Christmas

Holidays...oh how I love you, but I'm also so happy to see you go. Anyone else understand what I'm saying? This holiday season was SO much fun (who would have thought it would be so amazing to see your child get gifts), but also SO exhausting. Call me Scrooge, but I'm kind of ready to get back to "normal" life. It definitely doesn't help because while Kev gets a week and a half off from work, I have to work extra because everyone wants to get their surgeries in by the end of the year. Silliness.

Wow, I sound so negative, but we really did have an awesome time with both families. On Wednesday, we hung out with Kev's family and then Thursday after work, we made the trip to Texas. It was all a whirlwind, but also a lot of fun. I haven't gotten a chance to download the pics from Kev's family, but here are a few highlights from the visit with mine.

The girls

Hanging with Aunt Lacey. Talk about some serious bed head!

Anja and I chilling with the dogs (minus Truman...he was there but just not in the picture).

LOVE this expression on her face!

Styling in my new boots from Mimi. Speaking of boots, she now has 4 pairs. Jackpot.

Christmas Eve. Love our tradition...we have all kinds of hor d'oeuvres-like foods (which I love) and a little bit of wine. It is so much fun!

Elliott "opening" her presents. She had so much fun...at least I think she did. :) She actually took a nap mid gift opening at my parent's house so I don't think she was too excited.

I meant to say this on my last post but I forgot. Isn't that what always happens? As soon as you hit publish, you think of at least 2 other things you were going to mention. Anyway, I was just going to say that Miss Elliott is indeed a big girl, but she really had no choice. I was looking back at my baby book to see how big I was at 4 months...I was 17 pounds and over an inch shorter than her. So I was even a bigger baby because I weighed more and was shorter. Poor girl never had a chance to be petite. :)

A weekend of firsts...

It was a weekend of firsts for Miss Elliott. She went to her very first wedding, and she behaved like an angel. She sat through the whole wedding quietly and was fascinated by all the decorations and the church. After the wedding, she was due for a nap so Kev took her home and I went to the reception solo. Can I just say, I LOVE wedding receptions! I love the decorations, the food, the dancing, the fellowship...pretty much everything about them. At this reception, they had cupcakes instead of a cake and they were uh-mazing!

The other first for Elliott was she wore tights. She looked so cute in her little dress with her little black tights. I was actually thinking about the fact that Miss E has never worn shoes...ever...in her entire life. Is that weird? At first, I blamed it on the fact that her feet were too narrow and none of the shoes we got fit her. Now I'm afraid it might just be laziness on my part. I would like to find her some little boots, but I never see any. Any advice on where to get baby boots that aren't like crazy expensive?

She also got to meet our sweet friends Andrew and Andrea for the first time. They recently moved to Houston (sadness), but they were in town for the wedding and stayed at our house all weekend (we felt so blessed to have them)! She was a big fan of them (as was Truman), and she kept giving Andrew little smiles. Maybe her first crush? :)

So thankful for you friend!

Hmmm...don't really like my outfit post baby. Things don't quite fit like they used to. :)

Blog Envy

There are times that I seriously have blog envy. Does anybody else understand what I'm saying? I look at some people's blogs and they are super creative or they look beautiful, and it makes my blog look so boring. Or they take great pictures and it makes my pictures look like the snapshots of an amateur. Or they write deep and profound posts, while I'm talking about my baby pooping on me. I'm really a boring person that likes to be in bed by 10:30, that eats oats and walnuts every morning for breakfast (I do branch out occasionally), that finds excitement in a good conversation over a cup of coffee. I don't go to cool concerts or events, but I love to hang out with my sweet husband in the evenings. One of my favorite parts of the day is putting on my sweat pants at night.

Boring and all, this is me. And have I mentioned I LOVE my life and wouldn't want it any other way. I'm so thankful for my sweet husband and little girl, for the amazing friends I'm surrounded by, for loving families on both sides, for having money to pay the rent and put food on the table. God has blessed us so abundantly, as undeserving as we are. So I guess I'll take boring. But I would really like to learn how to take good pictures. :)

Does anybody else ever feel like this or am I the only one out there?

