The funniest thing happened last night as we were getting Abbi ready for her bath. Tim did not find the situation amusing but I, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious! To preface the story, yesterday was supposed to be a “poop day” for Abbi and she had not yet pooped. As I was getting her undressed for her bath, I was telling her how she was not allowed to poop in the bathtub. Since my child is very obedient, she did as she was told and decided to poop before we made it to the bathtub. As I was holding her naked in my arms, I could see in the mirror the green mass that was squishing between her naked butt and my arm. I rushed her back to the towel on the floor and Tim covered her butt with a diaper. We let her lye there and finish her business.
When she appeared to be finished, I wiped her clean, picked her up and carried her back to the bathtub. Just as I was about to place her in the bathtub I heard a “SPLAT!” on the floor. There, on the edge of the bathtub, down the vanity, on the floor, and, of course, on my arm was more POOP! She apparently had not yet finished. So, there we were — poop everywhere, a happy baby, me laughing histarically & wanting to take pictures, and Tim who was grossed out beyond belief. Just when I thought life with Abbi couldn’t get more exciting! Unfortunately there is no photo or video documentation of this because Tim refused to let me use the camera for such an occasion.
I love Easter! I feel like Easter is the official start of Spring! I love it! This is a picture of a little bunny who was hopping around our front entry last week. He had a little girlfriend who was there as well.
We had a really good Easter weekend. Saturday Tim went golfing while Abbi and I stayed home and played out in the yard to enjoy the beautiful weather. On Sunday we went to church and then had dinner with Tim’s family. Yummy! I took pictures of Abbi in her Easter dress on Saturday out in the yard because I knew it was going to be cold and rainy on Sunday. Thankfully she didn’t spit-up on her dress while wearing it on Saturday. My favorite part are the shoes that I picked up the other day on clearance.
It amazes me the opinions and advice you are so freely given by others after you have a baby. I’m convinced that this phenomenon does not stop after your first child. Nor is it limited to children. Isn’t it funny how we just freely give our advice to others, no matter what the topic or situation?
The reason I bring this up is because I have received advice, or rather approval/disapproval, over how and when I put Abbi to sleep. Abbi is on a pretty regular sleep schedule: She goes to bed at 7pm, wakes up for a brief feeding at 4am & goes back to sleep until 7:30am; 1st nap from 9am – noon; and then gets one or two 1-2 hour naps in the afternoon. The times will vary and the length does vary depending on a lot of things, but it tends to stick close to that schedule. Some people commend me for the schedule and understand the reasons behind it; Others think it’s silly and that baby’s don’t need a schedule and it will only hurt them later.
The other topic of advice is on how we get Abbi to sleep. There are two major methods of getting your baby to sleep — soothe them to sleep or let them cry it out until they fall asleep. I know parents on both sides of the fence and I see pros & cons for each method. I’m under the philosophy of “do what works for you and your baby.” Personally, I practice the “soothe your baby to sleep” method. We rock Abbi to sleep for most naps and every night before bed. I’ve tried the “cry it out” method and it does not work for Abbi. I have let her cry for an hour+ when she’s going down for a nap and she does not fall asleep. I just can’t see letting my child fall asleep from pure exhaustion because she’s cried for hours. Like I said, it works for some people, just not for us.
The interesting thing about all of this is discovering who is in support of what method. I have been surprised more times that naught on the sleep issue. The people who I thought would disapprove of me rocking Abbi to sleep all the time were actually in favor of this method and praised me for sticking to it. Then there are the other people who I would have expected that they would agree with the soothing method, but are in favor of letting the baby cry herself to sleep. They like to tell me that I’m just spoiling her.
