Monday, December 22, 2008

I am getting Teeth!



Well, its official - Ayla has two front tiny little toofers sprouting on her bottom gums. She has been showing signs of teething - lots of drool and gnawing on her hands, a little fussy. Yesterday her aunty Scoobs noticed a little white sprout on her gums when I was changing her.



Getting big SO fast, cuter and chubbier everyday!!!









Sitting up on my own...


1.


2.


3.

OOPS!!! Mom was too busy taking pictures...

Uncle Scott's in town. We have been having TONS of fun together

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Airport Adventure

I wanted to publicly express how blessed I am to have Brett. He is an amazing husband and father. I could blog daily about what kind of man he is, but that is bragging - but I couldn't help myself with this one :)
My husband just left to pick up my mom and then take her with him to pick up my sister at the airport (9:30 pm) who flies in at 11:20 pm. My mom is deathly afraid of driving in the snow and ice and lives up the twistiest, steepest hill known to man (well, ok maybe the twistiest, steepest in Auburn, but I need some dramatic effect). There is a back way that is a little less treacherous, thankfully. Not to mention, we live atop a large hill as well, again there is a back way.
We have been stewing all day long about "the plan" to pick her up. After many variations we decided I would stay here with Ayla who is sleeping safely and soundly and Brett would brave the roads packed with snow and ice, go pick up my mom-then my sister at the airport. The thing is, there was never even a question in Brett's mind as to whether he will do this - he said it will be an adventure and is happy to do it. Even when my sister's friend called and said he would pick up my sister, Brett still wanted to.
Thank your husbands right now if you know they would do the same for you or thank the person in your life that would do something like this for you. Brett is a constant support to my family, which is so clearly his family too.
I know my dad is looking down right now feeling the relief that his family was left in the hands of a man that does not hesitate to do what is needed to keep us safe and happy.
My next blog will be describing this "great adventure".

Sidebar:
My sister says it is supposed to snow in Boston tomorrow, 12 - 13 inches, this is after daily ice storms. The news there does a small snippet warning people they should leave a little early for work tomorrow! You gotta love Western Washington news and their amazing way to overreact to our weather. I am sucker for it too, because I haven't left my house all day for a reason. I didn't even get to watch Ellen today because they had to report over and over from the same three places about how much snow there is!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Snow Day !!!

First, a sleep update. She is napping about 3 times a day, one to two hours each nap. She cries for maybe 5 minutes if at all when we lay her down drowsy. Tonight she fell asleep on her own with NO crying at all. She litterally improves each time she goes to sleep. Praise God!!! How long before parents can say "my baby sleeps through the night? " It has been one week. I think I will wait another week and then start assumming when I go to bed that I won't need to wake up at 12 and 4 am - even though my body still does on its own, at which point I go in to check on Ayla sleeping soundly in her crib.

Now to the real purpose of this blog post:
Well, I must admit that as teachers we wish for a snow day to cancel school WAY more than we ever did as students, especially now that we have the wittle one to entertain us. Any teachers out there I am sure will agree with me!
So last night when school was already cancelled for Tahoma, I began skipping around the house knowing that the three of us would get to spend a cozy day at home together. Which actually turned into a much needed trip to Southcenter and the Supermall for some Christmas shopping, but hey we made the most of Brett's day off :) Along with some extra play time with Ayla...
Uh Oh, were did Dad's face go????During our long weekend we have discovered Ayla's new favorite toy. A little blond haired doll we have named LuLu - she is fascinated by it:

Notice the pattern. See LuLu, grab for LuLu, put LuLu's pigtails in my mouth!
Since we are on this topic I would now like to quote a conversation between Brett and I from Sunday:
I shall set the scene:
Ayla has now taken to pooping about once a day - therefore her diapers containg HUGE loads when she decides to have her poop of the day. Brett was the lucky one who got to change this one and I hear him gasping from Ayla's room and asking Ayla to quit squirming as poop gets on her leg and feet. A few minutes later we are in the living room and...

Mom says to Dad who is holding Ayla: "Is that poop on her face?"
Dad: "No way, oh my gosh, oh no, I think it is"

Mom rolling over with laughter as I do the classic mom move that we all swore we would NEVER do. I lick my finger and wipe off the tiny speck of Ayla's poop off her chin! Don't worry I then wash her face and my hands.

