{Brief Hiatus}

It's been almost 2 weeks since I blogged last. No worries though, I'm back at it. My lack of blogging wasn't because I had nothing interesting to write about, in fact, it was the complete opposite - I've been totally busy!

I just got back from a mini vacation to The City. I brought H with me but unfortunately C had to stay home to work and feed his parents fish (we're house sitting while they're away in sunny Mexico for 2 weeks). H was fabulous the entire week I was gone. She slept great on the drive down, and the drive back. She slept through every. single. night. in baby M's crib (she's still in her bassinet), she behaved while we shopped and she developed the funniest personality. She is so smiley and she has been laughing more often - though her laughs almost sound like coughs, it's hilarious. 

I had such a great time visiting with my besties. We first went to S&B's to meet their new baby, M. She's 1 month and 3 days younger than H and it's so crazy to see what a difference 1 month makes in their development/personalities. Baby M is just so wee still, and soooo adorable. I spent 4 days with them and while I was there I got a new lens for my camera so of course we had a photoshoot with the girls.. 

My fave of the bunch.. 

Apparently H prefers to do the leaning.

H and I also went and visited my little brother who happened to be spending a few overdue nights in Juvi. It was great to see him and for him to meet his niece however I would have much rather it been at home than in "the big house (for little people)". He was in good spirits though and thankfully he's home now. Little punk!

After we left S&B's I got the pleasure of meeting Baby N. She has been at Children's Hospital since the end of September and I've heard so much about her so it was nice to finally meet her, and her parents, in person. K belongs to a group of mommies I talk to online. We originally started our group when we were pregnant and it was a great support system full of laughs, and too much information. I don't know that I could have got through my pregnancy without this group of wonderful ladies from all across Canada. Baby N wasn't due to come into this world until the end of December however, as we all know, sometimes things don't go as planned. You can read all about her story here, and also follow her progress. When H and I arrived at the NICU we met up with K and D. D took H and had some snuggles while I went to meet the Princess. Here is some pictures of our meet and greet. 

D, meet N

K, meet H

And finally, last but not least, our trip ended at The AunTee's!! Of course H got spoiled with cuddles and snuggles. We had a nice 2 night stay with them. Did some shopping, had some good dinners, lots of nice girl talk. It was wonderful to see them and catch up. I sure miss my Besties... 

All in all, it was a great trip and a nice get away from the everyday routine. We sure did miss daddy though, and we're both happy to be home to his hugs!!

{White Noise}

White noise has proven to help babies, children, and even adults sleep better. It gives your mind something to listen to and helps you to relax and fall asleep.

We have a Sleep Sheep for H and she loves it. It has 4 different sounds - heart beat, rain, ocean and whales. When she was just a wee one, we used the heartbeat all the time. Then when we moved her to her crib we started using the rain however lately, the rain isn't helping. I tried the ocean, no luck either. As a last resort, it came down to the whales - she went straight to sleep.

Currently there are whales mating in my daughters crib... and she is sleeping ever so soundly beside them.
Awesome.

{Friday Night Leftovers}

• I just ordered "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and "Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred" of Chapters Online. The sleep book has been recommended to me by so many people and I thought I would try it out. H sleeps fantastic if she's in our bed, but I really want her in her crib. She will go to sleep in her crib if I let her cry but she wakes up every 20 minutes crying. The 30 Day Shred is for me, clearly. Bikini season is fast approaching and though I've lost the weight, I need to tone. I'm hoping that because it's only 30 minutes I can actually get it done each day.. wish me luck.

• My babygirl is 9 weeks old, today!

• H had her shots yesterday... it was terrible. Gramma Shelly and Auntie Megan came with us for support. I had tears in my eyes, and she was screaming bloody murder. I didn't enjoy seeing her in pain like that. We kept her topped up with Tylenol all day and she slept a lot. She was fussy and whimpery when she was awake and was running a bit of a fever off and on all day. Today she seems to be back to her smiley self though :)

• As I posted last week, my brother was missing, and he did end up coming home. Thanks for your concern. 

• We begin house sitting at my in-laws tomorrow. They're going to Mexico so we will be there for 2 weeks looking after their saltwater fishtanks. I swear to god it's more of a responsibility than our own baby... hopefully we don't kill any [Right, Lance?]. 

• After almost a year of not having a period I never realized how much I DIDN'T miss it - until it came back. FML

• I was supposed to go to Vancouver this weekend with a besties - to see more besties - but we decided to wait a couple weeks instead. I'm super excited to go and can't wait until we actually pick a date. 

