Crying to Sleep

Baby Girl has insisted on having someone hold her to take naps since she was born.  I love the cuddling, but it's good to have an hour here and there to get some things done....you know, eat, go to the bathroom, pay bills, do laundry, take a nap, etc.  So, we are beginning crying ourselves to sleep.  Yesterday was the first day.  24 minutes.  Today is the second....14 minutes!  Hopefully, this means that in just a few days, there will be no more tears at nap time....Baby Girl's or Momma's!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Baby Girl is starting to recognize and focus on things.  She has a few favorites....

The wrist rattles haven't been out of the packaging as the packaging seems to be really interesting.  The little pink-faced rattle has a mirror on the other side.  Both sides of the rattle are great.  The blankie silk side is her favorite to hold onto, put in her mouth, and touch her face.  And, of course, there is the Winnie the Pooh mobile...(This needs to be battery powered instead of wind up because it doesn't play very long.)

Our Mini-Adventure

My husband and I decided that it was time to take Baby Girl out into the world to see what she thought (and if we could maneuver the "baby equipment" we have).  I'll say it up front, I forgot to take pictures.  Boo!  We took the camera and lugged it around, but not a single picture was taken.

First, we went to the mall to try out the Baby Bjorn papoose carrier.  After I got it on correctly (at first, I put it on upside down and we couldn't get the baby in it), she loved it.  The only thing is she's not big enough to see out the top, so I had to hold down the top flap so she could see.  She was asleep within the first 5 minutes and stayed asleep the entire time we were in the mall.  Success!!!!

Then, we took her to her first restaurant.  She was asleep when we walked in, so we just put the baby carseat carrier on the table and settled in for a nice meal.  My husband and I had been to this restaurant so many times and never noticed how loud it is!  The kitchen is open and we could hear the chef pound on the grilltop all the time.  So could Baby Girl!  She woke up almost as soon as we got seated and stayed awake almost the whole time we were there.  She was so good....looking around at the new surroundings and just taking it all in.  She got a little squirmy at the end, so I picked her up and she was perfect.  Success!!!!

Lastly, we decided to try out the stroller.  We took her to the grocery store and she laid in the stroller through all the aisles, cooing and enjoying the new surroundings.  I think she liked the different color boxes, cans, and bags that were on her level.  I even managed not to run into too many things.  Success!!!!

It was a great outing.  And very successful.  When we came home, she laid down for a 3 1/2 hour nap.  That was nice for us because we were exhausted too!

No Longer a Newborn

I meant to post on our baby's one month birthday, but....well, I guess any new mom can understand why I'm late in the one-month post.  So much has happened.  It seems like time is flying and standing still at the same time. 

Our little girl is no longer in newborn clothes.  She has even outgrown her "Coming Home" outfit.

I have a pile of newborn clothes that I would like to give away.  The only one I'm attached to is the froggie onsie that she wore home.  It was the first clothes she ever wore.  So, I think I'll be keeping it.  The rest I'll be giving away so someone else can enjoy their little girl in these great, barely worn clothes.

In other news, development is coming right along.  Not only is she 2 inches longer than when she was born and over a pound heavier, she can now turn her head from side to side, lift up her head when she's on her stomach or when we're holding her, and, my favorite....she's learned to smile!  That smile lights up my world!

Baby Blankie

The blankie that I made for our baby girl is finally finished!  I hope she enjoys it.

Waltzing Matilda

No question that I am totally in "mom mode" these days.  This includes me being willing to sing to my daughter and make up songs.  It's a good thing that my little girl has no idea what it means to be able to sing because I certainly can't, but it doesn't stop me from singing to her.  My husband's grandmother says that babies fall asleep to people who can't sing because if they could, then the baby would stay awake to hear and enjoy them.  Well, I say, whatever works to get my little girl to fall asleep or to calm down.  "Jesus Loves Me" is our favorite bedtime song.

