Early

Audrey failed to mention she was going to wake up 3 hours early last night when she went to bed. Scott and I stayed up to watch a movie, something I would have reconsidered had she revealed her desire to rise with the sun. I can fully acknowledge that in a few weeks I will be awake at this time every day WHILE working (BOOO!) but someone needs to let my little sweetpea know it is still summer vacation!

3 Month Photo Shoot

For my birthday my dad and Anne gave us a photo package where we have Audrey photographed every 3 months. Due to scheduling conflicts we are just now able to see the results from Audrey's 3 month appointment (her 6 month appointment is tomorrow...).

In our unbiased opinion, she is absolutely SPECTACULAR! If you live in Colo. Springs and want a referral, just let me know!





























Thank you, Jonathan and Lindsay!

Snuggle

My little girl used to be a snuggler. When she was a newborn in the hospital they laid her down on my chest and she snuggled. When we brought her home from the hospital she snuggled For my three glorious months of maternity leave she snuggled. The 5 weeks I went back to work she snuggled with her grandparents and with Scott and I when we got home from work. The first month of summer vacation she snuggled.

When Audrey snuggles she burrows her head to the side and her whole body goes limp. You can nuzzle her red hair with your chin and give her soft kisses on her cheeks and head. She gets so warm and her little mouth opens as she breathes (she's a definite Rosebrough mouth breather). You can lift her little arms and they fall right back where they started. If something wakes her up she purses her lips and looks side to side before snuggling back into position.

The first few weeks of summer vacation I sat in the rocking chair twice a day to snuggle and rock my precious daughter. It's summer vacation and there's nothing better than catching up on some daytime television while we snuggle and rock. My practical side told me I would eventually have to stop snuggling Audrey for her naps. She will have to go to daycare in the fall and as much as I love snuggling her for hours I can't expect her daycare provider to give up her life. I made the decision it was time for Audrey to nap in her crib by 5 months because I read (and my dad told me) that at 6 months things become a little more difficult. 6 months is the magical phase where sleeping in a crib can become a big deal if things aren't already established.

I put on my big-girl mommy britches and helped my daughter learn to sleep in her crib. The first couple of days I noticed the void but learned to really enjoy having "nap time" as a time to get things done.

Then, a friend of mine captured this photo.



Here is my precious daughter, who fell asleep as I was cooking dinner one night. Head to the side, arm tucked up under her cheek. I realize: Now that Audrey naps like a big girl our snuggle time is almost obsolete. She is getting so big that when she's awake she either wants to be

a. eating
b. playing
c. rolling around
d. being held and bounced on a lap

Snuggling is now a rare occurrence in our household.

Tonight as I was feeding Audrey before bed she fell asleep. I gently lifted her up to my shoulder and just snuggled her. She's big enough to put herself to sleep in her crib but I'm not big enough to let her go.

This blog serves as a reminder Audrey Lynn. When you are 16 and we are arguing over boys and clothes and allowance and extra-curricular activities I want you to know that I will snuggle you for the rest of your life. You don't have to fall asleep from exhaustion. I'm always here.

And you'll always probably by my little red-headed mouth breather :)

Infant Potty Training

This seems like a very good idea. Very practical for working parents and parents who would still like to have a life outside of babies. It doesn't seem like it would cause ANY problems what-so-ever while running errands etc. Can't believe this trend hasn't caught on already!

http://babyparenting.about.com/od/pottytraining/a/Infant-Potty-Training.htm

It's ALLLL Good...

I think I may have gone a bit overboard emphasizing the importance of not responding to temper tantrums. Tonight, at the grocery store Audrey started to cry in her car seat that was attached to the shopping cart. As I was unlatching her to take her out of her seat Scott said "I thought we weren't responding to temper tantrums"...

I brought up the point that she had probably been asking us nicely to take her out of her seat by giving us cute gurgles and giggles, which we completely ignored, choosing instead to smile and sing to her but keeping her latched in her seat. After we obviously missed her message she had no choice but to let us have it!

Scott and I got a good laugh, but it brings up a very serious point. I think we all see ourselves as the best possible parents in the world. No one sets out thinking "I will wait until my child throws an absolute FIT before I give them what I want" but actually following through proves to be very difficult!

