SO big SO fast!

At 10.5 months old Little Miss Sienna has been on a roll!

Thought I'd take a moment to jot down all the new things she's been doing lately...everyday is a new thing with this girl! she's a quick learner & stuns us with something new she hasn't done before...right when we least expect it

for 4 days straight now she's used her potty!
GO SIENNA GO!!

She took her very first step this past Sunday,
Daddy was so upset he missed it :/ he was in the supermarket

Started walking...almost running with her push cart toy

Knows how to scroll through pics on my iPhone and press the little triangle to play a video. We tried gifting her every toy phone on the market but she still wants mine

When we say "where is Sienna?" (in Polish)
she covers her face with her hands or blanket

Plays fetch with Charlie - shes obsessed with the fact that he brings back whatever she throws him

LOVES to feed Charlie, takes his little pebbles of food and gives it to him one piece at a time

started saying "Hi"

When you say "do upside down"
She does this....

Sienna,

 I simply cant get enough of you and the silly things you do lately. I thank my lucky stars that I'm able to stay home with you and watch you learn & reach every milestone... no amount of money is worth you being cared for by someone else....oh how much it would kill me if I wasn't the one to be there for your first step, sentence  ect. Watching you grow has been the the best gift I could have ever asked for.

I love you SO SO SO much!!

The Bachelor

my guilty pleasure

 

 reality TV involving good drama & love

 

Every Monday I tune in wondering how anyone who goes on this show thinks its a good idea, its possibly one of the silliest shows out there...but addicting nonetheless.

 

Sean is FAR from my type, but an upgrade from Ben for sure.

 

At least 3 people have told me that I look like Tierra

  what do you guys think?

 

could it be the amber?

Sienna's teething became so bad at one point a few weeks go,

I had Danny in Walgreens in his pajamas in the middle of the night getting every remedy on the shelf.

He came home with a bag of stuff,

 hoping at least one of the items gave her some sort of relief...

Homeopathic teething gel, tablets, Camilia and Motrin.

We wanted the motrin to be a last resort if all else failed. I really try to avoid that stuff. I cant even tell you when the last time I took anything like Tylenol or Motrin myself. I would say its been years and years.

After a couple of nights of trying those things...we didnt notice any change

She still woke up literally every 10 minutes and seemed to be in discomfort, she didn't have a fever though she was pretty warm to the touch.

Someone suggested I put her amber teething necklace back on, I had her wear it when she was younger mostly only cuz I thought it looked cute to be honest...She was such a sweet baby back then I never thought teething bothered her since she never acted like it did and she popped 2 teeth no problem.

Running out of options, 
I decided put the necklace back on...leaving it on all day & night even for baths

and guess what?

She's been a different baby!! not drooling as much and not waking up every 10 mins anymore. Could be it just be a coincidence and the teething pains just passed? sure!

but I'm swearing by the amber



baldie sporting her necklace at 3 months old

Hallelujah, a date!

Adding a baby to the mix of things can be somewhat straining on a relationship....even the best of relationships. More than anything, its a HUGE adjustment... you find that there is hardly any 'couple' time anymore and you now have to change it to family time. 

But really a lot of the time its goes more like this: one person cooks dinner while the other plays with baby, then switch....same for eating dinner...when baby naps, you scurry around to get stuff done around the house. There is ALWAYS something that needs to get done in the rare event of 'free time' and 

so when is hubby & wifey time?

Pretty much doesn't exist

And on that note, we are so way over due for date night....we need to get out, just us and not worry about every baby squeak and cry and I don't even care where we go, I just want to enjoy the luxury of not needing to entertain a baby during an outing. 

So thanks to our more-then-willing-to babysit friends, we were able to go out to a nice dinner and just enjoy some us-time

 

I was so worried that Sienna wouldn't do well since she's been going through a bit of a separation anxiety stage, but they said she was great and text us smiling picture of her which eased my mind and allowed me to enjoy our evening.

we had an awesome dinner at Vintage 95 a really cute, wine lounge. 
Sneaky hubs called ahead and arranged for the staff to seat us by the fire and do something special for me. So when we sat down, the staff came out with champagne and toasted to "mother of the year" embarrassing & sweet at the same time. There was also live music, so hubs had them do a cover of Our Song 

it was such a great evening

we laughed, we drank adult beverages, we reminiscent, we talked about all the cute things the baby does and we flirted like crazy but the best part was the excitement from Sienna when we came home :) 

 

Now - don't get me wrong I love my new life as a MOM and FAMILY but we needed this. In fact, night like these are going to be mandatory every few weeks or so. I consider it an investment into my marriage. A good one.

ps -If you haven't tried bacon jam bruchetta you must!

