Christmas 2014

We had a great first Christmas with our sweet girl. My family came to town and stayed with us and we were also able to celebrate Christmas with Jeff's family, so everyone got to take part in Julia's first Christmas! Unfortunately, Julia got a little cold and wasn't feeling too well on Christmas or the next few days after (although we now have quite the collection of nose/snot related products, so there's an upside!).

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day. 

Also! Julia giggled for the first time on Christmas! Sweetest sound and best gift. 

Santa Baby

Santa said "Ow! She's got my beard! She has a really good grip on it!" Sorry, Santa.

Poor Oscar did not like Santa. At all.

It's so fun watching these two cutie cousins grow up together!

Four Months

I know, I know. I sound like a broken record. But... How can our baby already be four months old? Wasn't she just born... like, yesterday? I think Julia's fourth month has seen the biggest changes so far. She has found her hands. And wants them in her mouth constantly. She has also found her voice. We have lots of conversations. She can roll over from her tummy to her back(!!!). I think we were all surprised when she did that for the first time. She smiles. A lot. It's the world's cutest thing. She looks around for her mommy and daddy when she hears our voices in a room. And still eats and sleeps like a champ. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't getting my 8+ hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. I think she somehow knows that life wouldn't be so good if I wasn't well rested!

The other day, one of the ladies at daycare said that Julia was the Queen of Headbands and Hairbows. I'll go ahead and take that as a compliment. I think there have only been a handful of days in her life that she hasn't worn a hair accessory- and that includes the days we just stayed at home all day! The bigger the bow, the better the mom. Right?!? Hopefully Julia will give me a few more years of big bows before she starts protesting them.

This has been a busy month: Julia got baptized, we made two trips to Dallas, and had her first Thanksgiving. This coming month will probably be just as busy: Baby's first Christmas! 

Dear Julia, 

Thank you for being such a good, sweet baby. Your daddy and I realize how lucky we are that we have you. You are still the best thing that has happened to us. Some nights we go in to your room and watch you sleep- we cannot get over how precious you are and that you are ours (you would think we could accept this by now, but no!). I don't see this stopping anytime soon-- surely when you're a teenager you won't mind your parents coming in to your room to stare at your sweet sleeping self, right?? 

I love watching you grow and learn (while also wanting you to stay a tiny new born baby- gosh, it's hard being a mom!) and feel so lucky to have a front-row seat to see all the new things you can do. 

You brighten our every day. 

Love you, 

Mommy 

Changes

I was staring at Julia the other day (like I do...) and was thinking about how different she looks to me from just a few months ago. 

I can't believe how much she is changing every day. Also, check out those cheeks. So kissable. 

Love this little baby so much!

Seven Little Moments

Running errands last Saturday, Uncle Michael rocking Julia in Home Goods (after her huge blow out of a diaper- the back-up clothes in her diaper bag were a little snug!). It's so fun to see your family love on your baby! I think these two are pretty fond of one another.

The fam + godparents + priest for J's baptism.

All dressed up for picture day at daycare! Isn't it hilarious they try and get pictures of these tiny babies??

Picture day take two! I guess we had a misunderstanding thinking that picture day was the day before, but it was actually today! Oops! Still wore the same sweater because it's adorable.

Friday night Uncle Andrew and Aunt MH babysat the little miss while we went out to dinner with a groupon from my dad and to Dillard's to look at furniture. Ok, that kind of sounded like a lame night out when I put it in writing, but we had fun. 

Jeff went to Fayetteville for the Razorback game (shut out against Ole Miss!!) so Saturday morning was spent running errands with moi! This is Julia at the library- she just doesn't know what a fun place that is yet! But she will.

We ended our day together with a bath. I'm completely obsessed with this girl. I can't say she always feels the same about me. Hah! We call this look "Shriner Julia."

That pretty much sums up our week in pictures! Time is flying by with out sweet baby.

These are a few of our favorite (baby) things!

