11 weeks and wonderful!

Well we're 11 weeks old now! I love it!!

Anna is starting develop quite the personality! She's figured out how to con her grandpa on Wednesdays into holding her the entire time. Such a little bug!! Haha Even in the pictures above, you can see a little bit of her amazing personality. She's such a cutie pie & very sweet natured.

She's been doing at least 3-4 hour stretches at night... it seems that she wakes up between 3-4am, and then will sleep until about 7. Now, if I feed her, and lay her back down (and most definitely if I put in her in the swing so I can get ready) she will usually go back to sleep until 8 or 9.
As you can see, she is smiling a ton! It is pretty easy to get smile out of her too! I LOVE IT!! Occasionally she makes this noise that we call a laugh. I'm not certain it is just yet, but it's really cute...and as first time parents, it's nice to think we can make our little girl laugh just by being silly. She definitely likes it when I read a book to her (although she usually falls asleep by the end of the book haha), and really likes when I sing songs.
All I can say is "what a cutie pie!!" I get this look regularly. It's almost as if she's saying "Really, Mom? I can't believe you just said that/made that sound/made that face/did that dance...etc."

This past week she has really taken a liking to the play mat. She swats at the toys quite a bit, and sometimes actually looks at the ones she's swatting. She seems to be enamored with the "other baby" in the mirror. The other night, I was getting her bath ready, and I asked Jeremy if she woke up (she was sleeping a little bit), and he looked over and this what he saw. Instead of swatting the toys, she was chewing on the toy! hahaha... I even got a good video of it. It made me laugh a lot! She was really chowing down on the toy. What a cutie!! (are you tired of reading that yet?)


Our little girl is now just about 11 pounds. Yesterday at the group she was 10 pounds, 15.5 ounces. So we've slowed down a little bit, but we're still gaining weight. I must admit, I'm ok with the slow down. I was afraid I'd have a 80 pound 4 month old at the rate we were going! We're still gaining weight, that's the important part. I must say that I was a little disappointed. I'm usually pretty good at guessing her weight. It was 2 weeks since she'd been weighed, and I went in very confident that she was 12 pounds, or at least very very close to it. But, we've still got some growing to do, I guess!! We're moving her into size 2 diapers. They seem to fit. So, I guess we'll just keep going with that. We're almost done with all our size ones we got before she was born (or shortly thereafter), so we're ready to use our size 2s. I guess she's a little bit "small" for them, but they don't seem overly big, so, I think we'll be safe.

She still likes tummy time, but not as much as she likes being on her back on the play mat. She prefers tummy time to be when I'm laying flat on my back, and she's laying on her tummy. We're still working with her on grasping objects... she doesn't like things in her hands. I know that will come... but I am trying to teach her as best I can... even though she's little.

Well, there isn't much more to say. I'm going to try to get in a little nap while she's napping. So, thanks for checking in on us!! Hope everyone has a great week!!

K

10 weeks old

Well, we've hit those double digits!! Ahhh! I'm also finding it more difficult to not get a blurry weekly picture! She's just sooo wiggly. So I need to either take it when she's asleep, or just deal with the wiggly blurry picture! hahaha

Well we love this little girly so much! She's just the joy of our lives. I can't believe she's 10 weeks old.

This week was kind of busy. On Monday we met with another Bradley mom and her son at the mall. We had lunch, and we did some mall walking. On Wednesday this week, I returned to work. I had so much fun. I took a photo album with me, and the residents loved it! Not to mention I absolutely loved showing off our little girl. Anna spent the morning with my dad. She was having a blast conning him into holding her all day. I felt bad because he didn't get much done that day. Thursday I went to Mastering Motherhood at our church and then to the employee anniversary lunch at work. (It was delicious.) Anna spent the morning with my dad also... I think she did better with him, and didn't con him so much. We did however invest in a portable swing, since she loves the swing so much.

She hasn't been sleeping as well this week as she did last week. I don't know if this is because she had her first round of vaccinations last Friday (when the great sleeping stopped), or if it's just something else. Guess we may never know. hahaha... But she has been doing well with a sort of flexible daily routine which involves usually a 3 hour nap. It's nice to get a break to do dishes, or get dinner ready, or take a shower... without having to worry about if she's upset or not. A lot of times too, there's enough time to do one or two of those, AND get a little nap in. So, that's a blessing.

