Mama's, I Need Help - Opinions/Ideas NEEDED

Calling all Mommies’! This mama needs some help with her baby girl. My happy baby is gone, and we now have the most whiney, miserable child and we are at are wit's end on what to do. As you know from my previous post, we moved, so I'm sure that maybe part of it. She started a NEW daycare last week, after being home with me for almost 3 months, I’m sure that is part of it. All she wants is her paci and blanket all day! As soon as we get home from work/daycare, she whines and cries for it. Here's the thing, I don't want her to have her paci in her mouth all day, we limit it to bedtime/naptime. She will throw herself around and whine and cry, pull on my leg, anything to get our attention. I'm to the point, where I want to take it away permanently, but also feel bad because I know she is just in a huge transition.
Has anybody else gone thru this? Do you have any ideas? I would rather not just give her the paci to make her stop; I don't want to get in the habit of letting her have it all day, every day.

Then there is eating. If she doesn't want something, she throws it on the floor, or will whine or cry until we take her out of her chair. I also don't want to get in the habit of making something different for her to eat. At what point did you ladies start saying, if you don't want what we are having, then you aren't eating, or you have a choice of some healthy snacks and that’s it.

Am I being too strict? She is 15 months, am I expecting too much at this age? Any opinions/ideas would be great!!

The Move

A little back story. After my husband and I graduated from college, he got a job out of state, 11 hours away from all family and friends. He took it, and I went with him. We were only dating at that point, but had been together for about 8 years. That was back in 2006. Since then, we got engaged, married and had babygirl.
After having Aryana, and visiting family, we knew we wanted to get closer to family, it was hard to travel back and forth with a baby, and we hated that Aryana wouldn't grow up knowing her Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles as much as we would like. Both my husband and I spent a lot of time with our Grandparents growing up.

My husband started looking for a job closer to home, and right around Aryana's birthday, he received an offer!!! We had about a month to find somewhere to live and move, so he could start his new job! We are now only about 3 hours away from family, and LOVE IT!!! Within the first week babygirl saw our whole family, and a month out she already knows everybody and is comfortable staying with them! We couldn't be happier!!

That is part of the reason I've been MIA, when I gave my two week notice, my boss asked if I could work remotely so I could transition all of my work and help them out with year end, I couldn't pass it up! I was able to work from home and stay home with Aryana for a couple of weeks, but it was busy! I felt like I was working all day, getting up around 6am, working until Aryana woke up, then played with her until she took her first nap, worked, and repeat until she went to bed at night and then worked until about 9pm or 10pm everynight! My last day was this past Friday, and the sameday I accepted a new position locally, starting in 2 weeks! I really couldn't be happier!

Some summer fun pictures since we have moved, we are about 30 mins from a beautiful beach and a small little splash park!

Anybody Still Here????

I haven't posted in almost 3 months?! I missed my babygirls 1st birthday!!! She is already 14 months old!! A lot has happened since the last time I posted, but we'll start with Aryana's 1st birthday! We just had a couple friends over to celebrate, but before they all came, one of my friends came over and took pictures of Aryana, and they turned out great! It was really windy that day, and Aryana just loved it, she was laughing and running in circles, it was so funny! Here are a few pictures

We have a WALKER!

I am waayyyy behind, but Aryana started walking around 10 1/2 months, and she is about to be ONE in less than 2 weeks!!! I can't believe how fast the time goes by :( Although I think I have said this before, she gets more fun by the day. She is always babbling, and sometimes it seems like she is yelling at us or trying to tell us something, she gets so serious. I have to try to get it on camera. I am so behind, but here are some pictures of Easter and then some from the other day, she was walking around with a Twizzler in her mouth. The minute she hears a wrapper or thinks you are getting food she is at your feet in about 2 seconds!

San Diego Baby!

We just got back from a week in San Diego, and it was great!!! We took Aryana with us, so our first family vacation, and first time traveling with a baby! Aryana did so good! She was a good little traveler. Before we left I was worried about being "that Mom" that had a screaming baby on the plane, but she probably cried about 5 mins on the way there and a few on the way back, otherwise she slept! We took a late flight both ways.
We ended up going to Sea World and the zoo! We walked pretty much everywhere, they have a great transit system. We visited a couple of the small cities around and everything was so nice! Aryana LOVED the baby carrier, every time she was in it she laughed and babbled! This is one of the pictures my husband took while he was holding her!





