I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day yesterday with my sweet baby girl! Although we've celebrated in the past with my doggie babies, this one was different :) It really made me stop and think about how much things have changed and how much we've adjusted since that scary, emotional day when we brought her home. Even after preparing throughout my whole pregnancy, reading books, having EVERYTHING in place for her arrival, google searching anything I thought about........I was still scared to death that day and felt like I had somehow forgotten every single thing I had learned. Turns out I was just extremely sleep deprived and that this was a very normal feeling for a new mommy! After a few days I became really proud of myself for how much I did know because of my thorough research :)

But, then there were those times that I had no idea what to do because NOBODY tells you about them! Mainly having to do with how much to feed her and when the heck do you know when you should up the amount they eat??!! I love how the doctors just say....."oh, she'll let ya know if she needs more" or......"oh, i would say you could up it after a few weeks, but maybe not.......just watch her to see". Really?!?! That is not an answer! There should be an exact rule for how much you feed a baby. There is a formula I found to follow but even it isn't exact.

Even now that I've somewhat figured out how much to give her, I still don't know if its enough, too much or when to increase it again.....but we'll get through it!

And let's not forget all the people who give you advice or judge your parenting.....when you didn't ask them for their opinion at all! The biggest pet peeve of mine now is when people act as if I'm stupid for trying to follow some ideas that books have taught me, like babywise or happiest baby on the block. They roll their eyes like they know everything and act like you're abusing your child or something...... really people, its just a schedule and some shushing to help your baby when theyre screaming and pissed!. Why wouldn't I try something out to help my baby sleep through the night or stop screaming? I bet your kid kept you up all night for a whole year & screamed all day! Sorry if people have figured something out that works and just because you didn't do it, doesn't mean its stupid........maybe youre just stupid!!

Aaaah, that feels better! That's what I would like to have said to those people but instead I just change the subject :)

I guess this turned into a venting session, sorry!

On a more positive note, Mother's Day also made me realize how lucky I am to be this precious, sweet baby girls mommy:) She is changing so much every day and while I enjoyed having a newborn, I am really loving watching her become a more alert, active and talkative baby......and the smiling is absolutely the BEST!!! Its the most amazing thing I've ever seen!

So while I still try to figure everything out and block out those "know it all" people, I'll remember that she's doing great so far and surely we can't mess her up too bad now! haha!

I love this sweet little chicken! (That's what daddy and I call her, it just came out one day and stuck!)