Tricky thing called parenting!

Well it has definitely been awhile since posting. That is because Facebook is back. We had many sad family members especially in Iran that missed being able to see Omid grow up. For that reason I have started up my Facebook. Surprisingly I have been able to control myself pretty well by simply not having it on my phone. I now have to go find my laptop which is usually dead to get on so it makes it more difficult. I am still not doing to good of putting up photos of Omid for family but it is better than when Facebook was gone.

So parenting...... Wow! It is definitely something you learn as you go. You can try to be as prepared as possible but things don't always happen the way you plan for or expect. I am learning daily from Omid and am in awe of how much he learns and knows.

We are currently learning how to communicate without speaking which can be very tiring at times and full of headaches. We have lots of grunts, whines, and screeches trying to express things. On the other hand tonight I see that he is really understanding so many things that I am telling him. I know that words are just around the corner and that we are just in that in between phase so I must just keep moving forward.

Omid is our Camel. He is so funny, he will go a few days where eats hardly anything. We naturally get worried and then those days are followed by days of all he does is eat, eat, eat, and eat. He has gotten better with eating he has become less picky. I will tell you one thing...he has definitely inherited my love for fruit. That boy chows it down as though he will never get another piece.

Life so far in 2013

Ok so I have been Facebook free for 11 days!!!! Woo-hoo. I won't lie when I checked to see what the date was I was a little sad that it was only the 11th. It has been hard. Some days more than others. I do miss knowing what's going on with some people but I am not miss the immaturity and stupidity of some of the people that I allowed as friends on my Facebook. I will say that if I decide to rejoin the Facebook community there will be a cleanse of my friends list. Sam has always asked why I was friends with some of these people and I never had a good answer other than I met them or knew them at some point in my life. They were acquaintances that I added as friends. They are people that if Facebook wasn't around I would have no idea what is going on with them and that would be just fine.
So what has changed since getting rid of Facebook?
Well I am finding myself turning to my phone a lot only to then realize just how much I checked Facebook. 99% of the time it is out of boredom and habit. I am now reading more about things that are actually happening in the world, I am on Pinterest more often, but most importantly I am interacting and playing with Omid more.
So Omid is a crazy little boy. He learns so much so fast yet he doesn't like to show or do it until he perfects it. I have kind of known this since the beginning. The first time I realized this was with rolling over. Me being a first time mom was concerned because a couple friends who have kids younger than Omid were showing videos of their child rolling over. I was concerned so I started trying to get Omid to do it. Well literally within an hour of me first trying to get him to do it he had it down. Not only could he do it he was super fast and was rolling over in both directions. The same thing happened with crawling. One day he was moving a hand and a knee the next day he is flying across the living room. Walking as well. He has been walking for awhile but hadn't learned how to stand up on his own. He was having to pull up on things to get into walking position so crawling was easier. So on a Thursday morning Sam left to go out of town real early and that day I found Omid in a corner of to my side where I wouldn't easily see him practicing standing up. Sam came home Saturday afternoon to a son that no longer crawls.
Omid loves loves loves music. I will never be able to say it enough for everyone to understand until you see the joy in his eyes as he is listening, dancing, and screaming from excitement. He claps, and swings his arms up and down, side to side, falls down and gets back up, he grins from ear to ear and screams in excitement over music. I have been around kids and I have never seen any of them respond as he does. I hope with all my heart that he will always find such joy in music.
Also with this no Facebook I have actually talked to more people via phone, Skype or texting than I normally would. I know texting is still not a good way to keep in touch with people but it is better than nothing. I can actually say I have talked to everyone of my siblings on the phone at least once already this year. That is a pretty big accomplishment. I want to continue keeping in touch with all of them. I am learning more and more every year just how much I love my gigantic family and how much I miss them.

So with all of that said we have some exciting news. Omid is going to be a big brother. We are expecting and are going to be adding a new little one to our family in August. We are very excited for this. It is especially exciting for me because I am going through this along with my sister Joanna who is pregnant. She is about 3-4 weeks ahead of me so we are excited to be on this journey together. She is having way worse morning sickness than I am but she is being a trooper about it. We have gotten a lot closer over the years but this is bringing us even closer. We are texting or skyping everyday which I love.

To end I just wanted to give you so recent photos.

New Years Eve!

