Thoughts Lately

Well, I basically can't believe that it is already a week into August. Summer felt like it was already flying and now we have plans the next few weekends so basically there goes August. It is kind of bittersweet. It is so fun experiencing summer with an 8 month old. She is so observant and curious and loves being outside but at the same time, when time is flying, all that means is that she is getting older!

Having a baby is full of double edged sword type situations, I think. On one hand, this is awful to say, but some days I can't wait for her to grow, get older, sleep longer, be walking and talking and telling me what's wrong and what she needs and on the other hand, I just want her to stay this sweet age forever with soft baby skin, sweet toes, lovely baby talk, and sweet cuddles when she is tired. When she is happy, I am so happy and when she is mad or sad...well, you can guess, I am so mad or sad. We are all just learning everyday...how to balance, how to deal, what to try, what to throw out and although it is one of the hardest, most challenging job I have ever had--I wouldn't change it. I am becoming better. I am becoming more patient, more nurturing, more selfless everyday and I would say those are all traits I welcome with open arms.

Ben and I had our three year anniversary last week and then actually celebrated this past weekend. It is funny how dates make you reflect. I guess that's why we have them. It was interesting to look back at our wedding day, our first anniversary, our second and where we are today. So much has changed yet a lot is the same. Our relationship has continued to grow, flourish and strengthen each year. That's really all we can ask for. For our celebration we went to a little town called La Connor about an hour northwest of where we live. It was a beautiful day, we had lunch, wandered around and relaxed. We left Eleanor at my parents' house and the goal was not necessarily to miss a feeding for the first time but to know that we could if we wanted. We left my parents equipped with breastmilk and cups and we were gone for about five and a half hours. I know it doesn't sound like that long but for a mom who is with her baby basically 24/7 it felt like so long. But in a good way. I felt refreshed when we got back and that's just what we were looking for.

I want so badly to blog more and take down our memories but every day all of a sudden the day is over and all I feel like doing is vegging out on the couch in the evenings. It has finally gotten to where I don't feel like going straight to bed when I put the baby down every night so it is nice to have a little husband time at the end of the days and not have my face glued to the computer.

I was running a little bit with the jogging stroller because I was aiming to possibly do a 10k when we go on vacation in September but seeing as now that is about 4 weeks away and I stopped jogging due to my back flaring up again, I don't think that is going to happen. I am hoping to pick up some yoga to work on my back muscles and stretching. I don't know if I am aiming to do some at home or find a class I may be able to get to a couple times a week. I don't want to jinx anything now but it seems Eleanor's sleep habits may be getting a little more predictable. Like everything else, it seems we take two steps forward and five one step back!

Eleanor is actually taking her first mom-induced crib nap right now and everyday I think of a million things to jot down if only I could actually open up the computer and not look at blogs on my phone and now I am drawing a blank!

I guess that's all I have to offer for today but hopefully I will be having a little more in the coming weeks. I will also be sure to post and 8 month post here pretty soon. There is much to report on with our little girl and I surely don't want to forget any of that!

6 & 7 Months

Oh, my dearest Eleanor,

You are just keeping me on my toes such that I haven't even gotten around to posting this until now! That could have something to do with the fact that you are on the move. That's right, in your sixth month you began to pull yourself along and now you are hard to keep still. It was so fun to watch you begin to inch along like a little inch worm only using your arms and you were a little slow at first but you loved it. Holly would especially motivate you to crawl to her at first. Then toys, now even me!

It is kind of hard to keep straight what happened last month and what has already happened in the last two weeks. You are still in six month clothes although some of your jammies are getting a little short. You nurse, on average around the clock pretty much every three hours. We were doing really well with sleep for awhile and then you got your first little cold. It was not bad at all but it broke our hearts to see you uncomfortable and we were doing everything we could to keep you comfortable including shooting a saline spray through your nose to flush it out. You hated that but it really helped clear you out. The congestion lasted for about 5 days and then you continued to mend. The sleeping took a couple weeks to get back to but now you are usually doing a 4-5 hour first stretch and a 3-4 hour stretch after that. You nurse in between which I don't think is out of sheer hunger but it is how you go back to sleep the easiest. You then usually go back to sleep for another hour or two.

