It's Been a While

I was having trouble there for a minute trying to title this blog post. Having a flashback to a recently read feed from Jon Acuff on the same dilemma. Ha. Ok, nevertheless. It HAS been a while since I have posted and so without getting to much into the why's and why not's about it all, I will give you a few quick updates.

I also remembered why I lost motivation to keep this up in the first place- google did some funky thing to my account (or maybe it was my husband??) So I have to use a different email address to log into blogger....ok, sorry. Random spill.

I quit my job two weeks ago! I got a promotion to full-time mom...which is by far much harder than working in the office. Seriously, I am freaking out about how people do this with multiple children. I have been so exhausted, I take naps with Lea! I have never done that before! Overall, I am really happy about the situation though, we have time to play together and I have time to do things that I have always wanted to do...like make homemade goldfish! (That's coming soon!)

We are still having some major sleep issues with Leandra, so I have made the decision to start night weaning soon. (Soon is relative to how I am feeling at the moment). It is going to be extremely difficult, but I know it has to happen in order for us to get some semblance of a good nights sleep ever again. It's like getting wisdom teeth taken out (which I also need to do "soon".)

On a more positive note, Leandra has flourished into such a little person. She is talking up a storm and has the attitude of well...her parents. Lol. She is a handful, but also so sweet when she wants to be. I will ask her for a kiss, which she will pucker up for and make the kissy noise, then whisper "tan tu mommy", her way of saying Thank you. Melts me every time.

I do want to get a running list of all her words, so that I can officially count them because I swear its over 50 at this point! So proud of her, she is getting so big!

There is not much other big news. I think me stopping working has been the biggest thing that's happened in a while...well other than moving, but that is a while other blog post. We are happy where we are at, content and waiting for God to open the next door for us. I get anxious at times, but then remember (or am reminded by you know who) all the things that we are blessed with.



So hopefully, Alex can fix my login problem and I will post more often. I will say that this blog might be moving over to wordpress here soon, since I got a new iPad and blogger doesn't have an app. Wordpress does. Just sayin.

I promise you some more weekly menu plans and yummy eats as well as some too cute to eat photos of Boog-A-Loo (my pet name for Lea).

Till then...I'm off to work off the 2 oz of dark chocolate I just ate.

Two Week Menu Monday

Ok, so here's the lineup for the next couple of weeks!


Monday- Pizza bought from church. Caprese salad and fruit salad
Tuesday- Cuban Black Beans and Rice on Tortillas with corn
Wednesday- Church- Burgers
Thursday- Slow cooker chicken caccitore on angel hair with broccoli from farmers market
Friday- Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches from Moosewood Collection. Or actually, I just found these roasted quesadillas that look yummy...might try that instead!
Sat- ??
Sun-Parents

Monday- Chicken pot pie from Cooks Illustrated (from last week...never got a chance to make it!)
Tuesday- Fish something
Wednesday- Italian Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps with Curried Quinoa from Moosewood
Thursday-Crockpot Artichoke Chicken (sounds harder to make than it is ;)
Friday- Life Group- Sausages/easy!
Sat-??
Sun- Parents


That's it for now! I need get some batteries for my camera so I can update this blog with all current happenings!!

Two Week Menu Monday

Ok...so here's what's up for the next couple of weeks!!

Monday- Greek Lasagna from Moosewood Collection. Let me see if I can find the recipe online. Here ya go!
Tuesday- Our 3 Year Anniversary!! I am making Alex his favorite...Chicken Marsala from Carraba's with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans
Wednesday- Use leftover chicken marsala to make chicken alfredo over pasta
Thursday- Curried Spinach Pea Soup from Moosewood
Friday- Life Group night- Easy- Sausages with peppers from garden
Saturday- Eat at moms
Sunday- Eat out?

Monday- Fiesta Sloppy Joes
Tuesday- Potato Florentine Soup from Moosewood
Wednesday- Beef with Coriander and potatos- Low Fat Cook Book mentioned in previous post!
Thursday- Baked Lentil Casserole with Cheese and an arugula and basil salad (from the garden!!)
Friday- Chicken Pot Pie from Cooks Illustrated Magazine!
Saturday- Something easy! Phew! Especially if I make it out of this week alive! Lol!
Sunday- Parents

Two Week Menu Monday

Today is shopping day!! Here's the line up for the next two weeks!

Monday: Hungarian Chicken and Lentil Stew with Brown Jasmine rice
Tuesday: Vegetable casserole with herb dumplings
Wednesday: 15 Bean Chili with Yeast Cornmeal bread
Thursday: Shepherd's pie or crock pot
Friday: Chicken sausages with fresh peppers
Sat: Potato Gnocchi with tomato and coriander sauce
Sun: Parents!/Baby Dedication party

Monday:Beef with/Cilantro over potatoes
Tuesday: Chickpea curry over rice
Wednesday: Chicken and Spinach lasagna
Thursday: Erica's Birthday!! Out to eat!!
Friday: Ho-Down at the Ruritan club- Pulled pork BBQ
Sat: Our anniversary! Out to eat!
Sun: Parents

This week I am trying some new recipes out of this cookbook that I got from the library a while back, and then bought on half.com for a few cents!! I have made quite a few recipes from it, and they have turned out really yummy. I like this cookbook because it has a lot of pictures. However, there are some really weird recipes that I don't think I will ever make because I just can't get my hands on some of the ingredients.

