S'mores Life

There was a time (ok, more than one time if I'm being totally honest) after Clara was born that I thought I would never be alone or sleep again. She nursed basically constantly the first month of her life, and I thought it would continue on like that forever. Now that she's a busy little six month old (and thinking about crawling, I do believe!) and she hasn't nursed in a long time - another post for another day - I find myself missing that cuddle time. Little miss doesn't want to cuddle unless she's sad, and then she's over it about two seconds later, or tired...and it took me awhile to figure this girl out when it comes to her getting tired since she's unlike most babies I've taken care of. Most of the time, she *wants* to be put done so she can go to sleep. Of course she has to have her lovey, the white noise machine on, be handed her pacifier (don't even think about trying to put it in yourself, Miss Independent can do it all on her own, thankyou...

As I mentioned in the Valentine's Day post , Clara is now six months old! Hard to believe. She had her six month appointment today and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to give a little update. I took this survey from another mommy blog I follow. Date : February 14, 2012 Age : 6 months Weight : 17lb 7oz (75%) Height : 27 in (90%!!! What?!?!) Sounds I make : Lots of squeaks and squawks, laughs and giggles. She is *just* barely starting to imitate one syllable sounds. New developmental skills : Sitting up unassisted - she was doing this a couple days before she turned 5 months but now it's for an extended period of time; getting up on her hands and knees and starting to rock back and forth a bit (omg is crawling coming sooner than I thought?!); holding a spoon and bringing it to her mouth Sleep : Sleeps for 10-12 hours at night, waking up 2-3 times but most of the time it's just for a paci. This was after over a month of waking up more times tha...

Cloth diapers are not what they used to be. Or at least that's what I hear. Clara has been battling a reoccurring diaper rash for awhile now; it will be fine for a couple days and then it will be back despite my best efforts to get rid of it. I think it's her disposable diapers...which has prompted me to start researching cloth diapering. I considered it for a hot second while pregnant, but trying to figure out the logistics of going back to work when she was 10 weeks old and thinking about daycare, pumping, etc. overwhelmed me without adding in cloth diapering on top of it. Now that I SAH, the extra few loads of laundry a week don't intimidate me nearly as much. The thing that appeals to me the most about cloth diapering (besides hopefully not having to worry about her rash anymore) is the fact that even adding in the extra laundry expenses, I can save money on disposable diapers for her and for our future children! Also, doing a small thing to help the environment by not ...

Since most of the recipients of this project (Clara's grandparents and Godparents) have probably received this by now, it's probably safe to post this. Seeing as I am addicted to pinterest, her Valentine's day project came from the site. The inspiration is pictured here . Ours did not turn out *quite* as nice looking. Or nice looking at all. But I'm sticking with "it's the thought that counts", especially when it comes to infant craft projects.  Here is Clara with her red feet, waiting patiently to make her cards: And our attempts at a heart shape made from her footprints. I made more than we actually needed so we had some to choose from. Sadly, even our best choices were nowhere near close to our inspiration...but anyone who knows me wouldn't expect much different. ;) I especially love that blob on the purple piece of paper on the left. The final product:  "From the tips of my toes to the depths of my heart, I love you!...

I am a 25 year old woman. I am a Christian. I am a stay at home mom. I am married to a 27 year old man. He is the breadwinner of our family. I come from a family of four children. My mom stayed at home with us and my father went to work every day. I go to church regularly. I participate in Bible studies. I read Bible stories to my daughter. My family prays together. Perhaps by the standards of the group  One Million Moms   I would fit the bill of being a part of a "traditional" family. Except for the fact that I love  Ellen DeGeneres and could give a flying tortoise that she is gay. One Million Moms has started a campaign for families to boycott shopping at JCPenney because the department store recently hired Ellen as a spokesperson. Really? Really?!  Apparently Ellen doesn't quite fit the standard of traditional American values, according to this group. Well, I'd like to share why a "traditional" American mom believes she does... Because I am able to be...

One of the blogs I recently started following put this out there...In honor of Valentine's Day coming up, here I go. <3  1. How long have you and your significant other been together? Our "together" anniversary is March 5, 2004. It will be eight years in a little less than a month. 2. How did you meet?  {What's your "love" story? } Short version:  We met at work. Longer version:  In September 2003, I was a senior in high school (17) and Ian (19 when we started dating,18 when I met him) had been working at Red Robin for a couple months when I started working there. I was attracted to him right away and liked that he was one of the only guys who seemed to have values and morals at work. He was dating another girl though and who was, in my very jealous high-school girl opinion, annoying. They broke up and Ian and I started to work together more frequently. I also kind of had a crush on another boy (I was 17, people!!) and remember sharing with m...

My dad gifted me a 90-day gym membership for Christmas...it was kind of conditional, though. It goes along with a team competition within the gym, where you get points for working out and more specifically, trying new work outs. We are both trying to lose weight, and I'd really like to find an exercise that I enjoy more than I enjoy food. So that is what brings me to tonight's blog post...my first spin class. OMG. I would say "there are no words" but with me, there are ALWAYS words. Lots of them. This is no different...All throughout the class and on my drive home, I kept thinking about how my experience tonight was very similar to my experience on August 14 (and 13th, as I will remind Clara for the rest of her life - 35 effing hours of labor, thankyouverymuch ), 2011. Why Spinning is Akin to Giving Birth You go in the first time with a sense of excitement, because even though you've heard it will be "bad", you truly have no idea what you are gettin...

Lately I've been wondering what else I can "do" with Clara at home. I walk her and Phoebe (our poor dog who was our first baby) around the neighborhood and try to talk to her about what we see (yes, I look like a crazy person muttering to herself, I've come to terms with it.) but there's only so many times I can say "Look Clara, another tree!" before we BOTH get bored. I came across the plan for a  treasure basket   for young babies on a  Montessori blog   that intrigued me. The idea is to gather some household objects (about 15-20, we have a lot less than that currently but are on the hunt for more) made of natural substances that baby can investigate with all of his or her senses. During Clara's nap I gathered some of these objects for her to check out when she wakes up: A piece of light fabric, a cotton pouch, a (clean!) sponge, wool gloves, a ball of yarn, a thick glass jar, a wooden spoon, and sharp scissors. Just kidding on the last item, I w...