Seven Month Update

This month literally flew by. I can't believe it's already almost April and you are seven months old. We didn't do a whole lot this month but you learned soo many new things exploring at home.  Dad and I sit back and watch you wondering what you are going to get into next!

You are nursing every 4 hours and eating solids about 3 times a day. Sometimes we miss a feeding of solids and it doesn't seem to affect you. This eating schedule seems to be working out good for both of us! The solid foods you are eating now are apples, sweet potatoes, bananas and avocado. We have pears that we are going to try and also need to find a new veggie to introduce. I thought it was going to be really overwhelming trying to think about your solid food feedings as well as everything else but it has been going great and the food prep has been soo much easier than I expected it to be. 

We really worked on your napping this month. I loved holding you for naptime but you started getting uncomfortable and I needed a little time to

Get some things done. It took you about two weeks to have a really good nap in your crib. It was such a tuff two weeks but now that I see that you can nap for long periods in the crib it makes your off days a little easier. You have a really hard time getting past the first 45 minutes without waking up. It's literally 45 minutes on the dot when you start fussing. I go in rub your back and put your Paci back in. Sometimes you fall right to sleep and sometimes I really have to work at it.

You are still waking up to eat twice at night. The first time is around 11 and the second around 3. The pediatrician said we need to drop the nighttime feedings and I'm trying to ease you into it. She said to drop them both at once but I'm not comfortable with that yet. I have been coming in when you cry at 11 but rubbing your back instead of picking you up and feeding you. So technically we have dropped the first feeding but you are still waking up. Hopefully you will get the memo soon!!

You weigh 18 pounds and are 25 inches long. You are in size 3 diapers and wear size 6-12 month clothes. The nine month are still a little big for you. You don't have any teeth yet but may be starting to teeth. We aren't quite sure yet. 

You are crawling around like crazy! You go all over the place and are literally into everything. We are having to

Rearrange furniture and put some things in storage that we are scared you will bump your head on! It's crazy how fast you went from sitting to moving everywhere. 

You are the most precious happy girl in the world. You LOVE bathtime and always have the biggest smile and laugh when you bounce out of the bath. You also love your bouncy and could stay in it forever if mommy would let you. You also love to touch peoples faces! Even strangers. It gets a little awkward sometimes when someone says your cute and you reach out for their face..... 

We are so in love with you and look forward to what this month has in store!

Mobile Baby!!

HadleyFace!!!!! (We call you that sometimes...hope it's ok!) You are ON THE MOVE! 

We have to keep a constant eye on you or who knows what you will get in to!

Changing your diaper and putting clothes on you is getting SOO hard. You literally will not stay still! I feel like your brain is just going 500 miles a minute saying, "oohhhh what's that? I NEED it, NOW!!!!!!!".  You are constantly rolling when you are on the changing table. Now I know what the purpose of those straps attached are, to keep you from rolling over so I can change your diaper as fast as I possibly can. And of course to keep you from falling off! 

See your changing table?

All of that stuff on both sides? That's all got to go immediately. You want to grab everything no matter what it is and put it in your mouth or play with it! 

You have a huge bruise on your forehead from moving all over the crib and banging it on the rails. So, against my wishes, we had to add the bumpers to your crib. You aren't supposed to have bumpers or anything in the crib because they pose as a risk for suffocation. But I think that since you are so mobile now you will know to move your face away from it. I really didn't want to add them but that bruise is huge and I know it hurts!!

Tomorrow we have a photo session for you. I'm super worried because you just won't stay still and prefer your mommy to strangers. Which is a good thing!!  Hopefully it goes well and we make it out with minimal tears and some cute pics! 

Love you baby girl!

LONG Update!!

So many things have happened since I last updated! We have been so busy and have had so much fun. 

Wednesday 

We had a pretty calm, normal day Wednesday.  I had GAs and Aunt Sis came over to put you to bed. Nana came also to help. They got the cutest picture of you just hanging out like a big girl!

I always feel so sad when I can't put you to bed on Wednesday nights! I love our time rocking before bedtime. 

Thursday

Dad had the day off so we took full advantage of it and got a ton checked off our list. One of the things we did was lower your crib! I was nervous because sometimes when you wake up

In the middle of the night you can lay on your side and pull on the top of the crib. I know that you can't pull yourself up quote yet but seeing your hand on top and your body not far begins freaked me out a little! I didn't realize the next level was going to be soo low! I guess it's just another sign that you are growing up. 

