Friday, May 13, 2011

Fun Stuff!

Here there my little baby girl...thought I would share some cute stuff by way of pictures and video from the past couple weeks.  Enjoy!

You love your Daddy!

And....drum roll please...you rolled over for the first time!  And your Daddy and I weren't even watching - figures, huh?  The only 10 minutes we aren't staring at you while you are awake (trying to eat a quick dinner together) and you flipped over!

Here's how we first found you

Then you started getting a little annoyed  =)

Your Grandma Frances is back in town!  Megan had a band concert!

And we wonder how you got so cute!

Speaking of cute.....(thanks to Grandma Frances for the outfit!)



Not sure if I ever posted this one...your Sister and I with you during bath time

And here's a couple cute ones of us feeding you some rice cereal for the first time....really haven't fed you this more than a handful of times...but did catch a few good pictures of your first time with a spoon in your mouth!




And finally.....
Here's a "just because" picture - you were just a few days old here.  Remember how little you were????






Sunday, May 1, 2011

1, 2, 3, 4.....FIVE!

Sweet face!  Goofer!  Sweet baby!  Baby love!  First of all, I love you.  This love for you has grown so much and I don't think it can get any bigger...and it just does all the time.  You are seriously the best baby.  I love your cheeks, your smell, your eyes and your turkey legs!  And you are now a whopping five months old.

I feel like so much has happened in the last month...almost too much, I fear that I won't remember all the bits and pieces.  Here's the highlights:


  • You are officially a laugher!  And a really good one too.   You got some good belly laughs going these past few weeks.  We just love it!
  • You started making a chewing motion with your mouth when you watched Daddy and I eating.  We were going to hold out with any rice cereal or other solid food until close to six months...but we got a little antsy when you were making the chewing motion all the time.  We have fed you some rice cereal and you have caught on to eating off of a spoon pretty well!  You don't get it every day...just every once in a while.
  • Speaking of chewing...you chew on everything!  Teething rings, Mommy's finger, your finger, your hand, your foot (yes, it makes it all the way up there!), your clothes, Mommy's water glass....doesn't matter!  If it's in your grasp, you will swipe for it and bring it to your mouth!
  • You have started finding your tongue mixed with your lips and the spit in your mouth.  You make spitty noises a lot now.  It's super cute....until you do it constantly for two days straight.  =)  Spit gets all over your face! It sounds something like this.....phfbssssbbbbbffft!
  • You got in a pool for the first time (at Pa and MiMi's)....it was not your favorite thing.  I think the pool was a little too cold yet....we'll try again in a month and see how you do.
  • We started to get you back to eating out of a bottle again.  Mommy has to take a trip in a few days to spend some time with a friend in need....so this was an absolute must.  We had gotten lazy with you...breastfeeding is so much more convenient (it's right there!) and comes with fewer bottles to clean!  This had made your Mommy lazy with bottles for you.  We tried a couple days of a bottle with you screaming and screaming....and then each time we tried it got a little better....first, Mommy had to feed you the bottle...and now, anyone can feed you and you grab for the bottle and pull it to your mouth yourself.  Phew!  
  • We started you on a little formula too....with no issues.  We mix it with some breast milk (about half and half) and you can't tell a difference from what we can see.  This is crucial as well when Mommy leaves since I have some frozen milk, but will need to add in a little formula to make it last while you are home with Daddy.
  • Pa and MiMi were here for the past week and a half....you loved having them around!  You got used to sleeping at another house too, which we will need more and more as you get older...especially when we go to Illinois in June!  They couldn't get enough of you....Pa always made you smile with his funny noises and faces and MiMi just loved on you as much as she could!
You are not rolling over yet.  We are so bad (and always have been) with tummy time, so you absolutely hate being on your belly.  Bad Mommy.  You love being on your back and have started turning your head and body a ton and twisting around. You get all the way over on your side (in fact, you sleep on your side a lot)...but haven't made that last turn all the way over.  I'm hoping that I didn't do things too wrong with you by avoiding tummy time...you may just not ever crawl since you don't like your belly....you may just go straight to walking, I guess.  =)

You still love your Sissys.  And they love you.  Megan especially really makes you smile this month.  She talks to you in the cutest little voice and you give her the biggest smile back.  Now, whenever she walks in your line of sight, you just flash that smile automatically.  They both talk about how you are the cutest baby they have ever seen.  And not just a casual mention...it's one of those moments where I can tell they are just taking you  and your cuteness in and can't barely take it anymore and state that you are just adorable.

