Updates from a Bad Blogger

Ellie is 3 months old and I'm still getting the hang of this whole Mommy job!  I've been working on organizing and de-cluttering the house, so much of my free time has been taken.  Who's kidding, I have NO free time these days but I'm not complaining!

We bought a minivan!  It's scary how much I love my new vehicle....it has so much room!  Now Ellie will never be allowed to play soccer because I canNOT be called a soccermom!

Ellie has begun napping during the day unswaddled.  I'm too afraid to not bind her up at night.  Lately she's not been sleeping well at night, but I'm not too worried about it.  She's still in the bedroom with us, but she sleeps in her bouncy seat.  She moves around too much in the bassinet and keeps me awake.  I tried putting her in the pack-and-play, but she spins around.

We're still breastfeeding!  Ellie has been interested in food for a long time, and we've started giving her single grain oatmeal with a spoon once a day.  She LOVES it and has surprised me with how well she eats.  I look forward to making baby food in the coming months!

As far as PPD is concerned...  I have good days and bad days.  I'm still on the lowest dosage of Prozac and have considered talking to the doctor about upping that.  With football season approaching, I'm already anxious about leaving Ellie so Brandon and I can attend some games together.  I desperately need a little bit of time away from her, but I'm too nervous.  I can only hope that this will ease as Ellie gets older.  I plan on writing more about Postpartum Depression in the future, promise.  Because I'm still trying to win the battle, it's difficult to write about it.  But I will start compiling my thoughts on the subject and try to share my journey with it.

My mind is in about 10 different places right now, so I will just end with some pictures of Ellie.

I wish I had the exact same outfit in my size

Ellie LOVED swimming in the lake with Daddy.  Ok, she was only in the water for 5 minutes but she seemed to like it!

Ready to go to church

With Granny (her great-grandmother)

Super Ellie

Sleeping just now unswaddled

Messing Up the Schedule

Rookie Mistake!  We are still trying to fix the schedule!  I have definitely learned my lesson and will not be adding any extra activities to our routine on Sundays.

My poor baby is napping now and woke up crying.  I went in and checked on her and she would NOT take her pacifier.  If I pick her up she immediately stops crying and takes the passy, but wakes by the time I'm down the hall after putting her back down.  It's so hard for me to listen to her cry, but I know it's best for both of us.  I desperately want her to self soothe.  I could just kick myself in the booty for going shopping on Sunday. :-(

Here's to hoping that we can get the schedule back in sync!

Tummy Time!

My Super Baby

Ellie has some funny expressions

Tummy Time wore her out!

Sleep Scheduling Continued

Our new schedule has been amazing.  I've been able to clean up around the house, shower, do laundry, and even eat!  Woohoo!  Going to church yesterday morning and enjoying some shopping did throw off the routine and I paid for it last night with Ellie not getting a solid sleep, but we'll get back on schedule today.

I don't have much else to say right now.  There's far too much I need to be doing around the house at the moment so I will update later!

Sleep Training

How is it August already?  This summer is moving by so quickly and football season is only a few weekends away.  Where has the time gone?  My little girl will be all grown before I know it!!!!!

Up until now Ellie has not been on a defined schedule.  That is ALL changing!  Ellie had been crying a lot and wasn't taking good naps.  She would wake easily and her tummy was bothering her a lot.  I made another pediatrician appointment for yesterday and saw a different doctor.  This doctor told me that Ellie needed a schedule with specific sleep times and she also needed to learn how to self soothe.  Whew!  Hearing this was so hard.  I had waited for this little angel for so long and I just wanted to spoil her as much as possible.  I've mentioned previously that we've co-slept with Ellie since birth.  She wouldn't sleep any other way.

After we got home from our appointment yesterday afternoon I began the transition into scheduling sleep.

E.A.S.Y.

Eat

Activity

Sleep

Yourself

The acronym is pretty self explanatory.  Ellie eats.  I then burp her and change her diaper if I haven't already.  I sit her in the bouncy seat and we play with our toys and I read to her sometimes as well.  (I actually read a Charlaine Harris book to her aloud this morning- haha.)  When I see her getting a little sleepy, I get her up and swaddle her and rock her for a few minutes before returning her to the bassinet.  If she wakes I check on her after about 15 minutes or so, hold her hand for a minute or two and then leave again.

Surprisingly enough this is a great system.  Until now Ellie had been eating every 2 hours!  It left little to no time for me to do anything.  I was a little concerned at the frequency of her feedings as was the pediatrician. Since yesterday, I've been able to stretch out her feedings as well as have her sleep in her bassinet by my side of the bed.  Brandon slept in the guest room last night since he had to leave early to drive to Mississippi for the day.  Ellie did so much better than I expected and was able to be calmed down by holding my hand during the night.  I did miss my snuggles with my little princess, but I felt great knowing that she was safely swaddled next to me in her own sleep space.

It will definitely take us some time to completely adjust to this schedule and new sleeping arrangements, but we can do it.

Watching Mommy dry her hair and put on make up.  She's mesmerized by the hairdryer!

"It's a wonderful day to be nude!"
At the pediatrician's office waiting for the doctor to come in.

This may be one of my favorite pictures of her.
I'm so in love with my little girl.