Babies have a lot of stuff. When we were registering at Babies R Us, they gave us a checklist of "necessities" that was five pages long. We actually had to ask a worker what some of the things were. We obviously didn't get any of the things we had never heard of before, and figured we could do with a lot of the other things the list said we needed. Don't be fooled though, we still ended up with a lot of things. How can a tiny seven pound baby require so many things??

These are some of the things that we've found to be necessary/helpful/nice to have the first three months. I might need to go back and look at this in case we have another little one. Woah, did I really just say that? Lisa, do not forget about how terrible it is to be pregnant!! This could also be a helpful list in case someone comes to me, as a supreme baby expert, to know what they might want for their own baby.

1. Swaddles. For the first few weeks of Julia's life we did not use a swaddle. We were dumb. Every now and then we'd wrap her up in a blanket (we actually watched more than one YouTube video on how to swaddle your baby with a blanket) but she would wriggle her arms out of those in no time flat. Once we got out of our "brand new parent haze" we got smarter and started using the swaddles that we had gotten at baby showers. Julia was not as good as escaping from these and she was able to actually sleep since she wasn't startling herself awake every five minutes. You feel like you're putting your baby in a straight jacket, which I guess you basically are, but it's so worth it. I haven't yet met a swaddle I don't like- we have the Miracle Blanket, some Summer brand swaddles, and several Aden & Anais brand swaddles.

2. Sound machine. We keep white noise playing in Julia's room and I think it really does help her calm down and also drown out other noises. Murphy doesn't seem to care that Julia goes to bed around 7. If he sees a dog/person/squirrel/leaf outside, he's probably going to bark at it. His barking hasn't woken Julia up at night yet, and that's probably thanks to the sound machine. I also use an app on my phone to play white noise if I want her to sleep while we're out and about. I just stick my phone on her lap in the infant carrier- she doesn't always fall asleep with this, but it will keep her from crying usually.

3. Nasal Aspirator/Nose Frieda. First off, do not judge on the nose frieda- I do enough of that on my own. Before getting one, I would dry heave at the mere mention of one. It still grosses me out. But when your baby is uncomfortable because her nose is full of snot and she sounds like a little bulldog when she is trying to sleep, you will do anything to help make her feel better. Before Julia was born (and even afterwards, but before allergy season when she got a snuffy nose), Jeff and I would make fun of the Nose Frieda and its users because it's probably the grossest baby gadget sold. And now we own one. Such shame.

Moving on...

4.Angel Care Baby Monitor. I do not think we would be able to get a good nights sleep without this thing. We would also probably still have Julia sleeping in our room at night so we could watch her sleep/make sure she was breathing. This monitor makes a really loud beeping noise if it can't detect breathing/movement from the baby. Julia is a bit of a squirmer at night (I don't understand how she moves around her crib so much when she can't even manage to roll over yet, but she does) so we've had the alarm go off a few times when the detector pad could no longer sense her because she had moved off of it. This, more than any other baby related item we have, gives us such peace of mind. It's a must-have.

5. Gas Drops/Gripe Water. We use these pretty interchangeably. The gripe water can get rid of hiccups almost instantaneously. I have no idea how, but I wish adults had such a quick cure for hiccups. The box says adults can use gripe water, but the dosage is like half the bottle. And it tastes gross (although Julia seems to enjoy it), so, no thanks. I'm not sure how effective the gas drops are, but if Julia's fussy for no apparent reason, we usually give her some to see if they help. From about 2 weeks-7 weeks we were giving her these almost daily and they seemed to calm her down and make her tummy feel better if she had gas.

6. Headrest Mirror. We have mirrors in our cars that go on the backseats so we can see Julia in her car seat. These are especially helpful so I can glance back in my rear view mirror to see why Julia is crying. It's usually because her pacifier has fallen out and I can reach back there and pop it back in her mouth. (A pacifier clip doesn't warrant it's own paragraph, but you gotta have one. Or several.) Sometimes it's because her headband has fallen over her face and is acting as an eye mask. She never appreciates that for some reason.

