Things I Love. Owl Edition.

I am OBSESSED with Owls. Obsessed like I am with chocolate, wine, texting, my baby and Twitter.

I love them so much so naturally when it was time to pick a theme for our baby boy's nursery I gravitated towards owls. I didn't want a super boyish, sporty or jungle animal themed nursery. I wanted something modern, clean looking and fun. Something that would still be suitable for him in a year.

Of course Etsy had a million and one owls and I went crazy one evening picking out tons of different ones to put in the nursery.

I also found some in thrift stores, flea markets, and a friend brought one back from Greece. I am always on the look out for little owl friends to add to Baby D's collection so this week's Things I Love is dedicated to the little owl friends I am obsessing over.

Wise Nesting Owls.

Tealight Holder.

Wooden Frame.

Night Light.

Pillows.

Stuffed Owl.

Owl Print.

Just in time for Christmas, a few Owl Ornaments.

And finally, the list wouldn't be complete without an Owl Hat.

Baby D actually has this hat and I LOVE it. Him...not so much.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Baby D.

Continuing with Fallapalooza 2010 that is going down at at my house, we went to Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch in West Hollywood a few weekends ago for some fall fun and pumpkin picking. We had a blast! The weather was not your typical LA day. It was more like Seattle. We got out of there before the rain really started coming down. Someday I will get my fall weather while doing fall type activities. I might have to move to the East Coast to get it though.

You know you are in LA when there are palm trees in the background AND you are at a Pumpkin Patch! These two things don't usually go hand in hand.

I am usually not a fan of petting zoos because I feel like the animals can turn on you in a heartbeat. One actually did and butted some little girl in the chest. She cried. I wondered if we were crazy doing this. The husband gave me that look like "it's totally fine" and he took him in to the petting zoo.

I wanted to take these guys home.

D rode a big rocking horse.

We took A TON of pictures.

He picked out his own pumpkin.

There were pumpkins of every color, shape and and size.

And of course no trip to the Pumpkin Patch is complete without eating a pumpkin and some hay. Good times.

I *might* have had a moment of panic when he put a dirty pumpkin in his mouth. There was no stopping it. He is 9 months old and EVERYTHING goes in the mouth these days.

Our one decent family photo before the small "no more pictures meltdown" occurred.

This face says it all.

We had a blast and I am so looking forward to next year when we can pull D around in a little wagon and fill it up with pumpkins to take home and carve.

Sleep Like A Baby. Really?!? That Would Be Nice.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter might have seen my tweets about sleeping for a 9 month old and the slight dilemma I am having.

I used to have a baby that was such a good sleeper and someone took him and traded him an early rising, crazy napping baby.

I am sure I will get a lot of people saying "At least he sleeps though the night!" Well yes, at least he does that most of the time. The problem is he is up at 5 am! It is still dark out! The bus hasn't even run past our apartment yet. The traffic and the sirens haven't even started up! We can't go for a walk because it is still dark out! So why oh why is he waking up at this time?

I understand babies have no sense of real time. He doesn't know it is 5 am. I get that. I also understand that when I signed up to be a mama I was going to lack sleep. Trust me I KNOW THIS! I also know that not all babies sleep the same, act the same, develop the same, etc. I get all of that and I appreciate the numerous blogs, books, Dr. Google advice that I have gotten. I just want my baby to sleep past 5 am!

He goes to bed between 8-9 but there are days when it takes him a solid hour, sometimes more, to go to sleep. After checking in to make sure he has his blankie, Glow Worm, he doesn't have a dirty diaper, I leave him. He never cries. He just stands up in the crib and bangs on the wall! There are days when he goes to bed at 10 pm after an hour of messing around and then he is up at 5 am. This can't be enough sleep can it?

The problem with all of this is he is up at the butt crack of dawn only to want to go back to sleep 2 hours later! So why not just sleep those 2 extra hours before getting up at 5? Trust me we have had this talk and I am getting nowhere with it. I am OK with the morning nap but the morning nap runs 2-3 hours and then the afternoon nap is shot to hell. If it does happen then it is at 4 or 4 30 because he is just so, so tired and then he sleeps till 6 and I wake him up. But...THEN HE WON'T GO TO BED TILL 9 or 10 only to WAKE UP AT 5 the next day! It's a revolving door!

I am really at my wits end here. I am so thankful that he sleeps through the night except for the occasional teething incidents. I am also thankful that he does nap most days. Most of all I am thankful that I have a happy (99% of the time) baby.

Please don't judge me on this. I judge myself enough these days! I blame myself for this mess and am trying to pick up the pieces. I want to do what is best for his sleep pattern and have him get enough rest. I follow all of his cues when he gets tired. I also make sure he has eaten, he is changed, has all of his security items, sound machine, etc.

My next step is to cut the morning nap or push it back as much as I can so he has one big nap in the mid afternoon BUT I am afraid this will bite me in the ass and he won't nap because he is passed the point of no return in the sleep department. My doctor says he should still be napping 2 times a day even if it is just an hour. I love him so I am trying to follow that advice!

I feel like I am running in circles here and can't seem to find the right balance. Clearly he is a tired baby when he wants to go back to sleep for 2-3 hours 2 hours AFTER he got up. Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe this is just the way he will be and I need to accept it. Either way I need some sort of guidance so as to not loose my sanity!

I am looking to you, my twitter friends for help and answers, guidance, opinions, schedules, etc.

Do I put him down earlier in hopes that he sleeps longer like this article says?

