Happenings

Thought I'd post an update since it's been a while and I will be on vacation for the next 3 weeks (yay!!).

We are all doing great. Kaia is 14 weeks and growing like a weed. Frank is in Albuquerque for work until the end of the month. I've been working on getting renters moved out of the house we renovated last year, and new renters moved in (4 day turn around!!). They left the house in such spotless condition, luckily I didn't have to do much. The new renters are moving in tomorrow morning.



The past few weeks have been filled with beach trips and a whole lot of nothin'! We've probably made 5 trips to the beach in the past 6 weeks. Kaia is turning out to be quite the beach bum! Frank is really getting into kite surfing, and lucky for him, Destin/Ft Walton beach is only 2.5 hours away and a prime location for the sport. Kaia does pretty well on the beach, but lately it's been pretty hot and she's not a fan of the heat, so we've been taking it easy.

I am flying to Albuquerque on Sunday with the bebe....ALONE (AH!). I'm sure it will be just fine, but I'll also be toting along 3 weeks worth of gear since we won't be back home until July 8th. At the end of June I'll be flying from NM to Michigan to visit with Frank's family, we'll be doing the 4th of July there and we are also planning Kaia's baptism at the same church we were married in :). We are also contemplating a trip to Mackinac Island, but haven't decided yet. I would love to go since the furthest north I've been in Michigan is the Traverse City area, and this is a great time of year to be visiting northern Michigan!

Kaia is such a joy...she's the funnest baby ever (doesn't everyone say that about their own kids? ha). I was in a little funk, nothing too crazy, just didn't feel like myself, after she was born until about a month ago.  I'm finally feeling like myself again. Probably just adjusting to being a mom and figuring things out. It's all getting easier and we have sort of a routine, but every day is pretty much a surprise! She is rolling over both ways now...as of today actually! She had been rolling over from her back to her stomach, and then finally today she figured out how to roll the other way...so we have a rolley baby! Which means...I can't lay her on the couch and walk away for a few minutes like I used to!

She is smiling and "talking" up a storm. It's so nice to look over at your baby first thing in the morning and have her look at you with a huge smile on her face jabbering away. She is in SUCH a good mood when she wakes up in the mornings. I'm usually not a very big morning person, but she is definitely helping me enjoy my mornings a little more! Still no laughing yet, but she does little chuckles and super cute squeals. I'm doing every ridiculous thing I can imagine to try and get her to belly laugh...hasn't happened yet. She probably thinks her mom is insane.

Frank and I FaceTimed today on our phones today and Kaia was sooo intrigued by it, she just kept staring at Frank...it was the cutest thing. I think she probably recognized his voice and was wondering where the heck he was. I always wonder how long it takes babies to forget. When Frank is gone for a week, does Kaia forget him? I sure hope not, if so, that makes me sad :(

 Let's see...what else. She is now borderline growing out of her 3 month PJ's and about to be in all 6 month. She can still fit into most 3 month clothes, but they are looking a little small and I bet she will be in 6 month soon, she's just too skinny! All the 6 month tops fit, but the bottoms are huge. This poses a problem since we will be out of town for nearly a month. Looks like I'll be bringing size 3 month and size 6 month clothes! She is getting really long. When I rock her to sleep and she's laying on me she looks so big! I know everyone says it, but they really do grow fast! She's no longer this little cuddly, scrunched up baby.

She is also starting to get into her toys as of about a month or so ago. She has a few rattles she likes, she really likes her playmat/gym with a mobile that flashes lights and plays music. She loves grabbing/holding on to her toys and is putting everything in her mouth! She's starting to grab her feet, only a matter of time before those start going in her mouth too.

Here is a video of her rolling over today and another video of her squeal!

More photos, in backwards order from most recent:

Smiling in her sleep

I took this one after her bath today...Frank pointed out she looks like Bozo! ha!

Happy 3 Months!

Showing off her new headband

Saw some Star Wars guys at a baseball game....photo op!

If only my legs were a little longer...

Nom Nom Nom!

yum yum in my tum tum

Frank Kite Surfing

Snoozing after the beach

Memorial Day weekend

Beach Baby!

I can't remember the name of this Mexican joint in Ft. Walton, but it was good!

Mother's Day after church

life and baby update.