The Sleep Torturer

So I thought I would finally write a post about our sleep difficulties, so that hopefully in a few months I can look back and laugh. Good thinking right?? Ha. Right.

Ok, so we have been going through many challenges, and they seem sometimes to get better, and then worse again. So here is our basic schedule.

Wake- 7am
Breakfast-8am
Nap- 9am
Wake 9:45/10am
Snack
Lunch-11:30/12
Nap-1/1:30-2:00/2:30
Snack
Dinner-6:30
Bedtime routine start-7:15
Bed 8:00-8:30


Our three big issues right now:
1. Takes FOREVER to get her down for a nap/bed. I used to rock her and she would be out in like 5 minutes, now it takes us close to 30 minutes for naps, and 45-an hour for bedtime. She is so squirmy, she just wants to sit up and grab at my face. I tell her no, and she just laughs her head off. She has so much energy, that if I try to lay her down, she just jumps up and starts goofing off. Rarely does she cry when going down, unless I am restraining her from doing something she wants to do. Otherwise, she is just so excited about everything. Sometimes, I think she is asleep, then she will sneeze and start laughing her head off. Sorta cute, but not after 45 minutes.

2. Lack of ability to take longer than 1 hour nap. After about 45 minutes into her morning nap, she will sit up and start talking. No crying, no eye rubbing, just ready to get up. I don't fight that one. She is happy until her afternoon nap, in which we start the show all over again. She struggles to wake up from her afternoon nap more often. She will usually wake up 1 or 2 times during her nap and not be ready to get up. Sometimes I can get her back to sleep by just rubbing her back or something, but other times I have to rock her and I cannot put her back down without her jumping up and crying.

3. Night-time sleep. Yikes. I get her down to bed FINALLY, and then she will wake up in at least an hour. I can usually resettle her, but then she is only good for maybe another 45 minutes. By then, I am so exhausted that I usually just end up going to sleep. She has a "mommy radar" in which she is fast asleep until I get up and leave. Then, she just fusses. She sleeps through the night pretty much, waking a few times to eat. I don't mind those because I really don't wake up (we co-sleep). Some nights, she is more difficult than others and will be ready to wake up at like 4 am, talking and giggling, etc. I have to usually feed her, or lay her on my chest to sleep on those nights.

Sooo. These are some of the things we have tried:

1. Consistent bedtime routine.
2. Nap scheduling
3. Tried to break the rock-to-sleep association
4. Working on the suck-to-sleep association (but I don't feel like that is such a huge issue anymore since she can find her paci and put it back in her mouth and fall back to sleep by herself).
5. Tried moving her out of our bed to her own bed next to ours thinking that I might be waking her during the night because she is a light sleeper. She will fall asleep on her bed (crib mattress on floor) but she will not stay there if I move back to my bed. She will wake immediately and jump up and start tugging at my covers and crying. So, ya, that didn't work so well.
6. Trying to get her to attach to a lovey bear. She likes him during the day, but seems uninterested during night/naps.
7. Benadryl. No. Just kidding. Although, I have tried peppermint tea, chamomile tea, etc. before bed.
8. Always white noise, cozy jammies, stuff that smells like me, etc.
9. Napping with her. Even when I nap with her, she doesn't take longer naps than those mentioned above. I can't stand a 45 minute nap, so I just don't do it.


So there we have it. All the problems. These have pretty much all been going on since she was like...oh lets say...5 minutes old? Pretty much. She is a totally pleasant baby during the day, so I just can't see that there is a huge problem in that regard, but I just get so frustrated, especially at night when she is not going down. I would like some evenings just to spend time with Alex or watch a movie...the whole.way.through.

And in regards to my sleep philosophy: As long as I am getting enough sleep, I am happy. When things start to jeopardize that, I get frustrated. I also have and will continue to refuse to allow her to feel abandoned by leaving her to cry by herself. I have tried one or two times just to see and after 5 to 10 minutes of crying she was choking and gasping. Not for us. (*Note: Those were times I HAD to get something done and she should have been sleeping. I could not do them holding her.)

I feel like a terrible parent when I get so frustrated at her for not going to sleep. I am angry at myself for getting so upset about it. I am thankful that I rarely take it out on her, but there are times when I raise my voice and say "JUST GO TO SLEEP!" I feel pretty crappy about that.

Ok, that's good for now. Amazingly, Leandra has slept through the entire writing of this post! Amazing! Haha!


And now...for a quick laugh.

