5 months and counting!

Five months have passed since I had Hailey. Can't believe it!! Her developments are so fast and dramatic. The other day Sean and I were commenting on Hailey's social development. We have seen a huge difference in the past week. She is working on sitting up too. Haven't gotten it yet but soon!! I would love it if she would skip the crawling and go to walking. I want her to be able to crawl, of course, but Michael's (our huge black german shephard) hair is everywhere!! Once I vaccum or sweep, it's there 10 min. later so it's pretty much a neverending battle. I can just see it now... Hailey looks up at me and smiles with a mouth-full of black hair. Ah! Well, I guess it comes with the territory.

Hailey loves toys that have blinking lights and makes music. She also loves her Chewy... it's a zebra. For the most part she is sleeping well. Most nights she sleeps all the way through. Some nights she wakes up and I give in and feed her and she goes right back to sleep. Other nights, like last night, she woke up crying a couple times. She was laying on her back so I flipped her over and turned the mobile on which vibrates and she soon went back to sleep. She cried for not even 5 minutes. I don't let her cry steadily for more than 10 minutes.

Doc appointment

Hailey had a check-up doc appointment today. She weighs in at 13 lb. 7 oz. and 25 1/2" long. She got 3 shots today and was quite upset about it. I think that combined with being tired made her really fussy this morning. We started her on baby food today. (Here comes the nasty poo!) We are trying sweet peas first. She cried and cried but I think it was for other reasons. The doctor said she will start teething more soon and to watch out for ear infections.

Hailey began waking up during the night cause she is cold. I started putting a onesie underneath Hailey's pajamas and she is sleeping much better. We are on a schedule of waking up at 7 AM to eat, eating every four hours and going to bed around 8 PM or so. It's working really well. My only struggle is getting her to nap when we are out places. Sometimes she will act the cutest when she is really tire but then suddenly, like hitting a brick wall, she is exhausted and screaming! It's not fun!!

Hailey rolls over from stomach to back and back to stomach. She loves it when Sean and I clap and say "yay!!". She smiles and we have noticed she looks for our approval. I had to tell her "no" for the first time the other day. She was arching her back while sitting in the bumbo and I was feeding her cereal. The first time she smiled at me. When she noticed that I didn't smile back, then she just gave me a serious face (the same face I was giving her).

Christmas was a blast with Hailey. Her favorite present was a pinguin Aunt Stephanie got her that wobbles, plays music and has balls in it. She squeeled and grabbed it. With the money from her Great Grandpa and Great Uncle John, I bought Hailey an exersaucer. It should come in the mail any day now!! But where am I going to put it?! I'm so glad it colapses.

Hailey slept through her first new years. It would have been fun to keep her up but not good for her. We spent the night playing Rock Band with Stephanie and her boyfriend Patrick (Patti).

We got a new camera... a Nikon D60. We LOVE it! Sean and I had been saving for over a year. We had a ton of gift certificates from last Christmas we had saved. Speaking of saving, Sean and I decided we need to save and do something for our anniversary. This year it will be our five year anniversary. We are thinking maybe a 3 day cruise. Can I really leave Hailey for that long?! Ah! She will be a year old so maybe I can handle it by then.

Hailey is 4 months old today!

Four months ago today I gave birth (through c-section) to Hailey! I can't believe how much time has gone by. I know I say it over and over again but it's just unreal! I have three friends giving birth soon and am so excited for them.

Hailey is taking LONG naps. I was getting worried about it but my good friend Stacey, she's my personal baby expert, told me that she's just growing and to let her sleep. Growing? Growing more?! Ah!

