getting in on the review & giveaway fun!

I've decided to try my hand at reviews & giveaways! why not? I've got a 6mo of my own and a classroom full of 5yos...the perfect test subjects in my book! ;) I'm really excited to begin, and even have a possible company to begin with. once I get more information from them, I will post on that! but so far, it seems like a really neat product! not sure if I'm more excited for me to try their product or for my students to! Haha. And since ill be starting that, I'll need a review blog! so now I have tons of work to do! keep your eyes open for the new blog! and please disregard any errors in this post...I'm posting from a new app on my Droid :P

More Followers Monday!!

 I'm joining in on the More Followers Monday fun!  It was created by Little BGCG, Mama B, and Baby Dickey to help us all find more wonderful blogs to follow and to gain some followers for our own blogs!  What a wonderful idea! Click the button above for more information and join us!

My intro:  I am a 25 year old single mom to 6 month old baby C!  We live on the east coast, a few miles from the beach.  I am new to the blogging world, but created this blog as a way to document C's life, as well as mine as a single mom.  I don't really label myself with a particular type of parenting.  I breastfed in the beginning and really loved it until I had some complications with that and I am now a proud formula feeding mama [keep an eye out for a blog post on this soon!].  I don't cloth diaper because I didn't know much about it, but it's something I would be interested in learning more about and trying.  I occasionally babywear, but the carrier that I received just plain SUCKS and hopefully in the near near future I'll have myself a ring sling.  But I consider having C glued to my hip and arms babywearing, so there.  I vaccinate on schedule.  I don't cosleep, but since C's dad has left, I do find myself allowing her to nap in my bed with me...doesn't count though, right?  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about CIO yet.  Technically, my labor was induced.  And I received an epidural.  I wouldn't change a thing about my labor and delivery [except maybe I would've ATE something before heading to the hospital...which reminds me, I need to post my birth story!]  Oh, and I may have a slight ADD problem...  :]
Follow my blog, and if you'd like, you can follow me on twitter also!  Just @ me and let me know to follow you back!

My DIY Projects

I really like doing DIY projects, but lack the time...  And sometimes even lack the creative ability.  But I see something I want to do and set my mind on it, and I can't stop thinking about it until I do it..

Here's something simple I made for C's nursery while I was pregnant and still had TIME to myself:

I bought different sheets of fabric with similar colors to her nursery, and different size embroidery hoops.  I ironed out any creases in the fabric and pulled it tight in the embroidery hoop.  I trimmed around the edges so there was about 3/4" of fabric left.  I then hot glued the fabric back on the embroidery hoop so it wasn't hanging out.  Simple, huh?  You could always paint the outside of the hoops too :]

And this is how they look on her wall!  [Please overlook the paint on the walls, the camera didn't pick up the colors very well and it looks different than in person..]

And here's her bedding so you see why I chose those colors:

Recently my uncle started remodeling his house...  I've always wanted to make something with windows to hang on my wall, so I took four of his old ones!  

This is SUPER cute and would love it in my bedroom [idea from Thirteen and South]:

Or even something like this at the end of the hall or in the living room [idea from: The Passionate Home]

I've already started sanding down one the windows...so we'll see what's in store for it as I go!  Wish me luck!

C is SIX months old!

This past Tuesday, the 13th, C turned 6 months old!  Can you believe it?!  Me neither..  It's amazing when I sit down and think about it..  She has changed so much and I know there is way more to come!  She is learning to crawl and does quite well with it.  Started getting up on all fours and trying to move forward around 5 months, 1 week.  She could sit up completely on her own, without toppling over by 5 months.  Within the next week and a half, she was able to push herself from the "crawling" or laying position to sitting right up.  At 5 and a half months, she grabbed the side of her crib and pulled herself and stood there for a long while until I got overexcited clapping and saying "good job baby!" and she got a little frightened at her own accomplishments and let go :P  Now she can crawl to any sturdy surface that is just the right height and pull herself up!  She said "mama" for the first time right around 4 and a half months, but only when she was upset.  Now while she is playing she is constantly talking....."babababbababababa   mamamamamamamama  ggggeeeeeeee  *squeal* ppppfffttt"  :]  She started that about a week before turning 6months.  She spits and blows raspberries ALL the time, despite the fact that I tell her it's rude..  No matter how upset she gets, she will stop to giggle like crazy when I pop out and say "peekaboo!"  So totally cute!  If I tell her to give me a kiss and make the kissy sound, she opens her mouth wide and sticks her tongue out just a little bit and goes straight for my mouth!  Nomnomnom!  I love slobbery kisses!  She absolutely LOVES the water.  She splashes around, giggles, dunks her own head under, and tries to drink the water [yuck!].  We quit swaddling about two weeks or so ago and she has done pretty good.  No longer sleeps 9-10hrs straight through the night, but on a normal night she wakes around 3am to eat 2oz and goes back to sleep, then again around 6:30am.  Some mornings I will put her in bed with me and she will go back to sleep for a few more hours.  She still sleeps in her crib every night unless we are out of town, then it's mostly in the pack and play.  Okay, I lied.  I did let her sleep in my bed with me other night....but she was very restless and I REALLY wanting some cuddle time...  She has tried: green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, carrots, and pears so far and seems to like them all.
The day after she turned 6 months, I had her portraits done.  They turned out amazing!  Here are a few of my faves:
 

Look at those big beautiful blue eyes!

sitting up all by herself!

so innocent!

happy girl!

"Stop mom! I got this!"  Hehe.  She kept pushing me away...

cheesing!  I could just eat them cheeks up!

she was obsessed with this flower!

she was amazing by the camera...kept trying to crawl over and take it!

HOW CUTE WERE THEY!!!

Now, wanna see a few of her 6 WEEK portraits?  Look how much she has changed, but still the same beautiful baby!

