Sleep Success...for now

My Little Sleeper - August 2009

I hope I don't jinx myself by blogging about my child's wonderful sleeping habits. I am just feeling so blessed right now that my child actually sleeps...

all night

in her own room

for at least 10-12 hours

and has been

just about every night

since May 9, 2009

when she was 11 weeks old.

We tell her "night night." We put her in the crib. We give her a baby doll. We turn out all the lights. We walk out and shut the door. The child goes to sleep...97.8% of the time.

Now, we have had some bad nights and the entire month of November was particularly hard since she was cutting 2 teeth at once. She would wake up every other night and just want to be held because she was hurting and I would lay back in the super plush rocker recliner and just sleep with her till morning...so we did get SOME rest on these rough nights.

But, overall, my child is a wonderful sleeper and I am very grateful because it makes my job so much easier.

I followed the basic Babywise pattern of eat, play, sleep (although I didn't abide by ALL of the techniques in the book) and sure enough, she was sleeping all night before 3 months of age.

Can I just take a moment to say:

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Glory to God! Blessed Be His Name!

I read blogs and so many mothers are grappling with a 2 or 3 year old who is sleeping in the bed with them and are still up and down all night with these kids.

My heart goes out to them. I feel so sorry for their nerves and sleep-deprived brains.

For now, I will enjoy my sleeper, 'cause if we're blessed with another one, it may be a whole 'nother story! But, I hope not.....

Craftiness, Pancakes & Car Maintenance

This past weekend was one of those that you spend doing little things that need to be done, but you don't feel that inspired to do them during the work week.

First on the agenda was breakfast. Sydney has discovered that pancakes with syrup are her FAVE breakfast food thus far. I was cleaning the kitchen and feeding her at the same time, and I guess she got a tad impatient with me. I can't put all of the pancake bites on her tray at one time, or she will cram them all in her mouth at once causing Mama to go into panic mode. She stuffed herself with pancakes Saturday morning AND polished off a banana. She eats a lot but runs a few hundred laps each day at the house, so it burns off in a hurry.

I'll just go ahead and help myself.

Chris is my resident mechanic. He can fix just about anything with moving parts, well almost anything. He changes the oil on my 07 Accord which is something that I know most men folk wouldn't attempt and would just take it down to the Jiffy Lube since all these new-fangled cars have so many 'lectrical switches and weird computer-shaped parts. But not Chris, he tackles it in his typical, "Me Man, Me Can Do It" fashion and gets it done. Lately, my miniature friend has been having major Daddy clinginess and wants to be smack dab in the middle of whatever he is doing, thus the picture below. Now, she hates the walker and never used it to walk, but will tolerate it if it means spending time in the garage with Daddy-O.

Need a hand there Pops?

Most people say I am a creative person, but they are usually referring to the way I make up songs and write poetry, etc...They are not referring to my artistic nor culinary talents, 'cause there ain't any there. Pardon my grammar. But, for Sydney's birthday, I am venturing into uncharted waters and trying my hand at...wait for it..

CANDY MAKING and HOT GLUING

Heaven help us all...

I did a trial run Saturday on the ladybug suckers that were supposed to be red and black, as you might expect, but turned out pink and brown. I got to add a LOT more food coloring. Keep in mind that I did not take my time and I just plopped some melted candy in the last mold which is why it is so attractive. I realized that I was overfilling them and made many other interesting discoveries during this attempt.


The bugs turned out okay, but they were a little smaller than I expected. It's that whole "ABC catalog and Oriental Trading catalog" deceptive photography. EVERY TIME I order something from those folks, it arrives in a shoebox sized box and is 1/10 of the size pictured. Also, it takes an engineering degree to assemble the product that in the ad states, "Great for a preschool craft." Yeah, right. I don't know what Montesorri preschool they are referring to... Oh well, they will be cute party favors.

Just a few more weeks till the big event and I've got a ton to do!

True Vintage

Vintage clothing is all the rage these days. Classic designs such as smocked dresses and frilly collars and sleeves are everywhere! Fashion is crazy sometimes. When I was in junior high, we wore some wacko stuff, like penny loafers and grungy t-shirts with advertisements on them. I thought, now that stuff will never come back! Well, lo and behold, I saw a kid at the store wearing penny loafers and a Lucky Charms t-shirt with a bunch of other teenagers wearing the same sytles. If a clothing item looks like it is a throw back from another era, well, honey it is in style now!

Baby clothes hardly ever go out of style, 'cause no matter what you put on a cute baby, that baby is still cute. Notice I emphasize "CUTE" baby. Not all babies are cute, I hate to tell ya. There's times when someone shows you a baby picture and all you can say is, "How precious!" 'cause if you said, "How cute!" you would be lying smack through your teeth. ANYWAY....