The point of this story is to let you all know that Ayla is doing excellent at reaching, grasping, and then going directly to her mouth. We are hoping since it wasn't a smear it was just the little bit on her chin. To quote Laura Bosik "tee hee hee"


And because I love them so much I could eat them, Ayla's feet...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Sleepy Deepy Part Two

I have hesitated blogging this because I don't want to jinx it. But Ayla has slept through the night the last two nights! Ayla started off her sleep journey by only sleeping and napping with mommy. After about 3 weeks she could sleep in her swing for naps and at night was in bed with mommy and daddy. We tried the bassinet and she did ok, but was still struggling. So for the last two months she slept with us at night and swing during day. About a month ago I realized this is not getting her enough sleep, the swing is great but she never was reaching a deep sleep. Sleeping with us, she became very squirmy and I was so aware of her I never reached deep sleep. All together a bad combo. She was also becoming very difficult to put to sleep, really fussy, squirmy and really fighting it. The poor thing would scream in the car because she would get sleepy and then not know what to do with herself. The up side is that she had a consistent schedule - asleep by 7 or 8, wake at 12, wake at 4, sleep till 6. Nap at 9, nap at 3, and sometimes another at 5. Knowing we had a pretty good schedule down, we knew we had to take the next step of crib sleeping, for Ayla's sake and ours. Baby's are not born with the capability to fall asleep on their own, especially when you allow them to learn by sleeping with you or in a swing :)
I said before that I swore off books on sleep advise because they were all so contradictory. I learned that every baby is different and never knew how difficult it would be to get my baby some undisturbed sleep. However I broke down and read two more: "The Happiest Baby on the Block" , "Healthy Sleep Habit, Happy Child" , these books along with a combination of advise from other moms, and constant prayer has helped Ayla become the ideal sleeping baby. Many moms struggle with the cry it out theory. Talking with moms who have well adjusted, loving, happy kids made me see that sometimes a baby truly needs to cry it out. We took on the mentality of not so much cry it out, but more of a learn to sleep mentality. Ayla is a strong willed little girl, this we learned quickly and honestly I have tried letting her cry it out before - but she didn't give up. But with the combination of age, schedule, and help from above she learned how to sleep! She now drifts off peacefully all on her own, well without me rocking, swaddling and her constant struggle. The set up:
1. drowsy but awake (when babies awaken they need to be put back to sleep the way they went to sleep - so this teaches them to do this on their own, this was the advise of Ayla's doctor) and consistency
2. white noise cd
3. home-made sleep sacks courtesy of Grandma Laura :)
4. A rainforest waterall machine in her crib
5. We cleared our schedules and the only time we left the house was: Brett work and me basketball
6. At night I feed her then Brett tops her off about an hour later with 2 oz of formula

Sunday night we put her down in her crib around 8 and we did check in and calm her by rubbing her belly and shh shhing her at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and then every 15 until she fell asleep. She cried for around 45 mins. Awoke at 12 and 6 am.
Napping was the issue, as I knew it would be because she isn't near as fatigued. I didn't want her to cry for more than 1 hour. So at about 8 I put her down, she cried for an hour and by then she needed to eat, so I picked her up and she ate then we played. I tried again at noon, she cried for an hour, had a poopy diaper so I picked her up. Long story short, no naps all day. Monday night she fell asleep nice and easy in her crib and did her typical schedule.
Again Tuesday the naps didn't go well. Each nap she cried for about an hour and slept for aournd 20-30 mins. Tuesday night she was asleep by 6:30 and slept until 5 am - no crying!!! Holy cow. I thought it may be a fluke because she was so exhausted. Yesterday Brett took the day off to help me and Ayla took two one hour naps and one two hour nap - no crying. She drifts off to the waterfall and white noise all on her own! Last night she fell asleep at 8:00 and slept unti 7:30. Cried for about twenty minutes around 9:30 but all in all she slept through the night again. I got 8 hours of undisturbed sleep - I haven't had more than 4 in 4 months!
Letting Ayla cry was one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do, second to my dad's death. As I would pick her up out of her crib after a long hour of off and on tears she would immediately smile at me. Her demeanor was the same and she wanted to play, giggle, and coo just as much. I cried right along with her, in the car to practice, on the way home from practice, cried to my husband and many times to the Lord. I could feel God encouraging me every time I questioned our decision.
I am even worried about admitting we let her cry it out to people and on this blog, but as I sit here at my computer, Ayla is bright eyed and cooing as she she plays in her bouncy seat after a much needed 12 hours of sleep. I will soon put her down for a one-two hour undisturbed nap. This decision was the first of many as parents that in the long run is best for our child. In the end, it only took three days of crying it out. I know there will be set backs, but a huge weight has been lifted and now I know Ayla is getting what she needs.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Not too interested

