Mommy Monday

I am LOVING the stage in development Aidan is in right now! :)

I love it so much so let me count the ways...

I love how interactive he is these days. He imitates all the sounds Aric and I make; my personal favorite is when he imitates sneezes and coughs. It always makes me giggle.

I love most of the time how curious he is about ev.ery.thing! He wants to touch, see, move, open, close, rip, and most of all, eat anything that crosses his path. He has become totally enthralled with the toilet lately much to his parents dismay. Yuckola!

I love his new interest in books. Up until very recently, Aidan enjoyed gumming and turning the pages of books but not too much else. He has now come to enjoy listening to me read and looking at pictures before he tries to shove the book in this mouth.

I love how great of an eater he is. Despite a short-lived nursing and eating strike around 10 months, Aidan will eat anything we offer him. I'm sure when he's older we will go through many picky phases, but for now he enjoys all things food.

I love how active he is. He is non-stop all.day.long! He crawls like a pro and is pulling up and cruising around any and all furniture he can find. He very much enjoys doing 'laps' around the coffee table. Oh.so.adorable. Also makes for a tired baby = good nap... me likey this a lot! :p

I love that he doesn't walk quite yet. Hehe. This contradicts the above, but his Speedy Gonzales-like crawling and cruising is more than enough to keep me busy right now. When he starts crawling... the 'A' household will never be the same. Eek!

There are an infinite amount of things I love about my days with my handsome guy so I can't actually count all the ways, but these are some of the highlights.

Happy MLK Day All!!! : D

Stop taking pictures and finish feeding me Mom! ;p









I know I have been neglecting my blog recently... I keep hitting speed bumps, with the most recent one being that the power cord to my laptop doesn't work so my computer can't charge (I'm using Aric's). UGH! I am hoping to get a new one this week. Also, I am going to introduce a new weekly featured post this Friday! It's something I am a little nervous to blog about because it's a sensitive subject for me, but I think it will be interesting and hopefully helpful for others. Get ready for it! Did I peak your interest enough?! Haha!

Mommy Monday

 My Dear Friend Sleep, how I miss you!

Aidan has only slept through the night a handful of times in his life. Yes, my [almost] 11 month old! :( The long nights of sleepy tug-of-war Aidan and I have been playing has been quite the adjustment for this girl who could easily sleep 12 hours pre-baby. Not only has it been an adjustment on my sleep pattern, but it has been hard on Aric's school work and my confidence as a Mama. Luckily, Aric continues to do very well in school despite the [lack of] sleep he gets, but it has changed from the first semester of school which was pre-Aidan. For some reason I still seem to blame myself for Aidan's sleep habits even though I have done EV.ERY.THING to help him sleep better. 

I can definitely understand why sleep deprivation is used as torture device in the military world.

Someday when he FINALLY sleeps through the night I will celebrate, cry happy tears, get rid of these garbage sized bags under my eyes, and tell the whole story. Right now my mind is too clouded by this repeating thought.... "Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep." ;p

No matter how bad the night is, I always end up with a big smile on my face when I get to see this little face...

Our little Firefighter. :p Sorry for the poor photo quality; this pic was taken on my phone in bad lighting.










Please excuse the choppiness of this post. Last night was one of the less than restful nights... 

Mommy Monday

New Year, New Look...

I decided since it's now 2011, [WOW!] a new look for my blog was in order... you like? It's definitely more 'me' than the last one. I'm more of a solid colors and muted prints girl so the new digs suit me well!

Any who, Happy New Year All! I know a resolution blog post isn't very original, but I feel that a couple of the resolutions I have this year are important for my Mama-hood journey so I thought they would be good for Mommy Monday.

{one}

Be more confident in my parenting choices and intuitions. Before Aidan came long, I felt very confident about my parenting skills. Well... fast forward to Aidan entering the world and yeah, that went out the window! I still second guess myself a lot! :( I need to remember that I DO know what I am doing and as long as I do what is best for Aidan, I am doing the right thing. 