4 Month Update

How is it even possible that our baby is 4 months old?! I know I say this every month, but it is so amazing how quickly time goes by. Here is our overdue 4 month post.

• Still wearing 3-6 month clothes but sometimes her pants are a little tight on her belly.
• Wearing size 2 diapers but I think we're transitioning to size 3s...still having lots of blowout diapers so I think it's time.
• She is eating 5-6 ounces from a diaper when I work. This girl loves to eat!
• Eating every 3.5-4 hours during the day. We have recently decreased her feedings to 5 a day, and she is doing really well with this.
• Her last feeding is now between 8:30 and 9 and she sleeps until 6:30 or 7. We are still swaddling her at night, and we usually find her in a totally different place in the morning. We love to get her in the morning...she gives us big smiles and talks to us. So cute!
• She usually takes great naps, especially in the morning.

• Still loving her pacifier! It's hard to believe I ever wondered whether or not I should give it to her. :)
• She is staying up about 1 hour and 20 or 30 minutes between her naps. So fun!
• She is still loving her activity gym. She is now reaching for her toys and looking at them intently. She also has started trying to bring things to her mouth.
• She also loves to read books...she really looks at the pictures now!
• She has rolled over 3 times and just seems totally content to lay on her belly and look at/suck on her hands. She's a pretty chill baby so who knows when she'll really start rolling over intentionally.
• She is still really ticklish. The new spots I have discovered are her feet and the back of her neck.
• She still gives us lots of smiles, but is pretty serious in groups. She is definitely still a thinker and just takes everything in.
• She LOVES to sit up. In fact when we have her propped up on something (boppy or pillow), she strains to sit up.

Our 4 month doctor visit:

Weight: 16 pounds 8 ounces (94%)

Length: 26 1/2 inches (98%)

Head circumference (93%)

We are so in love with our precious girl and we love to see her grow! Kev did a "photo shoot" with Elliott and the pictures turned out so good!!

So much can happen...

One year ago, I found out I was pregnant. Definitely one of the top 5 best days of my life!! I still remember it like yesterday...waking up early to take the test, watching in disbelief as the little positive sign appeared, joyously telling Kev. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I remember feeling completely ecstatic and yet filled with a paralyzing fear that something might happen to our sweet baby, wanting to rejoice and tell everyone we knew and yet also feeling like we should proceed cautiously since we already had one miscarriage. Such an emotional day!

It's hard to believe that 8 months from that day, we would have this precious girl.

"I think I might wake up but everything is so bright!"

"Hello world!"

And now she's getting so big! It's hard to believe she is already 4 months old! We're so thankful God has blessed us with this sweet baby girl and so thankful for that day one year ago!

Book recommendation

So I have been in a book club for about one year. Call me a nerd but I love it. We have read a lot of really interesting book, all different types, but we recently finished a book that I felt I must share with you guys.

It was called The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and it was INCREDIBLE! You will not be disappointed (or hopefully you won't). It is very intriguing, but in warning, it is a little slow at the beginning. Persevere, it is definitely worth it.

Update

Wow! I have definitely been a crazy non-blogger lately. I think I'm still trying to figure out my schedule with working. On the days I work, I try to spend as much time possible with Miss E, snuggling and kissing her sweet face, when I get home. On the days I don't work, I'm still feeling a bit like a fish out of water. Before I started back working, we had a great little schedule going for us. Now when I'm home, I can't decide if I feel like getting out to run errands, just staying at home resting, or what so I end up wandering around getting nothing accomplished. I've got to figure out some kind of balance! Also, work has been really busy lately...everyone trying to get their surgery in before the end of the year. Don't get me wrong, I love to be busy at work, but I definitely come home one exhausted girl.

Miss Elliott is FINALLY almost completely over her cold. It's about time! She is back sleeping in her crib, and we are having to remind her that she can sleep through the night (she seemed to forget this since she wasn't sleeping well when she had her cold). Funny how quickly she forgets! I'm definitely enjoying sleeping more at night, but there is something so sweet about snuggling a sick baby at night!

Here's a few other things we've been doing lately.

Put up the Christmas tree. Yay! I should put a picture of the finished product.

This guy turned three! Hard to believe he is already 3 years old (and still acts like such a puppy). I'm not sure Truman will ever act his age.