Answers to your Questions!

How did you get the courage to leave your family and move cross country?
I don't think it took courage but rather a realization our life would be much better elsewhere. Leaving our families was certainly hard and is even harder now that we have a baby, but at the end of the day...we are happy here and we would never go back to NY.
 
Are you planning to have another baby soon?
The million dollar question - ha! we get asked this all the time and I'm not sure of the answer at the moment. Originally, we wanted to try for another this summer....but Sienna has been TOUGH lately making us rethink that idea... so unless she gets better by then I don't see it happening for a little while

 Is there a significance in the 275 for you? I noticed that you've it in your emails, twitter, youtube (don't think I'm a stalker he he)
You are a very observant stalker ;) lol jk - but YES 275 is the  house number of my childhood home in Poland, I'm a bit of a sentimental case like that.

Has anyone ever told you that you look like Mila Kunis?
Oh my goodness! YES! I have been told that many times! and though I dont think I'm nearly as pretty as her I get excited when people tell me that.

 Where do you buy Sienna's clothes? 
I hate paying  full price for baby clothes, unless I'm dying of how cute something is but I generally hunt for sales a Target or Old Navy 

Embarrassing moment?
ha! One time I went to In-n-out burger and instead of ordering my burger 'animal style' I said 'doggy style' the guy behind the counter laughed...and my sister to this day brings it up and tells everyone we know.

Whats the craziest thing anyone has done for you?

My ex boyfriend got a tattoo for me after we broke up, he thought/hoped that doing something that extreme would make me want to go back with him. Well, it didn't work ha shortly after that I met Danny and let me tell you...he did not like that, the crazy didn't stop at the tattoo.

How often do you and hubby have "sexy time"?

haha I'm laughing because that's exactly what we call it and it varies each week, sometimes hubs gets lucky 4x some weeks its 0x...nothing in our house is predictable these days. Little Sienna rules this place

If you were to have another girl, what would her name be?

oh boy this is hard because I'm so particular when it comes to names, for a boy we have a few and 1 we are almost sure of...but for a girl its much harder. I really love classical  names like Claire, Stella, Josephine but hubs says it makes him think of an old lady ha! So if baby #2 is a girl we are in trouble....we did agree a while  back and though its not as unique as I would like it to be, it will do if we cant get anything better.

How tall are you?

I'm tiny! barely making 5ft...but I like to round it up ;) a little lady indeed!

 What did you want to be when you were a teenager and have you found yourself  taking a different path or doing what you always planned? I have always wanted to be a mommy, ever since I was little. I also always saw myself working in healthcare....I know its strange, but I kinda like hospitals and would love to one day work in one. I have taken most core classes required for a healthcare degree, when I go back to school what I'll have left to complete are classes for a specific path I choose.

Do you have a career/job? who designed your blog template?

currently my full time job is being a kick ass mommy ;) no amount of money or job will ever be worthy for me to send my child to be cared for and raised by someone else. When she's older, I'll be returning to school and working on a career. My blog template was made by a girl I found on IG.

How long were you and hubs dating before moving in together? When did you decide it was time to get a house together? Hubs and I dated for 4 years before we moved in together, after living together at his parents house we moved across the country to Arizona. We decided to buy a house because it was killing us to rent an apt that was almost as much as a mortgage on a house.

How many siblings do you have? I'm confused how Olivia is your niece.
Haha I have 3 siblings and 3 nieces.  2 sisters & a brother. My oldest sister doesn't have kids, my brother has 2 girls, and my other sister is Sofia's mom

What is the most expensive outfit you bought baby Sienna?
Sienna's most expensive outfit is her birthday outfit :) Its sooo cute! I almost never buy anything for her unless is on sale or clearance, I don't see a point of paying full price for baby clothes...she stains  most things and outgrows them so quickly!

