Teething is the devil...but I think I found the solution! (for us, at least)

I know every parent has to go through the dreaded teething period, but good gracious!! Ella has been in full swing teething for quite a while now, and she still has no teeth to show for it! Poor baby! All this work and pain, and she hasn't even cut one yet. But she definitely has to be getting close. The drooling, gumming everything she can find, fussiness, and white bump on her gums are all indicators that we should have a tooth soon.

I have researched all of the tried and true remedies for teething in my desperate attempt to alleviate her pain and my frustration. Unfortunately, Ella HATES all things cold. I have tried the teething rings, frozen washcloths, frozen paci, ice and frozen fruit in the mesh feeder bags, and more, and she just can't stand it! Orajel has been the only thing that would help even a little bit. But I hate to give her medicine everytime she goes through a rough patch. So after a particularly rough night a few weeks ago, I decided to order a Baltic Amber Teething Necklace.

For those of you that have not heard of these, you are not alone. Until I did all of this research on remedies, I had never heard of them before either. Essentially, they are made from amber from the Baltic Sea. Baltic Amber has been known to have healing properties due to the succinct acid that is in it. You have to make sure you buy a necklace from a reputable supplier to ensure that you get true Baltic Amber. Imposters are rampant! The baby wears the necklace around their neck (or on the ankle during bedtime), and the warmth from their skin releases the healing oils from the beads. I read that it is best to get light-colored, raw amber in the traditional round shape because the level of succinct acid is higher. Baltic Amber has been used for healing puposes for thousands of years. Adults wear it to help with everyday aches and pains and arthritis. The cost of the necklaces is pretty minimal. You can get a necklace anywhere from $20-30. With shipping, I paid $26.41. I have not found many stores that carry the necklaces. I read that some boutiques do but none of them were local.

So does it work?? I say yes. Tomorrow will make two weeks that Ella has had hers on, and she has not had one rough night since. Of course I can't say that that isn't just coincidence, but I am doubtful of the necklace not having anything to do it. Ella had been waking up during the night fussing, but since she put the necklace on she has slept through the night almost every night. We forgot to put it on her one night and she woke up screaming! Again, some say coincidence, but I say go get a Baltic Amber Teething Necklace! I think they will be my go-to gift for baby showers from now on! Well, except for the one I have tomorrow. LOL. BTW, my sister is having her baby shower tomorrow. So crazy. There is another family baby shower next week too! And all girls! No clue what we are going to do with all of these girls!!

Overall, Baltic Amber works in my opinion. And the necklaces are so cute! Seriously, how adorable is this??

Want to order a necklace? Click here to order from the site I ordered Ella's. I used the standard USPS shipping and had it in two days. Super quick!

Do you have your own teething remedies? Have you tried Baltic Amber? Did you order one? Let me know all the details!

Life can get in the way sometimes!

I can't believe that it has been so long since I have gotten to blog. But we have had so much going on. There was Easter, family in town, and hosting a bachelorette party. With all of that, blogging had to be put on a back burner. But I am back now!


First, a quick update on Ella. She is still amazing. :) She is rolling over like crazy, can sit up un-supported for a few minutes at a time, and eats like a pro! She seriously has not met a pureed veggie or fruit that she doesn't like. We had a great Easter and visits from the families. I was really happy that KT's family was able to come up for a bit to get to see her, but I wish they could have stayed longer to really get to spend some time with her and see all of the amazing things she can do! And hopefully, my Nanny will get to see her soon too. It is hard to live away from the family, but it is great to feel like we are really out on our own.

Okay, so on to the topic of today's post. Time management. How do we do it all? The last couple of weeks have really shown me that there just is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything that we need to do. Sometimes I really feel like I wake up, feed Ella, change some diapers, put her down for naps, maybe get something to eat, get a bit of cleaning done, and then suddenly it is 11 p.m.! Where did the time go?? There are so many tasks that I assumed I would be able to get done while I was staying home with Ella, yet hardly any of them have actually been checked off my list. I definitely admire the moms who seem to always be put together, on time, and well-fed! :) Food definitely gets sacrificed for me! But I can't help but wonder, are they really as on top off things as they seem? If so, how do they do it?

I feel so overwhelmed sometimes that when I do have some free time I can't even bring myself to get off of the couch. The fact that I haven't gone back to work yet seems to just be making the issue worse. I have no real reason to get up and brush my hair in the morning or actually change out of my pajamas. At least, that's how I feel. I really do try to talk myself into getting up and making an effort but then I remember that I have nothing to do other than take care of Ella all day. And frankly, she doesn't care if my hair is brushed or not because she is going to yank on it either way. How does a new mommy learn to manage her time and still feel motivated to get out of bed and put some real clothes on?? I definitely need some good advice on this one! So, got any??