You also took a couple of road trips in your sixth month and did really well. A couple of months ago you went through a phase where you seemed to hate your carseat but on these road trips {mind you, they were two hours, one way, tops} you did great. Your dad and I timed it out for when we thought you would be napping and it worked out pretty well.

You love all your toys, you are so inquisitive. You loved the pool when you got to try it at the beginning of the month but you haven't gotten to go in it again, yet, because the weather hasn't been that great.

At your six month well visit, you weighed 16.25 lbs and were 25.5 inches long. Lower percentages on both but the doctor seemed fine and you are definitely growing steadily! We asked a lot of questions about food at that appointment and were eager to get started with that. We decided on the Baby Led Weaning method of introducing you to solids and it has been really fun so far. We are learning that you are very social during mealtimes!

Sorry this is so short, my sweet, but I am drawing a blank on all that happened in your sixth month, but I do know one thing: You are an absolute joy. Even when I feel like I may be at my wit's end do to a long day, or feeling overwhelmed you happen to laugh, smile, talk or just stare at me with your beautiful blue eyes and it all just melts away. You truly are my heart and I still can't believe, somedays, that you are mine.

We love you so much.

Xoxo,
Mama

---------------------------------------------

Oh Eleanor,

Well you turned seven months old about two weeks ago now. Your mama is falling further and further behind on this basically because you are keeping me on my toes constantly! You are growing, changing and learning everyday.

Your little personality is also developing right along as well. Some of your traits seem to be mirroring some of mine that I am not so proud of--such as patience. When you want something, it is becoming apparent that you wanted it 5 minutes ago. I think part of this is that you are learning so much that you get kind of overwhelmed. I totally get it but it tests my patience sometimes as well. That's okay, just like everything in this journey so far, we are learning together.

Your movement this past month is astounding. You are now crawling up on your knees but sometimes will still drop down to an army crawl. Late in your seventh month, you pulled up to stand. I was not expecting it at all, you had been doing nothing to show us that was coming and we had a tent in it's case in the living room and apparently it was just the right height to peak your interest and up you went. I was shocked. Now you are getting more and more steady as you stand and like to pull up on just about anything you can whether it is stable or not. Needless to say, my eyes are constantly on you but I am getting better at letting you test the waters and figure some things out for yourself. Your noggin is a lot harder than I give it credit for and you are getting so good at catching yourself. You can also turn from crawling to sitting up and back down again. Quite the little wiggle, rolling worm you are!.

Our family from Texas came to visit this month and, as expected, they loved you and you loved them. I think you loved the constant attention--as if you don't always get that anyway-- and all the new faces. They are a busy, loud bunch and I think all the activity did you good. During the time they were here, happened to be the time we decided to start you sleeping in your crib. Right around your seven month birthday. Although it tugs at my heart a bit that you aren't in our room anymore, I know it is best for everyone and you showed us you like it by beginning to sleep better right away. There were a couple of glorious nights that we had you down in the late evening and you slept for 11-12 hours, only waking maybe one or two times to eat. However, this past week, you have been reverting a bit and waking every few hours in the night. I think we are coming to the conclusion that it just may be your style. Also, it seems that if even something little is bothering your tummy, it wakes you up. There have been nights where you are so wiggly, and crying out and then in the morning you give a nice, big, full diaper. Such is life, my princess and we are always sorry when you are uncomfortable.

Naps are still pretty hit or miss. Sometimes you do well and others it is cat naps all day long. We have gotten more of a bedtime routine down, though, and I think we are all enjoying that. Your dad isn't always home to participate since we are starting pretty early and trying to catch you before you are so tired that it is a fight. He usually comes in to help me after I have nursed you, which is nice for a break for me and for him to get to rock you to sleep. 

You are still nursing about every three hours during the day but we just keep trying more and more food and you seem to be having a great time with it. Some of your favorites appear to be: meat (you have had chicken and steak and you seem to prefer steak), avacado, oatmeal, carrots, plums, canteloupe, blueberries and usually bananas. You love trying all the different textures, examining everything and having fun at mealtime. We are still enjoying the baby led weaning process and I have to admit, are looking a little forward to when it might become a tad bit less messy. 

Diapers sure are interesting once babies have started on solids! I think we were giving you quite a bit of canteloupe for a few days in a row and that  may have irritated your behind a bit so we cut back and that seemed to work. I was using coconut oil to soothe you and it seemed to work. 