Well, as I have said previously Ayla has been coming with me to basketball practice. We arrive around 2:45 to visit mom's friends and students at work then go to practice about 3:00. Then Brett picks her up around 3:15. It works out perfect for us and gives me a chance to show off my cutie. Ayla has been a champ, just wide eyed and patient as mom coaches. This is Angel, one of our varsity players, she is injured so offered to help me out with Ayla. I guess Ayla was a little uninterested in all the bouncing, shouting, and shooting going on the gym because as soon as I took her out of the bjorn to hand her off she fell asleep, then stayed asleep when I strapped her on to Angel. We all got a really good laugh. Angel claims she has a calming effect on Ayla because she is Samoan. I asked her if she wants to come by around 2:00 am when I am trying to get Ayla back to sleep :) The picture is really small and a little fuzzy cause it is a cell phone pick. But hopefully you can see enough to get a good laugh yourselves...

Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving

Well, I am back to my old habits of not updating the blog. I started coaching basketball two weeks ago and even though it is only a few hours at night, I am now feeling SO busy. Brett is done with football so he now gets some quality time with Ayla. I bring her to the gym and he picks her up on his way home from work. I put her facing the front in the Baby Bjorn and she LOVES it. So much to watch - maybe a future basketball player? I will do my best to keep updating, if anything I will post pictures and not worry as much about the actual blogging.
Ayla's first Thanksgiving was a success. From Wednesday to Friday we were on the go and Ayla was a champ. By Saturday we were all pretty wiped out and took lots of naps. I experienced the stress of a new parent during the holidays - trying to meet everyone's expectations to hold Ayla and play with Ayla, yet all Ayla wants is some food and some sleep. You learn quick you cannot succomb to what everyone is expecting of you and your child and we must just simply meet her needs. All in all though, we had some really great quality time with family - expecially uncle Scott and Aunty Christina in from the east coast!
Of course we spent some time watching a little football. To most of you it is a Thanksgiving tradition - to us it is a daily tradition :) Here is Ayla with daddy. I am convinced she loves the huge green feild with the little shapes of primary colors running around...

Believe it or not Ayla is almost 4 months. She has decided just two days ago she really likes the sound of her coos, goos, ga gas, and giggles and is chattering up a storm. Seeing the wide mouth giggle as I smother kisses all over her tummy is the best feeling in the world!

Playing with Grandpa, lots of smiles!

I soon realized the hair band was a little too tight for her not so small noggin. Poor thing can't sit up yet because the weight of her head pulls her forward! That and according to my sister, the doctor - she has no ab muscles and most of her bones are a cartlidge-like consistency and still developing.

Ayla in her bumbo seat. Between the boppy pillow, a Baby Bjorn, a hooter hider, and now the bumbo, my poor mom can't keep it all straight, lol.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ayla the Elf

Well it seems that the holidays come around earlier and earlier each year. I noticed this weekend that at the Supermall Santa has already arrived! So in this spirit I put on some striped leggings that I found for Ayla. She had a cute matching green onesie but decided to blow out her diaper - so mom threw on this little apple onesie. The green onesie was even more elf-like but I still couldn't resist snapping pics of my precious little one looking like the perfect elf!

Here is Ayla posing yet again for mommy



















Ayla is also working on sitting up - here she is with a little help:













Now the little elf gets distracted by daddy:



Saturday, November 8, 2008

Scared or Excited?


I was snapping pictures of Ayla the other day and I came across thes one. Ayla's expressions for being excited about something to being startled are one in the same. I couldn't resist posting this because they made me laugh so hard, so hopefully they have the same effect on all of you who visit our blog!
PS: I would like to point out that I am someone who went from hardly ever updating our blog, to someone who can't stay away from it. Thats what motherhood does to you, endless pride in getting to tell everyone the day to day happenings of her little one :)
PSS: Look at those chubby arms -they actually are starting to overlap her wrists! Wholy cow I can't resist the SQUEEZE (shout out to my scoobs)

Cousins!

