Separation Anxiety...for me.

As I mentioned earlier, Josh and I are taking off for Chicago tomorrow, which means Aria will be staying with my mom. I've never been away from her for more than 24 hours (if that...) so hopefully I'll do ok ;) I'm sure she'll do fine - she loves going to my parents and they love having her.

How old were your kids when you left them for the first time? Am I alone in this :) ?

Mirror, Mirror

Just wanted to write this down so I could look back and remember this later...

Aria's current favorite activity? Going to the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror and talk to herself. She gets so excited, it's one of my favorite things to watch her do. She's also become more entranced with the tiny little mirror on her play-saucer; she gets as close to it as she can pull herself and just jabbers away to the mirror - she'll smile, talk and lick (yes, lick) the mirror for quite a long time... unfortunately, as soon as she sees you watching her, she stops, so I haven't gotten a picture yet... It's just too cute to forget.

Parent's Time Out

Yep, sometimes Mommy and Daddy need a time out, too. And with that in mind, Josh and I are taking this weekend for our time out.

I think one of the most important things we can do for our kids is have a happy marriage, and constantly stressed out, sleep deprived (and adult-conversation deprived) parents don't make for a happy marriage. Babies as young as a couple weeks old have demonstrated an aversion to stressed out or tense parents (I learned that this was why Aria always went to Josh after she got her shots - she could sense how upset I was.) And I'm sure we all know that if we never get some "date time" with our hubby's (or wives, if you're a man reading this) than things can get wonky. Most marriage experts (and married people in general) advise a date night once a week even with kids. Now, if your kids are anything like my one child, this doesn't happen like it should. Even if your kid is relatively "low maintenance," you still have to find a babysitter, no one can be sick, and there can't be anything else going on...good luck. But still, we try to have at least one point in our week where it's just us; whether that's sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching a movie, or if it actually means going out to a restaurant fro a nice, quiet meal. Whatever fits into your schedule - take it!

Josh and I are taking this to the extreme this weekend and taking off for Chicago :) We're actually celebrating our first anniversary and my birthday. I'm excited - it'll be really nice to get away for a few days and just hang out, just the 2 of us... and now having to lug around the baby carrier (cuz lemme tell ya' - that thing is getting heavy!)

Josh and I when we first started dating 

Date night last summer to a Tiger's game - something we try to do a couple times a summer

Leave them to their own devices...

Ok, I know that sounds like a bad idea. A really bad idea if you have a kid or two like mine. But sometimes, it's good to (in a controlled environment with lots of supervision) leave kids to find things out for themselves. Now, "lots of supervision" and "leaving to their own devices" doesn't sound like ideas that are compatible, but with babies and toddlers, I think there's a difference between "hovering" and "supervising"... let me explain.

We all know those parents (or are those parents) who do everything with and for our kids. Picking them up every time they hit their head in the tiniest way, holding them after the smallest whimper, etc. This is what I consider "hovering." Now for some people, this isn't a bad thing. I am not bashing this in any way - it's just not for me, and Aria would not be pleased if this was the way we did our parenting. I would also be holding her constantly, as she's throwing her head into something every 3 minutes or so.

For Aria, starting at about 5 months, she could pick up her pacifier and get it in the vicinity of her mouth. And she liked that. Well, at this point, the novelty of putting her own pacifier in her mouth has kinda wore off, so she wants us to put it right back in like we did before. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen, kiddo. Besides the fact, this helps her work on her coordination, it's good for her to realize that Mommy and Daddy aren't going to do everything for her because she wants us to. For almost all meals (midnight meal not included) we have her hold her own bottle, because she can. If she wants a toy across the room and she's on the ground crawling around, we may move it closer to her, but she has to put forth the effort to get it.

