the way, I bought her little toy at a garage sale for $2 and it cleaned up like it was brand new.  So I saved us $24 which makes me pretty proud of myself.

8 - Evenflo Modern High Chair
When we were looking for high chairs, we were also starting to look at a better stroller, and the next stage car seat.  So basically, looking at spending LOTS of money.  Because I knew I wanted a good stroller and a good car seat, I decided to go a little more "budget" on the high chair and I'll be honest, I love this chair.  It's not what I would've pictured myself buying, style-wise, but I love it now.  Since we have an open layout, I knew I didn't want a high chair that had cartoons or the typical "baby furniture" colors on it (you know, sage green, maroon, taupe, etc).  Some of the features I really like are that it has a removable tray on the top of the big tray that you can put their food right on and when they're done eating, pop it off, carry it to the trash and clean it up.  The black padding on the high chair is like the foam material they use to make those pool noodles, and they are removable, so the chair cleans up incredibly well.  There is a little bar on the back of the high chair to hang bibs, there's wheels on the bottle front to move it, and there's a little plastic "pommel" that keeps them from tipping out if they're not belted in.  (Not like I ever leave her unattended if she's unbuckled but it would make it really hard for her to fall out with this feature).

9- Plum Organics Super Puffs Greens
FYI, don't buy these from Amazon...they are much cheaper at Target!  We're starting to move out of puffs territory and more to actual foods, but I do still like to use these occasionally.  They're a great size for tiny fingers that are still figuring out their pincer grasp, and they taste pretty good.  We also have given Hadley the Gerber puffs because I'm not sure how meaningful the "organic" label is on a dry good, but I do really like giving these to her cause I've yet to see the Gerber puffs in a "green" variety.

So there you have it!  If anyone has any questions feel free to comment!

ETA: These are not necessarily items solely for an 8-10 month old; just items that we've used in the last couple months!