Sleigh bells ringing,
Choir singing,
Wonder what old Santa's bringing
It's the warm and fuzzy time of year
Snowflakes fall
The temp is dropping
Families out together shoppin'
It's the warm and fuzzy time of year
Elves are working over time
Making all our toys
Reindeer hooves on all the roofs
Of good little girls and boys
Big old cups of steamy cider
Fall asleep by a cozy fire
It's the warm and fuzzy time of year
Elves are working over time
Making all our toys
Reindeer hooves on all the roofs
Of good little girls and boys
Big old cups of steamy cider
Fall asleep by a cozy fire
It's the warm and fuzzy time of year
It's the warm and fuzzy time of year
Santa's on his way...
(I love how Billy Gilman has managed to wrap music around the feeling of the holidays!)
11/30/2007
11/29/2007
One More Thing...
Bailey is now sleeping through the night, in her own room. It was a very, very easy transition.
B has been sleeping in her crib for about three months now. Up until a week and a half ago, that crib was in our room, right next to our bed. At night, we would have to sneak into the room and avoid the creaks in the floors and do everything in the dark and then whisper so quietly in bed that we barely heard each other. And still, she woke up. Every little peep out of her caused me to jump up. I was constantly reinserting the binky into her mouth and checking to make sure that her little fusses didn't turn into all out wails that would wake us all up for hours.
Turns out, all that maintenance was wasted time.
After our trip to Hershey, when Bailey didn't sleep AT ALL in the hotel, we dropped her off at daycare and feverishly moved her into her own room. Our exhausted minds didn't give a shit if she cried all night long - we were going to get some rest in our bed, in our room and WITHOUT being constantly woken up. 6 and a half months was long enough.
(One side note - Bailey is not a breast fed child, and hasn't been eating at night for a long time. She goes to sleep around 7 and doesn't need to eat again until sometime between 6 and 7:30 when she wakes up.)
That night, we wore her out with a little help from Karen (who walked her around and around our house...yep, Bailey is up on her feet regularly!). By the time it was bed, B Bear could barely keep her eyes open. I cuddled her, gave her a bottle and then when the bottle was done, I held her to my chest. She laid her head down on my shoulder, wrapped her fingers into my hair, sucked on her binky and fell fast asleep. When I heard her snoring, I brought her to the crib, laid her down and covered her up. After that, I left the room.
The first few nights were difficult. Around 3, Bailey would wake up and freak out. I could only take listening to her scream for about 45 minutes before I would go hold her until she went back to sleep.
Then, one night, I just got over it. She cried a lot that night. That was the worst night. But the next night, and every night after that, Bailey has slept through the night. She wakes up and fusses for a few minutes every now and then, but she always puts herself back to sleep. She is able to find her binky in the night and has perfected reinserting it into her mouth on her own. Now that we've created a pattern, I have a standing rule of a half hour. If Bailey were to ever cry for longer than a half hour without falling back asleep, I'll go in and check on her. So far, in 10 days, that hasn't had to happen.
And, it's a dream. Kelly and I actually get to talk like normal adults. Our room is our own again. We sleep peacefully. We can laugh and play in bed. We can shower with the door open in the morning without the light bothering anyone. We can get dressed in our bedroom instead of the hot, steamy bathroom. We can talk. Have I mentioned that? We can actually use our voices like normal human adults and have a conversation.
There really are some awesome benefits to having your child get older. It's sad to lose those incredibly needy infant days (for some people, anyway...not really for me, though...but that is a different blog), but it sure is nice to gain back some of that Independence that comes with having an older child.
It's just been wonderful!
B has been sleeping in her crib for about three months now. Up until a week and a half ago, that crib was in our room, right next to our bed. At night, we would have to sneak into the room and avoid the creaks in the floors and do everything in the dark and then whisper so quietly in bed that we barely heard each other. And still, she woke up. Every little peep out of her caused me to jump up. I was constantly reinserting the binky into her mouth and checking to make sure that her little fusses didn't turn into all out wails that would wake us all up for hours.
Turns out, all that maintenance was wasted time.
