ANSWERS Part II

Here are the second half of the questions & answers {finally}.

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

Katie @ Chronicles of KT asked:
I have a question... I am 20 weeks pregnant and we will be registering soon, I was wondering what are your top 5 things you don't think you could live without as a new mom to a lil one also what are/ if any the things you have or received that you thought you would use or love and don't? This is a GREAT question. I most definitely have some favorites:
*Claire's play gym. Ever since we have brought her home from the hospital, she has loved this. It entertains her for quite a while, which gives me a chance to get things done around the house
* My Balboa sling. I LOVE this thing. I didn't receive a carrier for any of my showers, nor did I register for one. Why? I didn't know if Claire would be a fan of them. When she was a couple of weeks old, and wanted to be held ALL. THE. TIME. I knew we had to do something about it. I took her to Babies R' Us & put her in the Baby Bjorn. She hated it. I think because she just hung there & wasn't curled up in anything. So I tried a sling on & stuck her in it & she loved it. She still loves it. I stick her in there when she is having a particularly needy day & I'm able to get things done.
* Summer Infant SwaddleMe aka, the baby straight jacket. This is something that Claire isn't able to fall asleep without. She HAS to be swaddled in order to fall asleep at night & I love this because it is so secure & doesn't come undone like a regular receiving blanket might. This is a MUST HAVE in our house
* My Medela Swing breast pump. This thing is my third arm. I take it everywhere with me since I exclusively pump & it works amazing. It's small. Nothing over the top but gets the job done. If you're planning on breastfeeding, I would definitely invest in one of these. Most insurance companies will even reimburse you for them!
* Claire's favorite time of day is bath time. Love is an understatement. So, we couldn't have bath time without her Whale Bathtub. This is something that I registered for based on the raving reviews. Love it.

A couple of things that I registered for & received but don't use are the Bumbo & The Little Lamb Seat. I'm so bummed because these two things have great reviews & are great products, but they are things that Claire just doesn't enjoy.

From the beginning, she never liked her Little Lamb seat. She much preferred her Little Lamb Swing, because she liked to move, & still does. She tolerates the Bumbo, but won't sit in it for a long period of time without getting frustrated & wanting to get out. BOO! But that's not to say your little one won't like either of these things!

Britt asked:
What are some of your favorite blogs to read? Honestly, all of the blogs on my "blog roll" are favorites of mine. If you have any fave's, send them my way! I LOVE reading blogs.
Being a mom, we don't get much "alone time." What do you do to have a little mommy time and keep your sanity? :) I like this question. There are a few things I need in my everyday life to keep my sanity. The main one being my Starbucks fix. Everyday. This is an absolutely horrible habit that I HAVE to break. In fact, I am planning on buying a cheap espresso maker so that I can make my own lattes. But I look forward to my morning caffeine fix everyday. It keeps me going. Internet & T.V time everyday is also a must. I need my daily dose of blog, Dr. Phil & Oprah, even if I record them & watch them later. The other thing is that I need to be clean & have a little bit of make-up on everyday, even if I am at home with Claire. Having a shower with a bit of make-up makes me feel happy & refreshed. Weird, but true.
You said a little bit ago that your sexual drive went out the window... (I think 90% of us can relate with you!) how is hubbs handling it? Any spicy ideas you've found that we all need to know about???!
HAHA!! I wish. If you have any ideas, send them my way, because I am seriously lacking in the intimacy department. BAD. The only thing that helps me get "into it" is a couple glasses of wine & some sexy music. If I have these two things, it brings my inner vixen out...haha. Kidding. Kinda.
How did your daughter get to be so damn cute?! (this isn't a question... just had to put it out there for you!)
Aww, thanks. I am biased, but I think so, too!

Jessica @ The Southern Belle Baby asked:

What is your favorite thing about motherhood so far? Gosh, this is a tough question because I want to be cliche & say that everything is my favorite thing about motherhood. I guess just the fact that this little life is dependent on me to meet her needs & I'm so lucky & fortunate to get to do that.

What is your idea of a perfect date with your husband? If you would have asked me this before Claire was here, I would have said going on a little vacation, having some drinks & letting loose. Now? My perfect date would be going to a nice dinner & coming home & vegging out on the couch. My, how a child changes your idea of "perfect".
How did the hubs propose to you?
It was June 23rd, 2007 & he was supposedly out of town on business. My parents were throwing a "summer bbq" for friends. While at home with everyone, the doorbell rang. My mom told me to go answer it. Who was it? My boyfriend! He walked inside & handed me a book of love poems. He told me to open it & inside, all of the pages were cut out into the shape of a heart. The ring box sat inside that heart. As I opened it, he got down on one knee, in front of all of our friends & asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. It was amazing, if I do say so myself.
right after he popped the question.

we were 19. Babies!

