Eight Months Old

Carly is officially 8 months old....and I am getting tears in my eyes as I write this because just two nights ago my husband and I watched all the videos on our Flip camera that start on the day of Carly's delivery and go all the way up through last week. I was getting so teary eyed watching the videos of the day she was born and the first month of her life. At times it seems like it has been 8 months, but then there are moments that take me right back to that first sweet month and it seems impossible that it was already eight months ago. Eight months...that's almost one year. Holy cow. My post pregnancy hormones are still not able to handle that so we best just move on and admire her beauty!

 

Our little country cutie!

So how do we celebrate the day she turns 8 months old?
Well, we started the morning off with a wagon ride around the backyard after her morning sippy cup and some apple & banana for breakfast.

 The afternoon was spent working on her new crawling technique
(which she did for the first time Tuesday night!!!!!...minutes after we filled up the space on the Flip cam and got it plugged into the tv to watch....typical).

 She also learned how to wave yesterday, so there is a lot of waving
going on around this house now :)

For lunch she had zucchini and avocado, more of her favorites!

 Later that afternoon, we went over to the outdoor mall to get out of the house while the bug guy came and sprayed outside. We have been having bug issues these last few weeks, so we had to put an end to that. I would flip out if I ever saw a bug crawling on Carly! (I know it will happen someday, but that day won't be any time soon if I have anything to say about it!)
While at the mall......

....we treated ourselves! Now, before you go thinking we are some big spending-techies, let me explain the reason: we were upgrading from our iPhone 3's.....yeeeea. A few years late on the latest and greatest bandwagon, but it was time.

After a few hours, Carly was relaxed and snoozin.....just kicking her legs up in her new stroller, lovin' life :)  So it was time to head home for dinner. Before we got home, John decided to treat me yet again! The gift of not having to cook dinner!

My all time favorite meal. Heaven on a plate. Mmmm.....

Carly woke up briefly, played with her books, got her dinner then went to bed.

 

I think John was feeling the need to spoil me due to my lack of sleep, raised stress, and emotional roller coaster that have come from the recent start of Carly's sleep training. Dum dum duuuum...The time had come and we needed to establish a regular nap routine and bedtime for the Carly's well being and my sanity. Carly hasn't always been the greatest sleeper and getting her to go to bed at night is quite the headache some most nights. So I decided to start sleep training and chose the Ferber Method (a.k.a. cry it out method). It is not for the faint at heart (but neither is motherhood for that matter, as my friend Megan would say) and it is very tough, but I am proud to say that we have stayed strong and we have noticed a change in Carly after just three days! The first night was the hardest, but with the help of ongoing texting from my mommy group, my girls got me through it! They have all done some form of this method and it worked for them so I have confidence that if we stick to it, we will have positive results as well :) For me, the hardest parts are staying consistent with timing and NOT going in to get her while she is crying herself to sleep. After doing this for a few days now, I have had the chance to notice that she isn't really crying. Life changing realization. She is just mad and whining because I am not coming in right away. The amount of time she spends crying now has shortened and it really only takes about 5 minutes for her to fall asleep. It's amazing.

 

But I will say this....

Thank goodness for coffee.