Alexis is 3 months old

Today, my little baby girl turns 3 months old.  She is getting so big, so fast.  I can not believe all the things she is doing, it's hard enough for me to remember what the other kids did at this age. 

This week, I had to go out of town, and I have the pleasure of being able to take Alexis and my mom with me.  They had a blast, and Lexi enjoyed her 1st "vacation."  She did so well, was very happy most of the time, rarely fussed, and even took her 1st trip to the pool.  It was a little cold for her in the water, but she hung out in her stroller with Memaw for a few hours before they decided it was getting too hot.

Here is what she is up to these days:

• Just moved into 3-6 month clothes (they are a little big on her, but 0-3 is too tight now)
• Wears size 2 diapers
• Is sleeping MUCH better at night, and even slept through the night for the 1st time while we were out of town.  She sleeps much better when she does not take a lot of naps during the day (more than 3-4)
• Smiles REALLY big for mommy and daddy (Kaitlyn and Tyler too). She does smile for others too, but they have to talk to her all sweet and cute to get a good one.
• Wakes up super happy - THANKFULLY
• Has started talking (baby talk), and now thinks that people on TV are talking to her - it's absolutely adorable.
• Just this week, she found her thumb.  She will suck on it if she does not have a passy, and has even put herself to sleep with it.  She has been sucking on her fist for the past few weeks when she gets hungry, but seems to like her thumb now more
• Sleeps on her belly when she is in her crib, but likes her "rock and play sleeper" that grandpa bought her.  She slept in that every night while we were out of town.  Makes easy for traveling and not have to bring a pack and play (for now anyway).
• Is very much so a rolly polley, but I do not know how much she weighs right now.  Last time she was weighed (last month), she weighed 13 lbs 6 oz.  I have a feeling she may be around 14+ lbs now.  Definitely eats well.
• Still nursing and doing absolutely wonderful with it!  3RD TIME'S THE CHARM!!!!
• SADDEST PART - Will start daycare on Monday :(.  Mommy is going to have a rough time with this and has a feeling she will be very tired until she gets her routine down.

Next month - towards the end of her 4 months, we will start baby food.  I have never made baby food, but I want to try it this time around.  I think it will help save $$ and will be better for her.  I have a few friends that are doing it or have done it, so I am going to talk to them and get all the details.

Alexis is 11 weeks old

It's been a while since I have blogged, because I am now back to work - and not that excited about it.  Things are going ok, and have actually been a lot less stressful since I got back, but I would rather be at home with my baby.

Brian is currently on "paternity" leave, until May 21st, so he is staying home with her.  This makes it a little easier for me, because I usually come home everyday at lunch time to feed her.  I am contemplating trying to do the same thing when she is in daycare, but we will see how that goes.

What is she up to these days??  Well, she is SUPER smiley ALL the time.  I love this, because all you have to really do is look at her and she gets a HUGE grin on her face.  It makes it VERY hard to put her down, or to force her to go to sleep when she does not want to.  It's very rare that we have to do that, but sometimes I do have to let her cry for 3-5 minutes before she will go to bed.  Most of the time, I can get her to go to sleep by cuddling up with her and giving her her passey, but sometimes she will fight it - especially when she is SUPER sleepy.

Most of the time she ends up sleeping with me, but I have started putting her to bed in her crib.  She will go down anywhere from 8-10pm, and has started getting up around 2:30 to eat.  Uusally we end up falling asleep together, so she will sleep with me until around 5-6am.  I have to get up at 6:30 to get ready for work, so only waking up 1 time in the night is not so bad.  Last week, I think she was going through a growth spurt, because both Wednesday and Thursday night she got up almost every hour - 2 hours.  She was very hungry!

I am not sure how much she weighs right now, but when she went for her 2 month check up, she was 13lbs 6oz and 22" long.  I would venture a guess to say that she is at least 14 lbs now.  She is very chunky, and I love it!

She is starting to do much better with daddy now that she has been home with him for 3 - going on 4 weeks.  She does not get as fussy with him, and is even in the bedroom watching TV with him while I type this blog. 

She just started in the last week sucking on her hands.  I thought at 1st is was because she was hungry, but she will do it even after she eats.  She might be discovering that she has a built in pacifier!!  It's too cute.

She LOVES to talk and coo at you.  She will do this for a good 10-20 minutes sometimes.  She definately loves all the attention, and will even let you know if she was not done talking to you.  It's too cute.

Well, I think that is about it right now.  She will be 3 months old on the 21st.  She's growing WAY too fast, but I love to see all the little stages.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...........

