Pemberley - Four months

Hi little one,
Last week one of my students asked how you were doing and I said, "She's four months old already!" And he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "What? She's four months old already?! No way, Mrs. G!" That pretty much sums up how quickly time has flown by for me and your daddy.

At four months, you...

-weigh 13 pounds, 12.5 ounces (40th percentile)

-are 24.5 inches long (51st percentile)

-have a head circumference of 16.5 inches (84th percentile)

-wear size 2 and size 3 diapers, depending on the brand

-are wearing a few 3-6 month clothes, but mostly 6 month 

-had your first laugh! It was in our bedroom, right before you went to bed. The sound melted our hearts!

-are battling the dreaded four month sleep regression. You get up at 11:30pm, 2:30am, and 4:30am

-handled your vaccinations like a boss, with minimal crying and fussing

-LOVE to suck on your fingers. You suck on your first two fingers, and use your opposite hand to hold them in your mouth

-have gotten sooooo much better at tummy time!

-enjoy holding your head up to look around, and sitting up assisted

-hate it when we put you on your back now

-are "pre-teething", so you're constantly drooling. Everywhere. All the time.

-love to dance around the house with me

-sleep swaddled with your arms out still,  but always in the weirdest positions

Leveling out:: As you can see, the percentiles for your weight and length dropped off quite a bit. I'm not ashamed to say that it scared me at first! I thought for sure that you weren't getting enough to eat, or that something was wrong. But Dr. Gaffney isn't concerned with it, so I'm telling myself that I shouldn't be either. Since you started daycare, you're drinking three 4-5 ounce bottles during the day, which definitely means that you're not starving, you're just leveling out. I only worry because I care, little one! (But I am going to ask for a five month weight check, just so I can sleep at night.)

Happy Valentine's Day:: We celebrated your first Valentine's Day a few days ago! You got all dolled up, as you can see, and just loved on my camera for awhile. We played with different bows, and you wore your first baby barrette. Daddy loves the picture with your barrette, because he thinks the bows I put on you are getting a little out of hand. (Little does he know what I have in store for your five month picture!!!) I love this last picture, because it pretty much sums up your sassy attitude when you've decided that I've taken enough pictures. 

Miss Jennifer took your sweet little footprints and made us this adorable valentine. Being the sentimental bawl bag that I am, I almost cried. Your little piggies are just too precious for words!

It's the weirdest thing:: I've been feeling these phantom baby kicks quite often the past month. They'll mostly happen when I'm really still, like in bed or stretched out on the couch reading. Sometimes they happen so quickly and with such force that I have to stop and catch my breath! Then I look over at you and smile because you're HERE and not in my tummy anymore, and as much as I miss being pregnant (there, okay, I said it. I actually miss it!), I'd much rather be able to cuddle and kiss you any time I want.

That's all for now, big girl! I can't tell you enough how much we love you.

Snow Days and Sicky Faces

Hi little one,
Where do I begin? Last week you got to experience your first ever snow day! It was really scary because on Wednesday the roads were slick by 2:30pm, which is when I left to get you from day care. It took me an hour to drive from Grain Valley to Lee's Summit, and we passed five car wrecks! Needless to say, I didn't feel comfortable driving all the way home so we detoured and stayed with Grannie. She was so excited to be snowed in with you!! Once I dropped you off, I drove across the street to HyVee for diapers and wipes (lesson learned. I now have an emergency stash in my car.) And my decision not to drive home was reaffirmed when I slid onto the sidewalk while trying to pull into Grannie's driveway.

We had a lot of fun doing girl things all night, like playing with your beautiful hair. This is a picture with your first hair roller. Can you say twinning?

We made it home Thursday afternoon with no problems because by then it had warmed up to 60 degrees. Midwest weather sucks. You were tired of being held all night and day, I think, so you wanted to be Little Miss Independent and practice sitting up like a big girl. You can't quite do it on your own just yet, but you're pretty darn close! Your hair, however, has no issues with staying upright...

Thanks to the craptastic weather, you and your Daddy were a little sick over the weekend. Actually, Daddy was pretty bad. He was in bed by 6:45pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. (And you know he's sick if he chooses sleeping over Clash of Clans battles!) You developed a little chest cough by Sunday afternoon.  You never ran a fever, but it broke my heart to hear you cough! I must say, though, that you're the BEST baby. You even smile when you're sick and not feeling 100%! (And those cheeks...ahhh!)

You slept okay from Sunday to Monday, though. Miss Jennifer said that you did just fine at daycare on Monday, so I must have just been paranoid. What's that saying about never waking a sleeping baby, even if her mama needs to obsessively check to make sure she's okay? I mean, let's be real. Is this a sicky faced baby? I don't think so.

Between me and you, I think my adventures in the kitchen are finally paying off. I'm 99% positive that my chicken noodle soup is singlehandedly responsible for bringing Daddy back from the brink of death. Finally, a culinary win for mommy!

