8 months & Lots of Firsts!

Well, I didn't get that extended vacation I so badly wanted last post, but I DID get some much needed girl time, have a birthday, and had my husband home for 3 whole nights in a row- which meant more sleep.  All of those did this girl some good.  I feel happier and a little more refreshed.  And I feel like I'm in a much better place in mommyhood.  Thanks for letting me vent and then being nice enough to still come back.  :)

This past month has been quite an exciting one for Audra!  She's experienced so many firsts... no wonder she was sleeping so badly before! 

First time eating solid food:

We started with apples (not knowing that I was supposed to start w/ veggies... oops), and she loved them!  Then we moved on to peas, squash-yellow, prunes (necessary!), green beans, pear, avocado, sweet potato, carrot, squash-butternut, egg yolk, and banana.  I didn't really go in any particular order (other than following recommended food guides); we mostly just gave her what we already had on hand so minimize runs to the grocery store.  We make our own food, and I have to say... I get a strange enjoyment out of it.  I love making it and she loves eating it. While I do believe it's a money saver, the cost isn't really the reason we do it.  I just like knowing EXACTLY what she's eating.  And I like her getting the freshest food possible.  And I like being able to puree it as thin or thick as I want.  There are a lot of perks and it's just too easy NOT to do.  I can do a whole post on how we make it, if anyone's interested.  But if you don't tell me that you want to know, I'm not going to take the time to post it.  ;) Heehee.

Along with the solids has come a lot more weight on this baby girl.  And also, more sleep!  She generally sleeps from 7p to anywhere between 5:30-7:30a.  If she doesn't wake up at all in the night, she'll get up around 5:30.  If she gets up for a night feed and goes back down, she'll sleep 'til around 7:30.  I would gladly trade a night feed for sleeping in!  I just wish she felt the same.  :)

Other firsts:
Pulling herself to standing:

Very shortly after that, she started walking the length of her crib while holding on.  Didn't get that one on video though.

Crawling:

 This one was a long time coming!  She'd been on all fours since well before Christmas.  We were CERTAIN she'd start crawling while we were in Missouri.  But then she got sick, and she was held a lot.  So that didn't happen.  She was up on all fours and going backwards a lot.  Then she was up on all fours and crawling just one to three "steps", then she'd collapse onto the floor.  She'd do that over and over.  Just this week, she started connecting it all and going great distances without falling down.  AND NOW?  She's going anywhere, and getting into EVERYTHING!  Haha!  Time to baby-proof this place, for sure!  Things she never seemed interested in before are now things for little baby hands to explore.  It's funny how she sat right next to things (like a bookshelf) many times in the past, and now all of a sudden it's so interesting!  She's starting to keep me on my toes, guys.  :)

Talking:
 It started with "mama" in beginning/mid January and then about 3 weeks later, both Nic and I swore she repeated "bye bye."  And the very next day, she said "dada."  Now we can catch her saying all 3.  Though mama is still the most likely to repeated on demand.

Other fun non-milestone firsts that happened this past month:
-first time swinging in a big girl swing (well, toddler swing)

-first time riding in the stroller without her infant seat on top

-first time sitting in the wooden high chair in a restaurant

-first time riding in the grocery cart sitting space

-first time trying (very watered down) juice [no picture]
-first time sleeping without a swaddle (mentioned last post)
-first time eating outside

And I think that's it!  It's been so much fun to watch her face each time she does something new.  I love that she looks to me with excitement and is able to see that I'm sharing in it with her.  I can't get enough of this sweet, sweet girl.

Oh!  And Happy Valentine's Day!  ♥

Me, The Mom.

I am attempting to keep this blog a positive place.  It's a place that has recently become all about Audra.  I LOVE talking about Audra, mainly because I LOVE to be helpful to a lot of you reading.  I know some of my favorite blogs are those where fellow mamas talk about their experiences, favorite products, and life in general with babies.  They're helpful, and they prevent me from having to do a ton of research, especially if I feel that I identify with them and can trust their opinions.

