Night Terrors {Hanley}

One day last week I was busy all day helping out my mother in law so Hanley had to stay at my sister in laws house. She was practically there the entire day and had no nap. That night I put her to bed just like any other night. We went through our routine of brushing teeth, going potty, jammies, reading books, then laying down. About an hour or 2 into her being asleep, she woke up crying. She was laying on her back with her hands up toward the ceiling saying "hold me mom" with her eyes closed. I went to her like I normally would if she wakes up and isn't  soothing herself back to sleep. I tried putting her pacifier back in her mouth and she was refusing it which never ever happens, which should've been my first clue.

So I pick her up and sit down in the glider in her room and she just keeps yelling "no mom, no mom, no mom" over and over and over. Nothing would break her from saying that nonstop. I noticed her eyes were still mostly closed so I turned on her lamp and her eyes opened but she got mad. She slid off of my lap, onto the floor and started screaming at the top of her lungs at me. She's never even done that on a bad day so I had no clue what was going on. I was so confused, I just kept saying "what?? Hanley, what is wrong?" My only thought while this is all happening was that she was in pain for some reason.

So Michael comes in her room because he heard her screaming at me and then she just started saying "no dad, no dad, no dad!" And screamed a couple more times... We kept asking her if she was in pain and what was wrong but she just kept saying "no".

Then all of the sudden, like the flip of a switch, she was her sweet normal self and said "hold me mom" and so I picked her up and cradled her while sitting in the glider and she drifted back to sleep almost instantly.

So strange and confusing. I put her back to bed and researched it some and according to Baby Center "Night terrors are sleep disturbances in which a child may suddenly bolt upright in bed, cry, scream, moan, mumble, and thrash about with her eyes wide open, but without being truly awake. Because she's caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake, she's unaware of your presence and isn't likely to respond to anything you say or do. They commonly have night terror in the first few hours of the night, during deep non-dream (non-REM) sleep. An episode can last anywhere from five to 45 minutes, and when it's over your child falls back to sleep abruptly with no memory of the incident. Don't try to wake her. And expect that your efforts to comfort her will be rebuffed — a child having a night terror really can't be calmed down, and if you try to hold her it may make her wilder."

After reading all of that, it was very clear what Hanley was going through was a night terror. It was pretty much exactly how the website explained it, to a T. Now that she's had one and I am aware, I will react differently and know how to better handle the situation (or lack thereof).

Gender Reveal {baby #2}

And our newest little baby Nemitz is a ... BOY!!

We easily settled on the name Conrad River Nemitz! We had a fairly difficult time coming up with some good boy names over the years (we are always discussing names!)

I had no idea what to think because my dreams were all over the place with different genders of babies and I had no feelings or intuition like I did when I was pregnant with Hanley!

When I was around 14 weeks pregnant, I had an ultrasound and the tech asked if we were finding out the gender and said she was thinking it was a boy but obviously at 14 weeks, couldn't be positive. We were having our anatomy ultrasound at 18 weeks so we decided not to get hung up on 'boy' just yet in case it was a misread.

We both kind of wanted another girl; familiar territory, we have another killer girl name and I saved ALL of Hanleys clothes. No big deal, I'm even more happy to know I will at least have one of each boy and girl if this is where we stop! I feel like its the perfect family!

While I've been starting to go through and sell 90% of Hanleys old clothes I saved, our car seat, stroller and a lot of 'gear' is gender neutral. So far I've sold a large basket of Hanleys old clothes and replaced those with new boy clothes for Conrad! I do have to say boy clothes just aren't as cute as girl clothes! lol

When we found out Hanley was a girl, I couldn't find any 'theme' I wanted for her nursery so I went with a color theme that would easily transition from baby to toddler and up. But with Conrads room, I was pretty set on a (vintage) aviation theme pretty early on. If it wouldn't have been aviation, I would've went with another color theme. The aviation theme I am going with won't be 'babyish' so it will easily be transitional. I have so many great ideas, I can't wait to get it going!!

