Saturday, January 28, 2012

{breastfeeding} tantrums and other things i am learning to deal with

so this post is a little more personal than i would like it to be, namely because i really don't like sharing with the world about nursing my baby girl....nobody (especially guys) want to hear about it. i get it.
i don't nurse in public (not that there is anything wrong with that though) and rarely do you catch me talking about it in front of anyone. BUT i am making an exception because i have learned a lot about it in the past few days even though i feel like a seasoned pro after successfully making it to the 1 year mark with my first baby and 9 months and counting with this second baby, i have figuring out their was some tweaking that needed to be done to our meal plan for sweet little kenna.
as i mentioned in my last post, keniston has been a difficult baby. cries all the time, needs to be held, up all night, yadda yadda yadda. she has been to the doctor...i've been on the phone with the nurses for months now, and no one seems to know what is up with this little babe. well i finally figured it out today....i was starving the poor child. i broke down, bought formula and gave it to her. i felt like someone buying something illegal when i went in to walmart at 11 pm last night to purchase it. i didn't want anyone to know i was buying it. sounds silly i know but i have been under the "breast is best" spell for years and although i still totally agree with that i have a revised version...."don't starve your baby is best". It doesn't rhyme but you get where i'm going with it. Seriously though, why did i have no clue she wasn't getting enough milk?!??
since giving her the formula, it's been like having a different baby in our house. she didn't cry AT ALL today and she slept thru the night last night. SUCCESS! Look at this sweet happy baby:

i guess what i am getting at is that i should have been tuned into this a long time ago and i feel awful. parents lead a life of guilt and it stinks but i guess that's just how it's going to be. thankfully i figured it out now and maybe now we can get on track. now if i can just get karlie back on track....
tantrums. i'm not a fan and i don't know how to deal with them. everyone talks about the "terrible twos" but what about the "terrible three and a half"!!!! it's been horrible. like dealing with a teenager. i did come up with a seemingly good idea that works for her though. instead of throwing her in time out or getting a spat on the booty, i am trying to catch her before she gets in trouble. when she starts misbehaving i tell her to get a puzzle and go to the "quiet time spot". she isn't allowed to get up or talk and she has to stay there until i tell her she can get up. think of it like a pre-time out. i didn't think this would work but it totally has.....as long as i am tuned into her behavior and don't let her get to the point of getting herself in trouble.
always on the move!

being a parent is hard. it used to be so easy with just one child. she was pretty well behaved in her early years and we devoted every waking second to entertaining her and making sure her needs were met. now, well....not so much. it's hard with 2 but it seems like it's getting better/easier. she has been a huge help with keniston and i truly mean that. i absolutely hate the days that she is at school because keniston isn't as happy. plus it's nice to say 'hey, get me a diaper. throw this away. where's her paci?"
LOVE that they are making the same face.

she loves kissing her reflection in the stove. so cute!

  so yes, today was a good day in my book. we had a major breakthrough and i feel like i am slowing regaining a little freedom around the house. i even had time to do a project that has been on my list of things to do since we moved in. Here it is:

i've had this frame hanging empty for the past few months. i knew exactly what i wanted to put in it but i hadn't had the time to put into it. overall it took me about 2 hours to do it. i really love how it turned out. one step closer to being done with my bedroom!! i have a wall of frames i will be doing next on the other side of the room. then the west elm diy headboard. and i should be done with projects. then i have to wait until keniston moves outta our room so that i can put a couch and mirror where the pack and play is currently sitting. might i mention she doesn't technically sleep on the pack and play but in it. confusing? let me clarify. she got so used to sleeping in those little hammock like baby sleeper thingys (i have no clue what they are actually called!) and she refuses to sleep in anything else. she's entirely too big for it and it was getting a little dangerous so i put the hammock inside the pack and play so that she could safely sleep in it. i'm pretty sure her legs are going to start hanging off the sides of this silly sleeper but hey, i'm tackling one ordeal at a time. so now that we are sleeping and eating and not crying maybe, just maybe she will transition to the crib. fingers crossed!!!!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

{i did it} what i said i wasn't going to do!

ugh....i hate myself for not blogging, like at all.  in my defense we moved right after i started the blog and i had no clue we were going to do that....the right house (for the right price) opened up and we jumped on it. so moving into a new house, even though the house was brand new (practically) and had nothing to be repaired, no problems at all, i still felt the need to redo the whole house. i have a very distinct style and when you mix a photographer/graphic designer/seamstress/mommy in a new place, ideas are bound to come up. ;) that mixed with a very difficult  baby has made it IMPOSSIBLE to blog....until NOW. I thought about trying to catch up from where I left off and I will probably do that but it seemed like to daunting of a task so I'm just going to pick up with life as we know it (don't you love a katherine heigl movie reference!).
so let's see, Keniston is crawling, well scooting. the.exact.same.way.as.karlie.did.  i find it extremely odd and ironic that both of my babies are scooters instead of crawlers. i am convinced it is something genetic. maybe it's the same gene that has made both my babies geniuses. i joke....i can't stand the mommas who are convinced they gave birth to the next Einstein just because their baby is walking at 7 months and can say their abc's by the time they are 15 months.
i'm hoping that she starts sleeping better than she has in the last few months. for the first 4 months of her life she was sleeping thru the night (genius) ;) but then she started waking up crying and hasn't really stopped crying since. nothing seems to be wrong, just likes to cuddle. i can't blame her, i like to cuddle too but what i also like is sleep and when i sleep i don't like to cuddle...just ask my husband. lol
she slept good last night so i am hoping we are coming outta the funk she has been in for the past couple of months.
ok so i am going to post a pic of my bedroom...one project i can check off of my list. it is not even close to being perfect but i really really like how it turned out. i feel alot fancier than i actually am when i'm in our bedroom now. it's amazing what a $20 can of paint can make you feel like. i didn't want to do a tutorial on this because there is one here. my only advice is if you even slightly ocd, do not attempt. i'm really not that bad ocd, but this project flared it up and now i'm stuck in an ocd rut. maybe it's a good thing though because i am cleaning and organizing like a mad woman now. the only project left for my master is the headboard. did you know you can buy fabric by the yard from west elm?!!! i just found this out. i have been checking out and thinking about purchasing their crazy expensive headboard but now for under $50 I am making my own!!! my husband and i made a headboard for karlie last year and realized how easy it is to do so i am going to order the fabric this week and hopefully have it done in the near future....i'm so ready to be done with at least one room in my house.

I am convinced pinterest is going to be the death of me. too many ideas to try, too many ways to get hurt doing them. just yesterday i crushed my wrist with the ladder. i'm talking crushed like worst pain you ever felt in your life/can't even find a cuss word to say because the pain is too bad/call your momma to come to the house because you are convinced your hand is broke/call the doctor/google your symptoms/ice pack and elevate your hand/get outta cooking supper kind of pain. needless to say i won't be hanging the letters s-p-l-a-s-h above the girls tub anytime soon. i'm still thinking that i need an m.r.i. i am pretty sure their is some sort of ligament damage.

anywho, off to the grocery store i go with little kenna in tow. karlie is at school today and it bums me out. it's amazing how much more smoothly things go around the house when she's here. she is such a helper when it comes to the baby. she is such a big girl....how did that happen!??