We've been loving baths lately! I still don't love our bath seat, but I'm not sure what's better. Any thoughts on how to bath a baby (you would think I had this figured out by now)?

And some tummy time. She's rolled over 3 times, but I think it might have been an accident. Usually she's just content to suck on her hands while she's laying on her tummy.

Pesky cold

We've had a busy week (evidenced by the fact that I didn't blog), but one thing that hasn't changed is Miss Elliott's pesky cold. I thought for sure she would be 100% by now, but no such luck. I can tell she is definitely feeling better, but she still has this stuffy nose. Hate it for her...and for us for that matter because stuffy nose=no sleep. We have definitely had less than optimal sleep this past week, which was a real downer since I also had to work. Afternoon naps not an option. Thankfully, she slept through the night the past two nights because she slept in her car seat. Whatever works, right? I must admit I do feel somewhat guilty to let her sleep in her car seat. It seems so uncomfortable! However, it also allows her to breath (thus sleep), so I guess it's worth the discomfort.

The bad thing about lack of sleep for me is I almost inevitably get sick when I don't get good sleep. So now I'm desperately trying to fight off a virus. Please not during my Thanksgiving break!!

I've always thought parents who obsessed about making sure their kids avoided germs were completely unreasonable. Germs build immune systems, right? Well, I don't want to become a germ nazi, but I can definitely see why it is in Elliott's (and our) best interest to stay healthy. Any thoughts on germs and avoiding illness?

She doesn't look sick here, huh. "Aunt Lacey, you're so funny!"

So last weekend we got to go to Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family (minus my middle sister and her husband...we missed you guys). We ate lots of good food, had great fellowship, and watched Harry Potter (got to take advantage of free babysitting by Mimi and Papa). We had a wonderful time, and as usual, it was sad to leave. Tomorrow it's Thanksgiving with Kev's family. Have I mentioned I love the holiday season?

Hanging out with Aunt Lacey.

Love my Mimi!

We also got to see my cousins' kids...they LOVED Elliott!

Poor sick baby

So Miss Elliott officially has her first sickness, and it is the saddest thing ever! I think I grossly underestimated how sad it would be when your own child is sick. I've even treated sick babies at the urgent care and it never seemed that sad to me. I have a whole new understanding now.

She's not super sick, so for that I am very thankful. She has a super stuffy nose and is coughing. However, I think she might sometimes cough because she can't breath and not because her throat hurts. When her nose is stuffy, she starts turning her head back and forth and wiggling her bottom...it's like she is acting out of her frustration of not being able to breath. Kind of funny but sad.

The other thing that surprised me about this sickness was how absolutely helpless I felt. I felt like everything I had ever learned about treating sick kids went out the window and I had no idea what to do for her. Thanks to some good friends with little kids, I was reminded of some homeopathic treatments. Kev went out and bought a humidifier, I have been dropping salt water in her nose then suctioning it out (although I really wish I had something different than just the bulb they gave us at the hospital), warm baths, letting her sleep mainly upright (typically in our arms), and I'm considering using a vapor bubble bath.

She has a really hard time sleeping (especially at night), so it has been a rough 3 nights. Needless to say, we're a little exhausted. Thankfully I didn't have to work today so I'm hoping to get a little nap. I know this is the first of many illnesses and hopefully I'll become more competent, but it has certainly not been fun! The best thing about the sickness is we have gotten some great snuggle time in!

3 months

Thanks for all of your input on the swaddling issue. It's nice to know that others have not followed the "rules" and your babies turned out okay. So for now, we're going to continue with the swaddling until it looks like she's okay without it.

I've been reflecting this weekend on how much can change in a year. We celebrated our good friends' little boy's 4th birthday this weekend (pictures to come), and it made me remember back to this time a year ago. Last November, I felt like we would never get pregnant, like we had been trying forever. Little did I know that little Elliott would be with us a year later. It felt like that difficult season lasted for an eternity, but now when I think back, it seemed like such a short time (and totally worth it).

