Everything I learned about parenting

I learned in the past 6 months....

And I'm pretty sure in the next 6 more months...all those tricks and rules are going to go out the window..

There are a few things that I'm sure of:

• Once you get a routine - give it a week or so - and be ready for that routine to be obsolete. I am all about making sure Iz gets up, eats, naps, plays, starts bedtime - all around the same time everyday. Sometimes the fact that I'm so rigid with her routine - sets her up for failure. If we are 30 minutes late for lunch or I decide that it's more important for me to try on those size 2 jeans again (and cry because they still don't fit) at the mall....she flips out - melts down - and we leave in tears (me - cuz of the jeans, her cuz she's tired and hungry...) And my baby Bug...she can't tell time yet (I know...we're working on it) - so even though she slept through the night for 4 months straight...once those teeth came in - the fact that it was 3am - welp -she doesn't really care (and neither do the teeth)...and she screams and cries...

• The crib was the Devil's creation - really - why does it have to be so hard to put it together, adjust the level of the mattress, and change the dang crib sheets. Craig and I don't really fight (that's because I'm always right....hehehe) - but when we had to lower Iz's crib down a level because she has started to pull up...there were lots of 4 and 5 letter words trying to figure out how to do it. And the changing of the crib sheets...you add in the changing of the bumper...let's just say there have been moments where I think "Does she really need the sheets changed again...I mean...she'll never know..." But, of course, I am a germ-a-phobe - and change the sheets weekly with lots of grumbling and more 4 and 5 letter words.

• I love the U.S. and A....I really do. But something's up when people who have bad intentions get on airplanes but yet...BUT YET...there is maximum security on ALL toys. Christmas day - we were so excited to get Isabelle's toys out to play with them. But, it turned out it would take us until New Year's Day to get all of the toys out in their entirety. The twisty ties that hold toys in the case, the plastic that surrounds them, and the layers of tape that encircle the dang thing....really, REALLY?!?

Raising a baby. Raising a kid...you think you know...but you have NO IDEA! And that's what's so fun about it :-)