After our trip to Hershey, when Bailey didn't sleep AT ALL in the hotel, we dropped her off at daycare and feverishly moved her into her own room. Our exhausted minds didn't give a shit if she cried all night long - we were going to get some rest in our bed, in our room and WITHOUT being constantly woken up. 6 and a half months was long enough.
(One side note - Bailey is not a breast fed child, and hasn't been eating at night for a long time. She goes to sleep around 7 and doesn't need to eat again until sometime between 6 and 7:30 when she wakes up.)
That night, we wore her out with a little help from Karen (who walked her around and around our house...yep, Bailey is up on her feet regularly!). By the time it was bed, B Bear could barely keep her eyes open. I cuddled her, gave her a bottle and then when the bottle was done, I held her to my chest. She laid her head down on my shoulder, wrapped her fingers into my hair, sucked on her binky and fell fast asleep. When I heard her snoring, I brought her to the crib, laid her down and covered her up. After that, I left the room.
The first few nights were difficult. Around 3, Bailey would wake up and freak out. I could only take listening to her scream for about 45 minutes before I would go hold her until she went back to sleep.
Then, one night, I just got over it. She cried a lot that night. That was the worst night. But the next night, and every night after that, Bailey has slept through the night. She wakes up and fusses for a few minutes every now and then, but she always puts herself back to sleep. She is able to find her binky in the night and has perfected reinserting it into her mouth on her own. Now that we've created a pattern, I have a standing rule of a half hour. If Bailey were to ever cry for longer than a half hour without falling back asleep, I'll go in and check on her. So far, in 10 days, that hasn't had to happen.
And, it's a dream. Kelly and I actually get to talk like normal adults. Our room is our own again. We sleep peacefully. We can laugh and play in bed. We can shower with the door open in the morning without the light bothering anyone. We can get dressed in our bedroom instead of the hot, steamy bathroom. We can talk. Have I mentioned that? We can actually use our voices like normal human adults and have a conversation.
There really are some awesome benefits to having your child get older. It's sad to lose those incredibly needy infant days (for some people, anyway...not really for me, though...but that is a different blog), but it sure is nice to gain back some of that Independence that comes with having an older child.
It's just been wonderful!
She's Trying...
Our Bailey is trying SO HARD to crawl. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. She crawls backwards, but she can't put it all together and move forward yet. Eventually, she just gives up, flops on her belly and fusses while waving her arms and legs back and forth.
I laugh at her.
Does that make me a horrible mother???
I also get down on the floor and encourage her to come to me and clap when she moves and I try to give her incentives to make it happen. Any day now we are going to have a crawling child.
I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Speaking of clapping...she now claps her hands when she is given something that she likes. It's the absolute sweetest thing in the entire world! Since she's been old enough to focus on us, we have clapped while saying "yeaaaaa!!!!". Now, she does it too. So sweet.
Finally - Bailey clearly says "Mum mum mum mum" when she is distressed. She won't say it on command and she doesn't mimic us when we say it to her. But when she is nervous or sad or upset about something she clearly says it while looking at us (she doesn't seem to decipher which one of us is Mom...which is GREAT!). It's usually combined with her burying her head in our necks or rubbing her eyes.
Super sweet.
I can't believe that she is almost 7 months old. How the hell did that happen????
I laugh at her.
Does that make me a horrible mother???
I also get down on the floor and encourage her to come to me and clap when she moves and I try to give her incentives to make it happen. Any day now we are going to have a crawling child.
I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Speaking of clapping...she now claps her hands when she is given something that she likes. It's the absolute sweetest thing in the entire world! Since she's been old enough to focus on us, we have clapped while saying "yeaaaaa!!!!". Now, she does it too. So sweet.
Finally - Bailey clearly says "Mum mum mum mum" when she is distressed. She won't say it on command and she doesn't mimic us when we say it to her. But when she is nervous or sad or upset about something she clearly says it while looking at us (she doesn't seem to decipher which one of us is Mom...which is GREAT!). It's usually combined with her burying her head in our necks or rubbing her eyes.
Super sweet.
I can't believe that she is almost 7 months old. How the hell did that happen????
11/26/2007
Bad, Bad Blogger!
I know, I know...I'm a bad blogger! It's amazing how much less time I have now that I'm actually raising a child!
