Berlynny Boo is 8 Months Old!

I meant to post this yesterday... OOPS!

This month FLEW by... I mean, like, super duper fast.  It is crazy how fast 8 months have gone by with my little bunny boo!  She is growing up so fast, right before my eyes.  Not only is her personality growing, but so is her size.  She outgrows her clothes so often that it requires me to shop for her all the time... bummer, huh?  I recently got a Gap card and I think it was a bad idea.  It does make me feel better, though, when half the stuff I buy is on sale (snagged a $50 coat for just about $15 after all the discounts!)  I can't wait to start dressing her up in snuggly little outfits! 

Tonight we are going to our church for Halloween festivities and I just can't wait to dress her up in her costume.  I tried it on her the other night and I just about died.  I decided to dress up with her as well.  My costume is more low key though - I'm wearing black leggings with a black and yellow striped skirt over them, a black shirt, and some boots.  I also made myself a black and yellow flower headband. 

So, to recap everything that has happened in the past month, she has started to talk a LOT, saying Mama, Dada, yaya, baba, along with making a scary growl voice.  She also has this hilarious laugh that starts the moment she wakes up and doesn't stop until she goes to bed.  It cracks us up... I think she does it just to see us laugh at her!  She is now eating pureed chicken and little tastes of almost everything we are eating.  She loves her bouncer, LOVES to crawl everywhere, and watches the Disney Channel all the time.  Her favorite shows are Chuggington and Blues Clues.  Her canine teeth are aaaaalmost poking through - any day now!  I can't believe she has 8, going on 10, teeth right now.  At least she is getting them all out of the way early!

We went to Disneyland on her 8 month birthday and she had SO much fun!  It was all decorated in the Halloween theme and the weather was perfect.  The park was only open from 9-6 but this ended up being perfect - she was pooped by 6:30.  I loved taking her on all the rides and watching her eyes light up while we watched the parade.  We sat in the front row on the curb and Princesses waved and blew kisses to Berlyn, it was the cutest thing.  I never knew the amount of joy my heart would fill with just by watching how happy my daughter was.  We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, the carousel, and Jungle Cruise.  It's a Small World was closed for remodeling for Christmas and I was super bummed.  But overall we had a great time!

This weekend I will be posting Berlyn's monthly chalkboard pic!

Our Schedules Lately

Being a working mama and having close to NO time on my hands really makes time go by fast.  A little too fast, if you ask me.  Berlyn will already be 8 months old in exactly two weeks... NOT cool!  She is crawling around, talking a LOT, and has definitely formed her own little personality.  It's crazy how much of me I see in her now, where I didn't see it before.

I figured since I will definitely look back on these blogs for reference with my next baby(ies?), I might as well take note of her daily routine  :)

Berlyn's day goes a little something like this: during the work week she is awake (either on her own or by me) by about 7:00 am.  On the weekends we both sleep in until about 7:30 am.  (Wait a minute, did I just say "SLEEP IN until 7:30 am"???  My, how my life has changed!)  Since our house stays darker now that it's almost winter, she sleeps a little later.  In the summer she was awake by about 6:30 am.  I get ready for work while she wakes up and talks and plays in her crib.  As soon as I'm done, I sneak into her room, peek at her through her crib, and pick her up for kisses.  I change her diaper, put her in her high chair, and make her breakfast.  Right now she will drink 6 oz. of formula and about 4-5 tbsp. of food.  Her favorite is mangoes, apples, pears, and peaches!  She likes to drink her formula in between bites of food, which is great because she ends up drinking the whole amount out of her sippy cup instead of playing with it.  She is now fully trained on her sippy cup, so no more bottles, yay!  Training her on the sippy cup took a LOT of patience.  After about a month and a half, she finally got the hang of it.  It's still a little messy at times and formula ends up everywhere, but that's the fun of it, right?

After she's eaten breakfast, I change her out of her pj's and try and spend time with her before I have to leave for work.  She gets 8 oz. of formula around 10:30 am and then another 8 oz. at 2:00 or 2:30 pm.  She usually takes about two naps a day, and when I get home from work around 5:30 I wake her up from her evening nap and get her ready for dinner.  I will give her a 6 oz. sippy cup of formula to drink while I make her dinner.  She loves peas, green beans, and squash. 

After dinner I put her in her bouncer and she bounces away while I workout.  She gets a kick out of watching me... I have no clue why, but it makes my workout a lot more fun looking over and seeing her toothy smile!  Around 7:45 or 8:00 I give her a bath, lotion her up, put on her pj's and give her a sippy with 8 oz. of formula.  I wipe her teeth clean (all 8 of them) with a wet washcloth, kiss her all over, and put her down with her humidifier on.  She puts herself right to sleep.

I am going to start feeding her lunch because I can tell that the 8 oz. of formula just isn't enough for her anymore during the day.  Does anyone have suggestions of when babies start requiring less formula and more food?  Or do you just go by what your baby is telling you?  I don't want to cut out too much formula, but I want her tummy to be full!  Also, when is it okay to offer her puffed cereal?  Any help would be great :)

Here's the latest pic of my muffin from our visit to the pumpkin patch last week!

Berlyn's First Halloween!

Long gone are the days when I would dress as a sexy officer, naughty pirate, or a sleazy version of a cave woman.  Now I know what Halloween is REALLY about.  Having a baby to decorate dress up is perhaps the most exciting part of my new obsession with Halloween.  Another mama I follow on Instagram used the term "decorate" to describe how she dresses her baby and I think it's a cute way to say exactly what us mommies do to our little girls!  