So without further ado, here are Elliott's 3 month stats:

• Wearing 3-6 month clothes.
• Wearing size 2 diapers.
• Her poopy diapers have decreased to every other day, which is kind of nice, but the down side is she has a blowout nearly every time she goes...not quite as nice. Probably more information than you wanted to know.
• Drinking 4-5 ounces from a bottle when I work. I went back to work when she was just over 12 weeks old. Sadness.
• Still eating every 3 hours during the day but she is starting to have feedings where she goes 3.5 hours in between.
• At night, her last feeding is at 9 or 9:30 and she sleeps until 6:30 or 7. I feel like a new woman!
• She went through a spell several weeks ago where she started fighting her naps. She would cry for about 5-10 minutes when I laid her down. Now she has gone back to going down without a fuss.
• She is now staying awake about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes in between feedings...so much fun!
• She is a very happy baby, but her fussiest time is at night. She doesn't want to go to sleep but she doesn't want to stay up either. A baby's life is so tough!
• 
• Her favorite thing to do during wake time is play in her activity gym. She loves to kick and she talks to her blue elephant. On a side note, she also likes her blue mouse (who I've named Max) on her carrier the best, so I've decide her favorite color is blue.
• She has found her hands and loves to suck on them. She hasn't really found her thumb but likes sucking on her fist.
• 
• She is ticklish, especially on her neck. Love to hear her laugh!
• She is definitely smiling and talking more and more. However, I've decided she does not smile in big groups...too much to look at.
• She loves to suck her bottom lip. So cute!

I feel like she is getting big SO fast! Slow down time!

Burning questions

I feel like I have so many questions as a new mom, but I'm realizing there are no "right" answers. It helps talking to other moms and hearing their experiences, but it doesn't necessarily mean that will work for you. I also enjoy reading books, but the authors are not experts with your baby. This is difficult for me because I really enjoy things being black and white, right and wrong...definitely not the nature of parenting.

So I have 2 questions that I have been contemplating lately. First, how long do you swaddle your baby? We just swaddle Elliott at night and she sleeps like a champ. We have been doing her last feeding at 9 or 9:30 and then she has been sleeping until 6:30 or 7 (when we start our day routine). Can I say I LOVE this routine! There is something about getting a full night sleep that makes you feel human. I was reading on another blog and then thebump.com that you need to stop swaddling when a baby is 3 or 4 months, because it helps their development to be able to move around at night. WHAT?! Who would have thought. My hold up is I'm afraid if we stop swaddling she'll wake up at night, and the thought of that makes me cringe. She does move a lot when she's swaddled and when we get her in the morning, she has moved up in the swaddle blanket so her shoulders are totally exposed. I don't know if this means she is ready to be unswaddled or what. Thoughts?

Question 2...I'm wondering if she will be ready to drop a feeding soon and how we go about that. I'm thinking I would like to lengthen the time between feedings (right now I feed her every 3 hours), and then maybe try putting her to bed a little sooner, but I'm wondering whether or not she's ready for this. There are definitely some feedings where she acts disinterested in eating so maybe this means she is ready?! I definitely don't want to change too many things at once, and since I'm working 3 days a week, I have less time to try things (I want to be here when we make the changes). She has definitely had more wake time lately which is really nice.

Any thoughts about these questions? I would appreciate the input. Now I'm off to clean the house. We're hosting a couples shower at our house tonight so I'll let you know how that goes.

Lattes after pilates

Wow! I'm finding it a little more difficult to post regularly since I'm back at work. It feels like there are so many things to do when I get home (think cleaning pump parts, make dinner, talk to Kev) and this doesn't even include what I want to do the most...get as much time possible with Elliott. I'm sure it will get easier (or is this wishful thinking) as I get used to it, but right now I'm still trying to work on the balance of it all. I'm finding Monday is probably my most difficult day because I work a full day, then we have small group at 7, and then I leave the next day for work at around 7. The good thing is once I make it through Tuesday, the rest of the week feels like it is downhill. I totally miss Elliott at work, but I'm not miserable because I know she's in good hands, and I've actually enjoyed being at work again. That's a plus.

Thanks for all your super helpful comments about the carbon monoxide and dressing a baby in the cold. So helpful! We got a good carbon monoxide monitor (one that plugs into the wall...thanks Vicki!), and so far it hasn't gone off. We are a much happier family in the warmth of a heater. Makes me incredibly thankful we actually have a heater.