Hanley is getting excited, I do think. Sometimes she comes up to me and says "I wanna hug brother!" And she will start pulling up my shirt and give my belly a hug; its soooo cute!!!

Halloween 2014

Halloween was so much fun this year! Hanley loved every minute of it. She dressed as Cheer Bear - her favorite care bear!

Funny story- when Hanley was around a year old, maybe a year and a half, we all were at a children's consignment shop and Michael found this pink care bear for $1 and wanted it for Hanley. I, on the other hand, was against the stuffed bear. She already had a ton of stuffed toys and doesn't really care about many of them and they take up so much space. He insisted and so I told him to go ahead. Well what do ya know, she loves that silly bear! It's her favorite and she sleeps with it every night.

Not long after that trip to the store, I was going through some things I had stored away for Hanley, like clothing for upcoming seasons. I spotted a pink Care Bear costume someone must've handed down to us and much to my surprise, it had the exact same rainbow design on the belly! I got excited for Hanley and checked the size on the tag, which was a 2T. Perfect!

Halloween where we live is typically pretty cold. Her costume was so warm, especially if she had on sweats underneath. Hanley actually got to go trick or treating 3 times this season! We took her to Boo at the Zoo and then Michael and I took her out trick or treating in a relatives neighborhood the week before Halloween. It was actually a fairly warmer evening and she got half a bucket full of candy. It was cute watching her up at the doors, she would say "trick or treat". Most of the time the kids got to pick their own pieces of candy and Hanley would always go for suckers if they were available, which are her favorite. 9 out of 10 times she would say "thanks" on her own.

My mother in law and brother in law came with us trick or treating again the night before Halloween. It was much chillier and again, got about half a bucket full of candy.

She never fussed, never refused to go and was always happy. It might've helped that we were either pushing her in her car or pulling her in her wagon, sometimes right up to the door. She still talks about going trick or treating some days!

Although she wouldn't wear the hat/head of the bear, I didn't see any other Care Bears while out trick or treating! I already can't wait until next year!!

Hanleys 2 Year Check Up

Hanley had her 2 year check up well  appointment yesterday.

She's a hefty girl weighing in at 31lbs (90th percentile) and 34 in tall (74%). It was a good checkup - nothing out of the ordinary. She was very excited to have the doctor check her ears, eyes, and heartbeat since she constantly plays with her own pretend doctor bag.

When the nurse came back in to give her the flu mist and her hepatitis shot I got a little nervous. She did so well with the flu mist, she kept sniffing in and didn't object to it at all. They actually had to prick her finger for a lead test checkup and collect a sample of blood. She didn't even flinch with the finger prick or try to pull away as he collected all the blood. She did so well, the nurse kept commenting on her demeanor on all of it. Then time came for her hepatitis shot in her thigh - and I even said "well don't speak too soon, she might not like this one very much..." but he warned her, squeezed her thigh and poked her with that needle and she barely flinched and never teared up even a little bit. It almost made me sad because she's such a big girl and seriously so easy going and sweet spirited. She was so excited after it was all done because I was telling her how proud I was of her and she got bandages so that's always a plus to her. She was telling people in the waiting room and then the grocery store that she got a shot "but it's ok" is what she would say haha silly girl!

Also, her doctor said "how is she already 2!?!?" Right!!! She said there's certain children she always remembers, especially their names and that Hanley has always been up there as one she remembers and has always been very beautiful. She said she remembers when she first came in as a newborn and I thought that was very sweet.

1st Trimester Update {baby #2}

I'm closely approaching the 2nd trimester of my second pregnancy. It seems so crazy to me that we are here again - we chose this but it's a little surreal.

I found out very early, 3 weeks to be exact. It seemed a little too early to take a test but I had a very strong intuition and the test very quickly confirmed that!

One thing that tipped me off, I was waking up in the middle of the night to pee and I have been sleeping through the night since Hanleys been sleeping through the night so that was a little odd to me. Another thing, I was getting up in the morning and not feeling like I could wake up. I was so fatigued and that wasn't normal for me.

