Monday, March 25, 2013

Let's talk about sex, baby... or what happens after.

Let's talk about raising a baby!... since I'm down three quarters of a bottle of shiraz and half a bag of chocolate covered almonds.  There's really no time like the present.

After hearing AMAZING news today, that a very, very dear friend of mine is expecting, I'd like to reminisce and share some insight in the form of verbal diarrhea.  Here goes...

As far as I'm concerned, nothing in this world compares to being pregnant, birthing a baby, and watching a newborn grow into a toddler.  Motherhood, single handedly beats out any other profession.  Personal shopper, and wine sommelier being a close second and third.

I can honestly say the only thing stopping me from having five babies in a row, is that occasionally we put off paying the cable bill so that we can order takeout sushi instead.  We aren't rich and we do strongly promote post secondary education, and hope to one day send the smartest one of our kids to college.  
(I kid, I kid.) 

But seriously, making babies, having babies, chasing babies around... are all the best things on this planet.

It's pretty challenging for a while, especially the first few months, but it absolutely gets easier and a whole lot more fun.  Some days are exhausting, and I can say I have most definitely cried five to 10 times once or twice, right a long with my hysterical, teething child.  But morning comes, and you see that squishy, smiling face looking up at you all excited, and suddenly you're a morning person again, when you haven't been a morning person since the 7th grade.

Every single baby in this world is different in a million different ways.  It's very difficult to say that what works for one baby will work for another.  One thing I wish I had done before C arrived, was read a few more books on actual babies, instead of mostly pregnancy books.  I say this because I've learned a few things the hard way.  Some of the things I learned through trial and error were basic things like... sleep patterns, how much food and when, and educational activities.

Some books I would recommend are:

What to Expect, the First Year - For basic everyday info. and milestones.  However, I'm sure there are other books out there that are just as good, if not better, and similar to that one.

The Lull-a-baby Sleep Plan - For sleep training tips starting at 8 weeks of age.  This is one of the books I read while I was still pregnant that made me realize how big of a deal helping your baby sleep is.  Eventually I combined this book with the next one for ultimate baby sleep strategizing...

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child - For help with sleep problems and a more in depth idea of how babies sleep.  The importance of letting your baby learn to self soothe (for older babies, I for sure do not mean let them cry it out).

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See - Don't laugh...I'm serious. This book is the best.  I started reading C this book when she was newborn and now whenever I say 'brown bear', she races to her book shelf and picks it out of a pile of books.  And she has added Cat to her vocab.  Pretty awesome for a 9 month old.  (yeah, yeah my babies a genius...)  Books in general are the best learning tools.  Dur.

One thing that trumps anything any baby book will ever tell you, is the help and advice from your own mom.  If you're still here and reading this, it means she did things right, so give her a chance.

Some books I would not recommend are:

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - Unless you want to feel like a total asshole for not breastfeeding.  Whatever the reason, be it that it just didn't work out, or that you choose to formula feed, they will make you feel like you don't deserve to be a mother unless you nurse. I wholeheartedly agree that breastfeeding is beneficial and I know first hand that it helps you drop baby weight like it's hot, but it's a personal choice.  If you need help, make an appointment with a lactation consultant, who is hopefully not a member of the La Leche League.

Go the F*%$ to Sleep - Just kidding, this book is hilarious and awesome.  Just skip the swears if you plan on reading it as a bed time story, or before you know it your kid will be ripping curse words.

Another totally awesome thing to read is this article about parenting... because it's awesome and completely true.
Parenting... you're probably doing it wrong anyway.

Happy Reading!

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Baby R is 9 Months Old

Heyyy girl!  We are so BFF's now.  I feel like we are really starting to understand each other.  Except of course when I do things like... change your clothes, make you eat lunch when your favourite show (Octonauts) is on, wake you up from your morning nap, or take my winter boot away from you while you're treating them like an ice cream cone... salty huh.  Other than that we are clearly infatuated with each other.

You are such a smart little girl already.  Even though your vocabulary consists of Dada, very rarely Momma, and I'm noticing a hint of the word Cat, which sounds very similar to what we think is Hi, I know you understand a whole lot more.  You absolutely understand when I tell you no, because you get a ridiculously cute pout on.  You give high fives, you wave hello and goodbye,  you can turn off light switches and open and close doors, regardless of whether your fingers happen to be in the way.  That's always fun.

You're a super speedy crawler, especially towards the stairs, and you can take one unassisted step to grab onto another piece of furniture without even falling.  You love swimming, going for walks and spending time at Nana's.

You're pretty much eating most of whatever we eat for dinner.  You eat chunks of fruit, chicken, meatballs, yogurt and waffles.  But by far your favourite snack is cheese.  I wonder where you got that from...hint...rhymes with Faddy.

You are blowing your Daddy and I away with cuteness and how much personality you've developed.  It's like you changed overnight, and when we woke up you were this sassy character. Keep up that darling head tilt you do and you'll have Daddy buying you a car in no time.

This month you started sleeping through the night... THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  
And you also got your first cold. :(

You weigh 21lbs.  You wear size 4 diapers, and size 12-18 month clothes.

I Love you babes
xoxo, Momma







Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Life Via the Camera Roll

We went swimming...
and loved it...
tried working out again...meh...
we lazed around...
 we too advantage of the beautiful weather...
we had lunch outside...
we changed up our sleep schedule...
and got mad about it...
we switched from winter wear...
 to summer wear...
(make up your mind climate)
we finally started painting our living room...



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Thursday, March 7, 2013

I'm Alive and Kicking.

     Just popping in to say Hey! and let you peeps know that I do still own a computer, I just don't own a life anymore.

     I will hopefully be throwing up a couple new posts sometime this weekend when I get a second to sit down and digest the fact that my maternity leave has prematurely ended and instead of taking care of one baby, I am now attempting to impart wisdom on 24 other babies. Yikes! Who hired me?!

     Things I will be talking about include; why it's important to read the baby books before you actually have the baby, how insane it is to be a full time mom and a full time employee, and how sleep schedules change and as a mom you're supposed to adapt to that (who knew?!...smart little buggers, they are)  Also, C's nine Month Post will hopefully be up before she hits 10 months.

     Side note:  Thank you for all of your amazing comments on my posts on Instagram and Facebook! I really had no idea anyone was actually reading my excessive rants, let alone enjoying them.  I keep posting mainly to keep my thoughts in check...hence why I disappear when I have zero time for thoughts.

Welp See Ya Later!