So Big!

I know she's only 5 weeks today, but I feel like Lila is already getting so big. I put an outfit on her a little bit ago and decided to try some shoes with it. The last time we tried shoes the were HUGE!!! I put them on her today and they totally fit and are sooo cute. This time I put the shoes on with socks though, so I think that made the difference. Still I can't believe how much she is growing already. I just love to look at her. All day every day. She is the princess of the house!

The above picture is the top she had on prior to the diaper blowout! We made the change and that's when I thought to put the shoes on her! Too cute!




I have one more thing to share today. A couple of pictures taken by our friend Greg Poole of Pooleside Photography. If you're in the Southern Illinois area, you have got to get ahold of him for your next photo session! You will be glad you did!

Spoiled Baby

I'm blogging from my mom's today. Daddy went to work some overtime and we didn't want to be home by ourselves again, so we made the trip out to Grandma's house. The dogs needed and outing too. It's been well over a month since they came out to the country to visit their friends and boy are they happy they got the opportunity. They have already been swimming in the pond and rolling in the dirt. It's a good thing I brought a sheet for the back of the car. I'm hoping they tire enough to sleep on the way home anyway....hoping. :)

Lila has been pretty needy the past couple of days. She just wants momma! I don't know what to say. I guess it's my dazzling personality that attracts her; or maybe (and probably more true) it's the fact that she's with me 24/7 and knows that I will calm her in her massive freak out sessions (aka spoil her). So what? Who cares? I will spoil her if I want...plus it won't last long anyway. :) One day she will have a little baby brother or sister and she won't be the spoiled baby anymore, so why not spoil her why I can?

So today my mom or I will rock her and lay her down on the bed to sleep. It only takes her about 5 minutes to realize that she's not in someone's arms before she starts fussing again. So I go pick her up and hold her and rock her, whatever it takes to calm her back down. She's a BABY! She wants to feel comforted and I can do that for her.

So I'm sitting her in my mom's sunroom watching football and holding Lila and I decide that I need (not want, but NEED) to check my Facebook. HAHAHA So I ask my mom, who is cleaning her house for company tonight, to bring me her computer. As she walks in the room, she says "SPOILED GIRL". I immediately come back with "Which one?", with a big grin on my face, knowing that here I sit, me being just as spoiled today as my daughter is. "If the shoe fits", she says back, this time with a smile on her face. Ahhhh I love these times. Then I start thinking about the coming years and my little girl still being spoiled, no matter how many siblings she has, because in our own little ways, my mom has spoiled us.

I hope to be able to keep it to a level of "healthy" spoiling like we have been. By this I mean, not getting EVERYTHING we want all the time, but mainly getting the things we NEED, with a dose of the things we want, enough to keep us thankful and happy for the things we have! I don't know if that makes sense to you, but in my own mind, I'm tracking. :)

I have no doubt in my mind that her Daddy will spoil as well. My dad has also spoiled all of us over the years. It's interesting to think back and analyze how differently moms and dads spoil their kids. Dads, it seems, tend to spoil kids a little differently. Dads will let you do the things that mom doesn't let you do when she's around. "Sure honey, have another coke. Your mom's not here" or "Mom's gone. Do you want pizza or McDonald's for supper?" Dads sure know how to get to the heart of their kids! You let them do stuff they normally can't do. Neil, don't get any ideas!!

I can remember being a kid and thinking, "when I grow up and have kids, I'm never gonna do that to them". Looking back now, I can see that I didn't have it too bad. Things will probably be pretty similar to my childhood, only I will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER make Lila sit at the table and eat her meatloaf if she tells me she doesn't like. That's one thing I'm sticking to and no, Mom, you will not change my mind. How can I tell this sweet face to eat something she doesn't want to?


Since I'm at my mom's and she has the pictures here, I want to go ahead and post some baby pics to compare Lila to mine and Neil's baby pictures. Comment below on who you think she looks like! I think this will be fun! Go to previous posts to see more pics of sweet Lila. The first two are me and the second two are Neil. Cast your vote!

Chunky Monkey

Today Miss Lila is 1 month old! I can't believe it. We have made it 1 month! It's been the greatest ride I've ever been on. She now weighs 8lb 11oz! I cannot believe it. 2 lbs in one month. She is eating very well. Still on breast milk and formula. We give her whatever breast milk I can make and then she gets formula the rest of the time. She is just a hungry growing girl!!

Here are some pictures from her first month! Enjoy :)

Swingin on her 1 month birthday!!

