Anna turns 6 months!

      Can you believe it?  My baby is 6 Months Old!  Time went by so fast.  In some ways I'm glad because seeing her develop and progress is wonderful.  On the other hand though, I miss that precious little snuggle bug.  She went from helpless and completely dependent to curious and an active mover in the blink of an eye.  I hardly recognize her as the same baby.  But she is and we love her more and more.  After six months, I decided to read her birth story again.  Oh my goodness!  Did I really experience all that?  There's definitely some things my experience showed me that I will do differently when we have our next child.  I still want to do a home birth, but I think there's just a few things I think I'll try to make sure to do like eat more protein and do a better job of trying to rest.  We'll see if that happens though since now I have this little munchkin to occupy my time.

     I mentioned last month that her day time sleep was really not going well.  At night she was fine, but during the day she was only taking catnaps.  I couldn't understand what was the deal.  People would ask me if she was teething, but she was still happy and there were any teeth that I could feel coming through.  She didn't cry when she woke up, so we would try to just leave her in bed and see if she would go back to sleep.  When that didn't work, I really felt at a loss.  How was I supposed to get anything accomplished?  On Ty's birthday weekend, we talked with Nathan and Celia about the new Sleep Sense program they were using with their kids.  The twins had gone from waking up every hour to nurse to only waking up about once or twice a night.  I had to give this a try.  We were still waking up Anna to feed her before her final bedtime and we were wiped out by it because it put us going to bed super late. 

      After reading the part of the book that applied to Anna's age group and where she is at, we started arranging a new schedule for her, putting her to bed between 7-8PM and her waking up at 7AM.  This was magnificent!  Why on earth didn't I think of this earlier?  However, the naps, though in the beginning were typical 1hr. 30mins., became increasingly regular 30-45 minute catnaps.  The next thing was that she was starting to wake up at 6AM instead of 7AM, and sometimes earlier.  UGH.  After reading through the book again, she does state that some babies may only need that much sleep at night and there may not be and danged thing to do about it, so tough it out.  Awesome.  So the schedule as it stands now is:  She wakes up about 6AM (if she wakes up before then we let her stay in there so she can understand that it's not time to wake up for the day yet), she stays awake for about 1hr. 30mins. and then goes down for a nap that lasts anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hr. 20mins.  This continues all day until between 6-8PM, depending on naptimes and how much sleep she actually had, and then she goes down for the night.  While we were in Othello for the Robbins Reunion, we did discover that she had in fact been discreetly teething and it certainly explained away the short naps.  She's also slowly becoming more accustomed to staying awake for 2 hours between sleep which is great, but also tiring for us parents...in a good way. :)

      In addition to being outside, Anna is a lover of the water.  She loves to kick and splash and see what happens.  It's absolutely fascinating to her.  Bath time is definitely a happy time.  I bought a small toddler pool and she loves being in it outside.  She would stay in there all the time if we let her. We also got a different tub that she can sit up better in.  The  infant one was becoming more and more too small for my long baby girl.  She loves to kick and splash and flail about.  If in doubt, put this girl in water. 



      On her the day she turned 6 Months we decided to try starting her on solids.  She shows so much interest while we eat and watches every move of the food.  From the plate, to the spoon, to our mouths.  It's so funny how captivated she will be with it.  I decided to try Green Beans as her first food and made the effort to make the baby food myself.  The making of the baby food was a great success and I will definitely continue to try with any foods that don't take much effort.  However, the actual eating of the baby food was not as great of a triumph.  We'll keep at it and hopefully in time she'll learn to love it.  Or at least tolerate it.

Some things we are loving about Anna:

- We love finding all the new ways to make her laugh and giggle.  It's the best game. We've recently discovered that she is ticklish just above her bum. 

- She does this fake cough that's pretty funny.  She's done it for awhile, but we recently figure out that she does it for attention.  That's my own doing.  Whenever she would start coughing or choking slightly while eating, as a new mother, I would get panicky and make sure she's alright.  Now she has the belief that if she coughs we'll come a runnin'.  Or at least mommy will.  ;)

- She's been making the funniest faces lately and I'm really not sure what brought them on, but we've definitely been enjoying them regardless.

