Get ready!


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This is exactly what I have been needing. Some accountability. Accountability from another mama. Better yet, accountability from thousands of mamas all over the United States and in countries around the world!

The study  on Abounding Hope will begin  January 28th and go until April 26th 2013.

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You can get a free download when you register so you can’t use cost as an excuse!

Here’s how it works (Excerpt taken straight from the websites Q&A post here):

“How does the HelloMornings Challenge work?

The HelloMornings Challenge is a daily check-in via social media accountability groups.  Before or after their morning routine, group members check in with their assigned group on Facebook or Twitter.

You choose the group that fits most with what you are looking for, or you can form your own group at church or wherever. Once you register, your Accountability Captain (group leader) will contact you before the challenge begins with more details.”

So the idea is that in an effort to carve out a little bit of you + God time in the morning {what better way to begin your day?}, you will follow along in this book with other women around the world and be able to discuss the book each morning via facebook or twitter {you get to choose your preference when you register}. What an awesome way to be held accountable to starting/maintaining this ‘healthy habit’.

Who wants to join me?

Just follow this link to the sign-up page and then you will be directed to choose a group. I was going to begin my own group because all of the Eastern time zone groups are taken but I would like to see how this works before jumping in too deep {maybe next time!} – it doesn’t matter what group you choose but just know that posts about that day’s bible study will just be posted earlier/later depending on which time zone you choose {as moms in your group are getting up and beginning/finishing their reading they will start posting on Facebook/twitter}. I chose Heather Williams / Bethany Nash’s group from the Central time zone listing. Join it with me!

Registration ends Wednesday January 23rd, 2013 so you need to scramble!

Even if you decide not to do this the website has tons of resources for women of all ages, so check it out. Though I hope you reconsider; I’m taking a chance on it too and stepping out of my comfort zone, but I do know that a step towards knowing God better is never the wrong step. I don’t even know what time I will need to get up because a) Charlotte is quite unpredictable with her ‘good morning, come get me’ screeches, and b) I have never had an efficient morning routine and am always running late…. this will definitely be a challenge. All I know is that I am in desperate need of some time in my bible and in prayer.

Let me know if you decide to do this with me please!

Don’t forget, the deadline to register is Wednesday, January 23rd and the whole shebang begins  January 28th!

 

Let’s talk about poop {and other parent-y things}

If you are a mommy… or a daddy, or read articles about parenting things, or sometimes think about reading articles about parenting things… then I have some questions for you:

1. Charlotte seems a tad constipated since we have been giving her tastes of various foods. I knew this was coming because my pediatrician warned us that her frequency may decrease as purees were introduced. Before purees, she was a ‘business every day’ kind of baby; very regular. But now her ‘business’ is very infrequent and she has been a grumpy baby the past few days. Is there anything I can do to give her some relief? She has only been eating green beans and sweet potatoes so far {and less than a 1/2 ounce each night, really she just gets a taste}. Tonight I gave her some pureed prunes {which she gobbled right up} so we will see if anything is different in the morning. I tried a high fiber cereal but she was not interested {have you ever tasted that stuff? Nasty!}. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to help her; I want my happy baby back! And will she always be constipated? Or is her tummy just getting used to digesting something new?

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2. We have a little piranha on our hands. Her toothy smile is super cute, but she is starting to bite while nursing! At first it was very infrequent, but the past 2 days she has chomped down nearly every single time she nurses and it is KILLING me! I swear today she chomped down because I wasn’t paying attention to her; as soon as I looked down at her she unlatched and gave me a big ‘ol grin. Am I making that up? She is teething as well, so I would then give her a teething ring thinking she just wanted to chew on something but she would refuse it and act like she was hungry. Is there anything I can do? Or just grin and bear it? How long does this last?

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3. Charlotte will roll over in her sleep now; we will find her on her tummy more often than not. I have read extensively about the risk factors for SIDS and we have done as many preventative measures as we know to do. Should I try to turn her over to her back again? I am afraid of waking her. She actually sleeps so much more solidly when she is on her tummy. She has fairly good head control {I think, though I don’t have anything to compare her to} I’m just paranoid and starting to lose sleep over it!

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I will be calling the pediatrician regarding all of these things as well, but was just curious what other moms and dads had to say about it. Sheesh, month 5 sure does bring on quite a few curveballs!