Thanks for your questions everyone!

I enjoyed answering them :)

Trip him

lets talk about today

I was mad, fuming actually

Sienna hadn't had a napped all day (story of of lives around here)

we were both exhausted and beyond cranky, around 3 o'clock I finally was able to get her down after trying all day and you mamas all know how glorious that feeling is...

Not even did 5 minutes pass and I hear the most dreaded sound ever....a loud and annoying engine of a motorized scooter that my teenage neighbor rides up and down the street, revving it like a manic. Our neighborhood is full of little kids & teens, they're always playing outside making a ton of noise at the wrong times.

ugh

I was so ticked off

I could feel my face burning up (time for anger management, maybe? haha) 

I text Danny venting "this stupid freaking kid...blah blah blah"

his response:

"go throw a stick in the street when he's not looking"

this is why I love this guy

bahahah

got questions?

Someone suggested that I do a Q&A  post.
I like keeping my readers happy :) & I could use a distraction from my tantrum throwing baby so here it goes!

First official question session is open

you ask

anything

and I answer 

I'm an overly open person with no filter, 
so feel free to take advantage 

leave your questions here or e-mail me at 
J.leif275@gmail.com


Ready, go.

little crack up

This girl is cracking me up so much these days with the faces she makes!

Recently she mastered a fake laugh and an evil laugh - I haven't captured this on video probably because I'm laughing uncontrollably myself, but I'll get one soon. Its a must see.

but basically, I cannot get enough of this little comedian 

Oh and she finally found use for her Sophie the giraffe :)

6 Reasons I Know I Married the Right Person

For years I've wondered if there was one - and only one- person out there for everyone.

Though the sappy romantic in me would like to say yes of course! but I actually think that there is probably a number of people out there we are compatible with and would be happy with. I know I know, Nicholas sparks would probably wanna smack me for saying that.

But one thing I'm sure of is that I found & married the perfect person for me. Here is why:

I never get sick of him. Danny is my best friend and has been for 7 years. I think that has been the foundation of our relationship, We spent every waking minute together since the day we met &  to this day we swear we haven't gotten sick of each other.

He complements me. There is a lot of balance in our relationship that makes it work. Sure, sometimes it creates tension but most of the time our differences make us realize how much we need each other. Danny is a spender, I'm a saver. He makes decisions with his head, I use my heart. He steals the sheets, I steal the pillows. He lives in the present, I'm very futuristic. He uses big spoons, I like little ones. He likes his eggs scrambled, I like mine sunny side up. Neither of us is wrong, just different. 

We grow together. We both try to make each day count, we work on little ways to improve our health & our daily lives. We continued to grow on the same path along one another without steering of course.

We agree on ALMOST everything. I cant even imagine how draining it must be to disagree with your spouse on a regular basis and have frequent heated discussions.  Generally speaking, we agree on most things..if not, we compromise. We bicker, yes but end it with agreeing to disagree and forgetting about it after 2 minutes.

Our personalities mesh well together. We're both laid back, middle-of-the-road kind of people. We're particular about certain things & we try to do right by everyone.

Noone else is going to love me when I get mad. OK I stole that line from Taylor Swift. But its true. Sometimes, I'm not easy to love but he chooses to love me anyway. He doesn't threaten to leave or use it against me. He accepts my flaws & I accept his.

Stepping out

Moms are always behind the camera right? I have to admit that I've been avoiding any photographic evidence of myself these days. If I'm not showered, and done up I avoid the camera like the plague. Most days, I attempt to rock a 2 day old ponytail while wearing my standard daily attire of sweats, mismatched socks and t-shirts that almost always have a bit of something Sienna ate that day on them. Attractive right?

While I'm far from a put together looking mom,

she doesn't care about that

she doesn't care what color my toe nails are painted {or if they're painted at all}

or if I'm wearing the most hideous pajamas ever

or that my hair is a mess

she cares that I'm HERE

that I make her giggle

that I make her feel safe

that I play with her

and most importantly that I love her to pieces

One day when she looks back at photos, I want her to see me, documented, sitting there beside her with my flaws and all. I want her see the way I looked at her & how much I loved her. Though I'm far from looking perfect I've made a commitment to myself to step out from behind the camera more starting today

Moms--stay in the picture with your kids, they'll thank you one day.

mwahhhhh ♥

Sienna was in such a silly mood this morning I decided to take full advantage with a little kissy photoshoot ( thank you pintrest for the adorable idea)

ps: red lipstick does NOT come off easily

10 Months old

Dear Sienna,

 What have you done to my sweet, happy, little baby girl ? When you find her - let her know I miss her and want her back!! 

