Christmas 2010

This Christmas is special for many reasons. Its the first Christmas in two years that our family will be all together again, and with three new additions to the family. The last two years I have spent Christmas in Houston with Matt and his family, and although I love his family, I am so glad to be home this year with my family. This is the 6th Christmas that Matt and I have been a "couple" for, but the very first one that Matt is spending with my family on Christmas day. He has spent every Christmas since he was born at his grandparents house in Houston,so this will be a big change for him. Michelle and Jeremy are here for Christmas, and although he has spent Christmas with my family before, this is the first time that they are here as an engaged couple, making him an official member of our family. This will be the second time that Michelle and Jeremey will get to see lil Miss Paisley since she was born. Last but certainly not least, this is Paisley's first Christmas, and although I know she wont remember it, it will be rememberable for me.

Matt, Paisley and I spent the eve of Christmas eve at Matt's parent's house. They may not have gotton to be there for Paisley's first Christmas day, but they got to have her first Christmas gift opening with her.

Christmas day we will be getting up bright and early so Paisley can open her gifts from us and then we will be heading to my parents house for a great day with my family!

Being a Full Time Stay At Home Mom

Before having a child, most of my days were spent at work, and I still had time to take care of the house, husband, and hang out with friends every Friday and Saturday. Now with a baby I am home all day and cant seem to find very much time to do house work, not to mention time with friends have gotten few and far between  (you cant take a baby to parties). It has always been my dream to be a full time wife and mommy. As soon as we found out I was pregnant, I knew my dream was going to come true. Before I became a FT-SAHM (full time stay at home mom), I thought it was easy peasy, just sitting around all day watching your children play. Boy was I in for a surprise!

Paisley is now 9 months old and way ahead developmentally. She has always been ahead of the game, she is already walking, rolling her tongue and has a mouth full of teeth! Watching her as she learned to stand and be more mobile became a priority, as she falls and bumps her head alot. Paisley was born with a Hemangioma on her head, Hemangiomas are abnormal overgrowth's of blood vessels that can appear as red or purple lumps in the skin and on other parts of the body. If she was to hit her head in the right spot and bust it, she would have to be rushed to the ER so they can cauterize it to stop the bleeding.

Being home all day with Paisley really ensures that I don't miss out on any milestones. It also lets me parent the way I want to parent instead of having baby sitters or a daycare teach her. I've taught her how to walk, talk and how to clap, how to roll a ball and drink from a straw. She understands alot of words including NO, seems as if we have been saying that work alot lately as she gets into everything, and if  I ask her where something is she can look for it (with her eyes) and lets me know where it is. She is starting to point and wave her hand hi. She is starting to feed herself but is still not ready for alot of big people table food. She can climb stairs and other objects like no other, and even trys to dance. When something scares her she crawls as fast as she can into my lap and snuggles there and waits for my hugs and kisses.

Being a SAHM does have its down falls. Paisley has become very Mommy attached and is unsure of other babies and kids. When out of her environment she becomes really needy and wants me even more.  She is just now starting to be OK going to other people. We left her with my mom last weekend so we could go Christmas shopping, she didn't even cry for me once! I am hoping one day I can find some play dates for her so she can get use to other babies. Being home with her all day can sometimes be very overwhelming. There are days when I cant wait for Matt to come home and take over for a little bit while I have a mommy break. I love my daughter to death, and she is my everything, but sometimes I just need to a lil time to myself.

Putting myself on a schedule is just as important as putting Paisley on one. If I don't have a set day to do laundry or cleaning, who knows when it will get done. Fortunately, Paisley doesn't require a ton of attention when at home, giving me time to do things that I need  to do. She follows me around the house as I clean and sits there and plays with her toys.

We still are not sleeping through the night yet. She wakes up at least 3-4 times a night, sometimes more. Its not that big of a deal though, since I am home all day, I can take naps with her if I want to. We are working on trying to get her to put herself to sleep, right now I rock and feed her to sleep most of the time.


Paisley loves being outside and I try to take her out as much as I can, but most days we just spend inside. Being a SAHM has really made me a home body and I hate it. I wish we could get out more but with only having one vehicle at the moment is really hard. Any chance I get to leave the house I take it!

We are still cloth diapering, 7 months now and  I love it. Just now getting the washing thing down though. Had her in disposables for a while when she had a rash but I finally got ahold of some cloth safe diaper cream and diaper liners, I was so happy to get her back in her cloths :) I'm sure we have saved a ton of money and are also helping the environment.

Paisley has just recently become very attached to one of her blankies. My mom crocheted a blankie while I was in labor and gave it to Miss P. She drags it everywhere, puts it in her mouth and trys to walk with it wrapped around her, she even plays peek-a-boo with it. It has really become her security blanket.

Matt, as a baby, was walking by 9 months and was sure that Paisley would be too, and she is! She gets better and walks longer distances each day without falling. Sometimes she gets so excited that she ends up walking really fast or running. When she falls she gets right back up and keeps on trying. When she wants something she goes for it.


There are times when I miss going to work and parties with friends and buying things for myself  but have come to realize that house work can wait, and real friends will stick by you even if you have a child, and there are always new friends to be made.
With my new life consisting of  poopy diapers, runny noses, fussy teething days, sleepless nights, being up to our eye balls in debt, and having very little time for myself... I look down at my precious baby girl sleeping in my arms, and I know, its all worth it.