So...during our Christmas kick-off weekend (which was absolutely wonderful...except for the rain...LOL), Bailey didn't sleep. Well, she did...but barely. About three broken hours each night. We were in the hotel with her and it was absolutely exhausting. Kelly and I had even gotten a suite in hopes that it would help her sleep. No such luck. So, after we got home, we moved her into her room!
Yes, you hear right...Bailey is now sleeping in Bailey's very own bedroom and Momma and Mommy have ADULT SPACE again!!!!! Seriously, it's wonderful. The really good news is that the transition for Bailey was very, very easy. We've had no long crying fits. No crazy nights of not sleeping while she cries it out in her room. For the most part, she wakes up and fusses...but then puts her self back to sleep. She goes to bed around 7:30 or 8 PM and sleeps until around 6:30 or 7 AM. Meanwhile, Kelly and I get to be adults for a little bit after she's gone to bed for the night. Being a slave to the binky is over...
It's been an absolutely excellent transition!
That was Monday night. On Tuesday, we brought our B to childcare for part of the day and put up the Christmas tree!!! Remember, this year is the first year that I was willing to go with a fake Christmas tree (last year was so traumatic and I have a horrible fear of the house and Bailey burning up in a tree fire). Well, this is what it looked like right out of the box:
Not the best. Kelly and I were both a little worried. As you can see here, we spent hours (literally) opening up branches and fluffing the tree. Honestly, I had no idea how much work it was to make an artificial tree look good!Well, all our hard work paid off - because here is what it looked like fluffed up and then after it was decorated!
Bailey loves the tree...but honestly, the tree is no match for the stuffed animals and the Santa with a jingly bell that sits on the couch by the tree.
My favorite from this year's christmas decorations is our new stockings...and the fact that there are three of them this year!!! 
Then, it was Wednesday and time to start preparing for Thanksging! But, before we did that, we went and got our first ever round of family pictures taken! Here are just a few of them:
After a much needed nap (for Bailey, anyway), it was time to start making pies! I made the first one...
Bailey helped me with the second one:
The third one got made while she was in bed, and finally the pies were done!
After the pies were prepared, Kelly and I went to bed! We hosted Thanksgiving this year, and I was going to spend Thanksgiving morning preparing my first ever solo Thanksgiving dinner.PHEW. I had absolutely NO IDEA how much work goes into making a full dinner like that. It was insane. I spend hours...literally...hours...prepping, cleaning up, cooking, cleaning up, preparing, cleaning up and then juggling everything to have it all on the table at once. It was wonderful...but I had no idea how much work it was!!! I think it turned out alright, though:
The icing on the cake of a very wonderful day was that there was a beautiful rainbow right after dinner! It was magical!
The rest of our vacation was spent recuperating and actually getting ourselves ready to go back to work. We were low-key and just enjoyed each other and our time together. In some other new - Bailey is now has two teeth on the bottom. She is going through a major growth spurt right now and eating more than she ever has. She is not yet crawling, but it is definately close. She's doing everything but actually crawl at this point. At some point, she's just going to do it and then...boy...it's going to be fun.
I'll leave you with this cutie phot of Miss. B in her winter snowsuit. It's a high-loft fleece suit from LL Bean and it just may be the best thing we've purchased in a long, long time. It's warm, snuggly and easy to put on and take off.
It's perfect!
11/19/2007
Pictures!!!!
SANTA!
Her spoon was so much fun!!!
Kelly and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups...a dreamy combination!
Rudolph!
A Big Tree in Chocolate World
Bailey loved the lights at the National Christmas Center
She touched a lot!
Happy Family in Santa's Workshop!
My Beautiful Girls!
In The Candy Store (it's actually a set in a VERY cool place...)
A very Merry Mikki
Kelly and Scrooge...LOL - how appropriate!
Her jeans are so cute!!!
What a cutie!
Pink goes well with jeans...
Tired, tired, tired...
My beautiful Momma and Miss. B 
Grammy Love
Grammy and Bailey 
11/16/2007
I don't understand...
Do this:
YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT
Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know!
YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH This is pretty neat. DON'T CHEATBY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST! It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read ... Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out! This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1757... If you haven't, add 1756.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number. The first digit of this was your original number. (I.e., How many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.) The next two numbers are YOUR AGE ! ------ (Oh YES, it is!!!)
