Parenting
Farm Life and Chicken Update
Would you believe that I am experiencing farm life in the middle of Amsterdam? How freakin’ bizarre is that? Chickens, mice, fruit flies (do fruit flies count as farm life???), and then to top it off, I have been washing dishes outside for the last couple days! Phil and Laina (the people whose home we are staying in) are in the middle of remodeling their kitchen and are without a kitchen sink. So I have been busy heating up water in the electric water heater, transferring it to a bucket of soapy cold water, and washing dishes for a family of 8 (including us and not counting the visitors). It has been SO fun though!! Maisie has LOVED it. Laina took some pictures of Maisie playing in the soapy water that I will try to get from her. It has been sort of a fun thing for us to do…
Read MoreTo Benadryl or Not to Benadryl, That is the Question
The question is right in my title. We leave for Europe on Saturday from Denver and it is going to be a long flight!!! We leave in the morning (U.S. time) and arrive in the afternoon (Europe time) the next day. Basically, we need baby goo goo to sleep. I am thinking if she can sleep on the plane she will adjust to the time difference better and not have jet lag so bad. I am highly considering Children’s Benadryl. I just got done reading parents personal opinions on the Baby Center website. They say I shouldn’t use this and it is drugging my baby for no good reason. Shoot. I maybe would have thought that when she was under a year, but she is almost two now. Besides, is it for a good reason if it will help her adjust to the time difference better? I would love feedback…
Read MoreBack to Portland… the travel continues
We are back in rainy and cloudy and cold Portland, Oregon. I don't think it is good for my system to go from sunny and warm and beautiful weather to this. Just not good at all. The good news is that I am spending more time with Maisie, reading and playing with her toys…inside of course. I was counting the amount of places that we have been traveling to and I have to say that Maisie is quite the little trooper! I keep worrying that I am ruining her forever, but then I remember that this is all she knows and for her (hopefully) she thinks it is normal! If we lived in our own home and didn't travel so much, Maisie would maybe begin to potty train as she is starting to let us know she does not like the poo in her diaper. Maybe she wouldn't want to…
Read MoreI know it’s a touchy subject….
…but I feel the need to talk about Babywise again. A lot of my close friends and family used this parenting technique and have sworn by it, but I honestly cannot wrap my mind around the whole concept of letting your brand new baby (who has only known your womb) cry ALONE in his/her crib for a period of time. I don’t get it. Ok, maybe older babies I can understand this a bit more, but brand new babies? And I don’t really get the scheduled feeding thing either. I get it to a point, but honestly, aren’t some babies little bellies maybe just smaller and need to eat more often than every 3 1/2 hours? It isn’t necessarily the long distance between feedings that bother me, but the crying alone in their crib. What in the world is wrong with rocking your baby to sleep? It isn’t like you…
Read MoreMothers love their daughters
Today was such a fun day. Being a mom is amazing. I originally thought for Mother’s Day it would be nice to have a break from being a mom, but realized I really didn’t want that at all. I had fun with Maisie today. Lots of tickling, laughing, reading books, going for walks….ahhhhh, good times! Maisie was difficult to put to sleep tonight because she is teething, so I took a break from rocking her for a few minutes, but I really just wanted to be with her and hold her myself, even though she was sort of being a pain. I feel honored to be her mom and take care of her. I love being her “mama.” I’m not saying it is always easy, I am just saying I LOVE it and I LOVE her! Tonight before my mom went to bed, she gave me a card for Mother’s…
Read MoreShe’s a genius!
Ok, not really. I know most parents think this about their children, but it is only because we saw them when they were just little blobs of human, not even able to control their little arm movements. Suddenly, they begin to resemble a real person who can do real person type things. The latest Maisie is a real person things are: 1. Sharing her sippy cup with her baby, rocking and patting her baby to sleep. 2. “Reading” other babies (real live babies) books and patting them on the back as to comfort them in a motherly way (see picture above of Maisie and her boyfriend Eli…she likes the young ones). 3. She now points to different pictures in books that she recognizes and is starting to make animal noises when she spots one she recognizes. Elephants are her favorite. 4. When she sees a circle, she says, “ball!”…
Read MoreWe Love Co-sleeping
Justin and I love Maisie cuddle time! As you may know, we have co-slept from day one with Maisie. There is a long story behind why, but I will give you the short version. I first totally thought co-sleeping was super hippie and I would never do it. Until the first night Maisie was born and the only time she would sleep was when she was lying right next to me or nursing or both. I also had an epidural headache and it as super difficult to keep lifting her into my bed from the little plastic bed she was sleeping in. It all started there. It continued five days later when we were at home. I loved our cuddle times and was too scared to put her in her crib for fear that she may stop breathing. When I did put her in bed, I was up every 1/2…
Read More