Keeping It Real Thursdays

Warning: this may be a slightly boring post due to rambling about my thoughts and no sharing of pictures.

Most nights I have a really hard time getting my brain to shut off. Random thoughts, situations, upcoming events, you name it, keeps my mind busy when I finally have a chance to sleep. I'm sure this is normal, right? So, last night one of my thoughts lead me to the idea of a new weekly post on Thursday's called, "Keeping It Real".

Let me back up... now that I am a stay at home momma my time to quickly check all my favorite social media sites is more at large. The fact that I am still breast feeding, sometimes have a napping baby, etc. allow for me to peruse what is going on with everyone very easily with iPhone in hand. My time at the computer is very limited but I always feel connected with my iPhone. I began to think...every one's life looks glamorous on Facebook. Not just Facebook but Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, too. I'm just as guilty. Not many post the ugly truth... and let's face it, do we want to read the not-so-fun stuff anyway?

My sister-in-law recently said to me, "Lilly is always happy, we couldn't figure out if she smiles all the time or just smiles for the camera." Let me be the first to tell you, Lilly Rose is NOT always happy. She is not an easy baby. She cries easily, already fusses (the point of possible FIT) when she doesn't get her way...she is definitely already at 6 months of age showing her innately human side. Some days I just feel defeated, it is tough. She does however know how to smile when I say "cheese" (too cute) and when I post the smiley pictures, it looks like all's well in the Bird casa. :) So that's where this idea came from, "Keeping It Real Thursdays". If for anything, it'll add a little more fun to my blog and reality to our family books. I must add though that even though Lilly Rose is a tough baby to raise, she's a delight and a million percent a huge blessing. Any parent would agree though that parenting is tough and everyday has it's ups and downs.

I'll begin with this little story for my first Keeping It Real:

I'm still working on trying to set a scheduled nap for Lilly Rose. Let me first say that from 5-6 weeks she sleeps in her crib all night long. For that I'm very thankful. However, from day 1 she has been a cat napper and doesn't take really long naps usually. I would love for her to take an hour nap (or even quiet time) in her crib. I'm sure it will come more naturally the older she is but for now, I'd love some kind of routine during the afternoon. So, we've been working on this. I put her down in her crib Tuesday for a nap. She was tired. All the signs were there but as usual, she fights it. I mean FIGHTS IT. So, I let her cry it out (bad parenting 101, I'm sure). I tried the whole wait 10 minutes, comfort then leave, wait 15 minutes, repeat... this child will cry for an hour and not give up. Finally, 45-50 minutes later I give up and go in to rescue the crying baby. I pick her up, she immediately stops crying, looks at me and exhales really loudly. I say, Lilly Rose you need to take a nap, why were you crying so much? I'm not kidding when I tell you my child started giggling at me. No joke, people. After changing her diaper, I put her in her swing (happy place) so I could have a moment of sanity. Today, she's cat napping in her swing = no drama. I'm not yet sure how to move forward, consistency with the crib or keep the peace with the swing and enjoy the 20 minutes I do get...  I don't know about you but I'm exhausted just proof-reading about this baby of mine! :) Speaking of that baby, she's up again... mommy duty calls.