Here's a list of recent changes

1. Hailey has found her feet and loves to play with them. Has not discovered that
she can put them in her month yet. =o)
2. She has started to wake up in the middle of the night some. (Especially since
I have put her in her crib)
3. I don't swaddle Hailey anymore at night. She was getting out of her swaddle and
instead the blanket would be on her face so I stopped that right away. Instead
I just dress her in the pj's with feet in them so she stays warm.
4. I have to put Hailey down for naps. It sounds like "duh" but when she was a
newborn she slept automatically.
5. Toys make her excited.
6. We are spoon feeding her cereal tonight! I will start giving her cereal at night
and probably in the morning as well.
7. Hailey scoots. She scoots down to the bottom of her crib. She also scooted
almost all the way off the couch!! I have to watch her more!
8. Hailey grabs things. She tried taking her dad's pizza from his plate last night.
She got the sauce all over her hand. She also knocked down a glass the other
day.
9. We love the bumbo! Hailey sits in her bumbo all the time. She holds her head up
so well I don't have to worry about it wobbling anymore!

Busy, busy

It's been busy around the house this weekend. Saturday morning Sean had a guitar lesson to give. While Hailey was down for a nap (in her very own crib in the nursery!!), I went to a couple parking lots to put flyers out for Kitchen & Bath Options. I made it back before Hailey woke up. Then did house work while Sean left to do a couple hours of work. Hailey and I then went jogging and got ready for the church wide progressive dinner.

The progressive dinner was so yummy! We went to three houses and then ended for desert at the church. The first house had southwestern chili... yummy! The second house had finger foods such as pizza rolls and spinach dip. The third house had chicken parmesan... delicioso! It was a fantastic time visiting with our friends. Thanks so much Carrie for putting it all together!!

Friday night we went to the Schuessler's for dinner. Carried made chili and it was so good! Adam put mashed potatoes in his chili, which I had never thought of before. I recommend it! I'm on a chili kick so I'm going to make some this coming week.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. When I get a moment to be on the computer, I'm on facebook.

Thanksgiving:
My sister Stephanie got sick with the flu so we had to post-pone Thanksgiving to the saturday after. We did however to go my in-laws on Thanksgiving. Both of our parents had ham. Steph's boyfriend Patrick (Patty) gave us a turkey! So I brined it (something new I learned and will do from now on) and put cajun seasoning on it. It was the best turkey I've ever had. I'm not just saying that cause I made it either. It was extremely good!



Sean had to clean the turkey... I can't touch it. It's gross!

Jacob's birthday:
This past weekend Hailey went to Jacob's 1st birthday party. Hailey had a lot of fun even though she couldn't eat some cake. I look forward to her first birthday when she can dig into some cake. Sean had no problem digging into his when he was a baby. Me on the other hand, I didn't want to touch it cause I didn't want to get dirty. My Uncle Dan ended up taking my hands and putting them in the cake. Then I pulled my hands out, looked at them and cried. lol.



Hailey's development:
Hailey is now holding her hands and grabbing things very well. She holds her head up enough that I have her in a bumbo. She loves to reach up and touch my mouth when I'm feeding her and I playfully tug on her hands with my mouth. She smiles and laughs. The only way she giggles is to lightly blow on her tummy or the bottom of her feet. She sounds like a munchkin when she giggles. It's so adorable! I start Hailey's last feeding at 7:30 or 8:00 at night so she wakes up at about 5:30 or 6:00 AM to eat. I just put her in the bed laying down with me and she eats and we fall back asleep. I get to cuddle with her for an hour or two! =o) Sean keeps reminding me that we won't be letting our kids sleep in bed with us. I agree but this is different!


Youth Group:
The youth group is coming to our home tomorrow evening to go to some trampoline place in Longwood. It's a warehouse that has trampolines on the floor and walls. Hailey and I will sit on the side and watch everyone else do it. Even if I didn't have Hailey there, I wouldn't be jumping. I injured my ankle years ago on a trampoline. It never fully healed.

This past Friday night I had the youth middle school girls for a sleepover. We also celebrated Bethany's 14th birthday. She brought a lot of friends. We had 9 girls here. It was insane!! Luckily, my neighbor was out all night (she got engaged!!!) so we didn't bother her. BTW, 5 alkaseltzers and diet coke in your mouth becomes explosive material!!

Work:
Sean and I are really praying about our work. The economy is in a recession and it is, as with every other business, effecting us negatively. Luckily, we have work right now. We are praying for more work and God's provision for us. He has been faithful to provide for us in the past, so I know He will provide for our future. I got a word a couple weeks ago to trust Him in the everyday things. It was a right word for me so I'm trying to walk that out.