Tonight, after our trip to the store we accidentally put too much detergent in the dishwasher and the following ensued:



Messy disasters are the bane of the Ward-Ward household. Once the sink disposal backed up and I thought we were going to have to move...

In honor of our latest messy mix-up I chose the book Pete the Cat which my dear friend Renee (and Audrey's pseudo Aunt) recommended here and bought for us. The message?

It's ALLLL good :)

Green Thumb

Well anyone who knows Scott or me knows we are terrible at incredibly simple things. While Scott can maintain a spotless household and I can make a mean bowl of macaroni and cheese, things like fixing the toilet, calking the sink, and keeping the grass green have given us a run for our money. It should come as great surprise that I decided to spend the weekend growing a green thumb. You see, it all started with this:



Yes. That's right. An incredibly fine and lovely patch of daisies that grew in the flowerbed at the foot of our house (no thanks to us...they just happened to pop up thanks to the previous owners). Upon arriving home the other night I felt the pansies had gotten out of control and were taking over the flower bed. I decided I would "thin out" the pansies and coordinate them so the bed would have a pattern of colors and look more orderly. I didn't think to take a picture of the before picture because, as usual, I decided this on the spot and made if my afternoon goal without much thought or planning.

This was the result of my hard work:



That's no hail storm folks. That's my beautiful patch of pansies "thinned out". I wish I could say this is due to lack of care or water but sadly, this is the way it looked minutes after the completion of my project.

Well obviously this wouldn't do. Not only did it look like the saddest garden in the neighborhood it also bruised my gardening self-esteem. If you look around ANY neighborhood you will find perfectly fine and un-trampled gardens, and if all of these strangers can have a garden then DARN IT so can I!

I piled Scott and Audrey into the car and off to Lowe's we went. Audrey is not a big fan of her car seat as of lately, so Scott carried her around while I chose the perfect assortment (perenials, so I won't have to do this every stinkin' year...). I also outfitted myself with the correct assortment of materials: plants, gloves, spade, rake, potting soil, watering can, and red mulch.

While Scott was busy thinning out some bushes I got to work. I almost threw in the towel as I stumbled upon an ant hill, but with a few quick jabs with my shovel and some slung dirt I forged ahead.



I set up a sweet setup for Audrey so she could spend time outside with the family, and she loved it. While I was digging in the dirt she was busy talking to her toys in the shade of her blanket.

A side note: During this entire gardening process we were under a "Severe Thunderstorm Watch and Tornado Watch". We Wards don't like to garden in convenience. Once we get the itch just TRY and stop us.

A second side note: You can tell by the sun and shadows in the pictures that were got zero rain/storms/weather of any kind. I would at least shelter Audrey from the elements...

With a great deal of dirt slinging we ended up with this:


And while this might not seem like a big deal to you, to us it's fabulous! It's symmetrical, it's covered with fresh mulch...AND IT'S STILL ALIVE MINUTES AFTER I PLANTED IT! The green plants will grow into fabulous bushes, I'm just sure of it, and the pink was a gift, so it's a mystery. A year from now, when I post fabulous updates, you will all be astounded!

As a shout out to my first and ONLY follower, I must also include this next photo:



For Father's Day I attempted another simplistic task and baked my first pie - apple pie - to honor Scott on his first Father's Day. Not only does it look delish, it TASTES delish. Many times I bake desserts and Scott appeases me by having a slice or a bite and saying things like he "just prefers fresh fruit" or he's "not a dessert person" but tonight...he's had two slices :)

Elizabeth - don't you think that Paula Dean would be proud?

If you're not careful, I'll start growing my own vegetables and making my own baby food!




Nah... Prob. not :)

Noticings

Blogosphere... I'M BACK!

Nothing like having a newborn to slow down the blogging process. The problem is that over the past 5 months I've thought of so many interesting blogs to write that I fear this post may be a jumble of awesome and interesting noticings.

