Santa Claus

Allie wasn't a fan of ole St. Nick this year.  Judging from the last picture, I think it's safe to say she was down right terrified.  She was too scared to even cry, she just furrowed the brows, stuck out the lip and begged for Daddy to save her from this jolly old man with a beard.  

There's always next year...

***PHOTOS BY KAREN HALBERT PHOTOGRAPHY

Crying it out???

It's been a rough week around here as far as sleep in concerned.  Allie is going through a phase where she doesn't want to sleep in her crib.  It started Sunday when we tried to put her down for a nap and she screamed bloody murder until we went to get her.  She ended up not napping ALL day.  Then that night, she woke up screaming again and wouldn't stop until I picked her up.  I slept with her on the couch, which made for a miserable night for me.   And it's been downhill from there.   If I even go near her bed with her she starts screaming "mama mama mama", and it absolutely breaks my heart.  She throws all of her paci's and her glow seahorse (which is pretty heavy for her and she chucks it across the room...quite impressive), and that's when I know she means business.  That's her way of getting me to come back in there, and then she reaches out for me again screaming "mama mama mama" to which I usually end up giving in and picking her up.  

But Tuesday night we decided to let her cry it out.  She screamed non stop for an hour and then finally passed out (without her paci, b/c they were all on the floor).  Waking up again at 2 am and 5 am screaming...both times I let her cry it out again.   She cried herself to sleep for her nap yesterday too.  And then last night she screamed for an hour again before finally falling asleep and then woke up screaming 3 or 4 more times throughout the night.  And she just cried herself to sleep for her nap about 30 minutes ago.  The only way to ensure a peaceful nap is to drive her around in the car, which is not feasible with the current gas prices, nor for my sanity.

Last night we googled "letting your baby cry it out" and we came up with multiple conflicting answers, which is often the case with google.   But I need to know....do you let your babies cry it out??? And if so, how has that worked out for you?  And how do you keep from crying along with them?   It breaks my heart.   She's cutting a new tooth and I'm pretty sure that's the problem and I know this too shall pass...but I also know, as history proves, it will come again along with the next tooth.  I worry that I'm going to cause psychological damage by letting her scream for an hour straight alone in the dark.  But I also fear that if I don't let her cry it out, I'll be creating a monster.

Moms, all thoughts and advice welcome.  Thanks in advance.

xoxo,
Emotionally and physically exhausted Momma

Halloween 2012

We spent Halloween night at my sister-in-laws house and I have never in my life seen so many kids.  We went through 6 GIANT bags of candy in under an hour and then had to turn off the lights to turn away the kids lined up all the way down the street.  It was insane, I've seriously never seen anything like it.  

Allie dressed up as her favorite character, Minnie Mouse, and I thought she was the cutest little mouse I've ever seen.  

She loved carrying around her princess trick-or-treat basket and she would hold it up for us to put stuff in it.

Her cousin Addy was also Minnie mouse for Halloween and I think she made a pretty stinkin cute one too!

It was nearly impossible to get a picture of them together, this was the best I could do...

We took Allie to Jenn's neighbor's house to 'trick-or-treat' but I think she was a tad overwhelmed by the bus loads of kids everywhere and she wanted nothing to do with it.

But she did enjoy sitting on the front porch with Gigi handing out candy.

Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!

14 Months

Allie turned 14 months old this past Friday.   I feel like every day when I get her out of bed she's an inch taller, her hair about a centimeter longer (usually standing straight up) and she looks more and more like a toddler.   Her hair seems to be coming in blonde...so at least she'll have something to show she's actually my child because we all know she all Jeff in the face.

She's becoming a more confident walker and walks mostly everywhere now unless she wants to get there really fast, then she'll crawl.  She still has a hard time walking in shoes because her foot is in between sizes so her shoes are a tad big leaving her looking like a wobbly clown.  When she's really tired she walks around like a drunk person running into everything and falling on her face every five seconds.  She definitely gets her clumsiness from her mom.