This has worked really well for us, and it's helped Aria improve her ability to entertain herself, which is great for me. She's figured out how to work most of her toys, and that's because we didn't always push all the buttons for her - she had to figure out how to make the toys sing or move, and when she did, the look of pride on her face was just too cute and totally worth it. Because she feels the "freedom" to wander around the living room, she's discovered all sorts of things - how to open a drawer, how to close a drawer, drawers without knobs do not open and the like :)

How did you teach your kids to do things on their own? What was your child's first accomplishment that he/she was truly proud of?

Operation Discovery: New Flavors

I recently read an article about how one of the new trends in parenting is introducing their children to a much larger spectrum of tastes including avocados, mangos, acai berry and even some mild spices (a pinch of cinnamon here, a shake of nutmeg there...) and was hoping to be able to do something similar with Aria in the future; she's not at all a picky eater so far and experimenting with your child's food has shown to produce less picky eaters later in life, and I'm all about that!

Since she's still a little young for meats and even most sugary fruits(in my opinion, at least) we're just sticking to green beans, peas, squash and sweet potatoes for right now with the occasional apple juice/rice cereal treat for breakfast. I've considered putting a bit of nutmeg in her squash/sweet potatoes, since they said there's really no age limit on spices and no known food allergies, but am still hesitant...

Any thoughts on this topic? Did you experiment with your kids' foods to get them to be less picky or did you stick strictly to baby food in a can?

Hipp Organic has some awesome sounding baby food flavors...

Bow Happiness :)

Aria's never been a really big "bow girl" - I mean, they're cute, but they were a pain to keep on her head, and she always got irritated with them...after a while, I just gave up except for on special occasions.

And then I discovered Missy's Musings bows. They come with a comfy head band (that was included free) and a free flower clip too :) I was able to custom order my bows on Thursday and they arrived on Monday! And did I mention the price is GREAT?! I really recommend any mommy of girls check out her bows, hats and other adorable things!

You can check her out on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/MissysMusings

Priceless Pictures and Making Them Perfect

I just wanted to post about this really quickly, since I've had so many people ask.

As most of my friends know, I'm slightly obsessed with taking pictures of Aria, but it's something I think is important. Memories are so precious, and when Aria is older, I still want to remember these precious little moments and quirky things she does. I also love decorating my home with pictures. Now, this has been rather difficult with our apartment, since I'll have to fill in all those nail holes when we move out (I'm still looking into those 3M picture hangers) and that is just not something I want to deal with during a move. That aside, I still feel that the most personal way to decorate your place is with the moments that have turned that "living space" into a home. That said, I'm not a huge fan of putting random snap shots upon the wall that look tacky. Making things cohesive by using all black and white or sepia tone, for example, is a great way to make every day shots fit into a space. Some pictures also need a little more touching or would simply look better that way. For all these fixes, I use Picnik - a fabulous, free program that you use in your browser to edit and store pictures. Now, if you're an "artsy" type person, this may not be for you; it's not extremely advanced and may frustrate those of you who are used to more control (Yes, little brother, I'm referring to you ;) ) but for amateurs like me, this is a great way to make your photos look a little better :)

Here's a couple pictures I have edited with the program to give you an idea of what you can do.

http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome

Getting Ready for Summer

Ok, so I know if you're from Michigan, right now you're thinking there's really no point in getting ready for summer, since it looks like it may never get here. But I'm trying to keep some hope alive. The other day I went out and bought Aria a little summer hat, hot pink crocs and started organizing her bathing suits and over-ups - all ready for the pool! She's really not a fan of hats, or anything else that goes on her head, so I figured we'd start early getting her used to her hat.

My Silly Girl...

Aria's figured out she can put 2 pacifiers in her mouth at the same time...now she's shooting for 3...

Teething Cookie Pictures

Grates and Cookies

I know, great name for a blog post, right? :) Actually, they're just a few things that Aria has recently taken a liking to...