Moral of the Story: Everyone has their own opinions and that is all they are, OPINIONS. And here is the definition of an opinion:
o – pin – ion: A view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge
I didn’t realize how much the time change would affect Abbi’s sleep schedule! We “sprung forward” an hour this past Sunday and, since then, Abbi’s naps have been so messed up. We were doing so well with her naps and now it’s as though we’re starting all over. Every nap is a battle. Actually Monday & Tuesday were wonderful — Abbi went down for her afternoon naps in her crib with no fuss! I honestly thought I was dreaming. Then I woke up! Wednesday & Thursday she fought so hard not to nap. I’m really hoping she gets back on schedule today.
One wonderful change this past week was our bedtime ritual. We really didn’t have one before. We just changed her diaper, fed her a bottle and then rocked her as she screamed and squirmed until she fell asleep from exhaustion. The other night I decided to give her a bath before bed, then Tim fed her a bottle, rocked her, and she fell instantly to sleep with no fuss. Hmmmm. We did it again the next night and, again, sleep with no fuss. So, every night this week we’ve gone through this routine and it has worked. It makes the evening so wonderful when she goes to sleep with no fuss. She’s also been going to bed between 6:30p and 7:30p. She still gets up once between 4a & 5a for a feeding, but then goes back to bed until 7a or 8a. It has been so nice. After all, a well-rested mommy is a happy mommy, is a patient mommy, is a better mommy (and wife)!
This picture shows you the drool that has become a permanent fixture on Abbi’s face. I feel like I am constantly wiping drool from her mouth, chin, cheeks, and hands. About a month ago I felt a small bump on her top gum and thought for sure that we were on the verge of a tooth. However, to my dismay, I was told that babies can show signs of those top teeth for months before they actually pop through. She will most likely get her two bottom teeth before one of those top teeth come in. Basically I have have a good year or two of drool ahead of me.
Besides fighting the drool, we are fighting the strong will of this child. She had never really liked to go to sleep but she has taken it to new lengths now. This child fights sleep as though it is her personal mission in life not to sleep! I have the patience to deal with it most days. However, it does get frustrating when you can’t reason with her about it. “Abbi, if you just take your nap now, then we can play this afternoon and you’ll be much happier.” “Abbi, mommy and daddy are going to bed soon too so you should go to bed.” She just stares at you and begins whining, “I don’t need sleep! Sleep is bad!” (that is my translation of her whining) My only hope that I am desperately holding on to is that it can’t last forever….right??
I think it is an unspoken rule that once you become a mom you live for Spring Cleaning. See, I never really liked cleaning, and, the truth is, I still don’t like cleaning. However, once Spring hit this year, I was eager to begin my Spring cleaning. I spent 2 1/2 days last week really cleaning my house: washing cabinets, re-organizing everything, windows, floors, showers, etc. Nothing was safe from my cleaning rampage. And by my side was my trusty side-kick: The Dyson!
Tim surprised me last week with this lovely Dyson vacuum cleaner. Isn’t she beautiful? I’ve wanted a Dyson for a long time and, when our vacuum cleaner took a turn for the worse, my dream came true. We’ve had our current vacuum cleaner since I’ve known Tim (7+ years) and she’s proven to be a good little vacuum. But it is time to let her rest and bring in some new blood. Now, I know a vacuum is a vacuum, so what is all the fuss about? Let me just tell you, the Dyson worked wonders in my house. It is such a pain with all the hair from the cats and me, but the Dyson handled it like a champ! Huge fan, HUGE!
I would have taken a picture of my nicely cleaned house to post with this entry but, of course, it is back to it’s usual state — complete with cat toys and Abbi toys scattered through out the living room and bedrooms. Ah, home, sweet home!
This past weekend my parents came for a little visit so we took them up to Frederick Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies and sculptures. Each year the Gardens have hundreds of butterflies from around the world hatch in their indoor garden. It’s quite something. These very beautiful butterflies, with the most vibrant colors, flutter around you and, sometimes, land on you. Tim had one land right on his nose and then his collar. I was kind of glad that one did not land on me because I think their little legs crawling on me would creep me out. I was a little worried how Abbi would react if one had landed on her. She has a tendency to insert everything into her mouth these days and I didn’t want to see her get a mouth full of butterfly!