Okay - so, this worked for me. Did it for you?
I know that there is a genius out there who can explain this...how do these number games work????
YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT
Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know!
YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH This is pretty neat. DON'T CHEATBY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST! It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read ... Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out! This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1757... If you haven't, add 1756.
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number. The first digit of this was your original number. (I.e., How many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.) The next two numbers are YOUR AGE ! ------ (Oh YES, it is!!!)
Okay - so, this worked for me. Did it for you?
I know that there is a genius out there who can explain this...how do these number games work????
11/14/2007
Sickness...and Christmas
The plague effected us all. I got it in Monday morning and spent Monday and Tuesday out of commission. Kelly got it Monday night and spent yesterday out of commission. Bailey is finally starting to feel better...but none of us are eating much. What goes in comes out again...far to quickly and with far too much liquidity. (sorry for the description...but it's truly not fun).
However, this weekend is our annual Kick-Off-The-Holidays event! Every year we do something...even if it is small...to kick off the holidays. This year we are packing up our baby and going to Hershey, PA to enjoy their Candy Cane Lane, Breakfast with Santa and other fun, festive stuff. Bailey will love the crowds...
After that, we are off for the entire Thanksgiving week. We are going to put up our Christmas tree on Tuesday, make pies on Wednesday, host Thanksgiving on Thursday and SHOP black Friday on Friday...
It's gonna be a fun week...
I have great pictures of Bailey and her Grammy to post...just haven't gotten around to it. I promise I will soon, though!
However, this weekend is our annual Kick-Off-The-Holidays event! Every year we do something...even if it is small...to kick off the holidays. This year we are packing up our baby and going to Hershey, PA to enjoy their Candy Cane Lane, Breakfast with Santa and other fun, festive stuff. Bailey will love the crowds...
After that, we are off for the entire Thanksgiving week. We are going to put up our Christmas tree on Tuesday, make pies on Wednesday, host Thanksgiving on Thursday and SHOP black Friday on Friday...
It's gonna be a fun week...
I have great pictures of Bailey and her Grammy to post...just haven't gotten around to it. I promise I will soon, though!
11/12/2007
Bunches of New
This weekend was lots and lots of fun. Poor Miss. B spent Saturday night vomiting everything she had in her belly and then finally fell asleep exhausted on her Mommy's chest. Sunday morning, she seemed alright...but 8 ounces later, she vomited everything onto me and our bed. Poor, poor baby...
She spent the rest of the day drinking half strength formula in tiny amounts and sleeping. We tried to keep her playing to a minimum. Honestly, it wasn't hard...she just was so under the weather. She wanted to spend most of her time in our arms.
Last night, she fell asleep in my arms after having a nice long bath and some half strength formula. She slept through the night, only waking a couple of times for her binky.
She was up super early, and Kelly reports that she had extreme diareha that went up the back, up the front and all over. It was GROSS!!! And this is the first time that this has happened. After that, she was extremely fussy for a couple of hours. Kelly told me that her second tooth is finally pushing through...which explains the fussiness and the pain.
So, everything is working against our little girl. She's just struggling right now. Lots and lots of Mommy and Momma hugs are in order and we are just doing what we can to cuddle and love her through it. Whoever said that teething SUCKS...well...they knew exactly what they were talking about!
She spent the rest of the day drinking half strength formula in tiny amounts and sleeping. We tried to keep her playing to a minimum. Honestly, it wasn't hard...she just was so under the weather. She wanted to spend most of her time in our arms.
Last night, she fell asleep in my arms after having a nice long bath and some half strength formula. She slept through the night, only waking a couple of times for her binky.
She was up super early, and Kelly reports that she had extreme diareha that went up the back, up the front and all over. It was GROSS!!! And this is the first time that this has happened. After that, she was extremely fussy for a couple of hours. Kelly told me that her second tooth is finally pushing through...which explains the fussiness and the pain.
So, everything is working against our little girl. She's just struggling right now. Lots and lots of Mommy and Momma hugs are in order and we are just doing what we can to cuddle and love her through it. Whoever said that teething SUCKS...well...they knew exactly what they were talking about!