I'm still working on my 3 month post for Elliott (I can't believe she is already 3 months), but in the mean time, I thought I would share with you one of our favorite new traditions with our friends Stuart and Amy and their sweet little boys. They're some of our dear friends who we met after college, but constantly say to each other, "Why weren't you in my wedding?" Do you have friends like that? We have experienced a lot together, like

a trip to the Big 12 Championship in 2004 (we look so young),

a wedding in Eureka Springs,

a vacation to California

and Seattle, and SO much more.

Back when we were kid-less, it was easy to get lots of quality time together. Fast forward 6 years, quality time is limited and looks a little different. They have 2 precious little boys who are 3 (almost 4) and 1 and 1/2 years old. You can imagine life is slightly chaotic. Well this year, in an attempt to get regular time together, we started "lattes after pilates" on Saturdays (or "lattes pilates" as their little guy says). I have pilates at 8, then we meet at Starbucks or Cafe Plaid for coffee then walk around campus. Our conversation is not completely uninterrupted, but the boys are pretty occupied running around looking at fountains and such. It is fabulous! Here are some pics of our time last Saturday.

Never realized how difficult it was to get a good picture of such active subjects. This is the best we got. :)

Everything is so interesting when you're a kid!

Elliott conked out in her stroller.

What a cool dad!

Do you have any new traditions you have started recently?

Is it winter?

I think fall just started, but it definitely feels like winter in my house today. It is 62 degrees in here, and I can't seem to do a darn thing because I'm just cold. Since I have less days at home now, I feel this pressure to accomplish a lot when I am home. So I'm a little more tired than normal from working, and yet I feel guilty just to rest. Oh the dilemma.

So back to the cold...you're probably thinking, "just turn your heater on". Well, that's a great piece of advice. We actually did turn it on when we got up this morning, but I don't think our carbon monoxide monitor is working, and I'm totally paranoid about "the silent killer (carbon monoxide poisoning)." So I turned the heater back off with intentions of purchasing a new carbon monoxide monitor today.

In the mean time, we are all bundled up. It's really hard to know how to dress a baby when it's cold. Thankfully we had a really warm outfit from Aunt Lacey and Uncle Marcus that fit just perfectly.

This lazy guy hasn't even come out of his cage all morning. He loves to be completely covered by his blanket! He can pretty much do it all by himself...he's so talented.

I pulled up his blanket so you could see there actually was a dog under there.

Any advice or thoughts on how to dress a baby in the cold weather? She's used to wearing onesies all the time.

The first week

So in case you guys forgot, this was my first week back to work. That probably explains my lack of posts. All I can say is I survived, and it really turned out better than I was expecting. My mom watched Miss E the first two days I worked, then Kev watched her today (probably explains why there was no tears this week). It was great to see coworkers, patients, but most of all, my time at work made me really treasure the time I had with E at night. I have never anticipated coming home more than this past week. Don't get me wrong, I love coming home to Kev and Truman, but there is something about that cute little face that makes me feel completely giddy to come home.

Nothing quite warms my heart like this.

I didn't even take time to get out of my scrubs.

Probably the worst part about being back at work was pumping. Not my favorite thing at home, but REALLY not my favorite thing when I have to sit on a dirty bathroom floor. Plus, it's not like I have a job I can just choose when I want to pump...I feel like I never have time and I always feel rushed. Thank goodness for an iPhone to pass the time! A good friend gave me a piece of advice that has been really helpful. She said her lactation consultant told her if she did not have time to wash her pump parts, she could just put them in the refrigerator and it was still okay to use them the next time. This has been GREAT advice for me, because who really has time to wash their pump parts in warm soapy water every time? This is probably TMI for some of you reading this, but I wanted to share this helpful tidbit.

My mom texted me this picture while I was working...so CUTE!

Another elusive smile...love it!

Family pic at Elliott's dedication. I wish she was looking, but it was a race against the clock to take the picture before she got fussy.

I really wanted to post this really cute video of E talking. It is so cute, but I can't get it to work. Hmmm...maybe I'll try again tomorrow.