{two}

Be more easy going. I think this will help Aidan and I a ton! If I can be laid-back about more things, our days will go more smoothly and will be much less stressful for me. I need to remember that babies don't follow a strict schedule and it's ok if things don't go exactly as planned. Also, I don't want Aidan to be rigid like me... I want him to be go-with-the-flow like his Daddy so I need to set a good example for him.

{three}

Be more optimistic. This will help with both the other two resolutions and life in general. It's been proven that optimistic people live longer so that's motivation enough to look on the bright side of it all!

I'm sure these resolutions are going to be a bit challenging for me at times, but resolutions are supposed to challenge us, right?!

Here are a few pics from our New Years Eve Day Trip to the beach... something I never thought I'd do on New Years Eve growing up in CO. By the way, it was about 5 degrees in CO on New Years Eve.... yowza!

Aidan on his 'throne.' :)

He had to 'warm-up' to the cold sand and cold water, but he enjoyed the beach! 

I love this pic! (Aric added that cool effect)

I hope everyone has had an awesome 2011 so far!

Mommy Monday

Nursing Strike = Blog Hiatus

Please forgive me for neglecting my blog this past week. With Aric finishing up finals, a visit from Grammy and Papa [Aric's parents], and last, but definitely not least, Aidan's recent nursing strike I have been just a tad bit busy. Whew... I'm tired just from thinking about it all again!

First off, Aric is d.o.n.e. for the semester!!! That means we get him all.day.everyday for 2 whole weeks. It is going to be ahhhmazing. : D I am definitely a happy wifey!

Aidan [and Mama] are so happy that Dad is done for 2 WHOLE weeks! Wahoo!!

Aric's parents made a surprise trip down here bearing suitcases full of presents from Santa for all three of us. It's been great to have some family here somewhat close to Christmas since it will be our first one away from everyone. We all were quite spoiled by Santa this year... and that's just from one side of the family.

Look at all that 'loot' behind us! Thanks Grammy, Papa, and Grandpa Guerrero!!

Finally, Aidan's nursing strike. Yeah, not fun! I was blind-sided by it. One day he was nursing like he always has and the next he was fussing and pushing me away when he should have been eating away. By the third day, I was sure he was weaning. : ( I know 10 months is a great run for nursing, but I really had my sights set on 1 year and was not prepared for our nursing relationship to end. After talking to the pediatrician and consulting the all-knowing interwebz, I was slightly relieved to hear that it was more than likely a nursing strike and not weaning. 

Since Aidan refused to nurse during the day [he nursed like a champ during his normal night feeding], I had to return to the the dreaded pump. Ugh! I was pretty sure that I was not going to pump everyday for the next 2 months so I started to prepare myself for Aidan to wean. Fast forward to today, Aidan sort of 'snapped out of it' and started nursing regularly again [thank, thank, thank you]. He isn't completely back to his normal nursing sessions, but we are making progress. I will not push him to continue if he decides he is done with nursing, but as long as he seems to want to I will keep at it. Praying for 2 more months of interest so we can go straight to whole milk. Wish us luck!

Truer words were never said... and look at his face, "Who me? I would NEVER keep Mom up at night!" : p

If you read this, you must have stuck with me through the hiatus. Thank you for forgiving my absence! <3

Mommy Monday

Who knew our child was laid back and can go with the flow?! Yes, Aidan. The same baby that I described in my very first post as a lover of predictability. He has never been easy going and definitely preferred to stick to his daily routine... until now.

There are so many things he did, or didn't do, this weekend that pleasantly surprised me so I won't list all of them, but will share the biggies with ya. :)

~Pleasant Surprise One~

On Thanksgiving, he was an angel. We had some friends over for dinner and two of the guests are a couple that have a daughter. Although Aidan has spent plenty of time around her, he was less than fond of her. Anytime they were around each other, Aidan would cry and cry. No idea why, but it was definitely stressful and sad for me. This time Aidan was fine and even seemed to enjoy her company. I was ecstatic, to say the least! Also, he was fine with all of the 'strangers'. He let anyone hold him or get close to him and was totally friendly with all of our guests. I was so proud of him! 