My mom saved a couple of my old dresses and Sydney is big enough to wear them now, so yippee! My grandmother made a Noah's ark jumper with tiny appliqued animals that I wore when I was a little 'un and I put it on Sydney last Sunday. I paired it with white tights and "classic" baby shoes, so in actuality, she looks like a midget nurse. But, one of the CUTEST midget nurses I have ever laid my grubbies on.

It's amazing to me that she is wearing something that I actually wore. I am not really the sentimental type that keeps EVERYTHING. I have all of my school days momentos saved in 1 small plastic tub. That's it. To me, stuff is just stuff, and it's all gonna burn anyway! (That's a whole 'nother post) I guess that's why I don't understand folks that never hand anything down to others, 'cause to me, it's being a little bit selfish. I have given so many of her clothes away, it's ridiculous. Lots of folks say, "Well, what if you have another baby?" Well, hopefully, I will have another baby and I do have a few things saved and that baby will have to wear some hand-me-downs, but by that time, I know more hand-me-downs will be coming my way! "Give, and it shall come back to you..."

And while I'm on the baby clothing topic, I have a real hard time with folks that have EVERYTHING MONOGRAMMED. Give me a cotton pickin' break! SOME monogramming is cute, but when everything in the drawer has the child's name emblazoned across it, "weird" comes to mind. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have more of her things monogrammed with her name, but # 1. I have MUCH more important things to spend my hard-earned money on, and #2. Who else is going to get any use out of that outfit? Things to consider...

So, I will keep a few things of Sydney's that are extra special, and definitely the truly vintage jumper she is wearing above. It's not what you wear, but HOW you wear it. And remember...some folks would look good in a burlap sack.

A Lil' Corny 11 Month Old

Milestones are reached everyday in the Chambers' household.

Our newest accomplishment is self-feeding. Syd loves nothing more than to sit down to a tray filled with bite-sized morsels of absolutely ANYTHING.
She is going to be open-minded, impartial, and unprejudiced when it comes to FOOD. I've yet to find anything she does not dive into with much fervor. Veggies? Yep! Fruits? Bring them on? Cinnamon rolls, Grands biscuits, crackers...oh yeah, baby!
Now, of course, with each food, there is a certain "protocol" to be followed. Green peas much be squished with the pointer finger before eating, and Puffs must be ground into powder, and 'lil crunchies (look like Cheetos) must be licked like a lollipop and then crammed into the pie hole.

Today is her 11 month birthday and to commemorate this occasion, we tried a new veggie. Yes, I can officially say I have a southern, corn-fed, girl.

She loved her sweet corn and took after it like it was goin' out of style. She prefers the steam shovel pig trough method of feeding for this type of vegetable. I've never seen her put so much food in her mouth at one time, and was a little worried she was gonna choke. She just kept smiling and shoveling...

At 11 months, Sydney is:

walking, running, dancing, wiggling, "talking" (babbling dada),weighing about 21 pounds, burying her head into people's legs, begging for food like a puppy dog, visiting with strangers at the store, smiling at anyone who'll give her the time of day, slamming cabinet doors (REPEATEDLY), pitching little hissies (when she doesn't get her way) and giving us more joy than we ever dreamed possible.

..and just when I think my heart's gonna bust 'cause I love her so much, it stretches.

Play Date

Today, Kim and her 6 month old angel, Emma, came for a play date. Kim lives in Nacogdoches and we have a special friendship. We walked the valley of infertility together and have a bond that is very unique. She was blessed with her miracle, Emma, last July, and we were so excited they were able to get together for their very first play date! Ashley, another dear friend who has also endured her share of trials and tribulations when it comes to having babies, came over with her twins, Cash and Paige. They just turned 1 and are as funny as a rubber crutch, as my mom would say. Those two crack me up!

Wow, Mom...this is awesome!

After all that playing, rompin', and stompin', Ashley headed off to Wally World and we took Emma and Sydney for a stroll around the block. After 30 minutes of walking, we both realized that post-partum bodies are a lot different that before baby bodies. Whewww....we were huffin' and puffin' pushing those kids up and down the hills in my neighborhood.

She Looks Like Chris

This is the reason why my mom and dad give people strange looks when they say, "SHE LOOKS LIKE CHRIS." Yes, she does look like her daddy, but when Mawmaw and Pawpaw look at Sydney, they see me.

These Feet Were Made For Walking

Our lives have been very busy lately, can you tell? This has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and she's just pickin' up speed.

Can't take your eyes off this chick for a second! The phrase you hear the most around the house now, "Where is she?"

PJ Pilfering

Don't mind me. I'm just doing a little drawer purging.

I purge Sydney's dresser drawers and tiny closet every month since she grows so fast and nothing fits for long...We have a "giveaway box" to hand down to our younger girly baby friends, and a "keep box" for those few sentimental outfits that might fit a future sibling. I know folks who keep EVERY outfit and to me that is a little crazy. I had planned on going through her clothes this week, but Syd beat me to it one morning.

