bliss list ~ january

Is January seriously over?  What a weird month!  Weird because out of the 31 days, I worked a total of 16.  Nuts.  Which leads me to my first bliss list item...

Snow Days ~ After coming back from holiday break we had 4 snow days.  We'd get rolling with a week and then a day (or two or three) off.  While I don't look forward to making up these days, it was nice staying in comfy clothes and playing with Nora all day.  Nora couldn't believe it when she woke up on our third snow day in a row!

Tea ~ I was having a conversation with a friend at work during lunch and we talked about our love for tea this winter.  Then we both realized what we probably loved most about drinking tea was holding the warm mug in our hand.  Still, in addition to holding a warm mug, I do love sipping the warm stuff.  One of my season favorites is Celestial Seasonings' Candy Cane Lane.  It's pepperminty enough to allow it to extend past Christmas.

Slippers ~ I love leaving my shoes at the door and wearing slippers this time of the year.  My feet get cold pretty easily and it helps the slip my feet into something a little warmer.  I've already worn out one pair this season.  Oops!

Gummy Smiles ~ Nora smiles so much more these days.  I remember when she was an itty baby and I often had wondrous thoughts of when she would smile more often.  We're finally there.  She smiles at us in the morning, when we play with her, pick her up from the sitter's...pretty much anytime we look at her she will smile.  It's so sweet.

Not a big bliss list this month but it explains my month loves quite well...keeping warm and smiling with Nora!

Click here to view my Bliss List last January.

running update

First major post-baby lace-up --- January 19, 2011.

At the end of this week/month my total thus far is 12 miles.  Pace and stamina is slowly increasing.

naptime project {take 1}

When I'm at home with Nora --- which I have been quite a bit this month due to snow days --- I try to take advantage of her nap times to get a few things done.  Her morning naps are on the shorter side, around an hour or so but usually her afternoon stretch a bit longer to anywhere from two to two and a half hours.  That is a good chunk of time time to cross some things off the to-do list.  Sometimes I'll clean, throw clothes in the dryer, blog, and when I'm feeling like I have nothing else that needs to be done, read.  Magazines are honestly the easiest thing for me to read these days.  They're quick and I can put them down and pick them up without having to recall what I had previously read.  I actually get quite a few magazines too so keeping up with them is a task in itself.

One of my favorite magazines is Real Simple.  I have always loved this magazines from its organizational tips to its advice to its recipes.  I always look forward to seeing this one arrive in the mail.  Something I started doing a couple of years ago was keeping an inspiration file.  It's nothing elaborate - just an accordion file but I have it organized so I can stash articles or pictures that strike me and know I'll want to read or see again.  And I have gone back to the file so I'm pleased that this project is a success.

It had been a LONG time since I had updated the file.  My magazine basket was overflowing and I have magazines dating back to September of 2009.  Time to skim, tear, and file.  This was my naptime project last week during a snow day.

What do you do with old magazines?  Toss or recycle?  Maybe pass on to someone else?  Do any of you skim and tear and save for another day?  Do tell!



baby bliss list ~ part 2

It has been 3 months since I published my first baby bliss list.  Wow.  A very long time.  And there are lots of items we have used in loved since that last post.  Looking back at it, I have to smile.  At the time, Nora hated all things stationary...papsan, swing...we must have had tired arms!  Thank goodness she is content in both previously mentioned items plus some new favorites.  We have even transitioned past a few of the items on the old list.  Shows our little baby is growing up!  Next up after 22 weeks of life...

Burp Cloths

A repeat from the last list, these burp cloths are still a BIG favorite for Nora and us.  Not only are they still great for cleaning up baby messes but they have become Nora's lovey.  She hugs it in her car seat, holds it while she plays, and sleeps with it at nap and bed time.  She loves it so much, during this nap she had two!

Pacifier Clip

A true lifesaver when in public, these pacifier clips.  I try not to have it attached to her at home anymore as we are trying to avoid giving her the pacifier unless she really needs it but when she leaves for the sitter, it is intact.  I'm sure it gets could just a germy attached to her body as it would on the floor {especially after I saw a little guy at our sitter's pull on Nora's pacifier clip and put her pacifier in his mouth --- I swear, it was kind of cute} but it is definitely a reassurance when out at Target or a restaurant and she loops her finger in the hook and pops it out.  The clip keeps it from hitting the ground and saves us with a quick recovery.

