Secret Blog Pal Revealed!

My Secret Blog Pal is....Tracey!

It's been so fun getting to know Tracey & Richard as they are waiting for their son, Sam. He should be here in a little over a month. Want to see a cute picture of little Sam??? Head over to here for a REALLY good 3D ultrasound of their precious Sam. And pray for Sam's birthmom, K, she's having some complications that could end up in a c-section.

Thanks, Tracey!

What an Exciting Day!

Secret Blog Package

What an exciting mail day today!!! I got a fun package from my Secret Blog Pal (and most of the chocolates didn't even make it long enough to get a photo of it! As evidenced by the pile of wrappers...so sad.)! I am looking forward to making that puppet...looks like fun! The small nail care kit will go in the diaper bag...I never seem to have a fingernail file when I need one! Thanks so much! I'm anxious for the big reveal next week!!!

Hair clips

Then...I also got my box of hair clips. I've been excited to get these for several days...and they arrived today!!!! I won't say how much I spent on the 30+ clips, but it was reasonable This is not all of them...Megan has one in her hair right now. AND I got some for Christmas presents for various individuals (and I didn't want to ruin the surprise as I think their parents all check the blog) so they are not in the photograph. Each clip is "no slip" that seems to work! Megan's had hers in for over an hour, and it has not moved (even though she's not STOPPED moving!). They are SO CUTE! And VERY high quality! If you are interested, I got them from Love to Sparkle. Heather is awesome to work with!!!! And her prices are incredible!

It's going to be SO FUN to pick out a hair clip every day! I've not put what I have in unless we are going somewhere because they get loose, then she pulls them out. She touched this one when I put it in, but hasn't touched it since! Seriously, the picture does not do them justice! They are AWESOME!!!!

And...to top it all off...Fall weather has FINALLY ARRIVED!!!! It was warm this morning (mid 70s), but a cold front come through...it's probably in the 50s now! Feels SO GOOD to have cooler weather!!!!

Video

Megan has started saying more words...she LOVES dogs. I don't mean loves, I mean can spot them anywhere and everywhere we go LOVES! Not only does she frantically sign "dog" when she sees them, but now she has advanced to her version of "ruff-ruff". But, her new favorite word is "Irish". Poor Dakota is out in the cold, but I honestly don't think she cares. So, here she is with her version of "Irish". We were just getting ready to put pjs on for bed, hence the "naked" baby look.

And a special surprise from my Secret Blog Pal arrived yesterday!

Chocolate & Relaxing music, I agree, what more could I ask for?

Thanks so much! Neither I nor DH could keep our hands off the chocolate. In fact, I'm sort of surprised there was any left this morning!

Another Secret Blog Pal Surprise!

Modeling her new "head gear"!

Yum...

Yesterday...I get the mail...to find a "most excellent" surprise! And believe it or not, I didn't break into the yummy chocolate until...THIS MORNING! Is it bad to have chocolate for breakfast? Or rather...pre-breakfast? I didn't think so...

This 'n That

My Little Explorer

I got another special card from my Secret Blog Pal...with a gift card to Wal-Mart...hhhmmm, what to go shopping for! I don't know...but I'm going to spend some time thinking about it! THANKS!! And the card was beautiful (an excellent craft project)!

Several people have emailed me wondering how Megan has been sleeping. Well, the best way to describe it is "hit or miss". Saturday night I took "Megan duty" because it took over an hour to get her to sleep, then she was awake within 40 minutes. So, she slept with me. I mean, she rolled around the bed with me...kicked me in the face, etc. At some point she thought it would be a good idea to put her feet at the head of the bed and I had to protect my face (as best as possible) as she kicked and rolled while trying to get comfortable. Needless to say, neither of us slept well! She did finally calm down about 2am and slept until about 5am. Dad then took over and I slept for a few more hours. Sunday night started out similarly (taking so long to get to sleep), but she actually slept pretty darn good with me. She didn't hardly wiggle and was only up one time. In fact, she was doing so well I put her in her crib and she slept a few hours in there, but came back to bed with me around 4am. Last night she was in her crib all night, but was very restless and fussed quite a bit. I typically wait for a little when she cries out to see if its "crisis" or not (the tone is different). She also came to bed with me at 4am and slept (for the 2nd day in a row) until 6am.

One night last week (I think), I was becoming very frustrated at night when she wouldn't go back to sleep. I was complaining about how I was so tired...and I needed to get some sleep (and she did too!), but I was rocking her hoping she'd go back to sleep. She did finally, but not before I was reminded that soon she'll be too independent to need me to rock her for very long. Yes, it is inconvenient for me. Yes, I am losing sleep every night. Yes, I'm losing "my evening" time. But, the day will come (and likely very soon) that she won't want snuggles. She won't want me to hold her for 2 hours in the rocking chair. I need to soak up every minute of snuggles I get (even though I'm exhausted). She's growing up so fast. She's changing so much. This season will pass too. On the one hand, I'm excited to know I'll be getting sleep soon. On the other hand, I'm sad that she's getting so big and won't "need" me in the same way anymore. Such a conflict.

Oh, and before I forget, I've been meaning to post about rocking her to sleep. First, my mom rocked each of her five children to sleep when we were young. When they could understand, she would say she was rocking for x number of minutes, then we had to go to our bed whether we were sleeping or not. I remember doing this with my younger brother and sister when I babysat them. And this is the approach we've decided to take with Megan. Yes, I know she has to learn to put herself to sleep. And she will. One day. Well, I was researching sleep issues the other day I found a pediatrician who agrees with my stance. What's more, he believes (as I had felt) that forcing to her to sleep on her own is potentially negatively impacting her bonding and attachment. I appreciated an expert confirming my feelings. So, I'm not crazy. And I'm not spoiling my child (despite what I've been told by some). Dr. Sear's site has lots of good information about all kinds of child topics. Apparently, when his first child was born (back in the 1970s) his wife felt that the child needed to sleep with them, despite what the books said. He became a proponent for co-sleeping from that point on. So, I am rocking her to sleep and if necessary, she will slept with me. It's not up for discussion. And I'm not going to feel guilty for either of them.

Secret Blog Pal Surprise!

I received a special surprise on Friday evening from my Secret Blog Pal: An e-gift card to Amazon.com! I've been wanting to get Megan a few things. The timing was perfect!!! So, I went shopping (from home, with my feet up--without having showered, but I was out of my pjs--after having done some serious house cleaning). Here's what I got:
I LOVE Boynton books...and Megan has a few that she absolutely loves, so I think she'll thoroughly enjoy these.

And this:Megan is going to be DELIGHTED to get her special presents this week. The best part is that the price of this DVD went down a $1 since we discussed getting it earlier this week. So, not only was I able to use the gift card toward these items, but I also saved money by waiting to buy it! Can it get ANY more exciting than that???

Thanks, so much!!!

Secret Blog Pal Surprise!

We went to the mailbox today to find this special package from my Secret Blog Pal!

Megan has already danced to the tunes! (And loves them!)
And (As you can see), I couldn't even wait to find the camera before trying out the candle!

Thanks! It made my day!!! (In fact, I completely forgot to even open the rest of the mail for quite a while!)

My Secret Blog Pal

I've done Secret Pal with various church groups, but this is the first time I've done it via blog! Well, I received my first "item" in the mail yesterday. A beautiful homemade card with a lovely note. Very sweet!

So, my bloggie friend...whoever you are...THANK YOU! (I'm not crafty...likely by choice...I could probably be crafty, just do NOT have the patience--or time, for that matter--for it.) It's always fun to see what people create!