A Dress and an Idea

Ivy's 1st birthday is quickly approaching and I have been having way too much fun planning her party. So many ideas and possibilities have been swirling around in my head the past couple of weeks thanks to Pinterest and the blog Hostess with the Mostess!

I was really having a hard time nailing down what I wanted to do for Ivy, until I found the most adorable dress the other day. You know how some people design a room around a pillow or a pattern, well her party is being planned around... this dress!

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I am excited. Now off to research invites! :D

I love this face!

~ Months 4, 5 and 6

It's been forever since I posted Ivy's monthly pictures! Here are months 4, 5 and 6. Even though I never posted anything here, I was still taking her photos and writing down things as she accomplished them. I look back and it's crazy how much time has passed, but at the same time it feels just like yesterday that she was a Newborn!



Dear Ivy,

Your personality really blossomed during this time! You came out of your shell and showed us what sweet and a happy baby you were, and still are at 9 months old right now.


4 months:




You were sleeping amazingly at this point, from approximately 9 to about 5 in the morning. Oh how I miss those nights!

Wearing 3 and 6 months clothes.

You liked to nap, during the day, in someones arms and hated the bassinet and your crib.

Still disliked car seat, but you were getting better. It was hit or miss and you cried about half the time.

Tummy time you still hated and would scream.

You hands were in your mouth all the time!

You would play with your paci, while it was in your mouth, but couldn't take it out and put back in yourself.

At the end of 3 months you starting reaching for objects.

You loved to be sung too and would smile. Songs that I would sign to you were, Old Mcdonald and This old Man.


5 Months



You had your first Thanksgiving, with your dad, at your Uncle Troy and Aunts Melissa's. I spent the day at home as I had pneumonia. :(

The 4 month wakeful period hit and you were up every 2 hours at night. You also went on a bassinet strike and the only way I could get you to go to sleep at night, was if it was in bed with us.

You started being able to pick up items and they instantly went in your mouth!

You were wearing mostly 6 month clothes, the occasional 3 month item would still fit.

Still only napping in the arms of your dad and you also decided that you didn't like your swing anymore.

You were better with the carseat and as long as the car was moving you didn't cry.

Tummy time was getting a bit better. You would look around for a couple of minutes, but then you would start to cry and face plant the floor. You rolled over from front to back for first time.

The cats enthrall you and you love to stare at them!

Your feet are a sorce of entertainment, when you lay on your back. Things you also loved were the jumperoo and the "I found love" video from Yo Gabba Gabba.

You do not like to lay on your back or lean back in someone's arms. You struggle and try to sit upright.


6 months

You learned to sit upright at the beginning of 5 months but it took you the rest of the month to become a pro. You were much happier once you could sit by yourself.

First bath in the big bath tub! No more Puj tub.

Rolling over more when doing tummy time. As soon as you were placed on your tummy, you would roll over.

Sleeping wise you were better. You were always easy to put down and but you were still waking up at 2:00 and 4:00 to nurse.


Look how much we have grown! Prior Monthly Photos

Random Fridays Musings

~It's sad when you are excited that your baby only woke up 3 times the previous night!

~I wish we had a hammock for the backyard. Laying out there and taking a nap with Ivy sounds like heaven.

~I have all these grand ideas for Ivy's 1st birthday party, but realistically I don't think I have the time to do it all.

~For awhile now, I have been looking forward to ditching the pump when Ivy turns 1 or having a pump burning, jk! But recently I have been thinking about it and have decided that I may just drop my 2nd pumping session at work and only pump on my lunch for awhile and see how it goes. Set a small goal and after awhile reassess.

~I seriously need to cut back on my caffeine. Pepsi has become my crack again. I really don't want another kidney stone.

~I feel like I have been really productive this week. Yesterday, Ivy and I went on a walk with my friend Jenni and baby Drew. I have also done laundry and cleaned. We worked on the yard this last weekend and we don't look the like the white trash neighbors anymore.

~Made dinner the other day and used Bok Choy for the first time and it was sooo good and super easy! Thanks CT for the recipe!

~Looking forward to the weekend:

Meeting up with some girls from my awesome message board that I participate on, having lunch with a friend and then also looking forward to the awesome weather we are supposed to have. Ivy and I might have to make a trip to the park!

Semi Update & Big Girl Car Seat

This post was written... oh almost 2 months ago and I never finished it. In fact, I haven't blogged in almost 3 months. Where have I been you ask? Well, I have been sick: two colds, strep throat and an ear infection. I have been working, cleaning, sleeping and being a mommy to an ever on the go, crawling, little girl who is almost 10 months. Yikes! Just trying to juggle this thing called parenthood, while still trying to stay social with family and friends.

I have had several people comment on the lack of posts on here so here you go, this was written 03/26/11:

Today we went to BRU and got Ivy a convertible car seat. She has always hated the infant seat with a passion and is always trying to sit forward in it. Since, she weighs so much now, we have been leaving the car seat in the base when we go anywhere. We figured that she might enjoy the convertible seat more.

Turns out she does. She is slightly more sitting up and not reclining as much and this equals a much happier baby!



And in case any of you mommies out there didn't see, this week the AAP announced that they now advise babies and toddlers should be rear facing until 2 years of age or until they exceed the weight or height limit for the car seat.

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

I know what you are thinking, Robyn you are a couple of months late on this one! Christmas was back in December!