So I stuck Hanley in her wagon and walked up the street to the drugstore and purchased a pack of tests. A "pack of tests" thinking I would need more than one because it was very early. Wrong...

Hanleys 2nd birthday party was around 8 weeks away and I had told Michael before getting pregnant I thought it might be fun to announce it then!

So I had my first doctor appointment at 8 weeks. Nothing special, just the routine check up, blood work, and questions. My next doctor appointment was around 3 weeks later, the day before Hanleys 2nd birthday party and it was an ultrasound. It was nice to have an ultrasound picture to have for her birthday party. The baby was itty bitty but there, actually must've been sleeping because it never moved, not once, during the ultrasound. The heartbeat measured at 164bpm.

I had another ultrasound last week, at 12 weeks, for the down syndrome testing. I opted to do the testing only because I knew it included another ultrasound and posed no threat to the baby. The tech ultimately wasn't able to get a good enough picture but I never rescheduled because the outcome of the test won't change anything. It was just nice to see the baby again. The baby was a complete wiggle worm this time and flipped, flopped, and hiccupped all over my belly. The heartbeat then was 160bpm.

I have another doctor appointment, just the regular monthly checkup, at 17 weeks (4 weeks away). And then we do the anatomy scan just a week and 2 days after that, at mid 18 weeks!

I'm thankful for (so far) an easy going 2nd pregnancy. Hanleys was a breeze, except for sciatica for a few weeks at the tail end. Never any morning sickness, heartburn, or anything else. I gained exactly 30 with Hanley, which is what was recommended and so far this time I haven't gained any just yet. (Which never makes any sense to me because I clearly have more of a belly than I normally have not pregnant yet the scale hasn't moved?????)

Kids can be so Cruel

We are in Chicago on vacation visiting my brother and his family. It's pretty cold today and the kids were itching to get out of the house. We took them to the mall to play in this big tree house play area and some boy around Hanleys age squeezed Hanleys face as hard as he could, TWICE, with his nails too, and made her bleed.

It took everything in me not to punt him and I made him take me to his mom.

I brought Hanley with me to his mom and I told and showed her what happened and she said "He's normally a pretty good kid" and I said "Well he obviously is going to need watched a little better" and she said "Well I can't watch him every second since I have him" (because she had a smaller baby on her lap) and I said " She's bleeding!! If you can't watch him better then maybe he shouldn't be here at all!" And then they left.

I cried and cried and cried. I couldn't stop because I was so angry. Plus, I'm sure I'm a little hormonal haha

She did apologize and made the boy apologize (not that he knew why, I'm sure) but it wasn't enough for me at the time, not much would've been enough because I was so upset. Then I started to feel guilty later after I calmed down that they left because I'm sure it's tough with a little little one and then a toddler that wants to run and play. I might not have reacted so strongly but when Hanley was a little younger, she was playing at another mall play area and some boy just came up to her and bit her chin and left perfect teeth marks on her and I watched the whole thing and Hanley never provoked anything. You can actually read about the first biting incident here . She's such a sweet spirited girl, it makes me so mad these kids do this to her. That first time we just left and I didn't say anything to his parents, even tho I should have.

And apparently while I was gone shopping in a store nearby for 15 minutes before this incident, Hanley was trying to walk up or down the stairs and some girl basically put her in a choke hold and threw her down. So then, when I got back Michael said "I gotta go walk around for a couple minutes" because he was getting overwhelmed. There was tons of older kids running around and climbing up the slides, which is so annoying, when it was definitely for younger kids. It was chaotic since it was a Saturday and pretty chilly outside.

And I totally get that she might get knocked down or run into by bigger kids because she's small, dainty and young but I shouldn't have to worry about kids being cruel to her.

Happy 2nd Birthday Hanley Monroe

It's shocking to me how the second year of Hanleys life went even faster than the first! Who thought that was possible?? I certainly didn't!