11/09/2007
On and Off
So, she slept with us on Wednesday night, but last night had another great all night sleep-fest. In fact, she's still sleeping now. I have to wake her up in just a minute.
Not sure what the new routine is all about. We're working on letting her get it worked out on her own. It's hard. I hate to hear her cry.
Anyway.
Yesterday she was enjoying a teething biscuit in her high chair while I was cleaning up the kitchen and prepping the bottles. She was literally five feet away from me. She had been going at her biscuit for about 15 minutes when I heard her start to cough. I looked over and saw that she wasn't coughing...she was choking. Within seconds I had rushed to her and, using the skills I learned in our baby first aid class, pulled the obstruction from her throat.
What had happened was that the biscuit had gotten soft enough for her to break if apart with her gums. A small piece broke off and lodged itself in her throat.
Needless to say, I'm extremely happy that I had both the knowledge of what to do (although, it was kind of common sense) and that it wasn't a bigger issue. We now have a rule that, until she actually has real teeth, we'll be taking the biscuits away after 10-15 minutes!
Not sure what the new routine is all about. We're working on letting her get it worked out on her own. It's hard. I hate to hear her cry.
Anyway.
Yesterday she was enjoying a teething biscuit in her high chair while I was cleaning up the kitchen and prepping the bottles. She was literally five feet away from me. She had been going at her biscuit for about 15 minutes when I heard her start to cough. I looked over and saw that she wasn't coughing...she was choking. Within seconds I had rushed to her and, using the skills I learned in our baby first aid class, pulled the obstruction from her throat.
What had happened was that the biscuit had gotten soft enough for her to break if apart with her gums. A small piece broke off and lodged itself in her throat.
Needless to say, I'm extremely happy that I had both the knowledge of what to do (although, it was kind of common sense) and that it wasn't a bigger issue. We now have a rule that, until she actually has real teeth, we'll be taking the biscuits away after 10-15 minutes!
11/07/2007
Bad Momma
I've had my first official "bad Momma" moment.
Bailey's horrible temper the last couple of days and her extreme clingyness was completely related to the fact that her first tooth popped through yesterday.
*sigh*
Needless to say, I didn't wage war on my daughter. Instead, I cuddled her and congratulated her on her new tooth and kicked myself over and over again.
After the normal routine, Bailey slept beautifully in her crib all night long, waking only twice. She was easily settled in seconds with a gentle touch and her binky. She slept for 12 hours.
Bailey's horrible temper the last couple of days and her extreme clingyness was completely related to the fact that her first tooth popped through yesterday.
*sigh*
Needless to say, I didn't wage war on my daughter. Instead, I cuddled her and congratulated her on her new tooth and kicked myself over and over again.
After the normal routine, Bailey slept beautifully in her crib all night long, waking only twice. She was easily settled in seconds with a gentle touch and her binky. She slept for 12 hours.
11/06/2007
War
It's war in our house. We're fighting for the bed.
Bailey slept with us for one night. ONE NIGHT. And now, she won't sleep in her crib.
Her very, very, very, VERY tired Momma and Mommy are fighting back. Tonight, her crib is being moved from our bedroom into her bedroom. She will be put to bed at her usual time. We will do the usual routine. We will lay her down and we will love on her and we will give her the binky and we will snuggle her.
After that - we will NOT go into her room. We will NOT be slaves to the binky. We will NOT get up with her constantly. She WILL scream herself to sleep if that is what she insists on doing.
One thing is for sure - Momma's will is just as strong as Miss. Bailey's. She's about to learn that.
Bailey slept with us for one night. ONE NIGHT. And now, she won't sleep in her crib.
Her very, very, very, VERY tired Momma and Mommy are fighting back. Tonight, her crib is being moved from our bedroom into her bedroom. She will be put to bed at her usual time. We will do the usual routine. We will lay her down and we will love on her and we will give her the binky and we will snuggle her.
After that - we will NOT go into her room. We will NOT be slaves to the binky. We will NOT get up with her constantly. She WILL scream herself to sleep if that is what she insists on doing.
One thing is for sure - Momma's will is just as strong as Miss. Bailey's. She's about to learn that.
11/03/2007
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