Eucerin



Our little baby inherited my family's dry winter skin.  Poor thing.  With the dry winter months come sore, red cheeks.

{poor baby}

We use Eucerin morning and night and are able to keep her redness under control.  The fact that she is bubble blowing, drooling machine doesn't help her case at all.  But this stuff is like magic and can usually help clear it up and make her chubby cheeks look better in a matter of minutes.

gDiapers

A couple of months ago I told you of our adventures with cloth diapers.  This item may not be on all of your own must have list but for us, our gDiapers are definitely a must!  I won't go into a ton of detail about why we chose to go this route {if you want to read more, click on this link} but we are definitely gFans.  We love the way they fit Nora, they are so easy to use and clean, and the big bonus --- she looks so darn adorable in them!  She is still in the small size and we just received the medium size in the mail today so we'll be set when she's ready to make that next size jump.

Jumperoo

I can't find a product image of our jumperoo, which is the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders jumperoo from Babies R Us but when doing a search, I see that line is discontinued.  I should have figured as much because we scored a great deal on it right before the holidays.  The perfect gift for our little jumper!  She LOVES her jumperoo.  And seems to "get it" more than she does her exersaucer.  She likes to bounce, which she kind of does on one leg, loves the lights and sounds and is starting to study and touch some of the objects and toys.  She can spend quite a bit of time in it if her mood is right!

So ends another baby bliss list.  Moms out there...what items are must have for you and your kiddos?

music monday

Pomplamoose!

nora ~ 5 months

{click on Nora's photo above to view 5 month outtakes}

This past Wednesday, January 19, Nora turned 5 months old!  And what a fun five month old she is!    Everyone warns new mothers that time goes quickly and that is the absolute truth.  Yesterday I was walking with Nora down the stairs and she was sitting on my hip.  For some reason, I was caught a little off guard by that.  My baby is old enough to support herself and sit on my hip.  When did this happen?  She has undergone so many changes this month and has had many big milestones.  With the holiday break from school and the ridiculous amount of snow days (4!) we have had during the month of January, I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Nora.  It's been fun to spend some extra days with her as she's beginning to make daily discoveries and show us that she is a true companion rather than a lumpy little baby {although I do sometimes miss that stage!}.

{loves the mirror --- are we creating a monster?}

{enjoyed her first Christmas}

{finally starting to tolerate tummy time}

{learned how to roll over!}

{"I like my Baby Bjorn!"}

{first full day and night alone with Daddy}

{tried cereal and hated it}

{but after giving her a break for a couple weeks, it's going better}

Nora's Stats {as she enters month 5}

Bedtime:  Still between 7:30-8:00 pm.  We have tried to stretch and keep her up a little longer but it's a struggle.  After a long full day at the sitter she is usually ready to start her bedtime routine around 7:00 pm.

Wake-up time:  We've pushed Nora's morning wake-up time back to 6:45 am.  We've got the routine down now so we're able to give her a few extra minutes of sleep.  Typically, we have to wake her.  She plays so hard at the sitter's she is too tired to wake up on her own!  And because of that, we have had several nights of FULL sleep...without Nora waking at all.  So nice.

Naps:  Still pretty similar to month 4 but with a few adjustments.  Nora still takes a morning catnap around 8:00 am or so but it's usually only for about 20 minutes now.  She takes a shorter morning nap too, around 1 hour or a little less.  She still takes a longer afternoon nap, anywhere from 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  I think because she sleeps longer at night, her nap times are shorter during the day.

Eating:  Nora still takes 5 oz. every 3 to 4 hours.  We've tried to stretch her to 4 hours but she really prefers to eat every 3 hours.  We have upped her first bottle of the day to 6 oz.  Our sitter mentioned Nora has been ready to eat sooner in the morning so we thought she might need a little more in that first bottle since she has gone so long since eating the night before.  We're also attempted to begin about a tablespoon of rice cereal at night before bed.  At first she HATED it but things are going much better now.