So I originally was planning for a Daniel the Tiger 2nd birthday party. Then I slowly started to realize everything was Dora. She stopped asking for Daniel the Tiger and constantly started asking for Dora everything.

New plan : Ah-DORA-ble Fiesta birthday party!!

I planned to have her birthday party in our backyard with mostly family and closest friends. I personally never really wanted Hanley to like Dora the Explorer but oh well. One of the good things about having Dora as the theme of the party, pretty much any bright colors will be good to decorate with, and thats exactly what I used!

 

 Her party was a huge success in my book and I enjoyed making all of her decorations!

Also at her party, we announced that we are expecting our 2nd baby!! I had a box for her to open after all other presents were opened that contained a few books and a movie about being a big sister, a tee shirt that says "Big Sister" and also one of the ultrasound pictures from our doctor appointment we had just the day before. 

It was a huge surprise and we had been keeping this secret for nearly 8 weeks! I'm currently 11 weeks and it was so incredibly hard to keep quiet!

We hadn't even told Hanley about her going to be a big sister until her birthday surprise because she is so bright and talkative that we were afraid she would have spoiled it! Good thing we didn't tell her too, because after her party I was telling her all about how mommy has a baby in her belly and what that means, a few hours later I was going through her bedtime routine and reading her a few books before laying her down. I wasn't reading any books about baby's or anything relating to the topic and all the sudden, she cut me off saying "baby in da belly!!!" HAHA so she definitely would've slipped at some point, I believe! It was a great day and she had so much fun playing with all her little friends and cousins!

On the day of her actual birthday, I took her to the zoo in the morning and then later we took her to Chuck E Cheese!

 Happy Birthday beautiful girl!!

24 Month Update

Not much has changed in terms of Miss Hanley; ~28 lbs and finally cut one of her cuspids! 3 more cuspids to cut and then her 2 year molars. Conversations are getting better and better with her daily. Eating is hit or miss, she usually eats breakfast very well, lunch ok, and then dinner is horrible. Loves singing and watching TV. Getting very close to be able to count to 20 - can count to 10 in Spanish. Knows her ABC's (for months now) but we are starting to work on identifying them individually. Teaching her colors has been the most trying thing to teach her - if she picks something up and names its color, she usually gets it right. But if we ask her what color something is, she is usually wrong; unless its pink or blue. lol

Still very polite and is starting to know the right things to reply when someone says something to her... i.e. "You are so pretty" she will reply "Thank you!".

Still not a tantrum throwing girl. Thankfully, she is normally very pleasant and go with the flow! I can probably count on one hand how many tantrums she has thrown in the past 4 or so months.

23 Month Update

Well, it's almost time... Miss Hanley is almost 2. This post is super late but we've been busy having so much success in potty training!! Haha

No, but really, I don't even remember the last time she had an accident (peeing) either in her diaper if we are out or otherwise. Pooping is another story... we will tackle that in due time. I'm just so elated that she essentially is potty trained, except for nap and bedtime, and isn't even 2!!!

Not much has changed with her otherwise. Her vocabulary is endless and you can carry little conversations with her.

Still only 12 teeth, waiting on those canines, I see one looks like it's about to pop through but hasn't happened yet. She went to the dentist for the first time a few weeks ago and did so great! Everyone at her dentists office adored her!

I'm pretty sure she weighs the same, unless she has lost weight, which I wouldn't be surprised.

Her eating is actually horrendous. Most times she won't eat dinner and then asks for "somepin to eat" an hour later - drives me crazy!

Still always singing, always asking to "watch TB" *which I've had to start limiting*.

Adventures in Potty Training!

Today was day #2 of absolutely no potty accidents and no going potty in diapers! (except for nap and bed times, of course, I'm not that brave yet!) She is doing so well. We didn't leave the house one time yesterday which helps big time.

