We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.
-Henry Ward Beecher
-— Oscar Wilde.
Being a new parent is not easy. With exploding poop dippers, big crying fits, to feeding time, and nap time, tummy time, waking up in the middle of the night just to check on your sweet new baby etc.. So far I’ve only been doing it for 2 months now and i am definitely not an expert on anything.
I am not sure how to really start these things and i am not a very good writer(at all). I just want to share my experience as a new parent and maybe even get some feedback to learn new tricks.. As a new mom everything is complicated, I am figuring out how to manage cleaning the house, getting motivation to put away the laundry, playing with the baby, etc. but I love it. All of it.
Let me start to tell you a little about myself and my family. I’m only 22 I am a hairdresser but i currently have a full time job at home, I had a baby 2 months ago with my amazing boyfriend Casey. We had a beautiful little girl named Penelope, She is our whole world (besides our dog Atticus). We are figuring this whole parenting thing out one day at a time. It is definitely not easy but i wouldn’t give it up for the world, every day I am home with Penelope is the best days.
I am going to start writing every other day, every topic different then the last and talk about things going on in everyday mom life. If you would like to go on this journey with me, especially if you are a new mom and are having similar experiences with your new baby please subscribe below.
Well you all know I usually have a picture in the beginning of my writing. Well to be honest I couldn’t find a good one, actually I didn’t even really look. I am actually waiting to go to work for the next 2 hours and my sweet little Penelope is having not feeling to good today… Poor baby has the runs and just wants to cuddle with mom (she really just wants my boob) I don’t like to leave her but I know her daddy will make sure she is getting all the cuddles in the whole world.
Penelope is now 15 months old.. time really flies and it makes me sad but also happy, because she was just so small and now she is a freaking giant. (lol) she is now 21 pounds and just tall, like her dad. She has been keeping my very very busy and that’s a good thing but I also have been trying to start my own little etsy shop with what time I have while penelope is napping. For those of you who are already following it, you know what I make and how to find my shop, instagram, and facebook for it. For those of you who don’t know, I make homemade Sugar Scrubs! I have an etsy shop that has just recently gone up and it is a little of a slow start, which is understandable. I will put a link in the bottom of this post so if you would like to check it out that would be very appreciated.
Anyway, back to my little baby girl. Yesterday (September 29th) Penelope had her 15 month wellness check and got some shots, never good. and today she is not feeling so great, also understandable…. she just wants to cuddle and nap and eat all day, but on the other hand her little baby body is just wanting to explode and make mommy change 5 diarrhea diapers and 2 of them were within 5 minutes of each other… NEVER GOOD.
This post has turned into two days of writing just because I honestly forgot I was writing because P was wanting me to hold her or feed her or something. It is a funny thing as a parent and you want to do something or you start doing something and then your kid wants to start climbing on you or starts to try and grab everything you have and hit things or hits you. Literally anything you do or begin to do that’s when your baby wants to start paying attention to you.
This post isn’t going to be very long just because I don’t know what else to say about keeping busy because at the moment as I type this Penelope is getting into the dogs water bowl and there is now water everywhere….
well anyway please like and share and please go check out my etsy shop and tell me what you think!
Welcome back! There is so many things that have happened with my little baby but there are so many things I am looking forward to as mommy! We are talking first steps and beyond, this can only mean one thing! Penelope is GROWING!!
Alright well things going on in the world right now are not anything like we ever expected, that really sucks. Fortunately for us moms with everything still going on our babies are happy, playing and most importantly they are still growing. It is the craziest thing for us to see that tiny little baby that we gave birth to just grow and grow and grow. It doesn’t matter if they just turned 1,2,3,4, or even 61 we will always see them as that small human and we will always love them.
Penelope is turning one next month and it is CRAZY! This first year went by so fast, she is now saying MAMA, MOM, DA, DADA, DA, and sometimes it sounds like she says YEAH, and NO… but we are working on it. She can pull herself onto things and when she does sometimes P will let go and stand on her own with her arms in the air for a few seconds and then falls to her butt, she uses her walker to cruse around the living room but if she runs into something and becomes stuck I try and get her to walk to me on her own. Needless to say it doesn’t work, she will slowly revert to her crawling ways but I will say that she is pretty fast when she crawls. You look away for one second and she is gone.
