Sweet Home Alabama?

Fact: The baby girl really doesn't like her car seat.  She claws at the restraints, and often cries the whole way to where ever it is that we are going.

Fact:  We are leaving for Alabama this week to see the boy's grandmother (the baby girl is her first great-grandchild).  It is about a twelve hour drive.

I am really struggling with going, torturing the baby girl in her car seat, and everything else that comes with visiting the in-laws.  Let's just say things didn't go all that well when they were here right before Christmas.  I am trying to savor every moment in my little house, with my quiet life, with my cute family for the next few days before it all goes away for a while.

It is what it is

I am married to a man who does research for a living, so I guess he is rubbing off on me as I confess that I spend my fair share of time looking up things like baby schedules, napping routines, and other things of that sort.  My conclusion is that my baby doesn't follow anyone's schedule or routine but her own.  I have tried way too hard to get her to do what I think she should do, only to fail miserably five out of seven days a week.  I am here to say that I am officially giving up.  Who cares if she decides that she only needs a 45 minute morning nap, if she isn't cranky then why fight her?  I have spent countless hours rocking and holding and bouncing trying to get her to take "proper" naps that she doesn't want to take, why am I wasting my time?  I am going to do myself and my baby girl a huge favor and give up.  (insert sigh of relief)

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Every day is like a new puzzle that I have to solve.  Some days I do a great job, other days I fail miserably.  No two days are ever the same, although there are times I wish I could replicate them.  My baby girl is so unpredictable, no matter how hard I try there are days that she barely naps and turns into an alligator, which is when i feel like a terrible mom and am so frustrated with myself wondering what i did wrong.  Then there are other days when she takes her naps like all good babies should, falling asleep effortlessly and I try to figure out how to make it happen all the time.  Despite my best laid plans days never go the way I want them to, but are guaranteed to be fill with various riddles that the baby girl has for me to try to solve.

No Excuse

I am a slacker.  I have been meaning to post the pictures above for more than two weeks; however, the baby girl hasn’t changed that much since I took them, except her checks might be a little bigger.   I am not sure where days go, hours pass by unnoticed until I put my exhausted self to bed.  I am not exercising like I should, cooking gourmet meals are a thing of the past, the house is presentable although not as tidy as it should be, but the baby girl is well fed and happy.  She gets held too much, rocked to sleep, has plenty of tummy time, and is played with whenever she’s awake, as she should be.  Being a mom is nothing like I thought it would be, but is better than I imagined.