I am exhausted. I feel beat down. I feel a bit like a failure in the sleep department for him. I just need to get a handle on his routine. I never set a schedule for him. I let him do that himself and maybe that was the problem. Maybe I need to be strict about it so as to get him used to something. Also maybe I need let him stay in bed in the AM and not get him up in hopes that he will put himself back to sleep?

Wordless Wednesday. My Sweet Little Lambiekins.

Things I Love This Week. Halloween Edition.

There are always a million things in the week that I say "OMG!I love this!" or "I would love to have that!" So I decided I would do my own "Things I Love" post.

Thank you Amy over at BabyBabyLemon for the inspiration!

We are having a HalloWine Party on Saturday. You know a party where you celebrate Halloween and drink ridiculous amounts of wine? That kind of party! I have been obsessing over what to make and how to decorate for this party. I have spent countless hours on blogs for ideas and ran across things that I love! Many are way out of my league and budget, but I love them non the less! Maybe one day....

What I loved this week:

Candy Corn Cookie Bark.

Silver and Black Poms.

Halloween Inspired Cocktails.

A gorgeous backyard to decorate.

Amazing Pumpkins

The perfectly decorated table

Wordless Wednesday. 9 Months Ago Today He Came Home.

Time Flies When You Have A Baby.

It has been:

9 months

273.931649 days

6 574.35958 hours

23 667 694.5 seconds

Today Baby D is 9 months old. He has been out as long as he was in. He has gone 3/4 around the sun. Today I look at my sweet baby's face, who is almost not a baby anymore, and I wonder where the time has gone. Didn't I just endure 3 days of labor like yesterday?!?

9 months ago the husband and I were about to embark on a journey like no other. One that we were nervous, yet so excited and anxious to start. A journey full of joy, happiness, laughter, and memories to last a lifetime.

The day Baby D entered this world I understood the overwhelming love one has for their child. I understood what my mom and dad felt for me. I now knew what they meant when they would say "You will never understand how much we love you until you have a baby of your own."

Their words never meant more to me than in that moment when I held my baby for the first time. It was just the two of us. No doctors, nurses, family members, or friends around. I took in that moment and filed it away forever.

Baby D, I remember that day in the hospital when you were placed in my arms and I looked at you and thought "WOW, your daddy and I did it! We got you here and you are now part of our world." That day I vowed to do everything in my power to protect you. To keep you safe.

I wanted to remember that day forever. That smell of the hospital room. The sweet baby smell of your head when they put you in my arms. The way you made little tiny baby noises. It is still so vivid to me and I can close my eyes and be back to that place where you were so tiny and didn't know anything about the world yet.

The journey to get here was a long, painful, and often times full of tears but we made it. The three of us have done it together.

I love you, Baby D, and am so proud of you. So proud to call you my son and to be your mama. You are growing up so quickly and it kills me. I wish you could be little forever. You are so sweet and so loving and at the same time all boy. You are moving so quickly, too, and often times I grab you when you are on the move because I want a snuggle. I want a baby hug. You do it willingly then are off again. These past 9 months have brought so much joy to me and your daddy and one day I hope you look back on pictures and read journal entries and realize what love and happiness you bring to us each and every day.

Happy 9 month birthday, sweet Baby D!

I love you precious boy.

Love Mama

Godspeed, little man

Sweet dreams, little man

Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings

Godspeed

Godspeed

Godspeed

Sweet dreams. -The Dixie Chicks

This Little Light.

While I have never felt the pain of loosing a baby, I have many friends that have. I grieved with them. I have been a shoulder to cry on. I have tried to be the best friend one could be.

I will never understand the heartache one feels when loosing someone you love more than life itself before they have even taken his or her place on this earth. But I grieve with them because I love them so.

Tonight my candles are lit for my friends and mom who have lost the greatest gift one could ever receive.

Wordless Wednesday. Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

It's A Family Tradition.

Traditions are such an important part of my life.

Growing up we had many traditions we partook in every holiday and they bring back fond memories of huge family gatherings, lots of food, laughs, and photos.

Living in Los Angeles and not close to any of our family members, I was bound and determined to start our own traditions when we had Baby D. The wheels started turning and I had grand visions of Pumpkin Patches, Easter Egg Hunts, Trimming the Christmas Tree while listening to Christmas carols, and Apple Picking.

I have ALWAYS wanted to go Apple Picking! In fact I am slightly obsessed with the thought of it! I spent days looking up the best places in LA to go picking at. I asked people on Twitter about it. I planned the day, outfit, photo ops, etc. I said I was obsessed!

Last Saturday we packed up and made the 9o minute drive to Oak Glen and Riley's at Los Rios Rancho with an 8 month old to go pick some apples and start one of our many family traditions.

The baby cowboy boots Baby D received as a gift were the perfect "footwear" for the day.

They stayed on all of 10 minutes!

I had these thoughts of sweaters and boots to wear that day. Perhaps a nice cool day of picking apples and feeling like fall was finally upon us in Southern California. HA! That was not the case. It was HOT! And sweaters were not part of the attire. Not. Even. Close.

"This is not the East Coast" I was reminded several times that day by a certain father of my child.

On the picking agenda for the day were Rome, Red Delicious, and Granny Smiths.

Baby D got in on the picking action and even tasted the fruits of his labor.

*We washed the apple before he gnawed on it*

And my vision of the perfect photo op was indeed just that.

Perfect.

I will forever cherish the memories this day brought for us and remember that family truly is the most important thing in life.

And I will also be in the kitchen making everything Apple related for the next few weeks!

What are some of your favorite holiday or just family related traditions? How important are traditions to you and your family? Are there any new traditions you started with your family that you never did growing up?