Later that afternoon we went for a walk to Grammys house. We normally don't walk to her house because you have to go on the highway for a block to get there. But we decided to try and she wasn't home!! I guess we should call next time!

Friday 

We went to Marion to visit my cousins. They were soo excited to finally meet you. It was a LONG day and you handles it like a champ. I was so impressed. I tried to get you to go to sleep at your normal nap time but you were just too excited to meet everyone. You would not close your eyes. I was so proud of you because I could tell how extremely tired you were but you didn't really fuss about it. You finally fell asleep in Fonda's arms literally as we were packing up to leave! We slowly transferred you to the car seat and you didn't wake up at all! I have never been able to do that so I know you were really out!!

You kept laying your head on Rae's chest. It was sooo sweet!

We spent some time swinging in our new swing. It was so fun to watch you. You loved it.

Saturday 

You spent the day with your Aunt Caroline. She's doesn't get to see you much so y'all had some nice quality time.

Sunday

Daddy and I had a wedding to go to in Charleston. This was our first night away from you and out of town! It was soo hard to leave you!! You stayed with Grammy and had so much funZ she sent us the sweetest picture of you that made me miss you even more!

We had so much fun in Charleston though.  We got to see a bunch of our college friends and really catch up. We also got to spend some time together which was much needed. We shopped and ate until the wedding on Sunday!

We also walked through campus and I'm pretty sure this is the only picture I have of me in front of the cistern besides at graduation. Which is pretty crazy!

The wedding was so much fun! There was a photo booth that we had a lot of fun with. We may show you the pics...one day!!! 

Monday

Today we SLEPT IN!!! It was sooo nice. We stayed at Aunt Sis's apartment and she has the most comfiest bed ever. It was hard to get out of it! We met our friends, Teddy, Rob and Todd for lunch at our favorite place, Boulevard Diner. It is soooooo good. I seriously have dreams about their Turkey plate!

Rob caught my garter at our wedding and he brought it with him to show us he still had it!!

It has been such a fun week. I missed you more than you will ever know last night. In fact, you have been asleep for about 30 minutes now in my arms after your first feeding of the night and im just not ready to put you down yet! I love you baby girl and I can't wait to take you back to charleston and show you our favorite places!!!

6 Month Checkup

Today was your 6 month checkup! You are actually closer to 7 months which is just insane.

You weigh 17 pounds 14 ounces. I was sooo close with my guess of 18 pounds! 

You are 25 inches long.

The doctor said everything looks great and your growth chart is perfect. 

She said that you no longer NEED to eat at night. Right now you are waking up at exactly 11 and 3 to eat. She said since it's exact times and with your age and weight, feeding at night isn't necessary. I don't know how I feel about it. I think 12 hours is a super long time to go without eating. I mean I couldn't even do it. I know you should be sleeping through the night now and teaching you to sleep is do important. But I just don't feel ready to give it up yet. We will have to wait until daddy is home at night because there is no way I can handle it by myself.

She said to let you cry and go in at 5 minutes then 10 minutes. Which is what we have been doing for nap time and when you wake up other than 11 and 3 during the night. It's just going to kill me when 11 comes and your screaming and I know that if I feed you it will make everything better for you right then. What if you are actually hungry at those times?!  But I also understand that it's better for you in the long run. It's going to be so tuff. It's funny that I wrote that post in the middle of the night last night saying I was going to miss those nighttime feedings!

Your new doctor is now leaving! So that means we have already been through two doctors in 6 months. On the way to the doctor I was thinking about possibly switching pediatricians and finding this out pretty much affirmed that we need to switch. The other doctor is in a part of town I'm familiar with and there are people that I went to school with who work there. 

You got your two shots today and I was soooo worried. You proved mommy wrong and did so good. You only cried for a second and were back to your happy self by the time we got you dressed. 

We had a fun afternoon with nana and aunt sis. They helpede straighten the house and finally get all your clothes put away! We are so thankful for them.

I love you baby girl and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the middle of the night tonight! But only at 11 and 3!!!! 

Late Night Feedings

You usually wake up twice a night to nurse. Sometimes the first one occurs before I've gone to sleep, sometimes it's like you know I have just closed eyes. I walk back to your room half awake and pick you up out of your crib. We rock, you eat, I pin things on Pinterest for about 30 minutes. I stumble back and go back to sleep for about 3 hours and it starts all over. 

