The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Do you have any idea how many songs have sleep in the title?  There are 12 songs just titled "Sleep!"  Anyways, this one was my favorite option I haven't used...as I've already referenced Bare Naked Ladies, "Who Needs Sleep?" a much more appropriate title every time I talk about sleep...

I digress.


Kayla was ALL about dancing to this this morning!

The lion may sleep tonight, but mommy doesn't.

I honestly have pretty much given up on getting any sort of good consecutive sleep, and I'm ok with that.  Kayla was just waking up once a night to eat and going right back to sleep, and last week she even gaves us glimpses of sleep until 4 or 5 2 nights in a row.  However, since then, the proverbial s**t has hit the fan. Last night she was up four times, and she sort of refuses to nap for longer than an hour most of the time (this isn't always the case however.) And we are still struggling between 2 and 3 naps, and we really don't have any sort of schedule whatsoever.

Let me tell you something.  I've read at least 3 sleep books.  I've read a ton of discussions online.  I've heard about 100 people say that "this" is the magical tool.  "This" being: a bedtime routine, not using any sort of crutches (pacifiers, breastfeeding, movement), letting baby cry, singing to them, or them being able to self soothe.  And let me tell you something else...this is all BS.  I have physical evidence that not one of these things is a magical cure for Kayla waking up in the middle of the night.  Granted, I'm sure these things work for someone, unfortunately that someone is not me (or Kayla).  We have a bedtime routine, and most of the time we lay her down fully awake in her crib without her pacifier, and we let her cry a little bit (but not out of control screaming cry), we sing to her, and more often than not, she falls asleep for naps and bedtime without much crying or coercion.  So she does self soothe.  But I can't for the life of me get her to stay asleep.

Whatever, I guess she needs to eat.  I would say that I'm done talking about sleep on this little blog because I'm kinda tired of the responses I get when I post anything about sleep.  It's one of two things:

1. My baby "perfect, most amazing advanced baby", sleeps 14 straight hours and we do this and it works like a charm.
2. OMG, my "little terror baby" is soooooo much worse than your baby.  Just get used to not sleeping forever.

Here are my responses:

1. My baby is not your baby and your bragging makes me want to wish your baby turns into a terror shortly after this conversation.
2. OMG, I highly doubt your 1 year old is waking up every hour at night crying because he/she is hungry...but fine, you are worse off than me.  Good to know, wish I cared.  Thanks for the vote of confidence about getting some sleep.

Why can't moms be less preachy or one-uppy (not a word I know), and more just plain supportive?  I know I'm exaggerating here, it's probably the lack of sleep! :)  Most of my mom friends are great and not like this, but sometimes that's what it feels like, because my baby isn't like yours.  I was telling a friend yesterday, I'm a little frustrated because Kayla was a good sleeper as a newborn.  She would usually go 5-6 hours at night and some nights even longer.  I made it a point to NOT brag about this fact, but Kayla just slapped me in the face at 3.5 months.

I've come to the conclusion that it's alright that she needs to eat in the middle of the night.  She just does. She's a happy baby during the day.  We have a lot of fun and she is crawling and pulling herself to stand all over the place (advanced for her age if you must know.)  My Nanny got her a onesie she probably needs to start wearing:  Dad's the king, Mom's the queen, but I'm the boss.  And she is.

Who me???

NMM 8/1/11

Holy moly, can you believe it's August?  Where is summer going?  I'm not gonna lie though...I really love the fall!!!  Bring on the leaves, cooler weather, football and Halloween in Hawaii!!!  Woot woot!

Anyways, back to the matter at hand:

Listen whole-heartedly to your partners instincts about baby, because they may just notice something that you have overlooked.  They know what they are talking about too!!

This week's tidbit is from me, not my "Eat Your Peas" book.  People always say that there is a "motherly instinct" and I think this is probably true.  But what you don't realize is that Dad has some instincts too, and just because you aren't really sure about what he's saying doesn't mean he is wrong.  Give your partner some credit and take their thoughts and opinions on what is going on with baby into serious consideration, because honestly, they are probably right.  It's sort of like 2 head are better than 1, and it is really nice to have someone there willing to help you out!!

Things Justin has figured out about Kayla long before I saw it:

• She hates being wet, and pees a TON
• She likes when you sing "Twinkle, twinkle" to her when putting her down
• She's not a big fan of those sleep sacks or footies because she hates to have her feet trapped
• She loves the texture of those Aden & Anais swaddling blankets in bed

I'm sure there are a bunch more, but my pregnancy brain has crept into my non-pregnancy body.  The point is, listen to your partner!  They know what they are talking about too and also have baby's best interest at heart, because they love her (him) just as much as you do!