You are drinking water out of a straw. Not a ton but you seem to do alright with it. We are working up to leaving you for a feeding here in the next month and I am ready to leave your Oma armed with breastmilk, a bottle and a cup and see what happens. I feel much better about this than I did when you were little. I have faith that you will drink milk if you need to and otherwise, she may be able to distract you with real food, water and playing.

You are mostly still in six month clothes but some nine month jammies. Most of your summer clothes are nine month size and I am just dying to get you into them. They are a little big but I figure you need to wear them now so we can wash and wear, wash and wear so they fit you the rest of the summer.

We have been going for more walks and jogs in the stroller and you really seem to be enjoying facing out. You even doze off sometimes. We went on your first couple of hikes while the Texas family was here and you did great, sleeping most of the ways and when you were awake you were just enjoying being outside, as usual. You love being outside. You like going in your pool, although you like standing up so it seems kind of pointless for you to be standing in calf-deep water. You are better on car rides. Sometimes a little iffy, but overall much better than it was for awhile. We took you to your first wedding this month and you did great. It was outside at a beach so you, of course, loved it. We ended up having to leave the reception before dinner but it was getting a little late for you, you had been awake for awhile and had done very well.

Overall, Eleanor, again, everyday with you is an adventure. You are such an amazing person and it is just amazing everyday how much you change and learn. On the nights this week where your dad didn't get to see you awake, the next days when he did, he notices little changes--you are bigger, you personality comes out more, just the little things. The little things that we just love to experience being your parents. You are quite a challenge sometimes and there have been nights where we lose our patience, feel you are inconsolable and need to take breaks with you in your crib and us in the living room but we take big deep breaths and go at it again because you are the most precious gift. The next morning we are ready and rearing to go again and the second you give a smile or stare deeply into our eyes with your beautiful baby blues, we melt right then and there.

We love you so, so much.

Xoxo,
Mama

Whew, feels like this was just the most rambling letter ever, but I feel that so much has happened this month and I have already found myself forgetting things. Things I thought I would remember forever, the moments they happened, but that is not the case. I will settle for remembering the general months!

Where Did June Go?

Ok.

Wow.

Have I been MIA or what?! Well, this month has been a little bit interesting. I have started to write E's 6 month post but have not finished it and now my goal is just to roll it in with the seven month post.

Part of the reason I haven't been around much is that E's sleeping schedule has been a little trying so it kind of leaves limited "me time." And when I do get a free moment, I can't always justify it with blogging. If ya know what I mean. 


So almost right when she turned 6 months, she had her little cold. That threw her sleeping way off and once she was well, she got a little better about sleep again and then reverted to not so great again. We came to the conclusion last week that it was time to lose the swaddle. We had tried a few times and it never turned out well so we always reverted back and were just clinging to the hope that the swaddle was what would allow her to sleep those longer stretches. Well, don't think that was the case. We think she began waking because of it because she is more mobile and was just trying to get comfortable.

So, after reading The No Cry Sleep Solution, I felt silly because the main focus of the book is basically what I already knew--choose a plan, stick with it and just be patient and persistent. I am not a fan of cry it out method and if you are, I am totally not judging you, I just cannot bring myself to do and don't really believe it what it accomplishes. So we are choosing gentle methods, chose a plan and since last Friday night are sticking with it. Eleanor has been moved into her own room, into her crib with no swaddle. As expected the first couple of nights were still rough, but after what we had been going through we figured it couldn't really get any worse which is why we were ready to begin trying something else! We are also committed to making sure her naps are around the same time everyday and then we will move into getting her to nap in her crib as well, once she is a little better at night.

We aren't really doing that much different but it makes us feel better to have a plan and the last couple of nights we are seeing some progress, which is very reassuring.

Anyway, other things that have been going on around here include getting ready for our Texas family to arrive this evening. They will be in town for a week and we are very excited to spend time with them, have E's uncles meet her and for them to get to know her! Hoping this rain we have been having gives us a little break so that we can go on some fun adventures into the city and such.

Eleanor and I also survived Ben's first work trip away. He was gone for four days and three nights. We missed him a lot but my mom also came to help because it was right in the middle of when Eleanor was having really wakeful nights.

