3 Months

3 months (I found this entry in my documents from 2 weeks ago lol. Unfinished but whatever). 

What a whirlwind. I decided over the last few weeks that moms who have multiple children deserve awards...no wait trophies...no...cash prizes lol. Natalie is so much fun, and so busy! Mommy sometimes can’t recall if she brushed her teeth before she left the house. I now carry a toothbrush and paste in the diaper bag...no joke. Her hitting 3 months feels like such a milestone! I don’t know what it is, maybe the rolling over (from front to back only), the squealing, the laughing, the ability to grab toys, so much happens at once. 

Nick is putting together her exersaucer as we speak. The last few walks with winston she sits in the stroller like a big girl. I also plan  on testing the bjorn forward facing here soon. Get excited! Cause I am...these are the things that excite me now. lol. I’ve stopped reading my weekly updates from various baby websites. It’s like baby competition and I’m not taking part in it. It’s more fun just going with Natalie's timing. Lately, if I have a real concern or question check with the few moms I know who currently have two plus young kiddos. My mom is great for bouncing ideas off of, but I don’t expect her to remember 25 years ago what she did. 

We attempted to go to a bbq at my days house on Saturday. Epic fail. In total we were there for an hour. 30 of those minutes she was sleeping, 5  of those minutes she was awake, happy, and meeting everyone. The rest of the time, completely miserable. 

Teething?!?!?!

I called the pediatrician today. Natalie is apparently teething?? Seems way early, but when I described several of Herr symptoms the past week that was her diagnoses. She is about 9 days shy of 3 months. After scouring babycenter.com today I read It could happen this early. My poor munchkin :( Dr. Gina recommended Tylenol tonight. We will se how this goes. Natalie recently figured out how to pout. It's the sadest thing I've ever seen!! But still somehow so adorable! I love her!
I needed to do a quick update so I can refer back to this later. Lord knows I won't remember this details 17 minutes from now.

The return of the Colick.

Sssooo it's back. How did this happen. I thought I was in the clear. Natalie had been wonderful from 9-11 weeks old. Now my colicky little girl has returned. 4th night in a row...help!! I'm sure if you're a mom you know I have done nothing different. We do the swing, the stroller around the house, car rides, Bjorne with vacuum, all the tricks are used. I'm hoping this is just a speed bump. She cries from 8-11. She then passes out from exhausting herself for just enough time for me to shower & regain some sanity. Man is she adorable, even when she is pissed!! Then she wakes up hungry. Joy. I'm being reminded of what exhaustion felt like from a few weeks ago. 5:00 comes around way to early. This is clearly not a fun post, just venting :)

Feeding my little duckling now, fingers crossed she sleeps in tomorrow!! Dreaming is aloud lol.

11 weeks

Clearly trying to post every week after going back to work just doesn't happen! I feel like I could write a novel after two weeks of not posting. Well this is my new favorite photo of my munchkin. I'm trying to learn how to use Lightroom (photo program.) Maybe I should have taken up this project when I was pregnant and bored waiting for Natalie to get here, cause there is a ton to learn. 

Last week Nick and I went and renewed our membership for the gym in the neighborhood. I went immediately after we handed in our paperwork and check! It. Was. Awesome. I missed sweating so much and I'm getting tired of this mushy post Natalie body I've been rocking. Last summer I was in the best shape of my entire life and I'm ready to get back to that (hopefully lol). At least close anyway, Nick is pleased with the mom butt I have developed and I'm pretty sure the hips I have now aren't going anywhere, and I'm ok with that. I have yet to get on my bike, but I did use the spin bike a few times in the gym. Nick is a huge help with my schedule, he has mornings 3 days a week so I can workout for a hour. And today (Sunday) I apparently have the whole day off!! He has been up with her since 7:30, I slept till 9:30. And after I finish this post my day consists of the gym, maybe some sun, the market, and making guacamole! I told him I didn't really want the whole day off though cause tomorrow I start back working on Mondays again. I'm happy cause it's an important day for me to get things done at the shop but I'm going to miss my girl....a lot :(