Like I said, Pa and MiMi were here...so here are some memories while they were here!

You and your Pa (oh, and the ears)

Spending some MiMi time! 

Best. Smile. Ever.



Your Mommy and you!

Your Easter dress

Before your swim

Pa and you before the swim

Daddy and you - not liking it so much


My heart has grown incredibly by having you in my life.  I have never done so many silly, stupid things just to get a human being to smile and laugh.  But I love doing these things more than anything.  You turn me into a blubbering idiot instantly when you smile at a face or sound I make.  Your current blubbering idiot favorites are "Ready.....Spaghetti!!!!!", "Super Slow Mo Ninja", and "Duh duh duh, duh duh da duh duh duh"....yeah, these all look pretty stupid written out on here, but trust me, they elicit the biggest reaction out of you, so I'm not stopping!

Okay baby girl, Mommy will have to be away from you for a few days this weekend, so be a good girl for Daddy, okay?  Your Sisters aren't with us this weekend, so it's just you and him.  He'll be awesome, but I know that it's still going to be tough with no help.  Just flash a few extra smiles for him and be good about going to bed, okay?  I love you!!!!!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

A little bit of this...and a little bit of that....

Hi sweet face!  I thought I would write you a little bit about what has been going on around here lately.  You got to meet your Uncle Kenny, Aunt Rhonda, and cousins Zach and Bailey for the first time this past week!  You loved them...especially Bailey and your Uncle Kenny (did he remind you of Daddy?).  They were here for about five days and we had a blast with them!  We really wish they lived closer.  

Zach loved you!  But Bailey was your favorite to stare at.  =)  Your Aunt Rhonda was the best...she loved to hold you and even helped me give you a bath one night.  Uncle Kenny could just make you smile by talking in a cute baby voice (yep...he actually did that with you!).  Here's some memories from their stay....

Zach and you

Bailey and you - what's funny is that you loved to stare and smile at him when you were in my arms!

Aunt Rhonda and you

All the brothers and their (white) wives =)

The Marin Family and The Marin Family (minus our Marin Family)

Goofiness! 

Kiddos

The bros!

Messing around

Enjoying family

Zach and you - he loved playing with you

Uncle Kenny


You are a bit of a dare devil, we think.  And I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing.  =)  You like getting pushed up in the air, a lot.  You like to be bounced all around (sometimes too much and you spit up a little...all over Daddy).  I buzz you around on the bed...you lie on your back and I kind of zip you back and forth real fast.  You like that too.  =)

You are experiencing a bit of hair loss at the moment.  Your poor little head is a bit scrappy at the moment.  It's pretty thin on the top now, but on the back of your head at the bottom, it's still pretty thick....then midway up your head back there, there is like a chop line from where you rub your head back and forth when sleeping at night.  Give it a few months and you'll be as good as new!  Until then, we'll embrace your male pattern baldness!  =)

You are definitely still talking.  You have found a new "voice" too. Gone is the dying kitty...it is sooooo last week.  This week, it's the gurgle voice!


And here's your new trick!


Oh baby girl...you are the best.  I found another favorite moment with you the other night. You were in bed, trying to sleep, crying a bunch....so you must've still been hungry.  So, I was a little stressed, trying to warm up some extra milk for you from the freezer...and you were screaming, crying.  Not fun for Mommy.  So, I'm stressed, you're crying...and I bring up a bottle to you after it warmed up...and your poor little face was all red from crying.  We sit in the chair and I feed you.  Your sweet little face just stared back at me, big eyes and all.  Once you were done, you just stared at your Mama until your eyes started getting droopy.  You were so sweet, baby girl....so sweet.  All of that stress just melted away and God gave me this moment with you instead.  