Today we did venture out for lunch with my sister. I put a diaper on her because I didn't want a disaster on my hands but we had a chat and she stayed dry the entire time. After lunch we went to the mall and we were in a store when she started grunting and saying " potty mommy" so I checked her diaper, it was still dry so I scooped her up and ran her all the way to a bathroom. I reminded her the whole way to hold it and when we got to the potty she pooped!! What a big girl!! I luckily had a sucker in my purse and every time I told her how proud of her I was, she would get bashful and lay her head on my shoulder. She's such a sweet little spirit!

I feel like this time is the real deal, or I hope so at least, every other try at this she would have accidents and I would get discouraged and put a diaper back on her. So far, if she has to go potty and I'm not asking her or sitting her on her potty, she puts herself on it and goes all on her own!!

Before, when I've tried to get her going on the potty, I would put normal underwear on her and tell her it wasn't a diaper and that she couldn't go potty in them; she would have accidents and a diaper would go back on. So this time, she's literally is running around with NOTHING on her lower half. Only a shirt and it's working so much better.

She knows after she goes to the bathroom in her potty she either gets a sucker or some M&M's (depending on the time of day as to how many she gets, but usually no more than 3). We have a potty song and a potty dance we do as well and its hilarious seeing her do it with me. She also yells, "yay Hanley!!" haha

Tomorrow is another day, and we will try conquering the hardship that is potty training again! She's not even 2 yet but she's so incredibly smart, I know she can do it if she just put her mind to it!!

Ps: she counted to 5 in Spanish today, all.on.her.own! We were floored when she did it. I continued on with "seis and siete" and she yells "ocho!" Haha I about died!

22 Month Update

Time is absolutely flying by! Its amazing how fast time goes when you have a child that's growing up right before your eyes! (Did I say that same thing last monthly update!?!)

Hanley is absolutely thriving! She is such a joy and so pleasant!

Her most favorite things include singing all the nursery rhymes and Dora the Explorer!

No new teeth, still waiting on her eye teeth to come in. She weighs roughly 25lbs, everyone comments that she is looking leaner - she's losing her belly and chunky thighs. =(

She's getting picky with some foods and isn't afraid to spit out whatever she doesn't want. As a baby she would eat absolutely anything.

She's very opinionated but extremely polite! She says please and thank you, bless you, sorry, and excuse me when appropriate. She's starting to say  "yes please" and "no thank you" which melts my heart!

She's very bossy with the dogs, which I find hilarious. Loves to hold her babies, wrap them up in blankets and console them.

She is working on counting all the way to 20 and knows her ABCs. She is getting better and better with shapes but still pretty rusty on her colors.

Potty training for the past month hasn't exactly been going so good. I guess I haven't exactly been consistent with her but she hasn't been a fan of going like she was last month.

22 months old is such a great age! It's hard for me to believe but its just gonna get better!!

Co-Sleeping - And My Opinion On It.

From birth to 5 months old, Hanley slept in our room, directly next to my side of the bed in a bassinet. The number of times she slept in our actual bed during that time span was very low - I don't exactly remember now but very very rarely. It just never worked out for the better. Unless she was really having a horrible night, laying in between Michael and I always seemed to make the night worse.

I knew back when I was pregnant with Hanley that I didn't want her in our bed at night. Our bed was for us and her bed was for her, and that is the way I've always seen it. A lot of people believe in co-sleeping because their baby is only a baby for such a short time, and that's their decision and fine. Those people can continue to get crappy sleep and share a bed with little toes in their backs and baby drool on their pillows. I'm not judging, it's just not for me. Me - I prefer to know exactly where she is, know she is safe, getting the best sleep possible, and continue to be a great sleeper - all in her own bed!

