Saturday, October 31, 2009

The every changing time...and a fear confessed.



So We are now at 3 1/2 months of life. Little, or should I say BIG, Brooklyn is growing at a fast pace. She is changing into this "older" baby and losing her newborn-ness. She is trying to sit up now, which always causes lots of grunts and groans. She loves to kick her legs a lot and swing her arms around. She has started following objects as they move around a room. She will fixate on someone and watch them and actually "see" them and purposely watch them. She has begun what we call "getting her feelings hurt" where something will apparently bother her and she begins this puckering of her lower lip and proceeds to then cry big ole' tears which is just heartbreaking to watch. My little girl is growing up. It's amazing to watch how much they can change in just one week. 

This is the little princess at 3 1/2 months old having fun with daddy


She loves her bumbo seat! And she can sit up well in it!

Mommy and daughter! I love my little girl!



Our awesome new baby sling made by wonderful family friend Gale McNeely

And now for a very unflattering, yet funny, picture of mommy sleeping with Brooklyn (Waylon thought it would be SOOOOOO funny to take this picture!)

I, of course, do NOT ever remember sleeping like this! lol

As you can see in the last picture, I've taken to co-sleeping. I never in a million years thought I would, yet, I do it and I love it and I'm so having a hard time transitioning to her sleeping in her crib in her own room. One of these reasons is my paralyzing fear of SIDS. I know it's something that if God intends for that to happen, we wouldn't be able to stop it, HOWEVER, I still feel like I need to be right there by her and if I'm there, it won't. I did recently read a great article about how a county in New Zealand has eradicated any occurrences if SIDS since 1994 just by wrapping the baby mattresses in this safe plastic wrap. Apparently, the chemicals put in mattresses to make them fire retardant is toxic and poisonous in babies and paralyzes their central nervous system which is why there never seems to be a struggle in SIDS babies. I'm not going to get into every detail of what the article says but if you're interested in it, let me know and I'll give you the link (I don't have it right now but could find it if I needed to). Needless to say, that with my fear of SIDS, I ordered one of the mattress covers ($32 is not a lot of money for some peace of mind and if it ends up being true, then it's totally worth every penny). I should be getting it this week. Once I get it, I will be putting it on Brooklyn's mattress and then, MAYBE, I'll be ready to have her start sleeping in her own room. Waylon is very hopeful for this. He would like our bed back for just us. I do miss having the bed to ourselves completely, however, I love having her in bed with me too so it's kind of a double edged sword. I'll let you all know how that works out!

Life is starting to take some semblance of a routine and shape. I still feel like there is too much going on in our lives and that we need to cut more out. That's hard to do when you have a baby, you both work and one of you goes to school full-time. Our envelope system budget is working very well. It's definitely showing us areas where we were WAY over spending and how much money was being wasted on eating out. That has helped immensely. We have eaten cheaper and eating at home way more often. I'm making my own coffee instead of buying it at McDonald's. I'm making breakfast as well and currently we are eating mac'n cheese for dinner a lot. Ramen noodles are also a popular food item here right now. I know these aren't the healthiest of meals, but we are really trying to eat cheaper right now and it works for us. We have to do what works right now.

On the same line of thinking, my sister Melissa just posted a great blog about living simply.

You can read it here

She has some great insight on the concepts and meaning behind living simply and not just simply living. There's a big difference! I hope to apply these concepts to my life. Thanks sis for the great blog!

There is more I want to write about but I'm actually going to type up the blog and make sure that all my thoughts are in order. I would like to post about some more serious topics. I have a few already in mind that I obviously want to have my thoughts organized before writing it. 

Right now I need to get back to doing some house work before I go to bed. 
My friend Stefanie McNeely will be having her little baby boy Caleb a week from Tuesday on November 10th! We are all very excited about his arrival!! Brooklyn can't wait to meet her new little boyfriend!!

4 comments:

McNeely said...

Hey! i loved your blog! I love the pics!!! you look so great in the pic with brooklyn,,,(the one where you are awake that is..=0) not that you are not beautiful all the time... just the one awake is slightly more flattering.. lol...
Brooklyn is growing so fast! i Cant believe it! ps... love the sling too! she looks very content and the color brings out waylon's eyes..=)
laters... stef

Heather said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heather said...

I understand the fear of SIDS can make you crazy worrying about your precious baby. There are some great things you can do to help prevent SIDS as much as possible. When I first had Tyler I read an article about SIDS and it said that you should put a fan in the room where the baby sleeps (ceiling, or standing fan) and it will help the air circulation in the room. They say that when the baby breaths out the co2 doesn't move far enough away from there little faces and can cause SIDS. But with the fan it helps remove it from sitting right in front of there face. Also, they make breathable bumpers for the crib so if the baby rolls over and happens to get close the side they will still be able to breath. And lastly they have wearable blankets so you don't have to worry about your baby pulling it over there heads. I love the blankets and use them every night on Tyler. If you want that article about the fan let me know and I can get it for you. Just remember you’re not alone in your fear and all we can do is our best to prevent and give the rest to God.

Guess Family said...

We bought an Angelcare Baby Monitor and it gave us a HUGE sense of peace. There is a motion pad that goes under the baby's matress. If the baby stops breathing for 15 seconds the parent monitor beeps. If another 5 seconds goes by, a very loud, obnoxious alarm goes off. We have had a few false alarms, but I will take a false alarm over the opposite any day. You can get them at Babies R Us or Target online.