But I think it's important to be honest, too.  It's not fair to show you only the pretty side of things and make you think that's how it always is.  I'm talking about how it's all about Audra.  Not just my blog, now.  MY LIFE.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE MY BABY MORE THAN I EVEN KNOW HOW TO PUT INTO WORDS.  I would give my life for her!  I can go on listing other ways to affirm to you how much I love her, but let's just call it good.  I LOVE HER.  There's no truer statement.  But it gets overwhelming.  It's such a place of limbo to be in; one that is implied a lot of time, but one that people also choose not to talk about a lot of time.  I think it's because people, like this blog, mostly choose to focus on the positive.  Because there is SO MUCH positive to focus on!  A beautiful, gorgeous baby.  Learning new things.  Smiling.  Kissing.  Hugging.  Babbling.  Laughing.  Loving me.  But also.  BUT ALSO... crying.  Clawing at my face.  Refusing to let me take a whole shower in peace.  Whining when I try to pump.  Waking me multiple times a night.  Starting the morning with more crying.  Refusing to eat the food I spent time making.  And generally taking up every single minute of my time.  Even when she's sleeping, she's taking up my time.  I'm thinking of her.  Educating myself on things for her.  Buying things online for her.  Writing this blog about her.

So I find myself in this limbo.  On one side:  loving this new life with our baby- both the good and the bad that come with it.  And on the other:  feeling selfish and wanting to hand her over to my or my husband's parents and just jet off to a sunny warm island and lay on the beach, drinking piña coladas and "forgetting" my baby.  For just a little while.  I say "forgetting" because I know that the second I hit that beach, I'll be wondering what Audra's up to and how she's doing, whether she's happy and sleeping well and eating her food, etc.  I'm feeling like my brain is never going to rest again.  And that's probably just the reality of it.  But guys?  My brain is TIRED.  My BODY is tired.  My holding-shiz-together-ness is feeling like it wants to quit.  Not forever!  Just for a little while.  I need a break.  I mean more than an afternoon.  More than even a day, probably.  And it can't happen here, at the house, because then I'd just end up cleaning or something, because my OCD self can't fully relax until there's nothing else to do. 

Recently, Nic and I finally got to have a candid, honest conversation, and I ended in tears just telling him how tired I am.  And how I don't feel like myself anymore.  I used to be an adult.  One who enjoyed good food and sitting on patios and Happy Hour with friends.  One who saw movies in the theater kind of frequently and went shopping for clothes that are in season.  And now?  Now I feel a little trapped.  Trapped because of breastfeeding (can't leave her with anyone for any extended length of time), trapped because of very delicate nap time hours (as I talked about last post ), trapped because of the amount of work that has fallen on my shoulders because of her, but at the same time less time to do it because of her.  That's not to say this is ALWAYS how I feel.  I think it's just been a very very long time since I've gotten to be... well... ME.   Right now I feel like me, the mom.  And then sometimes (if I don't fall asleep first), I'm me, the wife.  And very very rarely do I get to be me, the adult in an adult world.  Something's gotta give.  There's got to be some way for me to recharge this mom battery of mine.  I do know that this feeling goes away almost as quickly as it comes, but the fact of the matter is that this feeling still exists.  And from what I'm reading around the web, it exists in a lot moms.    

I HATE admitting this.  I HATE the fact that this is sounding like complaining.  Complaining is not how I intend this to sound.  I mean it to be an honest look at the feelings of a stay-at-home-mom (perhaps ANY mom), from time to time.

It's important for me to stress how much I LOVE MY BABY.  I wouldn't trade motherhood for a lifetime on warm, sandy beaches.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  There are infinitely more good days than bad; more happy moments than stressful moments; more JOY and LOVE than anything else I can think of. 

Sometimes a mom just needs an extended break to be... well... free from being a mom. 

Our Solutions to Sleep!

For you to understand how great it is for us to be where we are now, it's helpful for you to know where we came from.  

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It's no secret that we'd been having some nighttime sleep issues with 7.5-month-old Audra.  Her sleep timeline has looked something like this:
 
Birth -1.5 months:  [Swaddled with white noise]
I woke a very very sleepy tiny baby to feed her every 3 hours.  She was falling asleep every minute and a half or 2 minutes while eating.  Since I was barely keeping my eyes open as well, I decided to quit waking her. 

1.5 months - 4 months:  [Swaddled with white noise]
She slept completely through the night, 7:30pm-7:30am with zero wakings.  It was AWESOME! During this time, people told us that she would eventually stop sleeping through the night, and Nic and I just chuckled and didn't quite believe it.  Ha!!!

