Sweet House Life: November 2012

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Hayley - 7 Months

When Daniel saw me working with this picture his response was, "wow, she looks so old"....yes....she is getting so big!

Before having Hayley, I was one of those people that NEEDED my 8 hours of sleep a night just to function. If I had less than that, it was noticeable to me, and probably everyone around me. When I was working, I loved the feeling of waking up just minutes before my alarm went off. I knew I was well rested and that I was ready to be up. It was great. Since having Hayley, many things have changed......including my above mentioned 8 hours of sleep. No thank you.

When Hayley was a newborn, until she was about three months old she slept SO well, and consequently, I did too. When people would comment on how little sleep you get when they are in the newborn stage, I would kick back and think, "well, good thing I have the world's greatest newborn." I was constantly rested. I had a baby that slept amazingly, and a husband that constantly helped out. It was a breeze! Then......three months hit.......

Hayley has never been a cranky baby, and she takes teething like a champ (no clue when she has been teething until her little teeth poke through), however she started gradually waking up more at night to eat. She went from one night waking, to two, to three, and at one point, she wanted to be up nursing four times. EXCUSE ME?!?! DID YOU NOT READ THE SAME MANUAL I DID???????? Babies are supposed to start out hard and get easier....RIGHT??? Oh, how wrong I was. Hayley decided that four night wakings was about accurate for how much she wanted to eat and maintain her 98th percentile figure.

About a month into her waking up this much, and I was exhausted. I didn't realize just how tired I was, until Daniel caught me sleep walking. Yup, when I'm overly tired, I sleep walk. Creepy right? Not so creepy for me....probably for Dan...but he might be semi used to it by now. Anyway, I knew I needed to change something...I didn't know how, or what...but something. I am part of this online group that is supposed to be about cloth diapers, but we chat about basically everything...it's great. Someone recommended a book called The Sleep Lady's Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West. I was desperate, so I bought it. This book was great. I used it as a guide, not a Bible...I used some techniques, and ignored others.

My philosophy with attempting to get Hayley to sleep during the night was to keep her up as much during the day as I could (sorry for those of you wincing and wondering how I ever decided to parent a child). It made sense to me. I know if I take a nap during the day, I'm less likely to sleep well at night. Oh my, was I wrong. The book mentioned that babies that are Hayley's age (7 months now) need 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps in both the morning AND afternoon, and possibly a third one hour nap late afternoon. I was floored. Here was Hayley, that maybe took three 20-30 min naps a day, and you want me to force her to take two looooooong naps, at least?? I was certain that she would be mixing her days a nights up...but I gave it a try.

That day I drove out to Lowe's and picked up some black out shades, installed them, and geared Hayley up for her two longest naps since she was a newborn. I did what the book said....I followed some of her techniques, and Hayley took every minute of each of those two hour naps. Amazing right? I was shocked, but in the back of my mind, I knew she would be up all night because of it. I dreaded bedtime (which was usually between 8 and 9), the book said bedtime is best between 7 and 7:30.....so I tried it. Hayley went down perfectly.....I'm sorry, but how is she still tired? She slept a crazy amount and now is ready for bed at 7.......weird.........

I had gone to bed a bit later and was ready for Hayley to wake up and be up all night crying. I knew it was coming. THANKFULLY, I was wrong. She slept like a champ and only kept me awake a little while. She was used to being nursed four times a night, and I took it down to nothing in just one night. Yes she cried, but she didn't get hysterical, and I was there with her the whole time (I just can't do the cry it out, which is why I love this book).

Fast forward four days and she went from waking up so often to only waking up ONCE for a pacifier insertion (and going back to sleep without any hesitation). I call that success. I also feel amazingly well rested now, and I kind of forgot how that felt.

Hopefully it will be a long time until my husband finds me sleep walking again ;)

Halloweeeeeen

This year we did a semi low key Halloween. I dressed Hayley up, we had some trick or treaters, and then the three of us headed to our friends' church over in West Salem. It was fun, and perfect...except I bought way to much candy...that I am currently eating....

It turned out amazing. I'm not bragging, it turned out amazing because my friend Ashley (over at our celebrated life) did basically ALL the ground work. She mapped it all out for me, sewed it and figured out how to attach all of it. The only things I brought to her house were the materials and pictures online of what I wanted it to look like (see those here). Ashley is uh maze ing.....for real...that girl can sew anything and make it look fabulous. You should check out her twins' nursery pictures. She made her own slip cover for a rocking chair, while pregnant with twins. I know.

Once we (cough...Ashley) had sewn everything together, I basically just hot glued peacock feathers onto what she sewed...that was the fun part! I paired her feather contraption with a onsie that I found at J.C. Penny and some leggings I found at Gymboree and Hayley was a glorified peacock.

One of my favorite pieces of Hayley's ensemble was the beautiful headband that was crafted by Crafty Mom's Corner over on good ol' facebook. Mallory made it perfectly to order and I absolutely adored it!!! Hayley also found the headband to be quite intriguing. She did not want to leave it alone at all :)

Now, for all the pictures....I have had LOTS of people (ok three) ask me for pictures of her whole outfit...so, here it is! Enjoy!

Just for fun picmonkey did this one for me completely :)

Friends who like to look at pictures...please help me with editing. I don't know how, and I don't pretend to know. I am currently using picmonkey online because photoshop intimidates me. Seriously. Please tell me what is wrong or right or best or worst about the following edits! Any and all criticism is welcome, I NEED TO LEARN, don't feel bad. Thanks :)

This was the original picture - no editing

a little color enhanced

A little more color enhanced

Difference kind of enhancement

She's waiving "Hi" :)

Hayley is growing SO MUCH...it's crazy. I have loved seeing her little personality develop so much and we are so blessed to be able to call her our daughter!
Here is what Hayley has been up to:
     She has been eating and loving trying new solid foods. Every time she tries one it's always an interesting face. She isn't sure what to make of the texture yet.
     She moved from her car seat to the big stroller seat!
     Hayley giggles every time Stella runs after a ball
     We left her for the looooongest time yet (9 hrs), it was HARD, but I knew she was well taken care of!
     Her hair started growing back in!
     She has started to reach out for us to pick her up, which is great

     She had her first two teeth come in, I had no idea they were coming in until she bit my finger! I hope this continues and that she is just a good teether!

I seriously can't get over how much I love this little girl! So sweet!

Also, my intent was to get all of her pictures laying down to be able to compare size. Here is a math story problem for you:
Wiggly baby + Nosy Dog + Awful Natural Lighting = No such thing as laying down photos. So, we sit from here on out!

And because you are all DYING for more pictures and videos, I guess I'll attach a few (ok, so maybe this only applies to Sue and Heather, but I love them, and I think Hayley is the coolest baby ever, so I'm doin it)