30 DaYs Of PoStInG cHaLlEnGe: Day Four

Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn't have

Today, I'm suppose to tell you all about a habit of mine I wish I did not have. Let me think about this for a second......hmmmmm, I'm really not sure about this one. I have many habits, all of which could be categorized as positive or negative depending on how you look at it. Here are a few of them, no one said I was perfect:

• Bite my nails (for the record, I rarely do this anymore).
• Throw my clothes on the floor and never pick them up. The worst part is that I have a laundry basket but I'm really too lazy to care.
• Allow the dishes to pile up in the sink and on the counter. Mainly, so my hubby will get sick of all the dirty dishes and install the dishwasher we bought months ago.
• And the list can go on...

Overall, I guess I'm lazy and I procrastinate. I would rather lay in bed all day than to work on a project due in two days or leave my shoes by the door then to open the closet and put them on the shoe rack. 

I wish I was motivated to be more organized but I am not that kind of person.  Don't get me wrong, I have an organized mess. People like me know what I mean. But for those who don't, it is simple...ask me where something is and I'll be able to tell you to look under the third t-shirt on the floor and magically you will find what you were looking for.  It is kinda funny when I think about it.

But now it is your turn. What is one habit that you wish you did not have?

30 DaYs Of PoStInG cHaLlEnGe: Day Three

Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

Some of my college friends from NJ

Some of my local PA friends

My sorority sisters-Friends bonded for life

Sorry, I couldn't pick one picture because I have lots of friends and the ones above are just a few of them.

30 DaYs Of PoStInG cHaLlEnGe: Day Two

Day 02- The meaning behind your blog name.

Unraveled Emotions, these words meant so many things to me when I started this blog. I will try to explain a few of them now.

We all realize that everyone goes through life changing events throughout their existence. It is how you cope through those events that make you who you are and how you react to those around you. That being said, I am always finding ways to enlighten myself and learn from either those around me or from my own reactions and experiences. Initially, starting a blog would allow me to document events in my life that may begin a transformation within my personality or allow others to witness my true thoughts and/or feelings regarding certain events.

I have always had a tendency to be blunt and raw with my thoughts with most people, while with others, I may shut down and never give them a reaction or response. Either way, the emotions are there, whether I show them or not. This tiny place within a network is where I thought I could just let them UNRAVEL. A place where I could be frustrated, scared, excited, depressed, or just be full of EMOTIONS.

So there you have it, unraveled emotions.

What comes to mind when you think of "unraveled emotions"?

30 DaYs Of PoStInG cHaLlEnGe: Day One

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 facts about yourself

(my daughter's 1st b-day party)

1. My name is Michele and I don't really have a nickname.
2. I am the third of four siblings.
3. I'm a sucker for...shh, don't tell anyone...teen drama shows (i.e. the secret life of an american teenager, teen mom, vampire diaries, etc.)
4. I LOVE chocolate especially if it has fruit or nuts in it or BOTH. YUM 
5. In high school, I was a cross country runner and I still pretend I'm one now.
6. Atlantic City is where I met and fell in love with my husband.
7. Flying from NJ to CA and driving back in a weekend...on my own dime... to rescue a friend is how much I value my friendships.   
8. Not a big soda drinker but I prefer Coke over Pepsi if I have to choose between them. Rootbeer is my favorite soda overall. 
9. In college, I joined a sorority my SENIOR year, Delta Delta Delta aka Tri-Delta, I'm so happy I did because those girls hold a special place in my heart.
10. One of my favorite colors is dark teal.
11. Needles don't scare me but spiders typically do, eek.
12. Whistling isn't a talent of mine. Not really sure how people can push their lips together and push through air to make a sound...maybe one day it will happen but I won't hold my breath. 
13. I'm allergic to all lip products (i.e. chapstick, lip gloss, lipstick, etc.), weird I know.
14. I have this very small pillow that I have slept with since I was a child. I tried giving it to my daughter but after two weeks of her not caring it was in her crib, I took it back because I still need it.
15. Traditions are something I'm jealous that other families have so I'm starting my own with my NEW forming family. I wanna pick pumpkins in the fall, build a snowman in the winter, plant flowers in the spring...you get my point all that boring stuff that seems like a given but just isn't for some people. 

Tell me an interesting fact about you!