4 months - 7 months:  [Swaddled with white noise]
HELL.  (Just kidding.)  But I did feel like a walking zombie.  She was waking up multiple times a night.  It started gradually, with one, then two, then three wakings, then I talked with her doctor and accidentally traumatized her, which only resulted in her not wanting to be put down EVER and not wanting to go to sleep EVER.  When we got to Missouri for Christmas, the change of nighttime scenery seemed to do her some good, and she didn't mind being put down anymore.  She still, however, woke multiple times a night.  She rarely slept more than 3 hours at a time.  We started utilizing the pacifier more (she wouldn't keep it in before, but seemed to have gotten the hang of it with age), which calmed her a bit.  About a fourth of the time, we were able to give her the pacifier and pat her back to sleep without picking her up.  I fed her when she could not be soothed.  We came home from Missouri, and it was more of the same and then worse:  waking every 3 or less hours, needing to eat multiple times during the night.  And she also decided to stay awake for hours at a time, usually between 1:30 & 3:30 am.  It was pure torture.  I rocked her and laid her down just fine, but then she would wake right up.  Or I'd pat her to sleep (finally!) in her crib, then I'd lay down in bed and 10 minutes later she'd be up.  I don't know of many mid-night feelings that are worse than leaning over your baby's crib patting them in a half-asleep, zombie-like stupor just praying and praying AND PRAYING to God that He'll just give your baby a nice long peaceful sleep.  Then finally, she would fall asleep (or so I thought, since she hadn't moved in what seemed like forever!).  But like I said, 10 minutes later, she'd be awake. I mean AWAKE; alert, talking to me, smiling at me, as if that 30+ minutes we just spent putting her to sleep never happened.  Sigh.  Something had to give.

For the last two weeks: [Unswaddled with white noise]
Sleeping through the night, 7:30pm-7:30am with one or no night feedings; occasionally (about once or twice a night) we go in and comfort her, but only for about a minute (literally; until she settles), then we're back in bed ourselves. So many nights, I only wake up ONCE, for 5 MINUTES and then I'm back in bed.  This post is about how we got from that hell above to this point.

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There were multiple things we wanted to implement, and we were just waiting until after the Missouri trip to put them in place.  We wanted to 1) get rid of the swaddle, 2) start on solid foods, 3) change her daytime nap schedule, and 4) start sleep training so she'd put herself to sleep.  We pretty much started them all simultaneously, so it's hard to say if any ONE thing made her sleep like she's sleeping now.  It was most likely a combination of all of these.  So here's how we did it.

GETTING RID OF THE SWADDLE:
We've always followed The Happiest Baby on the Block's advice, and IT WORKED.  Dr. Karp says most babies have grown out of the startle reflex by around 6 months, and no longer need the swaddle.  Plus, Audra had been fighting the swaddle for a while, and we couldn't keep pinning her arms down forever.  Dr. Karp suggests starting by leaving one arm out of the swaddle, and when the baby does well with that, to leave both arms out and then do away with the swaddle all together.  So we tried it.  We left one arm out... and it went horribly.  She wouldn't sleep.  But that wasn't really anything different than before.  So we decided to just try it cold turkey, and we put her in a sleep sack which allowed her arms to be free.  And again, it went horribly.  Not only was she not sleeping, she was getting distracted by her hands.  So hear me here:  the issue was not the startle reflex, or her needing the pressure around her body to feel safe.  The issue was HER HANDS.  Girl was (is) in exploration mode at all hours of the day, apparently even at night.  When we laid her in her crib, no matter how drowsy or already asleep she was, when her little hands hit that crib, she started feeling.  Her hand would spread out like a fan and draw in to a fist over and over, just touching her sheet.  She would shoot her arm straight out to the side and feel her crib bumper.  She would stretch her arm above her head and swing it down to her side like she was making half a snow angel in her crib.  Up and down, up and down her arm would go, her little hand just feeling everything along the way.  I would hold her arm still and pat her until she seemed to be asleep.  When I finally let go (holding my breath usually), it started all over.  Sigh.  I was exhausted.    

A friend told me about a thing call a Zipadee Zip that she used with her girls.  Sounded interesting.  At that point, I was willing to try ANYTHING!  She was nice enough to let me borrow her Zipadee Zip... and SUCCESS!  Audra kept her hands still, and slept without the swaddle!  I fully believe it was due to the Zipadee Zip's design that allowed her to settle.  Audra seemed really happy with the ability to move, and her little hands were contained so her brain could turn off.  Of course, I had to get one for myself!  This gives Audra so much room to move around, plus ensures that her little hands and feet stay warm, that I don't care if she sleeps in this thing until she outgrows their largest size.  She truly quit squirming around (fighting the swaddle) once we got her in the Zippy.  Awesome.  Being still is good.  If you're looking to start unswaddling, I definitely recommend you look into the Zipadee Zip.  I was in correspondence with the owner/operator, and she always emailed me back the very same day.  Extremely nice and helpful!  Always a pleasure to do business with those who know how to treat their customers.  :)   