For all other songs, it seems that the only tune I know that I can make up songs to is "Waltzing Matilda."  I've been singing about everything that comes to mind, all to the tune of "Waltzing Matilda."  We've sung about changing diapers, hanging out with poppa, going outside with Arnie, and whatever else we are doing.

So, my apologies to the country of Australia for butchering their unofficial national anthem, "Waltzing Matilda," but it really is a catchy tune that lends itself to quite a few songs.  Any other tunes that are easy to make everyday activities fit into?

Delivery Scriptures

As I look back on my delivery experience, I am beginning to realize more and more how awesome God is and how He took care of me during the entire pregnancy and delivery.  I've spoken to a number of women and discussed my delivery experience with theirs and I, by far, had an easier delivery than many women do.  I'm convinced that this is because of the Scriptures that I researched and quoted during my pregnancy and entire delivery experience.

I found this book, which I think really helped me.  It definitely attacks a controversial issue and I believe that every woman has to decide what they want to believe.  Quite frankly, I'm not sure what I think about the book.  However, it did give me quite a bit to think about during the pregnancy.

For the entire pregnancy, I confessed that I am redeemed from the curse of the law and that I will have a quick, easy delivery.  Reflecting on my delivery, I really did have a quick, easy delivery. 

Here are a few of the Scriptures that I remember confessing during my contractions (I honestly don't remember everything that I said as I was "in the zone," but my mother said that the delivery room was filled with Scriptures):

- Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. - Galatians 3:13-14 (Pain in childbirth came with the curse and by being redeemed from the curse, then I am redeemed from pain in childbirth.)

- And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:29

- He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in him will I trust.  Surely he shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler. - Psalm 91:1-3

- For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. - Psalm 91:11

- I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. - Psalm 139:14.  With this verse, I also confessed that God has made my body to do this, to have this baby and that I need to not fear anything, but need to relax as my body knows what to do because God made it to do this.  (I knew that with fear came tension and with tension came pain, so by reminding myself that God made my body and it knows what to do, I could relax and not have fear and not have pain.)

- Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. - Psalm 127:3

- Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. - James 1:17

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  By confessing the Word of God out of my own mouth, I heard the Word and faith came.  With faith, came peace and fear had to flee.  When fear fled, so did the pain.  I really did not have "hard labor" with my delivery and I praise the Lord for it.  He gave us a perfect little girl and I am so thankful for her!

The Binki

We decided to introduce the Binki to our little girl.  She has found her thumb 2 times and really, really enjoys it and it provides a calming influence to her.  So, we naturally thought that the binki would have the same effect. 

The first one we gave her was NOT welcomed at all.  She spit it out and pursed her lips so that we couldn't get it back in.  Then, we tried the pink binki and she eventually took to it.  However, she doesn't like it each time we give it to her.  It's definitely hit or miss.  Plus, we have a green one that is just like the pink one and it doesn't do the trick either...no green binki so far.

I really have mixed feelings about pacifiers.  They are good to help calm the baby, but there are a number of negatives....taking it away eventually, nipple confusion, teeth issues, etc.  We've been trying for a few days now and she doesn't seem to really like it.  I think that we'll probably just continue to give one to her now and then and see if she ever decides it is a good thing.  Otherwise, it looks like we'll be a binki-free household. 

The only problem is that pacifiers are such aptly named...they really do pacify her when we can get her to take it.

Yummy Pepperoni Bread

While I was pregnant, my diet consisted of very limited carbohydrates.  My girlfriend makes the best pepperoni bread/stromboli.  Throughout the pregnancy, I continued to talk about how I was going to eat her pepperoni bread just as soon as I had the baby because it was one of the things that I craved the most.  Well, my girlfriend moved before I had the baby.  But, she is so wonderful that she made me TWO pepperoni breads and we froze them so that yesterday all I had to do was thaw one of them and bake it!

She even decorated the wrapping for me!

It was so yummy and we have enough for dinner again tonight!

Thanks, girl, you are awesome!