Five on Friday

It is the week before Christmas, friends, and this Momma is getting into the spirit! 

We are planning on taking LOTS of pictures this weekend, as I am learning to use the manual mode on our Nikon.  It has been a lot of fun to play with, and I can't wait to see how our pics will turn out. 

Till then, here goes my Five on Friday. 

*ONE*

The Merlin Magic Sleep Suit. 

If you are a new mommy, and your baby is struggling with transitioning out of the swaddle, then this suit will be your new best friend. 

We started using it 3 weeks ago, and Milly has been sleeping from 7.30pm-6.45/7am EVERY NIGHT.  Without waking up once.  

When you are a new parent, getting a full night sleep is like winning the lottery, and these past 3 weeks have been nothing short of magic.  Oh yes, pun definitely intended! 

*TWO*

 Who doesn't love those adorable Freshly Picked Mocs?

I got a pair of Platinums for Milly, and Mimi couldn't resist getting these for Christmas.  

I can't wait for her to wear them! 

*THREE*

Being a new mommy, I am constantly looking at pictures from when Milly was first born.  I think this is because the first couple of weeks are such a blur, that you kind of forget some of those precious moments.  

I am thankful for my sister-in-law Betsy, and the precious pictures she took on the night Milly was born. 

this picture of M & M makes my heart ache in the best possible ways.

*FOUR*

Milly already has 3 cousins: Sara (7), and Jake (2.5) on my side, and Davis (2.5) on Michael's side.

She is getting another baby cousin due in June 2014!

Betsy & David are expecting a sweet baby girl, and I couldn't be more excited!

I come from a big family with many many cousins, and I've always hoped my children would grow up with lots of cousins too.

I LOVE the way they announced it to everyone!  Such a CUTE idea.

*FIVE*

I am saving details for an actual post, but I am loving playing with the manual setting on our Nikon.  I did a little photo shoot with Milly last weekend, and these were my favorite pics! 

I still have a lot to learn, and need tons of practice, but I am pretty excited about it.  I think Michael was worried that we had spent so much money on a camera, and I wouldn't take the time to use it properly.   Told him it was an investment!  ha! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Dear Milly

My sweet Milly bug,

I can't believe you are already four and a half months.  I know it's so cliche to talk about how fast time is flying by, but it's the truth!  I want to make sure that I get caught up on your letters, because five months will be here before we know it.

Your first letter talked about your first nine weeks.  Now let's talk about the last 11 weeks.

You went from crying, and being so uncomfortable for weeks, to smiling, and simply enjoying your little life.  We have you on a great formula, and we started giving you a little bit of rice cereal when you turned 3 months, to help with your spit ups.
You LOVE it!

You are the toughest little baby I know, and take everything like a champ!

On the eve of turning two months, you spiked up a 100.4 fever so we took you to the ER.  They had to draw blood, and run some tests to make sure you didn't have any infection.  You had to wait FIVE hours between feedings, and you were so upset that you ended up falling asleep.  You were such a trooper my little bug.
All your tests came back negative, and we were told that it was just a virus that needed to pass.  You spent two weeks with a stuffy nose, but overall you were fine.

Until about three and a half months, when you got sick again.  This time, we were told to keep an eye on your fever, and make sure that it didn't get worse after a few days.  Five days later, you still had a runny nose, and I felt like you were coughing a little more so we took you to the doctor.  We were sent to the hospital for lab work, and you tested positive for RSV.

You had a really rough two weeks with little night sleep, and you just looked so miserable.  This is when I started thinking "why can't she just catch a break?!"

I hate that you have spent the first couple of months of your life dealing with tummy aches, reflux, and sicknesses.  You are so little, it's just not fair.

What makes me happy though is that you are growing well, and your doctor keeps telling us that you are perfect!  You just had your four months appointment, and you are a TALL bug!  You definitely take after your daddy.

Actually you totally take after your daddy!  You have light hair, light eyes, and long legs.  If you hadn't lived nine months in my belly, I would wonder if you were really mine!
 Ha..I'm just kidding.
You already have such a personality on you, that I know you are definitely my daughter!

You are doing so well these days, and your daddy and I are having the best time getting to know you, and seeing you do new things every day.

You are playing more and more with your toys, you love TV (even though we try to hide it from you), you like music, Jacques the Peacock, Henry the Elephant, Myrtle your pink turtle, and you are slowly starting to enjoy Sophie the giraffe.  You also love your Oball so much that we had get two so that you would have one for the car!

I've started sitting you up in your Bumbo, but you only like it for about ten minutes.  It does get longer each time, so I think you are getting used to the whole sitting up thing.  You are not rolling over yet, but I can tell we are not too far from you being a little rolling machine.  You love tummy time, and love taking naps.

Actually you just love sleep in general! We finally transitioned you out of the rock n play/swaddle, and into the Merlin Magic Sleep Suit.  It was a rough couple of nights, but they were so worth all the good sleep we are getting these days.

I can't wait for the day that I tell you about this Merlin suit, and you look at me like I am the craziest person for putting you in that thing. You love it though, and you are sleeping from 7/7.30am-6.30/7pm every night, in your crib.  I can't complain about that at all, and you wake up such a happy baby.  We put you down awake, and you love playing/sucking on your fingers for a few minutes before you fall asleep. You are such a rock star little bug!

Your daddy and I are just in awe with you, and each day is better than the last.  We are so thankful that you are finally feeling better, and are able to enjoy life.  You still challenge us in the best possible ways, and you make us the happiest we have ever been.  When you are asleep at night, we watch you on the monitor, and we keep talking about how lucky we are to have you.

You have come so far my sweet baby girl, and the best has yet to come.

I love you with all my heart.

