11 Weeks

Adalyn turned 11 weeks last Tuesday!!  She LOVES her hands.  She loves looking at them and sucking on them.  It is just so cute.  She still loves her little jungle gym.  She kicks and hits the stuffed animals and gets so proud of herself.  She makes the entire gym move!  This morning she was lying under it and made a noise that I had never heard before and Jonathan and I both stopped what we were doing to see if it was Adalyn that made the noise.  It was much more of a speaking voice that she used!  She is such a happy baby!  She will smile and giggle when we just look at her.  It melts my heart.

Last night I was holding her to get her to go to sleep for her evening nap and I didn't want to put her down so I just held her.  Jonathan and I were watching TV sitting on the couch trying to relax when he said " uh-oh!" and I looked down to see two big blue eyes staring up at me and as soon as I looked at her she broke into a huge smile.  I mean seriously! I love her so much!

Here are a few pictures from this week.  She wasn't very smiley because we took the pictures in the morning before work and I think even at 11 weeks I can tell that my child is a sleeper (whoohoo!) and not a morning person.  So that means that she wasn't into a morning photo shoot! :)

Adalyn's First Run

Let's be honest...I gained a whole heck of a lot of weight during my pregnancy.  Don't get me wrong...it was well worth it, but I have got to get back active and lose some of this weight.  I'd be happy to just fit in my "fat clothes" at this point!  It's hard to have a baby right when winter is starting because the days are short and the weather is cold which makes exercise hard!!

On Tuesday night (the day Adalyn turned 11 weeks - yes I do have those pictures to post but this week has been hectic!) I decided that I needed to get my first postpartum run in.  It was 45 degrees which felt mild so I decided that it was now or never.  I could put off that first run for a long time so I just had to dive in!  Jonathan is such a wonderful husband and decided to help me get back into shape he would start running with me. (It's always easier to run with a partner.  Usually Billie is my running partner, but it's hard to find time to meet up during the week to run!)

We were racing against the clock to get running.  We were trying to finish running before dark, before temps dropped, and before Adalyn's next feeding.  I felt like we had run a race before we even stepped out the door.  (I do love the snow, but I can't wait for spring when it's easier to get out without layering and the days are longer!)

Adalyn got to try out her new Jeep stroller.  You can read how excited I was to get it here. Of course with our rush to get our run started I didn't get a picture in the stroller, but I did get a picture of a sweet little pink bear:)  This snow suit was a gift and is a size too big but it worked just fine! This pic makes me laugh.

We ended up running 1.66 miles and I survived and actually wasn't too sore the next day! Yay us! (I will admit that I walked a couple times during our run. I don't usually walk during my runs, but that was before I was a fatty.) OK fine, I'll also admit that Jonathan pushed the stroller and if I would have had to exert that energy I probably wouldn't have made it the distance we did!  I really did feel great after our run and am excited to get back out there.  Too bad it got cold and snowy again! Hopefully soon we can get on a regular routine of exercise! I love running with my family.

My goal is to run the Shamrock Shuffle in one month! I've run it with my friends for the past 3 years so I'm not planning on missing it this year!  Here is a pic from '09 from the race.  (I couldn't find the '08 or '10 pics.)

A Visit from Grammy

This weekend Jonathan's mom came to visit us.  We had a nice laid back weekend and Jonathan and I even had a HOT date to the grocery store since grammy was babysitting!  It's amazing how priorities change with the addition of a baby! :)  Although I did take advantage of my "date" and bought a Starbucks Mocha at Kroger to make my grocery shopping experience even more special:)

Here is a picture of Adalyn with her Grammy before church!

10 Weeks

We are in double digits!!! So exciting! I really don't want Adalyn to grow any bigger, but then she does and I thoroughly enjoy the new stage.  I have really tried to soak in every single second of being Adalyn's mommy.  Even in the middle of crying fits or times when she won't nurse but is screaming from being hungry.  I am just so blessed to be a mommy and I know this time is so fleeting.  I just love her so much!!

