things I love: week five

sorry this is coming to you guys a little later than it was supposed to... i have no excuse.

things I love: week five

#1
the way you sometimes cross your feet when you are sleeping.

#2
when me and russ just say "I love her." out of the blue... it's like we get overwhelmed sometimes about how great you are and just have to express it out loud.

#3
that I make up new songs all the time to sing to you. they are really silly songs, about the laundry or about how gross your diaper is, or about going to sleep. they aren't good at all, but I'm pretty sure you like them...

#4
when you grab hold of my shirt with your tiny little fist while I am holding you or feeding you.

#5
that I find myself daydreaming about what our life will be like in the future with you... playing dress up together, or all of us going to the zoo, or taking family vacations, or simply packing your lunch for school.

#6
that while i was vacuuming, daddy picked you and your bouncer up while you were sleeping so that I could vacuum underneath you and you never even flinched!

#7
that I have several nicknames that I call you: baby, baby girl, my little russ, stink pot, turtle, and probably many more to come...

And we wanted to share a few milestones with everyone.
First: Caedmon smiles... not a full blown smile yet, but it is definitely a response to us talking and smiling at her rather than just gas! she does it the most when she wakes up in the morning and I'm just talking to her, and she does it when russ holds her a lot.
Second: Her umbilical cord FINALLY fell off today! When we woke up this morning it was just barely hanging on by one tiny stringy thing. (I know that sounds kinda gross, but that is the only way I could think of to describe it...) Anyways, then after dinner tonight i unwrapped the blanket she was in and lifted her shirt to check it and it was just laying on her belly! I was so excited that I screamed out, "It fell off!" and russ ran in the room thinking something was wrong... he was kinda mad, haha! But I am just so excited that we get to look at her little belly button, take real baths instead of sponge baths, and now i don't have to worry about accidently ripping it off when her clothes are over it, or when she's laying on her stomach...
And our last milestone: we are moving up a diaper size from newborn to size 1!

I really do want to apologize to our faithful friends and family who keep up with us through our blog, I promise we will update more often with posts and pictures! But everyday is filled with fun, friends, family, feeding, fixing food, folding clothes, and fussy babies (only sometimes) and blogging starts with a "b", not an "f", so it's not a top priority! haha, just kidding... I really will do better!

things i love: week four

so, i was a little late getting things i love: week three posted,
and i thought i would be a little early posting week four, so i started to type a post a few days ago and got sidetracked, so i just saved it as a draft and never finished/published it! oops.
so again, i am a little bit late on week four, but here it is.

by the way, I can't believe that i have already made FOUR weeks worth of things that i love... that means my sweet baby girl is FOUR WEEKS OLD! I have to admit, time is weird though, it seems like just yesterday that she was born, but at the same time it feels like she has been in our home forever, getting her diaper changed, sleeping away in her bouncer, sitting with mommy at the computer, taking naps with daddy when he gets home from work... all the day to day stuff makes it just feel natural for her to be here. i like that.

anyways, here are the
things i love: week four

#1
how cute you look when you yawn!

#2
as russ leaves for work and he comes and stands over us while we're laying in the bed and he gives us both several kisses and tells us that he loves us like two or three times...

#3
the way your eyes blink reeeaaallllllyy slow when you get sleepy.

#4
the way your eyebrows furrow when you are trying to focus on really looking hard at something.

#5
that I never get tired of looking at you.

#6
how ridiculously soft your skin is...

#7
you sleep so good when you ride in the car, even when I have loud music on that I sing out loud to.

#8
all the staring contests we have! you are so good at staring contests.
seriously, you win every time.

#9
how proud me and daddy are of the tiniest little "advances" that you make.
this week, you follow things with your eyes, and will even turn your head a little to keep following things! you are such a big girl!

i also want to send a little shout out to my big sister, Jeri!

Jeri, i am so sorry that i forgot to call you or text you on your birthday!! it was a very busy day for me, with a doctor's appointment and Young Moms started back tonight! so by the time i remembered to finally call you, i knew the kids were already in bed... so caedmon and i made you this video instead, unfortunately it has me singing instead of her, but just pretend that she is singing along! Happy Birthday, and I promise i didn't forget, just got busy!! Love you!

things i love: week three

#1

watching you while you're sleeping. your little mouth always hangs open just like russ.

#2

knowing that you are really healthy and growing after we go see the doctor. it makes me so proud that we are doing things right.

#3

the way you stretch out real big making lots of funny faces after you wake up in the morning.

#4

the night daddy danced with you in our bedroom for the first time. my favorite part is that it wasn't a sweet little slow dance, but a really fast silly dance! you just looked around as if it was completely normal, and me and russ just laughed a lot. definitely one of my favorite moments of your life so far.

