What's new with AG

From months 4-5 ...this is for me to remember, but feel free to read on if you wish:)

1. Addie Grace was dedicated at our church, Providence Baptist, on January 13, 2012
2. She can slide out of her seat...mom wasn't paying attention one day and found her, well, not so much in her seat. Oops. (seen in pics below)
3. She always always is either clasping her hands together or has them in her mouth. Sometimes she tries to get her whole fist in there...so when you see her, mom would appreciate if you would refrain from holding her tiny cute hands unless you have washed them :)
4. She found her feet

Living room makeover

Since the second year of our marriage and Eric I get and "allowance" each month. Basically it is our fun money that we spend on whatever we want (well, not just whatever, but you get my point). When I was teaching I usually spent mine on clothes, since I had to wear nice outfits everyday. Now that I stay at home, I have PLENTY of clothes and really don't want to spend my money on clothes I won't wear that often.

So what do I do with my allowance? Well, I redecorate. Since I spend the majority of my days at home, I have decided that I want it to be a place I really enjoy.

-I bought a few new things for the mantle
-I painted and distressed and old chest Eric had as a child which now serves as our coffee table...my new favorite thing is turning "trash into treasure." It's so much fun
-organized a little with a couple of cute brown baskets
-added a accent bench and rug
-found old windows at the habitat restore and added a simple burlap wreath
-found a few simple pieces for our shelf at the steps

It's been so fun to decorate little by little.

A few more "visions" to add...
-two or three 6-8 inch shutter (let me know if you find one!)
-new couch pillows
-get rid of the yellow paint (drives me nuts!) and paint the living room a cream color
-side tables that are mix matched, I would like to find at the restore, antique shop, or yard sale and redo them myself!

4 months

Addie Grace is 4 months! She is such a joy in my life and I love LOVE being her mom. She is so cute and sweet...I seriously have the best job in the world. Addie is growing big, but still a petite little thing.

Weight: 12.15 (35%)
Height: 23in (11%)
Head: 15 3/4 (24%)

The doc said she is doing great! He also told me to cut out her 10:30 dream feed and start training her to sleep through the night before she develops bad habits. Eek! So, the night of her check up I started the "training." Fed her at 8 put her in bed at 8:30. She woke up at 1 & 3 so I pat her back and she went right back to sleep and I woke up her up at 9 the next morning!

She is starting to "talk" so much. It is so stinkin adorable. I have noticed that when I take her in public around other people she is very serious and reserved. After a little while it's as if she warms up to her environment and starts talking and smiling. It will be interesting to see if she is a bit on the shy side when she gets older.

She also is very very laid back (so it seems now). She only fusses when she is hungry or tired and really just goes with the flow.

It's so fun watching her develop and figuring out her personality.

She seems as if she is warming up to the car a little bit. The past few times I took her to run errands she was calm...on the way back from Greensboro after Xmas she screamed for 1.5 hours straight. It. Was. Awful. Hopefully she is turning a corner!

Happy 4 months sweet girl! We love you so so much!

3 months

Addie is three months...this has been such a blessed yet long three months! I love watching her grow and develop. She is such a sweet baby and is content most of the time. She is so good at holding her head and loves her bumbo. She smiles all the time. Her laugh is coming, but not quite there yet. 

I cannot believe how fast she is growing. I have a basket full of clothes that are too small. It's bittersweet...I love watching her grow, but sad at how fast it's already going. She is such a big girl compared to her birth weight at 4lbs 13 oz. I can't even remember what it feels like to hold a baby that tiny. 

She loves sucking on her hand. Sometimes she puts her whole fist in her mouth. It's hysterical to me. She makes me laugh all the time, I just can't get enough of her! She apparently can roll over now, seeing how I went to get her out of her crib one morning and she had flipped. She also takes over her crib. Never in the same place in which I left her.

Her sleeping is getting so much better. Her last feeding is still at 10:30 and she has been waking up anywhere from 4-7 to eat again. She is napping a little better during the day; I have really learned a lot about her and love getting to know her everyday. 

I pray that she knows Jesus one day. I pray that she loves Him, serves Him, and makes choices that glorify Him and not this world. I pray that God uses her to grow His Kingdom.

I have those stickers that are labeled for each month...but I can't seem to find them. Oh well! Enjoy the three month photo shoot :)

2 months of honesty

For me to remember:

At 2 months...
Weight: 10lbs 4 oz 
Length: 22 in 

She got her shots, screamed, then was fine for the rest of the day. I was so proud of her and myself! I didn't cry! Probably because my MIL and mom did most of the night feedings that week...so I was well rested.