Some things we don't love so much:

- Teething is no fun and I feel so bad for her.  There's not much we can do, but I try to give her Camilia when she gets overly cranky and I have some teething circles that can be frozen to help relieve the pain as much as it can, but those little chompers came in quick.  They continue to grow so fast that I can hardly believe how far out they poke already, since we only just discovered them two weeks ago.

- She started rolling over to her belly while in bed.  Sometimes, just as we set her down.  She HATES being on her tummy so this is somewhat counter-productive in her case.  At first I was concerned she would never get any sleep and obviously worried about SIDS.  Then realized that she would be fine because there wasn't anything restricting her airflow and she was going to have to figure out how to soothe herself at some point because I couldn't always come to the rescue.

Anna turns 5 months

      Pay no attention to the late posting of this month of her life.  "These are not the droids you are looking for."*

      We love this little doll.  I feel as though our lives are changing on a daily basis in order to keep up with and accommodate her.  It certainly keeps us on our toes and always guessing.  She has gotten so big....and heavy!  It's no wonder after looking at how creamy my breastmilk is.  Stuff is FULL of calories.  When I pump in the morning I'll have maybe an ounce of foremilk and the rest is all cream.  I guess that means we're both eating well.  Haha.

      We went on our first road trip with Anna and she did great!  Ty's parents have a timeshare in Idaho that we've been to a few times and they offered to let us and Ty's brother, Nathan, and his wife, Cecilia stay for a weekend.  It is a 3 hour drive from Othello and she slept most of the way, both there and back.  Honestly, she probably would have slept the entire way there, except we stopped in Spokane for some shopping and dinner.  Well, to be honest the most important thing was definitely the changing of a VERY dirty diaper and to get her fed.  We went to dinner at Outback and by the time we got there and sat down, it was her nap time.  Also, she had another dirty diaper.  I took her to the bathroom and the changing staying was ridiculously too high, but I made due and she seemed pretty comfortable.  She was alright as long as she was out of her carseat and being held so she could see all the peoples.

      When we got to the timeshare, she was grumpy about being in her carseat, so I decided to carry her and walk to the room instead of driving in the car to the building.  She loves being outside and thoroughly enjoyed looking around at the world.  She also was able to experience her first swimming pool.  The pool is a salt water pool and we all agreed that it is much better than chlorine.  I'm not sure if she was just unsure (or unimpressed) about the whole thing or if she was just curious about the other people there.  It seemed like as soon as we made it to the pool the rest of the people there decided to come.  Pool time was short, but it was fun to see her experience something new.  We also celebrated Ty's birthday while we were there and ate the delicious Oreo cake I made.  Seriously, it was so good.  I almost died from the absurd amount of calories, but so worth it.  I'm sure Anna enjoyed it vicariously through the milk.  :)

Somethings we are loving about Anna:

- I know I say it every time, but this girl's laugh is amazing.  When she smiles, her entire face lights up and I get so happy.  

- She has a new found fascination with her feet.  She can now reach them and loves to play with them when she's laying down.  

- Her babbling is precious.  When she wakes up she doesn't cry very often (which is another thing we love), but she will lay there looking around the room, playing with either her hands or feet, and just babble away.  When she inserts a little giggle is the best.  

- She absolutely LOVES to be outside.  Going on walks in her stroller is a guaranteed way to get to calm down if she gets cranky, but it's also just a nice way to enjoy the day.  She just loves to look at everything.  

- She just started doing this huffing and puffing face, that is hilarious.  She scrunches up her nose and furrows her brow and starts huffing with her nose.  I'm not sure yet what motivates this action, but it's hard to watch without laughing.  I can not watch this video without laughing.

Somethings we aren't loving so much:

- We've finally reached that point.  The point where she pulls my hair.  Cutting it would be pointless because I usually have my hair up in a bun all day, but she grabs the back and gets a pretty dang good grip.  Needless to say, I've lost a few strands.  

- This girl is one active baby.  Diaper changes have become quite the accomplishment now that she rolls willy nilly.  Dirty diapers are obviously the worst for this.  No matter how fast I go, I barely finish in time.  Sometimes not even then.  Oy!

- She is a great night time sleeper, but naps during the day are just rough going.  They really are just cat naps.  I'll talk about the different approaches we've taken with her entire sleep routine in her next month post.

