Ann Elizabeth 3 months

Miss Annie turned three months old on October 24th! Here is what she is up to these days...

Annie still naps alot during the day but is sleeping during the night from about 9 pm to around 3 am. She gets up at either 3 or 4 to eat and then normally goes back to sleep until around 6:30 and then she's up for an hour or so and ready to take another long morning nap! She's still exclusively breastfed but she also does pretty well with a bottle (she prefers Playtex drop-ins) She truly loves her paci's (Nuk or Mams) but she does have a little trouble keeping them in and when she loses then it makes her very angry!

She is still having some stomach issues (spitting up, fussiness, etc...) but she is taking Zantac twice a day and it seems to help some. She still eats about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day. She still prefers to be wrapped in a blankie or swaddled to sleep. She is not a big fan of riding in the car seat!

She is wearing size 0/3 month clothes and a few things that are 3 to 6 months are starting to fit. She's wearing a size 1 or 2 diaper as well. She hasn't lost any hair yet but she is filling out alot! The baby acne and cradle cap seem to have gone away, and aside from having very sensitive skin and a few dry patches she is doing well.

She likes her bath time and she LOVES to look at her mobile. She will lay and kick and goo at her mobile and sometimes if she has her blankie and paci she will doze off to sleep. She still prefers to sleep wrapped up in her yellow rocker/glider chair or with Mommy, but we're working on transitioning to the crib in our bedroom!

She has really turned on her personality this month. She loves to be talked to and she is very smily and will goo and squeal alot as well as laugh a little out loud. She can now roll from front to back and she tries her very best to sit up and does really well with head and neck control. Her favorite thing right now is probably for someone to walk around the house with her and let her sit straight up and look at stuff!

She thinks her Daddy and her brother and sister are the funniest people on the Earth! She is still a Mommy's girl though especially if she's tired...with is just fine with me. She does very well going out places and she has done very well at church so far! Yay Annie! She's growing so fast and I can't wait to post pics of her in her little halloween costume.

Annie 2m

Sweet Annie turned two months old on September 24th. Just a few little notes so I don't forget these precious memories!!!

Annie weighed 11 pounds and 4 ounces at her two month check up, where she got her first vaccines which made her HORRIBLY fussy for two or three days...

She was put on a very low dose of Zantac to see if it helped her mild case of reflux ( I couldn't really tell a difference!)

At two months Annie could still wear a few newborn outfits but was mostly transitioning to 0-3 month clothing and size one diapers. Nursing every 3 hours and only waking up once or twice a night to eat. She generally wakes up at around 6 and then goes back for a long morning nap around 8 or so...

She grins alot too!

At seven weeks she got a SEVERE case of baby acne that lasted about 2 weeks or so and finally subsided! It was followed by a case of cradle cap (which both her brother and sister had at this age as well!) Her skin is very sensitive to soaps, detergents, etc so we only use fragrance free and dye free to wash her as well as all of our laundry too!

She is such a sweet baby, and we are so blessed to have her be a part of our lives!

Genius I Tell You...

So....remember the post about Annie being a little "sensitive" to things? Being unwrapped, having her diaper changed, generally anything that messes up her routine she rewards with a large fuss fest...

Fast forward to Saturday...she had fussed all day and all night and all day again. I didn't set the child down for at least 36 hours seriously. I went to the bathroom with my infant daughter perched crying on my lap (wait is that too much information?) She was so unhappy and very little I did soothed her. We took a trip to Kroger to restock the Mylicon drops, etc and I spied the book The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. I recalled somewhere in my sleep deprived mind that a couple of people had recommended the book to me at one time so I picked it up thinking I'd read it while I rocked the unhappy Ann Elizabeth.

SERIOUSLY... why didn't I have this book 7 years ago?!? He basically gives you the formula for calming your unhappy newborn and it has yet to fail me in the past 3 days.

There is specific instructions for swaddling, motion, etc and some really down to Earth advice of feeding schedules, etc. It is great.

This is not exaggerated....Annie was in mid fit the first time I tried Dr. Karp's swaddle method. Before I could even get her picked up her eye lids were nearly closed and she was GRINNING at me and had happily spit out the paci. She then proceeded to take a three hour nap in her crib while I made supper. What???

So please if you learn nothing from the blog...if you are expecting a baby, have a baby younger than 4 months old or know someone who fits this description GO BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT IMMEDIATELY. You can thank me later...I like chocolate and purses and cash....

What's Your Opinion?

I know that both girls looks alike (or they did when Lil was a newborn). But even I am amazed at the similarities in their newborn photos. Lilly's eyes are a little different but their hair, noses, and lips look identical to me. Compare the photos above (the top is Lilly Grace the bottom is Ann Elizabeth). I have had a few people say that Annie looks just like Noah but to me the similarities are more towards Lilly.

On a funny note, Noah keeps saying he hopes Annie's hair is straight. When I ask him why he says, "You know not crazy like Lilly's" and does his hands in a crazy all around gesture, which I must say, sums up his sisters hair in a nutshell.

Lil was very sweet this week towards her big brother. While we were eating lunch the other day out of the blue she said, "I miss bubby, bubby is my best fwiend." And then when Nana got home with him today she told her, "Thank you for bringing my bubby back!" It was too sweet. Or course they were fighting like cats and dogs about five seconds flat after that, but I take the sweet moments while they last!

Swaddling

Swaddling...hmm an age old idea I suppose (considering the reference to Jesus being wrapped in swaddling clothes and being laid in a manger). The swaddling I'm referring to, however, is the way that the hospitals and pediatricians recommend that a newborn be wrapped snugly and securely in a blanket so that they feel safe and comforted.