My cousin Lisa (on my mom's side), who is only a year younger than me just had her baby - Kylie Marie Hatfield. Just a side note, my cousin Trena's baby (on my dad's side) is named Kyla. So now we have Kyla, Ayla, and Kylie - my mom is nervous about keeping all the names straight :) I am SO excited about her birth. I am starting to be surrounded by family and friends that have had or are expecting babies. So Ayla will have lots of friends and cousins to play with!
Lisa and I grew up playing Barbies, watching ridiculous eighties movies like Spaceballs and National Lampoon's Vacation and begging our moms to let us spend the night with each other (she leaved an hour away). So now we can start the cycle all over again with Ayla and Kylie - payback time I guess :) Here are pics of our sleepy little girls. Ayla has always been the tiny little one, until now - she was a big butterball compared to Lisa's precious little one...

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

GO Bears !!!







I am posting a shout out to my husband and his football team who after hard work and perseverance have made it to playoffs. The Tahoma Bears will play the Jackson Timber Wolves on Friday in Everett. If they win they proceed to the next round and will play Ferris High School in Spokane next week.
Much congrats to the players and especially the coaches who spend countless hours, anaylzing stats, constructing defensive and offensive schemes, scouting, and devoting time to making a difference in the lives of these young men. For Brett and the rest of the staff, it is about more than football, it is about character, competition, teamwork, and comraderie - life skills that will carry on past the glory days of high school football.
Go Bears !!

Ayla Rolls Over!!!

I shall set the scene:
My mom is sitting on the couch, I am on my knees on the floor and Ayla is having some tummy time. She is happily teetering on her tummy, some little grunts and cooes here and there. I am encouraging her to lift her head up and get up on her forearms. Then out of nowhere she lifts her left arm and then the left leg follows and she rolled over!!! I flipped out - totally brought tears to my eyer. My mom and I are cheering and laughing hysterically while poor little Ayla is lying wide eyed and startled. I quickly picked her up and smothered her with kisses. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, I put her on her tummy again and she proceeded to roll over. I quickly grabbed the video camera and prayed that she would do it again when daddy got home. Brett came home later and I give him the good news, bragging about our little girl who accomplished a physical feat that most babies can't do until 14 or 15 weeks (she is 11 weeks) and of course she did it again. Now we are working on rolling onto her left side.
As she lay in my arms or feeds at my breast I look at her I am overwhelmed with love for her simple little self. As the days continue I see her changing everyday and praise God for this gift that he has entrusted to me. Teaching was my passion - I loved my students and my colleagues. My job was very rewarding and I know God wanted me in the classroom. My decision to stay at home and not go back to work was a very tough one that at my weak moments I question. God has given me strength and assurance that this is where he has called me to be right now.
Motherhood is tiring and stressfull but Ayla brightens every moment with a coo, a little smile, a fart, or even a super stinky squirt and with each Ayla accomplishment I feel so encouraged. Her personality is starting to arise and she is SO active. She urges me to mix up our play time with lots of different activities. She is my little athlete :)
I hope someday soon to start posting videos, so stay tuned...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ready for my workout

My mom bought Ayla this cute little Adidas workout gear outfit in honor of my sister the future physical therapist and her mom the former athlete. I am starting WW, that is a code for only those in the know :) and joining "The Biggest Loser" competition at work and go tomorrow for my official weigh in to start the competition. All who know me know that I can't resist a little competitive action! This was the perfect motivation I needed to start losing the "baby weight". I have been trying to get out and walk, but the Washington fall is creeping in and I am starting to do the 20 min workouts they have On-Demand, so in the spirit of the workout I will put Ayla in her gear while I do the "buns of envy" routine (this is one of many ridiculously named routines).



I of course don't look near as cute in my workout gear OR as happy :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Squirts!

