Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
First Steps
Lydia took her first steps last Friday, and last weekend she continued to build up more than more courage. Then all of the sudden she stopped trying, which is fine, but it left us without any videos of her first few steps! Luckil my sister got a good one, and now I will share with you :)
I can't believe she is so big already!
I can't believe she is so big already!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
7 Snapshots - Halloween Party!
This weekend was a very busy one, but it was fun! On Friday I went over to my sister-in-law's house to make snacks for the party we were having on Saturday and then David and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory to get dessert to celebrate him passing the Bar Exam!!! It was a wonderful date and an amazing accomplishment to celebrate.
Saturday was the day of the Halloween party for all of the kiddos on David's side, and the pictures below almost begin to describe how adorable the whole event was.
Saturday was the day of the Halloween party for all of the kiddos on David's side, and the pictures below almost begin to describe how adorable the whole event was.
My sister got to join us, which was so much fun!
Most of the spread created by Katie G. and I. We have witches hats, monster fingers, ghosts, pumpkins, mummies (and not pictured we had orange jello and dirt with worms). I was proud of the snacks that we made... and for me not being crafty, it was fun to do.
Halloween costume #1: Winnie the Pooh. Tune in Wednesday (or Thursday) for #2.
We played games - like making each other into mummies! My partner was Grayson.
All of the kids in their costumes... this really was the best picture.
Love!
This is why we chose Pooh for a costume - so that Lydia would match her cousin Lincoln. I love how they are just staring each other down. They are hilarious together.
Those are all the pics for tonight. We have a really big week coming up. Tomorrow David goes in for an interview at 1 (please keep him in your prayers) and on Wednesday is it Halloween, which should be fun. I can't believe that October is almost already over! It is getting way too close to Lydia first birthday, and Christmas will be here before we know it. Oh, how time flies.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Bedtime Routine
For so many months we tried to find a bedtime routine that worked well for our family. There were lots of things to consider:
What time should we start it?
Should we bathe her (and how, since we don't have a bathtub)?
Should I nurse her or lay her down and let her cry?
And ultimately what can we do to get her to sleep?!?
I know that as I type these words I am most likely jinxing the good thing we have going, because if I have learned one thing about babies it is that they are always changing. As soon as you think you have things figured out they start teething, or get a cold, or go through a growth spurt, and then it is like day 1 (okay... maybe more like day 14) all over again.
But for now I can say that our bedtime routine is truly a beautiful thing.
Around 7:45 we feed Lydia oatmeal or yogurt and chat a little bit with her. She starts to get hyper and loud toward the end of the day, so this part is always funny.
Right at 8 one of us gets in the shower with her and the other prepares her nursery for bedtime. David and I both love taking showers with Lydia because it is really quick and it is kind of our only option since we don't have a bathtub and she attempts to climb out of her infant tub. We put lotion and diaper cream on her, then sing to her as we dress her in pj's.
Sometimes I will breastfeed her quickly at this point, or if she nursed later than 7 I won't. Then she sits in my lap with her blanket and listens as David reads out of her storybook Bible. She leans back and rests her head on my chest, and then will quickly pop up to pat the pages. After a short story we pull out Goodnight Moon and Lydia practices her page turning. Her favorite page is the one where it says, "Goodnight room." She looks at the drawings and smiles with recognition and I sit amazed at how smart she is already.
When we finish reading I kiss Lydia goodnight as David turns off the light, then I hand her over to Daddy who soothes her to sleep in less than 10 minutes. Most nights lately she has slept for 11-12 hours straight and we all wake up happy and anxious to see one another for a new day.
These quiet times with my little family of 3 often bring tears to the surface. I am so thankful for David and Lydia. I am in total awe of how sweet, smart and full of personality our baby is. I love the calm moments that we share while quoting classic books. I feel humbled to be sharing God's word with my beautiful daughter.
I will admit that for many months I feared the hours of "late evening". With a baby these particular hours of the day can be stressful and overwhelming. But it seems we have finally found our sweet spot. And it really it so, so sweet.
What time should we start it?
Should we bathe her (and how, since we don't have a bathtub)?
Should I nurse her or lay her down and let her cry?