Something about planing a birthday for a 1 year old is that I don’t want to do anything to big because she isn’t going to remember it but also not doing something big enough. Because of everything going on the original place I had booked will be closed for the season and that just sucks. Now I have exactly one month to find another place to have it, get decorations, make a list of family and friends to come, and not spend to much money in the process.
P is still breastfeeding. We have been giving her more and more proteins so that may be starting to make her wean off of me a little… it makes me sad but ultimately she is going to stop breastfeeding someday, but I think the part that makes me even more sad is that, that is the only way she lets me put her to sleep. Penelope will let everyone else hold her sideways and rock her to sleep and she could almost be completely asleep and the minute she gets handed to me she starts fussing and gets mad because I am just trying to rock her like everyone else. But then when I do try and feed her(this only happens when we are in public) she will eat for a little while and be fine, then she will just rip herself off of me and sart fussing again and trying to get off of me so I put her down AND SHE STILL CRIES! Wanting to come back and start eating again just to do the same thing over and over. I can’t win.
On top of all that Penelope has teeth now. not the little start of teeth pushing out of her tiny little gums either, she now has full blown teeth. To be more specific she has her two bottom front teeth and two top front teeth. She does bite me while eating and she does it multiple times, sometimes she doesn’t mean to because she is in the stage of falling asleep but she is starting to unlatch from me and then she wakes a little and aggressively tries to relatch. When she is eating and she is looking at me and playing with my hair and putting her feet up and what not, if I stop playing for a minute to focus on something else she will just bite me. I don’t yell at her for it, I simply tell her that is not nice and say ow and she then thinks it is funny and then also says ow.
Casey and I have finally gotten Penelope to sleep on her tummy! Thank goodness for that because she now sleep through the night. I mean occasionally she will wake up once or twice but thats just cause she can’t get comfy again. If I am being honest she definitely does still sleep in bed with us sometimes which is fine BUT, she does take up a lot of room. Between me, Casey, Atticus(our dog), and Penelope you would think a Cali King bed would be perfect for all of us. That would be wrong..
Well I think that is all I really have for today. Growing babies are the most exciting thing in the world!
Well here we are again, things are different and my little girl is growing. We are at the point wear Penelope is now mobile, she is getting fast and she is growing some teeth. Atticus is still trying to eat food off/out of Penelope’s hands, mouth , and high chair tray, they are the best of friends still except when she tries to “pet” him. It is still more of an aggressive petting but now he just gets up and walks away.
Penelope is now 8 months going on 9 on the 25th of this month. She is amazing and growing so much its sad because I miss how small she used to be… Anyway, we are in the stages of babyhood that P is getting teeth. The teeth she is getting are the two front bottom teeth and it is the cutest thing in the world, obviously not a fun time though. I thought when she started teething it would be the worst thing in the world because i was always told they would get fever and they would be fussy ALL the time. This has been the complete opposite, she is rarely fussy, she sleeps just fine, hasn’t had any kind of a fever, and I was amazed it has been smooth sailing. (so far)
Since the start of the teething it was a shock because I didn’t even know it was happening until one day she was eating (still breastfeeding) and she was doing just fine, then she bit down and there it was, this tiny little tooth starting to come right out of her gums. At that moment I though “Awe my little baby is getting her fist tooth” and then it accrued to me I’m still breastfeeding, this is going to hurt so bad when she gets more teeth… I can officially say it hurts more than ever and now she has he second little front tooth coming in right next to it, it is horrible. Absolutely horrible. The worst part is when she is eating and then starts to think “hey its play time, let me rip moms nipple clean off” and I know it probably happens to a lot of breastfeeding moms so it makes me happy I am not alone.