I'm working on your four month chalkboard this weekend (four.months.oh.my.GOD!). I can't wait to show off how big you've gotten!! I love you so much, sweet baby!

Little Miss Big Girl

Hi little one,
Last weekend was so much fun! I got you all dolled up and your Daddy and I took you to Oak Grove for your very first visit to my school district. I had so much fun getting you decked out in panther black and orange! I actually made your first tutu from a pin on Pinterest, and I'm so happy with how it came out!! (You, on the other hand, were just a little confused as to what it was).

And before you remark about your headband, I want remind you of a truth I read somewhere online while I was pregnant...the bigger the bow, the better the mommy.

Here I am at the fundraiser, with a few of my former students who are now State Football Champions! It gets harder every year because they get bigger and older, and I still remember them as squirrelly 8th graders who passed notes and fell asleep in class. Now they look like grown ass men and I'm just their short, old middle school English teacher!

After we left Oak Grove, we stopped at my friend Rachelle's house so she could meet you. No surprise, she loved and cuddled on you the whole time we were there! Our last detour was at Grannie's so we could show off your adorable little outfit (and headband). Aunt Chrissy, Uncle Erick, and cousin Ericka were there and I snapped this adorable picture of you and your auntie. She is just smitten with you!

It was a long day for us, so when we finally made it home, I undressed you and Daddy and I played "mostly naked baby" for a while. This is one of my favorite games!! We strip you down to your diaper and take turns cuddling, kissing, and hugging you. Of course I had to take some pictures, and I just adore this one! That expression on your face is priceless!! "Seriously, mom? I'm way too old for almost naked baby."

I will also admit to having a few crying spells this week. It started when I thought about Poppie. I just miss him so much sometimes, and I really, really wish he could have spent some more time with you. He would have been so proud to see you being such a big girl! Then that got me to thinking about the fact that you are getting bigger (your newborn clothes are still hanging up in your nursery. That pretty much sums up the depth of my denial.), so then I cried some more. But honestly, look at how big you look in this picture, sitting up almost on your own! Ahhh! And those chunky baby thighs! I just want to eat them!!

After  got over the fact that you're not my little girl anymore, I made myself a delicious, very healthy snack. Monster cookies. They're full of all kinds of healthy foods like mini chocolate chips (antioxidants), peanut butter chips (protein), oatmeal (iron), and mini M&Ms (magnesium?). One of my New Year's Resolutions was to be more adventurous in the kitchen, so...yep. All. I. Do. Is. Win.

That's all for now, little baby sweetheart. We have a list a mile long of projects to do around the house this weekend, so I'll be sure to update again soon.
Love you sooooo much,

One Year Ago Today...

Hi little one,
A year ago today, we found out that you were on your way! It really is crazy to think back and realize how much our lives have changed in just one year. We found out we were pregnant, your Daddy and I got married...you came along!

But I'm not going to lie to you; things weren't always so happy for us. We started trying to conceive in March of 2013. We met with my doctor and he said that it could take a year or more for me to conceive because of my stage 2 endometriosis and because I had been on Depo for a really, really long time. He also said that if we weren't pregnant by March of the following year, we could start to discuss fertility treatments.

I was *so sure* that we wouldnt have any problems, but after summer had come and gone, I started to worry. Was something wrong with me? I began to obsess about it, even though it hadn't even been a year. We met with a fertility doctor who began to run preliminary tests that checked my progesterone levels once a month...and then it happened. On December 20, 2013, two lines showed up on a pregnancy test. I went to the doctor and a blood test confirmed that I was pregnant. That night I made a nice dinner for your Daddy, wrapped up a digital test in a onesie, and set it by his dinner plate like a napkin. He was so confused when the test dropped on his lap, and when he figured out what it was, he knelt on the floor and started crying with me. We were going to have a baby!

We told your great-grandparents a few days later, and your Gigi and Papa G right after Christmas. Everyone was so happy for us, and we were over the moon. But a few days later, on New Year's Eve, I went to the hospital because I was bleeding and we were told that I had miscarried the baby. To say that we were devastated is an understatement. I didn't want to even breathe. I've never felt pain like that before.

The doctor gave us the green light to start trying again when we were ready, so we waited a few weeks and thought what the hell? If I could get pregnant once, maybe I could do it again. We got our next positive pregnancy test on January 30, 2014. Thirty days after the worst news of our lives, we got the best news!

In the world of mommies, there's a term for a child born after a loss:: rainbow baby. You're OUR rainbow baby, and you're a blessing in so many ways. Pemberley, I hope you know how special you are to us, and how utterly in love with you we are.

I love you, my sweet, perfect rainbow girl.

A Nice Way to Spend a Sunday

Hi little one,
One of my New Year's resolutions is to make this blog better. I want you to be able to look back on it someday and see how much your daddy and I love you and how proud of you we are. I don't want to just post your adorable monthly updates...I want to capture the every day moments that really show how we live! Here are some such moments from this past weekend...