Anna turns 4 Months

      I'm waaay behind in writing this.  As you can imagine, my life is crazy and Anna keeps me quite busy.  This leaves little time for much else.  Before you know it, she'll be 5 months!

      The problem with babies is that just when you have what makes them happy or calm or laugh figured out, they go and change the rules and they give you the look of confusion as if to say, "Mom, that's so last week.  I've moved on.  Get with the program."  However, once we do find the newest thing, the happiness is absolute.  Anna definitely keeps us on our toes.  It's just incredible how fast she's grown and quickly she's learned new things.  I swear she changes with every blink of an eye.

      After she rolled over just a few days shy of turning 3 months (on Mother's Day no less) she rolled a few more times that week and then decided she was done for awhile.  She would continue to roll to her side, but that's as far as she went and I didn't expect more than that.  Then after a few weeks, she apparently wanted to give it another try and we now can't put her down on the ground without her trying to roll over onto her tummy.  This makes diaper changes all the more difficult of course....especially poopy ones.  Blech! At first, she would roll over and remember how much she HATED tummy time and start freaking out.  So we'd put her on her back again, but just as quickly she would roll back to her tummy.  Every once in awhile we'd leave her there so she could get use to it, but my mommy guilt would kick in and I caved.  Soon, it wasn't that she didn't like being on her tummy so much as she was frustrated that her attempts at movement got her nowhere.  Well, at least not very far.  Her squirming consisted of her smacking her face down to the ground and wiggling her bum and legs.  Quite adorable, but not very effective.

      I'm afraid we must have sheltered out little lady love too much because when she encounters people  other than Ty and I, she gives them this blank stare as if she's sizing them up or wondering what the heck they are doing.  Every once in awhile she'll flash 'em a smile, but mostly they are reserved for mommy and daddy.  Don't get me wrong, I love being her favorite, but I don't want to her to be too shy around everyone.  Especially since she's so adorable, all need to be in on the fun she is capable of creating. 

      We decided to head to Moses Lake for Memorial Day weekend and that was probably the roughest time she's ever had.  Nap times were ridiculous and she hadn't been acting like our happy little girl for about a week.  Ty and I were stressed to the max.  On Monday, when we went home, we decided to stop in Othello for a bit to hang out with Ty's family.  At some point, something set this poor little girl off and she began a screaming fit that lasted the better part of 2-3 hours.  Ty's dad did some muscle testing for her and found a flood of things.  We decided to feed her early and she promptly fell asleep.  She was better the next day, but still a bit cranky.  However, that night I had developed a clogged milk duct and during a pumping session I became very sick, very quickly.  I earned myself a fever and took a hot bath to help relieve it.  I felt so out of it, but continued to pump more frequently than usual to get rid of the clog.  The clog lasted for about a week and a half and though it's gone, it helped lower my already insufficient supply, on the affected side.  It seems that that duct is now closed for business.  My supply did go back up, though it's still behind what she's eating.  Needless to say, I'm anxiously awaiting the 6 month mark.

Some things we are loving about Anna:

- Her smiles are a constant joy and getting her to smile is my favorite game.  I love that when she gets placed with someone else, she stares at me until we smile at each other.  It's like we have secrets jokes no one else knows.

- Her laugh.  Oh my goodness, the giggle fits she goes into are so fun and her laugh is contagious.  Daddy's still best at getting her to laugh and finding all her tickle spots, but I love listening in.  She loves when you laugh with her, it definitely helps to keep her going. 

- Sleep...pretty good.  Still 6-8 hours, sometimes more if we're really lucky.  We finally started putting her in her own bed at night and during nap times.  The first night I died a little on the inside.  I missed having her next to me so much and was worried I wouldn't be able to tell if she was okay.  I've gotten better, but I still miss waking up to her smile.  

- She has started really loving her tongue and sticks it out whenever she's happy and being goofy.  It's so funny. 

- She loves to do crunches.  She's a big fitness fanatic.  ;)  Just kidding.  She's really trying to sit up and loves it when I help her to sit up or stand. 

-This one isn't necessarily about her as much as it is this new stuff we've been using to treat her head (and now body) of the eczema.  It's called Yoreganics Bye Bye Balm.  Love it!  We saw results right away and it's not as greasy as the coconut oil alone.  We actually ran out and by the next day you could tell.  I definitely made sure to order more.