Favorite toys:  Nora still likes many of the toys she enjoyed in the past few months.  I think she's able to understand them and use them a little better now!  She loves her bumbo and I like the tray so she can have access to toys or other objects.

Firsts/Milestones:  Nora had several milestone minutes this past month.  She ate cereal for the first time and rolled over for the first time!  She is talking more too.  She likes to carry a conversation with herself and shadows.  And the bubble blowing is back!  It disappeared right around Christmas but Hubby was happy to report last week when he was home with Nora that her love for all things bubbles has returned.  Nora is smiling more than in previous months and is starting to laugh.  I can't wait to hear those laughs and giggles in the months to come!

yum yum

First few tries, not so good.  But I think we're starting to like this eating thing.

more growth

Hard to believe this is the same baby.

Nora at 1 month:

Nora at 5 months:



lacing them up

It has been a LONG time since I have run.  A very long time.  I used to run all the time.  My mom told me she'd never seen someone so dedicated.  {I think she meant obsessed}  Until I married Hubby and my days became a little more lazy, I was outside pounding the pavement in extreme heat, bitter cold, and snow packed streets...it didn't matter the weather or terrain, I was out there.  Once I met Hubby my dedication slowed a bit.  I still ran quite a bit but wasn't as faithful on a daily basis.  Then pregnancy came.  I was pretty good at the beginning of my pregnancy but as my time came to an end, so did my running days.  I can definitely count the times I have worked out since Nora's birth on one hand.  Not too many.  But it's time to get back at it. 

I have two big motivators to get my feet back into those shoes.  I'm going to compete in my first race since high school cross country.  The plan is to join a few co-workers for the 23rd Annual Trolley Run in Kansas City in three months.  I've always wanted to do this run.  It's a fairly flat 4 mile run through some of Kansas City's prettiest neighborhoods.  And having friends to run with will make it even more enjoyable.  Speaking of friends, my best buddy, Leah and I made a pact over a year ago that we were going to run in the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in January of 2012.  Mind you...not this year.  We made this decision last year when we were both pregnant and realistically wanted to give ourselves and our bodies time to heal and get back into shape.  I'm so glad we decided to wait until 2012 because I would not have been ready for this year's race which was this past weekend.  So I have about a year to get ready for the half-marathon and am so excited for a fun weekend away to Phoenix with Leah and our husbands.

My morning runs will be a bit more challenging with an infant but we are finally in a good place with Nora.  Now that she is sleeping through the night and I have our morning schedule down, I feel pretty comfortable throwing a morning run in there.  I'm going to have to start out slow.  I have not run in quite awhile and the last time I ran I was carrying around a few extra pounds.  Most likely I'll begin with walking a few days a week and then gradually building up my pace and time.  I really hope to be back to my running self soon so that in April I'm ready to rock those streets!

I'll keep you posted on my success.  I'm hoping this post and this blog will help keep me accountable!

music monday

An oldie but a goodie.

great friends...

drive up a snowy hill to your house to bring you the most delicious strawberry iced cookie.

Thanks, Michelle!

bad hair day

Who hasn't had one of these?

guest post!

Head over and visit The Domestic Wannabe today.  I'm guest posting in her series A Day in the Life.  It was fun getting the post together and I'm so excited to be featured on her blog which is a GREAT read.  If it's not already a daily blog stop for you, you need to make it one!

sleeping success

I think nearly all new parents look forward to the day they can answer yes to this question:  "Does your baby sleep through the night?".  I can't tell you how many people asked us that question.  And always my answer was the same.  No.  My baby was only 6 weeks old but I got that question a lot.  At 6 weeks, Nora was still waking during the night to eat and I didn't see an end in sight.  When I was asked that question I felt like we were failing somehow.  If the question is being asked, shouldn't my answer be yes?

Being the routined, organized person I am, I will admit the thought of Nora sleeping through the night and having a predictable eating and napping schedule was VERY appealing to me.  But looking back I think I felt like she had to be in this schedule when in reality, she was setting her own schedule.  And ironically now, her current schedule is not all that different from her schedule when she was younger.

But on to the important part.  How did we get Nora to sleep through the night...because she does and has been now for over a month.