She is making lots of eye contact and is smiling a lot. I LOVE IT! Motherhood is so fun! It is such a joy to see her progress. I'm so excited to hear those giggles.

She pulled her first 6 hour stretch through the night at 10 weeks.

Since then she has gone anywhere from 4.5-6 hours at night.

On a side note...

It took me a little while to have full joy in being a mom (just being honest). Not because I don't love my baby...because I absolutely do. My hormones were a bit crazy, causing some anxiety and depression for the first little bit, but God has graciously healed me, and I love being a mom and taking care of Addie. Don't get me wrong, it's still really hard, but she is such a blessing to me...plus she is just so stinkin cute. I am very open with my experience, so if you want to hear more about it, just let me know! There is no such thing as perfection, ESPECIALLY in motherhood, so we need to be open and honest with each other. And really, none of us have it all together, so let's not pretend like we do. Honesty is encouraging because we know we are not alone. What helped me through my post-partum is talking about it with other moms, which gave me hope that my craziness would eventually end because other moms were honest with me too. Now, on to looking at really adorable pictures.

Nursery...8 weeks later

8 weeks later...I finally found an opportunity to snap some shots of the nursery. Much thanks to Grandma CC (Eric's mom) who is keeping Addie and allowing me to catch up on some much needed sleep. The nursery has been so fun to imagine since the day I found out I was pregnant. I lost sleep as I excitedly envisioned the details of the nursery in my head...and it turned out exactly how I pictured! Out of one of those sleepless nights came the idea for a "bird theme." When I shared my ideas with Eric, well, let's just say he didn't quite picture it as I did. He was very confused as to why I would want birds in the nursery. Many adjectives came out of his mouth as he "tried" to picture it...weird, silly, different...basically he just didn't get it. But that's okay, because my response was "just trust me." And, "just let me do the decorating." And shall I not forget this one, "why do you care? I'm doing the bird theme. You will like it, I promise." 

The walls were already a khaki color, and I did NOT want to paint. So I decided to do a white and khaki theme, with pops of color. Here ya go...

When you stand at the door, this is what you see:

  I am in the process of looking for a side table to go to the left of the glider. The fabric on the glider and the pillows on the daybed are khaki with aqua birds.

Eric built this shelf...while I was screaming. Not at him. I was in labor. If you read my birth story, you will remember that my doctor had me labor for a little while at home. Well, since I didn't want Eric staring helplessly at me while I was screaming through labor pains, I suggested he build this shelf, to keep himself busy until it was time to go to the hospital. We went to Lowes a few days before to get supplies, we just hadn't built the shelf yet since we thought we still had three weeks to do so. What a perfect way to pass the time...

Oh...remember this changing table?

 

Here is the after picture!

Welp, there ya go! Stay tuned for a 2 month Addie update. Big girl is getting some chunks, can't wait to see how much she weighs!

Newborn and One Month

Newborn pictures courtesy of Lindsey Lee Photography! Lindsey did our wedding pictures too...she is an amazing photographer and comes highly recommended by me, many other clients, and the popular magazine, Carolina Bride! Click here to check out her site!

Happy one month Noodles! Noodles is of course, Addie. The name comes from her being so tiny, skinny, and noodley. She had a weight check last Wednesday and weighed 6lbs 10 oz. Miss Piggy! I'm guessing she weighs around 6 lbs 14 oz now. She is a champ when it comes to eating. Eric and I have gotten into a routine where I'll feed her at 9pm and then go to bed. Eric feeds her around 11:30pm, puts her in her crib, then I take all the night feedings. On a good night, she will wake up around 3am and 6 am. On a rough night, she will be awake from the time Eric feeds her until...all night. On Friday night, Eric and I were up from 1am- 5am. It. was. awesome. Actually, Eric and I got to the point where we would lay in our bed, thinking "okay, finally, let's get some sleep." Then she would start screaming. We would sigh, look at each other, then start dying laughing. Probably from exhaustion because I'm sure it wasn't that funny.

Here are some one month pictures! (The first two are from her first week, I'm comparing then and now)

Hungry girl

Full girl

It has been such a whirlwind of a month. Much learning a growing, but that's for another post, another day. Also, there will be nursery pictures coming as soon as I add a few more finishing touches!