She is opening drawers and cabinet doors lately and exploring the contents...a rite of passage for all toddlers. The kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets have locks, but her dresser is open for business. She was tossing out pajamas over her head and making a lovely mess but stopped cold in her tracks when her daddy poked his head around the corner...the look of pure innocence on her face was hilarious.

Right Decision

I have worked everyday this week (except for Tuesday and I had to go out of town for appts then) and Sydney has been camping out with her wonderful babysitters and grandparents. It has been a difficult week and getting her packed up everyday and getting me dressed and semi-presentable has proven challenging.

After bringing her home yesterday afternoon, she didn't want to do anything but sit in my lap. Just perfectly content to sit there and breathe. She then slid down from the chair and walked to her book basket. She selected a book and slapped it on my leg. Then held up her tiny arms for me to pick her up. She began to huff and puff with excitement. I read the book several times and then out of nowhere, she turned her face towards mine and kissed me delicately on the cheek.

Unsolicited, unexpected, and unbelievable.

It was the first time she's freely given me a kiss (I usually have to beg for one and roll around on the floor like a loon) so I was in shock and my heart melted into a puddle. Tears filled my eyes and I held her close. She didn't pull away.

I am so glad that I decided to cut back on my work schedule to stay at home with my baby. I made the right decision and I mean no disrespect to the working moms out there. You have to do what you have to do.

I appreciate my husband who works extra hours and takes on extra patients so I can stay home. We've cut back in several areas that some folks think they CANNOT do without. I do not buy new clothes and shoes unless absolutely necessary and no, we don't have dish network tv channels or super high speed internet. My husband is driving a vehicle with over 300,000 miles on it...but he does not care.

I've seen her first steps, felt her first tooth, and now, received her first kiss....a first I am so glad I did not miss.

Tally Me Bananas

"Day O! Da-a-a-a-O! Daylight come and me wanna go home!"

Banana Boat girl has arrived... She has always loved bananas and now that she is big enough to have the real thing, she is scarfing them down with a vengeance. I bought a very small bunch of bananas at the store thinking they would last me all week. Well, the fruit lover ate an entire full-sized banana in one sitting! Oh me. Back to the store for more bananas! Chris can't stand bananas so I don't know where she gets it...must be from her monkey mama. LOVE 'EM! Especially in banana pudding with cool whip, 'nilla wafers...but I digress.

"Which one you lovelies will be next? Hmmm?"

"See Mom, I'm eating nanners all by myself!

"Oh, banana bites are so intoxicating."

No amount of styling product in the world was able to remedy her hair issues on this day.
Cold weather static cling was victorious! Poor baby.

The Weekend in Pictures

The Chambers family had a fantastic, wonderful, and blissful weekend. It was one of those weekends that leaves you refreshed and rejuvenated!

On Saturday, we slept in (till after daylight...wow) and then got ready to go to Nacogdoches. I dolled Sydney up in her snowman outfit and she and her bunny made several trips down the hall doing the modeling pose.
Her walking has turned into RUNNING.
Chris had to take the big bike in for a service and he rode it in the 20 something degree weather. Yep, he sure did.

We saw one of my dearest friends, Kim, at the Harley shop. I apologize for the blurriness of this picture. I STILL have not mastered the camera phone. Kim has a 6 month old named, Emma, and she TOO is a miracle baby. Kim and I have a very special bond and I know we will be friends for life!Then, we toodled over to 20/20 Eyecare to see MeMaw Kay and Pepaw Doc. Kay stayed with me in the hospital while I was having Sydney until my mom could get there. Sydney is just an adopted grandkid!Then, the 3 of us went to Auntie Pasta's - a wonderful Italian eatery in Nacogdoches. Sydney LOVED her pasta and meat sauce.


Chris has the balsamic ribeye...mmmmmm..

I had the lasagna trio...mmmmmm.....


I highly recommend going to Auntie Pasta's if you're in the Nac neck of the woods!

Sydney is bundled up and relaxed in her daddy's arms as we get ready to leave...
It was MIGHTY cold on Saturday!

And on a totally unrelated note...Sydney's shoes came in the mail! These are the ones I bought to go with her birthday dress. The darn things have squeakers in them! (What in the WORLD was I thinking??) But, aren't they the most adorable shoes you've EVER SEEN?

Millie Pie

I love, love, love, this precious snowman onesie that Sydney received from Mimi at Millie Pie! If you are looking for personalized, unique, and absolutely precious clothing for your sweetie, I highly recommend Millie Pie!

I have known Mimi and Marcia for several years now, and you won't find nicer folks, faster service, and better quality. Every garment is lovingly hand-designed and created by this talented duo. They will personalize and customize just about anything you need. Want a cupcake t-shirt? They can do it. Need a puppy dog on a pair of capri pants for a 6 month old? Consider it done!

They are just now getting their website up and running, so please visit them their website often for the best in one-of-kind children's apparel!


P.S. We are still scratching our heads about what color her eyes are going to be?? Blue? Green? Brown? There's a little bit of everything in those peepers!