Thanksgiving 2015

This Thanksgiving was so much fun!  Robert and I recounted our previous Thanksgivings from our married years: a meal with another newlywed couple (2012), Alabama with R's dad's side of the family (2013), and church friends (2014).  This was our first Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family.  We were so thrilled to see the usual crew of my parents, Memaw and Pepaw, and Jim and Taylor, but it was also great to have my aunt, uncle, and cousin in town.  Sarah's first Thanksgiving was a success!

Robert, Sarah, and I headed to town Tuesday after work to have a meal with friends.  This was Michael, Keegan, and Monica's first time to meet Sarah.  It's weird to see friends that you haven't seen since before you became a parent.  The circle of life, man.  It's weird.  Time marches on.  The plan was for Sarah and me to spend the night with my parents and for Robert to go back home so he could work on Wednesday.  Robert got back home only to realize that he had forgotten his house key.  Wah wah wah.  I met him halfway and gave him his key.  Since I was already out late I decided to stop by Leigha and Elise's duplex to hang out more with Keegan and Michael and to see Grant for the first time.  It was such a great time!  I can't say that I've stayed out til midnight since Sarah was born, and I probably won't be doing it again until the same crew is in town for Christmas, but it was so great!

Sarah, Mom, Dad and I hung out Wednesday morning, and we girls ran some errands to Walgreen's, Wal-Mart, and a flea market.  Fun!  Robert got to the house in the late afternoon, and we enjoyed a trip to the park to see our friends.  Emily had gotten in late the night before and was able to join us.  I'm so so so thankful for faithful friendships that have lasted decades.  I fully recognize how rare that is and don't take it for granted.  There's just something to be said for having such a rich history...and being able to tease each other for something funny that happened in 4th grade.

Meeting a Barbie for the first time

The rest of the family crew got in Wednesday evening, and it was another late night of chit chatting.  I'm not sure I've talked or laughed this much in months!  Daily conversation with Sarah is somewhat (completely) one-sided.

First cousin once removed, Michael

Thanksgiving was a day of family time.  Sarah and I joined the boys for frisbee golf at the park.  After that, Sarah and I went over to Memaw and Pepaw's house to hang out and eat lunch.  The big Thanksgiving feast was held at my parents' house.  The food was delicious, and the house and decor looked great!  We played a few rounds of the traditional family game: Catch Phrase.  Still note tired of it!  Watched some football and had another late night.  That seems to be a theme here.  It's worth it when you're getting to spend time with people you rarely see!  Sarah is such a great sleeper that we knew we'd be able to sleep in.  She's been clocking 12 consecutive hours lately.

Reading about Noah with Grandma

Today was full of more friend time.  We saw the regular crew as well as Jen and her husband, Garner.  We wrapped up friend time by singing about 50 Christmas songs around the piano.  This is weird, I know.  It's also totally awesome.  Robert's dear friend, Josh, and his wife, Christina, stopped by to meet Sarah on their way home to Oklahoma from Illinois.  Another friendship for which to be thankful!  The whole fam (minus Michael) ate pizza and played spoons at Memaw and Pepaw's house.  We wrapped up the visit and enjoyed a quiet, rainy drive back home while Sarah slept the whole time.  I'm thankful for so many things - a healthy baby, the opportunity to watch my daughter grow, a husband to share my days with, living close to family, food and home, laughter, faithful friends - but most importantly I am thankful for God's never-ending, unchangeable love and that He loves me enough to send His only Son to die for my sins so I can live eternally and have a personal relationship with the Father.

A Normal Day

It's no shocker, but my daily routine has drastically changed since Sarah was born.  Before getting pregnant I worked full-time outside of the home for 2 1/2 years.  Once we moved to MO I worked part-time from home for for four months, and then I spent the last two months of my pregnancy not working.  I guess it was kind of a good transition so I didn't go from working full-time outside of the home to staying home full-time in one day.  I'm going to give you a generic day, not a particular one.  Here it goes.  You're dying to know, right?

7:00am - Mittens wakes us up.  I love Mittens, but every morning at 7:00 I question why we deal with her and her controlling personality.  We've tried everything - feeding her later at night right before we go to bed, playing with her a ton, closing our door at night, opening our door at night.  It doesn't seem to matter.  I don't even set an alarm anymore because I know she will never let me sleep past 7:00.  Go downstairs to feed and water her.

7:05am - Make coffee, eat a simple breakfast (oatmeal, cereal, fruit, yogurt), check the computer for the morning (email, Facebook, Blogger, bank and credit card).

