5 Month Favorites

Here are some of my favorites or cannot live without items!


1.  Love, love Aden + Anais Crib sheets!  So soft and comfortable and love the designs they have, just wish they had more!!

2.  Elmo and Bright Star Snuggle & Teeth.  She loves these because of the crinkle noise they make!

3.  Aden + Anais towels/washcloth, they are again soft and big enough that I know she can grow with them!  

4.  Instagram!  I have found some great moms that I love to follow and ask advice from!  I also have found they are going through the same struggles and it is uplifting to hear their stories.  

5.  Friends.  I have absolutely the best friends a girl could ask for.  I have a handful of friends who are moms and have given me great advice/support and I could not of imagined how I would of gotten through without them.  On the flipside I have friends who do not have children of their own yet, but have also been an amazing support system.  All whom have lent me an ear/shoulder to cry on, words of encouragement and have reminded me daily that I am doing the best that I can do.  Thank you, each one of you for being amazing women in your own rights!!  xoxo

5 Months!

Little Olivia is 5 months today & she is growing so fast, well at least it seems that way to me!
It is hard to put into words what a miracle it is to watch my tiny human grow.  She is full of smiles, baby noises, and my favorite thing right now, she reaches for me.  That just melts my heart.  I love knowing her and I have this special bond that was formed 14 months ago.  She is also very curious, wants to touch (mostly put everything in her mouth) and loves to grab anything that is in front of her, not excluding our faces!
It is so hard to put into words what the last 5 months have been like.  I am not going to lie, it is not all easy, there were some very hard moments, lots of sleep loss, lots of frustration, lots ( I mean LOTS) of tears shed, but there were happy tears and some very precious moments.  I would not trade anything in the world for all the moments I have had with my dear baby.  She is honestly the best thing I have ever done in my life.  I look back at all the hard things that I have been through, all the times I wondered what His purpose was to challenge me and now it all is clear.  Nothing will challenge you like motherhood does.  Nothing can really prepare you to become a parent, a mother.  I know that I will never love like I love my child and I also know that no one is going to break my heart like she will.  And I don't mean we are going to have a bad relationship when she gets older, I mean more that the first time she yells at me, "I hate you" or "you are ruining my life" my heart will break in a million pieces.  Or the first time I see her heart break from someone she thought she could trust and love, my heart will break.  Or the first time someone is cruel to her just to be cruel, my heart will break.  Or the first time she does not need me but needs her independence more, my heart will break.  Ok seriously, tears are pouring down my face.
What I do know, and what I hold onto with every breathe in me, is that I may not be there for her always but I know He is.  I know that God is watching over our child and to trust His plan for her.  That helps me sleep at night knowing this child of God is being watched over.
Ok enough deep stuff.
It is very bittersweet to watch a tiny human grow.  I miss her being a newborn already but at the same time I love watching her grow.  Seeing her personality come out more, accomplishing little milestones like rolling over!  I cannot wait (but I can) to see what the next month has in store for us!

Some pics and a video!

Video:  how she feels about turning 5 months!

Final Sleep/Nap Update!

Well ya'll it has been officially two weeks since I began the transition from napper to crib.  Also taking my pediatrician's advice and no longer feeding her a middle of the night bottle.  Honestly, the not feeding her in the middle of the night seemed the easiest to do.  She seemed on board when we started and never really has cried to much for it during the night.  In fact she was better about sleeping through the night than her naps in the crib.  Don't get me wrong she did wake up but she never would really cry more just make noises or move around (a lot).
I will say the pediatrician was right that it would take two weeks to get some good results and set up a good routine with her.  We took her advice, some advice from friends with experience, and lastly when it came to naps, which she fought the most, I read a book called, "The Sleepeasy Solution".  That booked really helped.  It gave a me a more accurate picture of what her nap time schedule should look like so I could help create a good routine for her.
After two hard weeks can say this pretty confidently, she loves her nap time now, especially her morning nap.  She sleeps always in her crib, in fact I think she likes it now :)

It was a tough 2 weeks, especially the first week, a ton of crying but now it is all worth it.  Again here are some cute pics of our little penguin's sleeping adventures!

Nap time :

She see's us checking in on her!  

Lots of moving going on before bedtime!

She is on to us! 

(there is a small blue light on camera we think she sees)

More nap time bliss!

Love us some rosy cheeks!

Started at one end of the crib and moved all the way to the other!

sleep in motion!