#5

when you are crying and then I simply pick you up and you immediately stop crying. I really feel like a real mom in those moments...

#6

just laying on the couch watching tv while you sleep laying on my chest.

#7

when we are out in public and people ask if you are mine and I get to say yes, yes she is.

time flies when you're having fun.

I think that phrase was made up by a new parent. cause it really is so much fun having a baby around, but it does seem like the time flies by so fast (everyone said it would, but i always thought that time would go by faster when she was a little bit older... but alas she is already 2 1/2 weeks old and the statement is already ringing true...)

caedmon went on her first outing to Sams Club last Saturday, we carried her in the 'baby go' body carrier thing and she slept the whole time, it was so fun having a million strangers ooh and ahh over her as we passed by them. 

we also took her to church for the first time on Sunday, and again, she slept the whole time. I am convinced that the best time to take your baby anywhere is when they sleep all the time, yet so many people stay home with them until they are older. but i swear, it is so convenient to be out of the house, and not having to worry about her getting into everything, or being fussy, cause she just sleeps anytime we take her anywhere. I am sure this will all change as she starts staying awake longer, and gets older, and taking her places will be more challenging. but so far our experiences have been great.

this past monday, to keep up with the trend of getting out of the house, we had to go to her two week checkup with her pediatrician, Dr. Timberlake. She also had a follow up with Dr. Donner, her heart doctor. She had great reports at both doctor's offices, and i was so happy! It was my first time taking her out by myself cause russ had to work, but it was much easier than i expected. 

The report from the pediatrician:

She now weighs 8 lbs 0.8 oz, and she is 20 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile in all three categories of her height, weight, and head circumference. So she is just an all-around average baby! The doctor was very happy with how well she was breastfeeding, and that made me feel so proud that we were doing such a good job. She said that most breastfeeding moms come in to the 2 week checkup looking and feeling  "haggard" but that I looked like i was doing fine, and caedmon was happy, so that must mean she is eating very well. That made me feel really good.

The report from her heart doctor:

She had an EKG done while we were there. They stuck a ton of little pink sticker things all over her chest and attached a million wires to them and even though she was awake the whole time, she never once got upset! The results were great, and then Dr. Donner simply listened to her heart with a stethoscope and said she was doing great, her heart rate was fine, she was breathing well, eating well, and gaining weight, so he didn't think anything was out of the ordinary. We have to go back in four weeks for another echocardiogram though, but hopefully that will turn out good too, and maybe the hole will have disappeared by then!

our newly adjusted life at home has been amazing. i'm serious, every single day is absolutely great, and i love just taking care of her, and just knowing what she wants or needs (most of the time...) breast feeding is definitely a full time job, especially with a baby that eats so well... it is so funny, as soon as i start to do something around the house, it is time for her to eat again, so back and forth we go from eating to sleeping, eating then sleeping, sleeping some more, then eating again. but i am just very grateful that she is feeding really well, and that i haven't had any complications with breastfeeding so far.

we still miss russ terribly during the day. i hate that he misses out on the day to day stuff and seeing her all day long, but we are so fortunate that both of us don't have to miss the little fun stuff during the course of a regular day. I am still so thankful for my husband, allowing me to be at home with her every day. I don't think i can ever say that enough.

She is sleeping pretty well at night, with the exception of a few nights this week where she has gotten pretty fussy for about 30 minutes or so before finally falling asleep. We usually go to bed for the night anywhere between 12am and 2am, (depending on whether or not i want to stay up for her feeding at 2am) and then she wakes up every 3 or 4 hours to eat. And then we get out of bed around 10:30 or 11 the next morning. She has slept in the bed with us every night since we got home from the hospital, but two nights ago i laid her in her bassinet at the foot of our bed for the first half of the night, and i got to cuddle up right next to russ (even though he was already asleep) for the first time in a long time... i was just too uncomfortable around 8 months pregnant and beyond to be anywhere near him when we laid in the bed... is that too much information for a public blog? haha, oh well... anyways, she slept there for about 3 hours or so, till russ got up for work, then i put her back in the bed with me for the rest of the night/morning. That is the same thing that storm used to do before we had caedmon, she would sleep under the bed till russ left for work, then she would curl up next to me in the bed... i always loved that, but now i get to do it with my little girl... and i love that even more.

unfortunately storm lives in the garage now until we can get a fence for her in the backyard... but she doesn't seem to hate it too bad...

i know that a lot of this is just useless information for most people, but i love just being able to document all of these things throughout our life with her, so if you get bored reading all of this, feel free to skip over the boring parts... but if you enjoy reading, leave a comment! that way i can look back at what other people thought over the years too!

we'll be posting more pictures very soon (maybe tomorrow or saturday)

just some "around the house" pictures and some really great pictures taken by our friend grace hankins!