STARTING ON SOLIDS:
One mom said that her little guy didn't sleep through the night until they started on solids.  Given the fact that Audra was wanting to eat so often in the night, I thought some extra calories during the day couldn't hurt.  Plus, she's over 6 months anyway, it's TIME to start eating!  So we gave her some solid (well, pureed) food.  And not just a little.  Once we knew she wasn't allergic, we LOADED HER UP!  She eats 9 oz. a day (3 oz., 3x), and doesn't always act full when she's finished.  That's in addition to me breast feeding her 5 times a day.  We've found if we're unable to feed her one of those 3 times, she'll wake up during the night asking for food.  If she does get all 3 meals, she usually sleeps through the night without needing to eat. YAY!!

 

CHANGING HER DAYTIME NAP SCHEDULE:
I've always followed Audra's lead and let her set her schedule.  When she acted sleepy, she went down for a nap.  When she woke up, she ate.  After that, she played.  If we needed to go out and she fell asleep, then she fell asleep in her carseat.  She had gotten herself into a schedule of basically napping around 9:30, noon, 2:30 and then down for the night at 6:30.  Some sweet Facebook mama friends cued me in to the fact that Audra was probably sleeping too much during the day (resulting in that long stretch around 1:30 of being awake during the night).  The No Cry Sleep Solution also said that babies around 6 months should only need 2 naps a day, about an hour each.  I decided to start limiting her naps.  Now, regardless of when she wakes up, I put her down around 10 or 10:30, then again around 2 or 2:30, then down for the night around 7:30.  And now?  We have no more long stretches of being awake at night!  She definitely acts sleepy during the day before her nap, but she's able to hang in there until naptime without much fuss.
 
SLEEP TRAINING:
Our old nighttime habit was for me to nurse her to sleep, then lay her in bed very VERY ninja-like, so she wouldn't notice we were setting her down.  When she woke up in the night, Nic or I would pick her up and rock her, or feed & rock her, again until she fell asleep.  This obviously was a strain on our sleep, having to take the time to put her back down.  Plus, we were setting her up for bad habits by not teaching her how and what it feels like to fall asleep in her bed.  
 NOW, we feed her then put her in her crib with her pacifier, and pat her for 30 seconds to a minute.   Then we use a 4-3-2-1 sleep training method.  I had read about the method some random place, and I really liked the sound of it.  So we use this in our own modified version.  Our version goes like this: 4 minutes of leaving Audra alone, followed by 30 seconds of comfort if she needs it [patting, rubbing back, etc.], 3 minutes of leaving her alone, 30 seconds of comfort, 2 minutes of alone, 30 seconds of comfort, 1 minute alone.  Almost always, she puts herself to sleep within the first 4 minutes.  Every now and then we have to go in and pat her for the first 30 seconds, but we've never had to go back in for comforting a second time.  She's learned to calm down and go to sleep.  We can tell if it's just not working, as in she's escalating her fusses rather than de-escalating.  Our goal isn't total Cry It Out and just sitting there when our baby is really upset.  Our goal is to let her know that she can fall asleep in her crib.  She also needs to know that a little fussing isn't going to result in us picking her up and rocking her for 15 minutes.  We don't want her to be scared, either; we want her to know we're there for her.  We just want her to feel comfortable in her bed, and be able to put herself to sleep. So if she's escalated to the point that she's not going to calm down on her own, we go in and pick her up and rock her until she's calm again.  But most often, she just fusses a little then goes to sleep.  During night wakings, we do the same thing:  wait 4 minutes from when she wakes up and starts making noise before we go in and comfort her for just 30 seconds or a minute.  Usually, like at bedtime, she'll put herself to sleep within those 4 minutes and we never even have to get up.  It has been a beautiful, beautiful thing.  :) 

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So we've all been getting a little more sleep around here.  And Audra's been waking up with the BIGGEST smiles on her face!  It's been pretty funny, actually.  Nic and I will be talking, and she'll just be staring at us, smiling SO BIG, even though we weren't paying particular attention to her.  A happy, well-rested baby means a happy, well-rested Mommy.  I feel like the clouds have parted and the sun is shining through and things will only get better from here.

(My luck, I will have totally jinxed myself by writing this post.  We'll see.)  ;-)   

"Home" for the Holidays

Nic and I alternate holidays, namely Christmas, with our families.  Christmas 2012 was spent with my family in Missouri, and we were pumped since it was Audra's first Christmas.  And we were EXTRA pumped since my brother and Jessie (his wife) still hadn't had a chance to meet Audra, due to the distance, work schedules, travel expense, etc.  So within an hour of being home, the long-time-coming introduction to Uncle Brian and Aunt Jessie finally happened.  :)

 This last one is so HIM and also a typical goofy Audra face.  Quite perfect, if you ask me.