But I have to disagree. The most wonderful time of year is Girl Scout Cookie time. HEHE.

It comes once a year, just like Christmas. Your order your cookies and then you wait in anticipation for them to arrive.

Then when they come and you are so excited. You promptly devour an half a box of deliciousness in one sitting. MmMmmm!

Can you have some? Ummm.... nervously tries to hide box behind back.... I don't have any left.

Babywearing Adventures: Part 2

We have come a long ways, since my last Babywearing post. I am now pretty good at putting Ivy up on my back. I do still mess up occasionally, either it's too loose or she is too low. I have also still not tried wrapping in public. I am a long ways from doing that! But, I am getting faster and Ivy doesn't get frustrated as much.

Here are a couple of recent Babywearing photos:




Cooking:




and we fell asleep!

Feeling like Home

As you know it's been awhile, since I last blogged. Since then we have packed, moved, cleaned and been unpacking. We love the new place and it's perfect for where we are in our lives right now!

I am loving the fact that I have my own washing machine and dryer! Doing laundry has actually been fun. I am sure the novelty will wear off soon though! :)

The location is great. David and Ivy have already made several trips, with the stroller, down to the local shopping center and Trader Joes. I have tagged along a couple times myself. Everything is so close and at the same time our actual neighborhood, is still really quiet.

The house is coming along. The kitchen is completely done, other than changing out the curtains. Living room is 90% done. Our room is about 50% done but Ivy's has a long ways to go.

I finally feel like we have established a new normal and am excited that the place is starting to feel like home!

At 4:00 AM

I pinky promise a real update is in the works.

Until then, I leave you with a sneak peak of Ivy's 6 month photos. She is growing so fast and becoming such a little girl. Her personality is really emerging.

Just this morning, I was woken at 4 am, by her patting my face (we have been bed sharing lately) and talking to me. Makes being woken up, in the wee hours, a tiny bit better.

I Found Love

Ivy loves this video! Her eyes get real big and she smiles.



I have the words memorized, that's how much she loves it. :)

My New Obsession

After working all day and not seeing my baby, when I get home I just want to kiss her all over, squeeze her and never let go of her. When I wear her, I get to go about doing things and all the while having her close to me!

Until recently, I have just been using a sling. Unfortunately after awhile, the sling starts to hurt my back and shoulders. We also have a Baby Bjorn, which we got when I went to Ellen's Mothers Day show. David loves it, but I find too bulky and hard to move around in.

I started doing research on other ways to wear your baby and came across wraps. I specifically wanted something that I could wear Ivy in and do housework at the same time. I considered getting a Moby Wrap but noticed that they were not recommended to be used to carry your baby on your back, due to them being stretchy.

So, a woven wrap it was! Thanks to the lovely girls on the AP board on the Bump.com, I became familiar with the baby wrapping world, which I never knew existed!

There are so many different types of woven wraps, different sizes and they are just beautiful. They are pricey, but I was able to find a used one that I loved on a FSOT board, that was a great price.

Woven wraps are definitely not easy to use. They take lots of practice. I think this one reason why they aren't very popular. It has been a fun learning process.

Here are some pics of a finished project. I believe this was my 3rd try at it and the first time that didn't leave Ivy crying. I was super excited after this and really proud of myself. What I didn't realize at the time though, was that I totally messed up the last couple of steps and Ivy is not supported well, at all! I was doing dishes and she started to slip down. I was a little horrified, once I had realized what I had done.

Didymos Indio Lilac, 4.6 m, supposed to be a double hammock carry

I made sure to re-read the directions several times before trying again! It's still a work in progress, but today's try was pretty good and Ivy and I ventured out of the house to get the mail!

It's a go!

Today, we got the call that our application to rent a house was accepted!!!! We are so very excited. It's about time that we get out of this place!

I used to love our little apartment, but we have outgrown it and it's time to move on. I am most excited about this new house is the backyard for Ivy, close to family and finally a washer and dryer! Also, the much safer neighborhood, is very nice as well.

I am grinning like a Cheshire cat right now! :D

But, I am not looking forward to packing. Especially only having 2 weeks to do it. Oh boy! I keep reminding myself though, it is going to be completely worth it.

Well I am off to start packing. I leave you with two photos that I took real quick today of the house.

This one is the living room, looking into the backyard. I love the big windows. And the second one is of the kitchen.

Why Hello

Quick update, since I am sure you are all dying to know what we have been up to and doing this past month! :)

 

It took me about a full month to be feeling 100% after getting pneumonia. Then David was sick and had bronchitis for a couple of weeks and now Ivy has a cold.

 

So, it's been almost 2 months of sickness in some form or another in our house. I will be glad when we are back to being healthy! We are getting there slowly, but surely!

 

Overall, we had a good Christmas and New Year. Not how I would have planned it for Ivy's 1st Christmas, but it really forced us to focus on family and the true meaning of Christmas. Rather than the commercialism and gift giving.

 

But exciting things happening in our household:

 

Ivy sitting unassisted.

Trying to learn how use a woven wrap and wear Ivy on my back.

Us submitting an application to rent a house.

Researching solids and stumbling upon the concept of Baby Led Weaning, thus Ivy trying Avocado.

 

and lots more. Hopefully, I can get back into the blogging grove soon and can update you all on this!