Babies Are Supposed SLEEP Right?

Lack of sleep for both mommy and baby makes for a very, very, VERY cranky mommy and baby. My good little sleeper has decided to change her ways and seems to be extreeemely restless. She wakes every few hours at night crying/whining. Sometimes she has just become wedged in a weird spot in her crib but other times she is sitting up or on her knees holding the side of the crib crying. She has always been a good sleeper. She normally sleeps from 8pm-8am. Her naps have also become more complicated. Usually I would lay her down in her crib and turn on her music and she would be asleep shortly there after. Now she gets up, squirms around, whines, cries, tosses, turns and then passes out in odd positions. I am starting to get concerned as this is odd behavior for her and it has been going on for three or four days now. She is teething which is the only reason I can see for such a shift. I just feel sorry for her; she is miserable and not getting the good sleep that she needs. I hate feeling so helpless when it comes to her. I want to help her and solve her problems and when I am at a loss I feel like I failed. More mom guilt I guess : )

Long time no blog

I have been completely MIA from the blogging world this holiday week. I am back on track now and ready to catch up on all that I have missed. Ari experienced her first Thanksgiving this last week and all went well. I was nervous about all of the family being a bit too much for her and napping in a strange place with all of the cousins running around, but she handled herself like a sweet little angel. I was so proud of her when I put her down for her nap. Out of the thousand items that we brought to keep her happy and entertained we forgot her crib music thingie. This thing is her best friend in the crib. I was terrified that we would end our Thanksgiving festivities early with a cranky baby but she went down all on her own. I was a proud mama! We had a great day and I'm so glad that she was such a good girl. I feel silly now for stressing about her and what would happen on Thanksgiving. I am always nervous when taking her into a new situation. I think about all of the possible things that could go wrong, all of things that could upset her, all of the things that I could forget to bring...etc. In the end though it always works out and even when something goes "wrong" it's never THAT bad. I love my little girl and I just want her to be happy all the time and that's my real issue. Is that weird? Am I crazy? I don't verbalize these anxieties as I think I am a little nutty but maybe I can find others like me through my blog : ) Hope everyone had a great holiday week too!

A few faves

I feel like I am constantly asked how I did something, where I got something or which I recommend so I decided to start a list of my favorite things (baby related) and that way I would only have to explain myself once. First of all; my most favorite thing is my breastfeeding kit that I put together in a previous blog. I organized this collection based upon my personal experiences breastfeeding my daughter and found each item on the list to be essential.

Another favorite item is the zip up sleeper/jumper. Before Ari was born I was concerned about dressing and undressing her (going over her head) so I registered for a lot of jumpers. The only mistake I made was registering for ones that snapped. When Ari was itty bitty it was fine, but as she got longer and longer the number of snaps got bigger and bigger and the time it took to get her dressed took longer and longer. Basically, what I am saying is, zip up jumpers will save you time and energy. They are quick and painless and I LOVE THEM!

The co-sleeper is another fave of mine for a few reasons. It was perfect for my husband and I when we first brought Ari home and we had her in the bed with us. We have a king sized bed and we put her between us in the sleeper. We only did this for a few nights then we took the sleeper and placed it in her crib. This was the best idea I ever had. I didn't worry about this tiny baby in this BIG crib. I laid her in the sleeper and tucked her in tight. She couldn't go ANYWHERE. It is also very easy to fold up and take with you should you decide to venture out with your teeny beany. We never used the light on there though because it was BRIGHT and right next to her head, but I think this is a must have.

More faves explained soon. In the mean time, check out my growing list on the right!