Noticing #1: The breastfeeding clinic is the happiest place on Earth. Why you ask? Well, it's a room full of women who are in the EXACT same situation as you and there are the nicest women in the world sitting next to you telling you over and over again what a great job you are doing as a mother. Take it from me - there is nothing better in the world when your baby is 2 days old than hearing someone say "Yes. You are doing a good job. Everything is fine." Audrey was born in the middle of winter and the breastfeeding clinic was our savior. It got us out of the house, it was a relaxing place, and every day I left knowing exactly what my little girl weighed. PLUS our hospital had valet parking, which just made me feel famous and important :)

Noticing #2: Moms and dads are a different breed of parents. Now, I must say I knew this before we had Audrey, but having a baby really brings the differences to light. Take, for example, nap time. When Audrey has had an especially difficult night full of soothing wails and cries one of us usually ends up napping with her on the couch during the day. When Audrey and I are taking a nap together I am never able to drift into a deep sleep because I am subconsciously always aware of how she is sleeping. If she shifts or turns I wake up and make sure she's comfortable and still sleeping. When Audrey sleeps with Scott on the couch they are both out cold. Scott's head lobs to the side, Audrey is dangling in his arms, etc. If either of them were droolers I would imagine large piles of drool coating a multitude of surfaces. Scott doesn't budge for her little shifts and turns so by the end of the naps both of them wake up looking like they've survived a disaster area! The ultra-protective mother in me gets onto the two of them for napping this way but the cooperative mother in me sees the importance of having a special "daddy" relationship.

Take play time, for another example. Audrey has learned the art of infant rough-housing from her father, and she LOVES it. Without a daddy, Audrey's life would be filled with quiet play time, and although that is very important her biggest chuckles come when daddy decides it's time to play and dance.

Noticing #3: Everything that I was told while I was pregnant is 100% true, but nothing can prepare you for actually being a parent. We came into parenthood "knowing" we would get less sleep, "knowing" our day-to-day lives would be different, "knowing" babies would be expensive, "knowing" my stomach would never look the same. I now understand that we now KNOW all of these things to be true. I always wondered why everyone always gave us the same advice before Audrey was born. "Sleep now!" They would say. "Say goodbye to your figure" or "Say goodbye to your paycheck". Every time we heard this advice we thought we "know" all of this already, but boy we had no idea. Something comes over you when your baby is born. Yes, you are filled with a greater love you have never known before, yes your world pre-baby-world seems empty and unfulfilled, but more importantly you are filled with the desire to WARN all the other unsuspecting parents. The baby is born and there is an instant need to make sure every pregnant couple "knows" what they are in for. Before Audrey was born I was jealous of every pregnancy announcement and filled with delight and joy for those lucky people who are about to be parents. Now, while I still feels those same things, I also panic thinking "boy, are they going to be tired!"

Noticing #4: Social media makes trying to get pregnant feel impossible. Being friends with 400
+ people on Facebook means that at one time or another someone is always pregnant. And when you're trying without success every new pregnancy announcement is like a dagger. It's socially inappropriate to share daily "trying to get pregnant, without success, for a 6th month in a row" yet more often than not those are the stories behind the pregnancy announcements. At the same time, pregnancy is an amazing experience, and one of the best ways to work through the changes is to share your experiences with others. By social media standards I found pregnancy to be a conundrum - I wanted to share with others everything I was experiencing without daggering all the couples who hadn't found their success yet. As someone in the education field I know that it takes more than a pregnancy to make a family, and so for those of you out there who haven't been able to make a fabulous "pregnancy" announcement on Facebook, hold-out hope. Your day will come, some way, some how.

Noticing #5: Showers are a gift from heaven. Before I was pregnant I was a "get-in-and-get-out" kind of showerer. I have a brother known for marathon showers and I never understood their appeal. After 20 hours of labor one of the first things I was tasked with was taking a shower. At the time I remember thinking "Yeah. Right. I just created human life and you want me to get up and shower?" It wasn't until I was standing in the steamy hot shower that I found myself thinking I had found heaven. I had a perfectly healthy baby girl and I was clean and warm. Showers have taken on a whole new meaning in my life. I find myself rivaling my brother for the marathon shower award.

A side note: As I was standing in the shower the other day I glanced over at my new body wash. "Be Earth conscious: Save 1 million-billion gallons of water by shortening your shower by only 2 short minutes" Thanks, new body wash, for ruining my chance of ever enjoying a marathon shower again. Now I just feel thirsty.