7. Bows. I don't know if people just assume all babies are boys, or what, but people are constantly telling us what a handsome little boy we have. Even when she is dressed in pink. And has a dress on. And is wearing a bow. And has a pink pacifier. And a pink blanket on her. Usually these people will eventually notice she is wearing a bow and correct themselves, but not always. (Just the other day a lady came up to us and said "Oh what a handsome little boy! Oh, but he's wearing a bow! So he must be a girl! She's precious!" and then she touched Julia's cheek. Get out of here, lady!) Annoying. So, bows are good to help strangers determine gender when they are obviously color blind. Plus no outfit is actually complete until a bow is on the head!  

8. Cherish The First Six Weeks by Helen Moon. I read this at least three times. And Jeff read it almost once. When you don't know a lot about babies (yep!) this book does a pretty good job of telling you what's going on with your baby and suggests a schedule to follow to get your baby in a routine and hopefully sleeping through the night sooner than later. As a side note, we borrowed this book from Tony and Courtney (they used it with Oscar and swore by it) and I first read it while pregnant and it read more like a horror novel (no sleep! constant nursing! no sleep! did I say no sleep yet?) than a helpful guide to a happy baby. So, around two weeks, I started getting serious about getting Julia on a schedule and followed Moon's suggestions. And now she's a predictable baby that sleeps through the night.  Viola!

We have a ton of other things (again, how can a baby require so much stuff?!) like baby carriers, play mats, tummy time mats, toys, toys, toys, swings, bouncy seats, super adorable clothes, etc. but these are the things that I would actually spend money on/pay full price for (that's saying something!). 

PS. My number one baby-survival-must-have is a Jeff, but I think there's just the one and I already have him, so.... sorry 'bout that. Jeff does about as much baby stuff as I do (including getting up in the middle of the night if she makes a peep!), and that's really saying something since I'm currently the only one that can provide her food. He's the best.

Baptized!

Our sweet girl was baptized in the Catholic church on Sunday, November 16, 2014. We had her baptism at Holy Souls (same place we were married about three years earlier!) and Fr. Erik baptized her (same Priest who married us!). Julia was surrounded by our family and friends. She was a complete angel throughout the entire baptism, even when the Priest was pouring the cold holy water on her head (of course she was! but also, alleluia!). After the baptism and pictures, everyone headed over to Jim and Barb's to celebrate. It was a great day!

Grandma Barb smocked Julia's gown- it was precious!

Julia's godparents and her parents' best friends Julie and Peter. The Julie/Julia gets very confusing :)

The family, godparents, and priest. 

Julia's great aunts Cynthia and Kathy. 

Julia's great aunt Bertie, and her godparents' parents were also in attendance. She is a very loved little girl!

Three months old!

How can it be that our sweet girl is already three months old? This was a pretty fun month as Julia has been more generous when giving out her smiles and she's starting to be more alert. We are getting in to a new routine now that I'm back to work and she's going to daycare. Julia still falls asleep right after she eats around 7 and we wake her up between 6:30 and 6:45 to eat and get ready before she and Jeff leave for work and daycare at 7:30. I honestly do not know what we would do if Julia was not the good sleeper that she is. I'm assuming we would somehow survive, but I don't know how. I like sleep. A lot. Jeff goes and visits Julia at daycare during his lunch break (he really likes these visits and I get lots of pictures while he's there- a win-win all around!). Once we all get home around 5, we play for a few minutes and then I usually get Julia to sleep for a little cat nap, otherwise she gets really fussy and nobody has time for that. I'll either hold her while she sleeps or I'll work on dinner while Jeff holds her. We start her bedtime routine with a bath around 6:30. Julia loves her bath so we usually drag it out for 15 minutes or so. After that it's lotion, jammies, and swaddled to get ready to eat and go to bed. 

