Bedtime

So when Oakley was a newborn/infant bedtime was great! She slept through the night quickly and always went to bed pretty quickly and usually stayed in bed. I nursed her to sleep for so long and I know that this is what caused a lot of our sleep troubles later on.

When she got older and slowly stopped nursing she started waking up at night almost every night! I still ended up just rocking her to sleep every night. But she kept waking up. I was tired and it was time for a change.

After she turned one I decided to do the dreaded cry it out. He cried for an hour the first night and slowly got better. And eventually she was going to bed after just rocking for a few minutes and laying her down.

Well I started rocking her to sleep again cause I just loved cuddling with her. She stayed asleep through the night so I didn't worry about it.

We just recently changed her crib to the toddler bed since she was climbing out of her crib and fell one morning. Ever since that toddler bed bedtime/naptime has been a nightmare! I sat on the floor next to her for over an hour every time. She thought everything was funny and we had a few fights to get to sleep. I got so frustrated with her and myself that I couldn't get my baby to sleep. I felt so bad for yelling and getting mad at her.
I needed to do something different or I might have gone crazy! I think I already had gotten to that point.

Tonight I decided to try something different. We did our nightly routine: bath, diaper, lotion, jammies, teeth, give daddy kisses, prayer, and book. I laid her down in bed and said good night and tucked her in. I left the room and shut the door. I stood in the hallway and everytime she came out or I hear her playing with her toys I went in laid her back down said nothing, gave her a kiss and went back in the hall. I did this for almost an hour. She got up at least 30 times. And towards the end she started to get sad. She eventually cried for a few minutes and all was quiet.

I couldn't believe it! I was too scared to check if she was really asleep but she was. I am hoping this will continue and she will get out of be less and fall asleep quicker! I sure hope so! I love my baby and just want her to get the sleep she needs!

Zoo day!

Last night we told Oakley we were going to go to the zoo the next day. We told her we could see an elephant and a giraffe. She was so excited. Everything we told her about the zoo she just kept saying yeeeah. Like she was agreeing with us that it was the coolest thing ever.

We got to the zoo before it got too hot. But it was still a bit toasty. We road the train which she loved. I felt like it went kind of fast for a kids ride ha. It felt like we were on a rollercoaster. Then we we and saw the elephant. She did not want to leave she was having too much fun watching her eat grass from high up. We told her about the giraffes and that got her to get up and come with us.

We road the merry go round. She loved it! While we were waiting in line she told us she wanted to ride the gorilla but once we got to it she did not want to sit on it. She was a little scared of it. So she sat on the polar bear. She was very happy as you can see in the pictures.

Then to the giraffes. She loves giraffes. I think she liked climbing on the fence a little more though.

It started getting too hot and Oakley was getting tired. So we went and got lunch and headed home. She is now soundly sleeping in her big girl bed!

Oakley update... 19 months.

I think it's time that I update this blog a little more often! I just don't EVER get on the computer. I'm always just using my phone. So now that I've found the blogger app on my phone, I'm hoping I get a little better at being on top of blogging. I love looking back and reading what I've wrote in the past. I have always loved doing that with my journals. So here I go. This is my second test run at blogging with this app... The first one failed because I saved it cause I wasn't finished, and when I went back to see if the draft was there it wasn't:(. Well I've learned not to do that.

So, Oakley! She is so grown up it is ridiculous! She is so happy and energetic, most of the time. She definitely has her moments though. She loves to be silly. She loves to run and jump. Being a bunny is one of her favorite things to do. She loves making animal sounds, she knows a pretty long list of them. She loves to count and had now started taking an interest in letters. Every letter to her is an E. she loves to explore and gets in to everything! But she isn't too too messy which is nice. She says everything so cute. I love her little voice. One of my favorite things she says is cereal. She LOVES her cereal. When we ask her what she wants for breakfast lunch or dinner it is always cereal.

She always wants to watch movies. Her favorites right now are Elmo's world despicable me and avatar. I actually haven't really got sick of any of them. She will sit at her table and watch her movie while eating cereal. It is a very cute watching her.

She is the Utah Jazz biggest fan! She loves the Jazz. She saw a Jazz jersey at target and out of no where she said do dazz. We didn't tell her it was a Jazz jersey. Anytime she sees any sporting game on tv she says do dazz. She loves going to the games too!

She has officially been old enough for nursery for a month and a half now but has been in since November since we are the leaders. She is so good with the kids and loves playing and singing time!

She is starting to sing a lot. Yesterday when I was putting her down for a nap she started singing head shoulders knees and toes, really well too.

She loves our families so much. She gets so excited when she sees them. The other day my sister came in to the room while I was putting her down and she started crying when she left.

She's pretty good with naps. She takes one every day but they vary in time. I sure do love those days when they are 3 hours long. That RARELY happens!

We love Oakley so much. She is our favorite little baby and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. She's taught me so much and I am so proud to be her mom! It is crazy how fast 19 months goes by. Soon she will be two! Yay!

Words.