7:30am - Sarah awakens!  She's really cute when I first go in to get her.  She smiles from ear to ear.  When I unswaddle her she stretches so hard.  Change her diaper and bring her downstairs to feed her a bottle.

8:00am - Go for a stroller ride around the neighborhood.

8:45am - Change Sarah's outfit for the day.  Read a book and a Bible story.  Play on the changing table while I stretch and we listen to music.  Sarah will usually be happy laying on her back and playing with toys for about 30 minutes.  I sing and talk to her.  We transition to the crib to do some tummy time.  I've noticed she lasts longer at tummy time when she's on a softer surface than the ground, and the crib ensures that she doesn't roll away.

9:30am - Nap.  Ideally, this would happen in the crib, but these days she just loves napping in my arms.  I try to think about how this time won't last forever and be happy that she loves me and feels safe in my arms, but some days it's hard to ignore the fact that if she would just nap in her crib I could get so much work done, but Sarah doesn't care if the house is clean and I've made a nice dinner, right?  She just wants my love and time, so that's what she gets.

11:00am - Diaper and bottle.

11:30am - Activity mat.  She loves swatting all of the toys.  She gets really hyper vocalizing and squirming around.

12:00pm - Daddy's home!!!  We hang and eat lunch.  I enjoy talking to somebody who can actually respond.

1:00pm - Nap.  These days she can nap in the crib in the afternoon for about an hour, wakes up crying, I go and get her, and she sleeps in my arms for another hour.

3:00pm - Diaper and bottle.

3:30pm - Check the mail.  Is it sad that this is an activity?  Run errands if I need to.  Otherwise, Bumbo, eye to eye time where we "talk," sit in the bouncer on the kitchen table while I cook.  Talk on the phone to somebody.

5:00pm - Daddy is home for the evening!!!  Hand over the babe and go to the bathroom. haha  Sarah usually gets very upset around this time.  I feel sad for Robert because it isn't much of a welcoming.  It also stinks for me because then Robert wonders if the whole day has been like this.  I assure him that it hasn't and that it has nothing to do with him.  It still makes both of us sad.

5:30pm - Dinner.  If we're lucky, Sarah will be entertained by the Bumbo, activity mat, or bouncer for 20 minutes so we can both eat, but let's be serious.  Usually we eat in shifts and reheat food.  This will end one day.  Before we know it Sarah will be eating at the table in her high chair with us.

6:00pm - Contemplate doing something "fun" like driving around, milling around a store, playing a game.  Get realistic and decide to tidy up and veg.

7:00pm - Feed Sarah and change her diaper.  If it's been an incredibly long day we'll tuck her in now.  If we're all in a good mood we'll keep hanging out and playing.  On Wednesdays and Sundays we'd still be up at church during this time.

9:30pm - Bottle and diaper in the dim nursery while the sound machine plays ocean noises.  Tuck her in for the evening.

10:00pm - Check our phones, talk a bit.

10:30pm - Bed and dream of feeling fully rested again one day.

Sarah At Three Months

Sleeping
Sarah makes it through the night without a wake-up most nights (10pm-7am).  Occasionally she will wake up once around 3am, but that probably happens less than once a week.  On the night of November 1 she slept from 9:15-7:45  She's such a great sleeper, and I hope and pray this lasts throughout her whole life.  I genuinely believe that God knew that in order for me to recover from my hemorrhaging and fatigue that I would need a good sleeper.  Thank you, God, for meeting and exceeding the supply for my needs!  I would say Sarah takes about 2 or 3 naps a day these days, and they last 30 minutes up to 2 hours.

Eating
Sarah eats 6 ounces 5 times a day and snorts when you take away the bottle to burp her.  Girl knows what she wants!  I love how peaceful and focused she is while eating.  I feel like she's saying, "Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for taking care of me and making me feel safe, secure, and happy."  Our pediatrician said that he tells his parents to feed babies one more ounce per feeding than the number of months the baby has been alive (example: 3 ounces per feeding when 2 months old), but Sarah just won't have that!  She has a healthy appetite!  Here's what her schedule looks like for the most part:

7:30 - Wake up smiling from ear to ear.  Get a diaper change and bottle.
8:00 - Stroller ride
8:45 - Read, play on changing pad and look in the mirror
9:00 - Tummy time and playing on the activity mat
9:30 - Nap
11:00 - Diaper change and bottle
11:30 - Play (Bumbo, toys, hold her, etc.)
1:30 - Nap
3:00 - Diaper change and bottle
3:30 - Errands, seeing friends, etc.  She usually ends up getting one car seat nap a day.
5:30 - Semi-independent play time while Robert and I eat while watching her.  This is Robert's time of day to play while I get things done that I couldn't do all day while I had Sarah.
7:00 - Diaper change and bottle.  Then we either tuck her in and wake her up to feed her once more before we go to sleep, or we'll just do hang out time where we hold her while watching TV or playing a game.
10:00 - Diaper change and bottle

Playing with Dad is fun!