Enough about me...I don't care that other people think they have cool kids, they just aren't as cool as my kid lol. She's fantastic! She play so much, can sit up in the bebe pod seat, giggles in her sleep, rocks tummy time, eats like a champ, is grabbing her toys, loves her blankie, we have great conversations, she hugs her daddy (not really but sometimes it looks like she is), and stares at winston. I read the book 12 hours of sleep by 12 weeks (thanks Jenny!!) and learned a lot. Some of it seems a little unrealistic, but I definitely got some pointers. I started changing her schedule to 5 5 oz bottles a day instead of 6 4oz bottles. She has done well with that the last two days and hopefully I can get her to go to sleep a little earlier than 11, 11:30 ish. I'm generally pretty exhausted everyday by 9 so it's a push to stay up till 12. Eventually the book says you can have them sleeping for 12 hours and only eating 4 bottles a day. We will see I guess, I have a hard time with the "letting them cry" method. 

Last week was the first time I said "I want another one" and actually meant it. Not anytime soon obviously, but they get big so fast, it's crazy. I miss when she was "still to little" for everything!! And she is only 11 weeks...SHEESH! I can now officially tell the difference between hungry cry, tired cry, and I just want your attention cry. It makes things easier lol. She goes down for a nap much better then she used to. Natalie has taken to this little blanket she has and now it's a vital part of nap time. She likes to grab on to it. So she gets a binky, her little blankie, and I rock her for a few minutes and she's out. Unless of course she gets too tired before I have a chance to follow the directions above. Then it's a little more complicated. 

At night she is sleeping usually 7-8 hours (which means I can get 6 good hours). Occasionally she wakes up in between but i can usually put a binky in her month, re-swaddle her and rub her head for a minute and she goes back to sleep.  I am starting to worry about the swaddling situation. She won't sleep as long at night without it. And I don't know how to wean her out of it. AGGHH! I like to sleep. We don't have another doctors appointment until 4 months in august so Ill have to ask about it then. 

She is wearing most of her 3 month stuff. 3-6 clothes are still big on her though. Some of her carters sleepers are too tight in the length area. I have cut feet out of 2 gerber sleepers, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot if we are blessed with another one in a few years. I didn't realize baby sizes from brand to brand would very as much as jeans do for me. 

Last week I put her in the bjorn for a few of my errands. There was 3 stores in the same plaza I needed to hit so I just walked it. Didn't seem worth dragging out the stroller. I read some more info on the jumperoo. I guess I was mistaken. I thought they could use it at 3 months but a few things I read said 6 months. who knows. ill probably wait till her 4 month appointment and ask if she thinks its ok. 

Two side notes and then I'm off to the gym. 

1. I used to be a beer aficionado. yesterday I had an great summer grapefruit beer and texted my friends about it only to find out that I'm lame, and everyone has already tried it. POOP. 

2. Nick bought me a book called "Let's panic about babies". The subtitle of the book says "How to endure and possibly triumph over the adorable tyrant who will ruin your body, destroy your life, liquefy you brain, and finally turn you into a worthwhile human being". I can't wait to read it lol. I flipped through a few pages and it's hilarious. WOOHOOO. 

Look at those cheeks!!

Video of Natalie Talking (sorry about Anchor Man playing in the background :)

9 weeks

Wow it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve posted. Holy Moly! Natalie is 9 weeks old and gets cuter by the minute. She smiles, coos lots, and giggles. It’s awesome. This past week and a half she has been on strictly formula. Needless to say she has slept through the night 7/10 of those nights. Goodness. THe first time she did I woke up at 6:45 in a complete panic. I proceeded to run into her room and make sure she was still breathing!  For now, sleep deprivation and I have broken up. Some nights it’s a good 7 hours, last night it was 9! I try to make sure I’m sleeping no more than an hour after she is that way I can get a good night too. The nights she wakes up it’s usually between 3-5 and she has no interest in going back to sleep. It’s ok...not complaining. I’m a lucky mommy that my 9 week old sleeps through the night at all! 