I do not know how much our little angel weighs this week since we didn't go to our group on Thursday (because of the employee lunch). But if I had to guess, she's probably 11 pounds with a few ounces. She's very nicely fitting into her 0-3 month clothes, which has been really fun because it has brought on a whole host of new clothes from her closet! I LOVE DRESSING HER! It's so much fun!

Tonight we're going to take some family pictures.. which I hope will mostly be our little angel. Besides, who needs a bunch of pictures of us? We haven't changed much in the last 6 years. But, I do look forward to our first family pictures as a family of 3.

Oh, well, our little sweetie is getting up... so... time to get off here and get ready for pictures!!

Thanks for checking in on us. If I get a chance this weekend, I will definitely post some cute pictures. (They're always cute, right?!)

K

9 weeks old!! (And 2 months officially!)

Well, we've hit the 9 week mark... although, this week also brought us Anna's 2 month birthday. YIKES!! 2 months! Where is time going? I keep telling Anna that I want to get her to sleep through the night, and then freeze her!

This week has been fun. Really fun! And more importantly drama-free. Week 8 has been one of the best so far!

One thing that has made this week so great is that we've made bigger strides in the sleep area. We've sort of gotten ourselves in a great routine. She typically has been falling asleep around 9pm. Anna will then wake up to eat around 11. The last few nights she has then gone from 11 until 4am. Then she'll wake up again to eat. After that she usually has been waking up around 7 each morning. I feed her, and then if I lay her back down, usually she will go back to sleep for an hour or 2. So, then I start getting her up around 9. I feed her again, change her clothes (although, we did have a day maybe 2 that we had pajama day!). I've been trying to read a Bible story to her in the morning, and if she makes it through the story without falling asleep, I also try to read her another story.

We play a bit... although, it's slow going. We've gotten good use out of our play mat. She likes to spend time swatting at the toys... but a lot of the time, she just swats and randomly hits the toys, usually a toy that she ISN'T looking at. hahaha... then I will flip her over for a while, and we do tummy time. And believe it or not, it's not that traumatic.

She will usually eat again around 11:30 or 12 (depending on when she actually did eat). But, after she eats, Anna will generally take a nap. Granted, she has been falling asleep in the swing. (We're working on it! So, don't judge me. Baby steps... baby steps. After we establish a routine, we will work on getting her sleeping where we need her to be sleeping.) She will generally sleep for 3 hours in the afternoon. So it's a nice time for me to eat lunch, watch some tv, blog, surf the internet, shower, laundry, dishes, or prepare dinner. It's a nice little break. Plus she seems to do really well with this routine we've fallen into. :-)

During the day, other than her nap time, she is still eating about every 2-3 hours. Which is evident by the fact that as of yesterday she was 10 pounds 4.5 ounces. What can I say, she has her mother's uncanny ability to gain weight. Poor girl! (Sorry sweetie.) However, this 10 poundages brings us happiness because back when she was 6 1/2 pounds, the doctor said that the "magic number" tends to be 10 pounds. That's when they seem to sleep for longer periods at a time. Oddly, it seems to be true.

I also love that we have been seeing far more smiles this week! I LOVE IT!! She's such a cutie pie. Her sweet gummy smile just makes me sooo happy!! I could look at her little gummy smile all day!

Today we have her 2 month doctor's appointment. I am NOT looking forward to it since there will be vaccinations involved. Luckily, Anna has the greatest daddy in the world. He's going to come with us... so when that comes up, I can go for a walk! (I'm a pansy, I know!)

All in all, I just love our little girl! Each day, I get to look into her beautiful [still] blue eyes. She has been such a blessing to Jeremy and I.... while testing both of us in many areas, she is such a joy. I still cannot believe that she has been here turning our lives upside down for 2 months now. Each day, she seems like she's growing more, and doing more. Some times it seems like she learns something over night! (Again, by learning I mean going from not swatting toys, to now swatting at them. Not smiling much to smiling a whole bunch!!)

All right, well that's it for now, I have to get ready to head out to our appointment. (Prayers are appreciated!!) I'll also leave you with some pictures!

See what I'm talking about with that cute little smile?!

Love it!

Yep, cutie pie!

