My Favorite Things...

I thought, 

with the AWESOME number of friends having babies,

I would share some of the items I really loved using for H's first couple months.

Aden + Anais Swaddles

Whether you get just the swaddle blankets, or the easy swaddles these blankets are the best!  I prefer to swaddle H in the easy swaddles at night because it's much harder for him to wiggle out of, and I'm not swaddling master.  But once I started swaddling him he slept so much better!  Not to mention these blankets can be used for anything and you don't have to worry about baby overheating.  The stroller blankets are really great as well...H might be attached to his.

A Swing of any Variety 

(preferably one that plugs into an outlet...no dead batteries)

Our swing has made naps a breeze for H.  While I hope that he will eventually take his naps in the crib, this thing puts him out in seconds, and comes in handy when he is having a really rough night in the crib.

ZIP up sleep jammies

(or sleep sacks)

Imagine trying to button up a squirming monkey, while drunk, in the dark...
That's kind of what it feels like during those late night diaper changes.
The sleep sacks are nice because you just pull it up, and pull it down.  I did find that they would ride up his legs as the night went on...which would annoy me in my sleep.  But it never seemed to bother him.  Not to mention they made my little boy look a little girly.

White Noise

Whether you buy an actual sound machine or stick to something as simple as a fan, these really help keep them asleep.  Right now we're just using a fan.  I'd like to get a sound machine that plugs into the wall so he can have a full night of the rain, heart beat, etc sounds instead of the 30 minutes that the sound sheep provides.

Video Monitor

We use the WiFi Baby monitor.  It is compatible with our phones and iPad.  I was shocked at how much noise H made in his sleep!  He used to make a sound that sounded exactly like a dolphin.  Anyways, the video makes it easier to tell if the little one is actually awake or not.  No pointless walks down the hall!

Moby/baby wearing contraption of some variety
Mostly because hauling those darn car seats is tiring!!! I wore Hudson in the grocery store, the mall, and parties.  It was great at his first party in Colorado at 3 weeks old.  Ethan and I were both a bit nervous about people wanting to pass our little one around at an outdoor party on his due date.  Sticking him in the moby wrap put him right to sleep and allowed a look but don't touch approach to all the guests.  Maybe I was being over protective of him that night but we had just driven 12 hours, it was flu season, and we were going to drive another 12 back to montana.  We were the ones bringing him home and I'm not sure I would have been able to deal with a sick 3 week old as a new mother.  The wrap also made grocery shopping easy...no room taken up by a bulky car seat=more food for me!

I'll add more as I think of them, but these were/are life savers.

4 is the Magic Number

Or I guess around 3.75

Hudson is going to be 4 months old on Sunday

Holy cliche moment of "this is going way too fast"

BUT...

at this stage in his life I have realized that I am not an infant person.

Now, don't go thinking I'm a terrible mom and hated my baby for the first 3 months of his life.

I loved him beyond words.

I cried when he cried, I hurt when he hurt, I never wanted him out of my sight.

But the smiles and the laughs that my little booger is spitting out at me make this whole parenting thing so much more rewarding and so much more FUN!

I feel like I've figured out how my baby's little brain ticks.

Which has made my life so much easier and less stressful.

He sleeps in his crib.

Not like a champ by any means.

When the tears start rolling a quick insertion of the paci or some food do just the trick.

As I'm writing this blog, he's in bed at...that's right 7:30.

All fresh, clean, massaged, and relaxed.

If only I were put to bed that way every night...Ethan

As for my previous posts about sleep.

My only advice for new moms is Screw the Professionals.

They tell you not to nurse your baby to sleep, not to rock them to sleep, not to put them to sleep with a paci, not to, not to, not to....

Well, if you listen to them (many of them contradicting one another) you are just going to have an overtired, frustrated, beyond the point of sleep baby.

And that just makes even his/her awake time no fun!

Do whatever it takes to get them to nap/sleep.

And in due time, they will grow and need less of these "crutches" to help themselves sleep.

Everything takes time and multiple attempts before they get it right.

Don't stress.

I thought I'd also share my New Year's Resolution? with you all.

I have noticed an article floating around Facebook about Moms bullying Moms.

I'd kind of like to extend that to just women in general.

For some reason we were almost predisposed to a world of competition between our own kind.

It's really silly when you think of it.

We judge one mom for working, for being a SAHM, for formula feeding, etc.

We judge other women on their looks, their jobs, their husbands jobs, etc.

It makes for a really miserable world.

And I was/am guilty for it.

So I'm cutting the bull shit.

I want to open myself up to the possibility of new friendships.

I want to hear, learn, and understand, with an open mind, the different parenting techniques we all have.

I don't want to look back and think that my words could have hurt someone else.

I don't want to be the source of or a part of any drama.

Because I don't want my children to be led by that type of example.

2014 is all about the love.

Hudson's Nursery

I figured I would post some pictures of Hudson's nursery.

I am not completely finished...

I DID think I still had 3 weeks to get it ready.

Oops.

Anyways, here they are!

Enjoy.

Crib by Babyletto, Trees bought on Zulily.com, Side table from Ikea, Video Monitor by WiFi Baby (GREAT!)