Adalyn is all about sucking on her fists and fingers.  She got started on the Soothie in the hospital and she takes it sometimes when she's tired (although we take it out of her mouth when she falls asleep so that she is used to sleeping without it!)  I was ok with her using a paci because I figured it's easier to break that habit than sucking on her thumb.  Well she hasn't found her thumb, but if her fingers are any indication, she might be a thumb sucker! :)  It's pretty cute and she makes such loud smacking noises when she sucks on her fist.  One night during dinner she was sucking so loud that we grabbed our phones to get it on video and of course as soon as we started recording she stopped making the noise. We turned off the record and she started smacking her lips again.  We did it three times and never got the noises on camera.  Isn't that how it goes?

Here are some cute pictures from this week.  She makes so many cute faces now that I couldn't choose which one to post. This week she is wearing a 0-3 month size onesie!

Happy girl!

"Look at me mom! I'm holding up my head, but I'm not sure I like it."

2 Months / 9 Weeks

I have thought about writing this post and have even sat down a few times to write it but never have the time to actually finish it! Working full time leaves my evenings for time with my girl (and my hubby too!) so I don't want to hide behind my computer!

Last Sunday (the 9th) Adalyn turned 2 months!!! I cannot believe how she is growing!

On Tuesday she was 9 weeks old so I decided to do both sets of pictures in one post.

There were so many precious pictures this time I couldn't decide which ones to post so I posted a few for the grandparents:)

Adalyn had her 2 month doctor's appointment on Tuesday.  She did great with the shots.  She had one oral vaccine and 3 shots and screamed for the shots but had stopped crying and was even smiling by the time the nurse was leaving the room.  She was fussy that night but she's allowed to be fussy after shots!  Thankfully she slept through the night. (I was worried about that since I need my sleep to function at work!)  And yes, she is still sleeping through the night every night. I'm so glad my girl's a sleeper! Hopefully it stays that way:)

Here are Adalyn's stats:

Weight: 10lbs 5oz - 25 percentile

Height: 23 1/4" - 75 percentile

Head 14 1/4" - <5 percentile (she comes by her small head honestly from her daddy so we're not worried about it.)

She is so alert now and looking all around.  She's all about lifting her head up herself and is much less bobble-heady.  It was hard to get the sitting up pictures this week since she kept trying to move her head around.  She loves lying under her jungle gym and entertains herself by kicking and hitting the toys hanging.  She is so smiley and her little coos are so precious.  She is still in 0-3 clothes and size 1 diapers.  We moved up to 3 month socks and they seem to stay on much better.  Her onesie in these pictures is still a newborn size but I think that will be the last week we can use that size! 

This was Adalyn's first full week with Ms. Connie and she did great! I'm able to pump at work so she gets mostly breast milk and usually only one formula bottle during the day.  Ms. Connie says that Adalyn watches the other kids in Circle Time and loves when Spot the Dog comes out during puppet time.  She gets all excited and kicks her feet and stares at him!  I'm so thankful for our daycare set up!

It's amazing how much joy Adalyn brings to our lives.  We are so blessed!

Day 1 = Success

We're going to label day one of being back to work as a success.  I was a mess in the morning so I went into work extra early so that I could get myself all together before other people came in and that worked out well!  I had a great time talking with my coworkers and having different people stop by my office to welcome me back.  It really made me feel loved.

Jonathan dropped Adalyn off at Ms. Connie's house so that it would be easier on me emotionally.  But just putting her in her car seat was hard!!  Thankfully Ms. Connie is wonderful and I knew that she would be loved on all day.  Around lunchtime, Ms. Connie texted me this cute picture and then called me to let me know that everything was going well and that Adalyn was doing great!