Snuggled up in a corner.

Need a little mid-night stretch!

Sprawled out!

Again with those rosy cheeks & legs!

Yep her bum is in the air! :) 

I am a runner...

I know this blog is about my journey as a first time mom, however I have to take a moment and speak about something else close to my heart.  I am a runner.  It took me a long time to truly look at myself as a runner and part of the running community.  After participating in four marathons ( I completed two) and 3 half marathons (completed all 3) I truly am proud to say I am a runner.  I am very passionate about it and it has become a huge part of my life.  A big part of my running is a running group here in Austin called Rogue Running.  When I decided to take training for a marathon seriously, I had attempted my first one back in 2007 on my own and resulted in a injury during the marathon and I could not finish, I decided I could not do it without extra support.  I honestly can say that was one of the best decisions I ever made.  The friendships I made through my training and the coaches there have changed my life.
So with all this in mind, when I heard about what happened at the Boston Marathon my heart broke.  I could not stop crying when the shock of the news wore off.  I also must say it has always been my ultimate goal to qualify and run in the Boston Marathon, and a very big dream I have.  Seeing all the runners and spectators who were there and enduring what was happening to them tore at my heart.  Runners are such a passionate and competitive group of people and their families/friends who support them during their training just as equal with that spirit, where there to either fulfill a dream or watch one in the making.  It saddens me to see so many dreams turn into nightmares and heartache, but the one thing I know without a doubt that is will not stop my running community.  If anything it will ignite us to push forward and become stronger.
Now that I am a mom and a runner, I always dreamed of running in a race with my daughter.  I want to be an example to her and someone she can look up to.  I am even more determined to push my limits and to get to Boston.  I just know because of Monday's events my heart will ache a little more but that will not stop me or my little family to be there.

Sleep Update

Well after my last post I think I may have jinxed us a little.  Apparently my little bed-hogger now wants to be a stomach sleeper.  And let me say the first time she decided to attempt to sleep on her stomach our hearts stopped beating.  It was more because as I say her attempt at it meant she had her face firm against the mattress!  Her little nose was pressed against the mattress and we could not tell if she was breathing!  We ran upstairs and immediately moved her to her back again.  Needless to say she was not happy about that at all!  So much that a couple hours later I woke up to check on her and she was at again but this time was even more scary because I had no idea how long she had been like that.  So again ran to her room and repositioned her on her back again.  Every night since then she prefers her stomach.  After having a nervous breakdown I reached out to some fellow moms on instagram and close friends for advice.  I felt better after hearing their personal experiences and embraced her wanting to sleep on her tummy, because I am actually a stomach sleeper too (I know, I know that is not good for me either but it is a habit I am working on)!
We also spoke to our pediatrician's office and they said it was fine as long as we can help her turn her face to the side, instead of her being face-planted on the mattress.  She has gotten a lot better about it and I think she is quite comfortable.
As for naps, those are slowly getting better.  I read in another mom's blog A Cup of Jo (http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com) that she had recommended a book called "The Sleepeasy Solution" and I bought it immediately.  I have to be honest and I have not read it from front to cover, I just skipped through it to get to the issues I am having.  She recommended for naps for babies 4 to 6 months, should get 3 to 4 of them during the day.  She breaks it down that after they first wake in the morning the first nap should be 2 hours from that moment.  Then the rest of the naps are 2 1/2 hours from then on from when she wakes up from each nap. Also that she should get 3 to 4 of sleep from all naps during the day.  Well Little O has not been getting that since she fights them so much.  I am talking 30 to 45 minutes per nap.  However today was a good day and one nap last over 1 hour so I will take it and hope that she is getting more comfortable with them.
So our first week of transition is complete.  So far sleeping in her crib at night has been the less challenging, not including her becoming a stomach sleeper and nap times have been the most challenging.  I am hoping for part 2 a.k.a. second week of napper to crib transition will be more about longer naps and less sleep interruption during the night time.  I also had heard/read that the earlier they go to bed the less likely they will be early to rise. That has not been our case so far so maybe that will happen this coming week, fingers crossed!  :)

This is how it all began, her turning to her side:

First time catching her sleeping on her stomach!

A good picture of how she like to have her nose against the mattress!

A full-fledge stomach sleeper!

love how she decided to sleep across the crib!  

Caught us checking in on her!  

A happy baby after getting 10 hours of sleep!