Sarah At Six Months

Stats
Weight: 18lb 0.2oz (80%) - She has awesomely chunky thighs!
Height: 26.25" (70%) - I'm not so sure that this is accurate considering the fact that she measured 26.3" two months ago and has gone up a clothing size since then.
Head circumference: 16.5" (43%) - Tiny like Daddy!

Sleeping
Sarah's night is typically 8:15pm-7:30am.  Occasionally she'll sleep as late as 8:30, but that's very rare.  She still takes three naps during the day - morning, afternoon, and evening.  The morning is the shortest, evening is the mid-length, and afternoon is the longest.  Morning nap is usually only about 30 minutes and still happens in my arms.  The afternoon nap is happening in the crib more and more (!!!) and lasts at least an hour on short days, 2 hours on normal days, and 4 hours once in a blue moon.  Her evening nap happens in our arms or in the crib depending on how long we think it is going to last.  She is no longer swaddled at night and just sleeps in a sleep sack or her Zipadee-Zip.  The afternoon nap happens in the Zipadee-Zip or swaddled with her arms in depending on how rowdy she is.  She hasn't been able to handle a sleep sack in the afternoon, but we just got new blinds in her room and they keep the sun out better, so I'm hopeful that afternoon naps might be a bit better now.

Eating
Sarah eats an 8oz bottle at 8:00, 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00.  She eats rice cereal before the bottle at 8:00, 12:00, and 4:00.  We tried oatmeal, and she threw up both days that we gave it to her.  I'm unsure whether or not it was an allergic/digestive reaction or if it was a freak coincidence, but we've decided to just stick with the rice for now since she likes it and it agrees with her well.  We're excited to start her on baby food!  She's started showing a big interest in our food when we eat.  I'm hoping to make some baby food for her and just use store-bought while we're out and about.

Personality
Sarah thinks Robert is the most fun and most hilarious person in the universe.  It's really fun to see them interact.  I'm also a bit jealous that she gets so thrilled when he comes home from work.  She gets pumped to see people she recognizes like grandparents and youth kids.

Health and Physical Ability
Sarah can roll onto her side from her back and from her stomach.  She seems to get so close to officially rolling over and then stops.  Her second tooth appeared on January 10.  We were at baby Asa's first birthday party, and his mom, Tarah, said, "Aww, I see Sarah's teeth!"  Me, "No, she just has one tooth.  Wait!  What?"  Sure enough, two teeth.  I swear that second one popped through on our drive to the party.  She drools a lot less now that those teeth are in.  She is very good at tracking and has really started to notice Mittens walking around this month.  She looks up when you say her name.  She is really into doing crunches.  She can stand with support.  She can officially sit, too!  She can last about 30 seconds before toppling over.  There was a big growth spurt in the physical ability department this month.  No cold/flu yet this winter, and she's still never had a fever, even with teething or vaccinations.  Knock on wood.

Superficial
Her hair is coming in more and more, and it's definitely blonde and straight.  Her eyelashes and blue eyes are still beyond stunning.  I think it's safe to say she officially has blue eyes.  Our pediatrician said you can usually trust eye color at 6 months.  She has the cutest facial features - chubby cheeks, rosy cheeks, kissable lips, perfect skin.  She's gorgeous.

Highlights of the month
January 6 - First big, intentional laugh
January 10 - Asa's birthday party (Sarah's first birthday party to attend for a friend).  Sarah's second tooth.

January 15 - First time on a swing (At Memaw and Pepaw's house)

January 20 - First snow

January 29 - Mark and Serina came for a quick overnight visit on their way to vacation.
January 30 - First collegiate sporting event: hockey.  (My first hockey game as well. HA!)

February 3 - Rolled from back to tummy twice!
February 4 - Introduction of the high chair

Dear Sarah,
I hope you never lose your ability to see the beauty in simple things like leaves blowing in the wind, listening to the guitar, petting a soft cat, watching a bird out the window, or laughing and being silly.  God made these things for you to enjoy because he loves you.  He could have a created a very boring but functional world, but he decided to be creative and made sunsets and sunrises, fluffy cat fur, chirping birds, and cool breezes on hot days.  God loves the birds so much that he makes sure that they are fed, but he loves YOU so much that he gave his only Son to die on the cross to forgive all people of their sins.  If you believe this and believe that you need a Savior, then God will rescue you.  How glorious is that?  Sarah, I pray every day for your salvation and that you will seek to follow God and His ways all the days of your life.  I want nothing more and nothing less for you.  I will love you all the days of my life.