Some things we aren't loving so much:

- Though we love seeing her smile and laugh, it's IMPOSSIBLE to get her to do it on camera.  As soon as it's within her view, she's stops everything and just stares at this strange contraption pointed in her face.  Getting a picture of her smile or a video of her laugh is quite the accomplishment if it does happen.

- Baby throw up.  It's not awesome. 

-She sleeps well when she does sleep, but getting her there, at night in particular is just crazy.  She can be in her swing or her bouncer and have finally fallen asleep, then as soon as we pick her up, awake.  We put her in her swaddler and had to make sure not wake her then.  It's funny, we could be watching something and it could be loud, but she wouldn't wake up.  You lift her out of her swing and bam, she's awake.  Ugh.

My Favorite Baby Items Newborn to 4 Months

      Though my daughter is only a few months old, I've been able to get a lot of hours worth of use out of certain items.  These have become my favorites/can't-do-withouts.  You might be able to go without them or think they are silly, but these are what have worked for us and I'd like to make mention of them for future reference. (All links to these items are attached to their respective pictures.)

Baby Connect (Activity Tracker) app:

      The veteran moms will probably laugh and think I'm such a silly first timer, but I don't care.  This app has saved my sanity.  It tracks EVERYTHING.  Eating (nursing, bottle, for older kids solids), pumping, sleep, diaper changes, doctors appointments, weight, height, length, milestones, the works.  It will even give you graphs of your data and show you the amounts entered in each day.  My favorite feature is the reminder alarms.  I like to be reminded when I need to pump and when Anna needs to eat.  You can get the app for your iPhone, iPad, Android or you can go to the website.

Arm's Reach Cosleeper:

      From the beginning, I wanted my baby to sleep close and to be able to form that bond right away.  I loved (she just moved into her crib in her own room...I died a little) being able to look over at her in the morning and see her beautiful smile when I said, "Good Morning."  I really did love waking up to both my loves every morning.  Though I didn't love getting up in the middle of the night sometimes, it made it easier to take care of her right away with her being right there.  Due to my need to recover and lack of ability to do much other than feed Anna, Ty had her on his side of the bed for the first week or two.  Both of us agree that we were glad we had the cosleeper and and that she was so close to us.  This also collapsible so it has been great for traveling.  The pouches on the side were great for holding ready diapers and wipes and the bottom held the bigger supply.  It was annoying to break it down and dealing with all the locks and such, but I've kinda got the hang of it so that it takes about a minute.

First Years Close and Secure Cosleeper:

      Another cosleeper?  Why yes.  We used this to elevate Anna when she was still a little tiny.  My mom used it and put it on the futon when she would take her for the night while she was here helping out.  She loved it.  This also folds up and making it, too, great for traveling.  If we had a King size bed, we would definitely use it to put her in the middle.  My favorite thing about it is the little night light at the top.  It also makes for a great changing pad.

Snug & Tug Swaddler:

      This was a purchase suggested by my mom because of how well the one my sister-in-law uses for her kiddos worked for them.  I never really gave much thought to swaddling.  Anna has always loved having her hands close to her and we've encouraged it, however at night she can swat at herself and wake herself up.  This means that mommy and/or daddy wakes up.  Once we figured out how it worked, which really turned out to be super easy, we put her in it every night and haven't had trouble with her waking up earlier than she normally would.  The velcro makes it really easy to wrap and hold together without worrying that it will come undone.  That being said, no swaddler is immune to the wiggly-houdini hands of a baby.  For the most part though if you make it tight enough there should be no escapes.

My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow:

      In the beginning, I thought I was going to be an exclusive breastfeeding mother.  Things didn't turn out that way, exactly, but while I was breastfeeding I loved it.  It lifted Anna high enough and I really like the back support it offered by wrapping around me.  The pouch in the front was great for holding Lasinoh and the nipple shield in between feedings.

Fisher Price Papasan Cradle Swing:

       I love, LOVE, this swing.  Hands down one of the best things we bought.  It really is great for her to hang out in while I get things done and she swings away and watches the pretty lights and butterflies above her head.  Anna loves it!  It really helps to get her to give into sleep when she's fighting it.  The great thing about this swing is that you can adjust it to swing back and forth or side to side. 