And ultimately what can we do to get her to sleep?!?
I know that as I type these words I am most likely jinxing the good thing we have going, because if I have learned one thing about babies it is that they are always changing. As soon as you think you have things figured out they start teething, or get a cold, or go through a growth spurt, and then it is like day 1 (okay... maybe more like day 14) all over again.
But for now I can say that our bedtime routine is truly a beautiful thing.
Around 7:45 we feed Lydia oatmeal or yogurt and chat a little bit with her. She starts to get hyper and loud toward the end of the day, so this part is always funny.
Right at 8 one of us gets in the shower with her and the other prepares her nursery for bedtime. David and I both love taking showers with Lydia because it is really quick and it is kind of our only option since we don't have a bathtub and she attempts to climb out of her infant tub. We put lotion and diaper cream on her, then sing to her as we dress her in pj's.
Sometimes I will breastfeed her quickly at this point, or if she nursed later than 7 I won't. Then she sits in my lap with her blanket and listens as David reads out of her storybook Bible. She leans back and rests her head on my chest, and then will quickly pop up to pat the pages. After a short story we pull out Goodnight Moon and Lydia practices her page turning. Her favorite page is the one where it says, "Goodnight room." She looks at the drawings and smiles with recognition and I sit amazed at how smart she is already.
When we finish reading I kiss Lydia goodnight as David turns off the light, then I hand her over to Daddy who soothes her to sleep in less than 10 minutes. Most nights lately she has slept for 11-12 hours straight and we all wake up happy and anxious to see one another for a new day.
These quiet times with my little family of 3 often bring tears to the surface. I am so thankful for David and Lydia. I am in total awe of how sweet, smart and full of personality our baby is. I love the calm moments that we share while quoting classic books. I feel humbled to be sharing God's word with my beautiful daughter.
I will admit that for many months I feared the hours of "late evening". With a baby these particular hours of the day can be stressful and overwhelming. But it seems we have finally found our sweet spot. And it really it so, so sweet.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
7 Snapshots - Pumpkin Fun
It has been a big weekend around these parts - Aunt Jen came to town, Lydia did some pumpkin carving, then some pumpkin picking, then learned to walk!! We are up to 10 steps. It is so exciting, and a little sad...
Here are some pictures of our pumpkin fun! I will post a video of her walking as soon as I get one.
On Friday night Lydia and David went to Gigi's house to carve some pumpkins and have fun in front of the fire. I got a much needed girl's night and had a ton of fun. I must say that I missed my girl though.
On Saturday morning despite the clouds and chill we decided to go to Benton Family Farm with Gigi, Aunt Jen and Uncle Josh. It was cold and rainy... but it was fun to pet sheep and cows, hold baby chicks and take a hay ride to pick our own pumpkins! This will definitely become a family tradition, but in the future we will go on a nice day :)
Now it is time to cheer on the Steelers! They are playing the Bengals, so it is a house divided over here. It is all in good fun though.
Hope you had a fabulous weekend.
Here are some pictures of our pumpkin fun! I will post a video of her walking as soon as I get one.
On Friday night Lydia and David went to Gigi's house to carve some pumpkins and have fun in front of the fire. I got a much needed girl's night and had a ton of fun. I must say that I missed my girl though.
On Saturday morning despite the clouds and chill we decided to go to Benton Family Farm with Gigi, Aunt Jen and Uncle Josh. It was cold and rainy... but it was fun to pet sheep and cows, hold baby chicks and take a hay ride to pick our own pumpkins! This will definitely become a family tradition, but in the future we will go on a nice day :)
Now it is time to cheer on the Steelers! They are playing the Bengals, so it is a house divided over here. It is all in good fun though.
Hope you had a fabulous weekend.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
10 Months Old
The month of October is just zooming by, and meanwhile my little baby has reached double digits! This month has been so much fun and I marvel everyday at how big Lydia Grace is.
Stats: We don't have an update on her weight and length, but it seems to me that our girl is starting to thin out a little bit and grow some long legs. She is taking on the form of a little person rather than a newborn baby and even though she still has no hair and only 2 teeth people have been commenting on how she looks older. She is in 9-12 months clothes only, and we may have to transition to 12-18 months sleepers soon.