She's getting a little better at eating and seems to love most veggies, which makes this mama very happy.   She loves sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli (I didn't even like broccoli before I found this amazing recipe on pinterest and I'll tell you, I couldn't stop eating it...SOOO good!), carrots (also cooked with a pinterest recipe), & tomatoes (which I guess is technically a fruit, but I count it as a veggie).  She loves all fruits.  And she loves wheat crackers and puffs....and cinnamon rolls.  She eats like a bird though, even though she likes the food, she only eats a few bites at a time and then she gets bored I guess and wants to play.  And she has developed this new habit of not wanting to sit in her highchair.  She wants me to hold her while she drinks her milk/juice, and then wants me to spoon feed her.  It's exhausting.  And she's heavy.  And I'm hoping and praying this stage ends very soon.  I try to fight it and not give in to her, but that little girl has some pipes, and my ears (and heart)can only take it for so long before I cave.  She drinks 2% milk per the Dr.'s orders, and drinks 10 oz.'s of prune juice mixed with water a day...trying to clear up some bow issues she's been having for the past two months.  She went to the Doctor yesterday to have her stomach issues checked out and we're gonna have to try out some new milk products (almond milk, soy milk, etc.) to see if that helps, and she's gonna have to start eating better because the doctor said if it doesn't get better they will have to send her to a specialist to run further tests (i.e. scoping...yikes!!).  So hopefully things get better soon!  They also weighed her and she weighed 24 lbs. 9 oz.  

She's still sleeping 12 hours a night...and even 13 hours the last few days and taking two naps a day, usually one to two hours each.   She's wearing mostly size 18 month clothes, and even some 2T.  She's wears a size 5 shoe, but her foot actually measures 4 1/2 so her shoes are always a little big making her look like a clown.  

She's very girly and prissy and doesn't like for her hands to be dirty, or to play in the dirt or leaves.  She loves the outdoors as long as she's being pulled around in her wagon, or being pushed in a comfy swing.  She prefers girly things like carrying around her purses and baskets and putting on pretend makeup....or even better, playing with Mommy's makeup.  

She still a little book worm and she loves when we read to her.   She loves to pick out a book and bring it to me and then she sits on my lap for me to read it.  Then when I'm finished I'll say "go get another book" and she'll go pick out another and crawl back in my lap...and repeat for hours if I let her.  I find it extremely adorable and I love to soak up these moments that I know will pass way too quickly.

She's going through a Daddy's girl phase...which I'm sure will never go away....but when he's around she wants nothing to do with me and she screams if he puts her down or if I try to take her from him.  It only stings a little, I really do love how much she loves her Daddy...and how much he loves her.  It's a very sweet relationship they have.  So I guess I can take one for the team and continue to do all the dirty work and get let him get all the lovin :). 

Her vocabulary hasn't expanded a whole lot in the last month but she has learned 'baw' (ball), and 'moo' (which sounds more like grunting...but she only does it when we ask what a cow says, so I know what she means).   Those are the only new ones I can think of off the top of my head and those just developed in the last 3 days so I'm sure she'll be speaking in full sentences by the end of the week.

I am so thankful for this little girl, she truly makes every day more joyful for everyone around her and she just makes life better all around...I can't imagine this world without her smiles and giggles.  Thank you God for choosing me to be her Mommy, I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

Pumpkin Patch's

Allie and I went to the Lucky Ladd Farms pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago with a friend of mine and her two kiddos.  I was really looking forward to it, and it didn't disappoint.  They had so many fun things for kids to do and it was a nice little field trip for us.

feeding the animals with Wills...which my girly girl thought was gross...and frankly, I found the feel of their tongue against my hand pretty nasty myself. 

Playing in the 'corn pit'.  Similar to a ball pit, but with corn.  Not the best thing for a one year old who thinks everything should go in her mouth.  But still fun.

Having fun walking through the pipes...right before a little kid came running through and knocked her down and spoiled all the fun.  Bully.  Jk, I'm sure he was a nice kid and meant no harm.  At least I hope, or her Daddy will have to hunt him down.

Pots and pans banging station...brilliant.

And walking through the baby corn maze

Me & Allie going down the slide

And since Daddy couldn't make it for all the pumpkin patch fun, we took a quick trip to the near by pumpkin patch the next Saturday to pick out decorations for our front porch.

I love fall!!