Baking

Baking is something I should never ever ever attempt again I wish I could, so bad but every time I try I prove to myself once again that I suck. I thought it would be fun to make some cute Halloween pumpkin shaped cookies and then blog about them, that was until I actually decorated them and decided they suck way to bad for me to show the world. No more baking for me! It's weird though because I think I'm a pretty good cook. I love to try new recipes and attempt new foods but for some reason I cant bake for the life of me. It is a little disappointing but I guess I'll live.

I'm excited for this weekend, I'm going to take B to a pumpkin patch and I can't wait to get some good pictures in the corn maze!

Pictures

How freaking fast do they grow up?? I'm sure I've said this many times before but holy crap! I can't believe how big she has gotten. I was reading some of my old posts and looking at the pictures from just 5 months ago and she has changed so much. She is almost 13 months old. Can you believe it? I can't (but you already know that). She has gone from a 7lb 7oz 19in baby to a 23lb 31in toddler! What the heck is up with that?

She is definitley starting to test the waters when it comes to our parenting. She grabs things that she knows she isnt supposed to have and hides. I cant leave ANYTHING on the couch anymore because she manages to get it, she can also climb up onto the couch which makes keeping things out of her reach really difficult (I usually put my cell on the back of the couch so she doesnt snatch it). And I tell ya she is one smart cookie. She called daddy on my cell phone yesterday, proceeded to talk for a few minutes then when I heard Patrick saying "Hello?" I said "Izabella, did you call daddy?" and she hung up!! How great is that, she knows how to make and end calls on my phone!

It still kills me every time she signs "more", she's been doing it for about a month and a half, I still get excited everytime. She basically taught herself, which I think is amazing. I was working with her on a few words when she was younger but stopped at about 7 months, for unknown reasons. She must've remembered because she randomly started signing 'more' around 11 months. She also points at what she wants and then signs, which to me is equivalent to a 2 word phrase. I think I could go on and on about her, seriously. I could brag about this child ALL day long! I freaking love her.

Teeth

B has a new tooth on the bottom left next to her other 2 beauitful teeth! That brings her to a total of 7. I honestly didn't think she was teething. She's been her normal happy-self. This morning I was tickling her and I noticed it when she laughed. I never thought I'd ever get so excited over simple little things.

My weekend was rather boring, not a whole lot happened other then we bought a wii and have been playing on it when we can. Today we went to lunch with my mom, I've been craving chinese for like a month but since Patrick doesn't like it the only way I can go is by myself and that's no fun. So, I took my mom and yum yum it was freaking good!! I'm thinking today would be a good day for a mini-photoshoot at the park, since it's really really nice out and I haven't taken pictures like that in awhile. So, I'll probably be back later with pictures!

House Cleaning

I just want to show everyone how my living room looks BEFORE I clean it. I read lots of mommy blogs (which are all fantastic, don't get me wrong) that have perfect, sparkly clean houses and I wonder how they do it? I felt crappy at first because I thought, well why isn't MY house clean 24/7? Am I a horrible mom for not keeping it clean 24/7? Then I remember no one is perfect and even though my house is a mess 98% of the day that doesn't effect my mommy skills at all. It is very unrealistic to want your house clean all the time with children and the only way that would happen here is if I hired a maid and frankly I just don't have the money for that. So I make do with my messy house. I just wanted to post this so other moms know its OK for your house to be messy at times, it doesn't make you any less of a person or mother.

Anyways, good news! B hasnt had a night terror since monday morning!! She has been sleeping so well this week and it makes me happy. I'm really hoping they were just a one time thing and wont happen again but I am prepared for if they do! I dont have much else to post so..... picture time!















I really need to think of some interesting things to post!