Not only am I making Berlyn's very first costume, but it is actually turning out to be pretty darn cute!  Now, this required me to be pretty creative... Something I am NOT good at 97% of the time.  But, being a new mama, I had to learn!  It got me thinking about every Halloween that is to come.  Will Berlyn be the type of kid who wants me to make her costume EVERY year?  Or will she be the one who demands it be store bought?  Either way, I can't wait to see her excitement each year. 

Speaking of homemade costumes, I remember a costume my mama made for me when I was in 1st (or 2nd) grade.  I was toothpaste.  Yes - toothpaste, along with an over sized toothbrush to go with it.  She made my hat (cap?) out of a lampshade, and my dress (tube?) out of felt.  Gosh, I wish I had a picture.  I wore white sneakers and thought my costume was a hit... And it was!  Thanks Mama :)

So, I am in no way bitter that Halloween is not about ME anymore.  It is not about going to parties, having drinks, or spending $50 on a costume that has about as much fabric as a bathing suit.  It is about seeing my little girl dressed up each year.  It's about taking pictures of her wearing a costume that she has fun wearing.  And it's about going trick-or-treating. 

My focus and priorities have certainly changed the minute I brought Berlyn into this world and I love every minute of it!  Bring on Halloween because I can't wait to dress up my Little B as a Little Bee!

Berlyn Said Mama!

Oh my soul! Tonight my daughter, after lots and lots of practice, called me Mama!

She is about to cut two more teeth and has been very fussy and whiny all day long. When she was crying she was saying "maaama maaama" but I thought I was hearing things. When she did it again, I almost started crying! Then, she looked right at me and said, "Mama."

I could never explain how much love I have for this little girl! My heart is bursting :)

My Little Crawler is 7 Months Old!

I cannot believe my little munchkin is 7 months old today.  I don't remember my pregnancy flying by this fast and I can't handle it!  My baby has 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom) with her two canines coming through soon, is crawling, eating solids, and blabbing sounds that I know will soon turn into words.

Berlyn is SUCH a joy to be around.  She smiles at pretty much anything, is crawling all over the place, and makes me laugh all the time.  Whenever I look back at pictures of her when she was just born I can't help but wonder what the next 7 months will bring. 

She is about halfway trained on a sippy cup but she is doing good with it.  We feed her 6 oz. of formula before her breakfast and dinner meals and 8 oz. for every other feeding.  I make all her baby food with the Beaba Babycook (shown below).  I steam her food in the Babycook before I blend it up for her.  Since last month she has tried plums and squash.  Her pediatrician recommended we start feeding her dark meat from chicken because she is growing fast and her bones need the extra iron. 



I got the Beaba on sale at Target.com for $100 about two months ago



At her 6 month appointment, Berlyn's doctor told us she is off the charts with her weight and height and was the size of a 10 month old baby.  I feel like she outgrows all of her clothes sooo fast.  I have to keep packing away stuff every week that she no longer fits into.  It's so sad to see all the cute little clothes she used to wear, but it's bittersweet at the same time.  She is now wearing size 9 or 12 months in onesies and size 12 or 12-18 months in leggings/bottoms because of her LONG legs!  I was out shopping today and a lady thought Berlyn was a year old.  I couldn't believe it!  Next on the list is a new convertible car seat I have my eye on since she has outgrown the one she's in now.

Last weekend Berlyn and I went to spend time with family at my grandma's house.  She cooked us all yummy food for dinner and we had a good time visiting with them.  Here are a few pictures from that night!

Berlynny Boo playing with her stackable rings



My dad and Berlyn (look at those rolls!)



My grandma (I don't know what she's doing!), me, and Berlyn

Ginger, her daughter, and my Aunt Telly!

Once again, being a busy busy bee, I will have to update this post with Berlyn's 7 month chalkboard photo as soon as my husband is here to help me :)

Better Late Than Never!

Okay, I know it took me a while to get her 6 month photo taken, but it is hard to do by myself!  I had to wait until Justin was with me and we could do it together (I take the picture while he stands by her in case she topples over).  Luckily, this time she did not fall over!  Looks like my big girl can finally sit up on her own. *Proud Mama*

Here is a picture of the lighting situation we had to come up with since the natural light I usually take the picture with was not working out.

Then, we had a couple of outtakes with Berlyn until we get the perfect shot.  Here are a couple of them, and I laugh every time I look at them!

And then, after quite a few of these, we captured THE one.  It couldn't be any cuter!  You probably can't read her onesie from the picture, but it says "I eat my veggies."  This onesie from The Gap was perfect for this photo!  Baby girl loves her veggies!

P.s. I can't believe she is halfway on her way to being 1 year old... Well, technically, being a "Leap Year Baby," she won't be 1 for another 3 and a half years... Yeah, I'll go with that - she will be a baby forever.



6 Months Have Gone By Already?!

I swear that 6 months did not go by this fast during any other part of my life.  But I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.  Berlyn is now 6 months and 4 days old, and growing right before my very eyes.  She now has FOUR cute little baby teeth and is eating (and loving) all her fruits and veggies!  So far, she has had sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, pears, and apples!  Next on the list is squash and bananas!  I also want to try feeding her oatmeal instead of rice cereal; it seems like it is a little healthier for her.

When she got her first bottom teeth, she did not seem to have any symptoms at all.  But, now that I look back on it, she did seem a little cranky and her nap times were a little wacky.  As for her two top teeth, she had a fever between 99 and 101 degrees for about 4 1/2 days, didn't eat like she normally does, and didn't sleep too great.  I felt so bad for her the whole time; she woke up in the middle of the night when her teeth were first cutting through and all she wanted to do was cuddle.  It is so hard to watch your baby in pain.  All you want to do is comfort them and there is nothing you can do. 

Life has been so hectic lately that I have not had time to do Berlyn's monthly chalkboard photo.  I will update this post once I get it taken, but for now, here are some pictures that I have taken of her this past month!