"Grates?" you ask? Yes. As in vent covers. So, small grates I guess. And specifically, the brass, shiny, decorative grate that Josh's aunt has in her living room. While we were there last night, it was probably Aria's favorite object in the place, and it kept her entertained for a solid 1/2 hour. She could only be deterred by the bright orange cups holding our Coke... but other than that, nothing could separate her from the shiny thing on the floor. I should have thought to take a picture, because her fascination was just too funny.

And as for cookies? Well, no, she's not eating chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin quite yet...but she has discovered teething cookies/biscuits and the amazing mess she can make with them. She left no part of her car seat uncovered in cookie crumbs on Friday afternoon when we gave her one to entertain her while we ate, nevermind the fact that it was imperative she get a bath when we got her home. It was in her toes, all over her arms and up her nose. Just watching her eat it like a Popsicle and then smear it all over her face was quite worth it though :) Anything to keep her happy during dinner time!

I still can't believe how big she's getting...she's crawling around even faster, is more adventurous, and is so much more communicative with us. She's still not quite saying words yet (other than baba) but it's usually pretty obvious what she wants or thinks about something. She's started "answering" when we ask her a question with an "aaar!" or "un!" and the proper corresponding facial expression.

Everyone has different "favorite phases" that their kids go through...so far, this is my favorite :)

Pictures of Aria: 7 months Old

Playing with daddy in the sofa cushions :)

Her Easter bunny hat; right after this picture was taken, she whipped it off and through it across the room...lol

She's fascinated with feet....something I hope she grows out of...

She was so eager to get in the box. And then realized that being in the box was boring. Go figure :)

Trying out her new Thirty-One Bloomers...she couldn't figure out why there were ruffles on her butt.

It's a whole new world everyday

Aria's growing up some more. Shocking, I know. She's crawling around even more (if that was possible) and crawling into things (i.e. the microwave cart, the bottom of her play saucer, the side table... .) She's also starting to figure things out a little bit more; she's (very rarely) waving at some people, sharing (putting her pacifier in our mouths...ugh.) and has come to grips with the fact that she cannot crawl through TV cabinet. She's become incredibly attached to one specific blanket (Thank you to Scott and Charlene for that wonderful blanket,) but she unfortunately spit up all over it yesterday and has still not figured out where it went (it went to the laundry bin.)

She is still an extremely active child, but she's finally started to snuggle more, which is nice. She'll "admit" to being tired (face- planting into the floor or pulling her blanket over her head is her way of saying "bed time!") which is a new phenomenon. She's also playing peek-a-boo with herself. I can't possibly imagine how that's entertaining, but I'm not 8 months old.

Yep, 8 months. My baby girl is 8 months. I still remember being pregnant her being born like it was yesterday. How time flies...

Meeting Daddy for the first time, 8 months ago on this Saturday.

Aria and her beloved Blankie

My pretty girl waving at the camera :) 8 months went by so quickly!

Peaceful Parties....and the Not-So-Peaceful Ones...

Last Thursday also marked the first time I ever took Aria to a Thirty-One party without having my mom there to babysit. And probably the last. Aria's just getting to that point where strangers are kinda scary, but not as scary as Mommy handing her over to strangers and walking away. Let me tell ya', it was quite an ordeal. Fortunately, my wonderful hostess, Mary, willingly held her and walked around with her while I did my presentation and games and her daughters played with Aria and helped keep her distracted when I couldn't hold her. Like I said, most likely the last time she'll be coming without someone she knows to watch her for quite a while. Thankfully, the next night at a party, my mom was there, as was a cello-playing boy whom Aria was fascinated with (both the cello and the boy) and many people there she had met before. Oh, and a granite counter top which she discovered is the most fun thing in the world to crawl on. Wood floors? Still not her favorite... Thanks, mom for watching Aria and saving me from the stress of the previous night :)

Peas are Good Part 2

I know, I know, I've been a delinquent momblogger, but things have been kinda nuts. Don't worry, if you're rally all that interested, I'll be playing catch-up all day, so you won't have missed much :)