Holy Moley this month was TOUGH.

• you don't wanna eat
• you don't wanna sleep
• you scream during car rides
• you hate being in your stroller or shopping cart
• you hate diaper changes
• you wont eat anything but puffs or bread
• you throw your sippy cup across the room if I DARE to give you a drink
• you're whiny & clingy most days                                       

I pray that this is just due to teething and I'll get my angel back once those suckers pop out and hopefully that comes before my sanity is gone...Fingers crossed.

                                          

  

        

 The pictures above pretty much sum you up this month....climbing everything or whining and despite you being a handful for us, you are still SO very smart. You can do and say things most 1 year olds cannot.

Today, you went pee pee immediately when I sat  you on the potty!

you have no idea how proud that makes us!

As much as I didn't want to give it to you, out of desperation we tried teething tablets, Motrin, teething gel and guess what? It did NOTHING.

you are super dramatic, its quite funny and scary at the same time come your teen years.

When you fall down...you wont get up on your own even though you can...you will lay there and cry until someone comes to pick you up.

you still only have TWO teeth

you started walking along furniture this month & you crawl like you're on a mission...which most of the time you are

you are in 6-12 clothes.
12M pants necessary for your fluff butt & long legs

You are little miss boss around here,

we all know it and don't like to admit it

but you have us wrapped around your finger

 

Here are some things you love:

Charlie - you throw him his ball and giggle when he brings it back to you

Carbs - yep! you are most definitely my daughter

A & A blanket - you wont go to sleep without it

jumperoo -  you'll  jump till you pass out

Bath time - when you're cranky

I put you in the tub and you instantly transform into a happy baby

                       

A lot of people now say that you look just like your mama, I think the blue eyes are throwing me off because I just don't see it as much as I want to

Cute things you do:

give hugs and kisses when asked - this is my absolute favorite...

especially the kisses during facetime with grandma

you growl when asked what Charlie says,

no one taught you this...well, technically Charlie did

when we say "where is Sienna?"

you put your blanky over your face

when you stand on your own,

you try so hard to balance it makes you look like you're surfing

you point to different things when asked where they are. Last month you pointed to a baby in a shopping cart when we were in HomeGoods when I asked you where the baby was. (That babys mother was amazed)

you snuggle with us in bed

I have a love/hate relationship with the whole co-sleeping thing (post about that coming)

 dance - you have some moves kid - where you learned them, I have no idea

call for me when you wake up from a nap

These monthly chair pictures are getting nearly impossible with you trying to stand...on a ROCKING chair- recipe for a disaster. You're a little dare devil and have to get into & try everything!

 

Sweet girl, You are the best thing to happen to us! you melt your daddy's heart when you crawl up to his feet and squeal with delight when he comes home from work.

Love,

Mama

out with the baby, in with the toddler

The past month it had hit me hard that Sienna is going to be turning ONE soon. I've been sad about it, which I hate to admit.

I love having a baby and its completely unfair that this stage only lasts one short year.While rocking her to sleep last night, I found myself breathing in her sweet baby smell and taking it  in every cuddle because before I know it, she will be off to 1st grade.

Its bittersweet watching her grow, I cant believe I'm already planning a first birthday party. I was just packing a hospital bag.

nothing can prepare you for the intense love you feel for your child,

its like nothing else.

lets talk about sex...

Before Sienna came along

Dan & I didn't really use any protection

we were never a fan of condoms and I stopped taking the pill years ago and refused to go back on it after those traumatizing commercials came out claiming birth defects, strokes, ect. due to taking certain pills. 

No Thank You

so there was one thing that worked for us 

 "the pull out method"

hey it worked for 5 years

Last June we decided "not" to use this method, 
and in July we found out we were pregnant

Never imagined it wold happen that fast, but of course we were over the moon happy even after needing to reschedule our 11.11.11 wedding date

so where am I going with this?

well, apparently I'm fertile myrtle over here and not quite ready for another little one to join our clan, though my ovaries ache every time I look at newborn pictures of Sienna- there are just a few things that need to be in place first.