P.S. I can't even make this post as long as I want it to be because I have to go get some dinner ready for when KT gets home in about 30mins. But I WILL be back tomorrow. And I will be prepared with some new pictures and videos!

Ella can roll...and now she won't stop!! My fault???

So we hit a milestone on March 23, 2013. Ella can now roll all the way over. And I actually caught her first roll on video! She struggled for a couple of days before to get all the way over, but she kept getting so close. Finally, she actually made it all the way over. Which is great! I am such a proud mommy. BUT now she seems to think it is the coolest thing ever. I lay her on her quilt, turn away, she immediately rolls over, waits a few minutes for me to notice, cries to get rolled back on her back, and then repeats the process. Over and over and over. It was super cute the first few times, but not as much now. LOL! It takes me twice as long to get the dishes washed and laundry folded because of how many times my genius baby wants to play her game.

Which leads me to the topic of today's post. Are we being too indulgent as parents?? I personally believe Ella is too young to be spoiled and know how to "get her way", but I realize a lot of parents believe that we (young, new-generation moms) are way too indulgent with our children. Everyone that knows me knows that I like to do things by the book. Literally. I research everything and then make what I feel is the best decision. And a lot of times this decision contradicts what the moms before me did. For example, Ella went through a period where she was pretty fussy when it was time to go to bed. A lot of people told me to just let her cry. She would eventually learn to go to sleep on her own. However, I couldn't do it. I am not a fan of the cry-it-out method, especially at such a young age. KT and I had many discussions about what we should do, but I really just could not bring myself to let her cry. Therefore, I decided to stick with my method of putting her to sleep, laying her down, and picking her up if she wakes up and cries. It may have been tiring for a while but now Ella goes to sleep just fine. I no longer have to nurse her to get her to sleep. When she falls asleep, I lay her in her pack-n-play and she sleeps through the night. Rarely, does she wake up before 6-7 a.m. the next morning. And she falls asleep usually by 10 at the latest every night. And the best part is she wakes up so happy. She calls for us (not by crying, but by actually yelling for us LOL), we peek over the side of her pack-n-play, and she has the biggest smile on her face. Every morning this is our routine and I love that she has complete faith that we will be there to get her. I never worry that she is unsure of whether or not we will respond to her cries.

This is not to say that I think that parents that choose different methods from mine are wrong. Every parent knows what is best for their children. I have simply chosen to parent with a more attachment parenting style. I do not plan on going full-blown attachment parenting (nursing at 5 years old?? Not gonna happen!), but I do believe in the reasons behind attachment parenting. So I am blending some of these techniques with some of my own choices. And so far I am happy with the results.

But I have definitely noticed that some older moms think that the attachment parenting style makes your children way too dependent. I literally have had older women that I do not even know try to tell me how to take care of my daughter, which is incredibly rude. I know my child better than anyone else (besides her daddy of course), so I do not need anyone else telling me what to do! And I really disagree that Ella will become too dependent on us. At this age, I love that she has a deeper connection with KT and I than she does with anyone else. I believe that her confidence in us and our love for her will allow her to become a more secure child, teen, and adult.

But what do you guys think? What is your parenting style? Do you believe that new-generation moms are too easy on their kids? Are we making them too dependent? I would love to hear your opinion (even if it disagrees with mine)!!

The baby girl who stole my heart

While reading the blog post I posted about earlier (if you haven't read it, you can find it here), I realized just how incredibly blessed I am to have the most amazing little girl in my life. And I get to call her my daughter. I can't even describe how being Ella's mommy makes me feel. Unconditional love doesn't even cover it. She literally holds my heart in her tiny palm, and I am perfectly okay with that. Before becoming a parent, I had no idea that you could love one person (especially someone so tiny!!) this much. I saw other parents and they obviously loved their children, but I assumed it was the same kind of love you had for anyone else in your life. I was wrong. The type of love you have for your child is so different from anything you will ever feel for another human being. That is not to say that your love for someone else is not as great but love for a child is just on a completely different level.

While this post may not have much relevance for anyone besides me, I will do it anyways. Many parents go through heartbreak that I cannot even imagine. And I know that I have been blessed with Ella, so I am choosing to celebrate my precious baby and the love I have for her. So for no other reason than just because I love her, this post is solely dedicated to Ella and how amazing, brilliant, beautiful, and loving she is every single day.  :)     You can call me cheesy now if you want!

These are some of the 4 month pictures I promised!

The flash makes her eyes big. So funny!

