acting out and a few firsts

These dogs are going to drive me nuts before maternity leave is over, taking care of Savannah during the day is a breeze compared to taking care of them. They want to go out every 5 minutes and then want to come in as soon as they step outside. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but it feels like I'm constantly opening and closing the sliding glass door. They always wait until Savannah wants to nurse and we're all settled in and if they don't go out or come in together the other will want in as I'm sitting back down or back to doing whatever it was I was busy with. Thank God their barking doesn't bother her at all. They can bark right next to her head and she doesn't stir.

On top of their constant need to go in and out, one of them has been acting out by peeing on the bed in the guest bedroom!! It seems to be happening in the middle of the night so it has to be Sadie as Gracie is in our bedroom all night. I first discovered it on Sunday morning but that definitely wasn't the first time as some of the pillow were really stained and were quickly thrown out. Luckily, there is a mattress pad cover on that bed so the mattress isn't destroyed. I LOVE washing the sheets, comforter, pillowcases and mattress pad cover and then doing it again 2 days later when no one has slept in the bed.

Onto the firsts...

On Wednesday I gave Savannah her first 'medicine' in the form of gas relief drops. Poor thing was so uncomfortable and her whole body was beet red from crying, her little tummy was hard as a rock. I tried them on a whim hoping that was the problem and it worked like magic, she was so much more peaceful and happy the rest of the day. Clearly it's something I'm eating, I know she is sensitive to onions but she also seems to be sensitive to cow's milk. I don't like straight milk but I do enjoy cereal, chocolate milk and lattes - Starbucks holds a special place in my heart. I bought some vanilla soy milk yesterday and tried it for the first time today, I expected to hate it but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised!

Last night was the first time I went out without her for 4 whole hours! I had taken quick trips to Target and Publix but this was the longest time I hadn't been with her. I had a great dinner with my girl friends and I'm so thankful to have a husband that isn't afraid to watch her by himself for a few hours...even it it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. The first thing James said when I walked in the door was, "I don't know how you do it." LOL (I think it's easier when the food supply is readily available and doesn't have to be thawed.)

Tomorrow we are taking my mom up on her constant offers to babysit and we're going to see a movie! I know she'll be fine and that she's in great hands but I'll still be texting every 8 minutes just to make sure.

one month

I can hardly believe that Savannah is already a month old! Before she was born everyone kept telling me that kids grow up so fast; they weren't kidding, the past month has flown by. She marked her one month 'birthday' by sleeping most of the day and meeting my co-workers this afternoon. She took a nap with James when he got home from work and then was pretty fussy for the rest of the evening. I think she must be going through a growth spurt because she couldn't decide if she was hungry or tired. We finally just decided to throw in the towel and give her a bath, seems like all she needed was that and to nurse as she calmed right down and is now all snuggly in her swaddle in daddy's arms.

Per my very techincal and scientific method of weighing her, me on the scale with her and then me on the scale without her, she is weighing in at 9.4 lbs. - an increase of 2.4 lbs. at birth. She's finally starting to get some adorable little fat rolls. We measured her over the weekend but we can't remember her exact length, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20.5 - 21 inches so she's getting a little longer too.

Modeling her ducky towel, part of a gift from my friends Carrie and Trish.





Getting her hair brushed by daddy, he's very particular about her hair.


Snuggling in her swaddle.

Whoa!

Wow, what a difference a few hours makes! Last night I was able to sleep for 7 blissful, uninterrupted hours and I feel like a new woman. I even made James chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, Wife of the Year right here folks.

James handles everything from bedtime to 1:00 a.m. and I have anything after, the 2 nights prior Savannah had been up twice for me around 2:30-3:00 and then again at about 4:30 but last night she slept until 5:30! I woke up on my own at about 4:30 and had to go in and check on her because I was shocked. Needless to say, I was very happy to go back to sleep for another hour.