Eating: Lydia still nurses 8 times a day, but she has weaned herself at night all on her own! She can go 4-5 hours at a time in between nursing during the day which gives me a lot more freedom, but once I come home she is very clear that she wants to be fed. My plan is to let her nurse completely on demand until she is 12 months, and then I may systematically start to cut down.... or not. I am not sure yet. Right now we are both very happy with our situation.
Besides breast milk Lydia eats a ton of real food too. She usually has blueberries and cheerios for breakfast, a banana and oatmeal for lunch, veggies, pasta, beans, and another serving of fruit at dinner and then a bedtime snack of yogurt. I am very happy lately with where BLW has led us thus far, and I also know that a lot of Lydia's awesome eating has nothing to do with us. We just got lucky :)
Sleeping: Knock on something... Lydia is sleeping through the night!!! For a while our nights were rough and we tried to force night weaning. It was pretty terrible. Then we started to feed Lydia yogurt before bed and that helped a little bit. But the thing that made the difference was... a blanket! One night David and I went out on a date and his mom put Lydia to bed with a warm blanket that was David's when he was a baby. She slept all night that night, and since then it has worked like magic. Lydia is now old enough for me to not be concerned with her sleeping with a blanket, so for now it seems we have a night time solution. I should add that she only sleeps well when she is in her own crib at night (as we found out in Chicago), but that is pretty understandable.
During the day she takes two naps for an hour and a half each. She is starting to fall asleep for babysitters (well my mom and mother-in-law) which helps a lot since they watch her 4 days a week. She always gets a good morning nap in her crib, and then the afternoon nap is sometimes in her car seat or in a pack and play at her grandparents' house.
What she loves: Crawling, feeling big, babbling at inconvenient times, Rooney, Jasmine, Daddy, her cousins, books (!!!!).
What she hates: Being left with anyone she isn't familiar with, diaper changes, diaper rashes, and she still despises her car seat and stroller at random times.
Personality/Milestones: There are so many!! She is all over the place.. crawling, pulling herself to standing and cruising on the furniture. I think she will be walking any day. She has also started to wave, but she isn't super consistent with it, and she randomly will lean in to give kisses. Lydia's babbles include "ma", "da", "ba", "pa", "ga", "va" and she is squealing a lot (usually in public, of course). Today she slid down the slide by herself - video coming soon.
Other than physical milestones it is clear that Lydia is learning so much. She understands words, like nurse, bite, Rooney, no, and she has developed a love of looking at books and being read to. Lydia is just awesome and as she gets older she is so much more fun!
Heaven-sent baby items: If you are cloth diapering I would recommend Grovia diapers once your little one starts moving. I wrote a post here about our switch from gDiapers and why I love these new diapers so much!
Lydia is a big fan of toys lately. She loves her walker, cruising around the outside of her exersaucer, and the big car that Mawmaw and Pawpaw have upstairs. What she really loves is new toys... and I have heard about toy rentals (like BabyPlays) but I am not quite sure how I feel about it. Any opinions? Has anyone out there tried anything like this?
And with that Lydia is awake from her nap. Time for some more playing!
Stats: We don't have an update on her weight and length, but it seems to me that our girl is starting to thin out a little bit and grow some long legs. She is taking on the form of a little person rather than a newborn baby and even though she still has no hair and only 2 teeth people have been commenting on how she looks older. She is in 9-12 months clothes only, and we may have to transition to 12-18 months sleepers soon.
Eating: Lydia still nurses 8 times a day, but she has weaned herself at night all on her own! She can go 4-5 hours at a time in between nursing during the day which gives me a lot more freedom, but once I come home she is very clear that she wants to be fed. My plan is to let her nurse completely on demand until she is 12 months, and then I may systematically start to cut down.... or not. I am not sure yet. Right now we are both very happy with our situation.