The September Post

So September is already almost over. Wow, time does fly. The time is slowly creeping up for me to have to start planning a one year old birthday party. I am rather excited about the process. In fact, I already have a few ideas. I think we are going to have a puppy or kitty themed birthday, since Leandra loves animals. I am trying to research what kind of cake I am going to make her. My family is highly pressuring me to get her to have a chocolate cake. Lol. They will give me a real big hard time if I give her something terribly healthy. So, I am going to compromise and make a healthy chocolate cake. Basically, I will probably end up making up my own recipe because I can't find one I like online, but it is going to be some kind of sugar free (use juice to sweeten) chocolate carrot cake, made with applesauce instead of oil. So, sugar free, fat free chocolate carrot cake. Sounds good huh? Then for the frosting, I think I am going to make like a chocolate banana glaze, and maybe use a little bit of powdered sugar for that. I think it will be yummy. Then I'll make a real cake for the big kids. ;X

I am feeling a bit scatter brained as this post has now been sitting here on the screen unpublished for two days. Lol. So, as characteristic of myself, here are some ramblings.

Leandra Updates-
-Standing by herself (no steps yet!)
-Signing more and milk...working on a few others!
-Eating everything she can get her hands on...except fruits and veges. She is boycotting anything green lately. So, I am making lots of fruit and vegetable smoothies for her. '
-Loves to chase the dogs around the house and totally cracks herself up while doing so
-Climbing on EVERYTHING!! She can now climb on the couch. Big stuff.
-Turning 1 in TWO months! Holey Moley!
-Still not napping or sleeping well...but we are getting there. Slowly.


Alex Updates-
-Has made decision to return to school for bachelor's degree. Signed all the papers, it's official! Let the loans commence!!
-Got a promotion/raise at work!! Yahoo! Thanks TCC!
-Being a GREAT daddy and WONDERFUL husband, even though he works a crazy week. He still has energy left for us at the end of the day.
-Being amazing as always


Erica Updates-
-I am probably the most boring person of the house
-Not much here!
-Have recently been SLIGHTLY stirred into babydom due to all the baby action on facebook lately. I am starting to like the idea of #2...someday :) Lol!
-Trying to remain stress free and organized as possible.
-Admitted to being a chick-lit fanatic. Especially the gooey ones! (Denise Hunter)


Other updates:
-Started my Fall Square Foot Garden. With: Collards, Lettuce, Arugula, and Swiss Chard. Giving this a go-around! The guy at the place where I bought my plants from (read: AWESOME PLACE!!) recommended me trying this organic stuff to keep the caterpillars away, since I had such a big problem with them. Also, it is safe for humans and dogs. It is called dipel. I did a little research, and I feel safe trying it! So, let's see if it works! It looks like my garden got snowed on.

Alright. Well that's enough for now. Oh, you want some photos do you?

9 Month Stats are Here!

Dr's appt today!

Well I went to go write this and I can't find the piece of paper with all the stats on it, so I will do my best to remember them!

Weight: 17lbs 9 oz- 25 percentile
Length: 27in- 40th Percentile
HC- don't remember, but its in the 75th percentile

She is healthy and happy! She did receive her 2nd DTaP shot, next visit will complete that series. I have not decided what I am going to do next if anything, but I told the Dr I would re-evaluate at the year mark. She has no problems either way. She does not care if we do any or all. I like that. She gives me no hassles what so ever!! I do know that I will never give my child more than one shot per visit. I just can't imagine how parents do it for the kids who get like 4 shots per visit. Leandra screamed today...that made me feel terrible. (She recovered in all of 1 minute...)

As far as new things she is doing:
-Still crawling, not walking yet. She is walking with walkers (like the kind you push...or laundry baskets and boxes).
-Babbling up a storm. Saying mama, dada, some strange form of kitty and puppy
-She loves to go swimming and take baths.
-She loves to read books
-Playing catch with Nessa and the ball...they play back and forth with the tennis ball.
-Dancing to music!
-Loves playing on the computer with Daddy
-LOVES eating!

-She does not like going to sleep
-She does not like being restrained or told she can't have something (esp. food)
-Strangers

There is not much she doesn't like...she is a pretty happy easy going baby. Thankfully! (Except for the insomnia part)

As mentioned she loves to eat and has tried practically everything, barring highly allergenic foods such as dairy, nuts, shellfish, etc.
It is hard to pick favorites as she really does love everything, but I would say her top faves are:
Lentils with spices
Avocado
Kiwi
Blueberries/Strawberries/Raspberries

She eats pretty much whatever we eat, which is highly convenient. We will go to the burrito bar sometimes and share burritos with her...she loves the black beans, rice, chicken and guacamole.

She has tried Indian foods, Chinese foods (limited), and other random foods here and there.

She is finally beginning to sign, and can most of the time sign "more". I am not sure she really knows what she is doing yet, although she does sign more when she wants something...so I am thinking she thinks it means "want". She does sign more though when she wants more food...so we are on the right track. That's all she is signing so far!

For other random information: She successfully goes potty on her little potty after every nap, before baths, and occasionally in the AM if I remember (daddy is usually on morning duty!) She has also gone #2 (terrible that we get excited about such things isn't it?)

Alright, well I am off to go finish dinner.