I have to be honest, we didn't have success with anything until Nora started at her sitter's.  I went back to work on November 1st and prior to that, Nora was still waking during the night to eat around 3 am or 4 am.  After my first week back we realized in order to help her sleep through the night we needed to do two things.  One, do not change her diaper when cried during the night.  When we laid her down to change her she screamed (we think because she wasn't really awake) and she woke up and was up for the count.  Two, decrease the amount of milk in her bottle.  We went from 3 oz. to 2 oz. and then 1 oz.  So in a way, we gradually weaned her from needing that middle of the night feeding.  Both of those decisions were a huge step in the right direction.

Nora started with our sitter in the middle of November.  When we checked in on her day she let us know Nora did great and napped beautifully.  I asked if she laid her down to nap asleep.  She said no.  Hmm.  We had been putting her to bed asleep for months now.  In fact, if we laid her down in her crib and she happened to wake up, Hubby and I knew we were in for an hour long battle of getting her to settle down and fall back to sleep.  And now our sitter was informing me that she laid Nora down for her nap AWAKE.  And she slept.  The light bulb was burning pretty bright.  We needed to do the same thing.

That very night we did our normal night time routine with Nora (low lights, bath, lotion, bottle, swaddle, bed) but this time we laid her down awake.  We shut the door and held our breath.  Cries.  But it was okay.  We were going to wait three minutes, go back in and put her pacifier in for her.  Three minutes we went back in, helped her, walked back out and we never had to go back in.  A month later we follow the exact same routine and it's actually rare that we even have to go back into her room after we lie her down.  She gets it now.  When we lie you in your crib, it's bedtime.  We've been able to do the same things for naps and it is bliss!

We put Nora to bed between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm and she usually gets up between 6:30 am and 7:00 am.  Granted, there are nights when we hear her fuss in the night.  We try to wait about three to five minutes to see if she'll settle herself and if she doesn't, we go in, giver her a pat, her pacifier, and shut the door again.  Works nearly every time.  And Hubby and I are enjoying full nights of sleep again.

music monday

First heard this song via Glee.  It's a toe-tapper!

{able to find a blog-appropriate version via Ellen}

Heard they're both performing on SNL this Saturday...

we're rolling

We recently had a big event occur at our house.

winter weekend ~ part 2

I am SO very late in posting pictures from the holidays.  I'm probably committing a major faux pas by even considering to post them now but I don't care.  Some of these are too cute to pass up.

Our first Christmas Eve with Nora was spent quietly at home.  We went to church, put her in bed, and ate a nice dinner together.  The next morning our little girl woke us up...not so eager for the presents but for her bottle!  We made her wait a little bit before she got to see what Santa brought her.

After the coffee was made, Hubby and I were ready for Nora to enjoy her first experience with presents.  Maybe it is because she is beginning to reach the stage where she likes to grab hold of things but she was really into the wrapping paper and looking at her gifts.  It was fun to watch!

After all that unwrapping, Nora was pooped!

We had a calm Christmas Day.  Nora napped, Hubby's brother came over for lunch, I napped, Hubby napped...we relaxed!  The plan was to leave for my parents' home the next morning but in the afternoon, Hubby suggested we leave that night to surprise them.  We packed ourselves and Nora in a record 90 minutes (I even got the diapers washed...wow!) and were on our way.  It was so fun to surprise them!  They were thrilled to see Nora.  And I think they were glad to see Hubby and I as well.

Nora had more Christmas goodies to unwrap from her Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle and Auntie.  What a lucky baby!

Nora enjoyed lots of cuddle time with Grandma and Grandpa too.

Lots of smiles by all.

It was a fun holiday and I am so lucky to have been able to spend lots of time with Hubby, Nora, and my family.  Wow how we are blessed!

20 weeks

Funny how fast 20 weeks goes after pregnancy than during pregnancy.  Little Nora is 20 weeks old today!

Here's a glimpse of her and me when I was 20 weeks pregnant.

Still find it hard to grasp that this is Nora.  Simply amazing.

It's crazy to think back to those early weeks of pregnancy and compare to what life is like now.  At 20 weeks, I looked at is as being half done.  Now at 20 weeks, I think of all the wonderful things to come.