Tonight you started crying right when I looked over at the monitor to check on you. It's like uou knew I was thinking about you! When I came in to feed you I was just overcome with love for you. Sometimes it just hits me how amazing you are. What a blessing you are to our family and a prayer answered. I stand in awe of how beautiful and sweet you have become. My heart is so full of love for you. I hope you always know how much you mean to me and your dad. How much we care about you, love you and want you to have everything you deserve in life. 

Tonight, I'm holding you a little longer than normal. You feel so good in my arms and one day you won't be able to lay like this. One day I won't have to wake up twice a night to feed you. While sometimes I wish I had a little more sleep, I will look back at these moments wishing I could be in here rocking you. 

One day I will miss this. I need to be present in this moment and let it all soak in because this is the best feeling in the world.

I love you with everything that I have precious girl. I know one day you won't want to rock with me or let me hold you but could you just curl up with me? It will do wonders for me. I already know. 

Picture Time!!!

We haven't been doing a whole lot lately but we have been taking a ton of pictures!!!!!

Good Morning!!! You had a GREAT nap at nanas! You showed your mommy not to be so worried about nothing!

You LOVE Sammy! He's not quite sure about you yet, but he is always so nice when you grab and pull on his ears or nose!

Aunt Sis got you some new stylin' sunnies!

They match your car perfectly!

You now eat THREE times a day! Avocado isn't your favorite anymore but if I mix it with a fresh banana and make this face you will sometimes at least open your mouth.

Mommy has needed lots of coffee since you are now attempting to nap in your crib. Fortunately you have more good napping days than bad!

I wish you woke up from every nap smiling this big!

"I want MORE!!!!!!!"

When will it be sunny and warm again so we can go to the beach?!

You are SUCH a big girlie!

Grammy's friend, Mrs Gwen's mom (whew!) made you this cute hat! She also made two when we found out we we're having you! One for if you were a boy and one for a girl!!

You LOVE your bathtime!!

Daddy has had to work 7 nights in a row and he has missed you so much! He wakes up early as many days as he can so he can play with you and hold you. This morning after he got home from the gym and got in bed you started crying. He got up and held you for an extra hour so I could sleep a little bit. You have the best daddy ever who loves you sooo much!!!

And I love you too sweet girl. We go in the morning for your 6 month check up. You are actually 6 months and 3 weeks but the doctor was at the hospital during your last appointment so we had to reschedule. I can't wait to see how much you weigh and how long you are. You have definitely grown a lot!!! But I'm going to be saying a lot of prayers tonight and in the morning for when you have to get your shots. It's just soo sad!!!! Love you baby girl. 

First Trip to the Beach

We finally went to the beach for the very first time!!! It's not like we love 2 minutes away or anything!! 

We put your cute sun hat on, grabbed your sunglasses and a towel and we were ready.

When we got there we realized it was a littler but colder than we thought.

You sat in the sand and even put a little bit in your mouth! 

Then daddy decided to take you to the COLD water and put your feet in! You had them in for a couple seconds sand then a wave came and you had all you could handle!! 

We got tons of pictures on the big camera and recorded it. So don't worry, it was WELL documented!! But this is the only pic I have on my phone. 

You are sooo cute!!!!!!!

Scooting and Napping

March 13

Baby! You are getting soooo big. You are looking more and more like a little girl and learning so many new things!

You are talking up a storm but haven't quite mastered "mama" or "dada". But we say it over and over about a gazillion times a day so you are probably just over it!!! 

You are starting to figure out how to CRAWL!! If we put you on the blanket and put a toy  in front of you, you will get up on your knees and army crawl to the toy! Sometimes you topple over and sometimes you just scoot all around, but one way or another you WILL get your toy!

We have been working on your napping in the crib for the last week. Believe me baby, I would hold you forever but you were getting uncomfortable fast and waking up multiple times. 

For just about every nap until today, you would sleep for 45 minutes and then wake up. No matter what we tried you would not go back to sleep. This happened at every nap time. It was exhausting for both of us. I was so worried about your nap today because Ingrid came so we had to go to Nanas house. It came time for your nap and you slept for your normal 45 minutes. You woke up and cried for 5 minutes and then I came in and gave you your Paci and rubbed your back for about 5 minutes and then you were fast asleep!! I couldn't believe it! I snuck out and you slept for a whole hour!!!!! Aunt Sis and I were both amazed! I even went in and checked on you! You woke up so happy and ready to play. 

Hopefully you sleep just as well during nap time tomorrow. Love you sweet baby.

Oh yeah and this was that one time we put you in a bag........