Does Size Matter?

Be honest. Do you like or dislike the new larger font on my blog? I thought I liked it at first, but now I'm not so sure.

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Rain, Rain, Please Please Stay...

...so we can stay in our jammies another whole day :)

Proud Mama

I am one proud mama! Alaina is such a wonderful, sweet, smart, GOOD baby. And as her mama, it's my job and my right to brag on my girl. Here are a few examples of her greatness...

~ She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks
MY MOST FAVORITE THING!!! Maybe I'm being selfish for wanting my baby to sleep through the night. After all, if baby sleeps longer, then mommy & daddy sleep longer too. But I do know that a well rested mommy means a less stressed, more productive, happier mommy AND wife. And if mama ain't happy...(you know the rest). I attribute her superb sleeping skills mostly to God blessing me with such a "good" baby, but also to our Baby Wise eat/play/sleep (during the day) routine. I believe it is making a HUGE difference.

I was surprised to read at babycenter.com that some babies start to sleep through the night at 3 months, which is considered early. Most sleep through the night by 9 months, while some babies do not conquer this task until 12 months. I cannot imagine the frustration! Thank you, Laney bug, for giving mommy the gift of sleep so early on! Muah!


Alaina is averaging about 7-8 hours between her late night feeding and her early morning feeding. She typically has her "late night snack" around 10pm, then wakes about 5am for breakfast. I then put her back down and she lets me sleep until about 7 or 8am. Adam loves if she wakes up closer to 7am because then he can have some special father/daughter time before she is ready to eat & he has to get ready for work. This usually involves him "playing" with her and it ends with a short nap in daddy's arms. So sweet!

~ She is a wonderful eater
I am so thankful to have had nothing but success with breastfeeding. I remember hearing about different problems that mothers/babies have with breastfeeding, and realistically thinking that we were bound to have some kind of challenge. But thankfully, she is a good latcher-on-er and I have not experienced any problems with pain or milk supply, etc. Additionally, she takes a bottle of formula just fine as well. No "nipple confusion" or anything like that. I personally think our little Alaina is determined to catch up with her peers and get out of the 10-25% statistical category. You can imagine how competitive infants can be.

~ She is a content baby
There is always a way to make her happy. Sometimes we just have to find it, but the majority of the times she cries, it's always for a good reason. Not just because she can. She is pretty much a happy camper as long as her belly is full and she doesn't have gas. Food-IN, Gas-OUT.

I'm particularly proud of her performance at my OBGYN appointment this week. I went for my 6-week follow up, and I brought the little tyke along for the ride. I must admit that I was nervous about it. I DO NOT...repeat...DO NOT...want to be one of those moms who drags her screaming, cranky baby around everywhere she goes. I know you cannot always prevent outbursts, however you can limit your exposure in public places if your child has a tendency to be cranky. Like if your kid's screaming in a restaurant or store or, God forbid, church - TAKE HIM OUT! Ok, I'm already off on a tangent...

Anyway, Alaina went to the OB with me so we could show everyone the product of the pregnancy. After all, they have been monitoring her and caring for her for many months. It's about time they got to meet face to face. The appt was at 11am, which is typically nap time. She had just been fed and endured a car ride, the perfect potion for sound sleep. BUT - once I walked in the door, her eyes popped wide open. And stayed open. Oh dear. I was SO afraid she was going to go nuts while I was undressed in my paper gown waiting on the doc OR in the middle of my examination. Oh no. After crossing my fingers and saying a prayer, she did just fine. No crying. She was a tad "questionable" a couple of times, however it was no problem that passy could not fix. She just sat comfortably in her car seat, studying the exam room and staring directly into the blinding flourescent light. This place was fascinating! And now I'm certain why people choose gynocology for a career (something that has always puzzled me). It's for the babies! Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed over her, even the doc who is not the most personable person you would come across. The talk consisted of how cute she is, how tiny she is, her beautiful big eyes, and of course how much hair she has.

Mommy checked out fine at the OB. Except for the fact that I am 12 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight. Where are these 12 lbs hiding? I admit to having a bit of a "muffin top" when trying on jeans. Truthfully, I cannot fit into most of my old jeans. So I guess now I should add exercise to my to-do list.

