Sleep. An update.

She's so well rested now, she can't help but smile

A while ago, I posted about Ellie's lack of naps. She refused to take them. She would cry, loudly for what felt like hours if I even attempted to put her down for a nap.  Even just walking into her room would prompt a fit of epic, arching-back, purple-face proportions. She was having none of it.  And so we suffered. Both of us exhausted, but not knowing what to do about it. 

Some friends of mine and I meet every Wednesday for mom's group.  Last week, only two of us were able to meet. So Ellie and I went over to her house for breakfast. 

My friend, Kelly, has a daughter who's just a few weeks older than Elliott, and they had started sleep training when her daughter, Audrey, was only a few weeks old.  What was breakfast, turned into an entire day at their house.  Kelly was able to coach me through my first day of real sleep training with Ellie. She distracted me while E cried herself to sleep that first few times.  

I know that the Cry-it-Out method is controversial to some. But it worked WONDERS for us.  I noticed a change in my baby right away.  That first time, she cried for her an entire naptime.  But crying time decreased with each subsequent nap. She's able to put herself to sleep now.  She's much happier because of it.

And our world is a bright, shiny, happy place now.

Ellie is taking 3-4 naps a day (with little to no crying in the beginning).  And they have consistently increased in length.  What were 45 minute naps, are now 60-90 minutes.  And bedtime is a breeze! 

Our house is clean, laundry gets done, meals are made AND eaten with both hands.  And I have time to type on this here laptop! It's a miracle!

3 months

Top left: newborn, right: 1 month

Bottom left: 2 months, right: 3 months

Tomorrow Elliott will be three months old.

Everyone always tells you that it flies by. And while, it doesn't feel like that on the day-to-day, it's completely, 100% true. 

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I gave birth to this precious girl. I can't believe I gave birth, period! Despite the fact that my body is totally different than before, and my heart is now on the outside of my body in the form of one cute little girl, I otherwise feel pretty normal. Like it's just the same old me with a new job title. 

But that's not really true. It's not the same old me. This little blessing has changed everything about who I am and who I want to be. Who I want to be as a wife, as a mother, as a Christian, and as a person in general. 

I feel like, since having her, I've got a little more insight into how God sees us. And how He loves us. 

...oh how He loves us so.

She & me

Me

It's national donut day. So I ate 2. I'm doing really well at losing these preggo pounds. Except not really. 

I feel guilty when leaving E with anyone else now. I'm not sure why. She doesn't notice I'm gone yet. 

That walking goal I set last week. Total fail. It was rainy out so after that first walk, I found reasons to drive everywhere or not leave the house at all. 

I'm way behind on my bloglovin feed. Ever since E was born I find myself lacking in time to read anything. So sad. 

She

Looks adorable in a romper! I want to buy a ton more for her to wear. 

Is not sleeping great this week. Starting on Monday, it's been near 80-degrees here in western WA. It was pretty warm in her room so naps weren't great. And then she started getting up every few hours again. Boo. 

Has had 3 major meltdowns this week. All the fault of missed or too short nap times. Apparently we're still learning how to keep her from getting overtired...

She is currently napping on me for going on 2 hours now to make sure we don't mess up the rest of her day & night. 

Lastly, she'll be 3 months old in just a few days. I can't believe how quickly time is going by!

Kitty Love

The night before Ellie arrived...she had no idea how our lives were about to change.

I'm currently sitting on my couch, in the dark, sipping a Skinny Girl margarita, and watching chopped.

My old-lady cat is trying her hardest to wedge herself between me and the laptop, desperate for an ounce of affection.

Since Elliott arrived, poor Kitty hasn't gotten much love. At first, she was trying to walk on the baby to get to me; then she was attempting to climb on my chest putting all of her cat weight on my sore, new-to-breastfeeding boobies or following me back to bed in the middle of the night after I'd finished E's 2am feeding purring in my face and keeping me awake; now she's just trying to scrape up any millisecond of time she can get us to pet her.

I feel bad for the old girl.

Now that Ellie has an official bedtime that's before my own, and has been going down for regular naps during the day (not long naps, but we're making progress! woohoo!), I hope to spend a little more time cuddling my first "baby."

...I just have to ignore her licking my face (gross) and shedding all over the place...

She & Me #1

She in her superhero cape aka poncho, me in my PJs

I've seen a lot of bloggers participating in the "blog every day in May" challenge this month, and while I haven't been able to participate, it has inspired me to blog more. I want to make it my goal to visit this space at least 3 times a week for the month of June.

In an effort to accomplish that goal, I've decided to start my first blog series, entitled 'She & Me'  and it'll be a few highlights from the last week with Elliott & I.

So here we go!

She

• Is lifting herself up on her hands!
• ...and rolling over!  Tummy time is not the worst anymore...because she now has the power to change it.  
• Received the most adorable yellow poncho in the mail from our cousin, Dorrie, last week. It looks so cute on her!
• She giggles!  Brad's gotten the first true chuckles that we've heard so far, but I got a couple half-laughs out of her this morning.
• She's sleeping [mostly] through the night. 6 out of the last 7 nights, she's only woken up at 5am to eat, and then goes back to bed until 8. Woohoo!
• She gets cuter by the day. If that's possible.

Me

• I've used my Kitchen Aid to bake 4 times in the last 7 days. Again, I'm gonna get so fat... Well, WE are.  Brad eats my baked goods, too.
• I'm making it a goal this week to go for a 30-minute walk everyday. If this week works, I hope to expand to the entire month of June. Gotta make up for all of the baked goods.
• I'm addicted to cookbooks (even though I usually find my recipes online).  I'll find any excuse to buy one...like a new stand mixer.
• I started sleep-training the Little Miss this weekend.  I didn't realize how fatigued I'd been until she was asleep in her bed, upstairs, in the middle of the day.  The house was quiet and I actually got some time to myself. Naps in her crib are the best thing ever! 