A cold front moved in the last few days so Julia got to wear her little winter coat. So adorable!

No doctor's appointment this month, so we had to gather her stats on our own. Our rudimentary method of weighing (Jeff stands on the scale with and without her) probably isn't 100% accurate, but we got  13 pounds. And we didn't attempt to measure her height. 

Dear Julia, 

How can you already be 1/4 of a year old?! It seems like we just brought you home from the hospital. I'll probably always be amazed at how fast time is flying by and how quickly you are growing and changing. I'm soaking in every second we are together.

You now have a routine that you do not like to stray from- seriously, when it gets close to a time where you need to eat and you don't feel like it's going to be happening RIGHT THAT SECOND, you lose your cool and let whoever is watching you know that you need to eat immediately. I hope that you're always able to make your point so clearly (but hopefully you'll drop the part where you scream your head off). 

In your third month, you seemed to start recognizing the faces around you. I'm pretty sure I'm still your favorite face. I don't know how much longer it will last (hopefully forever!) but I am still the one that can calm you down the fastest, get you to sleep the easiest, and make you smile the biggest. 

Your daddy and I ask each other every day some variation of "can you believe she is ours?" or "how did we get so lucky?" or "have you ever seen a more perfect baby?" We are your biggest fans, baby girl. 

Love, 
Mommy

Halloween 2014

Ever seen a cuter candy corn? Didn't think so. And that little monster? The sweetest! 

My mom made Julia's costume and did a great job! The hat really makes the costume. So cute. 

On Halloween (Grandma Sick's birthday!) we headed over to Jeff's parents house so they could see Julia in her costume and we could meet up with Oscar for some pictures. The babies also put on their matching onesies that I made (I now know that the clothes from Hob Lob run small). Julia wasn't really feeling the pictures- she was mostly concerned about eating and getting to sleep. 

And one more picture... This is Joe Dirt Baby:

Daycare

The time has come for me to go back to work and that means it's time for baby girl to start going to daycare. My first day back to work was yesterday; luckily for me, Jeff had the day off so he could watch Julia (and send me a thousand pictures and updates) so I could ease in to leaving Julia. It still wasn't easy though. But today. Today, she started daycare. I obviously know that she is in great hands and will be well taken care of, blah blah blah, but... but... but... she's not being taken care of by me (or Jeff) and that's a problem! Only getting to see her about two and a half hours a day is a huge adjustment and one that I do not like. At all. Hopefully things get better for me quickly. I would say "us," but Jeff's been back to the grind since she was two weeks old, so he's use to it and Julia probably doesn't even realize what's going on- except for the fact that she isn't being held all day and being smothered in kisses by me and Murphy.

Jeff sent me this picture from when he dropped J off at daycare. If that was supposed to make me feel better,IT DIDN'T WORK! Look at that frowny face! I don't even remember this lady's name. And she's holding my baby. And I'm not. Not okay. And yes, Jeff dropped Julia off at daycare without me. I prefer to cry my eyes out in the privacy of my home instead of in front of an audience and/or on the interstate on the way to work.

PS. I'm proud of myself for only typing out a half page of  "Julia's Typical Daily Schedule!" for the daycare workers to memorize. Hah. I could've written a novel on my baby's likes, dislikes, preferences, and every other thing about her. But I restrained myself. 

A day in the life- Maternity Leave

I thought it might be interesting to look back and see how we spent our days while I was on maternity leave. And what better day to do it than on Julia's 11 week birthday! This is my last week of maternity leave-- I can't even let myself think about the fact that my baby is going to daycare next week. Most of our days look pretty similar... Julia is on a pretty set eating schedule, so I typically plan our day around that since I know we need to be home for her to eat every three hours. If I need to, I could pump and give her a bottle, but it's just easier to nurse, so that's what we do 99% of the time. 

Ok, on to the day! 

