Monday, February 28, 2011

4 Month Wellness



We got our jackets on and we were ready to head out the door. Tonight was a big night in our household. We had our 4 month wellness visit. After an almost sleepless night and a long day at work, I was extremely exhausted, but my excitement for this appointment kept me going through the day. We were seeing our favorite pediatrician, the world's greatest. I LOVE her to death, and I would travel to the end of the earth and back to have our appointments with her.

Drum Roll please.......



My little peanut is 12 pounds 11 ounces and she is 23 3/4 inches long! What a big girl! She is in the 20th percentile in both categories. I was thinking 13 pounds, but hey we will take it. I am so excited because I can start her on rice cereal. Daddy and I are going to wait until the weekend to give it to her.  I already bought the cute little baby spoons and bowls... so get here fast weekend! How exciting! 

We got so much info at this appointment, some we didn't know, some we did, and some we knew but needed a little confirmation/kick in the rear to do.... ahem... let her cry.... ahem. 

Oh my sweet baby girl! I am so madly in love with this baby. Once again, she took her shots like a champ. Yes she wailed, but once it was over, it was over. No sleeping, no crankiness. I had my precious happy little baby with four of the tiniest band aids you can imagine. 

We do have to keep working with her little neck because she is still favoring one side. Her head is F-L-A-T in the back, and we have to watch it closely. If it doesn't get better, Kay may have a blinged out helmet in her future. It is not likely, but it is still a possibility.

Tonight, we are trying a few new things. No more swaddle...she is growing out of it anyway. I put her in a sleep sack. Can someone say coffee overload tomorrow morning? We are putting her to bed earlier tonight too. It is so hard keeping her up at night. We packed up the Pack-n-Play and it is ready for my mom's house. Operation nap is starting at Grams' house. All of these changes, but it will be worth it in a week or two (it better not take longer than that). I think we have a well rested baby, mommy, and daddy.  So keep your fingers crossed for us. We were sleeping through the night and we want that plus a good day time nap schedule.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Carseats and Headbands

Another weekend flew by...hold on while I wipe the tears from my eyes. How is it possible that the weekends fly by so fast? I look forward to spending the days with Daddy and Kay. We play in the mornings while watching tv and drinking coffee, we go out shopping and run errands together, we visit our family and laugh and talk, and we watch movies and catch up on dvr at night. I know it may not sound like a lot, but to me it is everything. During the week, it feels like we have no time with each other as a family so my weekends mean the world to me.

This weekend was no exception. We had such a great weekend. We did a lot of running around which meant a lot of time in the car seat for our sweet baby girl.  On Saturday, we FINALLY got our baby girl's newborn picture framed! I can't wait to hang it above our fireplace and stare at it all day every day. Saturday and Sunday consisted of our sweet baby sweating through her pants in her car seat. Let me tell you, she was pissed. It was the first beautiful weather we have had here in a long time, and I think it brightened everyone's moods.


She finally fits her all of the sweet headbands I have for her. During the winter, it was hard to wear headbands because it was too cold. She needed her hat to keep her little bald noggin warm. Now that it is a little warmer, she is rockin' her headbands.



After I saw how cute she looked in her headbands this weekend, Daddy and I went to a few baby boutiques to get her some new ones. Tomorrow, we have our four month wellness visit at our pediatrician, and I cannot wait! I am excited to see how big she is, to hear all about her development, and to start feeding her rice cereal! She is getting to be such a big girl! How much do think she weighs now?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

An Angel in Heaven

An angel went to heaven. A perfectly, beautiful angel that I am sure touched too many lives to count has gone to heaven. In this blogging world, mommies have to stick together, and that is how I came across prayer requests for Kellie. Her sweet daughter Maddie was laid to rest after 4 short months on this earth. Please say a prayer for Kellie and her family.

I have to thank my friend Angela for really pushing me to start blogging. I love blogging, and I love reading blogs, especially mommy blogs. Every now and then you come across a blog that really touches you. You have something in common with this other mommy in cyber space, and you feel a connection. I have never met Kellie, and she probably does not know that I exist, but her story has touched me so deeply. Her Maddie was born one day before my Kay. As I read Kellie's blog, I felt like I was reading my own blog. We had similar excitement, anxieties, and joy. She would write about "sit ups," sleeping through the night, stress of work, and I knew exactly what she was talking about. Kellie is a primary school teacher and she is juggling work, being a mommy, and being a wife. My thoughts and prayers are with this family, and I hope you will keep them in your prayers as well.

Polka Dot Junkie is doing an auction for Maddie on Monday, February 28th at 12 pm cst. Here is the facebook link: Tiny Little Wings Auction

As I put my baby to bed tonight, I rocked her a few minutes longer. I kissed her a few more times. I held her tight, and I realized just how very lucky and blessed I am.

Spring Wishlist

As winter is coming to a close, I am starting to seriously feel the need for spring. I can't wait to take Kay outside. I am looking forward to sitting in the sun, laying on a blanket, going for a walk in the stroller, and taking pictures in NATURAL light.

The weather in March is always unpredictable. We have some super hot days, some super cold days, and everything in between. With spring around the corner, I have been eyeing some of the sweetest things for spring. Shopping for girls is too much fun!