My mom:
My mom has just a couple more weeks of radiation to go and then she will be done!! She has been doing so great through all of this. Her hair is growing in nicely. She still wears a wig or hats because she wants it to get longer first. I'm so proud of her and how she has dealt with all of this cancer stuff. Soon it will be all behind her! We put the tree up this past saturday. I thought Hailey would be transfixed by it but she doesn't really even notice it. I have the cutest little Christmas outfit for her. I will get pics in the next week and post them!

Update!

Hailey is officially 3 months old! She went to the doc this past week and weighs 11 lb. 6 oz. She is also above average at 24" long. Sean and I love Hailey so much. Besides our salvation and then marriage (cause that had to happen to get Hailey), she is the best thing that has happened to us! She still sleeps through the night. I've gotten bad at not keeping her on a schedule in the mornings... she should be getting up at 7 AM in the mornings but I like sleeping in! Hailey does well eating every 3 hours. Sometimes she has gone to 4 hours with no problem.

A couple weekends ago Hailey went to a theme park for the first time! We went to SeaWorld. The weather was breezy and cool. But all Hailey cared about is that she was clean and had her milk. =o)

This weekend we hung out a lot at home. Hailey is very content as long as she has a full belly. She will just chill in her carrier or boppy. We set-up the playpen when the cold front hit this past week. Hailey still needs her tummy and laying on back time but I didn't want her on the floor with the draft. Soon we will either have to put her in her crib or put the playpen in our room because she is getting too long for the bassinet.

Today after church we went and visited Hailey's great grandmother. This is the first time she had seen Hailey. It was a short visit as Hailey was hungry and tired but it was fun. Hailey's Great Aunt Dora, Great Uncle Mac and Great Aunt Linda were there too. It was their first time seeing her as well. They were overjoyed!

Twelve weeks old!

Saturday night we went to the in-laws so Sean and Blake could play with some air-soft guns. They shot a banana taped to the tree until the banana was non-existant! We were standing around the island in the kitchen when Hailey went poo. It was so loud! Sean and I have had a laughs about it and are used to it now but Blake had never heard it. He laughed so hard which made Sean and I laugh. We were all bent over and crying. It was so funny! Hailey just sat there with a "what did I do?" look. Then I went to lift her up to change her and saw she had a blowout on her back and it went on me too!

Hailey has a freckle on the back of her right calf. My mom noticed it weeks ago but I just now remembered to mention it. She is now holding toys. The other day she went to sleep holding on of her toys! It was so cute! Pics are below! Hailey is making different "coo" noises and her cry is changing more. She did the cutest sneeze the other day too. Sean thought it was me!

Drool, drool, drool! Hailey will drool so much she soaks the front of her onesie! I think she is in the beginning stages of teething. I gave her a frozen teething ring a couple days ago and she loved it! When I took it away, she cried.

Sean has a cold so he is trying to keep his distance from Hailey and I. My mom just started radiation this past Monday. Please be praying for her. She is exhausted. My grandfather just got released from the hospital yesterday. He had a blood clot in his lungs and his leg. He is doing much better now.

Exercising isn't the easiest thing to do but I'm trying. It's not easy to find the time and also it's not easy body wise. I just don't have any strength in my muscles. Whatever muscles I did have is gone! It's like starting from scratch and very difficult. Just wait, a couple months and I'll be a hot mom! =o)

Oh, and speaking of getting back in shape, I crave chocolate all the time. Everyday, every moment. Give me chocolate! What is my problem?! I have never been like this. It's aweful but I've learned to go ahead and get some chocolate because if I don't I will eat everything in sight until I get it. I just need to know when to stop!!

It seems that Jacob and Hailey will be great friends. Jacob was playing with one of Hailey's toys at youth last night. He really likes her stroller (the same as his) and when he sees her he always wants to reach out and touch her. So cute!

Tonight Hailey had the biggest blowout ever. I think it was mostly due to not putting the diaper on properly which is my fault. She was squiggling and squirming and it was just difficult to get it on good. Woops! Learned my lesson!! At least the blowout wasn't on me!