Worry wart

I have been a "worry wart" my whole life, and it SUCKS. I worried about my parents all of the time when I was younger. Of course it only got worse after my father passed away. So naturally I am a complete freak when it comes to my daughter, every little thing worries me. It doesn't help that she has had some minor problems since she was born, first she had problems with milk/soy formula (this made me feel HORRIBLE for giving up breastfeeding so quickly, wont happen again.) so she didnt gain weight properly and I felt like a terrible mom. She was only 10lbs at 3 months because she was throwing up none stop. She was put on nutramigen which did wonders but was very expensive and sometimes a hassle to find, she was also diagnosed with acid reflux and had to take medication once a day. These things are very minor but for a first time mom/worry wart they were really hard to deal with. At 9 months I was able to switch her back to regular enfamil lipil which made me think it would be easier to transition to milk, wrong! She had a reaction to the milk and had gotten horrible diaper rash for the first time ever. She remained on formula until about a week ago and she was able to transition to milk with no problems. Like I said these things are VERY common and not something I normally fuss about, I know there are babies and families with so many more issues then us so I hate complaining. I feel like something has always been "wrong", we haven't gone a month without something coming up, her getting sick, having a reaction to something. Recently B started screaming in her sleep and thrashing around horribly. My first thought was night terrors, so I googled it and read that children aren't capable of night terrors or nightmares until after 18 months. But B is showing definite signs so what should I think? I think the worst, of course! I start worrying about seizures. I watched a couple videos of children (much older children) having night terrors and B's is 10x worse then any video I saw, and she's years younger. I hate sitting here thinking "what if" so I made an appointment with her pediatrician at 3 and I'm anxious to see what she has to say! I want these to be solved, it is the worst thing in the world seeing your baby like that. This morning she had a pretty bad spout of screaming and thrashing that lasted 3 hours, I read that when a child is having a night terror to not restrain them and basically just wait it out, so that's what I did and it was horrible. I think I cried just as much as her.

I'm sorry if this post is just all over the place lol I have a lot on my mind, not to mention I'm pregnant and sleep deprived. So I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense.

Pictures

It's hard for me to grasp the concept of my little girl growing up so quickly. She learns things at an unbelievable rate and never seizes to amaze me. Shes been walking since 9 1/2 months and just recently mastered running. She signs "more" and on occasion "dad." It seems like she learns a new word everyday and her pediatrician said she talks much more then average babies her age. I guess I cant refer to her as a baby anymore since technically she is a toddler.

I've been trying to find more things around my house to do a good review on but haven't had much luck. I might post something about the stroller we have, since its been so good to us. Well I hear my baby, ahem, toddler calling for me!

Changes

I'm going to start doing some reviews on here for baby/kid items. I'm not very good at just keeping up with a regular 'ol blog because my life isnt all that interesting and I dont have a lot to write about! So, this seems like a good option for me. I'm going to start out with B's carseat which I have lots of varying thoughts on. Here it goes:

Evenflo Titan

(B in her car seat at about 8 months, rear facing)

We bought this when B was about 5 months. I wanted something affordable and safe and this seemed to be the best option. Installation was very very easy! I did have to move the straps up one notch but that was simple. It installs in our 2005 ford escape very securely. We had a little trouble getting it level but a simple rolled towel solved that fast. B's head never flops over when she's sleeping which was a huge concern of mine. We never used the cup holder/snack holder mainly because it just took up to much room and with the seat installed in the middle its hard for anyone to sit on either side with the holders installed so we just left them off. The first few months the car seat was wonderful we had no problems, but once B started growing at an insane rate we ran into a few bumps. The straps seem to tighten on their own and every once in awhile one side will be MUCH tighter then the other, I have to yank on the strap really hard to get it equal with the other side. Not to mention they constantly twist. I also wanted to keep B rear facing until at least 2 and with this seat its really hard. At 12 months she was 30inches and just under 23lbs so she's not a huge child but I have troubles getting her in and out. Also, we had to move the seat from the middle to the passenger side because of a gap in my seat, the car seat falls down into, this was no big deal until we realized how far the front passenger seat had to be pushed up. Normally no one sits in that seat but on long car rides we take my vehicle so whoever sits there is in for some squished legs. B started to hate car rides and it was really difficult for her to fall asleep. The straps of the seat started cutting into her neck so I bought some fuzzy things to wrap on them and that solved the problem. Since I had a hard time putting her in and out rear facing I decided to try her forward facing and again the seat was very easy to install securely. I had no problems..and even though its not reclined her head still doesn't flop when she sleeps. This has helped with some of the problems and its much easier to get her in and out of forward facing not to mention whoever is in the passenger seat doesn't have to eat the dashboard. I also cant imagine putting a child that is anywhere near 47in and/or 50lbs in this thing! B looks as if she's already outgrowing it and shes half that size. It doesn't seem like it would fit a bigger child very comfortably. It was only $100 and seems to be very safe, which is what matters the most. I give it 5 stars out of 10.