I wanna talk about Nubbys, they are the best thing ever for teething babies and I am thankful for buying them. Penelope loves them more than anything when her mouth is feeling bad, The only bad thing is that she always loses them under the couch, they are gone for days because she gets it perfectly between the cushion and then it eventually it makes its way to the floor somehow and that’s it. Gone.
Penelope is now in the crawling phase of her life. It is the most exciting thing ever, but now that she is mobile she is trying to get into everything. Which is expected of course, but I didn’t think it would be this hard to get her away from somethings and distract her with others. I think it is very funny that she can move around on her own and that she is still learning how to balance herself on her hands and knees and then just balancing on her knees. I think in her mind she believes she can stand. Don’t get me wrong I personally love that she is figuring it out, but there are time I’m sure every mother wishes they would stop. Not forever, just while we are doing chores around the house.
Do all babies like trash? Yes actual trash. Mine does, P is always trying to get into things that are garbage, sometimes it is okay because it will be like a soda bottle or a water bottle but when she tries to get all the wipes that have been used to wipe her face or her hands, the ones sitting on the table she tires to get them from her high chair along with other things. All I really can say about everything is, it is hard…
Well it has for sure been a while since I have wrote anything about my journey with Penelope. It has been amazing being her mom and it is crazy how much she has grown already.
Penelope is now 7 months old, she is so observant and alert with everything around her, she loves to smile at everyone(well sometimes), she is starting to crawl, loves being in her walker. She is best friends with Atticus(our dog), they play with each other all the time. He lays next to her and licks her to death! Penelope cant wait to be with Atticus, when he comes to lay next to her she gets so excited. In her mind I think she believes that she is kindly petting him but really she is grabbing the fur on his butt and pulling on it so he sheds everywhere…
Penelope and Atticus love to share now a days. They will share everything from kisses to food. Either way it always ends with her purposely handing him her snack or her opening her mouth so he can just lick her or eat the food out of it.. I was not prepared. The first time he licked her and she opened her mouth and tried to lick him back, I though “Awe how cute, they love each other.” Then when she first handed him her little snack doodle I also though “She is sharing with her brother.” It is now everyday, every single day I have to tell her not to give him her doodle or him not to lick her in the mouth or whatever else happens.
Its been a little while since I have wrote on this, I don’t know why I stopped. Well since then I have now gotten my job back at Great Clips and decided to only be there on the weekends because 1. we don’t have anyone to watch her during the week because Casey is working 2. I don’t want to pay for daycare and 3. I love being home with my baby.
Watching a baby grow is crazy. P is already trying to crawl and she is so close! She gets up on all fours and starts to rocks herself and she gets so excited then just collapses. Another thing that is great is she already says DaDa. Trust me when I say, its the only thing she says. All. Day. Long.
I cant think of anything better than being a mom. It is the most amazing thing. I am already planing Penelope’s birthday party, she is going to be 1 in June and I am so excited. That is it for today! I have to go deal with a crying baby.
I realize it has been a while since I have last wrote anything. Honestly I have been a little lazy with it, we got back from our trip on the 24th and we have been readjusting and getting back into our schedule at home.
The trip was so fun! My dad and step mom got to spend time with Penelope, my sister Courtney got to see her niece, and I got to go to my niece and nephews birthday party! Penelope did amazing on the plane ride going to and from, she slept most of the flight going to Vegas and then we played for the last 10 minutes of the flight and then when we were coming home she slept for about 20 in the beginning of the flight and then we just hung out and relaxed the rest of it.
This post is not about our trip though. It is about the most wonderful time of the year, I am not talking about Christmas, it is Halloween! I feel like it has to be a big deal especially when you have a baby. The dressing up and candy, when they get older the fun parties etc… This is the time when they are so small to dress them however you want because once they start talking they are going to want to pick out their own costumes.
This is my favorite time of year. All the scary decorations you get to put out, the leave sort of start to change before they die completely. I’m not about the whole pumpkin spice whatever and the UGGS, I don’t understand that whole thing and why every girl likes it so much? It is only the 1st of October and I’ve already watched Hocus Pocus with Penelope. She was watching the TV so i’m going to go ahead and say she loved it!
