Mama's Got a New Job!

Wow, I feel like I used to have so much time on my hands before I started my new position.  I had no idea what it was like to be TRULY busy all day long!  I LOVE my new job as an Administrative Assistant for a dental college, and look forward to making it my career! 

In baby news, Berlyn is enjoying all the new clothes her mama bought her.  She loves every single outfit!  Okaaaaay, so I probably get more enjoyment out of them than she does, but still... She peed through her onesie and pants at the mall the other day, I didn't have ANY back up clothes for her and Gap was having their 30% off everything sale.  You do the math :) 

I can't believe Christmas is coming up in just a little over a month!!!  B and I have been getting into the holiday spirit by listening to Christmas music and she really does like the music (even when I sing along with an exaggerated theatre-like voice).  I can't wait to really start shopping for her and all my other loved ones.  This Christmas is going to be so much fun!  And then a couple months after that, it'll be Berlyn's 1st birthday.  Oh my gosh, time is really flying by!

So what gifts does a 10 month old baby need?  Any toys or other recommendations you can offer this new mama?  So far I've gotten her two little things but, obviously, she will need a few more things :)

Play Time!

Last night was a fun night that I got to spend with my little bunny.  She is the type of baby that always has to be moving, always has to be doing SOMETHING.  This means pulling herself up in her crib (while laughing hysterically), wiggling her way out of your arms becuase she wants to crawl, and jumping all over the place in her bouncer. 

Last night I thought it'd be fun to just pour her toys all over the floor in her room and let her crawl all over.  She got a kick out of it, especially when I put her inside her toy basket!  What she did NOT get a kick out of was me telling her "NO!" when she tried pulling the fan cord out of the outlet.

Here are some pictures from our play time last night :) You'll notice that in one of the pictures she is trying to grab something out of my mouth.  It's a plastic toy bee that she carries around in her mouth while she climbs, crawls, and reads but I guess she didn't like seeing me doing the same thing.  She cracks me up!

8 Month Chalkboard Pic

I am getting so bad at posting these on the 29th like I am supposed to!  It's just so hard without having someone's help... Berlyn does NOT like to sit still, so I have to have my husband watch her in case she falls while I snap the pic. 

Here are some outtakes from this month's pic...

I think it's official that she no longer likes smiling for these pictures... She just doesn't know how cool it's going to be for her to look back on when she's older :)

And... here is the finished product!  Again, with no smile...

I always have a little trouble coming up with what to write (and how to fit it in the little space).  I am thinking of turning a big picture frame we have into a jumbo chalkboard!  It would give me a lot more room to write, and we could display it in our house and write fun things on it throughout the year!

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 :)