Breakfast:: I actually made breakfast last Sunday! This is unusual for two reasons. 1) Daddy is the one who makes breakfast most of the time. (He's become quite the pancake flipping master, and I've become quite the pancake eater!) 2) I don't exactly have *skills* in the kitchen. I mean, I can boil water and get ice out of the freezer, but that's pretty much it. Except when I saw these scones at Wal-Mart and realized that I only had to turn the oven on and wait 18 minutes, I was sold. And. Were. They. Good!

Chores:: Household chores bore the crap out of me, as you probably know by now. I'd much rather spend my time playing or cuddling with you! But Daddy said he'd had enough, and I had to help clean up the main floor. So...I organized all of our coats! I love seeing all of my hard work displayed so nicely in the entryway :)

A date::  You're way too little to go to the movies just yet, so your great grandma Frannie came over to babysit while your Daddy took me on our first real date. I had been telling him how much I wanted to see Foxcatcher, so we kissed you goodbye and drove to the theater, only to find out that it was only playing in the cinema suites and there weren't two seats next to each other :( We did the second best thing and pigged out on beer and calzones at Old Chicago, and ice cream at Sylas and Maddy's.

That Special Bond:: I was itching to get home because I missed you, so back to the house we went. It was eerily quiet when I walked in, and once I rounded the corner into the living room, I saw why: you were sound asleep, cuddling with your Grannie. This picture says it all, baby girl.

We wrapped up the weekend with some tummy time practice, a few rounds of Trivia Crack (pro tip- your Daddy cheats! There's no way he has that much useless knowledge floating around his big head.), and some tickles.

I love moments like these, sweet girl. I hope you appreciate them too.
Love, love, love,

Girls Day Out

Hi little one,
We've had quite the eventful week! You experienced your first trips to a mall and your first coffee shops :) Grannie and I took you to Independence Center last Sunday, and of course we had to stop at Gloria Jeans for some coffee and cookies. You had no idea what a big deal this was! (Gloria Jeans is the best coffee shop around, and there aren't any close to us.) But instead of getting excited, you played it cool and kept your Wubanubb entertained.

On this shopping trip, you got two pair of shoes (you're a total mama's girl) and two sleepers for daycare. All of the ladies at work call you a little fashionista because you always have the cutest clothes and accessories!

I had last Monday off work because of MLK Jr Day, so we "practiced" tummy time (and by that, I mean you sucked on your forefinger) for awhile, and took a nap on the couch...

When you finally woke up a few hours later, I got you all dressed up for our big day out! We took this picture and sent it to Daddy right before we left for Oak Park Mall. He said your little kitty cat leggings are ridiculous, but that didn't stop you from rocking them!

 Our first stop was Starbucks inside of Barnes and Noble for a green tea latte and (surprise!) a cookie (yes, that's TWO cookies in two days for your mommy, who is supposedly on a diet. Judge me. Judge me hard.). You weren't as excited about being inside of a huge ass bookstore as I was, but I'm pretty confident that mommy and baby dates to B&N will become a regular thing pretty soon.

By the time we made it to the second floor of the mall, you started to get a little fussy. I think all of the lights and sounds and smells overstimulated you, so we headed home. It was a great way for us to kill some time, and I'm really excited to take you to the mall and bookstore when you're older! They're two of my favorite places, and I hope you'll grow to love them as much as I do.

I love you, sweet girl!

Pemberley - Three months

Hi little one,

Can you believe you're three months old already?! It blows my mind when I think about it, it truly does.These last three months went by infinitely faster than the last three months of my pregnancy...!

At three months, you...

-wear 3 month clothes. Your 0-3 month clothes are way too small now!

-wear size 2 diapers

-love to suck on your pointer fingers, but not your thumbs

-are in the middle of a growth spurt, so you're up at 12:45am and 4:30am to eat

-don't seem to mind day care too much

-giggle and smile when Daddy makes farting noises (or when he actually does fart)

-seem more content when we have you in an upright position where you can look around

-finally outgrew your bassinet. You sleep in the pack and play in our room now.

-give the BIGGEST smiles as soon as you wake up and see one of us

-sleep swaddled, but with your arms out now

-find a way to scoot from the middle to the side of the pack and play while you sleep 

-are able to follow bright colors and movement on the Kindle with your eyes and neck

-can grasp some of the toys on your activity mat (you like the musical elephant the best, so far)

Back to work: I went back to work this week. It was soooo hard to leave you at day care, Pemberley! It was so hard. You gave me the best big girl smile right as I was leaving, and I bawled like a baby while I drove to work. Thankfully it's been a madhouse with my 8th graders so I haven't had much time to think about how much I miss you during the day, but leaving you was every bit as hard as people warned me it would be. It just makes me look forward to our weekends together even more!
Love,