30 DaYs Of PoStInG!

Yes!! I have let my blog just sit here, and I've decided to do something about it. 


Its called 30 days of Me! I know, I know, I'm not that interesting, or so... you THINK I'm not. Why don't you follow me for the next 30 days and find out!!

Here are the things I will be posting about! I'm undecided if I'll start today or tomorrow, but you'll know as soon as I do!

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your blog name

Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have

Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

Day 06- Favorite super hero and why

Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends

Day 12- How you found out about blogs and why you made one

Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

Day 14- A picture of you and your family

Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play

Day 16- Another picture of yourself

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have

Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them

Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future

Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy

Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else

Day 23- Something you crave for a lot

Day 24- A letter to your parents

Day 25- What I would find in your bag

Day 26- What you think about your friends

Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned

Day 30- Who are you?

Hope you stick around or at least pop-in from time to time to listen to my rants and updates.

Do you think you would do a 30 days of posting challenge about yourself??

SnEaK pEaK: Gifts!

Just ordered one of Little Bird's 1st B-Day Gifts, take a look:

 

 

Deluxe Mini Play Cube by Anatex 

I ordered it off Zulily, (daily deals for moms, babies, and kids) because it was on SALE (I paid less than $60, it retails for so much more) and I know she will love it. If your not a member of this site, you should be! What's great about this site that the deals aren't just for one day so you don't have to be really impulsive like Groupon. It gives you a couple days so I can do some price comparisons first. Anyway, enough about Zulily. I'm so excited to start planning Little Bird's 1st B-day that I started with a gift. I know a little backwards but I really couldn't miss this sale opportunity for such a great gift.

So, readers what do you think of it?

Half A Year Old

*This letter is long past due and was sitting in my draft pile for a couple months*

Six Months

Dear Baby Bird: 

I can't believe your six months old. I'm amazed on how much you have grown. You are 27inches long (77th percentile) and 17.9 lbs. (65th percentile). Let's not talk about your head circumference, it's just big, that's your daddy's fault! However, you hide it with all your hair so it's not noticeable. You have so much hair for a baby your age and people mention it all the time. Strangers stop us wherever we go to admire your beauty and they always say you look older because of all the blond hair you have. Momma secretly hopes you hair will get a little darker so you will look a little more like me.

You are sitting up like a "big girl" and you are able to tolerate tummy time now. I was really worried that you were going to resist tummy time forever due to how you hated it with your harness. I really felt horrible having to put you on your tummy since you would cry the very second you knew it was going to happen. I'm so glad   we are past the tummy time torture and we can now play in either position (i.e sitting or on your tummy).

Within this last month, you have started eating solids. I started you on oatmeal cereal then sweet potatoes. Currently, you are eating oatmeal mixed with fruit/veggie twice a day. I want to make sure you have a gradual start to eating solids. I want it to be a pleasant experience so you are more willing to explore different foods rather than resisting and being a picky eater. I'm excited to introduce you to all the fun tastes and textures solids have to offer.

In just six short months you have changed my life in so many ways. From the instant our eyes met when you were born I knew I was reborn.You have challenged me (i.e patience, breast-feeding, sleepless nights, etc.) yet you have bought me so much joy.  I enjoy and continue to look forward to every laugh, smile, snuggle you give me.

I love watching you with your daddy. Anytime he enters the room your give him the biggest smile I've ever seen. You absolutely adore him and you have stolen his heart. You light up his life and everyone who meets you.

Keep growing little bird. I look forward to watching you grow the rest of your life, you will always be my little bird though.


Love you to the moon and back,

YOUR Mommy

PaReNt CoNcErNs: Milestones

When you have a baby you try not to compare yours to others but it just happens. Some parents worry more about milestones than others. I find myself being in the middle, I don't over worry and I don't under worry. I know little bird will grow up at her own pace and she will be the best at some things and not so much at other things. I won't be that parent who is obsessed to have the most "gifted" child in the world. "Average" is fine by me.


I understand as a  mother that when you hear about a baby who seems more advanced in one area or another, it's natural to worry or at least wonder whether your own child is "okay." But in the end, every baby grows and develops at his or her own pace. 


Little bird doesn't roll over but she sits like a pro, while her playmate army crawls all over the place but doesn't sit. Eventually,  they both will crawl and sit and it won't matter who did what first. Instead our concerns will shift to "did we baby-proof that room yet?". 