Saturday, April 2, 2011

4 Months!

You are such a big girl now!  Mommy can't even believe how big you are already!  This post will mostly be filled with pictures...but here are some new things with you this month:


  • You love to be sitting up now - especially in your Bumbo or your new Jumperoo!
  • You drool.  A lot.
  • Your hiccups have gone away (whew!).  You used to hiccup 3-4 times a day...now...maybe once a day, if that.
  • You now go to the nursery for church - Mommy can again pay attention to the service!  =)
  • You went to a 4-hour schedule (from a 3-hour).
  • You do a little trick where you will point your toes if we ask you to.  It's cute.
  • You are officially in size 2 diapers
  • You grab for objects and hold on to them now (and then put them in your mouth immediately).
You are a spirited little baby girl.  You are starting to really come out with your personality.  This is now how I would describe you.  Still easy going...likes to hang out and go with the flow.  But, if there is something that you don't like or doesn't go your way - you let us know - loudly.  =)  We can't wait to see how this little personality develops even more!

We went to your pediatrician for your 4-month appointment.  You are now 15 pounds and 6.5 ounces.  You are near the 85th percentile for both categories.  She was pretty happy with this.  At 2 months you were at the 95th percentile for both.  Everything checked out good for you.  I need to do a better job with tummy time with you - so that you like it more so your head doesn't get flat in the back.  She said your head looks pretty good now, but we don't want you to have to wear a helmet!  Your teeth are right at the top of your gums...and this could mean teeth soon...or they could sit there and not pop through for six months...who knows.  You sure are chewing on everything though!  And lastly, you got your shots like a champ...cried for a bit, then I held you and you were fine after that.  Not even too grumpy in the evening either!

Oh, and we talked to the pediatrician about when to introduce solid foods.  We will try and wait until six months with you.  As fun as it sounds to feed you some rice cereal with a spoon and see it all over your messy face, allergies, diabetes, and obesity are all linked to solids being introduced before 6 months.  Therefore, we will wait. 

You and me had a little photo shoot the other day with Daddy's nice camera.  Here's some of my favorites!










Thursday, March 31, 2011

A year ago today....

This is March 31st baby girl, it will forever be burned in my brain!  Why, you ask?  Because I didn't even know you existed until a year ago today...and I TOTALLY wasn't expecting it either!  We weren't sure we were ever going to get pregnant....and then God completely caught us off guard at my yearly appointment!.  One minute I am talking to my doctor about getting on Clomid (fertility drug) to help us get pregnant, and the next minute she is rounding the corner to the room I was in saying, "You're pregnant!".  Wow...what a ride the last year has been!  And as I look back at all the fears of miscarrying, fears of diabetes and you in my belly, monitoring blood sugars, waking up every night at 3am to test my blood sugar, being very deliberate about my eating, testing, figuring out new insulin needs, levels, resistance, precautions, etc....the list could go on and on...I look to NOW and see you on the video monitor sleeping so beautifully and perfectly in your crib.  And I think, "Really?  I have a four month old?".  Yes I do...you are the best and most welcomed surprise I have ever gotten.  And God placed you perfectly in our lives at the right time.  You are a gift and we are all blessed because of you.

In case you forgot about the day....here's a link to a year ago and my posts about finding out about you - from finding out at the doctor's office, telling your Daddy and then your Sisters!  It's so fun to look back and read these!  I can't wait for you to one day do the same!

http://anothermariniscoming.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

And...one of my favorite posts ever.  This describes how you were no coincidence my dear - you were and are a God thing!

http://anothermariniscoming.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

Love you baby!  I'll be back soon to talk about you being four months old on Saturday, your doctor's appointment and other good stuff!

Friday, March 25, 2011

A Day in the Life...

Hey baby girl....you are fast asleep right now all clean and smelling good from your bath!  I thought I would jot down what a day looks like for us at this point.  Probably more for me and my memory than anything...especially if we have another baby, these are the things I know I will want to remember!