And can you believe that I actually ASKED to have my platelet count re-checked. Meaning I encouraged Katrina to suck my blood one last time. I must say that Katrina gave me kudos for doing exceptionally well with my blood draw this time. I attribute this to being distracted by Alaina by my side, having endured far more pain in the recent weeks, and praising the needle for bringing me sweet relief in the form of an epidural. I now have respect for the needle. Surprisingly, my platelet count is now 181, a drastic improvement. This means that we can isolate pregnancy as the cause of the low platelet count in the past.

Take a look at my pretty girl, who is now 7 weeks old!!!!!!!


Getting big!


You funny, mama!

Day Trips

Our little family has been on a few day trips, all in the last week, and most out of spontaneity! The last part I'm particularly proud of since I am not in the least bit spontaneous and don't like to do anything if it's not planned. I'm trying to get over it though :)

We went to Red Top Mountain twice - once on Sunday and once on Wednesday since Adam had the day off. Sunday was crowded since it was Labor Day weekend, but Wednesday was sparse - perfect for exploring! After our double excursion, we now know the best spot to be. It is right on the lake, with a great mountainous/waterfront view, wonderfully placed picnic tables, a playground and a beach. There's even mini-golf, but I highly doubt we'll get into that. We plan on going back to Red Top quite a bit since it's surprisingly only 30 minutes from our house. YAY!

Sunday we barely got out of the car since we did not know where we were going and since it was so crowded. Oh, and since we had an infant with us. This was NOT an ideal time to explore. It was more of a relaxing drive. I have no pictures to share from our first outing, BUT we went on a picnic Wednedsay armed WITH the camera.

WAKE UP! We're on a trip :)

Almost there...

Hold it! I'm not quite ready.

Our spot for our picnic. Not to be confused with "the" spot, which I don't seem to have a picture of.

Looking through the photos taken, I am disappointed that I did not snap some shots of the beautiful scenery or "the" perfect spot that we later found while driving around. My mind seems to be a tad preoccupied. Next time I'll be sure not to disappoint.

We also took a small trip to downtown Woodstock on Labor Day. There's a grassy area with benches, a gazebo and a water fountain. Adam & I treated ourselves to a smoothie (YUM) and we all sat in the sunshine and enjoyed the day. I don't have a picture of that event either since we decided to go there on a whim while running errands. BUT I did manage to snap some snots of Alaina's cute little Labor Day outfit.

Wait...I'm not ready!

Ok, here goes...

Possibly the cutest thing ever - we caught her attempting to suck her thumb! It was SO cute in person :)

Alaina & I also ventured out to the office yesterday. We visited with Catherine and Jessyca and briefly Brit. And we met two new people. We got the latest office scoop and Alaina got to see where she spent a good deal of her time while in her mommy's tummy.

Nice to meet you, Miss Catherine!

And Miss Jessyca!

Gooooooo Dawgs!

Well, although the UGA game was quite a disappointment, we still had a grand ol' time on Saturday! Alaina attended her very first UGA football party, and in my opinion she stole the show! It's amazing how someone who cannot talk or walk and who sleeps pretty much all day can be the center of attention :)

Part of the fun was dressing her for the occasion. She wore her black & white checkered dress (compliments of Laurel & Graham - and NO we did not pair it with yellow!) and even managed to keep her white hair bow in for a good hour or so. If I had planned better, I would have incorporated the color RED in her ensemble. I honestly thought I had a red bow on hand, but alas...I did not. Luckily, Poppy & Rah-Rah bought her a UGA bib which included the traditional red & black colors.


Her cute little hair bow!

The family

Daddy holding his little football

David got a smile out of her. I think she has a crush on him, but sorry baby, he's already taken. Plus, I don't think daddy will approve considering he's a couple decades older than you :)

This game is boring...

Maybe our dawgs will pull it together for the next game. Either way, we will still have a fun time watching!

The First Month

Alaina is now 1 month old!!! SO much has happened the last few weeks, and I think we can all agree that we are 'starting' to get the hang of this thang. My attempt for this post is to outline some of the major milestones from the last 4 weeks. Here goes...

Week 1

~In a nutshell: Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep (repeat)
And this applies to the baby only! Mommy & daddy rarely got to sleep, which was challenging but SO worth it.