If you have concerns about your baby (as most parents do), it is better to learn about the normal timeline for development than to use other babies as a reference mark. Just keep in mind, that even milestone charts are a "general" guide. I always have to remind myself that little bird may be temporarily focusing on one skill rather than another right now or she just needs a little more time.  If I still feel uneasy about something, I make sure to ask my pediatrician since they are the REAL experts on baby milestones. 

Thoughts?

SoLiDs: starting oatmeal!

I decided to take the plunge with little bird and start solids. I wanted to wait till she turned 6 months since the latest research says "By six to seven months of age, the intestines of babies are more mature and are then able to filter out more of the offending allergens"... but I think she is ready to try something new. She has been showing some of the signs that signals she is ready for solids like being a supported sitter, constantly checking us out when we are eating, seems to be hungry a lot more often, and loves putting everything in her mouth.


I decided to skip rice cereal after hearing that a lot of mothers (specifically those in my playgroup) were having problems with their babies being constipated from it and thought we would try oatmeal cereal instead. I was so nervous to start solids because it is something new for us. I think any kind of change involving my little bird is scary since I don't want to mess anything up or do something wrong. After talking to my fellow "new moms" at playgroup about it, I was ready to do it.


One afternoon, after little bird woke up from her nap and would be due for a feeding, I decided it was time. I placed her in her exersaucer and prepared her oatmeal. I got all the things I needed before placing little bird in her high chair. Spoon, check. bib, check. oatmeal in bowl, check. disposable wipes for 'just in case' moments, check.  camera, check. Oh, and her bottle for when we're done her oatmeal to complete her normal feeding schedule, check.


After getting everything ready, I placed her in her highchair, put the bib on her, loaded the tip of the spoon with some oatmeal and watched as she began to shake with joy. Seemed like she knew this was her moment and she couldn't wait. As soon as the spoon was near her mouth, she opened her mouth and shut it before I could get the spoon in, lol. So, okay this was going to be a little tricky, I needed to time it right and quickly get this mixture in her mouth to be successful. 

This is a picture of her 1st time eating oatmeal, she wouldn't stop looking for the spoon.

Once, we both figured out this new technique...it was obvious that she LOVED it! These days, she gets so excited when I put her in her highchair and put on her bib.  

When I was a kid, I remember loving banana baby food the best. What was or is your favorite baby food flavor?

My HeArT

Happy Valentine's Day

<3 Little bird and I spent her 1st Valentine's Day cuddling around the house <3

How did you spend your Valentine's Day?

New Pediatrician: 4-month well visit

Little bird is growing everyday. I can't believe tomorrow she will already be 5 months old. In one more month, she will be half a year old. (Geez, seems like a blink of an eye ago that she was just a little pea.)

This week, I took her for her four-month well visit at her NEW pediatrician's office. We decided to change pediatricians because it just wasn't a good fit for our family. They weren't as open-minded as they let on to be so   I switched because I have no time to waste hoping that the care of my child will improve. Its the simple things that really make a difference. For example, the new place keeps her file electronically along with a hard copy and gives us a summary of our visit to keep. The old place was very old school in practice and technique, I just couldn't take it.

I had so many questions for our new pediatrician since her last visit to our old pediatrician was at her two month mark. Since then, little bird had developed a mild case of cradle cap, a skin rash on her elbows, and I wanted to know about sleep training. Truth be told, I was also concerned that little bird wasn't meeting certain milestones like rolling over.

For the cradle cap, we were told to wash and brush her hair everyday, if it didn't clear up we should apply some baby oil, brush her hair, and wash it out.

For the skin rash, it turns out it was just a mild form of eczema which most babies develop. To treat, use a mild soap during bathing and apply Aquaphor or a lotion to treat eczema 2-3 times daily especially to dry patches.

Sleep training: It was suggested that we try to avoid her afternoon/evening naps, start a consistent bedtime routine starting around 8pm, and try giving her formula as her last meal (even though little bird still is receiving breast milk, the thought is that she will sleep longer because formula is digests slower than breast milk).