Some of our family was sick during the 4th of July get together last weekend and alas, Hanley woke up yesterday with a runny nose. Aside from the runny nose, she acted fine all day long. When it was time to go to bed, we did our usual bedtime routine, and she laid down and fell asleep just like every other night. I stayed up until around 1:30am but it wasn't long after I fell asleep when Hanley was up crying. Typically, she doesn't wake up at night, and if she does, it's usually just a couple cries like she was having a bad dream or something like that, and never actually wakes or gets up. So last night she seemed to wake up, standing up in her crib crying every time I fell back asleep. She would NOT let me lay her down at all or she would scream bloody murder. So I tried to rock her, when she fell asleep I laid her back down and immediately she woke up again. EGH So feeling desperate, I brought her into our bed. The moment she got in between us, she acted like it was play time and wanted to talk. I was very firm telling her it was time for bed and I pretended to be sleeping and she was wide awake for nearly 45 minutes. That clearly wasn't working so I took her back to her room and got comfy in her glider and rocked her for what felt like forever until I knew she was really asleep. Finally, I put her back to bed and she stayed asleep until morning. Problem was, when I finally got back to my bed, it was 5am. I was hoping that would mean she would sleep longer, so I could too, of course. But nope, she was up at her normal time and we carried on with our day.

She still had a runny nose today, but so far so good with her sleeping. I am going to bed early(ier) tonight just in case she decides to have a bad night again. Goodnight!

21 Month Update

Hanley is growing up so incredibly fast! She is extremely bright and brings so much joy to my life!

Let's see:::

Around 26lbs - she hasn't been to the doctor lately but the last time I stood her on a scale it said 26. She is thinning out some, I think. Still waiting on her last first year molar to come all the way through and all 4 eye teeth. Her hair is getting so long and starting to get a little curl to the ends.

She can now count to 14 and sings the ABC's. Constantly walking around singing "E-I-E-I-O", "One Two Buckle My Shoe...", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She loves to sing songs and begs me to sing more and more and more! We are still working on some shapes and I'm always identifying colors to her and asking her if she knows what color something is. She is working on it but still likes to call everything blue and/or green.

She's pretty much speaking in sentences now! She still does some sign language, "please" and "more" mainly, even though she doesn't really need to, it's probably just habit at this point.

Still extremely polite; says bless you, please, and thank you every chance she gets! Just starting to say "excuse me" if she burps or something like that, which is so adorable! Loves reading books and I'm pretty sure she is getting tired of most of her toys. Although, she just got a little kitchen and she is enjoying playing with that lately.

She is absolutely obsessed with Dora the Explorer. Like screams when it comes on and asks to watch "Dora Dora" all day long. I definitely have to limit her TV time because she could watch all day long. Dora themed birthday party!?! It might just be happening and I hope she loves it!

She is starting to get the hang of going potty on the big girl potty...starting... she's been going most days throughout the week, at least once, just not very consistent. She does, however, say "potty mommy, potty" the moment I go into her room to get her out of her bed in the mornings. She doesn't always go potty in the mornings when I take her but at least it's on her mind!

I'm very thankful that so far she doesn't throw tantrums. I hear stories of other kids her age having meltdowns but it's rare for Hanley to have one. I really hope she keeps up her kind spirit and passes right over the terrible two's (could I be so lucky!?!?). I have her schedule pretty regimented and so she seems to only throw tantrums when she is tired, hungry, or teething - so not very often. Thank goodness! I wonder if it also helps that she talks so well because I've always read that a lot of the time, tantrums happen because the child doesn't effectively know how to express their feelings. Who really knows, right!?!

This summer is already flying by so fast, it's hard to believe! I'm starting to plan her 2nd birthday party (tear). We have so many things to do and experiences to have - I'm trying to pack our summer full of fun things, even if she won't really remember. I love her so much, what did I ever do without her!?

Competing Against Myself

I've been very consistent with my workouts for the past several months. It now feels second nature to go to the gym or go out for a run.

My mother in law asked me the other morning, as I was getting ready to go for an early morning run, how I get the energy to run. I didn't exactly have an answer for her at that moment. I thought about that question throughout the rest of the day as I fought off wanting to take a nap. I ended up running 2.5 miles that morning and then later that same day went and lifted weights at the gym.