Jeannie asked:

In your opinion, what's the biggest surprise about motherhood? Probably the fact that everything came so naturally to me. This was one of my biggest fears when I was pregnant. I worried that I would have no clue what to do with a baby. Everyone always told me that my instincts would just kick in & they were right. Granted, it took a good month for things to feel natural, but sure enough they did & I was pleasantly surprised!

Mrs. G asked:

Hardest part of motherhood so far? Definitely adjusting to the lack of sleep you get. I have always been one who needs 9+ hours of sleep in order to function properly & I knew it was going to be a hard adjustment. Hell, I'm still getting used to it.
Do you have many IRL mom friends? (I don't, I need to find a playgroup or something) One word: No. It's really sad, actually. I have 2 good friends. Both of which are moms & only one of them lives in the same state as me. I've actually been feeling really down about this lately. The fact that I really don't have many friends. I've been thinking about enrolling Claire in some Little Gym classes or taking to her to the library for story time & making some friends there. Now I just need to get the guts to do it. HA.
Did you do any sleep training with C?
I explained a little in Claire's 4 month post that we just started the Ferber Method of sleep training with her. We've refined it a little bit to make it a little "kinder" & so far, so good. The past 2 nights, she has gone to sleep on her own with zero fussing & has slept until 5:30am!!! & just for the record, the recommended age to start this is 4-6 months. We felt like Claire was ready to begin this & would certainly not have begun it if we didn't feel like she could handle it. Ok, I'm going to quit justifying it...hehe

Stephanie & Ryan asked:

When you were pregnant what did you do to keep yourself calm and not anxious? In the beginning, I was nothing but anxious. Back in the early days of pregnancy, I worried constantly. Because of the scare I had, I really had no choice BUT to worry. Towards the middle of my second trimester, I was very relaxed. I'm not really sure how I did it, I guess just knowing Claire was inside me & she was safe & healthy made me very relaxed. I really started to itch in the 3rd trimester. I just wanted to her be here already!! But I wish I hadn't had been so anxious. I wish I would've just calmed down & enjoyed my time with just my husband & I, because we haven't had alone time like that since I was pregnant! Does that even make sense?

What are some challenges you face as a new Mom that you didn't expect to face? Really the one & only {big} issue with the baby that I didn't expect to face is dealing with all of the struggles Claire has with her cleft pallet. Everything we've had issues with thus far stems from that. Obviously when I was pregnant, we had no clue she would be born with this, so it was not something I couldn't prepared myself for.

As for issues with myself, I didn't expect to have the Baby Blues as long as I did. I knew that most new moms suffered from them for a good 2 weeks, but mine lasted for a month & I was absolutely miserable. I should/will do a whole post on this. I think it would be good for me to talk about the struggles I went through...

Maria asked:

How did you cope with the day you actually placed Claire in daycare? My baby boy is still baking in the oven, but this is something I constantly dread...the day I place in the arms of someone else. I am very fortunate in the fact that Claire does not have to go to daycare. I work 3 days out of the home & my mom watches Claire 2 days & my mother-in-law watches Claire the other day. I am so lucky to have the grandmas watch her! But, that's not to say it wasn't hard going back to work & leaving her. Even leaving Claire with my own mom was so hard for me. Not because I didn't trust her, but because I wasn't there to take care of her.

Up until I went back to work, hubby & I were her only care takers. She had never been watched by anyone else & that freaked me out! I had a million "what-if's" going through my head for those first couple of weeks, but after that? It got so much easier. Seeing her little face when I walked through that door at the end of the day made me feel O.K.

Lindsey asked:
What is your favorite pair of shoes you own? Pictures please!! THESE {sorry, not the best picture} are my most favorite shoes/boots ever! They are patent leather boots by Steve Madden that I bought for a pretty penny a few years ago. I wear them ALL. THE. TIME in the fall/winter & I have definitely gotten my money's worth.

Also, what is one thing you had to learn the hard way growing up that you hope Claire doesn't have to?
Gosh, this is a great question. I have touched on this in posts before that depression runs in my family, however; when I was younger & developed it, I didn't know what it was or why I was feeling it. It was something that I was ashamed of & hid from my parents {and everyone for that matter} for a while, until they finally caught on.

I can only hope that Claire doesn't have to hide what she is feeling from anyone, ESPECIALLY her parents. I want her to know that anything & everything she feels is O.K. and natural & not to fight it.

Mrs. Lexi asked:
What do love and hate most about where you live? I love the scenery, I often find myself taking the beautiful mountains for granted. & I also love that we have a change of seasons & it's not hot or cold all year round. The thing I hate about living here? The ridiculous dominate religious views. everything is focused around the LDS faith & that DRIVES ME NUTS....that's as far as I'm going to go. I don't want to get my big mouth into trouble ;)
If you could move anywhere else, where would it be? Honestly? Probably Canada. HAHA! I have never been, but I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it. Not to mention they have amazing health care benefits :P

Well. There you have it. I hope I answered all of your questions to your liking & that they make some sort of sense!