Christmas With B

Again the time continues to fly by and I have no idea how. I'm currently on my two-week Winter break from school, and Brooklyn and I have been busy!

Well, Christmas has kept us busy! We've been to the mall several times with S and her twins to do some holiday shopping. Brooklyn did get a picture with Santa and it actually turned out really well. I had ordered Christopher Pop-in-kins (copied S) and Brooklyn was trying to find him each morning. It's amazing how smart a little baby can be.

With our shopping all done, Brooklyn and I have enjoyed some playing time. She's just about crawling, but not too fast which is fine with me! She can do about three crawls and then goes to an army crawl. She is bound and determined to get whatever she is crawling after. Yesterday Mr. Late Than Most's mom commented on how Brooklyn never sits still and is always "on the go." That comment scared the bejesus out of me and I'm not looking forward to the day this little one just goes and goes! We really need to Brooklyn proof this house!

Speaking of house, ours is very small. We totally hate it but what can you do? This economy is not good so selling is not an option. We recently made our dining room into a playroom for B. It's kind of random, but it's a good place for her to practice her crawling and indulge in all of her toys!

As you can see by the post, today is Christmas! Brooklyn's first Christmas! I hate to be a Grinch, but we've been driving all over Illinois the past three days and it's kind of annoying. Brooklyn is in bed and we've not even had our own Christmas with her. She didn't even leave cookies for Santa! Gah! So tomorrow she'll be opening her presents from us. Believe it or not, she does already enjoy opening presents! She says, "Ohhhhh!" and "Ooooooooh!" Kinda cute!

On the infertility front, all of my friends are finally pregnant or have babies!!!! My last girlfriend did IVF at my RE office and she just found out on Thursday that it worked! In fact, her beta was very, very large so I'm thinking twins for sure. Another friend of mine had her little boy a few weeks ago. He's a little preemie, but she finally has her baby. I'm so, so glad for everyone!

My Little Turkey

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone! I had all of these great visions of Brooklyn dressed in her "Thanksgiving outfit" but that kinda went out the door. I just left her in a comfy outfit all day and put a "Mommy's little turkey" bib on her. No worries though, I got her outfit at a resale store and it's a 12 monther. Miss Skinny is still wearing 6 to 9 months.

I'm turning into the mom I never thought I'd be. Have you ever done that? Before kids I was like, "blah this" and "Oh I'll never do that." Well, it started. Long story short, my Christmas shopping for Brooklyn is getting to be a little much. I started off thinking I'll just get her a few little things and Viola! We have more than I expected to have. I'm thinking back to that post I did almost a year ago. The one where I showed you every single thing I bought to make Brooklyn's nursery complete. Well, here is the Christmas list as it stands. And yes. . . I do know it's quite much. But I'm envisioning this cute picture of Christmas day and Brooklyn is sitting with all of her toys in their boxes. Hahahaha. Don't worry, I'll post that one.

Here it is, the stuff I've bought for my sweet baby, who will only be 8 months old at Christmas! Of course I included links just incase you see something you need :)

Fisher Price Stride to Ride Dino

Playskool Elefun Ball Popper


Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank

Tiny Love Fiona Dog Damn it! It's a dollar cheaper now!

Melissa and Doug Farm Puzzle


Fisher Price Bat and Wobble Penguin


DK Baby Faces Book


Playskool Stack and Nest Barrels Don't worry. I didn't pay this price!

So what do you think? Is that a lot? Hahahaha! And I'm sure I forgot something. I went from memory!

Whoops! That Was Long!

I truly have every intention of keeping this blog updated. I mean, I'm very interested in blogging, I just keep forgetting to get on here.

Check out that ticker. . . Brooklyn is 7 months old. SEVEN MONTHS. One thing I learned, at seven months your sweet baby is gone and you get this tiny thing that acts like a baby but previews what the teen years will be like. In other words, this baby has a major tude.

I'm very aware that it was just a blog or two ago that I was bragging at how well-behaved my kid is. And for the most part, she is a great baby. But holy smokes I've seen some interesting tantrums lately! Mr. Later Than Most and I are horrible. . . we actually laugh, which is not a good idea. I mean, how can you not laugh at a little baby who kicks and complains and then two minutes later is laughing at whatever you do? Today she was throwing a fit in her high chair. I hid behind the kitchen counter and popped up from another spot in the kitchen and said, "Boo!" Then she goes from fit to laughing hysterically. You gotta love babies!