A Day In The Life - Winter 2016

Robert and I are both 25 years old, Sarah is 5.5 months old, and Mittens is 3.5 years old.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

7:10 am - Mittens hops up on the bed and begins to meow at us to wake up and feed her.  Ugh.  I shouldn't complain because she used to wake us up at 5:30 to feed her.  7:00 is our limit, and she waited 10 minutes extra.  Also, I know I can't complain because the vast majority of adults are already awake at this point.  Check my phone for a second and see an Instagram pic with snow.  I wake up Robert and say we need to look outside.  Turn off Sarah's monitor.  Where'd the child go? ;)

Yep, all that pretty white stuff!  It's our first snow at our house.  I'd estimate we got about 2".  I can't wait for Sarah to see and feel it!  Won't next winter be so fun when she can actually run around in it?

7:20 - We get Sarah from her crib.  Miss Thang is always so happy to see us in the morning.  We make sure to go in and get her together.  She coos and flaps her arms, but she doesn't want us to dilly dally.  It's bottle time!  So we change her diaper, grab a bib and burp cloth, and head to the kitchen.  Sarah sits in her Bumbo while I whip up a bottle and rice cereal.  Sister is so hungry that she isn't too interested in the the cereal, so she only eats about half.  We've had to start hiding the bottle during cereal time because it's too distracting and tempting.  Robert needs to get ready for work, so it's my job to give her the bottle.  When she finishes I ask Robert if we can put Sarah in her snow bunny suit and go outside really quick.

7:50 - This is Sarah's first time to kind of play in the snow.  She's seen flakes a couple of other times.  She's curious, confused, and takes it all in.  She wasn't overly excited, but no tears were shed, so I'd say it was a good introduction to the white stuff.

8:10 - Daddy is gone.  I'm too scared to go out today since there's a layer of ice under the snow, I haven't seen a snow plow on our street yet, and getting a 5 month old in and out of the car in the sub-freezing weather just doesn't sound appealing to me.  So now it's time to entertain Sarah for 9 HOURS.  Okay, let's do this.  We start out by playing on the changing table.  We do this each morning while I do some stretches.  I count out the seconds while stretching.  That's teaching her numbers, right?  We read ou Bible story for the day (The Prodigal Son), Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, and the Berenstain Bears.  It's the one where Sister Bear is scared of the dark after Brother Bear reads her a scary book.

Mittens has become more interested in Sarah lately and enjoys hanging out in her room while we're in there.  I attempt to multi-task and talk to Sarah while scratching Mittens with my foot.

8:45 - Bath time!  It's been so hit and miss lately.  I decide to go back to the old days and play music while bathing.  Today's play list is a James Taylor station.  We dance in front of the mirror while listening to How Sweet it is (To be Loved by You).  Time to get wet.  Today's bath is a success due to the music, plastic keys, and constant narration by Mommy.  She tries to catch the water as a trickle it down from the little watering can.  She looks like such a big girl sitting up in her bathtub.  She loves chewing on the wash cloth!

9:20 - Lotion the babe and get her dressed for the day - white long sleeve onesie and pink yoga pants.  I just love touching her skin!  I'm so thankful that she doesn't despise the cold air after a bath quite as much as she used to.

9:25 - Tummy time while I drink my coffee and have a berry smoothie.  Is she ever going to roll over regularly?  She loves tummy time but just doesn't enjoy rolling.  Trying not to pressure her.  I always know tummy time is over when she cries and spits up.  Admire her inquisitive eyebrows, big blue eyes, and her long eyelashes.  Mittens is weaving in and out between us.  I think she gets jealous when I pay attention to Sarah.

9:40 - It's time for the morning nap.  These usually last about 30 minutes and happen in my arms when we're home and in the car seat if we're out and about.  This is the perfect time to get in some Sarah Snuggles and catch up on my TV shows.  Let the guilty pleasure watching of Teen Mom OG commence.  Farrah drives me nuts, and it's hard to be sympathetic for her crying when her face can't move due to too much plastic surgery.

10:15 - After a 35 minute power nap Sarah wants to wake up slowly so we snuggle, talk, and say hi to Mittens.  Sarah and Mittens enjoyed an extended interaction and petting yesterday, but Mittens doesn't enjoy it when Sarah pulls her tail today.  Not surprising.  Sarah has really started to notice her lately.

10:35 - It's time for the bouncer.  Sarah enjoys playing in it while looking outside at the snow.  I crochet while sitting in front of her and count my stitches aloud for her.  She likes pulling at the yarn ball and watching the bright red yarn form into a hat.