Things have been busy as usual! Little Kaia is doing just great...she's 9 weeks old now and had her 2 month Dr. appointment yesterday. She's 10 pounds 4 oz, and still around 22.5 inches long. She's gained 2 pounds in the past month, which makes me happy since I'm breastfeeding. It's always good to know that it's paying off and that it's working and your baby is gaining weight! That's probably the thing I worry about the most, her eating and gaining. You just can never be sure how much they are getting, and I hate not being able to measure, haha! Breastfeeding is a little stressful, very time consuming & harder than you expect! I'm glad that's it's paying off, though. And just like everyone says, it is getting easier...thank goodness. I'm glad I've stuck it out.

Kaia has been all over the place. She's already been to 6 states by the time she was 6 weeks (AL, FL, MS, LA, TX, and OK). Thanks to our trip to TX for my sisters wedding and a few Florida trips. She does really good traveling in the car so far. Everyone says it's easy now, but it will get harder when they don't sleep so much and are more aware of what's going on...so we are taking advantage of that. She'll sleep for most of the drive and we just stop every few hours and feed her. She doesn't seem to mind being in the carseat at all. I think she likes it, actually!


A few days after we got back from Texas, we were on the road again, but this time to Orlando. We spent a week there with two of Frank's sisters and their families. Kaia had a lot of firsts there...first time in a swimming pool, first time to the zoo, first time to see the Atlantic Ocean (we drove to the east coast of FL), and first time to go to Disney (my first time too!). She did so good during our day at Disney. It was a long day for her, we got there at 9am and stayed until they closed at 10pm, and it rained most of the day. At least it stayed cool, and was overcast most of the day...it probably wouldn't have gone so well if it was really hot. The lines for the rides were really short, 10-15 minutes tops. We took her on several of them and she really liked it. I think the music and colors kept her entertained.

It's been really fun watching her grow, especially recently...since she seems to be a lot more alert and aware of what's going on around her. She is smiling a lot more (the most smiles are right after she wakes up and when you change her diaper), she coos and makes the cutest noises...it seems like she wants to talk soo bad! She'll make these faces while she is cooing like she really wants to tell you something, but can't. Her personality is starting to come out more and more every day. Overall she's pretty laid back, but when she wants something...she wants it NOW, and lets you know about it! Haha. She's also pretty dramatic about it, so we may have a drama queen on our hands. She usually does great when we are out and about...she seems the most happy when we aren't sitting around the house all day (hmm...maybe gets that from daddy??). Although, I'm like that too. So far her personality seems to be a lot like her dad.

She's still sleeping pretty well at night. 4-5 hour stretches, usually. The other day she slept from 7:30 PM until 3:00 AM. That was probably her longest stretch ever...too bad I was up until midnight anyway! At least I know it's possible for her to "sleep through the night". I'm not stressing about it, I'll keep waking up once or twice a night until she decides she's ready to sleep longer stretches. It doesn't bother me too much.

Other than all the Kaia news, Frank and I are doing just fine. Still no news on the job front (he's been trying to get an airline job), so we will probably be hanging out in Montgomery indefinitely. I've been enjoying my time staying home with Kaia, I'm trying to get into a little routine so I can start getting more done. One of the misconceptions I had about staying home was thinking "I'll have so much free time to get stuff done! The house will be spotless! Dinner will be cooked every night! Everything will be soooo organized! I'll work out every day!" HA! HA! Um, no. Not with a newborn that eats all day at least. I'm lucky if I have time to prepare and eat two meals myself, much less take a shower. Kaia doesn't really sleep much at all during the day, maybe 2 hours total, and usually in 10-30 minute spurts. I'm slowly getting better at managing my time :). Someday I hope to have the house clean and organized and dinner cooked every night, but I'm not quite there yet!

Snuggles are the best

Smiles!

Photo booth at Emilie's wedding

Shreveport, LA...driving home from TX

Passed out in Orlando

First time in a swimming pool! Poor girl didn't own bathing suit yet :(

Kaia didn't like the turtles

She's a natural at posing for the camera, haha

On the ferry at Disney

Unfortunately, this is the only family photo we got at Disney. It was at the end of the day and we all looked pretty rough from being out in the rain. Kaia wouldn't look at the camera :(

I'm 2 months old!

All smiles in the morning :)

Frank flying "his" jet. If you look closely, you can see his name on the canopy

This is Kaia this morning. She wanted to show off her cute little tulip outfit :) She's getting big!