Date Night

Neil and I had our first date night last night. It was the first time Lila had been left with anyone since we've had her. My mom came over for a few hours while we went out to eat. It was great. We hadn't had a night like that in such a long time! We talked and talked and surprisingly enough we didn't talk about Lila the WHOLE time. We have always been able to talk about anything and everything and thankfully that hasn't changed. It's great to just be alone with your best friend and soak up the special times we have together, just us!

I love this picture because she looks like one of the 7 dwarfs...you guessed it, Dopey! She's such a cutie patootie!!

We had a couple of really good nights of sleep this week, but last night just wasn't one of them. Maybe Lila was trying to tell us that she didn't like it that we left her. Nah. :) I think she was just out of her routine. I'm really bad about doing the same things at the same times every day. This is something that I have to start doing because I think it will help her realize some structure to our activities. We'll see and I'll let y'all know how that goes.

Our little sweet pea has been bright eyed and bushy tailed most of the day today so we're hoping to get some sleep tonight.

She loves to lay on her changing table and stare out the window. This makes diaper changing time such a pleasant experience. I just wish sometimes that I could leave her there unattended to enjoy herself!

My abs are SORE!!

Yesterday, Lila and I went on a mile walk. Not much, I know, but I needed to make a start. Plus, I can't run or walk fast and just walking takes so long for not much accomplished. I don't have the patience for it at all. That being said, though, it was still an enjoyable outing with my baby.

That is not the reason for the soreness in my abs. I came home and proceeded to attempt the Ab Ripper X dvd. Mind you, I haven't even touched this workout since last February when we went to the doctor and they said not to engage in any intense ab work. As a matter of fact, I haven't done ANY ab work since that day. This made for an interesting 20 minutes of Ab Ripper. I am proud to say that I did complete the workout with only a few less repetitions on a couple moves. I couldn't believe it. Now, today I can believe it. I love being sore from workouts. It makes me feel like I really did something. And today I can say that I really did something yesterday. Rolling out of bed this morning made me very aware of that! I hope to be back into my pre-pregnancy workout routine in no time!

Lila slept for 5 hours straight last night...IN HER BED!!!! It was amazing. I actually got to sleep with my husband. Of course I woke up frantic a couple times and had to go check on her, but she was fine. After that, she wouldn't go back to her bed, but still slept for decent times til this morning. So proud of her!

How Much is Too Much?

I've been asking myself this question for several weeks now. It's amazing how many times a day and in how many different scenarios this can come up.

1. She's still hungry, should I give her more ounces? How much is too much?

Well Little Miss Piggy is eating 4 ounces at every feeding. We've been supplementing with formula because I'm not making even close enough to this as far as breast milk is concerned. Some days she will even be hungry as soon as 2 1/2 hours after her last feeding. I've heard that babies will not overeat; that they'll quit when they're full, but I'm not sure how much truth is behind this. I mean when does this concept go out the window? I know that there are plenty of times when I will just keep eating even though I know I'm full. I also know that this type of eating causes obesity. First of all I don't want my child to be obese. Second of all I don't want to be the one responsible for my child being obese if it ever were to happen.

Because of our lifestyles, I don't think this will happen. We are very active and even with the times when we "overeat", I will go out for a long run to get rid of those extra calories. I hope I can pass this on to Lila.

2. She pooped again. How much is too much?

Most days we go through about 3-4 dirty diapers, but there are some days when we're pushing th 6-8 dirty diapers. This isn't every day, but it concerns me a little when this happens. I guess I should be happy that she isn't inheriting my constipation issues. I'd rather be going several times a day than only a couple times a week. :)

3. She's crying...again and I can't get her to stop. How much is too much?

I know sometimes babies just need to cry it out, but it breaks my heart not knowing what I can do to help her. I will try to rock her, walk with her, bounce her, swing her, change her...yet nothing seems to help. So I let her sit in her swing and cry. It usually only lasts about 5 minutes or so, but it seems like 2 hours sometimes.

Right now we're sitting her watching some Monday Night Football, just starting because of the rain delay. I doubt I'll make it til the end of the game. Lila is sitting with Daddy on the couch (because she won't sit in her seat right now without crying) showing him how strong she is getting. Her neck muscles are already developing and she is able to hold her head up for minutes at a time. She is already thinking it's a game. After a few minutes she will just head butt him right in the chest or the face. It's absolutely hilarious. I can't help but smile when I look over at them. She's so happy to see him when he comes home; ok so maybe it's me that is so excited, but still, I know she is too!