Besides breast milk Lydia eats a ton of real food too. She usually has blueberries and cheerios for breakfast, a banana and oatmeal for lunch, veggies, pasta, beans, and another serving of fruit at dinner and then a bedtime snack of yogurt. I am very happy lately with where BLW has led us thus far, and I also know that a lot of Lydia's awesome eating has nothing to do with us. We just got lucky :)
Sleeping: Knock on something... Lydia is sleeping through the night!!! For a while our nights were rough and we tried to force night weaning. It was pretty terrible. Then we started to feed Lydia yogurt before bed and that helped a little bit. But the thing that made the difference was... a blanket! One night David and I went out on a date and his mom put Lydia to bed with a warm blanket that was David's when he was a baby. She slept all night that night, and since then it has worked like magic. Lydia is now old enough for me to not be concerned with her sleeping with a blanket, so for now it seems we have a night time solution. I should add that she only sleeps well when she is in her own crib at night (as we found out in Chicago), but that is pretty understandable.
During the day she takes two naps for an hour and a half each. She is starting to fall asleep for babysitters (well my mom and mother-in-law) which helps a lot since they watch her 4 days a week. She always gets a good morning nap in her crib, and then the afternoon nap is sometimes in her car seat or in a pack and play at her grandparents' house.
What she loves: Crawling, feeling big, babbling at inconvenient times, Rooney, Jasmine, Daddy, her cousins, books (!!!!).
What she hates: Being left with anyone she isn't familiar with, diaper changes, diaper rashes, and she still despises her car seat and stroller at random times.
Personality/Milestones: There are so many!! She is all over the place.. crawling, pulling herself to standing and cruising on the furniture. I think she will be walking any day. She has also started to wave, but she isn't super consistent with it, and she randomly will lean in to give kisses. Lydia's babbles include "ma", "da", "ba", "pa", "ga", "va" and she is squealing a lot (usually in public, of course). Today she slid down the slide by herself - video coming soon.
Other than physical milestones it is clear that Lydia is learning so much. She understands words, like nurse, bite, Rooney, no, and she has developed a love of looking at books and being read to. Lydia is just awesome and as she gets older she is so much more fun!
Heaven-sent baby items: If you are cloth diapering I would recommend Grovia diapers once your little one starts moving. I wrote a post here about our switch from gDiapers and why I love these new diapers so much!
Lydia is a big fan of toys lately. She loves her walker, cruising around the outside of her exersaucer, and the big car that Mawmaw and Pawpaw have upstairs. What she really loves is new toys... and I have heard about toy rentals (like BabyPlays) but I am not quite sure how I feel about it. Any opinions? Has anyone out there tried anything like this?
And with that Lydia is awake from her nap. Time for some more playing!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Seven Snapshots - In the Windy City!
Somehow an entire week went by without me posting. I was writing an exam, teaching a lot of aerobics, joining a small group with church and then getting ready to go to Chicago! Sorry about the lack of stories and info, but hopefully these pictures from our little weekend trip will make up for it.
We went to Chicago to visit David's step brother who attends SAIC (the Art Institute of Chicago) - he is crazy creative and brilliant. We were spoiled all weekend, first by my great aunt who hosted us for a night, and then by David's dad and step mom who put us up in the oldest hotel in the country; the Palmer House. I have never stayed in such a nice hotel and probably never will again. It was a great trip, an we are so happy that we took the opportunity for a weekend getaway with our little family. As usual Lydia was a champ, and we really loved experiencing a city that we both love so much with our little girl.
We went to Chicago to visit David's step brother who attends SAIC (the Art Institute of Chicago) - he is crazy creative and brilliant. We were spoiled all weekend, first by my great aunt who hosted us for a night, and then by David's dad and step mom who put us up in the oldest hotel in the country; the Palmer House. I have never stayed in such a nice hotel and probably never will again. It was a great trip, an we are so happy that we took the opportunity for a weekend getaway with our little family. As usual Lydia was a champ, and we really loved experiencing a city that we both love so much with our little girl.
Just chillin' in the fancy bed.
Riding along with Mommy through downtown. And yes, that is Christmas stuff in the background. We had to go to Holiday Lane in Macy's!
Enjoying dinner with Caleb. Lydia's big smiles are back - although she still frowns sometimes.
Playing with pigeons in Millenium Park.
Typical Bean picture.
Precious girl.