BTW, I used Instagram for some of these pictures, like the giraffes and the one with my hubby and her in front of the Lion, I love it!

Love Part Two

Now that Aryana is a little older I wanted to write down some of the things she does now that I LOVE

I love the way you wrap your arms around my neck when I pick you up
I love the way you will randomly open your mouth and try to give me a kiss
I love the way you play with my fingers when you are drinking your bottle
I love when you crawl on my lap while your playing just to be near
I love how silly you are, you make me laugh everyday
I love how you are starting to mimic us
I love how you bob your head to any type of music that is playing
I love when you are crawling and you will stop and start to shake like you are dancing

Baby girl you are just over 9 months and so much fun, mommy loves you!

P.90x vs 30 day shred

First, let me start off by saying nobody asked me to write about these workout programs, this is just my opinion and experience.

I think mostly everybody that wants to work out says that they don't have enough time to do so. I thought I didn't have time before Aryana, now I really feel like I don't have time. Anyways, before I was pregnant with Aryana, I bought P.90x and was determined to work out, actually before that, I had a membership to the gym, and hated going because I never knew what to do, and was not going to pay for a personal trainer. I convinced myself that p90x would be the solution, I could do it from the comfort of my own home and follow instructions :) Well, lets just say it lasted maybe 2 or 3 weeks. The workouts were over an hour long and the yoga part, I couldn't do half of the things they were doing. I sold it a couple months ago.

Fast forward to after Aryana was born I see the 30day Shred by Jillian Michaels at Tar.get for less than $10 and buy it. Well, I just got around to starting it last week, and let me tell you, I LOVE IT!! It is the perfect amount of time! It takes like 30 mins, which is perfect for me! After Aryana goes to sleep I usually pop it in and still have a couple hours to do stuff around the house. If you don't know how it works, she has 3 different levels that you can start at, Level 1 being the easiest. She does a circuit workout; Strength, Cardio and Abs 3 times using different workouts for each circuit. The only thing you need is some free weights. My first week I started with Level 1, and this week I started Level 2, and boy did it kick my booty! You can pretty much do whatever level you want for as long as you want. I just decided to do the first week at level 1, the second week at Level 2, and so on. I'm not sure what I will do the last week, maybe level 3 again. I will let you know if I see results after 30 days!

Anyways, just wanted to share my opinion/experience, has anybody done either work out program?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have you been in reach?

Stacy-Ann over at Weather Anchor Mama wrote a post the other day about reaching your breaking point with your child/ren, find the link below. I was going to do a similar post last week, but wasn't sure how people would react, but after reading Stacy-Ann's post, she has a good point that people need to get in on this.

Weather Anchor Mama: Breaking Point

I was telling a friend last week that I can totally see how parents can hurt their children. If they don't have anybody there to relieve them when they just don't know what to do anymore. When Aryana was little, between the time she was born to 3 months, she cried on and off all day, everyday. When I was on leave, there were days when my husband had to come home, because I would just be sitting here crying right along with her. There comes a time when you just can't take anymore and you don't know what else to do to help the baby. For me, my husband would leave work right away if he knew we were having a bad day, to come help. There are people that don't have any family around or friends that just don't have anybody to help, or they are afraid to ask, because they may think they are a bad parent for not being able to care for their child. You hear in the news that a parent shook their child, or somehow hurt their child, and I know everybody's first reaction is usually, I don't understand how a parent can do that to their child, I know, I was one of those people, but now, I can at least think twice, that maybe, they just needed some help, and nobody was there for them. Obviously not all cases are like that, some people are plain crazy. Of course, I would never hurt Aryana in anyway, but I don't think any parent can say that they have never reached their limit and they just need somebody to step in and help out.

I love Aryana so much, and have to say, that I never thought we were going to get out of the stage of constant crying, but now, she is the happiest baby ever! People would always tell us, that after 3 months, it would get better. My husband and I would always look at each other and say, sure, but I feel like there was like a light switch the week she turned 3 months that came on, and she really was so different! Its funny, other parents don't usually tell you this stuff before you have a baby, but I really think that we should share ALL of our experiences, not just the happy ones, just in case there is someone out there going thru or may eventually go thru something similar. I know, when I was in the thick of it, I would always think to myself, I see all these happy and content babies, why isn't Aryana like that, and think that she just wasn't happy. I would ask myself that a couple times a week. I don't have any family around where I live, so I would call my family crying, and tell them, that Aryana isn't happy and I don't know what is wrong with her, that I thought I was a bad Mommy. I know I still have a lot more to experience, her crying is going to be nothing compared to what is to come, but just wanted to share a little of what we went thru, just in case.