Alexis is 8 weeks and I am back to work

Today is not such a happy day for me.  I had to go back to work :(.  Alexis is 8 weeks and 1 day old now.  She is so active and alert all the time, I wish I could be home with her still.

Work has not been too bad, and I have done much better than I thought I would. It probably helps that she is home with daddy.  I will most likely boohoo when she has to go to daycare, but I am hoping I do not have to see that day.  We are trying to find a way for me to be able to be home.

So what is Alexis up to these days??

Well, she is sleeping about 6-7 hours at night.  As I type this, I probably just jinxed it :).  She goes to bed anywhere between 9-11pm and wakes up around 4 am.  After that, she usually wakes up again around 6:30.  Sometimes she goes back to sleep after that, and sometimes not.  She will eat, play for a little bit, then take a nap.  That is typically her cycle every time she wakes up - other than the night feedings.  Usually she will go right back to sleep after eating during the night. 

She is a BIG time smiler.  She loves to talk and coo at you. One of her favorite things that usually gets a pretty big smile and almost laugh out of her, is to tell her she is a "pretty girl."  She LOVES it, and I love it when she does it to me.  She is also doing really well with recognizing voices - my especially, and can follow objects.

Pray I make it through this week.....

Alexis is 1 month old

I can not believe my baby girl is 1 month old!  Heck, I can't believe my other baby girl is 4 and 1/2 years old and my baby boy is 2 1/2 years old.  Time sure does fly by fast.

Alexis and Kaitlyn had check ups at the doctor this week.  Kaitlyn is 37 lbs and 40 3/4" tall.  She is now in the 50% for both height and weight.  The last few check-ups, she had only been in the 10% for her weight, so I am pleased that she is now back up to 50%.

Alexis weighs 10 lbs 12 oz and is 21" long.  She is in the 90% for both!  All of my kids started out at "chunkers" but Kaitlyn thinned out a little.  Tyler is still a little "solid", but that's o.k., because he is a BOY, and boys are SOLID! :).

WHAT ARE THEY UP TO NOW???

Kaitlyn

• 
  
  is in preschool and learning to write her name. 
• 
  
  she loves to spell out any word she sees on her daddy's t-shirt
• 
  
  loves playing games on MeMaw's I-phone and can figure them all out pretty quickly
• 
  
  has started a little pouchy lip, pouty thing since the new baby has come home
• 
  
  is a picky eater, but is starting to try new foods when I cook dinner
• 
  
  is a very good big sister helper!
• 
  
  really enjoys "girl days" or outings with just her and me and Lexi

Tyler

• is in preschool learning letters and colors and shapes
• is very sensitive
• starting to talk a lot more
• has started to need a little more attention since new baby has come home
• loves spending time with daddy and throwing the football
• says he is going to play football when he gets bigger
• will eat anything you set in front of him
• is starting to potty train
• is very fascinated by his new little sister
• is starting to understand "boy vs. girl" and "sister vs. brother"

Alexis

• is starting to get on a 4 hour schedule for feeding and sleeping
• likes to stay awake for about 2 hours before morning and afternoon nap
• is starting to "coo"
• recognizes mommy's voice and looks for me when she hears me, if I'm not holding her
• gets a "knowing" look on her face when she sees me and sometimes will smile
• loves to be held and to sleep with mommy

It's interesting to see each kid at the stage they are in.  The other two, you can tell, need some attention, but we are trying to make sure we give them all equal attention.  They definately love helping mommy when it comes to the new baby....

Almost 1 month old

I can't believe it....my little girl is almost 1 month old, but she is still SO tiny, but yet growing so fast.  The last few days she has decided that nap time will not happen until after lunch time, which means that she wants to be held for the majority of the time until then.  Whenever she does act like she is falling asleep and I lay her down, she will wake up within minutes.  I have got to break her of that!

We are still getting up every 2-3 hours at night, but I am proud to say that I am still nursing.  Both my other two were on the bottle by now, but I am determined to keep going.  She is a great nurser, and although she has recently started to spit up, it's not anywhere NEAR as bad as Tyler was - which made me stop nursing him.

My days are pretty much spent holding/playing with her, sometimes napping with her, entertaining the occassional visitor(s), running a load of laundry (or 2), putting away laundry, doing dishes, and trying to clean up at least a little bit and organize something.  Today, Salvation Army is coming to get a whole bunch of stuff out of my garage, too bad it's not stuff in my house that will make it look like I did something today.

Tomorrow, I am going to tour another daycare.  I don't even want to think about having to put her in daycare, but I have to find a place.  She won't actually start until May 24th, but I need to find one that I like and start the process before then.  I go back to work 4 weeks from Monday, and my husband will be home with her for 4 weeks.  I then have to go out of town for work, but I am taking her and my mom with me, so she will be just over 3 months when she starts daycare.  Too bad I can't find a friend close by that wants to keep her.