 Christmas Eve we all got dressed up and were happy to take Audra to her first Christmas church service.  Brian and Jessie attended church with her family.

 

We had a great time opening gifts on Christmas morning, and had a couple of awesomely lazy days just laying around the house and spending time with family.  I was pretty happy to be able to capture some precious moments on camera.  Like these:

Quality time with grandpa!

 And quality time with grandma!

The day after Christmas, we were able to have some family pictures taken.  :)

For whatever reason, every time Audra looked at my brother, she'd start crying!  It was hilarious and sad all at the same time.  She looked at him and starting crying during the shoot, so Jessie covered Brian's face to make her stop crying.  Quite awesome that the photographer caught that moment! 

We also got a special Christmas surprise!  Nic's family (parents, sister & her husband) drove up all the way from Texas to see us!  While still a long drive for them, it was still 10 hours of driving time less than if they'd driven to see us in Virginia.  It was great to see them, even if only for a few days!  I should add that Nic has a brother, too, but he and his wife live in L.A.  They weren't able to make it out to MO for the holidays. 

Audra had been particularly fussy, which was very unlike her.  Usually, she thrives in social situations!  At first, we thought it may just be the travel and unfamiliar scenery, but soon learned it was something a bit more. She woke up one morning with a fever and red cheeks, and was super clingy to anyone who held her.  So we decided to take her in to see a doctor.

Turns out, poor baby had the flu!  (Influenza A)  The nurse prac suspected that she got it from flying.  BOOO.  Nic had actually been feeling kinda crappy, too, starting a few days before she got her fever, so we're thinking he got it first then gave it to her.  So Nic had it, then Audra had it, and it wasn't long before I started feeling nasty.   ...then my mom got it, and we found out that Nic's dad got it as well!  (They were already back in TX by that time, but we know where he picked it up.)  So we had a household of sick people there for a while.  Audra and I actually delayed our flight home by a few days because neither of us were completely well enough to fly home with Nic.  He had to be back for work, so he went on home without us.  We also had to push back Audra's meeting of my extended family by a day, but she was finally feeling well enough to have people around. 

My Aunt Nancy playing with Audra.

I wish I had gotten some more pictures of all the others who were able to come (Uncle Jeff, Aunt Betty & Uncle Gary).  I think they were all pretty thrilled to finally meet her.


Whew!  Are you still with me?!?  We had a pretty eventful week in Missouri, and I'm glad I have some pictures to look back on.  It was definitely a fun time, sickness aside.  It was great to see some old friends and lots of family.  And yet there were plenty of people who I wasn't able to see... hopefully next time, my friends! 

Kinda funny how Missouri is called home for me.  Don't get me wrong, it still is, and always will be.  But now, being married and having a baby, home now feels like our house... Nic and I's home, where we live with Audra.  Only recently have I realized that my home has shifted at some point.  I'm actually not too sad about this fact, either.  I'm GLAD I've made our house feel like home to us.  :)  In all, I was happy to finally be back in MY home, my bed, and be back to our routine.  It was a great little visit, and yet it's great to be back home.

We Did It, We Did It, We Did It, Hooray!

If you'd talked to me face-to-face before our trip to Missouri, I probably let you know how nervous I was about flying with 6-month old Audra.  I was nervous about giving her bottles a lot of the day, I was nervous about nursing in public since she is a VERY distractable eater, I was nervous about a meltdown on the plane & everyone hating us, I was nervous about all the things to pack... I was just a bit of a nerve ball in general.  I prayed and prayed and PRAYED about the trip.  We flew there and we flew home, and I'm still alive and here to tell you all about it.

If you saw my Facebook update, you probably already know that the travel went WONDERFULLY.  Honestly, wonderfully is an understatement.  She could not have been an easier baby to travel with.  There were a few things I thought through ahead of time that made our trip much easier, and I figured I could save you all some thinking and research and tell you what I did. The trip we took was to visit my parents in my hometown, where I still know a lot of people I grew up with and went to school with.  Having people on the receiving end of my trip who were willing to help me out was a big key to decreasing the amount of things I had to bring with me.  I encourage you to plan ahead so you can save yourself some headaches.  So here's what I did:

Car Seats:
Most of you mommas probably already know that a crashed car seat is a done car seat; as in, you can no longer use it.  But did you know that a car seat that you check with your luggage can also be considered a crashed car seat?  Have you seen the way your luggage gets thrown around?  Imagine your car seat getting thrown around that same way.  Have you ever experienced turbulence on the air plane?  So have I.  Imagine your car seat bouncing around down below.  So, checking a car seat with luggage is, generally, no good.  If you MUST check your car seat, try this method.
A better option to checking your car seat with your luggage would be to gate check it with a big car seat bag over it.  Gate checkers know to be a little more gentle with the car seats, and you can even talk to the employees as you hand it over before you board.
But the BEST option, as far as keeping your car seat safe, would be to contact people on the receiving end of your trip and see if anyone has a car seat you can borrow while you're in town, or take your own on the plane.  I was lucky enough to have a friend whose baby had outgrown their infant seat, so we were able to borrow hers.  I sat with Audra on my lap (though I could have used a CARES seat) since that is where she feels safest and happiest.  Also, we weren't willing to shell out the extra dough for an extra seat on already expensive flights.  Lack of bringing the car seat minimized the amount of things we carried through the airport.  And that was nice.

Baby Swing:
As I've said in previous posts, Audra's been having a heckuva time sleeping these days.  At least, before the trip she was.  She seems to be better now.  (More on that another day.)  A lot of nights and nap times, the swing was the only place she'd stay asleep.  However, I didn't want to ship my swing, or check my swing, or travel with my swing in any way.  So again, I sent out a FB request to friends in Missouri, and sure enough, found someone kind enough to let me borrow theirs while we were in town.  Awesome!  It sure did get its fair share of use!

Stroller:
We decided that we just really didn't want to mess with a lot of STUFF while navigating the air ports.  We thought long and hard and decided against bringing a stroller.  I wore the Moby the whole time we traveled (I put it on before I left the house to avoid dragging it on the nasty air port floor), and I think Audra was in Heaven!  Being held or in the Moby is quite her cup of tea.  We got her out many times, like when we ate or just to let her jump around while we were waiting at the gate, but for the majority of our travel time, the Moby it was!  We figured we could also use the Moby in Missouri instead of a stroller.  Or if we really decided we wanted a stroller, we would buy a cheapo umbrella one once we got to our destination.  But we ended up not needing one.  The Moby was sufficient for the time that we were there.
The Moby seems to put a spell on her, especially when I'm walking around and she's getting that little bounce.  She falls right to sleep.  It's suffice to say that she slept a good majority of our travel time.

Waiting at the gate.

How To Not Have a Million Carry-Ons:
Well... just don't bring it on the plane!  Teehee.  Things you think you'll need... you won't.  Put it in your luggage.  The only things I could justify bringing on the plane for Audra were:  diapers, wipes, extra set of clothes (I brought 2), burp cloths, a few toys, bottles in a little bottle cooler, hand sanitizer (wet-ones travel wipes), and her birth certificate/our marriage record (which you have to have, btw, for baby's ID).  All of that fit in her diaper bag EASILY.  For myself, all I brought was my little phone holder which has a spot for my ID and money cards.  That's it.  Everything fit in her diaper bag.  Despite it being December/January, I decided against jackets since the air ports are always warm enough with all the walking we do.  Having her in the Moby also kept us both warm.  Although we could have had two carry-ons each, we both only had one.  But what if they lost our luggage, you ask?  Well, given that we had a fairly long lay-over, that was a risk we were willing to take.  If by chance they would have, then we would have just bought what we needed when we got to Missouri.  But like I said, we were willing to risk it.  Even if we'd packed an extra day's worth of clothes, we still would have had to buy things in Missouri if they lost our luggage.  So I stuck to the minimum.

To Keep Your Baby Happy on the Plane:
Nurse or give your baby a bottle on the ascent and descent to help with the pressure on their little ears.  Audra fell asleep on all four flights, and slept the entire way down on a few of them without any fuss.  On the way back home to VA, there was one flight where she was awake on the way up and she had already finished eating, so I gave her the pacifier (to continue the sucking motion).  I could feel my ears popping, and looked to her to see if she could feel it too.  She kinda stared at me like something may have been happening, but she never fussed or said a word.  I'd heard my share of horror stories about babies not being able to equalize the pressure, and that's what worried me most about the flight.  But we never had an issue.
Airplanes are chock full of white noise.  And for my baby, white noise = sleep.  We fed her on the way up so she had a nice, full tummy and not too long after, she was passed out.  We laid her head up on our shoulders (Nic did this on the flights to MO, I was alone with her on the way back), and patted her little butt and rocked her a bit and she was out like a light.  The only thing I would do differently in the future is bring some ear plugs, the foamy expandable kind.  I've never used ear plugs with her, and I don't know if they would fit in her little ears or if she'd even keep them in there... but my thought was that I would put one in her top/exposed ear after she fell asleep.  There was more than once that the captain or flight attendant talked over the loud speaker and Audra startled awake.  I think ear plugs would have really helped.  However, the speaker talked for such a short period of time that I was able to rock her and booty-pat her right back asleep.  ;)  I bet it was annoying for her to get woken up though. 