Alright, after all this seriousness, have to share a pic of my happy girl!

Crazy Hair

I know Aryana is still a baby, but I really do not know what to do with her hair, it is seriously ALL OVER THE PLACE! It sticks up everywhere, it has some random curls and parts in the back are way longer than others. The hair in the front is getting pretty long and almost in her eyes! My husband is asking me all the time what I'm going to do about her hair and truthfully I have no idea. Maybe I need to start by getting some better shampoo so it doesn't look so dry and frizzy. Truthfully I want to just buzz it off and let it grow back. Her hair is falling out like crazy right now anyways. I could try some clips, but just don't think she will leave them in her hair. My MIL says she loves her hair like that, and I guess its cute for a baby, so maybe I'm worrying too much about it? So, Mama's, I need some advice! Here are a few pics of what her hair looks like on the regular. Tried to get a few diff angles.

Swimming with Daddy

My husband swam in middle school, high school and college. Once or twice a week he teaches swim classes at our local swim school because he enjoys it. I couldn't wait for Aryana to start swimming! She just started her first class 2 weeks ago, and she is having so much fun! At first I was a little nervous about going and watching because after I get home from work she does not want me to walk away from her. If my husband grabs her she will whine until I grab her, but she has been doing so great! We asked the other baby at her daycare to join as well, and the first night it was so cute when they saw each other they both got excited and starting flapping their arms and jabbering! I wanted this to be a Daddy and Aryana thing, but I will probably get in the water a couple times. Here are a couple pictures of her first two classes.

Long Time No Talk

WOW, I can't believe I have gone this long without blogging!! Aryana is getting so big and SO much fun! She has about 4 teeth already. She is crawling and pulling up on everything!
Between work and the holidays I have been so busy! When I get home from work all I want to do is spend time with Aryana before she goes to bed!
We went back to our hometown for Christmas, and I can't tell you how many times we heard what a happy baby Aryana is! She is always smiling! Lately she has been babbling non-stop, and so loud! Its funny. Well let me post her 6 month pictures we got done professionally and some Christmas pictures.

Pop goes the what?!

Aryana's first tooth popped thru last week! Is that supposed to be exciting? I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, its like, your baby hit that next "milestone" how exciting, but, on the other hand, they are in pain, and it's not fun. It's hard to get excited when your kid is in pain, plus, that just means she is growing up so fast!! The last week or so has been rough with sleeping, and I know it's just the beginning! Whats weird is that the first tooth didn't really seem to bother her, but I think the second one is coming in and is really bothering her.

What did you ladies use to help with teething? We bought Oraj.el, but I decided not to use it because I read somewhere it could numb the back of their throat. I bought Hy.lands Teething tablets, been using those the last two nights, plus some Tylenol, and not sure if it helps or not. Any other ideas!?

Silpada Jewelry

Alright ladies, I am throwing a Silpada party, if anybody is interested in buying some jewelry let me know! With Christmas right around the corner thought it would be great timing to do some shopping!

Here is the website to look at the catalog.

www.mysilpada.com/lacresha.maynor

Paranoid Much?

I'm sure that people won't be happy with what I'm about to say, but it is what it is...Aryana is a tummy sleeper! When she was about 6-8 weeks old she started waking up about every 30 mins or so crying. Finally one night we flipped her over to her tummy and she slept for hours! She has always had good head control and she was able to lift her head and turn her head so I figured we would give it a shot. We always get the same line at the pediatricians office about how she should be sleeping on her back, and at her 4 month she said that the biggest risk of SIDS is between 4-6 months. That made me a little nervous, but it is kind of too late now to make her sleep on her back, plus she can roll over both ways.
Last night Aryana slept from 7pm to 4:45am without.a.peep then went back to bed till we woke her up around 6:30! That has been the longest stretch of sleeping she has ever done! I woke up around 4:15am and realized she hadn't woken up yet, we have a video monitor so I just glanced over like I usually do throughout the night and check to see if I see her back moving up and down. Last night, I could not tell! I was looking and looking and just couldn't tell if she was breathing. I went into her room and just touched her face and she didn't move, but she was warm. So I went back to bed, still looking at the monitor. Got up to use the bathroom thinking maybe she will move a little when I come back. But I still couldn't tell. My husband turned over and so I told him what time it was and told him I couldn't tell if Aryana was breathing so he told me to go in there and flick her. So I went in there again and rubbed her head, and she finally moved.
Do all parents do that the first time their baby sleeps pretty much all night? Or am I just very paranoid?