Before you start thinking that I am 'That Mom' who thinks their child is perfect, I will confess that Aidan had a terrible morning on Thursday. He cried worse than ever before and fought his morning nap for over an hour. But this post is all about the positive so were gonna overlook that part. : p

~Pleasant Surprise Two~

We took a mini-vaca to Orlando Friday through Sunday and as excited as I was for the trip, I was also pretty anxious about how Aidan would fare with being out of his element. Well, all that anxiousness was unnecessary because Aidan was a superstar! He napped in the stroller while we shopped at Downtown Disney; he napped in church with a loud, boisterous, and echoing choir singing off and on throughout mass; AND he was fine with only getting a couple of cat naps each day. He didn't freak out about sleeping in an unfamiliar hotel room. I was in awe of him every second of every day this past weekend... I was so happy, but also feeling a little guilty about how much I underestimated him. Have I mentioned that I need to work on being more optimistic?!

Now, I know for some of you these are all things that your children do everyday and have done for weeks, months, or years, but Aidan hasn't and I never thought he would. It gave me confidence that maybe I have done a thing or two correctly in my career as his Mama and that I haven't completely screwed him up. I have new hope that he did get some of his dad's go-with-the-flow attitude which would be a true Godsend!

 To all the other mama's with less than easy going children that are worried about venturing out of the comfort zone, just try it.... you might just be pleasantly surprised when you discover that your child is more laid back than you think. Good Luck! 

Every post needs at least one pic, right?! Here's a couple from our Orlando trip...

He may be laid back now, but he's still our Tigger... bouncing all over the place and can't sit still for long!

We HAD to document his stroller nap!

Mommy Monday

I have a fever... 

Belly Fever that is! A slight variation of Baby Fever, this Belly Fever I have is making me want to be pregnant again. Someday, when I have recovered from the sleep deprivation I have endured since having Aidan I am certain I will have Baby Fever, but for now it's just Belly Fever. 

Because this fever could be highly contagious, I'll list my symptoms so you all know what to look out for:

• I am very interested in all things pregnancy. My love of A Baby Story has been reignited and I watch it anytime it's on tv, even if I have already seen the episode. I love talking to my pregnant friends and family members about their pregnancies and always want to hear every.little.detail. I stalk follow any and every pregnant ladys' blog I can find and check them daily for updates. 
• Pregnant women are all around me lately. Everywhere I go, I see pregnant women. This might just be a coincidence; however, since I love to people watch I think I still would have noticed them before I came down with The Fever. Is this a sign?! 
• I SO miss rubbing my pregnant belly. My (no longer) pregnant friend (Congrats Katie!) was recently at my house hanging out and she kept rubbing her cute, little belly. While mine was not little, it reminded me of how much I loved rubbing my cute, big belly! 
• I have been taking trips down memory lane more and more often, by looking at my maternity pics. Every time I look at them, I think... "Hmm, I wasn't as big as a house I thought. Maybe, just maybe, I was even a cute, pregnant lady." <---- Something I definitely did not think once I hit the third trimester. I was so, so happy to get my waistline back after Aidan, but now, I think I'd be ok with having a half-moon shaped belly.
• Finally, the most important symptom... I REALLY miss feeling the baby's little love taps. :) I miss the first oh.so.subtle flutters. I miss the hard, startling jabs that almost knock the wind out of you. I miss the slow, rolling waves of movement that come towards the end when there's just barely enough room for those limbs to move. I miss this awe-inspiring part the most! I could watch my belly move for h-o-u-r-s and h-o-u-r-s when I was pregnant.