Kayla seriously LOVES the pool...it's hilarious!

Midwest Road Trip Leg 3 - The Final Chapter

I know it has taken me a long time to finish my Midwest Road Trip wrap up, but I took A LOT of photos.  I said to Megan today, I'm not sure I can be a professional photographer because editing takes me FOREVER!  She assured me I could do it if I was getting paid.  She's probably right.  Anyways, back from that little tangent...

 4 photos of my independent baby that I compiled and framed...I'm trying to expand my skills!

Meg, Samson, Kayla and I headed up to Milwaukee on Thursday morning.  Kayla's car seat was inclined a bit too far while it was positioned behind the passenger seat, causing her head to droop forward whenever she fell asleep and Meg hit the gas a little too hard.  When we got up to Milwaukee, we decided for the rest of the trip, we would try a new configuration involving me with Kayla in the middle of the backseat, and Samson in the front passenger seat with the seat reclined a bit.  We figured this might be better for all.  Samson might be calmer if he was up front with her and I could watch and entertain Kayla.

We got up to our aunt MEMs house, ate some Culver's (mmmm...fried cheese curd), and had a relatively relaxing afternoon.  Thursday night, my aunt Karen wanted to set up Meg with one of her coworkers.  She (Karen) had convinced him to meet us out for drinks...us being both my aunts, both my sisters and I.  I told her I really hoped she had warned him to bring some male friends, because he was going to be overwhelmed with estrogen.  We got to the bar only to find out it was Ladies' Night!!!  This means FREE (yes I said free) Smirnoff mixed drinks and martinis, and free tap beer and wines for a whole hour and a half!!  We were thrilled.  The five of us had a really great time drinking and chatting and stalking Karen's coworker before he got there from the Brewer's game.  We met Lauren's friend Xai, and the guy ended up being really nice and tolerant of our antics.  I felt kinda bad for him since we had already been drinking a bit and we were a little rowdy (it's easy to get like that with a close family!)  All in all, a really fun night, even if nothing comes of it!  Unfortunately, I have no pictures from this event!

Friday, MEM, Kayla and I took a quick trip to Marquette so MEM could pick up some (more) free stuff for us. :)  And so Kayla could meet some of the staff who are friends with MEM.  When we walked into the gym, I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Novak who plays in the NBA and played at Marquette.  He was super nice, and loved Kayla.  He said his one year old son would just love her....hmmm...another set up? :)  After the morning trip, if I remember correctly (remember it was a while ago) Lauren and Megan played some Michael Jackson: The Experience with our cousins Renata and Ewelina.  (By the way, that game is awesome!)  Then we rested up to get ready for a weekend filled with activity.

Saturday was Dad's birthday, so he, Mom and Brendan drove up for the weekend.  We had some lunch at Grammy and Papa's and then most of us made our way to Summerfest (only the most amazing musical set up in the country...well kinda.)  If you live in the area and have never been you are really missing out!  We parked in the historic Third Ward and walked toward the park grounds.

 Some Third Ward photography with some HDR editing in Photoshop

Walking to Summerfest through the historic Third Ward

More old style scenery

We walked around, ate, and tried to keep Kayla happy toward the end of the day.

Milwaukee Skyline from the Summerfest grounds

Shoreline

My mom will probably hate this picture, but she was so wonderful pushing Kayla around all day.  It was so hot!  Plus...doesn't she NOT look old enough to be a GiGi?

We took a photo with the Bratwurst:

We also rode the SkyRide.

I love Photoshop!

That night we just rested up so Megan and Lauren could be ready for their half marathon in the morning.

Sunday morning, Justin, Brendan, Kayla and I got ready to head over to the race finish.  We ended up waiting for a couple hours in the hot weather to see Aunt Meg and Aunt Lauren at the finish line.  I started to get a little worried about them because it was so hot out, but then my Aunt told me that the race crew RAN OUT OF WATER and was making encouraging people to stop and walk.  Seriously???  I mean you know how many people are in the race and you know how many water stops there are...I feel like this is the LAST thing you should run out of.  So while we waited...I took a bunch of photos from afar.

Kayla and her Papa

With GiGi

With Papa & Gigi

Everyone took turns holding Kayla because she's a hot box...and it was already hot! With Great Aunt MEM

And she made a new friend

I feel the need to point out I took two really similar photos and merged them to create this so I had the best version of everyone!

