#prgblr

[emmasstory-blog1]

Does your baby live in onesies like mine does? This one is my favorite! 💖 Find all of Emma's Story monochrome bodysuits through the link through logo✨

[emmasstory-blog1]

Our new little brother onesie. Available at Emma's Story Etsy shop 💝 link in bio

[smeffbaby-blog]

Month 5: Taking Flight!

Sommer-

This past month: So much has happened, but most notably we’ve started sleep training and went on a big trip. Galen covers the trip below so I’ll focus on the sleep training.  If you couldn’t tell from the last posts, sleep had hit a point of desperation and this past month we hit the 4 month sleep regression, which wouldn’t have been a big deal had we been getting the “newborn” sleep that people talk about, but we never really had that in the first place.  SO, based on friends’ recommendations, we hired a sleep coach.  Her name is Tracy Spackman and she specializes in gentle sleep training.  I really never thought it would come to this... hiring someone to teach you how to teach your baby how to sleep, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  And let me tell you, so far it has been worth every penny.  

The best part of the whole thing is that we can put Fiona down and not rock her!  Other positive things: she  sleeps more in general and looks and acts more rested, she is in her own room which we worked hard to make for her and now she really enjoys it, my back feels better, sanity is slowly being restored, I enjoy time with our baby all the more because we are both more rested.  

Baby updates: Fiona is 5 months, and I feel like she had grown more this month than any other.  She rarely misses when she grabs things, does some mean baby push ups with full arms extended, and she laughs so heartily it makes me laugh all the harder with her.  I think she’s about 5 seconds away from crawling, and it’s just so amazing to see. 

Galen-

Future Planning: So I know I’m supposed to talk about upcoming stuff, but I have to flip the script and talk about our first family vacation. Fiona was an absolute champion in the face of almost constant change and new experiences. She took everything in stride and seemed to be genuinely excited about almost everything. In no particular order, here are a few firsts for her:

Flying on a plane

Sleeping in someone else’s house

Sleeping in a hotel room

Sleeping at a wedding

Sleeping in a carrier like 3 times a day

Road tripping (at elevation, no less)

Getting rained on

Getting her feet wet in Lake Tahoe

Hanging out with 4 friendly dogs

Going on a hike

Getting a sunburn (just a little one, on her foot)

Pushing bedtime to 9pm Pacific Time

One of my closest childhood friends got married this past weekend, and Sommer and I were determined to turn this opportunity into a proper vacation. But we were prepared for the worst given the mandatory flying, driving, and time zone change that goes along with going to a wedding at Lake Tahoe. We ended up not only attending the beautiful wedding; we made the most of our vacation by taking an amazing trip up the Heavenly Gondola and hiking trails and driving the entire east side of Lake Tahoe, including a trip to King’s Beach. Aside from some challenges with spending too much time in the car, Fiona seemed to love every minute. We are so proud of her, and proud of ourselves for making the most of our time off and literally making family memories that will last a lifetime in one of the most beautiful places in the US.

Random Thoughts: A very strange thing happened this weekend. Fiona, Sommer and I were eating some lunch in Heavenly Village when a random older gentleman walked up to us and shared a pretty amazing perspective. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he more or less told us that he was so impressed with how we were working as a team with Fiona; how we were very inclusive with her and how we supported each other in taking care of her.

This may sound a bit creepy on this guy’s part and arrogant on our part, but it really touched our hearts because everything he said he saw in us was everything I think we hope to be when it comes to raising Fiona. We really want to raise her as a team, make her feel loved and included, and support each other and share the load as much as possible along the way. It really meant the world to know that someone who doesn’t know us at all was able to see that bond we have for each other and for Fiona. Parenting is not a cakewalk, so it really helps to hear things like this; they make us feel like we are doing something right!

[spiceuplife]

12 weeks!

[purplenights]

Our baby was born two weeks ago! At 38 weeks+2days due to him been breech and getting big. It was a scheduled csection and I couldn't be happier. I'm back to my normal self and feel great. I'm so in love with him! My Noah 👶🏻💕

[whoopsie-baby]

The most annoying thing about pinterest

Is that there is literally no diversity. It takes me twenty minutes to find a single photo of a non-white mother to be... Come on internet, get your shit together.