Saturday Morning

Fiona decided to wake up a little before 7 this morning. We are now sitting here watching Saturday morning cartoons. Michael and I are drinking our last cans of Georgia coffee that Edwin got him from Japan, and Fiona is playing on the floor with her toys. She is continuing to roll around, even over toys.


She has now decided to push herself on her tummy backwards into the other room. Guess she's taking after mommy and playing hide and seek without telling us!

This is the first Saturday in a while that isn't jam packed and we can enjoy. It's a nice feeling to wake up not stressed. Looking forward to a great day with my wonderful family.

Dinner

We went out to eat tonight and noticed Fiona was quite aggressive with her food. We got a short video of it.

She is such a character! She continued to eat her meal this way until we left. :)

Fiona standing

Fiona leaning against the wall, but supporting herself!! I might regret saying this, but I can't wait until she can walk!

Many changes

Fiona is almost 10 months old which makes me realize, I have failed at keeping up with this blog.  I have been posting more on facebook with photos and stories and decided if I can do it there I can do it here.  I am downloading an app on my phone to make it easier too.  So here is to hoping I will become a better blogger on Fiona's growth.

She has changed so much since my last post.  She is finally moving around and has the cutest way of getting from point A to point B.  She rolls over from her back to front over and over until she gets to where she wishes to go.  She will even turn around using her feet and arms to align herself and then continue rolling!  It is so funny to watch her. Since she is more mobile now, she is into everything!  I have started a picture album on facebook of all the things I have caught her getting into.  I hope to start posting those here as well.  I think it is time to start child proofing our home!

She has adjusted to the new house very well once we developed a new daily routine for her.  She has so much more room to run around!  I like to think about all the future kids and her running around though the house and playing.  This house is perfect for raising kids. 

I set Fiona down in front of the wall the other day to take a picture of her.  She threw her head back and smacked it against the wall quite hard.  I have been pretty good about not reacting too much when she hurts herself so she doesn't freak herself out and depend on us for comfort.  I sat there and watched her rub her head and fuss a little.  I asked her if she was ok and she laughed.  Then she continued to smack her head against the wall!  Over and over she threw her head back into the wall.  I finally just picked her up and moved her away from the wall because I was worried about her getting a knot!  Today, she has decided to start hitting her head against the wall again.  She is hilarious at times!

She is now feeding herself pretty well.  She has a cute technique that Michael and I like to watch.  She grabs the food in her hand and slowly works it up to rest on her fist between her thumb and pointer finger.  Once she gets it there she raises her hand to her mouth and pops it in!  She works pretty hard to get the food in her mouth instead of just picking it up and putting it in.  It is interesting watching her develop a way of doing things.  I feel like she teaches us so much!

We took her to the Dr. for her 9 month check up a few weeks ago.  They did routine blood work and it was incredibly hard to watch.  They pricked her finger and filled a vile with blood.  She was such a trooper during this and didn't shed a tear or even flinch!  I am so glad they did the blood work because it came back that Fiona is anemic (iron deficiency).  We give her iron drops once a day and they will test again at her one year check up.  Michael and I were pretty upset about the results, but glad we discovered it early on.  They said if she still is anemic at her next check up, we will take it from there.  We are hoping for the best.

Well Fiona is almost 10 months and I have failed at getting my body back to where I want it.  The past week Michael and I have started working out every night and eating better.  We have been doing so well and I am really proud of both of us.  It helps to have his motivation to work out every night.  We have the Wii Fit set up in the bonus room and also the elliptical.  I am really impressed with the Wii Fit so far.  I enjoy working out on it and have been sore everyday.  I worked out my abs for the first time since the c-section and they hurt, but it's a good hurt!  It is funny because we have so much room in the bonus room that we literally jog around the room instead of in place when using it!  I am so excited to get in shape and feel better about myself.

Fiona had her first Easter last weekend.  It was fun getting Fiona around all her cousins and watching the kids play together.  Fiona was a little to young to understand what was going on, but she enjoyed playing with the Easter eggs.  Michael and I would point to an egg for her and she favored the pink eggs.  She kept smacking the eggs together and dropped them on the ground and spilling all the candy everywhere.  This was great for Michael and I cause we didn't eat any candy!!  =)

We were waiting to see the Easter bunny for the first time.  She did so well and didn't cry.  In fact, she smiled and liked him!

Playing with daddy's video games!

This was so sweet!  Fiona and Daddy were watching tv together.  She was sitting so still in Michael's lap.

Well that's all for now.

6 Months Old

It is so hard to believe that Fiona is 6 months old already.  When I originally created this blog, I had great intentions of updating regularly.  Boy have I failed that!  Lol.  She has changed so much lately, it's incredible. 
Fiona is now able to sit up for the most part on her own and play with toys.  She can also pull herself up into a sitting position when slouched.  She is a much happier baby as well.  The smiles and laughs flow freely now.  Michael and I can't seem to get enough of them.  =)
We believe it won't be much longer before she is walking.  She is continuing to stand (will our help balancing) and building leg muscles.  We bought her a rug for her bedroom for playtime and work on building strength.

Newer Pics:

Christmas was very hectic and stressful.  We ended up driving about 1400 miles over a few days traveling everywhere.  Fiona was a big trooper once we bought her a toy to attach to her car seat and entertain her.  She was so cute opening presents and I did not expect her to be able to.  We put a present in front of her to just to see what she would do and she started grabbing at the paper and tearing it on her own.  We were all pretty amazed and surprised.  This small thing made me so happy the whole holiday.  Here are some Christmas pictures:

She has her 6 month check up on Tuesday so looking forward to checking her weight, growth, and development.  I always feel great after leaving her check ups.