Fisher Price Calming Vibrations Bouncer:

      Ours doesn't look quite like this and it doesn't have the bar with the danglies, but it's basically the same type.  This is the second best way to get her to calm down or fall asleep.  At first she wasn't a fan of the vibration option, but I think she grew into it.  She definitely loves the bouncing though. 

Moby Wrap:

      A friend gifted me the Evenflo BabyGo carrier and we've tried a few times and neither us or the baby cared for it.  It just seemed difficult to figure out.  The Moby, however, was really simple.  Anna loves being wrapped up close and snuggly.  Especially when she was brand new.  In the beginning, THIS was definitely a guarantee that she would fall asleep.  Can you tell that was a big deal?  Haha.  She is always very secure and leaves my hands and arms available to get things done.  

Aden & Anais Burp Cloths:

      Nobody likes baby throw up, well any kind of throw up for that matter, but it happens and there really isn't any way to avoid it.  Burp cloths are a must.  Of all the ones I have, the Aden & Anais ones are THE best.  They are super absorbent and large.  I really love the way they curve in the middle so it fits nicely on the shoulder.  When she is older they can be used as bibs with the help of the little snaps on the ends.  I have three of these and so wish I had more.  I got them on Babysteals.com for a bargain.

 Simple Saline Spray:

      The first time Anna became congested, I kind of freaked out.  I didn't know what to do and how to help her get over that.  I used the suction bulb, but it just didn't seem to do much.  Then I did some researching and remembered that my brother and sister-in-law gave us this stuff (actually it isn't the baby kind, but seemed to be just fine).  I enlisted Ty's help with holding her down so I could spray and suction with better ease.  Anna hated the experience, but eventually sort of got used to the routine.  Lay down while daddy holds her still, mommy sprays the saline up the nose, wait a little bit, then mommy uses the suction bulb to get out any mucus possible.  By using the saline spray, you can actually get the bulb further in (because apparently you're supposed to go as deep as you can) and get more accomplished.  I firmly believe this helped relieve her congestion much quicker than normal.  The saline itself helps to fight off infection and virus.  All-in-all, I will definitely always have this stuff handy.

Escali Baby/Toddler Scale:

       This was a Zulily purchase and I have not regretted it, though it was a bit of a splurge.  I love being able to check her weight at will and it's incredibly accurate and easy to read.  It works a lot like a kitchen food scale in that you can adjust the unit type, tare, and memory.  I really like the tare feature so that I can lay a blanket down and it doesn't count towards her weight and she can be warm.  Once she's old enough, the cradle portion can be removed and she can stand on a small scale.  I love using it!

Breast Pumps

This was definitely deserving of it's own category.

Phillips Avent Manual Pump:

      When we first started with breast feeding, I wasn't sure my milk was coming in and if Anna was getting enough from me (something that would later be proven).  So we decided to get a manual pump because the one I had bought at a garage sale wasn't giving me any suction (that's the next one).  Ginger had suggested the Avent bottles and so we went with their manual pump.  It took a little getting used to, but eventually I got the hang of pumping and was able to get the suction I needed to produce.  Turns out what I needed was the massage cushion with the five petals to help initiate the let down.  This was a great benefit, but manual takes a lot of effort and my hands were killing me by the end.  Also, it seemed like the bottle kept untwisting somehow and I had to keep checking it to make sure it stayed in place. 

Medela Single Deluxe Breast Pump:

      At some point, I had had enough of the manual and thought I'd give the electric one I bought at the garage sale a try.  At first, it was the same story as before and I didn't get any suction.  Then, I decided to put on the massage cushion and whoala!  Finally, I didn't have to keep doing it the hard way.  It really was great to finally not have to manually pump anymore. 

Phillips Avent Massage Cushion for Let Down:

      After awhile of pumping, I was finally able to not need the cushions, but like I said, in the beginning it was completely necessary for me and are good for those of us who are flat or inverted.  Though they are Phillips brand they fit on all of my Medela breastsheilds. 

Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with On the Go Tote:

       As great as the electric pump was, it was still a single.  Doing one side at a time was taking a really long time and it was starting to wear on me.  Ty and I discussed it and agreed that a double pump would be a great investment because I would still be using it for awhile and then it would come in handy with any future children.  BEST DECISION EVER!!  It, obviously, takes half the time and when we go somewhere it's really easy to pack up and take.  I highly recommend it if you are in the market.  