She kept slipping, and that was making
picture-taking difficult. But it's still
cute with her half-smirk.

Action shot of a smile!

Pretty sure this was about 9:15 last night...she
was out!

This week, we took of the baby sling from the bath tub. She's getting so big!
Ahhhhhh! But she likes it. She's in more of the water... it's warmer...I think
she'll be a good candidate for loving to swim! (As long as the water is warm!)

Ok, thanks for checking in on us!! Hope everyone has a great week!

8 weeks old... where is time going??

So this week was a little more drama than I like. On Saturday, I started feeling a cold coming on. (Sad, too, because Friday night she spent it with my parents... so a night to sleep, and I started to feel a cold. Blech!) So, I did what I could. I bought zinc tablets, I washed my hands like crazy (to the point where they started bleeding), and did my best to try not to breathe on her. And what do you know, Tuesday our little Anna started sounding congested. So, I called the pediatrician's office, just to be safe. I'm not normally a call the doctor for a sniffle kind of person, but since she was 4 weeks early, I thought it would be best to play it safe. The nurse took my info, and had another nurse call us back. That was the funny part because the nurse that called us back was a good friend of ours. Nothing puts a new mom's mind at ease like talking to a good friend... and not just talking to talk, but talking and getting reliable advice. At that time, Anna had a 99.0 fever... not too bad. So, we kept her elevated while she slept, ran the humidifier, used a saline spray, and a nasal aspirator. (And for those of you who know me well, know the nasal aspirator takes a lot for me not to gag. UGH!!) So, I watched her closely on Wednesday. I got really good at taking her temperature. And the little sweetie cooperated well, so that was a blessing. By 3pm, though her temperature was 100.6, and at 100.4 they told me the day before to call back. So I called the doctor. We went to the doctor Wednesday night. Praise the Lord that when they took her temperature, it was coming down. The doctor also said her lungs sounded clear. So we were to continue doing what we were doing. Wednesday night, she slept pretty well... and last night (Thursday) she slept well again. So... hopefully this sleeping well business will last! It's been nice only getting up once in the middle of the night. :-D Now we're all starting to feel better. Of course, yesterday (Thursday), Anna was all smiles. She's soo stinkin cute!! I love the little gummy baby smiles.

Since our week was spent with colds, we didn't really do a lot. So there isn't a ton to update on.

This coming week, Anna will be 2 months old. I can't believe she'll be 2 months old already. (Although I do seem to say that every week. I can't believe she's 4 weeks old, I can't believe she's 8 weeks old. But, even though I say it every week... I still can't believe how quickly time flies.) It's been a crazy 2 months. We've had our ups and downs... mostly ups... we've had our good nights, and our TERRIBLE nights. But, we've triumphed, and patience and perseverance is paying off.

This week, even being sick, she's done a few more "regular" stretches of 3-4 hours. I really could get used to it. I like sleeping a little bit longer rather than the every 2 hours she was doing. Ahhh, this is the bliss all people with children talk about. Who knew 4 hours could be sooooooooo delightful?! It spoils a person, really.

Well, that's about it... a relatively uneventful weekend other than 1 trip to the doctor's. Now I'll end it with some pictures. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in on us!!She's a good eater! We didn't go to our normal group on Thursday, but I did have them weigh her at the doctor's office. She now weighs 9 lbs, 10 oz. Grow, baby, grow!!


Look at this cute little face!!

She caught me with the camera!! She loves her play time with her daddy!! He's so good with her!

7 weeks old

As I sit here watching my beautiful baby girl in the swing, it's hard to believe that 7 weeks have gone by. Sometimes I even sit back and think about what I was doing this time last year. Seems crazy to me, that now I get to enjoy being home, and oooo-ing, and ahhh-ing over the cutest little girl I've ever seen. God has been so good to me.

This week has been a great week! It is, by far, my favorite week yet!

We've made some great strides in the sleep department. While, we're not "great" yet... we're getting there. I would high-five my little munchkin if I could, because she has been doing a lot better. Also this week, we've been having her sleep in her crib. YIKES!! On Monday & Tuesday, I slept in the room with her. On Wednesday, I started out in our room, then in the middle of the night she just wouldn't really settle, so I ended up sleeping in her room for a few hours... and then I went back to my room. But, last night, I slept in MY room the whole time!! She slept from 12:30-3:30, and then from 4 (although, it was on and off til 4:30) til about 7 ish. Then today, Anna was up from 7-10. Now she's sleeping... So, see what I mean? We're definitely making progress. (The picture below is of her in her first night in her crib.)