5 weeks old

Time sure is flying by! Kaia had her 1 month Dr. visit today and is doing great. Here are her current stats:

Weight: 8 pounds 2 oz (20th percentile)
Height: 22 inches (80th percentile)

Long and lean like her momma! She is growing so fast (especially her length). She was 19.5 in. when she was born, so in 5 weeks she's grown 2.5 inches already! Her arms and legs are super long and skinny. All the newborn stuff is getting too tight in the length, but the 0-3 stuff still doesn't really fit her because she's too small around the waist. I was kind of hoping she'd start chubbing up about now, but she's growing too tall too fast! Ha!

We've had a fun couple of weeks. I'm getting her out a lot more and she is getting so much more alert every day. We drove to Destin & Panama City, FL for Easter weekend, so that was her first car trip...about 3.5 hours. She slept the whole drive there and back! During Easter mass she pooped all over her brand new dress...figures! So far, every time we've taken her to mass she has had a massive poop explosion and ruined whatever she had on.

This past week I took her to the squadron to visit Frank at work, and also took her by Hartzell (where I used to work). This weekend I drove her to Tuskeegee to visit Frank while he was flying skydivers and then we hung out with some friends in Auburn until late Saturday night. She's becoming quite the little traveler now :).

She is sooo good. Sometimes she'll be fussy at night, usually around 6-10 PM, but that's okay. She is sleeping very well at night (I don't know how we got so lucky). She'll usually go to bed pretty late (10-11PM), sleep until 4ish, eat, then fall back asleep until 8-9AM or so. I am not complaining about getting up once or twice at night...that I can handle!

I think she's been trying to smile, but hasn't started giving us the big smiles yet. She'll get this amused look on her face sometimes, usually when you are changing her diaper or right after she eats when she is super happy.

This Thursday we are driving to Texas and I am spending a week and a half in Wichita Falls for my sisters wedding! So excited!

Some recent photos:

1 month old!

So sweet when she's sleeping...

Look at my long legs and big feet!

Sometimes she'll clasp her hands like this and it's the cutest thing

My head is a flower! Haha

Really mom, you are taking a picture while dad is burping me?!

Sitting on the beach in Destin

Oh. HELLO!

Easter

Ah! I'm falling and I can't get up!

Home from her one month appt. Look how long she is!

Kaia is not impressed.

Easter

2 weeks

Kaia is two weeks old today! I can't believe 2 weeks has already gone by, it has all been a blur. I feel like we are finally getting into the swing of things, though. Frank went back to work mid-last week, but will be taking the second half of this week off since his parents will be here.

She is such a good baby. The first few nights at home were a little rough, but now she will sleep for 3-4 hour stretches at night, and doesn't cry much at night at all...just wakes to eat and then falls back asleep.  Sometimes I even have to wake her up! I feel super lucky. Who knows how long this will last, though. It's still really hard for me to sleep, even though she does. I'm constantly checking on her and waking at her every peep! I feel like I don't sleep deeply anymore, but that's to be expected, I suppose!

During the day she eats really often and has been more and more alert. In the evenings she gets fussy and wants to eat non-stop for hours at a time...this was her most active time before she was born too, so that doesn't surprise me. Maybe this is why she sleeps so good, because she gets super full the last few hours she's awake.

We had newborn photos done a few days ago, can't wait to see how they turned out. I thought for sure she would scream through the whole thing, but she actually did okay! There were a few melt downs, but nothing was peed/pooped on, and I was able to calm her down by nursing her, so it worked out.

Today was her first check-up with the pediatrician. She weighs 7 pounds 3 oz and is a healthy! She was 7 pounds 4 oz at birth, so I was hoping she'd weight a little more by now, but they said that was fine and she was close enough to her birth weight. She probably lost quite a bit the first few days before we got in the swing of breastfeeding. Hopefully she keeps gaining. She's pretty lean right now, all the newborn stuff is still pretty big on her, and all newborn pants are too big around the waist...she's a skinny minnie!

I am finally feeling sort of "normal" again...it's crazy how fast your body recovers from something like that! I am loving being able to bend over, roll over in bed, sleep on my stomach, curl up on the couch, pretty much all the things that I couldn't do just 2 weeks ago. It's awesome. Maybe in a few more weeks I'll be up for a run!

Here are a few photos from the first 2 weeks at home!

Tree frog

She is so peaceful when she is sleeping!

Why you squishing my face, ma?!

Wide awake

Her favorite place to sleep :) 

Dreaming of....?

Passed out after her Dr's appointment today...2 weeks old!