Oakley always has so much to say.  Sometimes she gets in these moods where she will just jabber on and on.  She knows exactly what she's saying but makes no sense to us. I love it. She can say so many words now.  And she now can sort of tell us what she wants by "talking", more like grunting. These are some of the words Oakley is saying:

bebe- baby, puppy, (any stuffed animal)

mo- more

peez- please (she says it when she wants mo)

mew- what a cat says

mmmm- what a cow says and when she sees food

cheeeeees- when taking pictures and the food

mommy and daddy

eyes-

toos- toes

behbe- belly button.

She definitely knows more then she can say and there's tons more that if we ask she will know what we are talking about just can't say it yet.

She is one smart baby I'd have to say! Growing up everyday. 

Oakley's birthday party!

We had Oakley's party a week after her birthday since her birthday was on Labor Day weekend. We did it at my aunt Diane's house cause our house is not really big enough for lots of people. I love how everything turned out! I started planning like 2 months before. I'm not a party thrower so I was nervous it would just be stupid. So many people came to show love for my little baby! It was a great day!! 

 This is not a great picture but this is what was above the big table.

The dessert table.

Balloons!

Her cake! I ended up making two, 5 layer cakes. The first one tasted awful!!!

Oh, and it started melting in the car ride there:( So that's why it is sagging and kind of ugly at the bottom.

The inside!

She loved it!

Oakley is ONE

So, it has been a wayyy long time since I've posted anything. I'm lazy, I know. Lots has happened since last time.
Oakley is growing up so much it's crazy. She has gone from a cute, precious little baby to a sassy, happy, silly, loving (the list could go on), toddler. She loves to go, go, go! Here's a list of all the fun stuff Oakley is up to.

-Has been walking since about a week or so before her birthday, and perfecting it more and more every day!

-Loves turing off the TV with the side button. (We had to scoot the TV over cause it was happening way too much)

-She will eat anything we are eating but if I make her her own food she gets to be a little more picky.

-She likes to push stuff around. (she got a shopping cart for her birthday so it's perfect)

-LOVES books. She will bring us book after book and sit in our lap and read. The book she brings most often is the most non-baby book she has, The Ox Cart Man.. haha

-She loves sitting on things! We got her a tiny chair for her birthday and she is sitting in it all the time.

-She likes eating her breakfast in her chair.

-Likes to cuddle with her dog and baby. (Not for long though)

-Loves going outside.

-Loves sitting on the front step stepping on ants and leaves.

-Loves picking up crab apples from the lawn and bringing them to us.

-LOVES her daddy more then anything! She gets so excited when he walks through the door!

-Loves yo gabba gabba, All my friends are different song.

-Always wanders the house. Her favorite room is the kitchen in the treat cupboard.

-Talks all the time in her cute jibberish language.

-Words she says: Daw (dog and other random stuff), Mo (More), Mom, Da, Ba (She says it to a lot of things), MMMM (anytime she sees food), NO (that is her all time favorite word) That's all I can think of at the moment. She is a real talker though.

-She has a hard time sharing with other kids. She's not around kids very often.

-She is finally sleeping through the night. We did cry it out and now she will go to bed (still cries for a minute or two) and sleeps till morning. It is fabulous! She was sleeping with us every night.

-She really likes taking baths. She will only get in on her terms though. So sometimes we have pee accidents on the tub carpet while waiting for her to get in.

-Loves to laugh.

-Loves to be silly.

-Loves peek a boo. Even with strangers at stores and restaurants.


This girl is seriously the most fun adorable happiest child! I am so blessed to have her. I LOVE her so much I can't believe she is mine. This year has gone by so fast and I can't wait to watch her grow and learn this next year!

I will post some more recent pictures of Oakley soon!

Warm Chicken Salad

I made this way tastey salad for dinner today. When I was cooking it and added the dill I thought it smelled funny so I thought it might taste wierd but it didn't at all and it was so delicious! It was super easy and fast too!



Warm Chicken oSalad
Makes: 4 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 11 minutes
 
Ingredients
1/4  cup  extra-virgin olive oil
1/4  cup  lemon juice
1/2  teaspoon  lemon zest
1  clove  garlic, finely chopped
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1  pound  boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1  pound  thin asparagus
2  tablespoons  fresh chopped dill
1  tablespoon  honey
1  cup  cherry tomatoes, quartered
8  cups  salad greens
4    hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered


Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt and black pepper.

2. Break off woody ends of asparagus but leave rest whole. Heat 2 tablespoons of the lemon dressing in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and asparagus. Stir-fry for 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and asparagus is tender.

3. Add dill and honey to the remaining lemon dressing.

4. Add tomatoes and lemon dressing to the skillet; cook about 1 minute or until heated through.

5. To serve, line each plate with 2 cups salad greens. Equally divide chicken mixture and dressing over the greens. Top with quartered hard-cooked eggs and serve.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving: Calories 397 Total Fat (g) 20 Saturated Fat (g) 4 Cholesterol (mg) 278 Sodium (mg) 459 Carbohydrate (g) 17 Fiber (g) 5 Protein (g) 37 Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet