5 months...

I feel like this month has been full of changes for our sweet girl!  She is really beginning to explore everything that she sees, hears or holds...I love watching her grow and experience all of her firsts!



Weight: No appt this month so I'm not sure
Length: Same as above
Size diaper: 2
Size clothes: 3-6 months, and 6 months
Eating: Nurses 5-7 times in a 24 hour period.  She is going 3-4 hours during the day.  At night we have started doing a dream feed, which is typically around 11:00.  After this she will go about 5 hours..she's pretty consistent waking up between 3:30 or 4 to eat.  The times that I haven't done a dream feed, she wakes up around 12:30 or 1, then again around 4...so the dream feed is the way to go for us right now.  I keep thinking I can skip it and she will make it through the night...but I have yet to be right on that one :)  We did start rice cereal this month, but we only did it a few days because of the horrible gas pains she experienced all night every time she ate it.  We then tried oatmeal cereal, but had the same experience as before.  So now we are off both and will try again sometime later this month.  She is SO ready to eat, though.  She stares us down when we eat and makes a chewing motion with her mouth as she watches us.  It breaks my heart because she LOVED the cereal as she was eating it...but her stomach definitely did not like it.
Sleeping: Takes most morning naps in her carseat...which I am so thankful she will do since we are rarely home in the mornings.  She takes another nap in the early afternoon, late afternoon, and usually a cat nap before bed.  She is pretty consistent on waking up between 7:30-8 each morning.


A *typical* day looks like this:
7:30 Wake up
8:00 Nurse
9:30 Nap
11:30 Nurse
12:00 Nap
3:30 Nurse
Sometimes a late afernoon nap
Cereal at 5
7:30 Nurse and bed
11:00 Dream feed
4:00 Nurse
Again - this is a typical day, but I'd say out of 7 days a week, only 4 at best are typical :)



Rolling ALL over the place...from tummy to back and back to tummy.  Its pretty impressive how quickly she can get from one point to the next just by rolling around.





Sweet baby had her first cold and fluid in both ears.



 

Emma still loves bath time.  She can be so fussy and immediately becomes content when I put her in the bath.



She still lights up every time Watson comes around.  It brings such a smile to my face to watch the two of them together. 





I love, love, love this smiley little girl and the JOY that she brings to our family.  I pray that even in these infant months that she is seeing an example of Christ in me as her mommy.  The weight of that hits it me at times...a lot of times, actually...and I am reminded of how THANKFUL I am for the grace of Christ.

Summer Catch-Up...

I was not good...at all...about keeping the blog updated this summer.  I guess having a newborn and almost two year old in the house had me busy or something :)  Here are some memories I did not want to forget from the summer...

Watson's first haircut!  (8.2.13)

My 10 year high school reunion

Abby's first dance recital.  She took ballet and tap this year, and did great in her recital! 

Zoo trip with our favorites!

This pic pretty much sums up these four: Watson and Hampton laughing, Abby telling them what to do and holding Emma, and Emma probably about to cry from W and H being so loud :)

Disregard the attire...or lack thereof...of the kiddos in this pic :)  They were so excited about the ice cream truck!

My Dabado's 90th birthday. This is the strongest and one of the greatest men I know.  I love him so!

I have another post coming dedicated to sweet Hampton, but here is a pic of Watson and Abby making a sign for Hampton's hospital room this summer. 

This cool dude turned out to like the pool this summer!

My handsome hubby on our visit to College Station, TX.

This wild man keeps us laughing!

Briana and Ella came to visit!  Oh how I wish we lived closer and could see each other more often.  I am beyond thankful for the special friendship that we share!

4 Months...

We have had a great month with our sweet Emma!  She is growing every day and quickly changing from that newborn phase to a baby...make sense?  Does to me :)

Weight: 13lbs 15oz
Height: 25 1/2"...although I did see her squirming around a good bit while they were taking this measurement...so who knows how accurate that actually is
Size Diaper: 2
Size Clothes: 3 months, 3-6 months
Eating: She nurses every 3 hours (sometimes goes 4 in the afternoon, but not too often), so she eats 6-7 times a day (including night feedings). When I pump and give a bottle she is taking about 5-6oz.
Sleeping: Not much.  It takes forever to get her to finally fall asleep, but once she's down she typically takes a good morning nap and she will always take an afternoon nap if I hold her... I know, I know, you're not supposed to do that...but you just do what you've got to do to get her to sleep.  Not to mention I love the snuggle time :)  Both of those naps are any where from 1-2 1/2 hours long.   She typically will sleep for a little bit in the evening too (30min-1 hour)..usually in her swing or car seat just depending on where we are.  She also sleeps any time we are in the car as long as it is moving!  At night she is going down anywhere between 7-8..depending on our schedule for the day.  She will sleep for a good 6 or so hours, but almost always wakes up at 2, 4 and 6...this is why I am sleep deprived :)  She will take a paci for the 2:00 wake up time and sometimes at 4, but she always eats at either 4 or 6...or both.  I think this next month we are going to start doing a dream feed and see if that will help...oh I hope so!!!

She is rolling from tummy to back a lot...which makes tummy time last all of two seconds!  She is also rolling from back to tummy as well, but not as often as the other direction.

She loves laying on her play mat and playing with the toys hanging above her.  She rolls all over this mat so unless she is occupied with one of the toys, she is typically moving herself on to the rug!

She has started laughing, which is absolutely precious :)  Playing peek-a-boo, bouncing her up and down, and playing with her toes will always guarantee a good laugh!

As far as night time goes...she is starting off on her back, but we typically switch her to her tummy during the first paci run (around 2am) each night.  

She loves, loves, loves watching Watson.  He is precious with her so she is already a big fan of her big brother.  I love watching the two of them interact with each other.

Though it seems a little early, she has already decided that she wants to be with mommy or daddy...and really no one else.  It's actually kind of embarrassing because she will start WAILING when someone else picks her up... we will see how long this phase lasts! 

Bath time is always fun..she has started to really love it.  Even if she is fussy, she will calm down in the bath and start kicking her legs like she is so excited...it is absolutely precious!

We pulled out the bumbo and she was not quite sure what to think of it.  She was really nervous at first but then started smiling.  Her neck is getting really strong so she is able to hold her head stable for a good little while, but you can definitely tell when she starts getting tired as she will start bobbing that little head back and forth.

She is drooling a lot, loves blowing little spit bubbles, and her fingers are always in her mouth.  She also enjoys playing with/chewing on her doll and rattle.  Her coos and babbles are the most precious noises in the world. 

We love our sweet baby girl with all of our hearts and are so thankful for the joy and smiles she brings to our family. Oh how we pray that the Lord will continue to fill us with His wisdom so that we can be the best possible parents to our precious children! 

3 Months...

At three months, our sweet girl is just as precious as ever!  We could not be more in love with her!

Weight: We don't have an exact weight because our next appt isn't until 4 months, but I know she is at least 12 lbs
Height: Same as above
Size diaper: 1
Size clothes: 0-3 months, 3 months
Eating: Every three hours during the day, and wakes up 1-2 times at night to eat.  When I pump she is taking about 4-5oz from a bottle
Sleeping: Sleeps pretty good, but still waking up a few times at night.  Sometimes she wants to eat, but sometimes the paci will satisfy her.  She always eats 1-2 though.  She naps 3-4 times a day, with her morning nap being her best.  She seems to sleep best in her carseat, thankfully, since I feel like we are always on the run!  We have been trying to transition her from the rock n' play to her crib.  We are also trying to transition her from her miracle blanket swaddle to a sleep sack because we realized part of what is waking her up is breaking out of the swaddle every night!  We first transitioned her from the rock n' play to the bassinet but still had her in our room.  Then on 7/21 she slept in her crib for the first time at night.  She made it until about 4 am then I moved her to the rock n' play in our room after she ate.  We did this for a few nights until she was more adjusted to her room and crib.  The transition from swaddle to sleep sack was pretty tough.  She loves being swaddled, but was breaking out of it in her sleep so it was definitely time to transition.  We tried going cold turkey but it didn't work at first so we went back to the swaddle.  Finally we just decided we were going to have a few long nights and she is now well adjusted to the sleep sack :)

She loves having her hands in her mouth all the time.  At first I thought she was just hungry constantly, but then I realized she has just discovered her hands and loves to suck on them :)

She is so smiley and it melts my heart every single time!

I LOVE hearing her sweet coo's and the little noises that she makes while playing.  There is truly nothing sweeter than those first noises!

She loves sleeping in her carseat, but if she is awake she only likes the carseat if it is moving in the car or stroller.

Starting to push up more and more while doing tummy time.

She is so very loved by all her family...especially Abby.  I cannot wait to see a special friendship develop between the two of them.

She is very go with the flow, which is a great thing because we always seem to be on the go!  When she gets upset, though, all of Birmingham knows.  The girl has quite the set of lungs on her!!

We love our beautiful angel and are beyond blessed to have her in our family!