Spring dresses from Gymboree





Adorable looks from Mini Boden 



Sweet pieces from Gap 
Cutest graphic tees from 77 kids

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Perseverance

Strike One
Get back here!
I'm SO close
Steady, Steady, Steady
Success!
Go Me!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Kicking off a Short Week




My last week of therapy! Oh Novacare, I won't miss you one bit. My workout gear is waiting, and I hope I can start running again once therapy is over. I don't know if that will happen but a girl can hope. I have no interest in being doomed to the elliptical.

Here's to a nice short work week...getting me closer to another weekend with my darling peanut.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Movin' On Up

We are enjoying the last day of our three day weekend. The weather is bad and we are snuggled up on our couch. For as much as I love a beautiful spring or summer day, I equally love a lazy, crappy day to do nothing but watch tv and stay in my robe all day. It is even better with a baby.

We had an eventful weekend. We had dinner at Maggiano's on Saturday night...so good! We had dinner at our mom-mom and poppy's house last night. Now, I am left with the dreaded last day before work to run errands, clean up, cook (ha ha), and go grocery shopping. Fun times... oh yeah, and do some lesson plans.

Baby Kay is movin' on up in the world. We are in size 2 diapers! We are using Level 2 nipples! We are grabbing objects and she even grabbed her toes for the first time! She is a happy baby with the sweetest little giggle. I feel so much excitement when she does something new. It is amazing.

Lately, she has been hanging with me in the kitchen. She just watches me and follows me with her eyes. She loves to sit up high and get a good look at what is going on. She is the best kitchen assistant ever.





Saturday, February 19, 2011

Setback

This week we had a small setback in sleeping through the night. Three nights this week, Kay woke up at 4am! Go back to sleep baby girl!

Waking up at 4am for work is not something I am interested in doing. I had to figure out what the problem was. I was worried that this new trend was going to stick. So, I spent those three days writing down feeding schedules, counting out ounces in a day, talking to my friends, anything I could think of! I was wondering if it was just a growth spurt. She would wake up screaming and starving so I don't think she was just playing me for a fool. She was really hungry.

Then, I started noticing she still wasn't consistently finishing all of her bottles. So, I decided it was time for a Level 2 nipple. I thought this would help her so she could eat more easily and more quickly so she would finish her bottles. Operation Level 2 nipple was a huge success!

So, I upped her feedings to 5 and a half ounces and I am going to spread them out a little more. It seems like this has helped because we are back on track. Thank goodness!

My friend S had her 4 month check up with her daughter. I heard the dreaded advice to let her cry it out for 15 minutes ... so let's hope she doesn't fall back into this waking up early stuff...I have no interest in letting her cry it out. I hope she stays asleep and we skip that part of sleep training.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Happy 4 Months!

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl! In just 4 short months, you have changed in amazing ways.

1 Month Old Peanut - 3 days before her original due date

4 Month Old Peanut - happy as can be! 
At 4 months old, you ...

*  take 5 oz. at each feeding...sometimes you don't finish it all, but you do your very best! This change in your food intake has really helped you catch up in weight and it has helped us because you sleep through the night!

* go to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 pm! We love our bedtime routine. We STILL get swaddled in the swaddle from hell as Daddy calls it (the miracle blanket), read a book, turn on the music, and go to bed. Your favorite books are On the Night You Were Born and Time for Bed. You really do look at the pictures too. You usually don't wake up until 6:00 am. Peeking over at you in the crib in the morning is as good as it gets. You give me a gummy grin, and I am set for the day. There are a few days here and there when you wake up earlier in the night for a bottle, but those nights are few and far in between.

* are on your last box of size 1 diapers. Mommy bought size 2 diapers so hopefully they work and are not too big! You like Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive.

* weigh almost 12 pounds. When I last weighed you a few days ago, you weighed 11 pounds 9 oz. I am sure at your 4 month check up you will be 12 pounds!

* EXPLORE your little hands all the time! You put them together, you suck them, you lick them. It is getting hard to feed you because your hands are ALWAYS in your mouth. I am now just waiting for you to reach out and grab an object! I am dangling things in your face all the time. Pretty soon you will get so annoyed you will reach out to grab it. You do have a tight grip when you get hold of something .... something like a fist full of mommy's hair.

* wear 3-6 month clothing. You should be in 3-6 month clothes for a while. I hope so at least because all of your 6-12 month clothes are late spring and summer!

* smile, laugh, and giggle all the time. You are one happy baby. You are always happy and you love being held. I actually think you like to be held too much to the dismay of Grams. She is your loving, caring, mommy-rule following babysitter. She feels the effect of the "hold the baby too much" syndrome.   Grams is the most wonderful babysitter a person could ask for. She loves Kay and takes such good care of her. I feel so happy and safe to have the peanut with my mom.

* love to sit upright with the help of mommy or daddy. You love looking around and checking everything out. At 4 months, you just started sitting in your Bumbo chair. Your neck is so strong. your head is still flat on one side and it is worrisome.

* can roll over from your stomach to your back with a tiny bit of assistance.

* are the cutest, stinkin' baby of all time.











I am so very blessed and lucky.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year, I have two very special Valentines. We will be spending the night just like any other work night in our house, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Daddy and Mommy passing the baby around, playing with her, laying her on the Ottoman, eating cold meals, watching The Bachelor. As long as we are together, I am happy.


This is my sweet Baby Kay's first Valentine's Day. This is a day to celebrate her and the overwhelming amount of love I feel for her each and every day. I never knew that I was capable of feeling a love so strong, a love so perfect, a love so immense. The love I have for our child has changed me permanently and for the better.





So here's to love. Here's to my family. Happy Valentine's Day!