I listened somewhat to the swaddling argument when Noah was an infant. However, I never could successfully recreate the "swaddle" tight enough to suffice. Noah was always able to kick and squirm out of his blanket and I being a first time Mom refused to even put him in the crib with a light receiving blanket for fear of him suffocating from it. So I gave up the swaddling (and the putting him in his crib for that matter). The child never slept through the night until he hit 18 months old. He awoke several times a night and slept in the recliner with me or Travis, in our bed, in his bouncy, carseat, etc. We were just desperate for sleep, we slept anywhere we could!

Then Miss Lil came along and being the calm baby that she was, she never needed swaddling. She was content to be fed and would sleep anywhere and everywhere for long stretched at a time, with a blanket, or without, she really didn't care. She started sleeping through the night very early on and did very well transitioning to her crib, except for short bouts of wakefulness during teething or ear infections.

Now Miss Annie has made her arrival and we are becoming swaddling experts. Annie seems a little more sensitive to her surroundings than her siblings. She definitely loves to be swaddled (and after watching several times in the hospital I think we've mastered the wrap). She loves it so much that she totally rebels to anyone who holds her and has the audacity to unwrap her to look at her. She will reward you with a fuss rather quickly! Yep, she loves to be swaddled tightly, with her tiny little pacifier, and if she gets her way she would prefer to be held on Mommy's shoulder (but she is becoming accustomed to Daddy too)

There has been quite a few times that she has been very fussy and crying, and we have made sure her diaper is dry and then we take our trusty receiving blanket and swaddle her tightly and get her paci, and she quiets down and is out like a light in just a few minutes.

So I am now a firm believer in this swaddling method. I suppose the theory that it mimics the comfort they felt in the womb, is correct because it sure seems to do the trick for Annie. That along with her bear that has a heartbeat sound and we have a good 3 or 4 hour stretch of sound sleep at a time, that is until it's time to eat again!

Ann Elizabeth

Takes our breath away...

Can't Wait

You remember the room conundrum I was having a few months ago when I couldn't decide where I would situate everyone when new baby comes? Well I think over the last few days we have resolved it and tonight I took a break from photo editing for a few minutes to order their bedding.

My final solution? Noah's new bedroom is the big room that also shares a couch and an entertainment center where he has movies, his wii, etc. It adjoins Lilly's bedroom (which is still her bedroom). And new baby sister is going to be moving into Noah's old bedroom. Everyone's furniture is moved and arranged and I'm just waiting on bedding to arrive from Pottery Barn. I'm so excited I can't stand it. If you recall I loved the matching brother/sister room from pottery barn but I just couldn't convince myself that Lil and Noah could reasonably share a room for very long. Then my darling Mom pointed out that it didn't matter if they shared a room, their rooms adjoined and you could still see both beds and it would still be darling if there bedding coordinated. So that's what I did. I ordered the "Kasey" bedding, (his in blue and hers in pink) and I"m having their names monogrammed on the pillow shams. They both have little Oak beds, so that will coordinate as well. I hope I love it as much as I think I will. I have yet to order Annie's bedding but I have found some that I love, so we'll see!

Also, when we moved in the house two years ago I did their bathrooms in the Pottery Barn Spring meadow stuff (bugs, butterflies, etc). The colors match all of this bedding and it has held up SO WELL that it will all go together too!

Curtains

Well I am on a kick to get some things done in this house before baby #3 arrives and on the list included curtains.

I got REALLY industrious not too long ago and made valances to go on my french doors and they actually turned out better than I expected. So...I researched how much the fabric and lining would cost me to make the bedroom curtains and I found some that were actually the same print and a little less expensive than buying all the stuff to make them (and they were lined too). I would have some lovely photographs to show you but I bought the wrong rods (they weren't heavy enough) so I'll try to get the correct rods sometime before this wild week is over and maybe I"ll manage a picture or two.

That's about as exciting as it gets around here today. I've had busy studio sessions all weekend and this evening and the rest of the week...but I'm trying to accomplish as much as possible while I still feel good.

On a baby note...baby 3# is moving around...alot!!! I can't wait for Monday to get another peek at him/or her. Just for fun, leave me a comment and tell me your boy/girl vote. On the name front...we actually have a few for boys and girls that we can both civilly agree to. (OK Noah doesn't agree to them but moving right along...)

Lilly's temper tantrums have actually g0tten a little better. I really think the sinus infection and all the meds she was having to take were contributing to them. She has been in a much better humor the last few days. She's still into everything but at least we're having not so many meltdowns.

Counting down...

The official ultrasound date is one week from Monday. I will be approaching 22 weeks when I have my ultrasound. We are in count down mode. This thing is halfway over at the latest. If this baby make's his/her appearance like Lilly did it has been halfway over for a while.

I'm trying not to panic at how little planning I have done....I mean I have looked at some pictures online but that is it...

Umm...it does help to know that I since I stay at home I won't have to line up child care and I have totes of newborn clothes for both genders. I plan to breastfeed again hopefully if all goes well. Does any of this count as planning and being prepared?

I also realize that when babies are born things do not always go as planned, so I suppose I am jumping the gun anyway!

So I will blissfully await the arrival of this little bundle of joy and try to convince myself I am prepared and ready....and I suppose after we find out what it is on the 22nd I will commence on my most favorite part of readying one's self for a new baby...shopping! Oh yeah and arguing with my delightful husband as to what name we are going to pick...