So...here we go...as of you at 3.5 months old...this is what our day looks like:

7 am  Wake up - you sometimes lay around your crib for 30 minutes or so talking to your monkeys on the mobile...but Mommy has a few things to do first.  I wake up, test my blood sugar to make sure I am high enough to feed you (breast feeding drops my blood sugar) and brush my teeth.  I go get you and have one of my favorite moments of the day - your super smiley face when you see me coming!  We talk a bit and change your diaper and smile some more.

And you are quite chatty lately!  Here's a typical conversation with you.  Your Daddy thinks I'm mean, but I say it sounds like you are a dying kitty!


(Admit it....dying kitty, right?!)

And if you weren't convinced...here's another:



7:15 am   Eating time!  You eat anywhere for the next 10-15 minutes.  Then...we play!  You and I go downstairs and see your Sisters off to school.  You sit in your Bumbo chair and watch us all scattering around the kitchen eating breakfast, making coffee, etc.  We also try to do a little tummy time and I am lucky if you last 10 minutes.  Not your favorite thing.

8:30 am   Sleepy time!  Time for your first nap!  You go down pretty easily...especially if I hold you and bounce with you a bit first.

10:45 am   Wake up!  Sometimes you are just waking up, talking to your monkeys...other times I wake you up and wait for that awesome smile to come across your face again.  Repeat of smiles, changing diaper, etc.  =)  Oh, and Daddy comes over and makes you grin from ear to ear too!

11 am   Eating time!  Then, more playing - and you sitting in your Bumbo while Daddy and I fix some lunch!

Sorry Baby Girl...couldn't resist the ears!

12:15-12:30 pm   Sleepy time!  You are like clockwork....about an hour and a half after waking up, you are ready for bed again.

2:45 pm  Wake up!  I get to see that smile again when I come and get you!

3 pm   Eating time!  And play time with your Sissy's when they get home from school!

4:15pm   Sleepy time (hopefully).  This is where things start to not be as predictable with you.  You will take a short cat nap here usually (unless we are out and about running errands...and you still sleep some then too usually).  I've just found a way to get you down closer to 4:30 and then I can make dinner and we can sometimes even eat before you wake up.

5-5:15 pm  Wake up!  This is where you sometimes get a little crabby.  This last 30-60 minutes of the day is a little touch and go with you!  Sometimes you have a split personality during this time - one minute you are smiling, the next crying!  You are just a tired baby at the end of the day!



6:30 pm   Bedtime routine - every other night this includes a bath, which you love (and we do too!).  Other than that, we change your diaper into a 12-hour Pampers diaper and put a sleeper on.  Then you and I go to the rocking chair in your room with the lights low and you eat.  As you eat, I pray that God has your heart and fills you up with peace and that you feel like He is right by your side holding you as you fall asleep.  After that, I rock you for a few minutes on my shoulder and sing "Sweetheart Tree", then we get up and walk around the room for another few minutes and sing.

7 pm   Nighty night!  You may cry a wee little bit, but usually not much at all...you find your fingers to suck on and you're out!  Mommy and Daddy either have some alone time now...or when we have your Sissys, we get to finish up homework and spend some time with them.

10:30 pm  Dream feed - this is your last feeding of the night and you really aren't even awake for it (hence, the "dream feed" name!).  As you are fast asleep, I pull you gently out of your crib and let you eat.  Your eyes are closed the whole time.  Another one of my favorite times each day happens right now.  After you are done eating, you are absolutely zonked still...and I put you up on my shoulder.  Nothing is as sweet as this moment with you.  You are completely passed out, but I am loving every second.  You are all scrunched up with your face on my shoulder and we rock a little.  I can't imagine that anyone else in this world has such a sweet baby as me!  Then, I realize that I must be crazy for thinking this...of course there are tons of other sweet babies out there like you.  And then you turn your head so that your sweet little face is in the crook of my neck, you keep sleeping there as I feel your breath against my skin....and then I think - never mind.  There is absolutely no way another baby is as sweet as this.  I relish this time with you for several minutes, then I put you right back in your crib and you keeping sleeping.

After that, it's rinse and repeat from the beginning when I see your big smiles in the crib at 7am!  This makes you sound pretty easy, huh?  It probably sounds a lot easier than it really is, but I have to admit...you are easy and this Mommy thanks you so much for that!  You have no idea how in love we all are with you!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Spring Break!