Yesterday, we had Ella's four month well baby check-up. She is doing amazing! She is a healthy 14lb 1oz and 24 1/2 inches long. She did so great with the doctors too! She laughed and smiled at them while they did their physical check of her. She thought the leg stretches, tummy time, and getting picked up and put on her feet were all games, so she played right along! Both of the doctors were impressed with how well she holds her head up, keeps her back rigid, and can push up with her arms while on her tummy. They said she is really close to sitting up by herself and rolling all the way over. The doctor also said her bottom teetth will come first, but we are about a month away from the first ones popping out. KT and I sat and watched her getting examined and showing off her skills like such proud parents! It felt like we were watching her first real "baby challenge" and she passed with flying colors! She made us so happy! She even did well with her second round of immunizations. She cried when they did it of course, but after it was over she went back to just being her normal happy self. Just like with the first round, she didn't even get a fever! Another reason I am happy we have been able to breastfeed! The benefits are so widespread!

Ella loves to play on her playmat! She REALLY loves when I pretend to kiss her cute little feet! Sorry for the kissing sounds! LOL

Another quick update, Ella loves bananas in her rice cereal! I tried that today because she was eating the rice cereal a little bit, but she wasn't enthused about it. I want her to enjoy eating, so I mushed a small piece of a banana and mixed it in and she loved it!

These are from our trip to the park to celebrate her four month birthday! Ella loves her Daddy!





My adorable little family! 

I love this little girl more than anything in the entire world!

XOXO,
Dani

Ella's Four Months Today!!!

It is March 10, which means my pretty baby is 4 months old! Crazy that time has flown by so fast. We celebrated by enjoying the great weather we had by going to the park. Ella hated it, but we tried. LOL! Really it was just super windy, and she did not like the wind blowing on her. Once the wind calmed down she spent her time watching everyone go by. We have such a curious baby. But her curiousity can actually be a negative thing sometimes because she makes herself stay awake to watch everything. That results in one cranky baby, which we experienced when we got home. Thankfully, she finally gave in and went to sleep.

She has definitely been making some strides to be a big girl lately. She started attempting to eat her rice cereal. (By the way, any recommendations on the best brand of rice cereal? We have her on Beech Nut because it is supposed to be easier on the tummy, but I'd love to hear your opinion!) She also started using her baby shampoo, which is a step up from just using infant head-to-toe wash. I know, I know, but I was excited about it! Her hair smells so yummy now! :) She also is becoming so mobile! We put her on her playmat and she never stays in the same position anymore. She pedals herself around until she is facing the complete opposite direction. Hopefully, she will be fully rolling over soon. Right now she is just getting on her side. But I can tell she is getting close for sure!

The biggest accomplishment so far has been that today she said her first "mama" sounds! It lit up my heart! Before you all tell me that she isn't actually addressing me as "mama", I know this! However, I choose to believe in my mind that she spoke directly TO me as she said the magic words! And nothing you say will take that away from me! :)

Unfortunately, Ella fell asleep before I could do her four month pictures. Guess those will have to wait until tomorrow. She should look the same right?? :) Pictures to come tomorrow!

XOXO
Dani

Taking my "me time" today

I have been working on the pages of my blog, so this is my first blog post. I debated for a while about what I should write about. Then I decided it should be about one of the most important things new mommies should always get. Their "me time."

It's 12:22 a.m., and I am indulging in some "me time". KT and Ella are both asleep (and have been since 8 p.m.), so I get some time to myself. I took a long, hot shower. I made myself a cup of decaf, hazelnut coffee. I settled in on the couch to read my new Cosmopolitan. I cooked a nice dinner. I ate. And now I am working on my new blog.

Although I have only been a mommy for four months, I realized pretty early on that something was going to have to give. I have not gone back to work yet, so I am at home with Ella everyday. And I love it. But I quickly learned that you can only take so much of taking care of a baby before you have to start taking care of yourself too. Taking care of Ella is the best part of my day, and I truly mean that. But having some time for myself definitely allows me to rejuvenate...in a baby-free zone. Tonight that means sitting on the couch with Cosmo and coffee. Some days that means leaving for a few hours to go to Books-a-Million to read a good book. It sounds silly but not being able to read whenever I choose has actually been something that I have had to adjust to. I was so used to being able to finish a book in one setting that having to put a book down because Ella needs something was a big adjustment. But I have made that adjustment by getting a few hours every now and then to do whatever I please, like read that book that is suddenly taking me a week to finish. :)

I have been pretty lucky with getting my "me time" because KT actually pushes me to make sure I get some time for myself. The very first time I left, which was just for an hour to get dinner with a friend, was so difficult for me. KT really encouraged me to get out of the house or I was going to go insane. He was right. We all need time to just breathe for a little while. "Me time" is something that I will blog about pretty frequently because I feel it really is important not to lose ourselves in motherhood. Our babies need us to be at the top of our game all the time, so why shouldn't we indulge in ourselves a bit? Becoming burnt out is the last thing we, our babies, or our partners want or need, so avoid that by taking a time out every once in a while!

 At about 6 a.m. when Ella wakes up to eat I may regret letting my "me time" run so late, but we live and we learn, right??

Don't be afraid to take some "me time". It can really help you be an even better mommy to your precious little one.

XOXO
Dani