My day flew by between the billion emails and pumping 3 times!  Thankfully I have a private office so I can shut the door and still keep working while I'm pumping.  I can't imagine if I couldn't do that.  I don't think I would have gotten through half of my emails!

At lunchtime, this beautiful arrangement was delivered!  My amazing husband sent it to me. (I know he loves me because he HATES spending money on flowers to be delivered!)

I couldn't wait to go pick my girl up after work! Ms. Connie had her daily report all ready and said she was absolutely perfect (of course I knew this! hehe).  She couldn't believe Adalyn's awesome schedule she's on and how she you could set a clock to her schedule.  She said Adalyn could be a Babywise poster child:)  YAY! Hopefully she'll keep up that easy going demeanor.  Adalyn participated in circle time and even got to see Ms. Connie's puppets and stayed entertained by the two older girls.  One of the girls nicknamed Adalyn Addy-cakes because they were talking about playing patty-cake with her when she's older. Cute!

I received so many thoughtful texts, facebook messages, tweets, calls and blog comments!  I really am blessed.  Thank you all for your prayers.  I'm pretty sure that was the only thing that allowed me to put one foot in front of the other to get myself from my car to my building in the morning!  Now we will see how much easier each day gets...

I knew it was coming...

From the moment that I read that little stick that said "pregnant", I knew this day was coming but I was in denial.  I just couldn't think about it.  I'm going to be brutally honest here.  You see, back in my younger days when I thought I knew everything, I passed judgment on moms that worked outside of the house.  I mean, how is it responsible to have a child and then allow a daycare to raise the child?  Most of the women I knew quit working when they had their babies and either worked part time or watched kids in their houses.  Something to stay home with their babies.  So I just knew that I would be staying home with my babies.  That wasn't up for discussion.  I didn't want someone else raising them!  When people asked (even in college) what I wanted to do and where I wanted to work.  I could never really answer them.  I never had a "dream" job or a profession I really wanted to be in.  I just knew I wanted to be a mom. period.

Then reality hit and a mortgage payment hit and I realized that it's rare to have the "luxury" of staying home with your baby.  I don't know many people who can do that.  But just because I couldn't afford to stay home with my baby, didn't mean that I didn't long for a baby and a family of my own.  So Jonathan and I made the choice to start trying to get pregnant before we were financially able for me to be able to stay home full time.  It was a conscious decision.  I knew that was the only way. But I was still in denial.

So today (I'm writing this on Wednesday, but posting it Thursday) is my last day home with my baby. And every time I look into that face, I'm a puddle.  She is getting to be so much fun the way that she now interacts with us.  I just can't fathom someone else getting to have those special moments with her. 

There are two things getting me through.  One is that my baby will be in the best care possible (outside of our family).  If we didn't love our sitter so much this would be even harder.  We have gone to the sitter's house two times for Adalyn to get accustomed to her and so that she can observe Adalyn.  And I know she will treat Adalyn like she is her own family.  She says that she already loves her and has a bond that only God can place on her heart.  I know that Adalyn will be in a Godly household and will be taught truths on a daily basis.  I know she will learn and grow and know every Bible song and be well versed in Bible vocabulary before she is 2. haha!  And I know she will be loved.

The other thing that I am thankful for is my job.  If I didn't absolutely love my job and love where I work and believe in what I'm doing, it would be completely impossible for me to leave my baby in exchange for a paycheck.  I do miss my coworkers and being in a routine and socializing with adults and not being in sweatpants all day... well, I'm not sure about that last one!  But I am thankful to God for placing me in this job at my church because when I think about it, if I was still at the bank hating my job there is absolutely no way I could leave my baby!

I'm so thankful for my husband who is such a great support, for our families and our friends.  And I'm thankful to God for putting this perfect bundle into my life and for giving me the strength to be away from her.  And I'm thankful for the 8 weeks that I have gotten to spend home with her (My friend Sue tells me that Canada's maternity leave is 12 months!! I can't even imagine!) One day I hope to work part time or not work outside the house at all.  But for now I'll be at work thinking about Adalyn all day!  I know each day will get easier and I just pray that happens soon because it would be embarrassing to cry at work every day!