Last week, I tried making my own baby food. Actually, I must say I succeeded at making my own baby food. And I'm quite proud of myself :) We were able ti inherit a baby food processor from some friends who had outgrown there before Aria was born, so I decided to give it a shot. A can of peas, 2 scoops of formula and a couple Tbls of rice cereal later and Aria had lunch. (Yes, I put formula in all her baby food - if you want to know why, email and ask me sometime.) She loved ate it. Actually, she put away a whole bowl full, which surprised me. I've purchased some more peas and canned yams (apparently they don't can squash or sweet potatoes...) so we'll keep experimenting and making our own food. It's kinda fun, as long as you have the time and it's WAY cheaper. And I know what's going in it, which makes me feel better :)

Have any of my readers who are actually still reading my blog :P made their own baby food and have suggestions or ideas that worked for you and your baby? Please share :)

Pizza will not be going into the food processor anytime soon, much to Aria's disappointment.

Getting Down an' Dirty

we all know that personal interaction with our kids is how they learn the best. kids who spend lots of quality face-time with their parents generally are ahead in verbal, social and cognitive skills compared to those who play alone most of the time. so how do we assimilate this?

well, personally, for a long time, i couldn't imagine how me getting down on the ground with Aria would change anything and until recently i didn't even really try it. the past couple weeks, we've spent lots of quality time on the ground. yes, on the ground. Aria's a mover, for those who hadn't figured that out, and spending lots of time in her play saucer just doesn't cut it anymore. she wants to be crawling around, exploring the house and figuring out where josh and i go when we're not in the living room with her. and until this week, she had stayed in her nice little square of carpet in the living room. not so anymore. she's going everywhere. the other day she decided to visit me in the kitchen. yesterday, she took a trip to the bathroom while i blinked. she's now getting increasingly irritated at her inability to crawl through things i.e. the couch and tv cabinet. with all this increased movement, there needs to be increased supervision. and what better way to do that then crawl with her?

now sure, i probably look ridiculous, but my daughter thinks its the greatest thing ever, and that's what counts right? we use positive reinforcement when she does something new (i.e. get up on her knees) to encourage her and by being so close to the ground with her, there's a lot of face-time going on, as well as a lot of face-grabbing lol. when we let Aria play on her own, it takes about 5-7 toys to keep her entertained. but when we get down and play with her, she basically forgets about her toys - she's content to play with our fingers, toes and noses. listening to her little giggle when we make a silly face and watching her get a huge smile when we get on our bellies to crawl just like her makes the absolute exhaustion we inevitably experience later absolutely worth it.

Last days for Scentsy Party

I just wanted to post real quick and remind everyone that today and tomorrow are the LAST DAYS to order this great and safe product through my party. I really encourage you to check it out, and if you're still hesitant, ask anyone else you know who owns one. I really think you will fall in love with it as much as I have! I'm posting the link again below so you can browse around and shop. Don't miss out!

Kara's Online Scentsy Party

This is the warmer I want to get for Aria's room - perfect color scheme!

First Words

yep, she's done it. she said her first word...and we didn't even realize it at first. we've been thinking the past few days that she's started babbling more, but as we (and my mom) were paying closer attention today, we realized that when she said "baba" she knew what she was saying; she was asking for her bottle - she was hungry. she'll cry "baba baba" when she's hungry, and when she's done eating she'll pat the bottle and say "baba" and smile. it's really precious. so, no "mama" or "dada" for a first word, but the way she's eats and loves her battles, i'm not really surprised. she's still incredibly close to "dada," which thrills josh's soul and which i'm all for - in the middle of the night, if she's calling "dada," i can't disappoint her... :)

this is actually an old picture from the first time she held her "baba" on her own :)

Hooked on Phonics

at least, i feel like we're going through some kind of phonics program right now at our house with all the "ga ga, ba ba"s going on... i just know any minute she's going to say "dada" or "mama" and i can't wait! :) she's been moving her mouth and tongue more when babbling on and watches our mouth all the time. i feel like she's going to be quite the talker once she gets going...maybe as much as she moves. she's now getting up on all 4s and trying so hard to stand up. she's crawling all over the apartment now (only with adult supervision of course,) opening and closing drawers (still gotta get locks on those...) and dancing to music she likes, which is absolutely adorable, btw. and i'm not biased.