• I'm blogging because H is sleeping. I should be cleaning, and packing... Oh well!

• H hasn't scratched her face since we left the hospital. I keep her nails short and we haven't had a problem. Tuesday night she went to sleep and Wednesday morning she had like 5 different scratch marks on her face that actually bled.. wtf! Bad dream?? haha

• It's cold and flu season and it seems to be going around everyone I know. I have my fingers crossed that it misses us. Both C and I got the flu shot because my doctor recommended it. Neither of us had ever gotten one before and were both pretty skeptical about it but it seemed like a good idea due to having a baby at this time a year. I'm really hoping it pays off. 

• Yesterday I treated myself to 2 new hoodies. It was buy one, get one for $1. I probably didn't need them but it has been a long time since I bought something new for myself. I'm kind of going through shopping withdrawl. 

• Get rid of your left overs here!

{2 Months Old}

[I forgot to do a 1 month post and I totally regret that... I wrote a bunch of stuff down so I'll add it for my own reference but I won't be posting it as I will be for the months to come...]

2 Months Old

likes:
*baths (finally!!)
*massages with lotion (unless it's after her bath, then she screams)
*laying on her change table "talking" and giggling
*cuddles with anyone who wants to cuddle her - but mostly mom
*walks in the fresh air
*eating!
*her sucky
*story time
*visiting with anyone - she's very nosey
*sitting/being carried facing outwards. Again, she's nosey and likes to see what's going on
*her Moby Wrap
*white noise
*being talked to
*being sang to - terribly, I must add, because I can't sing at all and the songs I sing her are made up songs about what we're doing... Soon I'm sure she will not enjoy this so much but I will take advantage of it while I can.

dislikes:
*getting dressed after bathtime
*waiting for her food - when she's hungry, she's hungry NOW
*the car
*gripe water and ovol
*the bassinet
*having her boogies sucked out

could take it or leave it:
*the vibrating bounce chair
*the swing
*her crib
*tummy time - she deals with it but with a rather unimpressed look upon her face

What happened this month:
*At her 2 month doctor's appointment she weighed in at 10lbs 14oz and 22.5 inches long. She is up to the 50th percentile from the 6th percentile at 3 weeks old so she's doing fabulous.

*She has rolls on top of rolls. Her belly is so pudgy and her cheeks are so chubby - She seriously gets cuter by the day. I can't get over how much she has changed this month.

*She loves to be held, a lot, and therefore we have resulted to the "cry it out" technique so many people are terribly against. We don't do it to the full extent and I guarantee it's harder on us than it is on her. We only let her cry for a max of 5 minutes and if she's reeeally worked up then we won't even let her go that long. I find usually after 2 minutes she stops and then she goes to sleep. It's helping C and I to have our bed back and get a good sleep without worrying about rolling over her, or suffocating her.

*She sleeps through the night (90% of the time). Anywhere between 7-10 hours at a time, then she wakes to feed, and sleeps usually another 2-4 hours. I have no complaints about that at all but I will admit that when she has a bad night, I am completely exhausted the next day. She's spoiling me!

*She smiles tonnes now! Pretty much every time you talk to her you can get a smile - unless she's screaming, of course. It melts my heart and I seriously cannot get enough.

*She chews on her hands.. sometimes she sucks her thumb, too.

*She giggled for her first time on Jan 19th. C and I were both talking to her and out it came. We both looked at one another and were like "did she just giggle?!!!". I'm so happy that we were both around to hear it. She's still working on her sounds and so she doesn't laugh regularly, though it looks like she tries, but every once in awhile a little one escapes. I can't wait until it happens all the time - She's already got me hooked with the smiles, when she's full on laughing I'm pretty sure she'll be able to get herself out of being in trouble any time she likes.

*She "talks" constantly. Her coo's and ahh's and ooh's are hilarious and they make me laugh. She tells us stories all the time and then she smiles while we laugh at her.

*She has a slightly blocked tear duct but it doesn't seem to be bad. It makes her eye a little bit goopy but nothing a warm washcloth can't fix!

*She went on her first ferry ride and trip away from daddy - it was only a day trip, though. We went shopping in Naniamo with Auntie Renee and Cousin Jill. She was so well behaved but I was happy to get home too C!

I can't believe that 2 months have already passed. I feel like it was only yesterday that I was pacing the halls of the hospital in hopes of dilating further. I honestly don't remember what my life was like before her, or what I did with my time.

