Thursday, November 17, 2011

Updated: 3 Months!!

Ok, here is the updated full post on my baby girl who is 
3 months old!
15 weeks 

She actually turned 3 months on November 2nd, so she's really 3.5 mo now.  Almost 4 months!  It's hard to believe b/c it seems like she's still so young and I remember starting rice cereal with Will at 4 months.  I can't even imagine doing that with her in just a couple weeks.

First of all, is that not the absolute sweetest little face ever?!  She really is just such a little girl. She's so quiet and calm and sweet.  She doesn't cry much at all, and even then it's usually a weak little "meh".

Can you imagine how hard it is to leave this little face in the crib?  She's supposed to be sleeping, but flashes you this big grin in the middle of the night.  It's impossible not to pick her up for a quick snuggle.
This doll baby is super smiley, observant, and very interested in the darn tv.  She will basically do a back bend out of your arms to get a glimpse of it.  

She's not real chatty.  Most of the time she's quiet and just moving her mouth a lot like she wants to say something, but just can't figure out how to.  If I squeeze her cheeks or pull her little chin down I can work some talking out of her.  She was talking like crazy last night while looking at a book with my mom and will chat with the dangling animals on her activity mat.  

She's a pretty big girl too!  I'd bet she's around15.5-16 pounds by now and who knows how long.  6 month clothes fit the best.  We have a few 3 month outfits that still work and even some 9 m Gerber onesies that are just right. (Gerber stuff always runs small on my kids though)  At 5 months we moved Will from the carrier into a regular carseat, that's only 2 months away, but I think she'll still fit in the carrier for a little while longer
She is still nursing every 3-3.5 hours.  Occasionally sooner, occasionally later.  We're not really on a schedule.  Things are stressful enough around here right now with some health/back problems I'm having so everyone is just surviving!  Soon though, I'd love to have a set schedule.  
She isn't sleeping through the night, but I'm not surprised. I've just accepted the fact that I don't make babies who will.  She does go to sleep AWESOME!!  I can just lay her down, let her fuss for a minute and then she'll sleep!  I can't believe it and am amazed every time!  
Seriously, any time someone else is around when it's nap time I'm like,"Can you believe she'll just fall asleep?  No screaming?  Isn't she incredible?!"  Of course most other people have babies who do this so it's not really a big deal.
But when you've been through one baby who would scream himself sick for hours for months, THIS IS HEAVEN.
She's rolled over 3 times.  It was an accident and completely surprised her.  I think because she's so laid back it will take her awhile to roll.  She's really content to just look around and watch everything.  Of course if it meant she'd get a look at the tv she might!

Big brothers and flash lights don't really help with the picture taking.

Speaking of Big Brother... Will is interested off and on.  He doesn't really pay a whole lot of attention to her.  He loves to help her if she's crying by putting the paci in her mouth.  I try to make sure he's gentle, but he always gives it an extra pat to make sure it's in there good.

Look at that chubby baby!!!
One thing Olivia loves is her hands!!! Oh my goodness, I should have a pic of this easy b/c that's all she does- chew those hands.  She will watch them come together and then put them in her mouth and chow down.  
These are pics of her watching her feet kick.  She must have done that for half an hour during dinner one night.  It was so funny how intensely she watched her foot go up and down.

Overall we are having so much fun with her.  Weeks 11,12, & 13 were pretty rough.  We experienced a witching hour where around the same times every night, 5-8pm, she'd be really sensitive and have a crying spell where she was just inconsolable.  It always freaked me out and I would just walk the house with her for about 10 minutes while she screamed.  
12 weeks was a "wonder week"- a big mental leap was supposed to be taking place and I read we would see the 3 C's- clinginess, crankiness, and crying.  We did.  Not fun. 
Then week 13 seemed to be when she hit her 3 month growth spurt and wanted to eat all the time and just wasn't as content.

I'm so glad we're through that and have our happy baby back! 
My heart is full.

Monday, November 14, 2011

SWAGBUCKS!!!

I cannot tell you enough how much Swagbucks has helped the Lentz's out!  We have used our earnings to buy diapers, wipes, and last month we bought a new garbage disposal b/c ours went out.  What a blessing!  Between Steven and I, we have earned about $130 in Amazon gift cards.  That is a lot of free money!

For tips on how to use Swagbucks, see this post.

Below are screen snapshots of both mine and Steven's gift card balances!  I'm tellin' ya- it's legit!



Here is my referral link:
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/klentz1

Sign up and let me know if you get some sweet stuff besides stinky ol' diapers!
 

Friday, November 4, 2011

My Babywise Beef...

So I figured out what my beef is with Babywise.  For two and a half years now something about it has really rubbed me the wrong way.  And I know lots of good moms who swear by it, so I felt like I was insulting them by saying it bothers me.  But I couldn't figure out what really bothered me exactly.  Well, a big part was that I had a baby who I just couldn't get on a schedule to save my life. It really stressed me out.  And he didn't sleep.  So I kept going back looking for answers and feeling more and more like a failure every day.


I did the same thing the other day (since I have a three month old who isn't STTN) and found this on their website:

On Becoming Babywise is not a book of luck but of principle. Luck has nothing to do with the benefits described above – right parenting does. What you do in the first days, weeks, and months of your baby’s life will impact the rest of your parenting years.


The "benefits" described were a happy baby who sleeps through the night.  THAT's IT!! I figured out what keeps rubbing me the wrong way.  The phrase "right parenting".  


Yikes.  


That's bad.


It's basically saying everything else is wrong parenting.  And that may not be exactly what they mean (although I believe it is).  It's how it makes you feel anyway if you aren't successful getting your baby to sleep through the night by a certain age.  I'm not against the principles of parent directed feeding or the Eat Awake Sleep cycle. Those are reasonable and apparently work for thousands of moms.  And I'm still trying to do it.  


You just can't claim that your way is the right way to parent.  I mean how did the world even make it to this point without Babywise?  It's amazing we're not all ax murderers who never sleep.  THANK YOU BABYWISE FOR SAVING US.  


sorry, just a little rant.


but guess what?  I'll still look at the Babywise Mom's site for info b/c there's a lot there.  It's a good source of advice and information.  


And you're probably thinking, (especially if you're a BW mom) "c'mon Kristie, it's just their opinion."  Well it's not just the authors' opinion.  Most BW moms that I've read subscribe to the same idea.  I've read it multiple times on Chronicles of a BW mom and from comments by her followers.  Lots of back patting.  Which is fine!  Please pat your own back, bc you won't get it from many other places.  But don't make other moms feel like their way is wrong.  


Here is a link to a really great article.  It basically says that we give ourselves way too much credit for how kids turn out and don't give God enough.  He says that we should not be asking ourselves " Am I parenting successfully?", but "Am I parenting faithfully?".  


THat I can do!  I can't promise I'll be successful.  There is no way I can guarantee my son or daughter is going to be happy, sleep, make straight A's, or make all the right choices.  I just have to be faithful in teaching them what I can and pray God will take care of the rest.  


There.  I feel better.  


Now, to get that baby to sleep....