And I took photos of the scenery:

And then...there they were...looking tired but still running!

Then I took a photo of my sisters, who I am so proud of!!!

I used HDR processing on this one because I wanted to highlight their sweat and how hard they worked!  I'm not sure I LOVE it, but it's kinda cool.  

Here is the original (edited but not with HDR processing)

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, and I took more photos.  Some of Kayla in her Aunt Meg trademarked onesie...#1 cheerleader.

And some of Great Aunt MEM and Kayla in her adorable gingham MU dress.

And in the morning, Meg, Samson, Kayla and I took the long trip home, running away from some big storms, in our new car configuration.  This worked out better we though than the way up, but it's still is a long trip toward the end.  

I can't wait to see my family again.

Check off #16

#16: Create a DIY "piggy bank" of sorts for savings.


This past weekend, Megan and I were pretty determined to figure out what we were going to use as piggy banks, since we were completing tasks and had nowhere to stash our cash (well our theoretical cash...)  Megan came up with the idea of using apothecary jars.  Megan's a lot more creative than I am so I just usually go along with her when it comes to these sorts of things.

We went to Michael's (my absolute favorite scrapbooking store...angels sing when I walk into the Martha aisle) armed with 40% coupons in search of the perfect apothecary jars to store our savings.  We finally got through the scrapbooking aisles and came to the vases and other sorts of jars aisle -that's what I call it.  I was semi-unimpressed with the assortment of shapes they had.  Megan picked up the one that was my favorite, but that's a stretch since I wasn't sold on any of them.  As I was trying to decide, Megan said "Oh here's a different one..."  I looked toward her and she pulled this beauty off the shelf.

I do not have my savings in cash yet, so I decided to fill my jar with some hair ties and a few ribbons...just cause.

It's like it was meant for me, I love it.  And when I got home, I searched DIY apothecary decorations and came up with some awesome things you can do with apothecary jars.  You can bet I will be going back to Michael's to purchase a few more when we get settled somewhere to decorate our eventual home.

I also purchased K, M, and H initial letters to eventually decorate a nursery whenever we get settled...ugh please let it be soon.  So for one large glass apothecary jar and 3 large initial wall hangings and a 40% off one item coupon, I spent a total of $15...I love Michael's.

Next week, I will hopefully be checking some exciting off my list! :)

Weddings

This weekend was our friends Frank and Lauren's wedding weekend.  Frank went to Tech with Justin and some of our other close friends.  Let me tell you, these boys are crazy, but I love them.

If I recall correctly, I met most of them at our other friends Jon and Therese's wedding 5 years ago.  Justin was in Jon's wedding and Jon was in ours.  I may have met some of the guys at a house party when Jon and Justin lived together in college, but let's be honest...I don't exactly remember all the details from college! :)  I have so many fond memories of the few times we all can get together and this weekend was no exception.

I had given Lauren the name of our DJ and photographer.  I remembered giving her Rachel's name (RMN photography is AMAZING!  Like her on Facebook!!), but I didn't remember giving her DJ Mike's name.  When we walked in, Justin noticed they were using our DJ as well.  I asked Justin if he was going to say hello, and then said, "If he remembers us, you know our wedding was fun!"  Justin said, "He probably does hundreds of weddings each year."  To which I responded, "I know, that's why if he remembers US you know it was a good time!"  When we were waiting in the receiving line, DJ Mike came up and said hello and thanked us for giving Lauren and Frank his name.

We were able to chat for a few minutes with Rachel, who was telling us that she and DJ Mike were trying to figure out where they knew each other, and then they came up with our names.  It feels nice they remembered us, and I'm really so happy to get them more business, since they are both wonderful!

Anyways, the wedding was so much fun!  Yes, it was hot, but seeing friends we hardly get to see, dancing and laughing at the good times is worth every degree!  Unfortunately, I didn't take too many photos, but I did get a few good videos on my iPhone, of the crazy dancing of course.  I have a sad feeling this may be one of the last times for awhile we will get to be with all those people at the same time, so I'm going to relish in every memory of the weekend for now.  And, even though I made friends with rum, bourbon, red wine, white wine, Corona and Heineken, I still remember every second and felt wonderful afterwards!!!