Hey there sweet pea!  It's spring break week for your Sisters...so you get to hang out with them all week long!  We've already gone to a Cubbies spring training game - and you did quite nicely there.  (Although they lost to the Rockies...which is your Daddy's team...so we've got a healthy competition brewing to see who you will eventually root for!).  Since your Uncle Ryan and Aunt Nikki loaded you up with Cubbie apparel, you were sporting the Cubs yesterday at the game.  Sorry Daddy...you snooze, you lose...no outfits to wear, then the Cubbies it is by default.  (This is going to be easy to get you on my side!)


Playing with Kyndall at the game

You can tell which team Kyndall was rooting for, huh?  I'm sure you want to be just like your big sister!

Let's see...what else has been happening?  You are right around 3.5 months or 15 weeks.  You LOVE to sit up in your Bumbo on on someone's lap and look around.  I can tell that you are trying to figure so much out, which now includes your feet.  You'll just sit in your Bumbo and move them around as you stare and them.  You are even more in love with your Daddy's "Stinkerbabies!" and love to smile at your Sisters when they keep you company in the back seat of the car.    You are a talker - more and more all the time!  We are currently working on saying "good girl!"...and right now you are just getting that first little "gaaa" sound out.  =)


  

You make us feel sooooo special when you smile, baby girl.  You have no idea how much power you have with that amazing smile.  And you have all different kinds of smiles.  You have a crooked little smile when you are tired and still want to smile...or you are so sure about whether to smile or not.  You have a just-woke-up-and-see-Mommy-looking-at-me-in-my-crib smile.  I personally love this one.  It is followed by excited kicking of your feet.  Then, there is the smile-off-into-space smile which makes me wonder if you have an imaginary friend already!  And last but not least....the I-am-so-happy-I-can-barely-stand-it-so-I-am-going-to-open-my-mouth-as-wide-as-I-can smile.  We LOVE this one!  This is usually when I am changing your diaper on our bed after a nap and you are laying on your back and we are talking back and forth.  Or, when Daddy comes by and gives you a "Stinkerbabies!".  That'll do it for you too!

We are already cycling through different gadgets and toys for you.  The swing that used to keep you occupied when you were tinier...we don't ever really use it any more because you like to be upright more than laying down.  Same with your little lamby seat...we barely use that anymore.  We are looking at getting you an exersaucer because you are ready to be up and bouncing around with toys in front of you to grab.  You aren't too much of a grabber yet...you love your hands and definitely know you have them...but don't realize that you can do soooo much more than put them in your mouth yet.  This is probably a good thing!

You are a finger/thumb sucker for sure.  The pacifier is a 2nd class citizen to you.  You may take a pacifier at the end of the day....but most likely, you'd rather have your fingers.  Speaking of end of the day...we need to work on this!  It is the only crabby time of the day.  Anywhere from 5-6pm, you start to be a bit bi-polar.  One minute smiling, the next screaming.  And then once you're crabby...it's walk-around-the-room-with-you-a-million-times-until-you-stop-screaming time.  Sometimes you fall asleep a bit (whew!), but others we just wait it out until your bedtime around 6:30pm.  I really need to get you to take a better short nap around 4pm.  I think that would help all of us out!    

And you are on a 4-hour eating schedule now (used to be 3 hours).  I always had to wake you up from a nap to eat and you started to not eat as much at each feeding...so I tried this out with you just a few days ago.  Seems to be okay so far (as long as we get the crabby time a little less crabby, we'd be peachy!).  You have always been a good eater....but at the same time, you don't get too crabby when you are hungry.  So, it's always hard to tell with you if you need more/less food.  And the same holds true when I moved to four hours...you don't get crabby when it gets near four hours (you just sleep longer at your nap!)...but you definitely will eat when it's offered!  And you are a bit of a chunkster...so I figured it was time to space out your feedings a little further.  A lot of babies don't move to this schedule for another couple months...so we'll see how this goes!

We are all falling in love with you more every day.  You are such a sweet addition to our family.  You make it easy to love you.