Babies First Holiday

Today is Loralai's first Halloween. I am going as a gypsy and she is going as a monkey. My mothers friend made the costume for her and let me just say she looks adorable in it. If you don't have much money for costumes, let me just say that home-made costumes can be just as cute, if not cuter, than store bought costumes. 
I carved up a traditional looking pumpkin face on her first pumpkin. I'm going to take her trick-or-treating for an hour at family and friends houses. 
I decorated as much as I can afford for the holidays. I decided that every holiday I will buy one decoration for it. This way, by the time Loralai is old enough to want to decorate with me, I will have a good pile of decorations for her to put up. I bought a Halloween door sign this year, and my mother gave me a witch candle holder and a witch falling off a broom flag.

Shots and Tears

The other day we took Loralai to get her shots. I had accepted the fact that I was going to have to be the bad guy and hold Loralai still while the nurse gave her the shots. Unfortunately, its a lot harder to get through that doctors appointment then I had let myself believe it would be. As soon as the nurse stuck the needle into her chubby little leg and I saw her face get all red as she built up a scream; I wanted to punch the nurse in the face. She was causing my baby girl to cry. Even though I knew she was just trying to do her job, it was hard to just sit and watch her do that. Worse than that, holding Loralai still started to feel more like holding her down. Then after the doctors appointment, Loralai wasnt feeling well. So I gave her some Tylenol and a bath and she went to sleep after 3 hours of crying.

Horrible Mom?

We all have those clumsy moments in life; but what happens when your sweet little baby is involved in these clumsy moments?

Twice now I have accidentally grazed Loralai's head against the door frame and today I had an even worse moment. I was getting her in her car seat and had my keys in my hand. Well I went to set the keys down and they somehow flew out of my hand and got Loralai on the side of her face. Now she has a dot next to her right eye. This was the first time that she actually cried longer than a minute from one of my clumsy moments. I felt so bad. 

How do I take better precautions to avoid these situations? 

Baby 180

Its amazing how much a baby changes in such a short period of time. For example, Loralai used to sleep throughout the night and the day and only wake up for feedings. Then at about a month and a half old she started staying awake most of the day, other than one long nap, and sleeping through the nights except for feedings. Now, my two and a half month old baby is awake for most of the day, sleeps during the late afternoon/early night, and then wakes up a lot throughout the night. I have basically just kissed my sleep goodbye since I work in the mornings. On my days off I try and catch up on the sleep I lost from all the days I work. 

Another way she has changed is that she smiles and laughs a lot now. I can get her to play for a little bit of time and I can even leave her in her bouncer for a bit so she can play with the toys that hang down from it. Even though she is only 2 and a half months old, I feel like she is a completely different baby than the one I brought home. I'm having so much fun watching her grow and learn. 

Oops, I Blinked

When Loralai was born, she was 7 pounds. Now she is 7 weeks old and weighs roughly 9 pounds and has completely out grown newborn diapers and newborn clothes. She is in size 1 diapers and 0-3 months clothes.
I've heard other parents saydon't blink, otherwise when you open your eyes your child will be graduating high school. Well Loralai may not be there yet, but she definately grew a lot in that brief moment it took me to blink.
Next week I start back at work; and while Im excited, I am also nervous. If she has grown so much during the time I've been with her, then how much faster will she grow when I spend 6-8 hours away from her at a time 5 days a week? Hopefully my baby will stay a baby for a long time and not grow up too fast.

My Little Poop Monkey

I can't even begin to name the amount of times my baby has pooped all over her diaper and it has leaked onto her clothes. Let me just say to all new moms out there; be sure to carry an extra set of clothes or two in that diaper bag and be prepared to give your infant more bathes then you ever thought you'd have to give them. Part of the problem is making sure that you have the diaper on perfect every single time you change your baby, but you can't plan for those times when they simply just overfill their diaper before you can get a chance to change them.
I've heard rumor that Huggies diapers are better for girls and that Pampers diapers are better for boys, but you will hear me swearing by Pampers. And Huggies wipes tend to be rougher than Pampers wipes. Also try to get Pampers Swaddlers or Huggies Snugglers if you prefer Huggies because both those types of diapers have a yellow line on the diaper that turns blue when your baby pees. Its just an easier way to see if your baby needs a diaper change other than having to peek in through the side of a diaper and helps you to disturb your sleeping baby a little less.

Protecting Your Child

I look at my baby girl and my heart just feels so overfilled with love. I never knew it was possible to love someone so much. The expression "I love you so much it hurts" finally makes sense to me. But with this love comes worries about her future.
I may be a young mom, but Ive had heartache and trials in my life already. I look at Loralai and I think; how do I protect her from that? How do I help her to make the right choices and avoid the pain life can bring? I just want to shield her and make sure she is happy, but I dont want to be so over-protective that she cant be independent. I guess in the end all you can do is trust that you raise you kids right and just love them and be there for them. Hopefully at the end of the day that will be enough.

Naptime Is Golden

If I could give one piece of advice to every other mom out there, it would be to take advantage of every nap your baby goes down for. Unless you have something else that you really have to do, use the babies first nap of the day to get your shower in. (Thank you to my mother's friend for passing along that piece of advice to me.)
Whenever Loralai goes down for a nap I either nap with her, get chores done around the house, eat, or just take some time to myself. Believe it or not eating when I am alone with her and have no one to help would probably not be possible if I didnt do it while she was asleep. When she is awake, she always seems to know when I am going to eat and instead of letting me do so, she insists that she be the one to eat first. It is so much easier getting the laundry or dishes done when she is asleep too. Trying to do chores with one hand or having to stop every few minutes because she cries can be difficult and frustrating. Though I will admit, the thing I enjoy to do most while she is napping, is take a nap right along with her. Especially after the nights when she woke me up every 30 minutes to have a quick snack and then go back to sleep.

All Day Buffet

Loralai usually eats every 30 minutes to every 2 hours unless she is really tired and sleeps for a few hours. Today, however, I was her all you can eat buffet. It seemed like all I really did from 6 a.m this morning until 10 o'clock at night, was feed this tiny baby. I dont even understand where she put all that food she ate. But after a long day of dealing with this food hungry monster, my little angel is finally asleep.

The Silent Child

I have no idea how I got so lucky; but I have an incredibly quiet baby. She is now two weeks old and the only time she cries is to let us know she's hungry or needs a diaper change. Her cry isnt loud and never lasts for very long. She sleeps most of the night and day, but somehow I still manage to get very little sleep. I feel like I have to watch her every minute of every day otherwise if I look away for an instant, something will go wrong.
She is honestly the best baby I have ever seen and I am blessed in the fact that she is mine.

Early Delivery

My baby girl just couldnt wait to come into this world, so I went into labor 2 weeks  early. After 15 hours of labor, Loralai Angelina Krause was born. She was 7 Ibs and 19.5 inches long. Everyone who told me that labor would be the hardest thing I ever went through was not exaggerating. However, despite all the pain I went through that day, it was all worth it in the end.
She is now 1 week and 2 days old. Even though I havent had a true nights sleep since she was born and Ive changed more diapers than I care to count, I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. It really helps that my boyfriend is so supportive and helpful too. If it werent for him I would probably have gotten overwhelmed multiple times this first week of her life, but he gives me breaks when I need them.
This week has been a learning experience and a whirlwind of emotions. I cant wait to see how the rest of her first month goes.