 I don't have a picture for this post (or for the ones in the near future) as josh's computer recently crashed with our pictures on it, and the laptop i'm using right now doesn't have pictures loaded yet, but they'll be back soon :)

My little night owl...

this weekend, aria decided to pull a couple all-nighters. no really - all night. she was up, playing in her crib, trying to get to the monitor, everything she's NOT supposed to be doing at 3am, she was doing. wide awake, waving her hands and wanting to play. at 3am. mommy and daddy? not so much in the playing mood. but she was so cute, i couldn't be upset...well, maybe once. thankfully, last night, she slept through the night. or we might have died.

also, some other fun we had yesterday was that my birthmom, tia, her husband, luke, and my 2 younger sisters came  by and we all went out to eat at our personal favorite - olive garden. aria munched on her celery sticks as we had a great time eating, talking and playing with aria. good times...they can't believe how big aria is getting and honestly, i can't either. last night she was jabbering and talking away - it doesn't get cuter than that. i took some vids but they're kinda dark, and josh wasn't thrilled with the way he looked in them lol. i can tell she's so close to pulling herself up to standing and saying her first real word. my baby girl is 7 1/2 months now... crazy.

"Rubber ducky, you're the one!"

"...you make bath time so much fun!" ... the words to the sesame street song have never left me. and they are so true for Aria. for Christmas my grandma gave Aria a hot pink rubber ducky, and until now she's been too little to actually play in the bathtub. bath time usually consisted of the "get her in, get her out" type procedures, trying to avoid as much trauma as possible, as Aria hates having water on her face but hasn't figured out that the constant splashing she partakes in doesn't help that situation. but today? today was different. today, we had fun. we played with the soap suds and with her rubber duck. Aria laughed when the water hit her face. and she almost managed to dunk my toothbrush under water!... i did manage to grab it out of her little paws before that happened, fortunately. i'll never forget the look of terror that used to come into her eyes when she saw the light pink tub when she was carried into the bathroom. now, she tries to jump head first, which - since i'm at least attempting to be a good mother - i believed would not be best, so i stopped her. but it's such a relief to have her enjoying bath time now :) she looks so adorable trying to lick the water rivulets running down her nose and splashing as much water as possible out of the tub so that mommy ends up just as wet as she does...it's actually fun. 

First bath ever.

a few months old...still not digging bath time.

this is fun! I love bath time!

Aria Wardell: Now crawling with 3G speed!!!

oh my word, i can't look away for literally 3 seconds. she'll be chewing on the computer cords (or pulling them out to make that "hilarious" beeping noise she likes too much lol) or trying to get close enough to the ground to crawl under the couch. she's started trying to crawl over and join me in the kitchen when i'm cleaning or cooking. actually, i just had to stop blogging for a minute to rescue her since she got herself stuck under a drawer. good grief, i rally need to get some drawer locks soon. we actually put her in her playpen most of the time to play, so we know she can't get into anything if we happen to blink. she's been trying desperately hard to pull herself up to a standing position, but she just doesn't have that balance yet. she does like to crawl up us, hang on t our shoulders and stand, however, and is incredibly proud of herself when she does this :) I just can't believe how fast she can half scoot/half crawl around - it's really remarkable lol.

What were some funny things your kids did when they were starting to crawl?

