seven months

Allie Faye is seven months old!  This month she started pulling herself into a standing position and repeating syllables.  She's crawling all over the place...quickly, I might add.  She loves getting into things she's not supposed to and she grew hair and teeth this month like it was her job.

We're pretty sure she has allergies pretty bad.  She had a cough and a runny nose the entire month.  Carson took her to the doctor at one point and demanded antibiotics but they refused to give her anything since she wasn't running a fever.  About a week ago, her runny nose got significantly worse and when we took her to the doctor, she was diagnosed with RSV.  Carson and I have been working half days to stay home with her since we can't put her in daycare.  Carson has been working in the mornings and I have been working in the afternoons.  I'm definitely thankful that we both work in flexible environments that allow us to come and go.

A couple of days ago, Allie forced my finger in her mouth and I felt a tooth!  Just the very top of the tooth but I have no clue when it first pushed through.  Since she has been so sick with RSV, we never noticed any separate teething pain.

We moved Allie into her convertible car seat at the beginning of the month.  I think she loves being able to see out of the window, but it is harder for her to sleep comfortably.  I can finally see her in the mirror that I have set up on the headrest and I love seeing her look around.  We quit using the little sling in the bathtub and Allie sits up by herself in the bath.  It's difficult to say whether she enjoys sitting up by herself more or floating around on her belly chasing her toys more, but either way, bath time is always a very pleasant experience.

The only thing that Allie really seems to dislike lately is diaper changes and having her face wiped.  She has started to arch her back really badly and tries to scoot away.  I've almost completely given up trying to change her on the changing table and almost always change her on the floor.

This month, Allie slept through the night every night until she got really sick.  I am so so so thankful that she has always been a pretty good sleeper and that she continues to do so well.  It's amazing how quickly your body gets used to sleeping through the night again.  The past couple of nights when Allie has woken up, I'm a zombie the next day.  A typical weekend looks something like this:

7:00 wake up and eat
7:15 breakfast: 1 oz. breastmilk mixed with oatmeal
8:30-10:30 sleep
10:45 eat
11:00 lunch: pureed carrots or sweet potatoes or butternut squash (poor kid must think all food is orange)
12:00-2:45 sleep
3:00 eat
4:00-5:00 sleep
5:15 eat
7:00 bedtime

Since Allie started sleeping through the night, I pump 5 times a day on weekdays.  6:30, 9:30, 12:30, 3:30, and between 8-9 before I go to bed.  On the weekends I still pump in the mornings and at night.  I'm FINALLY not pulling from the freezer every day and we're making an effort to stay in town and to not give Allie bottles on the weekends so that I can pull ahead a little each weekend.  I've really made an effort to drink a lot more water each day and I truly do think it has made a big difference.  I went from getting about 5 ounces during my 3 pumping sessions at work to getting about 9.  I try to drink 16 ounces of water every 1-2 hours.  I've tried the Mother's Milk Tea, drinking a beer at night, and pumping both sides but this is really the first time I've noticed a change.

Allie is wearing 6-12 month onesies and pants.  She's swimming in them right now but she'll grow into them soon.  She's wearing 9 month pjs if they have footies and 6 month pjs if they're footless.  She's still in size 3 diapers.

Her little personality is starting to really shine and we love seeing what new things she's learning every day.  Even though she's been sick lately, it's been nice to be able to spend more time with her at home.

favorite things: nursing mother's wardrobe

When I started hitting the 6th, 7th, and 8th month of pregnancy, I remember staring at the clothes hanging in my closet and thinking it wouldn't be long before they would all be available to wear again. Well, aside from the fact that it took about 2 months for my body to de-puffify after giving birth, I am still pretty limited in what I can wear during the work week and when I'm with Allie. I'm a big fan of dresses and unfortunately they aren't always the most nursing friendly option. Separates are a nursing mother's best friend. As are buttons, tank tops, and dark prints.

If I'm going out in public with Allie, I'm wearing a flowy t-shirt with a tank top underneath. A scarf and a cardigan are just icing on top. I've always hated covering myself and I've never owned an actual nursing cover. If you pull your t-shirt up and your tank top and nursing bra down, your baby pretty much covers any skin that may be exposed.

I dress the same way at work.  My office is always cold so I like dressing in layers to stay warm while I pump.  Nursing bras don't typically offer the same amount of coverage as a normal bra would so I like wearing scarves to work just as an extra precaution.

If I know I'll need to feed Allie at church, I typically wear a dress that buttons up the front in a dark colored pattern to cover any spills that could potentially happen.  Again, I almost always have a scarf with me in case I need to cover up or clean up anything.  (A scarf makes a good burp cloth if you're in a pinch.)

I never expected to have to adjust how I dressed AFTER I gave birth.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't stand in my closet and tug on the necks of every shirt to see how stretchy they were.  I've gotten used to it at this point and it doesn't bother me anymore.  I'm enjoying having more of a "uniform" and it has actually made it easier to get dressed in the mornings.

the thief of joy

via

On Friday night, I got sucked in to Facebook and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning.  One thing led to another and I wasted an entire night just creeping through people's profiles.  I'm so disgusted with myself that I've decided to take the month off of Facebook.  I'm not sure how our society has evolved into this over-sharing, over-opinionated group of people.  It's all done in innocence, I think, but the constant desire to show everyone what we're doing at every moment or the whole "pictures or it didn't happen" mentality is absolutely crazy.  Now, when we see what people or doing or what people have, we feel the need to get where they are or get what they have.

I'm excited to see what this month will be like.  Where will I spend my extra time?  Reading?  Exercising?  Probably online window shopping, to be completely honest, since I took the month of January off from spending money.