We have started baby led weaning so it is fun offering her a variety of fruits and veggies and just letting her go to town with them. I know it is not quite in true BLW fashion because we aren't quite to the point where we are comfortable giving her any and everything on our plates but I think we can go about it how we are comfortable and still be successful. She is doing great sitting in her high chair at meal times and has a lot of fun.

I have quite a few DIY projects that I am dreaming up to accomplish. Hoping to redo a couple of gallery walls in the house, update some frames, hang some old windows and possibly paint them, make a couple of wall hangings, redo-ing the dining room table, painting kitchen cabinets--too many possibilities. It is nice because Eleanor is getting to a point where she can be entertained for a bit by placing her in a little standing toy we have, in the pack and play with some toys, or just crawling around after Holly in the living room. Even if it gives me 15-20 minutes to do dishes, it's nice!

So, basically this is a bit of a mish mash, but that's what my brain is these days. Thought I would try to get some stuff down about what has been going on lately so when I try to look back I can remember some bits because sometimes I feel it is a fog! Well, a fog with a cute baby!

I have also jumped on the Instagram bandwagon and seem to update that a little more than the blog so follow me @allyce_riemer

Front Door Facelift

As Eleanor and I were out watering our plants yesterday morning, I looked at the "cans" that I have had sitting by our front door for a couple of years--well, actually since our wedding since they were used to hold flowers at our wedding--and they were empty. And sad looking.

I really like them but thought they needed a little something. Also, don't mind the rose bush, it isn't staying there, we just haven't decided on it's permanent home yet. I had a few errands to run and they happened to be by the dollar store in our area so I figured I would pop in a peek at their fake flower selection. I am not always a huge fan of fake flowers but I figure that not a ton of people go in and out of our front door and obviously guests won't be thoroughly examining them, so I figured for this spot it would be okay. Actually I am not a huge fan of dollar store fakes. The ones at Michael's have come a long way and can actually look quite real.

Anyway.

I picked a few out and I still need to do a bit more adjusting but I think they look pretty good and help the cans not to look so drab.

I don't know why this excited me so much. Probably because it was a quick, easy and cheap spruce. It's the little things, people! 

Any spruces around for you these days?

Finally, Some Hair Bows

So when we found out we were having a girl, I didn't race out and buy tons of headbands, hairbows or accessories. I don't really know why. Don't get me wrong, I love a baby girl with a headband or hairbow just as much as the next person but I just didn't get the itch to do that.

Well, when I met my baby, she greeted us with a full head of dark hair. To me, right away, that distinguished her as a girl. I don't know why I thought that because I know there are a lot of boys born with lots of hair to but for some reason, I still didn't accessorize her head much.

I also would always think,"Oh, we are just at home, we don't need to put anything on her head," or ,"I don't want to put something on her head and then have her rub it off in her carseat or have it irritate her." I think I just didn't have a lot of logical thought for awhile, so let's face it, my cute baby girl, wasn't accessorized much. She also wore a lot of jammies. Hey, it was winter, okay?!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I was checking out one of my favorite daily reads she talked about one of her sponsors and a really cute website to get hair accessories. Okay, I will also confess right now, I think that a lot of hair accessories for babies are way overpriced. Hence, my new love for Polkadot Posies! Her products are great quality, inexpensive and I ordered them, I think on a Monday or Tuesday and they arrived that Friday. I ordered two headbands and three bows that can be interchanged. My total, with shipping was around $10. Awesome.

Excuse this cell phone pic. Just wanted to get
one of the actual model! ;)

I really would love to be creative like this girl and make cute hair accessories {I mean, seriously, her bows are the cutest!} and, guess what? I bought some supplies to do so thinking it would be nice to have a quick and easy craft during Eleanor's naptimes but then she starting the whole napping-on-mom-quite-often thing so that hasn't worked out quite yet. I did make her a quick clip one day:

Anyway, I was not compensated to write this, I don't even know who is behind Polkadot Posies, but I just wanted to share my find, it's cuteness and affordability and thank AP!

I Baked!

Obviously, I have not had a ton of time for baking lately, however, this past weekend I came across a recipe that I really wanted to try. Eleanor and I went through a phase where she would let me eat breakfast and have a cup of coffee while she would play on the floor. Most days, especially in this past week or so that she hasn't been feeling well, I only have time to grab something quick which isn't always the most nutritious. Also, Hub likes to eat something on the way into the office with his coffee so when I came across this blueberry muffin recipe and saw how simple it was, I knew it had to be made.