Well another year has gone by and this one has by far been the fastest. Our little boy had his first birthday and unfortunately I know they all will. Wish he could stay my little baby forever. However I am enjoying each new stage, every new thing learned, and every experience that comes along. I will admit that there are times that are rough but Sam is so patient and steps in when I need a break. I am excited to see what the new year brings and all of the many new things Omid will teach me.
So just to remind everyone I will no longer be on Facebook so this will be how I can keep you all up to date on the things going on with our family.

Happy New Years everyone.

Christmas!!!!

So Christmas came and went this year. It's amazing how fast compared to last year. Last year Sam and I were anxiously awaiting Omid's arrival so much so that we decorated our tree before Halloween.

This year very different. Between a move, getting settled into our place, and planning Omid's first birthday time seemed to have flown by. We did manage to set our tree up. However the ornaments never made it on to the tree. The only presents that made it under the tree were presents from Family members.

Christmas is usually so exciting for me that I can't sleep the night before. Yes even as a 28 year old that is usually the case but this year it had no effect on me. It was sad that this was the case.

With that being said Chistmas was so much fun. I made Christmas lunch and we had a couple and their two boys over. We enjoyed food, a turkey that had just enough meat cooked all the way that we were able to enjoy it, we enjoyed the children opening the presents, and had so much fun hanging out. We played with the new toys, played just dance on the Xbox, watched basketball, and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a Christmas that was so much fun.

I am unfortunately horrible about taking pictures so I have no pictures at all of Christmas. I do however have a wonderful video of Sam and Ron dancing which I posted on Facebook.

I guess I can say one of my New Years resolutions will be to take more pictures.

Love you guys I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and I hope every one has a safe and wonderful New Years.

Sleep issues

Oh goodness. Any parent knows it is no fun when putting your child to sleep becomes a battle.

Well after returning home after Thanksgiving Omid put up a full fledged battle against sleep. He had being doing so well too. I would do our nightly routine of milk, quiet playtime, book, then bed. I would place him in bed awake, leave the room and he would go to sleep on his own.

Well after returning home as soon as I would start to lay him down in bed it was screaming and screaming and screaming. So bad that one night we let him fall asleep in our bed and then moved him to his room. This has been going on ever since. I was a wreck every night cringing at the thought of bedtime because of the fear of having this fight, what if I lose the fight, why isn't my 11 month old going to sleep on his own, getting mad at myself for getting frustrated with Omid and taking it out on Sam. Everyday I would say I won't get frustrated today and every night I got frustrated. I was out of ideas and felt like the only solution was going to let him cry it out. We swore that we wouldn't result to it but we were all out of ideas and didn't know what to do.

So we tried crying it out ONCE and it was the most awful thing I have ever done. It was torture for everyone involved. We hated the idea of Omid falling asleep so sad. We then promised that we would never ever ever do that to him again. Crying out may work for some people, but for our family it is not the way we feel teaching him to sleep should be done. Omid is too stubborn,like his mom, to give up until his body failed him. Which was exactly what happened, his little body literally pasted out.

This week after talking with Sam, after advice from many different parents, and many failed attempts I changed his nap schedule. WOW!!!!!!! What a difference it has made. He is now happy to go to sleep. Today he actually giggled on the way to his bed for both nap time and bedtime. This giggle he did is the same giggle he gives when he is about to get a bottle so it is a very happy/excited giggle. He was so tired tonight that he actually volunteered to get out of the bath. That never happens. I am normally dragging him out but tonight he stood up and reached for his towel as though he was asking "please get me out."

So tonight has been the 3rd day of this change and it seems like it is working awesome. I am so happy we have finally figured it out, that Omid is sleeping better, and I am not longer freaking out before nap and bedtime.

Moments like these will never get old.

Today we tried nap time a bit different. It was a complete disaster, and miserable for both of us. Shortly after I brought Omid to my bed and he crawled right over to me and fell asleep just like this. I love that he still wants to cuddle occasionally and unless you are a parent you will never understand the amount of love you feel just holding your child. Moments like these I can physically feel the love I have for this child seeping from every pore of my body. He loves me unconditionally even though I have no idea what I am doing, and despite all of the mistakes I make as a parent. I am so blessed to have such an amazing little boy teaching me every single day.

Thanksgiving!!!!

Well we headed back to the bay to spend some time with family. We had so much fun. Here are some pictures.