Jeff wakes Julia up at 7am and changes her diaper. He used to get her dressed during this time, but lately Julia has been spitting up a ton after she eats in the morning, so I was having to change her anyway. After Jeff got Julia ready to eat he had to wake me up-- oops! but I was so sleepy! Hah.

 Julia bibbed up and ready to eat! I fed Julia while Jeff and I watched the news and he made me a delicious carnation instant breakfast before he left for work about 7:40. World's most helpful dad/husband!

Around 8:30 it's nap time! Julia typically takes this nap on my chest so we can both get in a little nap. Yep, that's a burp cloth I make her sleep on- I don't want to be covered with even more baby vom during our nap! Also, I realize it's a terrible habit to hold your baby during nap time, but I can't help it! She's so cute and cuddly! 

Julia woke up around 9:15 I wasn't ready to get up! so I got around to getting us ready for the day. Every day is like playing dress up with my little doll baby. Julia has a ton of adorable clothes, so it's always fun picking out her outfit. Julia just hung out in her bouncy seat and on her activity mat until 10am when it was time to eat again. 

After Julia finishing eating, we loaded up to go to Two River's Park to go on a walk (after a stop at Sonic for a coke!). I walked us for about an hour- I was hoping that Julia would sleep the entire time. Or some of the time. Or at all. She decided she would rather stare at me and the scenery- can't say I blame her. Don't be fooled by the above picture and her closed eyes, I just have her positioned with the sun in her eyes so I could get the pretty trees in the backdrop. Haha. Isn't Murphy's scarf so cute?! Halloween puppy. 

Julia fell asleep on our way home from our walk, so of course I took the long way home to get the most out of that quick snooze. We were back home for Julia to eat again at 1pm. Since Julia didn't take a good nap after she ate at 10, I decided that I would get her wrapped up in her swaddle and try the crib (first nap in the crib- how is that possible?) so she would sleep a long time. That didn't work. After I got her to sleep, I laid her down and her eyes popped open. I was hoping that she would put herself back to sleep while I ate a quick lunch, but no. I got her back to sleep and she laid her down and she was sleeping pretty well until Murphy started barking at nothing and woke her up. So, after murdering Murphy (just kidding....), I tried getting her back to sleep, but she wasn't having it. I tried.

Hi, Murphy! He likes to hang out in his room even when we're home during the day. He takes the neighborhood watch very seriously. And yes, that's a sheet of the bed because Murphy sheds like it's his job. Even though we got his specific breed for the sole purpose of having a non-shedding dog. But I digress.

While Julia was napping, I did some laundry (how can a baby produce sooooo much laundry?!?!?) and changed the sheets on our bed and actually made the bed! I think this might have been the first time our bed has been made up since I bought this comforter a month or two ago. Shhhh... 

We still had some time to kill before Julia ate again at 4pm, so we did some book reading. Here we are reading "Cooking Monster and the Cookie Tree." I remember this being my favorite book as a little girl. Julia wasn't too impressed with it, but she didn't hate it either. That's a win in my book. 

Here's Julia around 3:50 losing her mind thinking that she might miss a meal for the first time in her life. 

Just ate and feeling good! 

We met Carla and Carmen for dinner at J Gumbo's (spicy!). We hadn't seen them in way too long so it was good to catch up and have Carmen entertain us with her five year old self. 

Since we didn't get home from dinner till close to bedtime (7pm), we skipped bath time and got ready for bed! Julia ate at 7pm and I rocked her for a while (she doesn't need this to fall asleep since she usually falls asleep while nursing, but I do it because I love it and I'll probably do it for as long as she lets me or until it starts interfering with her sleep). I put Julia in her crib around 7:45pm and she sleeps until Jeff wakes her up at 7 for the day! 

So, that's a typical day for us. We might normally go to Target or something in the afternoon, but didn't do anything today since I wanted Julia to take a really good nap and get some things done around the house. Some days we are running around all day (usually on the weekends) and some days we don't leave the house at all (we don't have too many of these because I need to have a reason to get myself ready for the day!).

The end.