Natalie had her two month checkup on wednesday as well. She did great! The pediatrician (Dr. Gina) was very impressed with how strong she was. She did some tummy time in the office, and even gave the nurse a few giggles when she was checking her heart beat. She is in the 50th percentile for height and weight (10lbs 8oz and 22 1/2 inches). Her head was in the 75th percentile and Nick immediately took all the credit for her big brain. It was cute. We talked formula, goopy eyes, feeding schedules, shot reactions, bug bites, and what to expect the next two months. At her 4 month appointment she said we would be discussing adding cereal to her diet. HOORAY we get to use the highchair :)

Week 6 was rough in the fuss bucket department. I had a few conversations with some girls at work and they all seemed to think she was colicky. I’d say maybe borderline. One night nick even had a hard time getting her to simmer down and he handed her back to me saying “ok...you win...maybe she is colicky”. Who knows though, I really think some babies are just fussy! The last week though has been significantly better. Her schedule during the day is awesome, she gets a bit tough at night still but I think that’s normal. On a perfect day she eats every 3 hours. Eats, plays for 2 hours, naps for an hour, then eats again. Those are the best days! Playtime is my favorite, she is getting much more interactive with us. It’s so fun! 

I use the baby bjorn alot! At night when she gets over tired I put her in it and vacuum lol. Within 6 minutes she is out cold, it works like a charm. I can usually then get some laundry folded as well. I can’t wait to use it next month when I can face her forward. And we get to use the jumperoo next month too!! So many exciting things coming up. She still loves her rainforest, she kicks and kicks the rattles on there and gets so excited lol.

I went back to work this week, but only a few days. Still trying to get my schedule worked out. This way I can ease into leaving her with people. Mimi did great on Tuesday and Wednesday. So great she called me Thursday morning and wanted me to work and her to watch Natalie! It was cute. Mid July I’ll be back on track four days a week. I think I’m going to miss her. The two days this week were fine, but four days seems like alot! Sheesh. 

We are almost fitting into our 3 month stuff. Another month or so and we should be able to start wearing all the fun dresses she has hanging in her closet. It’s been really hot out so we have been dressing her in lots of tank top onesies. It’s tough to run multiple errands with her in the middle of the day. Poor munchkin gets all sweaty in and out of the car. We had a really great trip to babies r us yesterday where I proceeded to hold up the line with all my coupons. It was comical, but I saved $60.00!! Thats a tank of gas...plus the supreme car wash!! 

Here is a video of her talking away with me last night. Anchor Man was on in the back round so it’s tough to hear lol. 

7 weeks

Our visit with uncle Ian and his girlfriend went wonderful. Nick’s buddy Jay was also here...he is always good entertainment. Funny dude! Uncle Ian was a huge help to me. I pawned Natalie off on him one afternoon and got a ton of work done! It was terrific. Man I need a babysitter lol. 

The last few days have been great though. Natalie is definitely developing a little bit of a pattern in her day. We have lots of play time. It’s insane how alert and active she is. I keep very busy occupying her. I love it! I chat with her all day long and have been getting lots of smiles. It makes my heart all warm!! I really feel like she knows who I am now...mommy!! 

I had my doctors appointment last friday and everything went well. I can EXERCISE!! The nurse in the office gave me shit when I got on the scale. I guess its appropriate to call a patient a bitch now a days.  I haven’t had the time to get on my bike yet but I plan on making time next week. We have been busy this week with grocery shopping and a trip to the mall. She did great with both, just slept lol. But we got all Nick’s gifts purchased for Fathers Day and his birthday! A very exciting month for us. This weekend Nick is in Tampa for a soccer game saturday and then we have a birthday pool party on sunday. We might attempt to take natalie in the pool :)

This is probably my last week of pumping. I’ll have enough milk to get her through 8 weeks. I’m comfortable with that. My milk production has started to slow down, since I’ve been supplementing. And I go back to work part time in a week and a half. I googled how to get your milk to dry up. Cabbage?? Sudafed?? Both random but I’ll try anything to make it as pain free as possible. 

Her poop officially stinks...downside of formula I guess lol. Washing bottles is for the birds. Multiple times I considered going out and buying the bag bottles. She is such a gas bomb though I figure I should try and stick with these Dr. Browns. I have yet to find a sitter for Monday's!! AHHHH getting a little frustrated. It's such an important day for me to work, but it's hard to just sign up to trust a stranger with my munchkin :(

I took a few pics today while she was playing on the boppy.