A lot of people think it's such a good life being home all day with a newborn, but believe me, it's a pretty demanding job. I love my Lila, but there are some days that I'd rather be a work! Any of you who are moms know what I'm talking about. Of course when it's time for me to actually go back to work, I'll be crying because I just want to stay at home with my baby! Ehhh I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too. I so appreciate that my hubby goes to work everyday (and works overtime most days) so that I can stay at home and take care of Lila. I just wish we were so rich that we could both stay home everyday. Unfortunately, we do not live in a soap opera and that is not going to happen. Oh well, one can wish.

On another note, I was going to try to get started on some ab work, but it didn't happen today. I'm 3 weeks postpartum and am really wanting my old body back. I've lost almost all the weight, but everything is so SOFT. I can't stand it. If I can't run, at least give me the strength to get my abs back in shape. So I'm aiming for tomorrow if Lila will be a good girl and sleep somewhere other than in my arms! Here's to hoping!

Birthday shopping

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. What a wonderful birthday present to have my daughter here to celebrate with me! We had such a fun filled day.

Lila, my mom, and I went shopping yesterday. This was her first official shopping experience and she loved it! We taught her all about the importance of shopping for shoes and purses. She's definitely off on the right track now. Lila was such a good girl. She slept most of the day, but was so good when she was awake. It was a great birthday. She even conned my mom into buying a cute little outfit for her. She got a brand new faux fur vest and sweater dress. They are a little too big right now, but will fit her in no time at all!

Since we literally shopped til we dropped as my mother reminded yesterday, we slept in today and just snuggled a bit. She is already growing up so much right in front of our eyes. She is doing so well with her sleeping and eating patterns. I hope I don't jinx anything by saying this, but she's kinda settling into a routine now. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, she's an angel.

Weight Gain

Thankfully I'm not talking about weight gain of my own! We went back to see Dr. Matt again and Lila is now 6lb 15oz. She's gaining perfectly. She's already growing before our eyes!

As we speak, she's sleeping in her crib for a record time of 30 minutes. I seriously can't believe it. We have been trying since day 3 to get her to sleep in there and she just didn't like it. I don't blame her. She's has felt nothing but closeness for the past 9 months or so and to be put down all along with nothing there to make her feel secure would be scary for anyone! So I'm holding my breath that she will stay put for a little bit longer and maybe she will start getting used to the crib.

She's been sleeping in her bouncer seat which is fine with me, but we don't really want her sleeping in our room til she's going to kindergarten! :)

I just had to share this video. This was on The Ellen Show today and I totally cracked up. I hope Miss Lila never has this happen, but I have to say the odds are not in her favor!!!

Click this link to watch the video. You have to watch until about 1 min 30 sec to see the good part!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLFzw4Ya_sA

Sleep and Motherhood

As most of you know, it's pretty much obvious that when you become a mother, sleep goes right out the window. It was a rough first couple of weeks, but the last couple days/nights have really been working out.

Lila was starving it seemed and wanting to eat like every hour and a half. I just felt like I couldn't keep up. I finally broke down and gave her a bottle of formula on Friday afternoon. We really really wanted to exclusively breastfeed/pump for her, but it was just wearing me out, not to mention stressing me out. This in turn, I have no doubt, was affecting my milk supply. Since Friday, we have given her a bottle of formula twice a day, about every 12 hours or so and I've been able to pump. I've started catching up and am even putting a little away for storage! It feels so great. We haven't had to give her formula at all today because my milk is keeping her happy. I feel so much better about everything now. The formula didn't hurt her belly and she hasn't shown any signs of it affecting her negatively at all.

Miss Lila is changing so much everyday. She is also settling into a bit of a routine. She has been eating and sleeping on cue pretty much every 3 hours or so. She has even be having some awake time. This is so cute. She just looks around the room or stares at me or the TV in awe of everything. I just look back at her in awe that she is ours. We made her and she is perfect, even when she is screaming her little head off. :)

Neil has been back at work this past week and it's been pretty lonely around the house. We get so excited when he gets home, but it's like I immediately get tired when he walks in the door. I feel awful, but even when I've taken some naps throughout the day, I still need to hit the sack early at night. God bless him for coming home to a house that is still kinda wrecked, supper that is leftovers and in still needs to be heated up, a dirty diaper and a sleepy mom that, if she had any energy at all would love to just spend some time and talk to him, but really just needs to sleep! He is amazing for dealing with all this!

When we do get to lay down together, I just get all emotional and start crying because it's so nice to be able to snuggle up to him (and I mean all the way up to him without a belly in the way) and just lay there knowing that he's there when I need him.

And today, we'll leave you with a smile!