Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

It's been a while, and I miss the blog. I've found myself seriously blowing up Facebook, which can mean only one thing… I need to get back to this outlet before all my friends on social media delete me. HA! Except not kidding.

Nothing worse than people spewing all over Facebook all day. Anyway, I have got some things up my sleeve and hope to be back to regular posting soon. I feel like I thought I could phase out this part of my days, but I miss it and being in the know/chatting with all my "internet friends".

So long story short, be back soon! I hope.

motherhood, for real.

This may be the most disorganized blog post of all time, but it will at least be jam packed with good information. Good for me at least, and hopefully any other mom friends out there who are still checking in on my posts.

I keep meaning to blog about the things I have learned as a Mom, and I keep not finding the time to do it, but here it goes. I finally feel like I can give some legitimate advise. I feel like a pro actually. I am NOT a pro at this parenting thing at all, but I feel like one because I've finally got some confidence about myself.

First thing is first.

The secret to parenting, is realizing that there is no secret to parenting. Some kids sleep through the night, some don't. Some switch between bottle and breast like a pro, some will never take a bottle. Some like pacifiers, some don't. No matter what swaddle, feeding trick, essential oil, sound machine, bassinet, or magic potion you are trying- your baby is going to do what your baby is going to do. period. Sure, some things work better than others. But I will tell you this, putting all your hopes and dreams into a product and a way of parenting and then being devastated (and broke because you spent all your pennies at Buy Buy Baby and on Amazon.com) because it didn't work, that is almost as bad as dealing with it. I know when you are in the throws of sleepless nights and teething it's hard to accaept, but it is what it is.

That being said, things that have gotten us this far include:

-Baby Log App for tracking the newborn craziness

-Moms on Call for an idea of a schedule to follow

-Other moms. I don't care if you have to befriend someone you have never talked to before from church, the gas station, whatever. Find other moms.

-Understanding that what people say always works, doesn't always work. Cry it out did not work for us. I gave it a go. It didn't work. And by it didn't work, I mean I couldn't do it. And therefor, it didn't work. I think it is a great idea if you have the discipline, but discipline has never been one of my strong suits. I preferred to be miserable and rock my baby at all hours of the night for the better part of a year. But the sleepless nights will end. Then they will start again. Until I'm guessing your kid is driving. That's what I hear at least.

-Baby Essentials Gerber bottles. The cheap ones. We were using Dr. Browns and if I had to wash one of those stupid parts one more time I was going to lost it. Made the switch around 6 months and never looked back. Do yourself a favor and try these before committing to a year of constantly washing bottle parts for an hour a day.

It gets easier. When your baby can sit, crawl, play, and entertain themselves for a few minutes here and there- it gets SO much easier. From 3:30-6:30ish, N has a free time. I call it free because she doesn't eat, nap, or take medication in this time, so the world is our oyster. Sometimes I even leave the house without a diaper bag. I just throw a diaper and wipes in my purse and go. And she is in a convertible carseat so there is no stupid baby carrier to lug around. It's unbelievably freeing.

I feel like even when the days are stupid hard. Like you are covered in who knows what, the house is a wreck, you are in a horrible mood, dinner is not made, you're fighting, and it just seems like "BLEH"….… you will still miss your baby as soon as they go to bed. You will have a bunch of memories for the mess you made. And you still love your people. I have yet to have a day of motherhood that good music, a candle, and a glass of wine couldn't fix. Even when you are enjoying all of that while scrubbing carrot puree off of your entire kitchen.

I do not get people who neglect or abuse their children. My life is pretty charmed I will admit, but I have had my fair share of challenges. Part of the reason things are so good over here is because we make the conscious effort to give our best, try hard, plan, and be happy. One thing I know for sure is that when you aren't a Mom it is easy to miss… but once you become a Mom, it should smack you in the face. This is THE best gig on earth. 

easter + opening day parade + update

So clearly blogging has taken a back seat in the past few months. I am ok with that, but I do miss it. I am going to make it a goal to post at least once a week so I don't completely fall out of the habit. There have been so many things on my mind lately, and I miss this space to get them out. Unfortunately many of these profound thoughts happen in the middle of the night, or in the shower, only to be forgotten a few hours or even minutes later, never to see the light of the blog. Sigh.

A few things that I can manage to remember. We have been busy bees lately. Norah's first Easter was sunny and wonderful. She was adorable as usual and it was nice to spend time with family.

Will took off work and we watched the Reds Opening Day Parade in Washington Park after having breakfast at Taste of Belgium and shopping in OTR, then ended the afternoon with Holtman's Donuts. We've had dinners with friends and lots of laughs with neighbors. Visits with family and plenty of Summer fun is already on the books. We'll be visiting Lake Michigan for Norah's first vacation and taking Norah's first trip to Rhode Island to her Grammy and Papas second home, which will also allow Will and I to visit some new friends in Boston at their new beach house. Norah and I are probably visiting some family in Vegas and Will and I may plan to squeeze an "us" weekend in somewhere too.

My Rodan+Fields business has grown to 20+ customers and I signed my first consultant. Not sure if this is slow, or normal, or fast growth but I am enjoying it and so is my bank account so I consider that a win.

Norah is still not sleeping through the night, and good grief, it is BRUTAL. I am literally afraid of my baby monitor. Those green lights and that awful crackling before the wales of her poor little self begin- it's the stuff nightmares are made of.  I'm afraid of peeing and flushing the toilet anywhere on the second floor for fear of waking my baby. I probably angered the sleep spirits that are taunting me because she just woke up as soon as I started typing this paragraph. Ugh. I think this special kind of torture that is known as sleep deprivation is a combination of teething, me being physically incapable of "cry it out", and her just not being there yet. Some nights are better than others. The not so bad ones are almost good at this point. The bad ones are torture. The good thing is, every night is a new chance for it to be "the night" that it starts happening consistently.

I skipped Norah's 7 month update, but girlfriend is learning and growing like crazy. We are so close to crawling. Rolling around like a champ. Can go from sitting to laying on her own, and usually without knocking her noggin too hard. "Talking" up a storm and making all kinds of noises. Loves eating clementines, any baby food with protein, carrot puree, and really most vegetables. Not so much a fan of fruit puree which surprised me. Favorite toys include the remote, walker, and anything that lights up or has moving parts. We love to go to library story time on Wednesday mornings. She is also clearly getting smarter and more in tune with the world, because now when I hide things from her that she's not supposed to have, she looks at me like "I know it's under the pillow lady" and tries to get whatever it is from wherever I've hidden it. Basically, she is awesome and being a mom is awesome. All of it. We are in great place these days. Besides the sleep.

I think that's all for now. Hopefully be back here more regularly soon!