      It's important to note that a lot of the regular baby items were thrifted by garage sale or craigslist.  Just because it's your first doesn't mean you should spend an outrageous amount of money.  Nearly all of Anna's clothes are hand-me-downs.  Not like she knows.  

      I hope this might be of some help to someone.  If not, it was good for me to get it all down so I can remember for the next little one.  What are/were your favorite things to use for your baby during the first four months?  I'd love to compare since these are the only things I've used so far. 

Anna is 3 Months

      My baby is constantly getting bigger and it's out of control.  I love it though.  I love seeing what new things she can do and discover.  I'm getting a little bit better at getting things done, though I'm sure it will still be a struggle as long as I have kids in our home.  Ty and I decided to start trying to lose weight together and I'm loving having a buddy in that area.  After giving birth and losing that weight I started gaining again and all too swiftly for my liking so I'm taking action.  Really the best part of it all is that now we're eating normal meals at a fairly decent time.  My husband is much pleased.  We both have already lost weight and it's very motivating.  I love weigh-in days that are positive!  Well, negative....you know what I mean.  :)

Some things we are loving about Anna right now.

-  Her smile.  I just look at her and say "Hi" and she flashes a huge open mouthed, toothless grin and squints her eyes happily.  This will cause me to continually repeat the salutation multiple times without fear of sounding repetitious. 

-  She started laughing and it's infectious.  Daddy can get her to laugh the best though.  He has his magic ways.  For me she'll laugh when I make her clap her hands.  She goes into giggle fits and it's hilarious. 

-  She rolled over for the first time on Mother's Day from her back to her tummy and stayed there for a little while, then rolled to her back.  I was so excited!  She's done it a few other times since then, but I'm trying to remember she does it when she's ready.  She does roll to her side a lot and looks like she's attempting to go all the way, but can quite make it. 

-  Baby talk is adorable.  I love it when she has conversations with me or her little toys.  Her new best friend is a bumble bee with a ginormous body that hangs in her play gym.

-  Since my last post she hasn't had one single  open air leak during a diaper change!!!  We are so pleased with this.

-  Thumb sucking has become her new norm and coping mechanism.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Somewhat torn to be honest.   I give her the pacifier, but it doesn't stay in for long and she quickly resorts to finding other means.  The most often used is her thumb.  Considering how quickly she falls asleep when she finally comes into contact with it I'm willing to let it slide, but I'm trying to figure out how to break her of the habit.  As a former serial offender of thumb sucking myself, I know this can be quit difficult.  But I must say, it's pretty adorable when she does it, too.

-  When she's in her bouncer or her swing, she tries to sit up.  It really looks like she is trying to do a variation of a sit-up.  The look of effort on her face as she lifts up both her legs and her head is priceless.  No matter how many times she is unable to do it, she tries, tries again.

-  She gets really riled up and starts kicking and throwing her arms around.  I'm not sure if she's excited or just gets herself worked up.  Either way, it's adorable. 

Some things we aren't loving so much right now.

-  My poor little darling has had nothing but skin problem since she was born.  First the baby acne, then horrific cradle cap.  Now baby eczema.  She has more than likely inherited dry skin from her daddy, so I shouldn't have been surprised that this should show up, but seriously can't catch a break here. 

-  Scratching her face continues and I HATE it.  I really have to remember to trim her nails regularly or her poor little noggin' gets cut up.  Even when I think I've trimmed down as far as they'll go, they still can do some damage.  

-  Throw up....'nough said.  

      I'm a typical American and I love to call Anna by nick names I've assigned her as terms of endearment.  The ones I use most:  Baby, Miss Moo, Punkin, and we still love to call her Squeaker.  

Anna's Blessing Day

      We decided to go to Moses Lake for her blessing so that the majority of family wouldn't have to travel.  Easter weekend gave us a great opportunity to have a bunch of family there and for them to meet our darling little love.  She was definitely a favorite and was loved by all.  She got passed around a little too much for my taste when I wasn't around, but she came out unscathed and never ended up getting sick so I can't complain too much. Her cousins LOVED her and couldn't wait to hold her.  Our nephew, Jacob, was really interested with her.  He has a younger sister now who is almost a year and I think he's is interested in these little being that are actually smaller than he is.  Here's a video of him trying to hold her.  He's so gentle and cute.