Milestones: Little bird just started tolerating tummy time and her head control while on her tummy had never been great until recently. The pediatrician said that due to her wearing the pavilk harness for two months it could have delayed her a bit on this milestone, which is understandable. They assured me she is doing well for her age and that I shouldn't be concerned about her not rolling over just yet. On the other hand she is doing all of the following:

• Sits when propped with pillows or assisted (Physical)
• Transfers toys/objects from hand to hand/mouth, uses 'mitten like' grasp (Physical)
• Babbles to get attention, watches mouth movements, showing interest in solids (Language/Social)
• Blows bubbles, flaps arms to be picked up, laughs when tickled, tracks accurately (Language/Social)
• Changes hand positions to touch certain objects (Cognitive)
• Is aware that people/things have labels like "mommy" (Cognitive)

They also suggested I switch her bottles to Dr. Brown bottles since they will help with little bird's gas issue which keeps her from sleeping through the night along with mylicon gas drops. (Just got them today, so it's worth a try.)

Here are little bird's latest stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 11.9 oz.          (74.32 percentile for age)

Length:  2' 2.5''                       (94.99 percentile for age)

Head circumference: 17.52"    (98.01 percentile for age)

At the end of the visit, little bird got her vaccinations (2 total, one of which was a combined vaccine). She's such a little trooper. She got her first one and was fine. Then came the second one, she stared at me with those big blue eyes with a look of shock on her face and started to whimper. I had a bottle ready for her so I stuck it in her mouth and she quickly stopped to eat and was fine. 

I'm glad I changed doctors and look forward to this new partnership. 

Can you believe how tall little bird is getting? 

LaTeR

Wow.

Everyday I tell myself I'll update my blog, call this person, do this chore, begin this workout, and so on. As the day goes on, I realize I will not call that person, do that chore or begin that workout. I spend all day playing, talking, cuddling, laughing, smiling with little bird...oh, and I can't forget wiping her drool, changing her diapers, and feeding her.

One must realize these are moments I will never get back since she's only a little bird once. These are OUR moments. Thus, I'm sorry if I don't get to update my blog as often as I would like, make that phone call, complete that chore (so my house will remain a mess and I will continue to be in my pjs, lol), or shed those post-preggo pounds.

I will get to it LATER, if time allows.

How do you balance your time?

NoT tHe SaMe

Sleep...Life will never be the same for me.

Before little bird, I slept 8+ hours. I enjoyed my weekends when I could lay in bed and watch movies all day long. I went to bed when I wanted and I was on my own schedule. Life was soooo much easier, as I now realize.

These days, sleeping three hours in a row is a luxury. Little bird isn't "sleep trained" and she co-sleeps with me. Which means she is up until I go to bed which is around 10pm each night. She use to wake up once a night around 3:30am but that has changed. Lately, she wakes up three or more times a night either due to gas or hunger. I'm exhausted everyday but as a mother you get up and take care of your duties.

Other mothers report their children (around her same age) go to bed around 7 or 8pm and sleep through the night to about 6-8am. I would never want little bird to sleep that long but if she could just sleep through the night I would be happy.

I'm also super jealous that my hubby gets to sleep normally. Sometimes, I find myself so angry at him just because he continues to "sleep in" on the weekends while I'm up with a crying little bird. I understand he works during the week, pays the bills, and keeps us fed. However, do they (our husbands) realize we work 24/7. Being a SAHM (stay at home mom) is great but it certainly isn't easy. Don't get me wrong, I get to wake up to little bird, I get to witness all her milestones, and I just LOVE her to pieces but there are those days that I feel alone entirely.

Most days, the only other person I talk to all day is little bird. Hubby gets home from work late most nights so when he gets home he wants to play video games, check his emails, make music, or check out the stars for the whole night. Yes, he has been working hard all day and should be able to have "his" time but where's MY time?

I hate the days...

• I don't get time to myself. 
• I can't take a shower (and yes, there are many of those). 
• I don't get to eat three meals a day.
• I can't sleep in when I desperately NEED to.
• I don't get invited to social outings with friends.
• I can't go shopping whenever I want.

Although, there are days that I could live without. I would never live without little bird, she is MY world. Having little bird is such a blessing and being a SAHM is amazing. I am the same person as BEFORE baby just a lot more STRONGER because of her.

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Does anyone have any advise regarding "baby sleep training"?

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY: Daddy's Girl

She already has him wrapped around her cute little finger.