Diapers fall under that category of eating, right?  Well, we started cloth diapers this week.  It's going really well.  I totally don't feel the need to convert anybody else over to cloth diapers, but for us, here's why we picked cloth: cheaper, better for Sarah's skin, good for the environment.  BUT I can't deny that disposable diapers are infinitely less time consuming.  I think that if I worked full time I wouldn't do cloth diapers, but since I'm at home all day I'm available to switch over laundry throughout the day.  I also see it as another way to save money to compensate for the fact that I no longer have paying employment.  We use Flip diapers which are made by Bum Genius, and we purchased them from a website called Cotton Babies.  You can pick from three different types of inserts: stay-dry, organic, and disposable.  We use organic.  We have probably 6 shells and 36 inserts.  When the diaper is just wet you only need a new insert and keep on using the same shell.  When it's a dirty diaper a lot of times the shell can get a bit dirty so you need a whole new set, but that's why you don't need as many shells.  This also makes it cheaper.  I feel like it creates less laundry than the all in one cloth diapers.  I have a wet pail where I keep used diapers.  If it's a wet diaper you can just throw it in the pail.  For dirty diapers you have to rinse them off first.  We have a sprayer that attaches to the toilet.  It's kind of like a sprayer that you would have on your kitchen sink.  I would highly recommend this!  I do laundry 2 or 3 times a week.  The diapers go through 3 cycles while washing: warm quick wash with half as much detergent as you would usually use, hot heavy duty wash with normal amount of detergent, cold rinse and spin with no detergent.  Line dry.  The sun helps to naturally bleach away stains.

Personality
Sarah loves smiling at people she knows as well as strangers.  She knows it's the fastest way to somebody's heart!  She loves cooing and being cute.  She is flexible and a happy camper but will let you know when she's hungry or tired.  She is very alert and attentive.  She enjoys being active as well as relaxing.

Health and Physical Ability
Sarah rolled over 2 times on 9 her week birthday.  Robert missed it, :(  She rolled over again on her 10 week birthday, and Robert and my grandma got to see it.  She hasn't done it since, so I wouldn't say it's a regular occurrence, but it's nice to know she's capable of it.  She also raises and bends her legs a lot more while she's on her back.  She scoots a lot while she's on her back, so I have to pick her up and put her back on her activity mat.  She is grasping books, keys, toys, and cloth block.  She is still struggling with her clogged tear duct, but we're doing some compressions to try to make it better.  She likes baths but hates feeling cold after getting out.  She has a very strong grasp.  Sarah loves sucking on the back of her wrist and fitting her whole fist into her mouth.

Painting while doing tummy time

She scooted herself off of the activity mat!

Superficial
She has an awesome double chin that everybody loves!  Sarah has the most gorgeous blue eyes and long eyelashes.  She has very long, dainty fingers.  Her hair seems to be getting a bit blonder but not much thicker except for a big, dark patch in the back.  She has a few very long hairs on top.

Highlights of the month

• Sarah made her first trip to Kansas to celebrate her great grandpa Gary's 80th birthday.  She got to meet lots of family, and she did really well on the trip!
• We had a great trip to Pennsylvania!
• Sarah and I made a trip to Bolivar when my mom, Tarah, and her mom had the day off from school.  We had a great day!
• Robert and I took the youth to a corn maze, and my mom babysat Sarah and tucked her in for the night.  It went really well!
• We had some family pictures made with my parents, Memaw and Pepaw, and Jim and Taylor.  Sarah knows how to strike a pose!
• South Gate had a fall fest, and Sarah enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds.

Dear Sarah,
You are totally awesome!  You learn so many new things every day.  I hope you always enjoy learning whether it's at school or on your own.  God gave you a good brain that is capable of gaining knowledge and doing big things.  I can't wait to see what you do with it!  You are so beautiful on the outside, and I hope you always believe that, but I also hope you remember that your character, kindness, and heart are much more important than exterior appearances.  Keep being you!