Work has been hectic. Getting out the door in the morning takes every ounce of organization I have. Then keeping a clean house is another thing. I know a ton of people do it, and I give them credit. I think the struggle is that I really want to be good at whatever I do. So, I want a clean and organized house. I want a clean classroom with all of my things organized and lessons arranged perfectly. Ahhhh, there it is. PERFECT. That's what's not possible but I keep trying to get things that way. I'm sure it's a constant battle for all working moms. Somethings you have to give up on, and others you don't. So, lately I've given up on the cleaning. Don't worry, I won't qualify for Hoarders. I just wait to do my chores. :)

6 Month Stats and Picture Update!

Well, I did it! I pretended to be a photographer and it didn't go half bad. I know most of you that I'm friends with can see some of the pics from Facebook and I think you may agree! I MADE Mr. Later Than Most help me with the photo shoot. We were at his family's property down in rural Illinois. And yes, I said rural. Combines and everything. We drove an ATV around looked for colored leaves and set them up. I bought a black cloth at Hobby Lobby to use as a prop for Brooklyn to sit on. I used my $4 Walmart pumpkin and what do you know? The pictures didn't come out half bad! Ok wait, there was one casualty. I ironed on my rhinestone 6 and one of the damn stones feel off. I was so pissed!!!! You can totally tell too when you look at the picture! See for yourself!

 

So how annoying is that? Gah! That iron-on cost me $3 and the onesie $4. It's not too bad I guess. And even if it is, at least I semi got the pic I was looking for. Oh and don't judge my photography skills on that one pic. The others came out rather well!

So, today Brooklyn had her 6 month doctor appointment! Her stats:

15.5 pounds. As the doctor calls her. . . . a peanut. 34%ile for weight. But, 27 1/4 inches long and that's the 89%ile for height. If you've seen her pic, she has a round head! LOL 89%ile for head too. The doctor said she has a "nice round head." Good think that pumpkin I had bought was a taller one that was thin. I wouldn't want my kid's head next to a pumpkin to avoid any confusion!

Brooklyn didn't enjoy her shots today. Well, she never enjoys them but today she wasn't having a lot of the appointment. First, it was at 4pm. That's mini nap time. Her solid feeding is at 5pm and as you know, bed around 6pm. So today was a real schedule cluster. She did fine though. She smiled for any person that gave her 30 seconds of attention. She tore the paper on the exam table to smithereens. She talked to the doctor and took off her stethoscope. We enjoyed laughing at her, that's for sure!

The good news is that the doctors, once again, think she's doing great. This I cannot hear enough of. Those are reassuring words and let me know that I'm on the right track as a mom. I've said it before and I'll say it again. . . if she would have given me a sticker, this would be one happy teacher!

6 Big Fat Months

In two days my Brooklyn will be 6 months old. I can't believe it. Really, where does the time go? If I set her upright, she can sit up. When I make a snorting noise with a smooshy face, she copies me. Today she tried to scoot to get one of her blocks. OMG, I need to baby proof this place! You know me, I already bought all of the gadgets.

So, I had planned on taking professional six month pictures and then my shopping got out of hand. How does this relate you ask? Well, I bought so many damn outfit changes that no photographer will want to deal with it. Seriously people, having a girl is a ton of fun! I know I sound looney, but S and I planned all three girls six month pictures months ago. Brooklyn's outfits have been hanging up and just waiting for this coming weekend. So, let's cut to the chase and spill the deets:

Outfit One: Jeggings with a pink tutu. Not too frilly, but just right. I also bought this cute onesie to go with it at Baby Gap. It has long sleeves and two ballerina shoes on it. I'm going to have her bare foot with a giant headband, of course.

Outfit Two: Her sixth month is in October so a Halloween photo is a must. She has a cute long-sleeved onesie that says "I love my Mummy." It has a double-onesie look. I bought some crazy Halloween legwarmers to match. Yes, I have a Halloween hairbow too. My kid has no hair at all. . .  bows are required! I also bought a pumpkin for this one. So, I imagine her sitting next to the pumpkin with her hands on it. We'll see what happens though. A lot of her sitting up turns into face-planting!