I got up Sunday morning to make them and decided I needed to just do a double batch so it would last a couple weeks and I could put half in the freezer. As I was mixing everything, I started to panic that I was using all these ingredients and they weren't going to turn out. The only reason I thought this is because of the few un-mainstream baking ingredients I was using--whole wheat flour, coconut oil {in place of the butter}, applesauce and agave nectar. Not that I don't have faith in my baking but since I don't use these types of substitutes that often--which I want to change--I just didn't know how they were going to work out.

But I continued mixing away.

They turned out!


They are really yummy. Not too sweet and even Ben likes them who sometimes rolls his eyes when I try to make healthy items or use "weird" ingredients.

So I followed that recipe but tweaked a couple things so here is my doubled recipe:

2 cups of apple sauce 

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of agave nectar

2 teaspoon of vanilla

2 egg

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

3 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of unbleached flour

2 tsp of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

2 handfuls of whole oats

honey (optional)

3 cups frozen blueberries {from Costco, they are SO good}

Preheat oven to 325. Mix dry ingredients, sift and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in a big bowl then add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Fold in blueberries. Drop into lined muffin tin, sprinkle oats on top and drizzle with honey if you like. {I forgot to sprinkle and drizzle} Bake 24-26 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!


**Just an unrelated sidenote: I feel like I have been a little absent here and not that I post all the time or regularly anyway but I was commenting pretty frequently on most blogs I read daily and I haven't been. I have been reading blogs mostly in Google Reader while nursing so I can't comment much. I apologize and do comment when I can! Still loving my daily reads! And I hope once little Miss feels better and we get back to a little bit of normal around here, I can even post a little more!**

My Own 6 Month Celebration

Three days ago I smiled and shared a snapshot of E on Instagram and Facebook as well as texted a picture to the grandparents because she turned 6 months old. {6 month post to come} As exciting as it is that my baby has been with us for 6 months, I was also celebrating 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding my little one.

Before we began our breastfeeding journey I would have never thought that continuing would be cause for me to feel proud of myself and my baby. I know it's not for everyone and some people have too many issues to continue or it's physically impossible and that's fine; I am not trying to start a debate about any of this or make anyone feel bad. However, it is important to me and I take pride in the fact that for half a year I have given my daughter all the nourishment she needs.

It has not been easy. We had some challenges in the beginning, it is always tiring and a bit time consuming and we may even be up against thrush at this point but...I wouldn't have it any other way.

I guess I may sound a bit like I'm tooting my own horn here which I kind of am--so I can look back later and know this little feeling of accomplishment. The emotions that have come with breastfeeding were definitely not expected. I did expect to feel the extreme closeness with the baby and those types of feelings but a lot of times I have felt stress, exhaustion, frustration and many more. I have learned also to deal with and understand that these are all normal feelings and that I am not a bad mom for feeling any of these feelings. My amazing husband has helped me through a lot of these emotions, bless his sweet heart. He has put up with a lot from me and all of these feelings and he always reassures me that it is okay to feel overwhelmed at times. I think even he has been very surprised with all that breastfeeding brings with it.

My daughter also does not take a bottle. I learned to be fine with that too. It really isn't that big of a deal. I guess sometimes it would be nice to be able to plan out an outing a little better but we are getting better at doing that too. So basically, feeding E on the go is quite easy too. I don't have to bring anything along, no mixing or warming which is quite convenient. I learned to accept the fact that although the days and nights may seem endless right now sometimes, this is all just such a short phase that we will fondly look back on and wish it hadn't gone so quickly.

Breastfeeding is an amazing thing and I didn't realize how committed I would be to it and our continuing success and mother and daughter {and father, really, let's face it, it's about all of us!}. I am still in amazement that my daughter has gained about 10 pounds since being born 6 months ago and that is all because of my body. Cuh-razy.

So, onward we go and will continue for as long as we can and for that I am thankful. Again, thankful for a husband who works hard and for our life that we tried so hard to set up for me to be able to be at home and nurse around the clock. I am also thankful for finding the La Leche League in our area and for the women who are willing to share tips, advice and their company.