I know its harder to get pregnant while nursing, 
I pump. Does that count?

I keep thinking our "method" failed and I'm pregnant again (I'M NOT)
but I think I'm a little paranoid about this because of how easy it was with Sienna, I think I would like this next baby to be sorta planned. 

Our thoughts and plans for #2?

well that will need a post all on its own...stay tuned.

For now here is my precious 3 day old little love bug

(shut up ovaries...not time yet)

Sofia & Sienna Resemblance

So many people have said to me that Sienna looks just like her cousin Sofia. I never really saw it, but I do now after seeing them side by side 

Sofia is on the left 

Sienna on the right

few days old

1 month old

3 months old

4 months

Same face 7 months

8 months

How Wonderful...

I heard this song today,

 made me think of my little lovie.

Division of chores

Danny & I have a basic understanding of who does what around the house
We don't have a "list" per say but for the most part it goes something like this:

Hubster

1. Dinner
The man loves to cook, so much that he kicks me out of the kitchen sometimes. He got new pots & knifes for Christmas and hes like a kid in a candy store. Hey, I'm not complaining.

2. Diaper laundry
He gladly does this & stuffs them on the couch while watching "Chopped" or "American Pickers"

3. walking the dog
if its a nice enough day out I'll take Charlie out when Sienna & I take a walk, the problem is Charlie doesn't go on a leash ..he follows us and listens when you say "lets go" unless he decides to investigate a peed on bush...then forget it, He will stand there for 20 mins. It drives me nuts and Sienna gets impatient wanting to go on. Now if I put him on a leash he will get tangled in the stroller and I don't find it easy to steer with one hand. So usually I let him out in the yard and Danny takes him out when he goes to get the mail...or we all go.

4. Take out the trash: 
I don't do trash or recycling, I'll let it pile up until he gets the hint.

5. Put Sienna down for the night or Clean up after dinner
this one is decided on the spot...after dinner, we hang out until its her bed time. So the question that comes at 7:30 is "do you wanna do dishes or put baby down?" Usually, he puts her down...Since he cooks, I always offer to do the dishes. 

Wifey

1. Laundry.
Ugh I hate this one. There is only 3 of us, yet somehow the piles of laundry never stop. Then it sits folded for a few days till I decide to put it away

2. Tiding up. 
This one I don't actually mind, cleaning kinda relaxes me. Is that strange? well not the toilet scrubbing kind of cleaning, but organizing things. Danny has major OCD when it comes to neatness. He wont go to sleep if our bedroom is a disaster or if there are drawers left opened. I have to admit I have been slacking in this department lately. Who wants to clean when in 5 minutes the baby manages to make it look like a tornado hit?

3. Dishes
ugh pump parts and Dr Browns bottles are not a fun part of my day. I stopped painting my nails because of this, I wouldn't even last a day I would find nail polish chips on her bottle nipples. We tried 4 different kinds of bottles to cut down the amount of parts to clean, but she hated every single one we tried...so Dr.Brown and its 5 parts it is.

4. Make baby food
pumping is a HUGE chore and obviously my job but I also try to make all of her purees too. Thanks to my Baby Brezza I actually love making it, now if she would only love eating it then we all would be happy.

5. Get up for baby
hubs is excused from this one during the week, On weekends...not so much. I gotta sleep sometime right?

Together

make a dinner menu for the week

Food shopping: I love our weekend food shopping trips (when Sienna cooperates) that is, Usually shes happy if you let her hold an avocado or something while shes in the cart....but if you take it away, you'll wish you had ear plugs.

Sienna's baths: not that this is a chore but since she loves them, its so cute to watch her play & giggle. She loves having us both sit on the bathroom floor as she puts on a splash show for us

Sienna learns a trick from Charlie....

My sweet daughter recently started making a creepy growling sound

as funny as we think it is... we had no idea where she got it from until one day, Charlie was being his usual snippy self and was growling

Sienna looks over at him and does the same

AHA! now it makes sense, 

this girl is a little sponge she imitates and learns from everything!!