Before we left the city we got some famous Garrett's popcorn. It was sooo good.
Lydia's 10 month update will be up soon (crazy!!), but I can't promise it will be tomorrow. I am on fall break so I have a day off tomorrow, and I think we are going to have a laid back family day all together. I love spending time with my little family so much. But I promise it won't be another week before I post again either :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Seven Snapshots Sunday
Well hello there... sorry about being absent all week. It was a hectic one - with lots of ups and downs. On the downside David got a really bad stomach virus last Monday and it lasted all the way till Thursday! I felt so bad for him, and taking care of him, Lydia and my work left me extremely busy. On the upside, on Monday night one of my good friends Holly had her first baby. We got to meet sweet Adeline on Tuesday, and also spent Friday night with the new parents making dinner and helping them out in any way we could. On Thursday, my best friend Meagan got into town from Florida with her little boy Alister, so we spent some time with her also this week.
Now it is Sunday and although I am very sleepy I think that this coming week will be a little less crazy. Of course I have to write and give an exam, then grade them, and then get ready to go to Chicago this weekend! So, we will see. For now, here are a few snapshots from the week (actually, just from today because I kind of forgot to get pictures in the craziness...). I added a few flashback photos because seeing baby Adeline made me want to remember Lydia as a tiny baby. It is so surreal how time truly flies by.
Now it is Sunday and although I am very sleepy I think that this coming week will be a little less crazy. Of course I have to write and give an exam, then grade them, and then get ready to go to Chicago this weekend! So, we will see. For now, here are a few snapshots from the week (actually, just from today because I kind of forgot to get pictures in the craziness...). I added a few flashback photos because seeing baby Adeline made me want to remember Lydia as a tiny baby. It is so surreal how time truly flies by.
Go Steelers!!! They won today :)
I love so many things about fall, and this hat just got added to that list.
Looking at her Daddy in this one. She is in love.
She has so many expressions these days and it makes me laugh.
And now for a few pictures from the day Lydia was born. (Insert tear and small sigh)
Monday, October 1, 2012
Cloth Diapering Take Two: A Change of Heart
Almost 8 months ago I professed to you my love of gDiapers. I started using cloth diapers with Lydia when she was 5 weeks old, and we have been continuing to use them ever since. When Lydia was so tiny, exclusively breastfed and immobile gDiapers were the most convenient for us by far, but now I must admit that while still being in love with cloth, I have had a change of heart about the brand that is my top pick.
First of all, I should tell you that right around when Lydia started solid food I wanted to give up on cloth diapers all together. Once a baby starts eating real food... their poo gets a lot grosser. With a disposable diaper, you can quickly clean everything up with one quick swipe and dirty diapers really aren't an ordeal. However, with cloth, once your little one starts eating solids, things become a little bit more difficult.
Because solid waste can't go in the washer, you have to find some way to dispose of the yucky stuff, or a way to rinse your diaper well. We tried to hook up a diaper sprayer that we have, but unfortunately our toilet is kind of strange. Instead we bought these diaper liners and after that switch I decided I could stick with it. These liners catch the poo and then you can just throw it in the garbage along with the wipe, and they are a good price which is nice! Another plus is that they protect your cloth inserts from diaper cream, and since solid poo also makes diaper rashes more common you will need something to keep diaper cream off the cloth.
Once we started using these liners, the gDiaper system got a little redundant. Snap in waterproof liner, tuck in cloth, tuck in disposable liner - there was lots of tucking and folding going on. It wasn't horrible, but each diaper change just took more time at a stage when Lydia no longer wanted to hold still. Also, once Lydia's started solid food and things got gross, I wanted to wash the diapers more often so that they wouldn't stain and I wouldn't be knocked to the floor when I opened the wet bag. Laundry day with gDiapers is kind of inconvenient, again due to all of the different parts of the diaper. One of my best friends swore by her Grovia AIO (all-in-one) diapers, so I found a swap group on facebook and bought some lightly used ones at a great price and now I am in love with them!