Bedding by Skip, Hop (Mod Dot)

Wall Art from Target

Handmade bunting

Glider from Walmart.com

Owl from Ross :)

Dresser from Ikea

Sorry for the not so great quality.

If you have questions about any other items in the room, please ask!

Some things I still plan on doing are:

Adding a wooden hand painted sign that says "Hudson's Cabin" in the birch wood trees above the crib

Building a shelving/crate box type system for above the changing table

And possibly replacing the ottoman pouf for one of better quality

But it'll do for now

Crib Diaries Part II

Well, I thought I would let you all know how my "crib training?" is going.

Hudson is successfully sleeping in his crib at night.

However, I still get no sleep.

For some reason he has a really great first stretch.

It's usually 5-6 hours.

For some reason the rest of the night he tosses and turns and cannot stay asleep.

I feel like I'm trying everything and nothing is successful.

He is swaddled, so it isn't his startle reflex.

I feed him at his first waking, so he isn't hungry.

Did any moms run into this problem?

Is it just his age, and he'll grow out of it?

I put him down between 8-9 and he wakes between 2-3.

I've read that giving him a "dream feed" around 11 helps them sleep longer.

I'm trying really hard not to buy into some of these "sleep expert" techniques.

But, sometimes they sound convincing!

And a dream feed doesn't sound detrimental to my little ones self-esteem or trust toward me.

I can't complain too much, because that 5-6 hours is all I need to keep me moving.

I'm still a slight zombie the next day but I manage.

He still hasn't quite mastered the crib nap.

But he's a professional swing napper, so sometimes I just resort to that.

I would like his naps to last at LEAST an hour, and that seems to be a very, very rare occurrence.

He is currently laying in his crib tossing, turning, and grunting but not crying.

So I suppose I'm lucky that my kid doesn't wail when I leave the room.

I suppose it's just persistence and patience?

Also, I believe any compliment I give this little booger is going to bite me in the tush and tomorrow he'll do the opposite of everything fantastic...

usually works that way.

:-p

So, if you other moms have advice, let me hear it!

On a really exciting note...

we are starting to get some hilarious little giggles and squeals out of him.

Today,  I was singing a Winnie-the-Pooh song to him about being fat and he loved it.

Probs thought I was singing about myself.

Just kidding!

Feeling pretty good about the bod.

Still have slightly over 10 to pre pregnancy weight.

But, yesterday in the gym locker room someone looked at me and said,

"You lost, like, all of your baby weight"

I laughed, knowing I'm far from it.

But, it made me realize that maybe I'm a bit too fixated on getting back to a specific number.

Maybe I just need to focus on improving areas that I'm still not 100% about and leave it at that.

I also am realizing that maybe we focus way to much on numbers...

the number on the scale

the number in our bank account

the number of our salary

the number of our student loans

we have countdowns until things are over

and deadlines for when things need to be done.

Maybe we shouldn't really worry about the numbers so much.

The Crib Diaries...

Now that Hudson has hit his 3 month mark.

I have finally (with slight reluctance) decided to make his transition to his crib.

Hudson has been sleeping beside me in a pack and play since he came home.

I guess I knew this transition would be difficult, but I was NOT ready for the calamity that took place last night.

While our family was visiting us over christmas, we moved a bed into his room for guests.

For the next, well, however long this takes...

I will be sleeping in his room in this bed.

Because I refuse to go backwards.

We have a pretty decent bedtime routine going of bath, massage, nurse, sleep.

Well, I went through the motions last night but the little man seemed to disagree with the last step of the program.

So, sleep didn't happen.

But as I sat there holding and comforting my sleeping little minion, I thought about all the expectations we have for them.

Just because we have a friend whose baby slept through the night at eight weeks, someones baby who never gets fussy, and someones baby who transitioned to their crib with no fight, we all seem to think our baby must do this.

As a mother, you just have to realize those babies are magical demons that like to make the rest of us feel inadequate as parents.

We have to realize that we are the ones introducing our baby to everything there is in this world.

And when you are that small, a big bed, in a big foreign room, all alone, is really scary!

So, as I was sympathizing with H, I realized that this process will be, and should be a slow one.

I will never let him cry/scream it out...I'm just not that parent.

And I'm not saying parents that do are horrible people.

I admire your strength.

I want his room to be a calming, familiar place, not a place associated with fear and abandonment.

So, today, I began my process of slower transitioning.

We woke up and were changed in his crib while playing with musical toys.

When it came time for a nap, I swaddled him and shushed/rocked him to sleep.

PS: I know we all feel silly shushing a baby, but that shiz works!  Shush right in that stinkers ear and it's like hitting a mute button.

I am now enjoying his first nap in his crib and I only had to pick him up once.

Baby steps.

So, my goal is to have a decent amount of happy play/tummy time in his crib each day.

Along with all diaper/clothing changes.

I'll shush him back to sleep 3 times at night, and if nothing works he can sleep in his swing.

My hopes are just that each night, our sleep stretch gets a bit longer.

Ill let you know how it goes!

On an exciting note...I'm almost out of the 140s and a big package of lululemon clothes came in the mail today.

Anyone that is curious about my workouts, i'm following the Love Your Body challenge by the tone it up girls.

Its not too late for you to join too!!!