I have been looking all over the place for all different types of Halloween onsies but I can not find them anywhere. Maybe it just isn’t close enough to the holiday, or places just suck but they need to put them out. I got her one so far from Target and it is the cutest thing ever and I am happy it is a long sleeve because I recently realized that Penelope does not have very many long sleeve shirts/onsies. This week has been ridiculous because out of no where we get a weird weather change and the high has been in like the low 60 degree area, and today it was about 30 to 40 degrees when I got up. (not okay)
I have no idea what I am going to put Penelope in for Halloween. Not a single clue, and I am mad at myself that she doesn’t have one by now. This is literally my favorite holiday and I should be decorating by now, P should have a costume, BUT all my decorations are at my moms house and I want Casey to come with me to get his daughters first Halloween costume. Maybe we will do a family costume and include Atticus (our dog).
When you are breastfeeding, it is great and all but it does comes with some not so great other things. Pumping is good because you can get your milk when you are feeling full if your baby is sleeping or has already ate. Leaking, that just happens… It really likes to happen when you aren’t paying any attention, when you are sleeping and the baby has slept through the night, when you are drinking lactation helpers, really just at the most inconvenient times.
Today I had this leaking problem. This happens pretty often for me just because Penelope is eating more and more. Even though her feedings are spread a good amount apart, I am still producing enough to make my boobs hurt and if i don’t either pump or feed Penelope again it just starts leaking through my nursing bra, and sometimes just straight to my shirt. As I was saying, I had a leaking problem today. Penelope woke up at 5:00 this morning, which is nice she slept through the night but anyway she got up at 5 a.m. and I changed and fed her like normal, after I got her to sleep I put her in the bassinet and proceeded to play on my phone for a little while and then went back to sleep myself. At about 7:45 I have been woken up by what I thought was a very large drool spot ended up being a very large milk puddle. Sad. Side note: I have recently started laying on my stomach again since having Penelope and this is mainly the cause to my problem. Anyway, I began to check myself and see which side I have exploded from, to find out that the whole left side of my nursing bra and my shirt were soaked.
When you start breastfeeding and it is your first baby it can be rough. When someone tells you that in the beginning when you hear a baby cry (it doesn’t even have to be your baby, just any ones tiny baby) your boobs will start to fill up and hurt. It hurts so bad! When I took Penelope to get her blood test done I had my mom go with me because I had no idea what to do, so as I sat at the desk putting in information about my daughter my mom was hanging out with little newborn P. I soon came to realize there were a lot of new new babies in that waiting room, Like clock work one of them started crying and I didn’t really think about it, then two seconds later they were all crying! At that point it was happening, I look down and then look over at my mom, she looks at me very confused because she does not know why I am making such a sad face while trying not to laugh. I mouth to her “my boobs are hurting” she didn’t get it at first which lead to me making more faces and hand gestures to her on the other side of this waiting room. If anyone tell you that, that happens you need to believe them!
Pumping is good when you want to start storing your milk or just want to make it a little easier to get your baby that last little bit of milk they are throwing a tantrum about. Pumping is also great when you are waking up in the middle of the night because your baby already ate off one side and fell back asleep, so your other boob is just fulling up and you are now in pain. If this happens definitely pump or you and I will have the same leaking problem. (haha) When you pump for the first time it is very weird, like really weird because you have to sit with this machine on you for what feels like forever and you cant get up,(unless you have one that allows you to be mobile) and after you sit there for however long you look into the bottle and realize you sat there that long just for maybe 1 ounce. Its upsetting but after a month of pumping and you finally get up to 3 ounces its a wonderful feeling.