A picture of most of the boys on my iPhone

Some video of the bride and groom and some of our friends dancing to some MJ...classic

I found this dance circle to Footloose hilarious

The boys do this Bobsled thing at each others wedding...I probably could go back in time and pull up photos from previous weddings

Ok I wasn't going to do it, but I found this photo from Jon/Therese wedding so easily...

I can't wait to see the photos Rachel took!  For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos of my then boyfriend and our friend Jack I took at Jon and Therese's wedding 5 short years ago.  Every time we see Jack, we whip out this photo! :)

Newborn Niceties

I have a long list of blog drafts to write and upload this week - wedding festivities this past weekend, 101 list checked off item, pet peeves, etc.  But, I have a high school friend who is expecting and I seem to have turned onto cloth diapers, YIPPEE! :)  And since I love to be a know-it-all in all things I know ;) I wanted to do some research on newborn cloth dipes - for her, my other readers interested, and really my future reference!

First, a quick update on my cloth diapering.  I have tried one Ragababe all-in-one diaper and an Apple Cheeks swim diaper since my last CD post.

The Apple Cheeks swim diaper is super great: a great green color, really thin so water (and pee) just flow right through it (this is normal in swim reusable diapers) and easy to snap in the front.  They come in 2 sizes and for now, Kayla fits into a small.  I will probably need to buy a new diaper next year (and maybe for our family trip to Hawaii in 3 months...woohoo!)

The Ragababe is so far my most favorite diaper.  It's an awesome aqua color; it's easy to close with the hook and loop closure, it's REALLY trim and super absorbent.  So far, I have no cons about this awesome diaper, except for the fact that they are impossible to get my CD addict hands on!!!  If you recall my post from the end of June, I couldn't even refresh the page to buy any at the last stocking, however, last night I scored 2 more all-in-ones!!  I'm hoping for a few more in the near future to review!

I also have started to try using cloth wipes.  I bought some Ragababe wipes (you can most definitely make your own and save some money but I kinda wanted to try these).  I made my own solution with water, baby shampoo/wash and olive oil/baby oil.  I actually didn't have the oil at first (it's to help the wipe glide over baby's bottom easier) which caused Kayla to have some serious redness.  So far I find cloth wipes to be easier to use with cloth diapers since I just toss them in the laundry with my diapers.  I will update my cloth diapering page as soon as I get some time.  

Ok, onto the newborn cloth diaper research.  I have tried to post some links (some to pages with reviews) and if you don't want to read through all my crap, scroll down to the links below to dirty diaper laundry video reviews!

All-in-one diapers: no stuffing (for the most part) most similar to disposables, need to buy sizes as baby grows. (NB diapers recommended to me are in BLUE.)

1. Ragababe NB AIO (newborn all-in-one): I honestly think these might be the best to buy.  They are very absorbent and trim and very easy to use.  There is a pocket if you need/want to have extra stuffing for overnight or a heavy wetter.  A big downer to these diapers is that they are pricey and basically impossible to get at this moment in time, until Joy and the RagaTeam are able to increase their production and open up full time.  Link
2. Bumgenius XS: I have BGs one size diapers.  I like them but they wouldn't be small enough for a newborn I don't think depending on baby's size.  Link
3. GroVia NB AIO:  Again, I have a GroVia one size hybrid diaper and I love it, but I can't speak about these diapers in particular. Link 
4. Rumparooz Lil Joeys:  Again, I have a rumparooz one size diaper.  I like it because it has internal gussets.  Lots of moms LOVE this lil joey diaper (it has a snap down for the cord.)  Link

Pocket NBs:  have to stuff an insert in, may be quite difficult to stuff those tiny pockets, AIOs probably easier for NBs.

1. Fuzzibunz XS:  Another CD mom favorite is fuzzibunz..I think the biggest downfall would be stuffing the teeny tiny pocket.  Link
2. Thirsties Duo Size 1: I literally know hardly anything about this diaper but tons of people like their Thirsties. Link

Other dipes:

1. Kissaluvs Size 0 with cover:  I think when I CD my next baby I'll probably get some fitteds or flats with covers for that newborn phase since I have mostly one size diapers or diaper that grow with baby for once they get bigger.  Link
2. Sustainable Babyish fitted or flats with cover:  see above!  Link
3. Ragababe 2-step size 0:  This diaper will grow with the baby at least a little bit, and you already know my love hate relationship with RagaBabe. :) Link

Sometimes I feel like I have too much to say about cloth diapers and it comes out making no sense at all. So if you got anything from the above...congratulations you are probably the only one! :)  I have linked some awesome reviews below but here's what I would probably recommend/what I will probably do.