Wordless Wednesday

I am an Idiot...sometimes!

Two funny stories I have to tell you that happened within the last month that were embarrassing!!

It was recently my husbands birthday, I had bought him a gift and set up a night for us to go out and set up a babysitter. The only thing I was missing was a card, so the day of his birthday I left work a little early ran to the store and got a card from myself and Aryana. I signed it in the car quick and got home at my normal time as if I never stopped at the store. Let me point out, I was in the store for like two minutes! My husband proceeds to open his card from me...

Him: Did you read this card?
Me: Of course I read the card!
Him: Then why did you sign it right here, why didn't you sign it on the last page?
Me: (face red, laughing) Well I liked what I saw so I didn't read the rest.

OMG, I was so embarrassed, the card had 3 pages!!! What are the chances of me picking a card that has that many pages!! What is funny also is when I signed the card I thought to myself, that is stupid it doesn't even say Happy Birthday! IDIOT!!

Second story...
My friend came over the other day for brunch and was showing me pictures of her twin nieces and another lady commented about their outfits and how colorful they were, she said "wow, they have a lot of color on!" I responded with no kidding that is a little much! Didn't think anything of it, UNTIL...I opened up the gift my friend brought Aryana and it was THE SAME OUTFIT!!! #openmouthinsertfoot
Luckily I didn't open it while she was there, but when I told her Thank you later she said "the outfit looks better in person than in the picture" OMG I was so embarrassed, and didn't even know what to respond with.

I guess I should not pick up cards at the last minute, and never say anything negative about baby clothes!

I Want my Mommy!

Lately, Aryana will not let my husband put her to bed. She will scream until I come in and take her, and then she will quiet down and go to sleep. I don't understand it because we share responsibility with her. I take her to daycare, he picks her up, we take turns feeding her, bathing her. We both play with her, I guess my point is, I don't do anymore than he does. But, for some reason, she wants nothing to do with him at bedtime. Of course secretly I don't mind, its nice to be wanted, but I feel horrible for him! When I put her to sleep and come walking out, he always asks, "what is her deal?" I always tell him, that one day, she will only want him, that her preference will change eventually, but I guess until then, I'll take it. I know that if it was me she didn't want, my feelings would be hurt.
I'm sure me breastfeeding has something to do with it, but I stopped almost two months ago now, so I guess I thought she would get used to him feeding her and comforting her. Am I wrong for going in and taking over? I just hate to hear her scream!
I'm a little nervous because my husband and I are going on a trip soon and my MIL and SIL will be watching Aryana, and I would hate to hear that she screams at bedtime, I would be heartbroken! A friend suggested I sleep with some of her blankets and if she gets upset, they can use those, so I will give it a shot! I may also tell them to not tell me until I get back that she screamed at bedtime! We will only be gone for 3 nights, but I'm so nervous and know that I am going to miss her like crazy!

Cereal

On Saturday we fed Aryana some cereal for the first time. Last week we gave her some banana mushed up with some formula and she did pretty good the first time with the spoon. This week, she did great as well. The cereal didn't really agree with her though, I think she has a sensitive tummy. She was fussy the rest of the day and shes had some pretty bad gas as well. Here are a couple pictures. I laugh every time I see the second picture, the way she has her mouth open so wide! She was acting like she wanted more, she kept looking up and holding her hands up while my husband was feeding her, it was really cute. I think next time I might mix the banana with the cereal and see if that helps! I also want to try squash and avocado soon too, but one at a time! I love the thoughts of making her baby food! We'll see if it lasts!

Love

Last night while I was giving Aryana her bottle before bed, I was sitting there thinking about all the things I love about her. Of course I love everything, but wanted to be more specific.

I love your smile
I love when your nose scrunches up when you smile
I love your big dark eyes
I love your dark hair
I love the way you smile when you see me
I love how you scream in excitement when I pick you up
I love how you hold my finger when I'm giving you a bottle
I love that you open your mouth when I go to give you a kiss
I love when you are on the verge of crying, you will quit when I start singing the ABCs
I love everything about you, I can stare at you all day
I love you Aryana