 The lady sitting next to Nic actually had the same birthday as Audra!  How cool, right?  Birthday buddies!

A Note About Security Procedures:
I wasn't sure if they'd let me, but I decided to try- and was able to wear Audra the whole way through security.  After I went under the little x-ray door, they called me over to do a test on my hands.  They ran what looked like a paper circle, about 3 inches in diameter, over my hands then put it in a little machine.  10 seconds later they said I was good to go.  I asked what exactly it did, and they said it tested for traces of explosives.  HAHA!  1) Anyone who would put explosives next to a baby would be ridiculously sick, and 2)Wow, that little paper can do that?  I also had breast milk in the little cooler that came with my pump.  I did have more than 3 oz, though I think they would have tested it if I had less than 3 oz (the allowed amount of liquid in a carry on), too.  They took the lid off the bottles and waved what looked like a little pH strip (though I'm sure it was something else) right over top of it.  They said they would be testing the fumes for explosives.  Again, crazy right?  Though I'm glad they're doing their part to keep us safe. 

So, as I walked through the airport on the way home, just Audra and I, I felt a little bit proud of myself for the lack of THINGS (i.e. hassle) I was toting around with me.  I had Audra in the Moby, so I was hands-free, and I had her diaper bag... and that was it.  Just us and one bag.  It was EASY.  I saw other parents walking around with their stroller, some with a car seat too, and what seemed like a million carry-ons, and a whole bunch of things.  I was proud of myself for my ability to make my life easier by not having to keep up with all of that.  Perhaps when she's a bit older, things will become a little more difficult and I'll be a little more like those parents I saw.  But for this age and stage, what we did was a recipe for hassle-free flying.  On the very last flight, before we hit the ground in Virginia, I couldn't help but hear Dora cheering in my head, "We did it, we did it, we did it, hooray!"

I can't wait to tell you all about our time in Missouri, but I wanted to start with how we were able to travel with ease.  I hope you all had an outstanding Christmas and a great ringing in of the new year.  I hope this year will be your best yet!  Ours is starting out that way! 

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas Letter 2012:

December 2012

Friends and family,

I (Nic) hope this letter finds you well and enjoying all of the joy and happiness that the Christmas season has to offer. Thanks to my lovely wife, our house has been full of the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas, and it is a thing of beauty. As I sit to write this letter, my heart could truly not be happier. There have been many changes for our family in 2012, and I mean big changes. But from these changes have also come many blessings.

The first big change we had was my leaving for Commissioned Officer Training (COT) to become an officer in the Air Force Nurse Corp. The hardest part was knowing that I would miss the entire third trimester of Stef’s pregnancy. We would be apart from February 28 to June 15. The first five of those weeks I would be at COT at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama. I would then be in San Antonio for ten weeks for my orientation to Air Force nursing, the Nurse Transition Program. We knew life in the military would be hard, but it was also an amazing opportunity for our family, and the fulfillment of a long-time dream for me.

All along our time apart, we were operating under the assumption that I would come back to Lubbock from San Antonio for Audra’s birth (due June 4). We loved our obstetrician, the hospital, and the fact that we had lots of family and friends close by. However, through some unforeseen circumstances, we made the decision that Stef would come down to San Antonio to deliver our baby girl (you can read all of the details on Stef’s blog, www.stefaniewilliams-foreverinspired.blogspot.com). All that really matters is that our little angel, Audra Kayte, made her debut on June 10, 2012. She was beautiful, healthy, and perfect. Our lives were forever changed…and so were our sleep patterns.

I finished the Nurse Transition Program a few days after Audra was born, and we headed back to Lubbock to see family, pack up our life, and move to Virginia where I am stationed at         AFB. It was a little nerve-racking thinking about driving half-way across the country with a not-quite-3-week-old baby, but it worked out quite well: she slept for the majority of the trip. 27 hours of driving time later, we rolled into        , VA to start our new life as an Air Force family.

