Candy, a Little Lamb, and a Stuffy Nose

This was our very first Halloween with a baby.  I've been waiting on this for months.  Before she was born, I had her costume planned.  A pea pod.  I wanted my little girl to be a pea pod.  Well... all of the cute pea pod costumes are homemade.  Hahahaha, that wasn't going to happen.  Not until I master a sewing machine at least.  Ultimately, we decided to go with a lamb costume.

After searching near and far, I finally found cute lamb garb and ordered it (2 months in advance).  My husband even helped pick it out.  It was the perfect costume, and we were excited.  We invited a friend over to pass out candy with us and planned to grill up an assortment of meat.  We had even planned to do some pumpkin painting with the neighbors and their little ones.  In case your not getting my point here, I NEVER get out of the house or converse with other adults, so I was really looking forward to today.

Then... it happens.  On Wednesday morning, I notice my baby breathing a little funny.  It wasn't a big deal; she just sounded a little stuffy.  Thursday comes, and it's a tiny bit worse.  Friday... we cancel our plans to go watch her dad coach his last football game of the season because I don't want to risk her getting sick.  Why?  Because I care about her.....  And because I want to use the costume.  Well, the stuffy nose is still here.  In fact, it has only gotten worse.

The selfish, young woman part of me didn't want to tell the neighbors about the baby having a cold.  That part of me just wanted to go over there and paint pumpkins.  However, the parent part of me wouldn't want someone bringing a sick baby into my house, so we stayed home.  Emma had to miss out on the pumpkins.  She did wear her costume though.  For a baby who wasn't feeling so well, she was a trooper.  She let me torture her with the ridiculous hat for the sake of some cute pictures.  She also entertained the droves of candy seeking children (and adults) without even the blip of a cry.

Even though we didn't get to do everything I had hoped, this was a great Halloween.  It was a nice change of pace from what had been an all too predictable few days.  It gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get out of a temporary slump.  We are truly blessed to have such a sweet little girl.

PPD Resources

I've written quite a bit about coping with postpartum issues, so if you're following my blog in hopes of more PPD info, I have a site for you to check out.  I stumbled upon a post through my BloggyMoms feed that led me to a mom named Kimberly.  She is yet another mother who has dealt with PPD, and she has compiled a fantastic list of helpful resources.

To visit Kimberly's site and check out some great PPD links, click here.

Just Venting...

I love, love, love my little girl, but...

I'm exhausted.
She's sick.
My husband works ALL the time and is NEVER home.
The house is a mess.
I have no energy to clean when she falls asleep.
My dog needs a bath.
I have no help.
No family close by.
Best friends are too far away.
I'm hungry but don't want to cook anything.
I'm exhausted.
The laundry just stares at me.
All of the bottles need washed.
Living in the desert when it's windy sucks.
I don't want to dust.
I have to dust everyday.
The vacuum cleaner doesn't work.
I can't fit into anything but sweat pants and my husband's shirts.
There is a spider on the ceiling.
The Diaper Genie is full.
Did I mention I'm exhausted?

He gets to relax when he gets home from work and gets to hang out with friends.  When do I get a break?  I work 24/7.  When do I get to relax?  When is someone going to wait on me hand and foot, do my laundry, pick up after me, cook my meals, and take care of the kid when I want to go have fun?  Hahahahahahahaha... that's a funny dream.

I know I shouldn't complain.  I have a great husband and a wonderful, healthy baby.... but I'm tired.

"Wake up, Mommy..."

I awoke from a nap this morning with two chubby, little hands grabbing my nose and cheeks.  Still half asleep, I opened my eyes to see my precious little baby turned completely onto her side, reaching as far as she could to get to my face.  "Wake up, Mommy..." is what she wanted to say.  :-)  I smiled at her and she laughed back.  I love my daughter.

When Emma is sleepy, she plays with my chin.  When she is starting to wake up and she's near me, she grabs for my face.  I don't know why, but it's our thing.  We like to have our faces close together.  I think this morning was an, "I know I woke you up at 2am, but I'm worth it" type of face grabbing.

Cherish these little moments with your wee ones while they still enjoy picking your nose.  :-)

Deceptively Delicious Heath Cake

Probably the BEST cake ever...