I am still making baby food and loving it!  So far she loves sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas the most.  She likes avacado, and does not like peaches.  I think the peaches may be a little tart for her this early and will try them again in a month or so.  She seems to be indifferent about carrots.  It is so exciting watching her react to new foods.

 

These past 6 months of Fiona's life have been amazing, and have had many ups and many downs.  The one constant is Michael and our love for this little girl and each other.  I absolutely could not ask for a better husband or anyone else to raise her with.  Our relationship has not struggled with the downs, only gotten stronger.  I agree that when times get rough, we seem to grow stronger.  I am so thankful for him and our new family together.  I look forward to all the years to come of Fiona and eventually the new additions of our family.

Much Needed Update

It has been an extremely long time since my last entry, but things have been so hectic.  I am having trouble finding time to do anything with Fiona's crying.  It has gotten better, but not by much.  She is sleeping through the night and that is our saving grace.  Once we out her down at night, I have a relieved and relaxed feeling overcome me because I know we have about 9-10 hours of a break.
 
I still am getting up to pump at night but have limited it to once or twice.  I try to pump consistently every 2 hours during the day so enjoy a more relaxed pumping schedule during the night.  Pumping exclusively isn't as difficult as people made it out to be.  I don't know if it is my nature of sticking to a pumping schedule and doing it whether I feel like it or not, or just fortunate to have a consistent milk supply.  The supply does seem to taper off sometimes, but I just continue to pump and not give up.  Right now we have 8 bottles in the fridge, yes 8!  I love when we have so much because there is no need to supplement.  Fiona hasn't needed to be supplemented in over a month.  I love the flexibility of having milk already expressed and it is so much easier to leave the house and not worry about breast feeding. 

It is amazing how quickly children grow and develop.  She is smiling more and reacting to our facial expressions.  We can make noises with our mouths and she will react in return.  We are really looking forward to when she laughs for the first time.

It is becoming more difficult to keep her entertained during the day.  She naps, feeds, and then we have wake time.  During her wake time I try to keep her entertained so she doesn't cry.  She usually cries the whole time regardless of what we do, which is frustrating.  If she isn't napping in the swing, feeding, or on the changing table, she is crying.  I just hold her while she cries or let her cry herself to sleep in her swing.  She is becoming more interested in bright books and toys with patterns so this weekend we are going to buy her a jumperoo.  We are hoping the bright lights and noises of the toys on it will entertain her some and give us another play option.  I have researched and favor the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo.  The 4.7 star rating from 2000 reviews is a plus.  =)  The deciding factor will be her reactions to the different models in the store.

Sometimes after several hours of straight crying, I feel so defeated.  It breaks my heart during those long crying spouts and leaves me feeling helpless.  Then, she will out of nowhere give me the biggest smile which melts my heart and leaves me feeling like the luckiest mom in the world.  It's amazing how a little toothless grin can turn your world completely around.  She is my world and I look forward to watching her grow and her many firsts.  I am so happy we became parents and hope we have several more healthy beautiful children. 

I get a weekly email that lists crafts and games you can play with your children each week.  It also takes into account holidays and seasons as well.  I look forward to finger painting, pumpkin carving, pine cone decorating, and every other activity we can think of with her.  I can't wait for her to make Daddy something and be excited to give it to him when he gets home from work.  There is so much to look forward to.  =)


I have been experimenting in the kitchen more lately.  The more I am experimenting, the braver I am becoming.  I really enjoy making bread and it feels so rewarding.  The other night I made a homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup in the crock pot with home made bread bowls.  The Chicken Vegetable Soup turned out to be a huge hit with Waverly.  In fact, he claimed it is one of his favorite meals now.  I definitely will be making it again soon.  =) 
Last night I threw together some ingredients to make peanut butter cookies.  I am not a huge fan of peanut butter cookies so I didn't add much peanut butter, and they turned out nice also.  =) 
Tonight, I wasn't as adventurous.  I threw some chicken, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, and meat tenderizer together.  I am going to pour it over noodles and see how it turns out.  Very simple, but hopefully good. 

Little one is up from a nap so time to feed, more to come later.

Whew!

It has been a week since my last entry, mommyhood is time consuming.  =)
Fiona is growing so quickly.  I was looking back at some of her newborn pictures and can't believe the changes already.  Yesterday she posed for the cutest picture of all.

 

She takes pictures like this that warm our hearts and make us momentarily forget about her crying fits.  She is still crying quite a bit regardless of the "magic" drops.  I do believe they are helping some, and the case studies reveal it can take days to weeks to notice significant changes.  If we don't notice huge changes once this bottle is gone, we are not going to buy anymore.  We don't want to keep giving her medicine that isn't justified.

We are attempting our first night away from home this weekend.  I am very apprehensive that we won't have everything we will need.  To ease this, I am trying to make a list so we won't forget anything.  How do I know how many diapers, wipes, clothing, etc that we will need?  I want to bring enough plus a few extras of everything, but not over pack.  It was much easier to get up and go when it was just the two of us.  Now it takes several trips to the car to load items like her play yard, bouncer, stroller, etc.  When it was just Michael and I we had one bag total.  =)
Don't even get me started on the fact of unloading it all when we get home and washing everything! lol  Hopefully it will be great practice for future overnight trips when we go places.  Worse case, we can run to a store if we forget something this time.

I am going to try to keep Fiona on her schedule while we are gone.  This also includes me pumping on schedule and not missing a session.  I am worried about my milk supply and making sure it stays up we are gone.  Guess I better stop worrying or the supply will go down!  =)

I will post how our trip goes when we get back!