      Funny story about Jacob:  When I had gone into the other room to pump, I was of course covered, and he was in the room playing.  So, when I turned on the pump, he looked over at me and asked, "What is that?".  I told him it was a machine that helped me make milk for the baby.  Well, that got him all kind of interested and he wanted to see how this worked.  I lifted the cover just enough for him to see the milk dropping into the bottle and he LOVED it.  He would lay his head down on the couch so he could just hang out and watch it drip.  When his mom came in the room he ran over to her, pointed to me, and said, "Mommy, she's making choclat milk for da baby!".  Haha!

      We actually managed to get to the church a little early and I noticed the bishop wasn't there and wondered if the counselors were aware of the blessing.  I figured they would at least be able to figure it out since there we were with a brand new baby in a white blessing dress.  We waited  and realized they didn't know.  During Sacrament, my mom wrote on the back of a small flyer letting them in on our plan and it was sent up.  He gave my dad a nod and we thought were good to go.  Then, towards the end of the Sacrament Ty took Anna out to be changed since there was a stinky surprise in her diaper and that wasn't something we wanted to leak out onto her dress.  Both of our moms asked me where he was going since they would be doing the blessing soon.  I didn't think it would take long, but apparently he had to change her onsie (the dress was fine, thank goodness) and that was task in and of itself.  When one of the counselors got up to announce the rest of the meeting he mentioned the note, but only talked about the Relief Society activity the flyer was for.  Nothing about the blessing.  Oh dear.  We were resigned to think that if we couldn't get the message across, we would just end up doing it at my parents house.  Eventually, my dad was able to get the attention of the counselor and Anna was able to be blessed at the end of the meeting before the closing hymn.  Everyone thought that it ended up being a great way to end Sacrament Meeting.  Including Anna.  At the end of her blessing, when Ty lifted her up for all to see, she stretched out her arms triumphantly.  We all got a kick out of it.

       The cap didn't end up being used during the blessing, but when I put it on later for pictures it completed the outfit perfectly.  SO CUTE!  I was sad I didn't do it earlier.  It also helped cover up her cradle cap.

      Ty gave her a wonderful blessing, especially the part that talked about us knowing how special she is.  She really is a blessing and a light in our lives.  We enjoyed being in Moses Lake, being with family, and having everyone meet out little one. 

Anna is 2 Months

      We love our little baby girl.  She is definitely the apple of our eyes.  It's amazing how she continues to grow and progress.  Every day she gets cuter and more beautiful.  Of course that's just my completely unbiased opinion, but she's pretty much the cutest baby that ever lived.  I'm in love with everything about her.  How could you not love this face?

      Being that she's my first one, I'm still kind of struggling to figure "it" out.  "It" being life with a baby.  How does anyone ever get anything done?  I almost feel like I'm doing double duty because even though my milk supply is up, I'm about four ounces behind what she's eating so I pump and then feed her.  Timing is everything with that.  So far, I've been working with a single pump, but I just bought a double so hopefully this tedious process can speed up a bit once that gets here.  Oh I hope.  Right now, I'm working on borrowed time to get things done while she is napping, wiggling on the floor, or with her daddy.  Thank goodness he works from home.  I don't know how I'd do it without him.  We make a pretty good team.  I love my partner.

      My freezer meals are gone and I'm struggling to remember to prep something.  Our nutrition is definitely lacking of late.  Hopefully, I can get my mind running again so we can have a decent meal at a decent time.  Wouldn't that be nice.   Anna however, is not suffering and is eating like a champ.  We finally figured out the right amount for her and she's eating every 2 1/2 hours, which makes for a nice little chubby cheek baby.  I love it.  Though it's still funny to me that her three cousins (one of which who was born on the same day) are all in 6-9 month close and she's barely reaching the limit of the 0-3 month outfits. 

      Some things we are loving about Anna right now:

- Still sleeping 6-7 hours.  There have been a couple of occasions where she got woke up randomly in the night, but then slept for a good while after.  I decided to stop pumping in the middle of the night and just wait until an hour or two before she wakes up and I feel much better because of it. 