Where's the love?

let's face it. kids can be frustrating. some days, you truly want to rip your hair out, throw in the towel, and give up. the past 2 days have been like that for me. for some reason, aria adamantly refused to go down for naps. for 2 days straight. she wasn't sleeping well at nights (translation: josh and i weren't sleeping well at night either) and then wouldn't take naps. after 6 hours of her exhausted crying yesterday, i thought i was going to lose it. you can't discipline a 7 month old - they have no idea what's going on; she laughs if we try to say "aria!" in a stern voice - she just doesn't get it yet, and that's ok because she's only 7 months. but how do you cope with a child who refuses to cooperate. it's so easy to get frustrated and, eventually, angry - you're exhausted, emotionally drained and just want it to stop. how do you react? do you react in love even when you don't understand?

I know this is something I really have to work on. for me, a lot of the frustration doesn't necessarily come from aria (although after a few hours of screaming, it comes close) but more from the fact that I don't know what wrong, or how to fix it. i'm a typical mom - i hate when something's wrong and and i desperately want to make it better. what mom doesn't? but sometimes when we can't make it better, our frustration with the situation gets taken out on our kids. we need to always react in love, but do we? like i said, this is a huge thing for me to work on, since my daughter's attempt at communication is currently not in my native language. i want her to know, that no matter what happens, what she does, i will always love her. i guess babies can have bad days too :)

PS - as soon as Josh got home last night, aria was happy as a lark. (i'm assuming since i've heard this saying my entire life that larks are happy birds, although i have yet to personally confirm this) she's such a daddy's girl .

More Growing Up....

sometimes i have a hard time thinking about how much and how fast aria is growing... it seems like just a few short days ago we were cuddling in the hospital (one of the only times we're ever cuddled LOL) and bringing her home. and now she's 7 months old. craziness. but there are some aspects of her growing up that are fun, funny and heartwarming. like how she reaches for us now when she wants to be held. and how she smiles when we walk into the room or cries when we leave her. she's sitting up by herself for the most part, except when she goes to reach for a toy, and falls over. she's figured out that the computers make noises when she unplugs them and takes great pleasure in scooting over to the computers when i look away for 10 seconds and pulling out the power cords. she can open the drawers, and occasionally, she opens it on top of herself and gets stuck - very entertaining as she tries to army crawl out from under the drawer. she's started occasionally dancing to music, and has figured out how to push the buttons on her toys to make them talk, sing or move. she's really starting to notice her world, and it's awesome for us to watch her grow. there's nothing better.

Playing with her ducky in the tub for the first time :)

She loves the dragonfly attached to her toybar on her carrier :)

"Scent"sable Safety Solutions

Ok, let's face it. Once we have crawlers, it's pretty important that we "baby-proof" our homes. The sharp edges on cabinets, electrical cords sitting around, cleaners that are easily accessible - all these things need to change for the safety of our kids.

Something (esp. for Fall and Christmas) I absolutely love is candles. I just love the way they smell and the glow - just so warm and welcoming. Well, since A has been called "the most mobile child I have ever seen!" by just about everyone I know, you can imagine my hesitance about having candles sitting around. If one falls over because she's pulling on the leg of a table or has actually managed to climb up onto the table (which isn't entirely impossible) ... I just don't want to think about what would happen. SOOOO...

I found Scentsy. It's a wax-warmer system with the CUTEST warmers ever and some FABULOUS scents. I bought a nice, modern green warmer for my kitchen with a pumpkin roll scent bar, and I'm just in love. The unique thing about Scentsy is that their warmer system never gets the wax over 104 degrees, so even if it does manage to fall over, you won't ever have to worry about getting wax burns. Such great piece of mind. And I love it so much, I'm hosting an online party for Scentsy. SO if you would like to check out this AMAZING product, please click on the link below.

Scentsy Online Party Link!

Update September 2012: I'm doing ANOTHER one because I love my stuff so much, and here are some of my favorite items from the Fall/Winter Catalog 2012

I'm just in love with this owl

Very cute for Christmas! :)

I love the colors and shape of this.

This would go perfectly with my pumpkin obsession :)

October's Warmer of the month... perfect for Thanksgiving!