Happy 2 Months, H! Your Mumma loves you xo

{It's A Good Month To Be Born... Apparently}

The past few days have been pretty busy. Thursday night was not a good night in our house. Bedtime came and H had different plans. She was screaming for hours and fiiiiinally fell asleep at about 330am. The little sleep I got absolutely killed me because I'm so used to her sleeping through the night. We got up Friday morning to babysit the twins and then H went to gramma's for a visit while I had a nap, and a shower [THANK YOU, GRAMMA!]

Friday night we had a progressive dinner for my mom's birthday. We started off at one house for appies, went to the next for dinner, and the last house for dessert. The food, and company, was great and it was nice to do something a little different. H was excellent. So well behaved, no fussing, no crying.. just sleeping and visiting. I think we all had a good time - and I even had a few drinks [but not enough that I felt gross in the morning]!

Saturday we took Grampa Foster for lunch for his Birthday [I didn't get around to doing a Birthday post and I apologize, Grampa]. Lunch was really good. After lunch we did some running around.. got some formula and some bins for a new recycling station at the house.. we came home and C had a quick nap while I got ready, then got H ready. We then headed off to some friends' house for N's Birthday.
N's mom cooked us a fabulous spaghetti dinner and a super delicious dessert. We watched UFC and the Canucks game, and then we played "Apples to Apples". What a fun game, I would totally recommend it! H did pretty good the entire night but started to get fussy during our game so we packed up and headed home. All in all, it was a good weekend and today is a lazy day [for H and I anyways, C has to work].

{Friday Night Leftovers}

• H is at her gramma's house right now so I can have a nap... [I'm not napping, why?].

• My babygirl is 8 weeks old, today!!

• I babysat a friend's twin girls this morning and they were really good. I wasn't sure what I'd gotten myself into because H was a terror last night but it turned out well and they were really well behaved. They just love H.

Grace, Hadley & Madelyn

• I had a bit of a meltdown last night when H wouldn't stop crying - luckily I have a fabulous Husband who took over for 20 minutes while I got myself together. <3 

• I'm tired of winter. 

• H giggled!! C was off work on Wednesday and we were hanging out trying to get her to smile at us. She gave us a couple little smirks and then this huuuuge smile accompanied by what sounded like her very first giggle. If C hadn't of heard it too I probably wouldn't have believed it. SO CUTE.

• So far, signing isn't going well. I keep forgetting! Then again, I think at this stage it's more about getting yourself into the habit of doing it, rather than them actually learning it. 

• My little brother is missing... we think he may be in Vancouver but we're not actually sure and I hate that. He's not like, kidnapped or anything, he ran away on his own but it sucks regardless. [If you read this, buddy, please call me. xoxo]

• I'm going for a nap. Now.

• Anyone who hates leftovers is crazy. Wanna share yours? Click here.

{Tid Bits}

Today was beautiful! It was so crisp and fresh outside that we decided to take H for her first walk. I have been dying to try out her stroller but the weather hasn't really been cooperating so when C suggested we head out for a stroll, I was super excited.

I put her jjcole bundle me in the stroller, dressed H in her snowsuit, put gloves on her hands (actually, I put socks on her hands), a hat on her head and off we went! She looked awfully comfy in their and she must have been because she slept the entire time.

I've been meaning to get out and exercise. I've lost the baby weight, and then some, but I need to lose the jiggle tone and restore some muscle. It was nice to be out walking and it felt good to know that it was one step towards a new bikini - except that we walked to the store and stocked up on junk food... does it still count?

When we got home I put sleeping beauty in her crib. She proceeded to nap for another 2 hours (give or take)... I guess the fresh air really tuckered her out.

On a different note, we attempted tummy time again tonight. H usually hates it, and fusses or screams the entire time. We made a little progress this evening and tummy time lasted a good 6 minutes. No crying, no fussing, just this sad, sad look on her face. Poor babygirl.. forced to lay on her tummy. What a mean mommy she has!

And also, C and I have decided we're going to teach H baby sign language. I've heard a lot about it and I think it's pretty cool that your baby can learn to communicate with you before they can actually vocalize what they have to say.

I don't think we're going to go too crazy with it, just 10-20 words that we regularly use (mom, dad, milk, more, please, thank you, etc.) and see how it goes. I don't know much about it so if you have any tricks, or suggestions on the easiest way to teach a baby sign, feel free to comment. Help is welcome!

I'm pretty excited about it!