Well, another Ayla milestone:) Future breastfeeding moms will soon agree and veteran breastfeeding moms will currently agree it literally is a squirt! When I first came home with Ayla I was reading the appropriate "pee and poop" schedule and after about day 3 or 4 they say "8-12 squirts" are necessary. Little did I know this is EXACTLY what they are. I have just recently stopped giggling when I hear the loud rip come out of my innocent little baby. I also never knew I would get so excited about soiled and wet diapers!
She is on the verge of sleeping through the night, but the poor thing has to wake herself to squirt. It is about fifteen minutes of fussing for 30 seconds, then back to sleep for 30 seconds, so on and so on-until I finally pick her up and wake her up so she can relieve herself, sometimes it is gas, sometimes poo. Well, tonight she did it in her sleep! Hooray for Ayla. Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading about Ayla's bowel movements, thanks for listening!
PS. Mylicon (gas relieving drops for infants) is amazing and works really well after night time feedings. It has a sweet taste so Ayla loves it. I will give it to Ayla after I feed her and then when she is struggling about two hours later to fart (I guess I should say toot now as a mom) I drop some in her mouth. She smiles and heads right back to sleep.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I am so alert! Ayla at 10 weeks

Ayla becomes more and more alert everyday. 10 weeks old tomorrow. Soon we will be counting in months...
Wide eyed and smiling. We love it !I always have a good laugh when Ayla is having tummy time with daddy. I imagine her saying to herself, "it is just a bigger version of me" lol! After I feed her I bring her up to my cheek. I absolutely LOVE being cheek to cheek with her, so soft and squishy. Does she have any of my genes? As her face takes shape we think she is developing my nose and mouth? We'll see..

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Another Ayla milestone

I have finally added myself as an author of this blog. Brett hasn't posted since I was about 20 weeks pregnant and anyone who knows me knows I have been giving him a hard time for getting the credit on the posted by line :) So anyways...
On Monday Ayla will be ten weeks old. Time flies. Everyone with a child tells me "treasure every minute, they grow up so fast". I am starting to realize this as Ayla now intently follows me with her eyes and smiles in response to mine.
She has a little firefly toy that makes noise and lights up when you yank on it. She always just stares at it and smiles, but tonight she reached out for it ! Her motions are becoming so much more calculated. As she looks at the firefly I can see her trying to reach for it. She has also been holding in her binky. The best moment was tonight when I was holding her, we were smiling back and forth and she reached for my chin! Such an amazing mommy experience! This moment alone has made every middle night feed, poopy diaper, and ruined shirt due to spit up worth it :)
Just kidding, I have learned to have perspective on those moments too, because I don't like the negative emotions that tend to arise in me if I dwell on "all the hard work" . This is God working in me and praise Him for giving me the calm and wisdom that I posess when motherhood seems to overwhelm me.
Another milestone is Ayla's first trip to the Tacoma Dome Holiday food and gift extravaganza! Not sure if that is its true title, but either way, most of you know what I am referring to. Thanks to my mom I am a sucker for anything holiday and those endless aisles of booths. We went with my cousin Trena, her two kids Grant and Kyla and my aunt Cindy. Ayla was a trooper sleeping the whole time in her baby bjorn (the best 90 bucks I have ever spent!). Little did she know I came away with a knit hat and new shoes for her...









The outing to Tacoma wasn't that big of a deal, but I am always looking for an excuse to post more pictures :)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Ayla loves bath time with daddy




You learn quick as a new mom with a newborn that the best thing you can do for your baby is to simulate the womb. Ayla loves swaddling, sucking, shh shhh ing, and swinging or swaying. As a teacher I was constantly up in front of my class swaying back and forth, something I began doing very early in my pregnancy and was very unaware of it, until now when I stand in the grocery line swaying back and forth for no reason at all. Also, coaching basketball and softball I was constantly on my feet running, passing, throwing, hitting, etc. So Ayla is a baby on the move. Movement is the ultra soothing method for her. So bath time is no different. She was "at home" in the warm water from the beginning. First it was in the bathroom sink, but now at 23 inches and almost 12 lbs she has moved into her baby bath tub (thanks Janet!). This will be one of those posts where 13 years from now, Ayla will be like "MOM, you put naked baby pictures of me on the internet!"

Burp baby burp



Basically there are two classic burping methods: over the shoulder or sitting up on our laps. Having her sitting up straight while she leans over our hand was always our favorite and most effective method, however she is a little big and squirmy now for the on the lap method, so we are starting to get creative. I like to take her by the armpits and just move her up and down, stretch out the tummy a little, but this is something new Brett tried today. It works! Brett is always very creative and has lots of suggestions when it comes to solving "baby issues", this one cracks me up :) Him too apparently. I think we will call this one the flying baby method...