Outfit Three: I bought a dark pink onesie and I bought a rhinestone, iron-on six. I will iron the glitter 6 on. I have zebra legwarmers and a zebra headband to match. I'm kinda thinking I may iron the 6 on the butt and take the picture of her on her stomach.

And Outfit Four: PJs!!!! I have some cute owl pjs. I want her in her pjs with her favorite Aden and Anais security blanket. Maybe I can get her to take her paci too! We'll see.

SEE HOW CRAZY I AM!!!! Hahahahah, guess what? I don't even care. Yes, none of it's necessary, but I just get too much joy from all of this shopping! I can't wait to tell you how the pictures go!

Literally

I literally have the best baby. Truly, I'm not just saying that. This is the most easy going baby, and even strangers tell me how lucky we are. And oh yes, this does get annoying.

So we knew we were lucky the minute Mr. Later Than Most's mom stayed with us for Brooklyn's first week. She constantly made comments on how quiet Brooklyn was and how happy she seemed to be. Comments continue from my sisters, my mom, his family, and pretty much most strangers in Target (because I'm there daily.) As you've noticed in my posts,  I'm that annoying person who researches and learns about everything. So, I like to give myself a little credit for this happy go lucky baby! I mean, I did read like five sleep books. Isn't that why my kid sleeps about 13 hours at night? Also, I read every development and milestone book out there. This is why I know how "on track" my kid is. Yes, yes, my head was getting big. Until I read a little comment the other day in Your Baby Week By Week. In week 23 it said, "Your baby now cries only 2 1/2 hours a day." What the hell? Babies cry for 2 1/2 hours a day? Who the heck wants a baby that cries that much? Are you kidding me?

Yes people, reality check. My kid goes days without crying. I thought it was totally normal. I read that and literally started laughing out loud. My Brooklyn may only be 5 months old with North Face boots and Uggs (too spoiled is the point), but she sure is a good baby! And obviously, some of it (or most of it) is innate!

5 Months :)

How is it that one day you wake up and your kid is 5 months old? I mean really. How does the time go by so fast? The good thing is that I take a TON of pictures. I mean a ton! We keep the camera and video camera sitting in the living room so it's really just ready for us whenever we want to take a picture.

Little girls are dangerous when mixed with a joy for shopping. There's no accessory that this kid doesn't have. Seriously, I know it's fun to shop for any baby but there is just too much girl stuff out there. We have a slight addiction to headbands and legwarmers right now. I would say, though, that there are much worse things to be addicted to. Come on. . . DRUGS! Instead I like to buy a cute pair of baby legwarmers every now and then. Yes I'm aware that 13 pair for a 5 month old is excessive, but the ads show the babies wearing them when they are toddlers and in one photo even the dad was wearing them on his arms! See, if I get Mr. LTM to wear some, I have two people wearing them for the price of one! And no, I'm not drunk right now. Ha! I kinda wish I was though! Ha!

So I did the stay at home mom thing for a tiny while and I'm just saying, the working thing gets easier but it sure is taxing. I shouldn't complain, Brooklyn goes to sleep by 6:30 and wakes up at 6:30. Before you start telling me how lucky I am and what a good baby she is, we've been tested here the past couple of nights. I have a normally, very happy baby that is now fighting me during feedings and naps. There is nothing worse than trying to bottle feed a baby that doesn't want to be held! The little stinker will eat if you walk around with her though. Ugh. Today I told her she better not be as stubborn as her dad!

So, I'm curious how people knew they wanted a second kid. I watch my niece and nephew play together and just think it's the cutest thing. It'd be nice for Brooklyn to have a full-time friend. I know it seems I'm jumping the gun, but my yearly appointment is coming up and I've been thinking about my frozen embies. If I wanted my kids two years apart, that means I'd be looking at a frozen transfer this coming summer. And to do that my HMO insurance needs to be switched to the practice that is related to my RE. So, you see this is something I need to think about. I asked Mr. Later Than Most if he wanted kid number two. He said when Brooklyn is seven years old. That way we have some help. Ha!