My personal highlight for the day was to see Abbi in her sun glasses. She didn’t even mind wearing them. It makes me that much more excited about summer and having her in her bathing suit and flip flops. Yup, I’m a nerd!
The long awaited day (or night) has come! Let’s do the math: Abbi went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 6am = 10 hours. We fed and changed her and rocked her back to sleep after an hour. She then slept from 7am – 10am = 3 hours. Yes boys and girls, that would be 13 hours of sleep. THIRTEEN!! I was so happy and well rested this morning that I didn’t know what to do with myself! Now she is napping again! OH HAPPY DAY! Don’t get me wrong, I love it when she is awake because she is generally a happy baby and likes to play, but I’m really hoping to get her into a regular sleeping schedule. I’m reading this great book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and they say that babies are happiest and healthiest when they get the right amount of sleep. The “right amount of sleep” for babies Abbi’s age is 10-12 hours each night and then going down for 1-2 hour naps after being awake for about two hours. The key is to get her to go down before she is over-tired. That means putting her down for her naps at her first signs of sleepiness. And her “first signs of sleepiness” are so cute…she has started rubbing at her eyes when she’s tired. Now I don’t believe everything I read in books but this theory is working for us! I’ve noticed that the days that she gets her good naps in, she is much happier when she is awake and goes down for her naps easier. Don’t get me wrong, she still likes to fight sleep, but at least the fight isn’t as terrible.
I’m watching her sleep right now and she is so STINKIN’ CUTE!! I just love her! She is getting so big. Next week she will be 4 months old! I just want to freeze time, or at least slow it down, because I’m not ready for her to start school, graduate, get married! I’m trying so hard to to rush her as she reaches each new stage. I was a little worried that she hasn’t started rolling over yet but I figure it will come when she is ready. In the mean time, I’ll just enjoy how excited she gets when we put her in the van and she sees the vent above the door by her seat!
This week Tim met with the bank to get a business account set-up for Hen House Properties. For those of you who don’t know, Hen House Properties is our company name for us buying, fixing up, and selling houses. You’re thinking to yourself….what a clever name! Thanks!! I’m taking credit for that. If you’re wondering where that name came from, here’s a hint: Hen…..Heneveld. There you go!
It’s amazing how something so little like a checking account can have such an affect on you. It’s like when you were in high school and you got your first checking account and those first checks came with your name printed on them. They made you feel like an adult! This checking account makes me feel like we’re an official business.
Our next step is to get a real estate sign made up with our logo to place in front of the house we are working on. Tim doesn’t know it yet, but I’m totally getting us t-shirts or sweatshirts made up with the logo on it. Wouldn’t that be cool! He’ll think I’m a dork, but hey, for better or for worse right?
When you get pregnant you have all of these hormones increasing in your body and some of these hormones affect your hair growth — your hair may grow faster, go straight or go wavy, and gets thicker. All of these changes were great! But, now that I am no longer pregnant, my hair as been falling out by the handfuls! Not that I wouldn’t mind having thinner hair (my hair has always been thick). Seriously though, I’m worried about baldness at this point! Every time I wash my hair, brush my hair, pull it back into a ponytail, I loose handfuls and handfuls of hair! It is disgusting
On the Abbi front, she is changing every day! She has now discovered her fingers. She likes to grab the fingers on one had with the other hand and likes to suck on her fingers, or whole fist. She also likes to find the one or two hairs that didn’t make it back into my pony tail and hold on tight. OUCH! We are also figuring out, slowly, this napping/sleeping thing. As strange as it sounds, the more that she sleeps during the day, the more she sleeps at night. I thought at first that she may be getting too much sleep but everything I’ve read says that babies need that much sleep. And who am I to argue about my child sleeping more? She also thinks she’s hot stuff when she sits up with little assistance or stands up while holding on to my fingers. I keep telling her to slow down, mom’s not ready for her to grow up!
