little Owee

Owen turned 4 months this week and I'm loving this stage of his life. We're finally past the hard part! He's discovering his hands and feet, babbling constantly, it's so easy to get a big grin out of him and even a giggle now and then, but best part of all...he sleeps through the night! Rest! It does a mama's body good. Life is good.

It's so interesting how life works though. How you start to forget. Forget how much it hurt to give birth, or how many times I wanted to give up breast feeding. (thanks again Alisha- you really got me through that!) Or how hard it was to muster the energy to shower or cook or do anything other than nurse and sleep. Or getting mastitis- TWICE. I'm so grateful to every friend and family member who got me through those early days; especially my wonderful husband who would do anything for me and was a huge support even in my most hormonal moments!

Now I'm at the point that I'm able to forget the hard parts about labor and caring for a newborn, and just cherish the good parts. Like the first time I held Owen after giving birth while Kart held us both. Having no other worries but to sleep and nurse and eat. Watching my other children love him so much they almost smother him with their hugs and kisses! Having him sleep all curled up on my chest and not wanting to move. All the wonderful meals friends made us so we didn't have to cook. Getting that first smile out of him!

When things were hard in the beginning, each day felt like an eternity. 6 weeks old seemed like it took forever to get to let alone 4 months, but now here we are. 4 months old and life is good! He's getting so big so quickly- both in height and weight. He's already 16 pounds. (that's 75th percentile- in case you're curious about that sort of thing) It's a lot more wearing on my body to carrying him in the sling now, but I'm still doing every day.

Lately I've been thinking about what I've learned about being a mom and about children after having 3 now and thought I would share some of my knowledge with you. Maybe it'll help a new mama out there somewhere.

• Be Consistent. As I type that I groan a little inside because I'm not always the best at this. BUT! I do have a testimony that it makes a positive difference in the way your kids act. They love consistency and need it. This applies to so many areas- like sleeping, your daily/weekly schedule, potty training...and more.
• Sleep is important. when sleep schedules (naps and bedtime) are consistent, kids sleep better & longer. Happiness all for all! Just do your best to have the same sleep times every day and stick to it. Be tough! I recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy child", but I'm sure there are other good ones out there on sleep habits. And try to nap when your baby does. I realize that's common advice but it's worth repeating. No one thinks clearly when they're sleep deprived. Get as much rest as you can.
• Get outside of the house at least once a day if you can. Ever since having kids I live for summer just so we can play out side a lot. It's so good for the soul (theirs and yours) and for the body. I think it's vitamin D that you get from the sun. In the colder months get a membership to a museum or some where like a trampoline or bouncy house place. Gotta get those wiggles out somehow when it's too cold to go play outside.
• Wear your baby. Not only does research show that babies that are carried in a sling a lot sleep better, but it keeps your hands free! (essential if you have more than one child) Now not every baby loves the sling, but I would at least try it. There's lots of different kinds, but this time my favorite has been the sling that goes diagonally across the chest. It's super quick to get on and get the baby into and you don't even have to put the baby down to do it. But I love the Moby wrap too. (really easy to make yourself and comfortable to wear.) This time around I've worn a sling pretty much every day and he loves it. It almost always puts him to sleep, and when it doesn't he's happy to be watching what's going on around him. So learn to make your own or buy one. Etsy is a great place to get one.
• Don't forget about your husband. It's so easy to let yourself get into mommy mode and focus all your attention, and energy on your baby and forget about your wonderful husband who supports you. As soon as you can, try to get out at least once in a while and go on dates. Try not to talk about the kids (that's hard!). Mainly just make sure you're still making time for each other, whether that's at home or away together.
• Sing and listen to music together. Music has a profound effect on the way you, and your children, feel. I use Pandora a lot when we're home for background music while we're eating or playing. My favorite station for kids music is Elizabeth Mitchell. I love her folk-rock style, and that her children songs are as enjoyable for the kids as they are for me. I like to sing to my children too, whether that's at bed time, nap time or even potty time! I can't tell you how many potty songs I've made up to try to get them to go to the bathroom while we were potty training. Your kids don't care how well you sing- they just love to hear your voice. Now my kids sing all the time on their own.
• Read together. If I could only give my kids one thing to play with it would be books. We read together every day and my kids love to "read" on their own too. They have so many of our books memorized now that they read (recite from memory- or make it up) them to each other or even by themselves sometimes. I think reading is a great way to bond. It gives us a chance to get all cuddled up on the couch on in a bed and spend some quality time together. It also teaches them to use their imaginations, some teach life lessons, it helps them learn letters and numbers and eventually how to read on their own.
• Document the day to day. You can do that how ever you want. I have never been good about the baby book and I'm not into scrap booking, but I love to photograph my kids and blog about them. It's a great way to remember what life was like when your children were little. It's hard to imagine ever forgetting those precious moments but it happens. I know I'll forget so I'm grateful to have record of it.
• Remember you're not alone. No matter what you're going through as a mom, I can almost guarantee you're not the only one that's experienced it. If you don't already have a group of friends that are moms too try to find one. Join, or start, a play group. Play group has been the easiest way for me to make friends since I tend to be shy. I love having friends that are going through the same stage of life that I am and can relate to what I'm going through. We share advice and give support to each other. We even trade baby sitting. It's great! There are also a TON of mom bloggers out there. (as you probably know if you're reading this) Their stories and advice can be very helpful and validating as well. And of course, prayer is a big one for me. I know my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ, understand completely what I'm going through and can help me get through anything. I know that I'm never truly alone because I can always pray and I know my prayers are heard and answered.

So there you go. Just some of the things I've learned along the way. I'm sure there's much more to learn still, but I'm getting there.