Stef and I have both enjoyed taking on the role of parenting. There is nothing that can prepare you for the realization that you will be responsible for the life and well-being of a tiny human, and there are no words to describe the immensity of love that begins to grow in your heart for this little person that you’ve only just met. We talk about what her personality will be like, what her interests will be, and what kind of questions she will ask us. We pray for patience and understanding, because Lord knows we will need it. We are so thankful for our little stinker, and so proud to be her parents!

Another big change for us here in Virginia is that Stef is staying at home with Audra. She traded in grading papers of smarty-pants teenagers for changing poopy diapers and reading Dr. Seuss. We are blessed to be able to afford to have one of us stay home, and Stef is rocking in her new role! She has made some friends that also stay at home with little ones, and sends me pictures and texts while I’m at work of all of the fun and exciting adventures that she and Audra have.

As we close out 2012, we have many things to be thankful for, as well as many things to look forward to in 2013. We have found a church that we really enjoy, got plugged in to a small group, and are learning to navigate all of the winding, confusing roads out here on the east coast. I am enjoying my job, and Stef and Audra are having a blast as Audra discovers new and exciting things each and every day. We are so thankful for all of you, and wish you and yours a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Love,

Nic, Stefanie, and Audra

***We're off to Missouri in just a few days.  I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and a safe transition to the new year!***

In The Still Of The Night

Amazing how much one can learn in a week.  I told you last post that I'd give my thoughts on the Dr.'s advice, and here they are.  At Audra's 6 month well-baby checkup, the conversation came up when he asked about her sleep.  I told him she wasn't sleeping through the night anymore, although she used to.  After telling him our normal middle-of-the-night-routine (feed her until she's asleep, or feed then rock back to sleep, then put her in bed), he told us this:  he said since she used to sleep through the night, it's clear that her nutritional needs were being met throughout the day.  That being said, he suggested not feeding her when she wakes in the night.  He said even rocking her every time will make her less likely to fall asleep on her own (long term), and that she needs to get used to waking up and falling back asleep in her crib without getting out.  He suggested rubbing her back, patting her, etc. but trying not to get her out.  So that night, I tried it.

And it went HORRIBLY.  Tears... oh, the tears.  Once she really started crying, I picked her up and rocked her, though I had no intentions of feeding her (since he said she shouldn't need it).  As I stated last post, her crying went on for what seemed like FOREVER until I finally fed her.  And then I had some choices to make.  I found myself thinking that there had to be some middle ground.  Somewhere in between feeding & rocking her to sleep, and not feeding or picking up my baby at all. 

So the next day, I bought The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.  Many, many people had recommended this book so I decided to give it a try.  Last night I finally got a chance to do some reading.  As I kept reading, the question marks slowly started to fade as things became more and more clear.  I felt like I had answers.  I felt like this author had been sitting in Audra's room in the still of the night observing our every movement; she was so spot on.  At one point, she outlined our exact middle-of-the-night-routine, forgetting nothing and adding nothing extra (I was going to quote it, but it's copyrighted).  ;)  Then she talked about the Phases of easing a baby into independent sleep.  Phase One basically being what we're doing now, and Phase Six (the last phase) resulting in comforting from the doorway.  She describes each phase in detail, and... whattaya know, I found the phase that I had tried when trying to implement the Dr.'s advice.  That tearful night, she woke up and I tried patting her back and soothing her from outside the bed... but that's Phase Four!  I had skipped a lot of steps, and (as Pantley confirms) trying to rush the process and jolt the baby out of their normal/comforting midnight routine will only result in stress and tears.  So... lesson learned.

So thank you to any of you who recommended this book.  I can tell that it's going to be a life sleep saver.  It'll take a while before we're the "comfort from the doorway" parents, but I'm confident that we'll get there.  So I'll keep feeding her, as Phase One allows, and we'll slowly make our way to where the Dr. wants us to be.  I have to give him a bit of credit; at the end of all 6 phases, Audra will be where he recommended- so his advice isn't totally off.  It would have been helpful, though, if he told us how to ease her to that point rather than making us believe that we should just do it cold turkey.  The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.  Loving it.

On a sidenote:  my milk production had been down (which should have told me that of course she was hungry in the night), and I fixed it!  More Milk Plus by Motherlove.  Tastes awful, but increased my production to nearly double in just 12 hours.  If you're a breastfeeding mama, perhaps it can be of some help to you.  :)

I'm loving finding solutions to some of my frustrations.  I've got to admit, I've felt defeated in a lot of different things lately (breastfeeding, sleep, all resulting in tiredness throughout the day resulting in low productivity at home; I think you get the picture).  I think things are going to get better, really really soon.