~My favorite part of week 1: Seeing her eyes open for the first time!
I had no idea what color her eyes were until the end of day 1 or day 2. I was curiously curious. They were/are blue! Not a bright blue, more of a dark blue mixed with grey. Beautiful!

~The most asked question: Who does she look like?
Ok, some people have strong opinions about this. Some think she looks JUST LIKE Adam. Believe it or not, a few people said she looks JUST LIKE me. If you concur with either of these opinions, I would politely say that you are 1/2 right! The truth is that she looks like BOTH Adam & I. She is a combination. She has Adam's eye shape (not color) & hair. She has Adam's feet/toes (her 2nd toe is slightly longer than her big toe). Several faces she makes are totally Adam, like when she wrinkles her forehead. BUT her nose, mouth, ears and hands/fingers look like mine. For the most part, you can tell she favors me more when she is asleep, but she seems to favor Adam more when she's awake and her peepers are peepin! So glad we could clear the air on this subject :)



~What mommy learned: How to properly bathe a baby!
Mommy tried unsuccessfully a couple times before Babelle (my grandmother) came down for a visit to show this mommy how it should be done. I mean, the overall goal was accomplished the first couple times I tried it, BUT Alaina was NOT happy and the process took way longer than it should have. I tried bathing her in her bath tub when she was entirely too tiny for it. She got too soapy, so she had to get 2 baths to get all the soap off her. We are still doing the sponge bath, and it is working quite well. She doesn't particularly like getting a bath, although she LOVES getting her hair washed. She stares at me in amazement while I carefully wash her hair, and she is completely content each time. My little lady already loves being pampered:)



Week 2

~Very much like week 1 - eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat...Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the lovely diaper changes!


Week 3

~The worst week to date, I must admit. All signs pointed to a growth spurt during week 3, which meant she wanted to eat more, which in turn meant less sleep for mommy. She also had a slight cold which lasted only 1 day (thank God). All in all, week 3 was frustrating for us because she was cranky. I nicknamed her "Cranky, Fussy" this week. BUT it was temporary! Cranky, Fussy only comes out on a rare occasion now :)

~We attempted to get a schedule going this week, however it was slow starting. I think this was the wrong week to expect a schedule to form since she was busy growing and fussing. Let's just say the passy came in quite handy this week.


Week 4

~The best week yet!
More sleep, more routine. Plus Adam & I feel as though we have a clue about parenting now. I finished my Baby Wise book, and we've all been implementing the fundamental principles (eat, play/wake, sleep) to make all of our lives easier. It is working! We noticed much longer sleeping patterns at night, first 4 hours, then 5 hours a couple days later, and the last 2 nights she has slept 6 hours straight at night! Hallelujiah! I have spent the last few weeks noting her individual patterns without direction, and I think this has helped us to formulate a schedule for her.

~Sometimes only mommy will do.
This warms my heart. Sometimes she will cry and cry and cry and nothing seems to work, until mommy holds her tight and talks to her. :) :)

~She is much more alert.
She focuses on objects and people and can see farther out. Something I learned from our pediatrician is that during the first month, babies see out of their peripheral vision. So when she appears to be looking to the right or left of your face, she is really looking directly at you. I thought she was mesmorized by my hair all this time, and Adam thought she loved to look at pillows or objects to his side, but in actuality she loves looking right at her mommy & daddy! And whoever is holding her of course.

~Her 'medical' progress:
*Weight = 7 lbs. 9 oz. (a 2 lb gain over the last month!)
*Height = 20 1/8 in. (she was 19 in. at birth)
*Straight from the nurses mouth: Alaina is alert, strong and has "perfect little features." She is a "peanut" in the 10-25 percentile. We all are getting a good report from the doctor. YAY!
*She got a shot in her little thigh yesterday, but she did great. She cried a piercing cry for a few seconds, then mommy held her and she was "cool" in Adam's words. What a champ! I actually think her snoopy bandaid did the trick.





Stay tuned for more updates!

The Inevitable Happened...

Ask and you shall receive. My parents treated us to lunch at Red Lobster! We brought our little shrimp along, and as you can imagine, we left with FAR more shrimp than we came in with - most of which were in Adam's tummy!