Grovias are great for us now because with them being an AIO, diaper changes are more similar to that of a disposable. Take the diaper off (remove liner and throw it in garbage), put dirty diaper in wet bag, put clean diaper on. No more snapping and unsnapping, folding or tucking. Also, laundry day happens every other day because with Grovia diapers the process is wash, and then tumble dry low... that is it! Lately as Lydia has been moving like crazy I have noticed that she often gets leaks with gDiapers because the cloth inserts slip inside of the liner, but again with the AIO there is no slipping of the cloth since everything is connected. Grovia diapers have worked better for us than BumGenius or Bumpkins because they still have a slim fit and make Lydia's bum look super cute under clothes!
gDiapers were wonderful for us when Lydia was young because:
But now Grovia is my top pick because:
As always, these are just my opinions and I hope that the all the thinking I have done about cloth diapers will make for less work for you if you want to use them! It really is easy and has saved us a ton of money in the long run, and now I can't imagine throwing away up to 7 diapers every single day. Comment if you have any questions, or if you have any cloth diapering tips... I could always use them :)
First of all, I should tell you that right around when Lydia started solid food I wanted to give up on cloth diapers all together. Once a baby starts eating real food... their poo gets a lot grosser. With a disposable diaper, you can quickly clean everything up with one quick swipe and dirty diapers really aren't an ordeal. However, with cloth, once your little one starts eating solids, things become a little bit more difficult.
Because solid waste can't go in the washer, you have to find some way to dispose of the yucky stuff, or a way to rinse your diaper well. We tried to hook up a diaper sprayer that we have, but unfortunately our toilet is kind of strange. Instead we bought these diaper liners and after that switch I decided I could stick with it. These liners catch the poo and then you can just throw it in the garbage along with the wipe, and they are a good price which is nice! Another plus is that they protect your cloth inserts from diaper cream, and since solid poo also makes diaper rashes more common you will need something to keep diaper cream off the cloth.
Once we started using these liners, the gDiaper system got a little redundant. Snap in waterproof liner, tuck in cloth, tuck in disposable liner - there was lots of tucking and folding going on. It wasn't horrible, but each diaper change just took more time at a stage when Lydia no longer wanted to hold still. Also, once Lydia's started solid food and things got gross, I wanted to wash the diapers more often so that they wouldn't stain and I wouldn't be knocked to the floor when I opened the wet bag. Laundry day with gDiapers is kind of inconvenient, again due to all of the different parts of the diaper. One of my best friends swore by her Grovia AIO (all-in-one) diapers, so I found a swap group on facebook and bought some lightly used ones at a great price and now I am in love with them!
Grovias are great for us now because with them being an AIO, diaper changes are more similar to that of a disposable. Take the diaper off (remove liner and throw it in garbage), put dirty diaper in wet bag, put clean diaper on. No more snapping and unsnapping, folding or tucking. Also, laundry day happens every other day because with Grovia diapers the process is wash, and then tumble dry low... that is it! Lately as Lydia has been moving like crazy I have noticed that she often gets leaks with gDiapers because the cloth inserts slip inside of the liner, but again with the AIO there is no slipping of the cloth since everything is connected. Grovia diapers have worked better for us than BumGenius or Bumpkins because they still have a slim fit and make Lydia's bum look super cute under clothes!
gDiapers were wonderful for us when Lydia was young because:
- they come in different sizes and are the only diaper that would fit her well when she was so little
- with newborns, diapers have to be changed all the time, and since you can reuse gDiaper shells it took up less space to lug around 4 diapers in the diaper bag than it would to carry around 4 Grovias.
- when her poo wasn't so gross it was nice to go 4 days without needing to do laundry and building up a big stash of gDiapers is cheaper than buying 24 AIO diapers.
But now Grovia is my top pick because:
- the AIO style makes for quick diaper changes
- laundry day needs to happen more often and it is super easy
- Lydia is a bit bigger, so the diapers look great on her
- there is no "slippage" as she moves around like a maniac, which means no leaks!
As always, these are just my opinions and I hope that the all the thinking I have done about cloth diapers will make for less work for you if you want to use them! It really is easy and has saved us a ton of money in the long run, and now I can't imagine throwing away up to 7 diapers every single day. Comment if you have any questions, or if you have any cloth diapering tips... I could always use them :)
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