As I was getting ready to head to the gym, it kind of just hit me: it's motivation driven by determination and dedication. It's very rewarding to see results and feel stronger! Not to mention, getting done with a run puts you on a natural high. Comparing your run to each other run, your minutes per mile, time, and miles ran. Just the simple fact that I have the ability to put my running shoes on and run miles at a time, without stopping, is something I definitely take for granted. There are people unable to run, walk even; or people think they could never be a runner so they never even try. I don't necessarily think every runner was born to be a runner...it's something you have to work for, you try and try again, you might not go very far or fast at first but that doesn't matter, you are only in a competition with yourself, no one else!

I probably tell myself at least once a day; "Nothing to it, but to do it!" I never regret a workout or a run. I also remind myself daily that I'm in no competition with anyone else, only myself. It's not fair to compare your day 5 to someone else's day 100.

I'm starting to see some changes in my body and that's always a big motivator. So much time and energy goes into going to the gym and it's nice to see a little pay off over time!

Anyway, so if you've ever wanted to run, just try. You aren't going to be a marathoner at first, maybe even never, but you will never know if you don't try. No excuses, nothing to it, but to do it! <3

Breastfeeding Diaries

As I reflect, I feel EXTREMELY lucky and fortunate to have breastfed Hanley for a year and a half!

It's been around a month and a half since I have weaned her.. I just decided it was time and I honestly don't feel like she was really getting much anyway. More than anything, toward the end I feel like it was more of a routine and soothing thing.

It was a quick wean and very very painless - it's like she never even was a breastfed baby. The night I decided it was the last night (or planned) I tried soaking it in, the entire year and a half, such a bittersweet moment.

The next night, I was a little worried about how things would go. I actually brought her a little cup, half full of warm milk to drink while I read her some night time books. After I read the books and she was done drinking her milk, I gave her a pacifier and never gave her a chance to try "going for it". I laid her in her crib and told her it was time to go to sleep and walked out. If I remember correctly, she might have fussed for a few seconds and might have taken her an extra 5 minutes to fall asleep but each night got better and better.

Each night, she wanted less and less milk from the cup I would bring to her room. Until finally, she didn't drink any of the milk. This was the best scenerio in my mind because I didn't want to have to wean her from drinking the milk, especially when it came time to potty train for night time!

Thankfully I have a pretty easy going little lady! We weaned and neither one of us have looked back! I thank God I had such a wonderful journey breastfeeding her. I'm such a huge breastfeeding advocate, it's not easy, especially in the beginning but if it's something you want for your baby, I would suggest fighting through it!

If anyone ever has any questions, in need of advice or encouragement, I am always here. I'm not really shy when it comes to that, because I feel like it's such a natural thing and the best for all babies!

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and remembered what Memorial Day is really all about.

I've had a very busy past 4-5 days! I've done hours and hours of yard work for 5 straight days. I have never worked so hard in the yard and it feels very rewarding to step back and take a look at the outcome!! I really wish I would have taken before and after pictures but unfortunately, I did not.

I also cleaned out our garage! We've been in our house for almost 8 years and half of our 2 car garage has been trashed, stuff thrown anywhere, stuff just taking up space and blending in to the walls. It's not perfect but it looks good for what I had to work with! =)

The result of the tidy garage and tailored yard, I had to call for a special trash pick up. I have nearly 20 trash bags and other random garbage on the curb tonight and it feels so good!  Next, I will move to the basement and then my craft room!!

We attended a couple cookouts and I even jumped in a hot tub with my neighbors! The powerful jets felt so wonderful on my sore muscles from all that yard work!

Saturday morning, a few friends and I ran in The Color Vibe 5k! That's always fun and I am very proud of my best friend and myself! Neither of us trained for it, at all! I have just been focusing on weights at the gym and do very little cardio. Plus, my friend had strep throat and she still killed it!!! I'm thinking about running another 5k in August but haven't made up my mind yet.

I'm trying to load up our summer with as much as I possibly can! We are going camping in two weeks for the first time as a family and I'm pretty excited about it! I grew up camping and it's been over a decade since I've camped!