Winner

A couple weeks ago, my friend Ruthy had a giveaway on her blog to win a custom birth print from Jessica's Etsy shop Baby In The Rain.

I entered the giveaway but didn't think I'd actually win so I went ahead and ordered a print myself. 

A few days later, after I'd been in communication with Jessica about my print, I got an email from Ruthy saying I'd won the giveaway!

What are the odds!?

Our print arrived earlier this week and we love it!

I'd forgotten to mention anything about it to brad.  So when he came home to find it hanging on the door to Elliott's room he was surprised. We'd had a sticky sign on her door that had once said 'baby' but the letters were slowly falling off the door. We'd gotten down to just 'by.'

Needless to say, the print looks much better. 

What do you think?

Cake

This week, I have a birthday.

On Wednesday to be exact.

And to be even more exact, I turn 30.  The big THREE. ZERO. 

I always thought I'd be more nervous about turning 30, but other than recognizing that it sounds like a big number, I haven't really thought too much about it.

I have, however, thought about the gift I would like, and I informed my husband on several occasions (read: everyday) over the last few months.

Since Friday, Brad has been working on a "project" in the garage. 

Yesterday, he came in while I was nursing the baby, said my present was ready, and when do I want it.  I told him I wanted it on my birthday, and he asked if I was sure.

He's not great at surprises.  He gets excited and wants to tell me.

He said he wanted to give it to me right then, and I told him that whenever he wanted to give my gift to me, he could. So he ran out to the garage, and brought this back to me:

BEST. BIRTHDAY GIFT. EVER!

Of course, this is what I've been not-so-subtly hinting at to Brad. I have been wanting one of these for years.  It's been on my Christmas list since we've been married. And about a month ago, I was pissed because my sister found one at my Grandma's when we were cleaning out her house, and she got to keep it...  Finder's keepers. boo.

I think the best part about my birthday kitchen aid....it was $60 on Craigslist.  That's almost better than a free one from Grandma!  ...almost. 

I christened it earlier today, by making pan chocolate chip cookies. As the machine creamed the butter and sugars together, I turned to Elliott, who was sitting in her rocker on the floor and exclaimed, "it's lazy baking!"  She gave me a big gummy smile and coo'd.  She's excited about it, too.

My life is forever changed with the introduction of the stand mixer.

I'm already planning to bake myself a birthday cake on Wednesday. Mainly because I just want to bake.  But also, because, cake.

I'm gonna get so fat.

Sleep...and lack thereof

My little bean is 2 months, 1 week old.

She likes... eating, cooing, and smiling at people so they melt over her.

She hates... SLEEPING.

...And it's driving this mama crazy!

She sleeps GREAT at night. I put her down between 7:30 and 8:30 and she sleeps through till 3 or 4 am when she wakes up to eat, and then goes back down until 7. (I probably shouldn't be complaining at all.)

But for some reason during the day, she rarely sleeps more than 30 minutes at a time.  I can't get anything done, and I get pretty much zero time to myself.

It is challenging.

I've tried the swing, a vibrating cradle seat, her car seat, the pack n' play, her crib, her regular cradle, even letting her sleep in my arms and nothing seems to work. The only times she'll take a longer nap is when she isn't feeling well, we're driving somewhere far, or she's so overstimulated that she just passes out.

She's a very mellow baby, and isn't fussy or upset during her non-stop awake times, but I'm starting to worry that she's missing out on some critical developmental rest times. I'm almost ready to call the pediatrician to make sure she's not doing damage to herself by staying awake!

Anyone else have a little one who won't nap?  What'd you do to fix it?

Mother's Day

This weekend was a pretty eventful one in Smith-town (...not an actual town). On Friday, we drove up to Sequim to visit Brad's family and check out the Irrigation Festival.

Elliott attended her first parade (aka slept through her first parade), and met lots of great aunts and cousins.  She's been very chatty and smiley lately, and she made sure to show everyone her knew skills.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, as I'm sure you know.

For my first Mother's Day, you'd think I'd want some great present like an outting as a family, or jewelry or something.  My only request:  a nap. For as long as I could sleep with no interruptions.

Brad got up early with E, and let me sleep in an extra 2 hours. Then we went to church. After church, we went over to my dad's for Mother's Day lunch.

4 generations on the deck:  My Mom, my sister, me and E, and Grandma

After lunch, we headed home, E ate her late afternoon snack, and then Brad took her over to visit his mom.  I got the house to myself for 5 whole hours. I've had a bad cold for the last few days, so I spent the time hanging out in bed, and it was glorious.

My birthday's in a little over a week, and I think I'd like the same gift again (also, a Kitchen Aid stand mixer).

I got a ton of really sweet cards yesterday.  I've never been much of a greeting card girl, but after all of the kind words and sweet thoughts I received I think I'm converted.  I went to Ross today and bought a box to keep them in, so that I can save them forever. Just like a Hallmark commercial.

I think my favorite card was from my E, of course.  Even though she didn't write the words in the card herself, she did sign the bottom, and I'd like to keep it forever.

Brad snapped this photo of her signing it. 

I'm so so happy to be this girl's momma.  She is the best baby. And I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my days. I love her so much!

Her Name

Elliott - English variant of "Elijah" which means, "The Lord is my God."

Jacquelyn - Brad's mom.