Anna is definitely growing! In our weekly weigh in, she was 9 pounds 5.5 ounces!! Hmmm... she's getting big. Although, the doctor said that 10 pounds seems to be when they go for longer stretches. While I'm not interested in her growing up too fast or getting overly big (someone has to carry her around...) I am interested in the "going longer" periods between meals... especially at night (see above). Also, she is in 0-3 month clothes now... for the most part. A lot of her outfits are a mix and match of newborn clothes and 0-3 months. Most 0-3 months are comfortably big on her (especially the pants), while newborn clothes seem to be a wee bit small. However, she is still fitting just fine in the newborn undershirts we put on her. Figure that one out!

She also had on her first pair of real shoes this week. They were cute! Really, teeeeeny, tiny, but Oh-so-cute! Although, I wasn't a fan of them being actual buckles. But Anna cooperated just fine in her sleep while I fiddled with her feet.

Anna had her first trip to Marc's this week. It was a good experience for the both of us. I tried to clip her car seat onto the seat portion of the shopping cart. However, the way the carts there were designed the poor little thing was practically laying on her head. So, I had to stick her car seat IN the cart. This is where it was a good experience for both of us... you see, when you have a baby in a car seat IN the cart... it severely limits how much stuff you can put in that cart. And as most of you may know, with the hodgepodge of stuff at Marc's, you never know what will jump in your cart. I made it out of Marc's grocery shopping for the week in under $35. Go team Anna!

Well, that's about all I can think of for this week. So, thanks for checking in on us!!

New pictures

I finally got some pictures off my phone.

I take a picture nearly every day for family and send them a "daily picture"... it's especially nice for extended family who are not able to see her every few days... or even every week. We struggled to get the pictures off my phone, and we still can't get them to sync up to my computer... but my AWESOME sister-in-law, Jill (hey Aunt Jill!), said she would just email pictures from her phone to herself. So I finally remembered it, and tried it.... and it worked. So I have a bunch of pictures I can now put on my computer. It will probably take a few days/weeks, since I have to text each individual picture to myself (and there are easily a 100-120). But, here's a few of my favorites, I'd like to share.

There are soooo many more, but this is a little teaser for right now...

This is by far my most favorite picture so far.

A co-worker gave Anna this sock monkey toy.
She definitely looks like she is done with pictures for that day,
or she's mad that she's not sleeping!

Look at this cute little face!!

I love this picture!
It's hysterical... she was sleepy, and had a full tummy.
Apparently this is the look of satisfied.

Check out that belly!

6 weeks old

So, we're 6 weeks old today. I think it's incredible. This week has met us with some challenges... particularly in the area of sleep, or lack thereof. But, when I get frustrated each time, I just stare into the beautiful deep blue eyes of my little sweetie, and thank the Lord for a healthy little girl. It's hard to do at 3am, but... I still appreciate her.

Our sleep pattern this week is sporadic at best. We've had some great nights, and we've had some terrible nights. It's not too stressful except for days when we are trying to go somewhere. Usually, it's somewhere early... ugh, I hate early!

We're still enjoying our baths, as long as the room is warm. This week we discovered that if she's crying a temporary fix is to have Jeremy blow on her belly. Such a cutie!! Guess we all have our quirks. (if I can figure it out, I will try to post a video of this phenomena)

We're starting to spread out our feedings a little bit more. This week, we went for quite a few 2 1/2-3 hour stretches. So, hopefully this will be the beginning of going for a few hours at night even. I cannot tell you how excited I a about the prospect of going a few more hours at night. It's the light at the end of my tunnel. Yesterday, Anna was weighing in at 8 pounds 14 ounces so we're just shy of 9 pounds. Everyone says that 10lbs is the magic number for "longer stretches." I'm optimistic... but, I do live in reality.

This week, Anna and I had our first trip to the grocery store.

Well, I think that's about it. If you think of us... especially as night approaches, please say a prayer for us. The lack of sleep is starting to take it's toll. Thank you!

Thanks for checking in on us...

K