For me I am now pumping around almost 6 ounces out of one side, that makes me feel great. On the other hand my pump is malfunctioning, of course it is happening today as well. I am getting no suction and it wouldn’t release my milk into the bottle. I’m sure i just need to get new pieces and change that batteries.(lets hope that’s all it is) After my leaking situation that is when I decided to pump the problem side and as I began, already there was a problem with the suction, and then the problem with it not going into the bottle. For me, I bought one of those things you wear and it holds the pump up for you so your arm doesn’t get tired and slip off and then you lose suction and drop your milk. I was wearing that and went to go shake the milk out of the pump to drop it into the bottle, as I am doing that the nipple shield comes off of the whole thing and spills all the milk that didn’t drip into the bottle all over my bed! Thank goodness it was less than an ounce, but still! not a great way to start the day.
Anyway today’s lesson really is wear boobie pads when you sleep, (just wear them all the time) and before you pump check your equipment and keep up on replacing your parts. Also BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR MILK!
Traveling with a baby I’ve heard can be tough. Getting through the airport with all your stuff, carrying the baby, getting through security. It is easier when you have someone their to help you, but when you are doing it alone its a little harder. That terrifies me.
Penelope and I are going on a trip! Well its just a mini trip to Las Vegas to see my dad & step mom, my sister her boyfriend and their kids. My niece and nephew are having a combined birthday party. This is the first birthday I get to spend with them and it is also Penelope’s first little trip on a plane. Sadly Casey isn’t coming with us due to work, but its okay because while we are gone he gets to sleep in and play video games all day long.
I am worried about getting on a plane with Penelope because I don’t know how it will go. I mean I know its a 45 minute flight but still, I was told by my mom that i should feed her during take off and landing, that should make it so her ears don’t pop or if she is already asleep. People can be really rude about babies on planes and I am not going to stand for it, if they have a problem if my baby cries they can say something to me and listen to every rude word I have to say right back to them!
The one thing I hate about airports is the security area, that is because I feel like people get so angry if you take a good minute to get all your stuff into the bins. Everyone has to do it so why get so angry? When you do it with a baby, and your stroller, and your car seat, plus the bags you have, I feel like they think “god why do they have to be in front of me”.
Side note: its funny as I am writing this Penelope is laying on the couch next to me staring straight up at the ceiling just yelling all these noises, acting like she is crying so I will pick her up. She isn’t even trying to cry, she looks at me from the side of her eye to see if i am looking at her and when she sees i am not she starts to fake cry again.
We shall see how this little trip goes. I am bringing my water bottle fan so i can keep Penelope cooled down while we are in Vegas, because she is just like her mom gets a red as a tomato. We don’t leave until the 20th so the post about our trip wont be for a while, but wish us luck!
Everything today is different. Everything is always changing when you have a baby. It is changing in an extremely good way. Penelope is always growing and learning new things and so am I, she is the most wonderful thing in my whole world. When I see how happy she is every morning and how big she smiles, it makes my heart melt.
Penelope is a little over 2 months old now, she is so bright and excited. She is starting to lift up her head so much more everyday, she is “talking” more and more, she is so observant with her surroundings. I love seeing her during tummy time trying to lift herself up and in the end just plopping down onto the couch. I have noticed that Penelope loves taking baths, I think it is the floating that dad helps her with she likes the most. When Casey has her they are both the happiest people, he is the best dad ever and would do anything for our little girl. She has him wrapped around her finger.
Penelope is 12 pounds 23 inches long. She is growing so fast, she got her first set of shots(cried her eyes out), gets her second set of shots at her 4 month check up, I doubt that will be a pleasant experience.
Atticus (our dog) is Penelope’s best friend. Well that is what i like to tell myself anyway, he is very protective of her and that is a good thing but sometimes he does not know his boundaries sometimes. He is only 2 years old but he is still a little puppy at heart(he also thinks he is still very tiny, he most definitely not), we are talking about a maybe 85 pound Husky/Pit bull mix. He is very hyper and when Casey plays with him he can get a little crazy to where he forgets that Penelope is not an indestructible baby. Don’t worry he hasn’t hurt her, he has come close to stepping on her but thanks to my fast reflexes with her she has been in the clear. We watch him and make sure he is being good, he usually just tries to lick her face and lay his head on her feet. Atticus lets Penelope pet him and talk to him. He loves his little sister and that makes me so happy because he is our son, our first born!
