Thursday, July 25, 2013

Great Grandma Love

       Smiles, peak-a-boo, crackers and rocking chairs. Those are a few of my Elliana's favorite things when we are over at my Grandma's house. 3-4 days a week Elliana and I spend the day with Grandma Ruth & Aunt Lavada. We do laundry, we play with the hose & we sit on the porch swing and tell stories! We both love going over there to visit and help out but the thing that gets to me every time we go over there is the fact that my little girl can bring so much joy into someone else's life. I knew our sweet girl was loved, but the way my grandmother's face lights up when she sees us walk through the door is the greatest thing in the world. I never thought somebody besides nick and I could love her so much until I realized how she makes my grandma and aunt lavada's day each and every time we go over there! I think that's what makes Elliana so excited to see them is when she sees how excited they get she is ecstatic! She crawls all over the house waiting for them to chase her! She babbles nonsense and they babble back, they feed her crackers and they let her feed them, & most of all they snuggle her alllllll day long! She keeps them young and it melts my heart to see her bonding with them! My grandma always tells me how good it is for old people to be around babies because it makes them happy and I never took her seriously until recently when I realized they way they are with Ellie! They sit around the house all day long and when Ellie and I go over there, it gives them something to do and they talk about her until the next day when we come back! I love them so much and I love how they love my Ellie! I will forever cherish these days and moments with Grandma Ruth & Aunt Lavada!

        Xo,
              NursingBlissSleeplessMama









Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Toys & Crumbs

       I always knew I wanted to have babies, lots and lots of babies! What I didn't realize was, was that my house would constantly be a mess once I had babies and now I only have ONE and it's already a mess! We are finally at the stage where as soon as I clean something up, I turn around and it's a mess again. Elliana has started ignoring her toys unless they are put where they are suppose to be. She loveessss books! But she loves her books more when they are all stacked up nice and neat! Give her 5 minutes and those nice and neat stacks are thrown in every room of the house once again. I have given up trying to clean as the day goes on. I recently began asking her to help me, I show her how to "put your toys back" "help mama clean up" and she does help a little bit, but mostly she likes finding the other toys that have been hiding under that certain book all day! I usually clean up at her nap time so at least the house is a little put together by the time nick gets home, and then after he showers and relaxes for a bit he helps her tear the living room apart again! My nightly clean up is the easiest because daddy and baby are sound asleep & this mama gets to relax by cleaning. (Another thing I would have never guessed before becoming a parent...that cleaning would relax me. I used to hate cleaning!) Although my house is full of scattered toys and day old crumbs, I know it's also full of love, lots of learning, and days of giggles! I wouldn't change my little messy house for anything! 

Xo, 
       NursingBlissSleeplessMama



















Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Morning & nap time madness

       Nap time. Two words that either go really well around our house or get completely ignored. CoSleeping has been a life saver with night time nursing & the snuggles we get throughout the night are priceless. Since we know those snuggles won't last forever we are in no hurry to move her into her own bed. Since we cosleep, elliana goes to bed when we go to bed. Most nights I lie down with her around 8:30-9:00 and she goofs around for a bit. Decides which boob is producing more milk at the time, does a few somersaults & tumbles off the bed a few times playing peek a boo with daddy. After about an hour and a half of that, she dozes off into la la land and begins to calm down and fall asleep! Since this is normally around 11, waking up early is not an option for this little night owl baby! I have never met a little person who doesn't wake up after 8 am...except our Ellie. This girl can sleep. & sleep & sleep & sleep! And I've realized the longer I stay in bed, the longer she sleeps! With all this being said, nap times vary and most days they're few and far between since she doesn't end up waking completely up until around noon! Around noon she starts to root around to nurse, realizes I'm not in bed anymore (most days I get up before noon) ;) & then she scoots to the end of the bed and starts calling my name. "Ma ma"..."maaaaa maa" maaaaaam" I sneak into the room to see what's she's doing and most days she is trying to maneuver her way off the bed without me. After she plays around for a few hours, nurses a few more times and has eaten a few joes o's, she starts getting fussy. Normally it's around 3:30, but some days it's not until 5-6 that she wants to take a nap. This is where I'm torn...I don't like her taking naps that late because then come 8:30 she has gotten a second wind and wants to play until midnight! I have found it easier to let her nurse as well as sleep on demand, but midnight is not how late I like staying up! (That causes for a cranky and even more SleeplessMama!) Sooooo... My solution lately, I get out of bed around 8:30 or 9 am, turn on the light, start breakfast for me and just go about my day. She has been realizing that I'm not in bed about 30 minutes after I get up and then she is up and about by 10! With her waking up that early, she has been wanting to take a nap around 1 which is perfect because then by her late afternoon nap it is almost bath time which is close to 8 and then after our bath she is ready to nurse and go to sleep for the night! Wahhlaaa! I have been trying this out for about a week so hopefully the morning time gets earlier and the bed time does as well! (I would've never thought that I would be wishing for my child to wake up earlier) haha myyy how things change once you become a parent! 

Xo,
       NursingBlissSleeplessMama






              Playing with daddy before bed


       Just waking up. Morning snuggles & nursing

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Night time around here

       Night time around our house is anything but ordinary. Some nights are more entertaining than others, but most nights consist of a naked baby crawling around our kitchen floor eating tid bits of food that have fallen from me cooking dinner, daddy trying to chase her around to awkwardly put a diaper on a mobile baby, and me tripping over sippy cups that she has thrown all over the kitchen floor. Sounds like a typical household right?! Then we get to bath time where she instantly pees on the bathroom floor as soon as the water is turned on, foam alphabet letters cover the bath tub floor, and half empty bottles of shampoo & face wash are upside down hoping they don't get poured down the drain by an 11 month old baby again! After our calming bath of eating bubbles and rubber fish we get to the night time diaper! The most dreaded part of the day for our little nursling! I have never seen a more pitiful sad face given by a baby! She does not like getting ready for bed! But as soon as we get into bed she gets excited because guess what time it is!!!?!! That's right! She is thinking "I get to nurse for the next 10 hours straight?!!!" My big ol' titty baby gets a huge grin on her face (after the diaper is said and done of course) then starts the night time nursing ritual. My love//hate relationship after the sun goes down.... Like I said earlier some nights are better than others but lately they've been pretty good! It's taken me 11 months to figure out the perfect position for me to be in so she can still nurse all night without me breaking my back (which would lead to her unlatching and waking up in a panic!) As much as night time nursing is a pain, it's actually one if my favorite nursing times because its quiet, it's just me and E time, daddy is snoring, baby is snoozing half way and i get to enjoy watching them both so peaceful. Talk about bliss...

Xo, 
       - NursingBliss from a SleeplessMama 





                                     My bath time babe




                      Few days old in this picture - perfection!





Pregnancy to Nursing Snuggles

       Starting this blog has been on my mind since before pregnancy, but then life happened...I got busy, my belly got bigger, I had a baby, & I started nursing...which hasn't stopped! I knew I would love being a mom, but what I didn't know, was how IN LOVE with nursing I would be! My life since pregnancy has been filled with unconditional love, my favorite morning nursing snuggles, the cutest nursing smiles you could ever imagine, and my favorite most recent has been the nursing singing/humming from my crazy beautiful 11 month old munchkin! With this blog I just want to share my nursing experiences & our family ways with other mamas & families!


Enjoy!

Xo, 

             - Nursing Bliss from a Sleepless Mama


                                                                 41 weeks pregnant



1 week old & nursing like a beauty




9 beautiful months of nursing