Nataleigh at 7 months

Mom and I had a lot of fun taking Nataleigh's 7 month pictures! She is always such a trooper!

Here are a few things I've noticed she is doing or learning, some of her favorites and other interesting facts about my precious daughter, Nataleigh:

She is learning to roll over, wave bye-bye/hi and clap..and it's super cute!

She can pass toys from one hand to the other. She has leaned that she can use one object to bang against another to make loud noises and it makes her laugh.

She can stand holding onto someone's hand or against furniture.

She is starting to pick up puffs with her finger and thumb.

Her hair is long enough (well the top part is at least) to put in a ponytail!

Her favorite toy right now is her Baby Einstein music toy...she just loves it.

She is starting to babble a lot more and says da, ma, na, pa,

Nataleigh sits well and keeps herself entertained.

Foods she has tried this month include: sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, oatmeal and bananas.

Her favorite time of the day is bath time...she just loves to splash in the water!

When she eats she loves to look around and take in everything that is happening around her so it takes her a little longer to eat.

She loves to play horsey on your leg/lap and can do it by herself!

She can stand from a sitting position on my leg or her flower chair holding onto someone's hand.

She doesn't have stranger anxiety!

Routine

Over the last week I've been working on getting Nataleigh back on a schedule and it is going pretty good! She has been waking up around the same time every morning 6:30-7:00. She eats and then plays for a couple of hours. The thing that is confusing for me is that she usually gets really sleepy and so I lay her down for a nap but she will only take about a 30 minute to an hour long nap! She went from being up 2 hours then nap 2 hours and then we would start the whole cycle over...but I think she is either (1) getting hungry after so long (2) has a drenched diaper (even though I have just changed her before I laid her down for her nap) or (3) she just doesn't want to take a very long nap or doesn't want one at all...so I've been trying to figure it out the last couple of days. After she gets back up she eats then plays for 2-3 hours then takes a 2-3 hour nap...which I absolutely love! (I can get a lot of housework done and cook lunch for Nate & myself and then we spend some quality time with each other.) Nataleigh wakes up between 3-4 and will eat again and then play for another couple of hours...this is the tricky part here again...depending on what time she wakes up from her previous nap determines whether she will get another nap before bedtime....if she takes a nap too soon before bedtime I'm afraid it will keep her up a little longer past her bedtime...which I am trying to keep consistent at 8:15pm I want to gradually move it towards 730 but have to do it little by little. I am happy though that she does go to bed at the same time each night and doesn't put up a fight....that makes it sooo much easier on me or whoever is watching her if I am at work!

Parenting is an interesting thing....you think you have a schedule down but as they get a little older it keeps on changing....and I don't want to be a bad mother and I want what is best for my daughter so I am trying to do my best....I guess the only thing I can really do is trust God will lead me and show me through Nataleigh's cues what she needs and trust that I do the best thing for her with each aspect of raising her! I have read a couple books from the On Becoming Baby Wise series which has help to encourage me that I am doing the right things for Nataleigh but I have to keep in mind that I am Nataleigh's mother and not all babies are a "book" baby....there is not manual out there on how to raise a child only tools like these books to help "guide and direct".

So that is what I've been doing the last couple of days instead of focusing on exercising but again I am using it as an excuse and I just need a swift kick in the hind end to get motivated...anyone want to volunteer?

Getting back on track!

I have been trying to lose the last bit of my baby weight from Nataleigh (12.4 lbs) and 15 lbs to get back to the weight I was at when I got married...it was when I felt the healthiest in my life.

I was doing great in the month of January (I lost 8.8 lbs) but I have done horrible in the month of February (I gained 1.2 lbs back)! I have not been working out and I've been stressed about our car issues...but putting all excuses aside I have to get back on track and start working hard again!

I hope that my family (especially my husband) will help me to achieve this goal and encourage me when I am struggling!

My biggest problem right now is that we have WAY to much junk food in our apartment...does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do about this...I can't just throw it all away or give it away because Nate HAS to have it in the house...I would appreciate any feedback. My next problem is finding the best time to workout. I am really focusing on getting Nataleigh back into a good routine and a set schedule so hopefully when that happens it will be easier to plan when I workout but until then I will just have to figure it out as I go!

So to let everyone know where I am at and have the truth out there my starting weight now is 162.4lbs. I am hoping to keep track and use this as a motivator for me to lose more weight. My goal is to get down to 135lbs or less but at least 135! Wish me luck!