Oh Sweet, Sweet Naptime.

I try to be upfront about how I feel because I appreciate it when others do the same. Motherhood is great, I love Emily to pieces, but last week I was having a rough time with things. I was taking care of Emily practically by myself since Michael was working so many hours and she would NOT let me put her down without screaming and she decided she was just too cool to sleep so I would spend hours at night trying everything to get my screaming baby girl to sleep. Even nursing wasn't working. That usually works like a charm. I felt like I was at my breaking point.

Then, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go on a walk with her and her baby around our neighborhood. I jumped at the chance to get out and whine to a fellow new mom about what was going on. I was hoping for some support and maybe some advice. Of course, it frustrated me that her baby is the same age as Emily and already was sleeping through the night in his own crib. But still, by the time I got home from our long walk (2 hours later), I was feeling much more optimistic.

Then I randomly decided to try swaddling Emily even though she fights it and loves having her arms free. I swaddled her, nursed her, she fell asleep, I slooooowly put her down in her pack n' play. She slept. Granted, it was only a half hour. But it was a miracle! Every naptime since Saturday afternoon, I do the same thing and the naps seem to be going great! She sleeps for over an hour sometimes!! In fact, the only reason I am blogging right now is because I have BOTH HANDS FREE! She is napping. IN HER CRIB. I am so so so relieved!

Emily started taking a bottle better in the last few days too. She doesn't need to since I am with her all the time but now that she can, that means I am not tied down. Michael and I can actually go out on a real date or go somewhere without worrying about being home in a couple hours. Yesterday I went and got a pedicure and out to dinner with a friend to celebrate my newfound freedom. Of course, I missed her and was happy to get her in my arms again afterward, but my mental state is so much healthier right now than it was a week ago. I'm not the only one who is happier with these new developments, either :).

Anyway, I just had to share the good news! Now for some cute Emily pictures!

 All dressed for church!

Trying so hard to roll over from back to tummy! She almost has it. She just needs to figure out how to get the arm from underneath her.

Playing in her new big girl toy! We have to stuff a blanket around her in there to support her until she is a little bigger :).

Why I Chose To Go Private

First off, thank you so much to those who took the time to either text, comment, or email me letting me know you want to keep reading my little ol' blog when we go private next month. It made me feel really special that I had people reading my blog that I didn't even know were reading it and that you want to keep up with us! So..thank you!

Some of you asked why I made this decision or if something happened. Let me break down some of the reasons why I came to this decision:

1. Blog drama. Luckily I have been able to stay out of it but it is just so petty and I can't stand it.
2. People reading my blog that I don't want reading it.
3. Privacy is more important to me now that I have a daughter and I'm posting pictures and stuff.
4. The pressure for more followers, more comments, more giveaways, more, more more. I just don't care that much if I do or don't post every day and I don't care for the pressure to...well, care. I guess this is my way of backing away from all of that.

Those are pretty much the main reasons why I decided to go private. I feel like I have made a lot of friends and I've had fun participating in the "blog world" but I'm about done with it...for now. I think I need to at least take a break for a while? I dunno. So, private blog it is! But at least I will have some real, devoted readers now. I always felt like the number of followers didn't matter as much as how many people actually cared enough to read my blog. You could have a thousand followers and still only get a handful of people who read it. What the heck is the point of having followers if they don't ever actually read your blog? It's a tease! lol. Same thing with, why follow someone if you never read their blog? It's pointless.

Anyway, just thought I would throw my thoughts on this out there!

ATTENTION: Going Private Soon

After battling this over and over in my head, I've finally made the decision to make my blog private. I simply don't feel the same love for blogging that I used to and the negative aspects of it have recently outweighed the positive.

I hope some of you do decide to send me your email in either a comment or in an email so I can add you to the list of those with access to my blog if you want to keep in touch. I will still be reading and commenting on many of yours. I've made some good friends from blogging and I hope to continue with those friendships. I will be waiting until some things are wrapped up on my end before making the move to private so I will still be around for a little while longer.

My email address for my blog is lifehandinhand(at)yahoo(dot)com and I still have Twitter @ShelleyBells07. This may not be for forever, but for now it's just what I feel is right for my family.