As a little girl growing up in rural Indiana, I lived for the days when a family function would prompt someone to make a Heath bar cake and give me a piece of the yummy goodness.  :-)  This cake didn't come around very often, but when it did, I was in heaven.  I recently discovered the recipe in an old church cookbook.  You know you have a gem of a cookbook when it's compiled by a group of ladies from a country church.  I had always assumed the recipe to be complicated, but it is so easy!  If you're on the search for an incredibly moist, sweet cake with a little bit of a toffee kick, try the recipe below.  

Heath Cake Recipe:

Ingredients

1 box German chocolate cake mix** 

     -vegetable oil, water, 3 eggs

1 container of Cool Whip

1 jar caramel ice cream topping

3 Heath candy bars

**I prefer Pillsbury cake mix because it has a pudding mix in the batter that makes the cake even more moist.

Directions

1. Mix and bake cake as directed on the box for a 13x9" cake pan.
2. While the cake is still hot and fresh out of the oven, use the blunt end of a wooden spoon (or similar utensil) to poke holes in the cake.  Each hole should be about an inch apart (evenly placed).  Be careful not to poke the holes too deeply into the cake.
3. Pour the entire jar of caramel ice cream topping over the cake.  Try to pour most of the topping into the holes.  Again, this needs to be done while the cake is still hot.
4. Put the cake directly into the refrigerator and let chill for 4-6 hours.
5. While the cake is cooling, chop the Heath bars into tiny pieces.
6. Once the cake is COLD, cover it in Cool Whip.
7. Sprinkle candy pieces all over the cake.
8. Cover the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve!

Tips to Help Your Baby Roll Over and Start Crawling

These are just a few activities I have found helpful with teaching my daughter new skills...


 Rolling Over:

Tip #1:  Hold that little butt!  :-)
In order for your little one to roll over, he or she needs to build those neck and tummy muscles.  What you can do to help is to gently place your hand on her butt during tummy time.  You obviously don't want to push too hard or hurt her, but if you hold the baby's bottom still, it forces her to use and build the muscles in her upper half.

Tip #2:  External Motivation
Now that your little one has pretty good control over her muscles, she's probably trying really hard to turn over.   You can use toys with contrasting colors or your wonderful face to help motivate the baby to roll to reach.  :-)  As always, you want to provide lots of praise in the beginning.  Encouragement will help the baby realize she is doing something correctly.  Once she rolls over, be prepared.  My little one won't stay still.  :-)  She rolls everywhere.

Crawling:


Tip #3:  Kick Off!
There are many ways to help Baby learn to crawl, but the one I've seen the most progress with is this:

1. Set up a safe, comfortable area on the floor and lay Baby on her belly.
2. Place a toy or familiar face slightly out of reach from Baby.
3. Use your hands as a backboard for the baby's feet.  
4. Keep your hands firmly in place, and allow Baby to kick off of you.  Be sure to keep inching forward with the baby as she makes her way to the toy and give lots of praise along the way.  

If you repeat this a few times, the baby will quickly learn what she needs to do with her legs and feet in order to get closer to desired objects.  :-)  My daughter is almost 5 months and uses a mixture of kicks, scoots, and rolls to get WHEREVER she wants to go.  

Tip #4:  Practice with the arms.

I also help my baby practice crawling with her arms by propping them up and gently helping her move them toward me (just as she would to crawl).  To do this, I place her on her tummy and get down on the floor, facing her.  I have to get really excited, make lots of happy faces, and encourage her, but she gets the hang of it.  We've only done this 3 times, and she now knows what to do with her arms....  If she could only lift up that big belly, she would be on her way!

I hope you find a few of these tips useful.  If you have any other tricks of the trade, please feel free to share them below!

Don't Forget About Pampers Gifts to Grow Points!

If you use Pampers diapers and/or wipes, I'm sure you've noticed the Gifts to Grow points inside the packages.  If you haven't seen them, you need to find the little sticker inside each of your Pampers products.

For each Pampers product you purchase, you earn a certain amount of points.  All you have to do is go to Pampers.com, type in the 15 digit code, and start earning free stuff.  If you don't want to save the points and let them accumulate, you can use them right away to enter contests.  I prefer to save mine.  I currently have enough to earn free prints from Shutterfly.  I only need a few more packs of diapers, and I have 25 free photo cards to add to my holiday order!

Don't forget about those points!  If you haven't already signed up for an account, do it today.  Check those packages before tossing them into the recycling bin!  If you don't want your codes, send them my way.  :-)