I would definitely stick with all-in-one diapers and/or fitted/flats with covers for a newborn.  You will be changing their diaper so often and they are so tiny that I think all-in-ones would probably be the easiest.  Put it on, take it off, toss it in the laundry.  No extra fuss or anything with that.  Flats/prefolds can be great however because you can fold them to whatever size you want and slap a cover over them.  Also, later on you can use them as burp rags or as inserts to other diapers and covers you have!

I really can't do this review justice without linking you to these amazing reviews at dirtydiaperlaundry.com (a great blog).  They did an extensive (and I mean extensive review) you can see here and here.  These reviews are seriously awesome.  She talks about whether or not they are cord friendly, leaks/absorbency, overall rating and whether she would use them again and THEN she discusses the diapers versus their one size counterparts.  I would definitely say though that all babies are different with cloth diapering too.  A diaper that works well for my baby might not work as well for yours based on their size - thighs, skinny/chubbiness, length of torso, etc.

Please leave me a comment, message me, whatever if you have any questions.  I seriously love talking about cloth diapering and if I don't immediately know the answer to your question or what to tell you, I'll gladly point you in the right direction on where to find the answer after I do some research!!! :)

6 month MD update

Weight: 15 pounds 2 ounces (according to nurse, somewhere between the 25th and 50th percentile, according to google about the 32nd percentile)

Length:  26 1/4 inches (according to nurse, somewhere between the 50th and 75th percentile, according to google about the 67th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 1/4 inches (according to nurse, somewhere between the 75th and 90th percentiles, according to google about the 84th percentile) Thanks Dad

Sleep: Sleep is seriously the biggest challenge as a parent.  We sleep trained Kayla, did everything we could think of and everything everyone suggested, and it seems she started out a great sleeper and for some reason now is just not a good sleeper.  She falls asleep without any "sleep aids."  We put her down drowsy but awake (and sometimes wide awake).  We try to let her cry a bit if she wakes up too soon (i.e. at 11:30 pm or after a 30-45 min nap), but she NEVER goes back to sleep.  Ok maybe like once or twice she has.  We tried dream feeding.  I don't use cloth diapers at night for fear she will soak through it so fast (and considering the last two nights we've had to change her in the middle of the night it's not an unfounded fear.)  We've tried everything, and according to all the sleep stuff I've read, she "should" be sleeping through the night.  But alas, she isn't.

Nighttime sleep:  Was still waking up 2-3 times to feed her.  About 1-2 weeks ago we put up her crib in a different room in hopes she would sleep better.  It was pretty awful for 2-3 nights, but after that she was only waking up once to eat.  The past 2 nights she's been up 4 and 3 times respectively, who the hell knows why.  At the doctors, Theresa (our NP) said that if she only eats for 5 minutes she may just need to eat at night (which is what I've been saying.)  She suggested we start upping her solids, and that may help with sleeping too.  I guess if I want to continue to breastfeed I should just be resigned to the fast I'll be getting up with her at night for awhile.  She's just a long skinny baby who needs to eat.

Napping:  After we sleep trained her, napping got really good.  I forced her into a 3 nap schedule and 2/3 naps were an hour 45 min to 2 hrs+ and one nap was around an hour.  About 2 weeks ago (probably after our Midwest road trip) she just is a really bad napper again.  Sometimes naps are only 30 to 45 minutes again.  I was trying to get down to 2 naps but I just don't think that's going to work right now.  I'm pretty sure any mom that says their infant is on a very rigid schedule is full of shit, but maybe I just have a baby who isn't interested in routine - a real downer for this organized scheduled mommy.  But alas, it is what it is.

Milestones:  So I've already mentioned this but Kayla got two teeth within 1 day of each other, learned to sit on her own, crawl and pull to stand on anything and everything she sees in the past 3 weeks really.  So lots is happening.  She is a lot more vocal now (sometimes I think she accidentally says "mama" while she is fussing in her crib before falling asleep - and a couple other people have mentioned this as well.)  She likes to "pop" her lips (hard to explain) and blow raspberries which is just hilarious.  She's been a little more fussy than normal, but I'm guessing it's just because she wants what she wants but can't really get it yet.  So I just let her fuss a bit.

Hopefully soon our family will be going through some big changes like Kayla is!
I tried to get some photos this month of her the new positions she can get in, but she was so fussy and it was nearly impossible to get any good shots.  Here's what I came up with so far!