Dating....is it in my future?

The magic 8-ball says:  I'm ready.  I think I am, anyway.  It's been a little over 3 months since X left us.  Short time, I know.  At least when you bring dating again into the equation.  X started "dating" someone about 3 weeks after he left, so I guess I am doing pretty good to have waited this long! 
I've struggled with this for a while now.  When is the right time?  So many people will judge me....dating so soon?  And with a baby??  Shame on you.  But it's about me, not them.  What will it be like?  Surely, dating is different when you have a child.  I don't even know what to expect.  How will I handle it?  I'm afraid my past relationships, especially the most recent one to C's "father", will effect my future ones.  I'm afraid I wont be able to trust again.  Where can I even meet someone who is of "dating" material...and possibly even "father" material for C?  I don't go out.  If I leave the house, it is to go to the grocery store.  Or to my cousin and her husband's for dinner.  When I leave town, I go visit family and my best friend/her husband, and it's possible I could end up meeting a great guy through them, but do I really want to attempt long distance relationships again?  At some point or another, all of my "real" relationships have been long distance for an extended period of time, if not the entire relationship.  It just doesn't suit me.
While I would really just love someone to casually date, in the back of my mind, I am searching for that one.  What's the point in wasting time if he doesn't see some kind of future for us?  I have a child now, I can't date like I used to.  Luckily, C is still so very young that if I do date around a bit, she wont remember.  But that's not what I want.  Dammit, is it to much to ask for for my soul mate to walk right up, ask me to marry him, and we live happily ever after with C??
There's so much I am looking for in my next relationship.  Or not looking for, depending on how you look at it.  But that is definitely a whole 'nother blog post!!  I just want someone who will love me and my daughter.  Someone I can be happy with.  I'm ready to start my life over and leave the past where it belongs...

C gains her independence from the swaddle....on independence day :]

From day one, I have always swaddled C at night.  If I tried to let her sleep without it, or waited too long to swaddle her, she became restless and irritable.  Translation: Total Meltdown.  Never failed.  There were several nights C and I both stayed up crying because I was no good at keeping the blankets swaddled tight enough.  Those were the nights X went out drinking until 5am or so... Unfortunately, he was the one who could swaddle her so well that she couldn't move anything except for her head.  And she loved it.  Went right to sleep every time.  [So, there, I just admitted that X did something right for our child.  Please don't hold it against me.]  Then a friend gave me a SwaddleMe that her son never liked.  Oh. My. Goodness. Lifesaver.  Especially since X decided to leave us...What in the world would I have done without a SwaddleMe and no one to swaddle her?  Many sleepless nights would have haunted me.. 
There were a few evenings that C and I went to visit family or friends and ended up staying too late. [Did I mention she is ready for bed by 9pm every night?]  On these nights, I wished C wasn't so attached to her swaddle...but then again, I'm not so sure C would have started sleeping through the night as well as she did without it..  Figured that in 18 years, I would be having to sneak into her dorm room in the middle of the night to swaddle her.  And then she scared the shit out of me.
I woke up one morning to her talking to herself over the monitor.  Nothing new.  It's my alarm clock.  Makes me smile every time.  I laid there for a few minutes listening to her carry on a conversation and giggling at her as I rubbed my eyes.  Forced myself out of bed and into her room to get her from the crib.  My heart dropped.  She had flipped herself over onto her stomach and was lifting her neck up trying to look around.  After I calmed myself down and she was giggling at me, I realized she must have turned over after waking up.  At least that's what I tell myself anyway.  But right then, I knew it was time to get rid of the swaddle.  But how the hell can I do that when she has meltdowns without it?!
The first night, I tried leaving it a little loose so she could get out if she wanted to or if she flipped over, her arms could come free.  Didn't work.  Five minutes after I laid the sleeping C in the crib, I heard her moving around.  Walked in to see her on the other side of the crib on all fours, starring at me.  No good, hadn't lowered the crib mattress yet.  Back to swaddling.
The night of July 4th, C, some friends and their baby, and I went to see some fireworks.  She fell asleep in the car and when I brought her in and laid her on the bed to change her, she fell asleep again.  So I decided it would be the perfect way to try a swaddle free night.  She woke up about an hour later, I fed her and she went right back to sleep.  She slept through the night, waking up at 6am.  I can deal with that.  So Night #2, I tried again. She woke up twice, going right back to sleep with some Mommy Love, waking up at 6:30am. 
Last night was Night #3.  Didn't go as smoothly, but it wasn't terrible either.  She woke up about 20 minutes after I put her down.  Then again around 11:30.  Then at 3am, and at 6:40am.  When she got up at 6:40am, I put her in bed with me, fed her and she went right back to sleep...Woke me up at 9:30!!  I was stunned.  Did I seriously just sleep passed 7am, with a BABY?!  I could deal with that.  Hopefully by the end of summer, she will have adjusted to not being swaddled and be back on her regular sleep schedule.  Until then, I will enjoy cuddling with my baby girl when she wakes up in the middle of the night.

Getting Started :]

Seems like single moms live life in the fast lane...and I don't mean all that crazy, partying non-stop non-sense.  I mean, we single moms tend to rush through the days, weeks, months, etc just trying to survive. To keep a clean house. To work full-time to keep a roof over your heads and food on the table. To complete your education. To run errands and pay bills. To cook dinner.  To keep the baby happy. Feed. Change diapers. Bathe. Entertain. The list goes on and on.. When am I supposed to find time to just sit down, relax, and enjoy my baby girl?  How am I supposed to remember all the tiny milestones and new experiences of C's life if I am constantly in survival mode?  Hopefully this blog will help me document not only important happenings in C's life, but in mine too!  I also hope it helps us mommas to connect to each other!