I don’t want her to get any bigger, but i know that she will get bigger and bigger. She is the best part of my day and when i am not with her it really just makes me feel off. i don’t want to go back to work eventually, I want to be at home taking care of our daughter. That’s why I am trying so hard to get a stay at home job. It is hard and i do not know how i am going to do that but I do plan on trying my hardest to make it happen.
Bed/ nap time is the best time for moms and dads. At this point in the day is when you as a mom can nap when they nap and as a dad play video games. This is our everyday life, for me since at the moment i am a stay at home mom I try and clean, make myself some food, put away laundry, and sometimes I will nap with her.
Penelope is not always a fan of going to sleep, but then again what kid is? Usually she goes to bed just fine, I will put her to sleep around 8:30-9ish and then we will sit on the couch with dad for about an hour so that way I know she is actually asleep. Then i carry her into our room and put her in her bassinet and I lay in bed myself. Penelope does pretty good with bed time, when we first brought her home she would wake up around 2:30 and then again at 5 or 6. After a while of doing that she eventually started getting up to eat at 4 and then she would basically sleep through the night and just wake up at 6-6:30. Having her sleep through the night was wonderful.
For most of the day Penelope is awake, which is really nice but sometimes hard because I have to find ways to keep her entertained. I would say she goes down for nap 2 or 3 times a day sometimes more, but that is only because she will fall asleep on me and be fine for a few hours but then minute i put her down she will only sleep for 20 minutes. She will wake up, throw a fit because I am not holding her, or just sit there making noises while staring me down the whole time.
When Casey is hanging out with Penelope they could nap all day, he will but her on his chest and unless she is trying to bite his nipple because she thinks its the boob that gives her food, they fall right asleep. (they both do, he could fall asleep anytime, any place) It seems like when i put P down for a nap I also put dad down for one as well.
Over time I know her sleeping habits will get better and better but I really don’t mind getting up in the middle of the night just to hold her and cuddle her.
Our babies grow so fast and we don’t want to believe that they aren’t going to be this cute, tiny, happy baby forever. They grow and grow and it doesn’t seem real because it feels like you just had them in your belly yesterday..
Penelope is already 2 months old. It does not feel like it has been that long at all, she is making more sounds and trying to laugh(I think), she is holding her head up already, and she is very expressive with her eyebrows! The first time i took her to the doctor for her wellness checkup, her doctor told me that when she is in a growth spurt she will stop pooping for a few days and that i shouldn’t worry if it happens. (I still worried when it happened) The part of these periods of time without pooping she didn’t tell me about, and I most definitely was not prepared for was when she would finally poop. 😬
Penelope’s first big “EXPLOSION” had Casey and myself scrambling around trying to get her outfit off without getting poop on her more. (At this time I had no idea that the design of baby onesies allow you to pull them off going around their bottom. The whole time i thought you had to take them off over their heads. Thanks mom.) We were trying to clean her up and couldn’t help but laugh because it was a never ending pile of wipes and I’m pretty sure we went through about three dippers. Every time we thought we were done and she was clean, she just kept going.
She is 23 inches long as of yesterday. It is crazy to think how big she is getting in this little amount of time, I don’t know how I am going to handle her getting so big and then she going to be taller than me (more than likely, her dad is 6’4). Besides the lack of pooping from babies while they grow, they obviously start to eat more. Cluster feeding is my enemy. I am not a fan of cluster feeding because for me, since i am breastfeeding i feel like I am completely empty all day long. Even though that isn’t actually true, that is how it feels. It doesn’t feel like she is getting enough or anything at all.
The long naps after a cluster feed made me worried the first time it happened, that’s only because I forgot that the doctor told me they do that after they eat like that. Now when she feeds like that its nice when she takes the long naps because then I can either take one too or i can actually make food and it eat it without her freaking out that I am not holding her at that very moment, but if I don’t do one of those I can try and get motivation to clean the house up a bit.
I am not really sure what else to talk about on this topic. If I missed something, let me know in the comments.
Figuring It Out 