Well, that's it for now.  Sorry if my posts are boring, I don't do much these days - but thankfully Angela came to visit today - with sweet baby Dallas too.  It was a nice visit, and we will have to do it a few more times before I have to go back to work.

Long Posts

I just looked back at my last two posts and realized how long they were.  I don't know how I even found the time to type such long posts with a 2-week old.  Well, I do know how - I wrote them while she was napping, when I should have been napping too. 

I have been bad about not sleeping when she sleeps, then wonder why around 4-5:00pm I can't keep my eyes open.  Alexis is a good baby, but contrary to popular belief that newborns sleep all the time - this is not true of my daughter.  This morning, she got up at 7:30, and was awake until 12:30 pm.  She slept until 3pm, but then was up again until 5pm.  Just about the time that I think I am ready to go to bed (around 10pm), she wakes up and decides she is not going to go back to sleep until midnight.....

Today I decided to stay home since I have been going non-stop since Monday.  Although, I did not take a nap with her, we still snuggled in bed and relaxed for a while.  I did try to get a few things done when she took her nap(s), and was able to get a little bit done.  Too bad my house does not look like I have accomplished anything - still working on projects. BUT, I did make dinner!!! :)

Tomorrow, we are going to lunch with MeMe and Tiffany, but we will try to get a nap in for mommy at sometime............

2 weeks old....

Today, Alexis is 2 weeks old, and she is already growing SO much.  I just love spending my days with her.  So far, they have consisted of the following:

• Awake around 7-7:30 to eat (that's after waking up several times through the night - but this is when we actually get up). 
• Play for a little bit, then take a nap - sometimes I join her, sometimes I don't. We are also usually watching "Saved by the Bell" and "Fresh Prince" at this time.
• Mommy eat Breakfast - sometime around 9am
• Do some laundry/dishes/or work on a project
• Alexis wakes up and eats and plays some more
• Eat lunch around noon
• Alexis takes another nap - sometimes mommy too :)
• Wake up for a bit - kids come home from school and get baths before getting to play with Alexis
• Dinner with the family - Alexis is usually sleeping again
• Wake up and play until around 10-11pm
• Sleep - she wakes up around 12:30-1ish, depending on when she went to sleep, again at 3ish, and again around 5:30ish.  It all depends on what time we actually go to bed and how well she sleeps that night

I am stilly trying to figure out a night time routine that will 1. help her to sleep longer, and 2. keep her from sleeping with me.  Granted, she is only 2 weeks old, I don't want to start a habit of her sleeping with me (although it's so much more fun!).  We have some good nights and some bad night.  And shen I say "bad" it's not really bad, she just wakes up more often.  I don't really let her cry (at night), so when she starts to make noise and get a little fussy, I go a head and get her up to feed.  My husband is working, and the only way I can keep him from sleeping on the couch is to keep her as quite as possible.  So far, so good.

Saturday I had her take her naps in our room where it was nice and quite.  I need to let her get used to sleeping when there's not a lot of noise, because at night, it's very quite.  The 1st few nights home, my husband did sleep on the couch, so I slept with the TV on, and it's usually on all day long.  The only problem is, I like to keep her close to me while she is sleeping during the day, so that means she is usually in whatever room I am working on, and the TV is on.  This week we are going to continue the naps in our room, but also try to get her to actually sleep in the bassinet.  She has been sleeping in the car seat, so I am going to try to get her to sleep in her bed.  Soon, I will let her sleep on her stomach (please don't gasp, my other 2 were tummy babies, and if you ask your mom - SO WERE YOU).  I don't know that I agree with the whole "on the back reduces the risk of SIDS."  In fact, if you research it, many will tell you that they don't know that it actually does reduce the risk.  My son spit up so much all the time that there was NO WAY I was going to let him sleep on his back and have him choke.  Luckily, she does not spit up much, but as long as she can move her head - which she already can, then I am fine with it.  They actually sleep much better that way too!

Alexis is so alert all the time now, which surprises me that she is only 2 weeks old.  She likes to look around at things (as long as you are holding her).  She is even drawn to the light from the TV and will stare at it. 

She's getting so big already too.  Her cheeks are so fat already.  Did I mention that I LOVE staying home with her????  I still have 6 weeks left to go, and I am soaking up every minute of it.  I do not want to go back to work - it's not even funny.  I get very sad when I think about it, so I try not to.  I wish I could find a work from home job - one that does not require me to sell anything, or go to school for......there has to be something out there!

Here are some pictures of her from this week.....