Jan. 2009 (a little over 8 months along)

If you have at least one of these symptoms, seek out a pregnant lady to befriend so that you can live vicariously through her immediately! BUT... If you're ok with developing Baby Fever, then let the Belly Fever symptoms progress on their own. ; p

Here's a couple more belly shots of Taquito and I just for good measure. Taquito was Aidan's name in utero because we did not know his gender beforehand (by choice). :0

Dec. 2009 (about 7 months along)

Feb. 2009 (about a week before I had Aidan)

This post is to Mommy Monday like a tangent line is to a circle... not exactly on the same track, but comes from the same idea. Oh yeah, you better believe that I got an 'A' in Trigonometry. : D

Mommy Monday

Happy Monday All! Today, I am starting a new weekly-featured post about my random thoughts on motherhood. Lately, I have had writer's block which has made my blog posts few and far between. I am hoping that this weekly post will keep my posting on track. Because motherhood is a 24/7 job, I'm pretty sure I'll have tons of ideas for once a week postings. Hope you all enjoy it!

Since this is the first Mommy Monday post, I figured I would start with the 5 Things I Wish I Had Known About Motherhood:

{UNO}

Have an open mind. This was huge for me! I was way too concerned about all the preconceived notions I had about what kind of mom I should or wanted to be. I was so stressed about trying to keep Aidan from using a pacifier that I got super anxious anytime he wanted to suck on something. Because I was so worried that Aidan would become dependent on being held all the time, I missed out on so much cuddling time with my newborn son. I think this is part of why he is not cuddly at all nowadays. 

{DOS}

Get educated before baby. I was an expert at all things pregnancy and labor by the time Aidan made his debut, but hadn't done much research about some of the big parenting decisions I would be making. The most important one for me was breast feeding. I knew that I wanted to at least try to nurse Aidan and that's about as far as my knowledge of breast feeding went. Ok, I knew a little bit more than that, but I definitely didn't know how hard breast feeding can be. Even though it's natural, it doesn't always come natural to everyone. Aidan and I really had to work at getting a correct latch in the beginning and then my way-too-fast-flow and his lack of the yellow-seedy looking BMs really put a wrench  in our early nursing relationship. After hours of reading and countless tears, we got the latch down and I learned that our problems had names (overactive letdown and foremilk-hindmilk imbalance) and were pretty common. PHEW!

{TRES}

When it all comes down to it, you're the parent. This is sort of an extension of numero dos. Once I did start getting educated about all things parenting, I realized that ev.ery.one is an expert on how you should raise your child. While it is good to get a motherload (pun intended) of info on any subject, in the end you should go with what best fits your parenting personality and your baby's needs. Period.

{CUATRO}

You are not alone. Now at 9 months postpartum, I am finally realizing that I wasn't alone in pretty much every single feeling and experience I had as a new mom. I REALLY wish I would have known this during those first few weeks of Aidan's life. The majority of moms have the Baby Blues, doubt their decisions, and feel like they are drowning in all the new responsibilities that come with being a rookie in the mom game. I could go on and on on this subject, but I'll save you all the boredom and rambling that would ensue. I just hope every new mom has another mom that they can reach out to because it will definitely be comforting to hear that you are not alone when you are covered in spit-up, haven't showered in a couple of days, and crying for no reason what.so.ever for the umpteenth time.

{CINCO}

Savor every moment. I missed out on so many good moments because I was so worried that I wasn't doing this or that right. New Moms: If you baby is fed, rested, and happy you are doing everything just right! It doesn't matter if there's breast milk or formula in that belly. It doesn't matter if they are sleeping in a crib or next to you in bed. All that really matter is that they are getting loads and loads your TLC. :)

A picture of 2 month old Aidan... just because. I mean, everyone wants to see pictures of babies, right? : p

Disclaimer: I am SO not an expert on motherhood. These are just the things that would have made the first few months of MY motherhood journey go more smoothly. I would love it if fellow moms added more to the list...