How times have changed....

I never realized how busy you truly are with a baby and how that little time you get to yourself you use to catch up on your cleaning and sleeping (not blogging).

Times sure have changed. Our little one is no longer that little. She is actually 9 months old today. She is about 20lbs and 28" long. She is crawling like a mad women around, attempting to stand (but only being able to do it for 2 seconds at time), and is blabbling like crazy. She also already has 3 teeth (2 bottoms and 1 top). So like I said times sure have changed since I last blogged on here.  Even just look at her, she looks so much older!!

What have I learned in those 9 months so far...?
1. Teething tablets are like black magic. I don't understand what they do or how they do it, but they work (almost instantaneously)
2. Daycare is amazing for babies to develop socially as well as work on their attachment anxiety.
3. You can make baby food out of anything practically, and it is fun!! I have mixed the most random things (for example green peppers, bananas, and squash ....wah lah... a dinner a baby will love).
4. Crying it out, though a controversial issue when brought up among a group of moms, worked for us. She now easily sleeps 10+ hours a night (some nights even 12 hours) and only wakes up when she really needs something.
5. Target Up and Up brand Diapers are the best for multiple reasons: best priced, super absorbent, and fit well.
6. There is such thing as "too many toys", babies can become over stimulated and frustrated we have found. Also the more toys=the bigger mess.

Hopefully, I will get a chance to update again, sooner than 9 months from now. Until then :)

No Sew Baby Tutu

THese are the steps I take to make a No Sew Tutu. But let me start by saying, this I learned from Miss Britta Melby. She makes them for kids at her daycare and hers turn out way cuter than mine, but I'm learning...thanks to her! 

(I got 3 rolls of tulle. I have found that it's better to have too much tulle than too little)

 And...you have yourself a cute tutu for a cute baby! No sewing required!

Shop till she drops...

Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE to shop. We have a wedding coming up next weekend and I couldn't find a dress that fit me right so we, Chad, Elle, and I, decided to go shopping. We started our day meeting Jess at Zantigo for some lunch and then we were off to start at JCPenneys. I found lots of things to try on and actually ended up finding a great dress....but...then I needed shoes...so off to the shoe department we went! While trying on different styles and sizes of shoes I look over and here is what I see...

Apparently Elle has as much interest in shopping as her dad does... She didn't even stay awake long enough for us to finish at the first store...luckily I had found a dress and shoes there so we didn't have to go anywhere else. But oh boy, what am I going to do with this little girl on Black Friday...how will she keep up with us?!?

Must Have Baby Toy!!!

If someone asked me what was a must have toy for your baby...I would say "Wrist Rattles"!  We have given Ellery stuffed animals, but she doesn't show a whole lot of interest in them yet. Usually it's me making her hug the stuffed animals, or I will wrap her fingers around a regular rattle and she will either throw it across the room or hit herself in the head with it. Wrist Rattles though are great! They are little animal heads that simply velcro around the baby's wrists like bracelets, and when the baby wiggles or moves their arms they make the rattling noise. Elle LOVES them. When she gets really excited she goes crazy with her arms and makes tons of noise and it makes her laugh and laugh. If she is really moving her legs one day, it is nice because I can just hook them on her ankles.

The best part... they were only $3 at Walmart! So I suggest everyone that has a little one, go pick a set up!

DIY Felt Flowers

My new hobby: making headbands for Ellery. 


It's soooo easy. Here is a step by step on how to make these felt flowers for a headband!

Either a growth spurt...or I jinxed myself...

So last night I was posting all about how great and effective our bedtime routine is. Elle has now been sleeping through the night for the past month I would say and its the best. Well last night... different story! She was up every couple hours...first at 10pm, then 1:30am, then 3am, then 6am and now she is wide awake at 8am.... So I think I either jinxed myself by saying how great it all was or she is going through her 3 month growth spurt.... I really hope it's just the growth spurt and it will only last a couple days max because I gave up coffee for Lent and boy I sure could use a coffee today!

A Bedtime Routine That Works!

The 3 B's Bedtime Routine...it works!

Bath
Bottle
Bed
 (eventually we will throw a book in the mix and make it the 4 B's)

Every night we do the SAME THING, at the SAME TIME, in the SAME ORDER! We start at 8pm with giving Elle a bath. Some people told us not to do a bath every night because it can dry out her skin, but we have been keeping an eye on it and she hasn't really had any dry skin and if she starts to dry up, we will get out the lotion. :) After her bath, we relax on the couch with her bottle, she now has the routine down and after the bottle is gone, she cuddles up and usually will fall right asleep on my chest. Then we simply transfer her to her crib. It sounds really easy and honestly it is most nights! The only thing I would have done differently...I would have started this routine from the start...we didn't start this she was like 6 weeks old. I think if you start it instantly it will even be more effective...and let's be honest...anything that gives mom and dad more time to sleep the better! :)