- Her smiles and almost laughs are so enchanting!  Getting her to smile is my favorite game.  In the morning when she wakes up, just before getting her out of the co-sleeper, I lean over her and say, "Good Morning" and get the biggest smile in return.  Mornings become so much better because of that.  Another favorite is when she's on her blanket on the floor by herself and she thinks I've abandoned her and gets fussy, I come back and let her know I'm still close and she gives me a smile to show she's so pleased.  LOVE!  Ty loves her little indignant cough and when she flashes smiles in her sleep.  

- She still coos, but they are starting to turn into different sounds.  She's also using her tongue more to make sounds.  I can't wait for her to improve her communication.  Baby talk is adorable.

- When she gets really excited she pumps her foot.  It's like a Jersey Shore fist pump, but with her foot.  We have nick-named her Thumper because of it. 

- She sleeps best when she's on mommy's chest.  If she's in a deep enough sleep, I can transfer her to daddy or a warm blanket, but otherwise moving off of me is non-negotiable.  I can't say I hate the cuddling.  :)

- When she stares at me while eating from her bottle or in her daddy's lap.  I like to pretend I'm her favorite person.  ;)

      Some things we don't love so much:

- Her baby acne is gone, but it was replaced with the worst cradle cap anyone had ever seen.  It was really bad.  We couldn't do anything but put coconut oil on it and wait for it to go away.  Okay, confession, I picked at it some, but for the most part there really was nothing we could do.  We couldn't scrub it or  use the baby brushes because that irritated her skin terribly and put her in a lot of pain.  It's finally gone now, though there is a little bit of dryness going on and we still use the coconut oil for it (seriously LOVE that stuff).

- I almost always have to be holding her or having her in the bouncer for her to be content.  Getting anything done is just about impossible.  Unless I can hand her off to Ty it can't happen.  I'm hoping that she is finally getting better about being on the ground or in her swing for long enough for me to do things.

- She doesn't mind being on her back on the floor and wiggling, but tummy time is almost non-existent.  I'm a little concerned I coddle her too much and I'm not allowing her to get enough of that time in because she absolutely hates it.  Suggestions please!  I let her be on my chest so she can lift her head and she does a pretty good job of holding her head up, but obviously has room to grow.

- Nails.  Ugh.  I trim them one day and two days later there long enough again for her to scratch her face.  I could definitely do without that.

- In line with that, the scratching and roughing up her face.  She goes kind of nuts and doesn't understand that if she takes her binky or goes to sleep she'll feel a lot better.

- Peeing outside of her diaper....like while in the middle of being changed.  It's been happening a lot less, but from time to time we still have to change an entire outfit because of it.  

      All-in-all, Anna is a really great baby and we are so lucky.  She's my little buddy and I'm so happy to have a great bond with her already.

My daughter, the model.

Typical Myspace self-portrait picture.

What Four Years Has Brought Me

      Four years ago I married my best friend of all time.  In four years I've gained a husband, a partner, the greatest love I've ever known, having that love amplified which I never thought was possible, most recently a beautiful daughter who looks like her daddy.  Now that we have our loveable, yet time and energy consuming munchkin, I'm even more appreciative of the years we had to ourselves.  However, with our little addition I also have been able to see my husband become a father and a doting one at that.  I've seen Ty with our nieces and nephews before so I'm not unaware of how good he is with children, but there's something different about it being our child that makes my heart skip a few beats to see him love her.  On top of that he is a wonderful helpmeet.  With my recovery taking it's sweet time, combined with low milk supply, I've had to lean on him for extra support to take Anna when I need to "make milk" for her or actually do something about the state of our house.  I can't forget to mention the support I received from him while I was in labor.   He certainly rose to the occasion.  I lead an incredibly blessed life and a lot of that is due to Ty.

      The last four years seemed to have flown by, but at the same time it seems like forever ago.  We were almost different people then and have grown together since.  Better, stronger and more in love.  I hope my daughter (and any more who decide to join our family in the future) someday finds a husband as wonderful as her daddy.  I love him so much.  He saves me every day from unhappiness.  I lean on him so much for strength and he so willingly gives it.  He's my favorite. 

    Ty, I love you and am so grateful you chose me to be your wife.  That you let me be quirky and weird and strange and love me for it (or despite it, whichever you prefer).  Thank you for always giving me what I need and being my best friend.