On top of the great sleep, I had some absolutely adorable pictures in my inbox this morning. On Saturday we went over to the super talented Jonathan and Niki's, my cousin and his wife, for a photo shoot. Unfortunately Savannah doesn't like being naked (well, maybe that's actually fortunate) and she wasn't very cooperative so I was afraid that we didn't get any good pictures, well I was wrong! He only sent me 2 so far but they are cute overload!!!!!!!!!

She's alert!

As I said the other day, Savannah is getting more alert and spending more time awake each day so I was finally able to get some pictures of her with her eyes open and not screaming!

We're doing tummy time every day and it's really helping the strength in her neck. James took some video of her 'crawling' last night - as long as she has something to push off of, like your hand, she can scoot up your chest or along the floor. She doesn't have the strength in her arms, causing them to get caught up underneath her and frustrate her, but her legs are really strong. I will post the video if we can figure out how to upload it.

And, in other family news - Gracie has been to the Vet twice in the last week. We thought having a child would be expensive, little did we know that the dog would cost more! Last week she had a little spot on her paw that she licked raw so I took her in and she got an allergy shot, some ointment and a cone. I thought the cone would be highly entertaining and would make for great video but sadly it was more pathetic, until she got used to it she just stood there like she was paralyzed by it.

Then on Sunday she was very lethargic, she was still eating, drinking and pottying so we knew she wasn't sick. By Monday she wasn't any better and had added a limp to her list of ailments so back to the doctor she went. After having an x-ray it was determined that she has something wrong with her back, extra space between the vertebrae or disks maybe - I can't recall exactly what. Now she is on an antibiotic, another ointment and valium. At least the valium is keeping her calm.

Until yesterday we had a bunny in the woods behind our house, for the past month or so Sadie would spend hours at the fence just staring at the bunny. When we'd let Gracie out she would bark her head off at it for as long as we could stand it, last week I couldn't take the barking anymore so we decided the bunny needed to be caught and relocated. James tried to catch it several times but wasn't able to and before we had a chance to google 'how to catch a rabbit' Sadie took care of it for us. RIP little bunny foo-foo.

Just wanted to share some new pictures of our precious girl sleeping, she looks so peaceful.

Home Alone

James went back to work on July 6th after having taken the entire week before off to be with Savannah and I. The night before he asked me if I was nervous to be home alone with the babe, I think I surprised him when I said, "Not at all!"

I have absolutely loved being at home with her so far and I know it's only been 3 weeks but I could definitely get used to not working. She mostly eats, sleeps and poops but she is slowly starting to be a little more alert during the day and is overall completly adorable. I am absolutely smitten and just in awe that we created such a perfect and precious little girl, I never get tired of looking at her cute little nose and laughing at all the funny faces and noises she makes when she's sleeping. Heck, I even think her crying is cute!

Seriously, how could you not love this face?

I do have to admit to occasionally getting a bit of cabin fever during the day but that is something I can easily change when I want to, I have plenty of friends that are teachers and home for the summer plus a few stay at home mom friends that I can get together with...or Target is only 3 miles away, I can always find something I need at Target.

I've been trying to give her a little bit of tummy time everyday so that she can strengthen her neck muscles and so that she doesn't get a bald spot. She initially hated it but I think she's growing to like it more and more.

4th of July

How quickly things change, last 4th of July we spent the day skiing and attempting to wakeboard with Aaron and Joy on their boat and then watching fireworks from the river. This year, 4th of July came and went uneventfully, I'm positive that neither James nor I minded the change since we had our precious baby girl in our arms.

We did manage to have our first outing that day to look at a house in Orange Park and to grandma's house for a very short visit.

She had a red, white and blue outfit that was absolutely perfect for the day so we, of course, made time for a photo shoot. She slept through most of it but that is to be expected at only 7 days old.

Welcome!

Welcome to our family blog which I'm hoping to update regularly with lots and lots of pictures and updates on our little family. I have been known to abandon this blog before though, so no promises!