More Thanksgiving Weekend Pics (My Favorites)

12 Weeks Old and Thanksgiving

Lauren turned 12 weeks old on Friday! She is changing so much each week. This week she has really started to enjoy standing up on our laps and having greater head control. I don't want to jinx anything but she is also sleeping longer stretches at night time. The past few nights she has gone to bed between 9 and 10 and doesn't wake up again until 3am!! I don't know what to do with myself when I get that much sleep at one time. My parents and Tyler came Wednesday-Friday for Thanksgiving and Kyle's parents and grandparents came Friday-Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't get any Rouse pictures like I wanted because Kyle ended up getting the flu Saturday night...ugh!

I have started to play with my toys now and I got my hand stuck in it!

My Thanksgiving outfit...definitely was thinking I was having a boy when I bought this onesie!

Watching the Thanksgiving parade...that float was a little boring

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma

More pictures later...

Wordless Wednesday

Hmmm...

What do you think:

1. She looks like a little bird waiting for a worm??

2. "Leave me alone Mom!"

11 Weeks Old!

She is saying 'Goo' if you can't tell...

Well...another week has passed. Not too much going on lately around here. The past few weeks she has really started to recognize that her hands can go into her mouth. Before she would just put them in there on accident or chance but now she is intentionally bringing her hand to her mouth (and trying to suck on her whole fist at the same time). Along with that, she is bringing her fists to her eyes and rubbing them when she is tired. This has helped me recognize her sleepy cues a lot. I have been reading 'The No-Cry Sleep Solution' which is the opposite of the cry-it technique. It has helped me learn to recognize her sleep cues and respond to them at the appropriate times. The other day I was able to lay her down awake and she fell asleep on her own...no crying, so that was great.

During the day so never sleeps in her crib. I either hold her, have her in the sling or wrap, or she is in her bouncy chair. I KNOW that this is the reason that she doesn't sleep long stretches at night in her crib but I don't really care. I would love to get a few extra hours of shut-eye at night but I want to hold my baby all day too. I was talking with a guy from church last night after Lauren slept in the wrap for a good three hours and he agreed with me: they are only babies once. If holding her a lot during the day comes at my expense of sleeping at night, I am alright with that.

Perfect Evidence of Nap Time

I found my hands...and they taste delicious! This has been great because she now takes the pacifier in the car. She used to scream bloody murder the entire time which was not fun!

I am just so beautiful!
Bouncing with Dad...my favorite activity

Wordless Wednesday

Look what is on my bum...I will be posting more info and reviews of cloth diapers at my other blog: SuburbanSavingMama so check periodically if you are interested!

Updated Video

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I updated the video montage that I made when we first announced our pregnancy. I don't know what the deal is but I have been having a hard time getting closure on my pregnancy. I told Kyle the other night that I don't even remember what the kicks felt like anymore and really miss carrying a big belly around. I NEVER thought that I would miss being pregnant but I really do and ask Kyle all the time when we can start thinking about having another one. Don't get me wrong, I love having Lauren here with us!!

10 Weeks Old!!!!!!!!!!

This was the first week that she realized that there was a monkey next to her. She was rather curious! I also went back and put a label on the weekly pictures so you can look through them on one page and see the progression! Look at the sidebar to find it!

"Hey, wait...what is this?"

Hugs!
Staring Contest
"Hello! Who are you?"
"I don't know who or what you are but you sure do taste good"

Wordful Wednesday

Our little girl. This is her glazed over, I just ate, and have a full belly look.

Hi Mom! I was making silly noises at her trying to get her to smile.
Can you please leave me alone?
Just hanging out in my big girl chair

We have been rather busy lately with trying to enjoy the nice weather before snow decides to grace us with it's presence. Usually in the morning we like to go for a little walk in the Moby wrap. Lately I have been a little ambitious and strap her in the Moby and put a little cinch sack on my back and go to the grocery store that is a little over two miles away. It has been good bonding time and she usually sleeps the majority of the time. We have been going to the grocery store a lot lately to pick up little things because I have been wanting to bake a lot for some reason, maybe nesting kicks in again when you get your energy back. Lauren likes to bake with me as you can see from the picture below. Don't worry, Kyle handles everything in the oven or on the stove and no sharp objects are used while she is near. We were making cream cheese, coconut, and chocolate chip cookies here. I really miss being pregnant so I love that it feels like I still am when I carry her and you don't have quite the amount of added weight!

9 Weeks Old!!!!!!!!!

On Friday, Lauren turned 9 weeks old...last week of single digits! Today she had her 2 month appt. which brought her first round of vaccinations, ugh! I wasn't sure how I would respond to her getting shots but it was a lot harder than I imagined. They first gave her the oral Rotavirus medicine which she screamed through. I started to tear up and realized that I should probably leave the room and have Kyle just stay with her. I could hear her screaming in the hall and am glad that I wasn't in there!! She cried for a bit but quickly fell asleep until we got home. She played for a long time before deciding to take another nap and then when she woke up it was not pleasant. I felt so bad for her and we decided to give her some Tylenol to ease her pain. I am not sure how the 4 month shots are going to go!

Here are her 2 Month Stats:

Weight: 11 lbs. (50% percentile)
Length: 23'' (70% percentile)
Head Circum.: 15 1/4 (50% percentile)
-In a nutshell, she is long and skinny!

They did think that I was feeding her too frequently and said that most babies go longer between feedings at this point in time. She usually nurses every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-5 hours at night. I am okay with our current situation though. She seems to snack all day versus taking longer feedings but it works for us since I stay home and can cater to her 'snacking needs'.

Here are the many faces of Lauren
(from top left to bottom: smiling, not really sure, pooping, and yawning)

This Needs No Explanation...

By the way this is not all...

and she was wearing this onesie...one of the many monkey-themed onesies that she has!

Great Giveaways!

Be sure to periodically click on over to my other blog: Suburban Saving Mama. Right now I have two great giveaways going on for Bummas and a Green as Wee Grow onesie or t-shirt.
Bummas are little washcloths that help prevent diaper rash but can also be used as regular baby washcloths. We have yet to have a diaper rash with Lauren by using Homemade Baby Wipes and Bummas. Hurry over for this giveaway, it ends tonight (Tuesday, Nov. 3rd)!Green as Wee Grow has organic onesies, t-shirts, and crib bedding for babies and children. They are even going to be coming out with a pajama line soon as well!! This giveaway ends Nov. 17th.

Our Halloween Weekend

This weekend we had a busy time with lots of visitors and getting to meet new people. Friday night Kyle's mom, great-grandma, and great aunt and uncle came into town to visit and meet Lauren. We met for supper at the Olive Garden and Lauren slept just about the entire time there. After supper we went to the Wine Appreciation Group at our church. Each month a group of people from the church get together and have a wine-tasting party. This month the theme was Oktoberfest so German wine and beers were featured. Of course I sipped on my water since I am nursing but had a great time chatting with others. Saturday and Sunday we spent all day with Kyle's family and had a great time, here are some pictures.

Meeting her GREAT-GREAT Grandma Verdelle
Having a little photo shoot with her adorable dress from Mindy and the blanket that Grandma Verdelle gave her!

Sitting up like a big girl!

Look at my big blue eyes and long eyelashes...probably the only thing that I got from my mommy since otherwise I am a spitting image of my dad