An update on my 5 month old

Five. months. old. I cannot believe it. Every day I wake up and am in a pseudo state of ‘shock’ that I am a mom. There isn’t a moment of any day that I am not thankful for her; in the darkness of 2am, in the chaos of non-stop crying, in the poo explosion aftermath… every moment with her is precious. Even though I work with children every day {as a pediatric speech therapist} this is my first developmental ‘rodeo’ so-to-speak – For the first time I actually have a front row seat to watch the development of a child from start to finish. It is so amazing to see her learn. It seems as though I can actually see the wheels turning when she is exploring something and learning. Her personality is really beginning to emerge as well. I certainly try my best to take 10 billion photos of her a day in order to catalog every moment but I will admit it is getting harder and harder to get all of the shots I want to. She is quick like a fox and I am slow like a sloth when it comes to working my camera!

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Here’s a brief look at our girl at 5 months:

  • Has found her feet and assumes her new ‘roadkill’ position {as we have deemed it} as soon as you lay her down. Those feet have even found their way to her mouth a few times. feet up

  • Is sleeping through the night fairly consistently. Wahoo! {though this weekend she is definitely making me a liar because she hasn’t slept more than 3 hours straight the past few nights; the result of a growth spurt + teething combination. dagger!}.
  • Has two teeth. Yup, you heard me right – TWO teeth at 5 months. The first one appeared just after her four month birthday; the second on popped up just 5 days later. I guess it doesn’t surprise me; such an over-achiever!

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  • Is not yet sitting up; and frankly, I don’t think she cares to try at the moment. As soon as I prop her up she lunges forward into taco position to grab at her feet and give them a good slobbering.
  • Has discovered that rolling can actually get her places. Earlier this week I laid her on her play mat so I could work on some Christmas thank you notes. Next thing I know she had rolled 5 feet away from her blanket! Yikesabee! This means I need to a) at least baby proof the floors in our house, and b) start actually vacuuming on a regular basis. Sheesh, babies are a lot of work.
  • Is definitely starting to lose a bit of hair, especially in the back from rubbing her head back and forth as she falls asleep. Like mother, like daughter I guess because I am losing hair as well! It started right around 4 months postpartum because of hormone craziness {just like everything else in pregnancy} but hopefully my hair will come back bigger and crazier than ever!! Charlotte’s hair is getting longer as well, and starting to look more like a bad toupee with a comb-over in some areas and an exotic bird plume in others.
  • Is still loving bath time. Chris is a baby bathing pro.
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  • Really loves hanging out in her wrap. Thank goodness, or no grocery shopping would be done in this household.IMG_3148
  • Has tasted a few new foods {more on this in another post}; but so far she’s a green bean girl!

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  • She is really starting to express herself vocally; screeching, hollering, laughing, singing. It is amazing how quickly they learn that their noises are powerful and meaningful!

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Love you to pieces sweet girl! {even though it has taken me 3 days to write this post because you have been quite rebellious when it comes to your sleeping schedule as of late}. What will this next month bring? I am so excited to find out!

Fun gifts for Charlotte!

I am continuously blown away by how generous our friends and family have been before, during, and even after Charlotte’s arrival. I just want to brag about a few very sweet people who recently gave very sweet gifts to our sweet girl {things getting sweet enough for you?!}. I’m a sucker for something unique and different so of course my favorite gifts are the ones that required a little extra thought and/or creativity!

This adorable quilt arrived in the mail just before Christmas from a sweet {haha, I can’t stop using that word!} friend from college. I was blown away! It has “Charlotte” embroidered in the middle with a little buzzing bumblebee. Absolutely precious. Charlotte wasted no time checking out her new snuggly blankie.

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And quickly proceeded to determine how it would hold up to her new rolling over tricks.

Perfect. Just the right size. Thank you Megan!

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Another box arrived a few days later containing 5 adorable board books from my bff from college, Kat. How thoughtful! I am a sucker for books {as is every speech language pathologist} and these are so unique!

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Inside Beach Babies Wear Shades:
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Inside Urban Babies Wear Black:

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Inside Country Babies Wear Plaid:rh-181_2z
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Inside Artsy Babies Wear Paint:

Artsy babies express themselves.

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I can’t wait to get the other 5 books in the series {there are 10 total!}

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Here is the link to her website if you want to look at/purchase all of the books in the series: http://www.ubwb.com/blog/my-books/

I particularly like the ‘about’ section where she explains how the idea for the books came about.

We are so excited to get reading, though for now mommy has to hold the books when we read or else they’ll become a soggy slobbery mess.