Mom

Five on Friday

Friday links up are always fun, so I decided to join 'the good life blog' and start a new tradition! 

ONE

Michael and I are huge football fans.  We look forward to NFL and College Football all year long, and are pretty much devastated when it ends.  Needless to say, this year has been rough for us.  Georgia State did not win a game (to be fair their program is only 3 years old...but still), and the Falcons have won 3.  Whaaaat?  Didn't they almost make it to the superbowl last year? 

We call it the curse of Atlanta sports, and it is not fun at all.  It's painful.  

But this little Falcons fan has made our NFL Sundays a little brighter. 

TWO

This new mosturizer.  Every time I go into Sephora, I look at it, and was always iffy about its color.  It's black, and kinda weird when you put it on.  I took the plunge last night and decided to try it.  WHY did I wait so long?! 

I have really bad oily skin, and this totally does the trick.  

via

THREE

While we are on the beauty product topic, I also picked up this new powder foundation from Laura Mercier.  

I have been using Bare Minerals for the last 5 years, so this was big for me.  I'm such a creature of habits, and every time I make a change in my beauty routine, I seriously get anxious. 

So far, I'm a fan.  It is easy to apply, has great coverage, and lasts all day.  I top it off with a little bit of NARS Orgasm blush, and I am good to go! 

FOUR

One Direction's new song:  Story of my Life. 

 What?! 

But seriously, I heard this song on the radio and really liked it.  I had no idea it was One Direction, but oh well, I'll own it.  I like this song, I said it. 

 

FIVE

I saved the best for last.  Milly's first picture with Santa.  I couldn't have asked for a better picture.  It was perfect, and the look on her face is priceless! 

 

Dear Milly

My sweet Milly bug,

I have been wanting to write your first letter for a couple of months now.  I thought about doing a weekly/monthly post; however, I decided to start with your first nine weeks.

Our experience with you has been nothing short of an amazing and hectic roller coaster.  

The first few days at the hospital were pretty surreal.  You were born via c-section (I will save this story for another post), so we ended up staying in the hospital for a few days. 

You weighed 7lbs11ounces, and measured 21 inches.  You were born with a full head of hair, which was a funny surprise because I have the thinnest hair!  You had the sweetest face, and we immediately fell in love with you.  You also had jaundice,  but it only lasted 24 hours. 

After a few days, we were ready to take you home. 

Let me preface this by saying that your Daddy and I may have been a little more naive than we realized, and our first night home proved that to be shockingly true.

We fed you, changed you, swaddled you, and put you down in the newborn napper that came with your pack n play.  We sat on our bed just staring at you, when you started crying...SCREAMING.

What?!  Ok, babies cry.  Double check diaper, double check swaddle, feed again.  Still screaming.

You hated the newborn napper.  So we tried the pack n play, the swing, nothing worked. 

You slept on our bed, laying flat, with me staring all night to make sure you were still breathing.

This lasted for 3 nights until I sent Daddy to get the Rock N Play at the recommendation of many moms.
 LIFE SAVER.

You finally had a place to sleep - yay!  However, you still cried a lot, and we had a hard time getting you settled.  I quickly realized I was not going to be able to keep nursing you, so we decided to switch to formula.  The switch was tough on your belly, and you cried more and more each day.

I did not sleep for a week, did not get to rest and recover from the c-section, did not take my pain medication so that I could be fully aware with you, and cried more that first week than I had my entire life.

Long story short - I was a HOT mess.  I realized quickly how unprepared I was to be your mom, how little I actually knew about babies, and how terrified I was of you.  You challenged me in ways I had never experienced, and at the time, I had no idea how to be your mom.

We also found out that you had reflux, which was one of the main reasons you could not settle after your feedings.  We switched formulas again, and your pediatrician decided to give you some heartburn medicine.  It took a couple of weeks, one more medicine and formula change, to get you comfortable, and happy.  Seven weeks to be exact.

During those seven weeks, I experienced the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.  I wondered if I was actually ready to be a mom, and if I was ever going to be able to make you happy.  I knew you liked to sleep, so I did my best to establish some sort of routine to get you to nap consistently, and sleep at night between your feedings.  You did great!

I think we finally started seeing the light when you turned nine weeks, and decided to drop one of your night feedings, and slept between six and seven hours.  It was pretty magical. 

Milly, those first nine weeks seem like a blur now, but I can promise you that I learned more about myself, about your Dad, and about our marriage, than I ever thought I would. 

Of course, I had times when I wished I had an "easier" baby.  When I wondered if we were ever going to be able to take you out without worrying about you crying, and I was ever going to be a good mom to you.  But never did I question my love for you. 

One evening before Daddy came home from work, we were playing on your activity mat, and you smiled.  Just like that, the sleepless nights, the doubts, the worries, and all my frustrations went away, because you had smiled at me...ME. 

You are, and will always be a part of me.  What we shared during those amazing nine months is something that I can't even put into words.  I loved being pregnant, and I love being your Mommy more than anything in this world.

You are my little miracle, and I love you to the moon, and back.

Mom.

 

Anyone there?!

If you are still reading my blog, first of all, really?! 

Just kidding, but honestly, thank you! 

As you can see, the blog is a total mess right now - but I am working on a new design that should be ready in a few days! I can't wait to get back to blogging. 

Taking a break was a good thing. It wasn't always voluntary, but I feel like it made me realize what it is that I like/dislike about blogging. 

Of course, I will have a lot of baby updates, but I won't turn this into a mommy blog either. 

Or will I?! Hey the way I see it is most people my age (30 - what?!) have kids these days, so we may be able to help each other out, and exchange a few ideas here and there. 

Either way, thank you for sticking around! I'm looking forward to being back regularly. 

Happy Friday!!!