"Baby Baking" and Happy Easter!

I came up with a wonderful analogy, "Having a baby is like baking a cake!" Follow me here....
                        

Why do people use recipes??? So you can REPEAT A GOOD THING!

Feel free to leave your "baking advice" and recipes, because secrets from everyone's kitchen is interesting and appreciated!

Every baby is different, just like every cake is different. It takes "just the right" ingredients for each cake...vanilla, coconut, chocolate...all need different ingredients, measurements, and cook times. Each baby has its own "recipe." The basic ingredients for the "baby cake" is sleep, food,play (and the icing is LOVE time!) Some require more sleep, more food, more TLC, more structure, etc. If ONE ingredient is off...well then, the whole damn cake tastes like crap! The first few months of your babies life, you are trying to figure out that recipe. Right when your "cake taste just right!"....bam, the "oven breaks" and he needs new "measurements!" The recipe needs change as each month passes and milestones are being met.

There are "periods of peace" where you can have your cake and eat it too! Then, there is a transitional period...then a period of peace...over and over, probably for the rest of my life! Only the mom (aka: "cake baker") knows the secret recipe and knows what will happen if there is not enough flour, or not enough eggs, or too much vanilla. Just like a mom knows what kind of day it will be based solely on the result of the morning nap!

My "baby baking" is much more successful if I follow the most current recipe (aka: schedule). I know the exact measurements of each ingredient if I want a happy Hunter that sleeps 12 hours at night! Sometimes the recipe doesn't go as planned and the cake doesn't taste as good as yesterday or the day before...some days you just have accept the "curveballs in the kitchen!" Some bakers "wing it" from cake to cake and their recipe is written in pencil....(ex: he can only be awake for 3 hours, he doesn't eat a lot in the evening, he takes a short afternoon nap.) Other bakers, like me write in pen and 'try' to follow the recipe verbatim! Sometimes my pen runs out of ink or I lookse my pen! Either way...if the baby is happy, healthy, growing...in my opinion, you're a GOOD COOK! 

*the rest of this blog is for me to refer to with future babies, although I know that the next "cake will call for a different recipe," but it may be helpful to remember these ingredients!*

6-7 Month Hunter Cake Recipe

• 7:00-7:30 Wake time. Yes, we wake him by 7:30 if he's not awake. This is "Daddy time!" They take the dogs out, watch some "toons" and lounge around while mommy is walking and getting ready for the day! During the week, Hunter "helps" Scott get ready for work! Some of the best advice I've been given...don't feed him right away because mom can use that morning time for herself....SO TRUE!
• 8:00 Breastfeed, followed by about 2 tbs. of baby oatmeal with fruit mixed in
• 8:45-10:30 Morning nap. I wake him up by 11:00 if he's still sleeping. I am all packed and ready to walk out the door when I get him out of crib.
• 11:00 Breastfeeding (either at home before we leave or in the car, on the go)
• 11:00-1:30 Outing (play date, lunch, Bible Study, shopping, errands, etc)
• 1:30 Breastfeeding at home
• 1:45-3:30 Afternoon nap. I wake him by 4:00 is he's still sleeping.
• 4:00-5:00 In house playtime, neighborhood stroll or out until dinner
• 5:00 Breastfeeding (home or on the go)
• 5:15-6:30 Maybe run an errand, but mostly play at home and cook dinner until Dad gets home.Then, its totally Daddy time the second Scott walks in!
• 6:30 Dinner, about 2-3 tbs of multi grain rice cereal (we will soon mix in vegetables.) Scott feeds him while we all eat dinner together...this is my favorite time of day!
• 7:00 Nighttime routine (about 6 oz. pumped milk, read Goodnight Moon, say prayer, in crib)
• 7:20.... Mommy and Daddy time
• 9:30 Top off feeding of only half of one ounce...I know it's such a tiny amount-pointless, but we are slowly weaning him from this (we used to do 2 oz). We are giving him less daily, and I know this small amount is not helping him sleep, but I continue it based upon "why fix what aint broke!" But, I am ready to BE DONE with this. My goal is by the first wknd of May...I have a feeling this will entail some crying, and mega pacifier! Any tips?

Pictures of Easter bunny with friend Connor Lankford, and playing with Kinsley and Bentley. And my "blowing raspberry" face!!