8 Weeks already!

First of all, I have to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom who turns 65 today!!  I love you mom! I think that our mother/daughter bond has become even stronger now that I'm a mom and can understand your love for me even more than I did before.  You are such a great mom to Jonathan and to me and a great grandma to Adalyn! Love you!!

 (I couldn't find a post-pregnancy pic of us.)

My baby is 8 weeks old already.  I just can't believe it! She is completely in 0-3 clothes and still size 1 diapers.  But she can still wear newborn sized onesies (I guess her legs are just long!) so she is wearing newborn size in these pictures!

She is so precious!  She has been smiling on purpose for a couple weeks now but its definitely been more often.  Sometimes she'll just smile and coo and make little squealing noises.  I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day and she could actually hear Adalyn "laughing" over the phone.  We've tried to get her cooing on the video camera but we're never fast enough!  Just yesterday I was holding her and she was "talking" with me and smiling at me and she reached her little hand out to touch my face.  **Melt my heart.** She's been batting and kicking her little play gym that she lays under for a while now, but this was the first time that she actually reached out to me and once she did it one time, she did it over and over again (so I know it wasn't a fluke!).

Here are a few pictures from this week...

She's getting so long! I can't believe the difference between her 1 week picture and this one!

 Here is my attempt at catching the precious smiles on camera!

 A half smile...

 Sitting like a big girl! I could kiss those cheeks all day!

Stretchhhh...

Adalyn is so adorable (of course I think so...) when she wakes up.  She just stretches and stretches and those little arms aren't moving from above her head until she is finished!  After church on Sunday I wanted to get a picture of her cute dress and her cute daddy.  So, Jonathan took the sleeping baby out of her carseat (of course she stopped screaming and fell asleep a mile away from home - poor thing was past her eating time!) and we were in hurry mode to get her changed and fed so these were the best pictures I could get.  I love them though!  I finally caught "the stretch" on camera:)

Please look at the stretched out legs too! (She ditched her cute shoes in her carseat.)

Still sleeping...

Happy Birthday Dakota!

My furry baby turned 6 yesterday! Happy Birthday Dakota!! Poor thing has a special diet so I couldn't even buy him a special treat from the Barkery. Instead he just enjoyed his toys that he got for Christmas that he hasn't pulled apart yet!

He really does have THE life.  Just this morning he came stumbling out of bed at 9:30.  I'm not really sure what he's going to do when I'm not home with him all day! He doens't like waking up early:) I'm so proud of how good he is with his sister.  He gets upset when Adalyn cries and he likes to lay close to her when I'm holding her. I'm actually quite surprised that he doesn't try to lick her at all!  He's such a good dog.  He does have his moments...including stealing pacifiers but he's so cute that how can you really get mad? :)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 1-1-11 already! We had a small party to ring in the new year.  It's fun to just have a relaxed evening at home with friends.  Of course the guys played Wii all night while the girls talked over sushi and chocolate fondue.

Here is our little party animal saying Happy New Year! It's so crazy to think that last year at this time I wasn't even pregnant! Wow. What a difference a year makes!

Adalyn found a boy to have a New Year's kiss with!  Eli (and his parents too!) came over to spend the evening with us and he was quite enamored with her.  It was precious.  He was giving her hugs and loving on her. If I had any say, we would arrange their marriage now!

Today was "take down the Christmas decorations day".  I love Christmas decorations but I don't like putting them up and I really don't like taking them down! Are 10 bins of decorations really worth the one month a year they will be up?  Somehow I always say yes to that question.  So today we took everything down and our house looks so empty...but in a good way.  Now I get the chore of going to the basement to bring up all of the "normal" house decorations and remember what goes where.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and I hope your new year brings lots of happiness!