10:55 - We play on the activity mat.  Now that we have the hard floor I've been trying to put an extra blanket under Sarah's head.  Today's blanket is Robert's old Spongebob fleece.  This has been a favorite toy for at least 3 months.  I sit here and wonder how it's not even 11:00 yet.  Boo for being stuck in the house all stinking day long.  I seriously couldn't do this for more than one day in a row.

Have you ever seen a baby do crunches like this?

11:25 - My mom has her second snow day in a row today, so Sarah and I FaceTime her and show off Sarah's new sitting ability.  Yesterday she sat on her own for about 15 seconds, and today she sat semi-supported by the Boppy for about half an hour.  She fell back onto the bed once but got herself back up into a sitting position thanks to her crunches giving her such a strong core.  I see a few brave senior citizens walking out on the street.  Hope they don't fall!  Each homeowner is responsible for shoveling his or her own sidewalk, so you can just imagine that they're all covered in snow yet.  High five to Robert for being the only one to shovel his driveway, sidewalk, and porch.

12:00 - Diaper change, play with feet, get ready for lunch.  Sarah gets so frustrated that she can't quite get her feet into her mouth.  That'll be the day!  Sarah has rice cereal in the Bumbo again, and then I give her a bottle.  She starts falling asleep during this bottle which is unusual, so I go with it and tuck her in early for her afternoon nap.  She still has to be swaddled with her arms in for naps.  She just can't sleep without it.

12:30 - My lunch time.  This picture makes it look way less appealing than it was, but it was indeed a leftovers lunch - beef stew, breakfast pizza, and cornbread.  Note the claw clippers from Mittens' manicure the night before.  I think we've almost recovered.

1:15 - Time to rest and relax for a bit.  Sarah looks peaceful.  Maybe I can even sneak in a nap.

I've been reading Into the Whirlwind which came recommended by Memaw.  I'm about 1/3 of the way through it, and it's really good.  Read two chapters and shut my eyes.  2 seconds into it, Sarah wakes and is screaming.  What are the odds?

1:40 - Check the mail really fast (my only trip outside all day) and then get Sarah out of her crib.  The little stink pot smiles and coos right when I got in.  She got her way!  Apparently she just couldn't handle a break from me because I'm so stinking fun.  Since she only slept for an hour I didn't get to tidy the house while she slept.  We're hosting our pastor/Robert's boss and his wife and three kids for dinner, so tidying has to happen.  Baby wearing for the win!  We pick up, load the dishwasher, dry mop, throw laundry in the washing machine, and make the bed.

3:00 - Apparently cleaning up bored Sarah to no end so she fell asleep playing with my chin.  I'm finished cleaning so I sit down for an hour.  I can never sleep when Sarah is sleeping in my arms.

3:30 - Sarah wakes up after a 30 minute cat nap.  I've run out of fun things to do.  Does playing among three blankets count?

3:45 - No!!!  I never took a shower today.  Shocking.  I put Sarah in the bouncer on the bathroom floor while I shower.  She's getting sad and hungry.  It's the world's fastest and least relaxing shower as I narrate what I'm doing in hopes to hold off S for a bit longer.  "Mommy's washing her hair.  Mommy's ringing her hair.  Mommy's losing her mind."

4:00 - Change Sarah's diaper and give her a bottle.  I'm too lazy and wiped out to even mess with cereal.  Robert calls and is headed home soon.  Hallelujah!  The hour between the 4:00 bottle and when Robert usually gets home ticks by so slowly.  I'm glad he'll be home a bit early today.  I Notice that Mittens is creepily spying on us.

We play in the blankets a bit more.  Sarah's eyes look gorgeous with the light from the French doors streaming in.

4:20 - Robert is home!  This is the best time of the whole day.  I know this is the witching hour for so many stay at home moms - the time when you've officially run out of all of your ideas for fun things to do and you're counting down the minutes til Dad/Husband arrives home.  Robert has come home with ingredients to make crinkle cookies using a chocolate cake mix.

4:40 - I've started making the cookies - cake mix, oil, vanilla, eggs...wait.  We don't have any eggs.  Ugh.  How did this happen?  Robert and Sarah need to make another trip to the store.  At least while they're gone I can set the table and get ready.  I dry my hair, straighten it, get dressed, and put on makeup.  They're home.  Time to make the cookies.

5:45 - Our dinner guests are here!  Only Becky has seen the house in all its glory.  The others haven't seen it since we were in the middle of painting.  Robert gives them a quick tour while Becky and I hang with Sarah.  We're having BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, broccoli, and corn.  Kate is especially hungry since she just had gymnastics for something like 5 hours.  Wow!  Sarah is only content in the Bumbo for about 5 minutes and then demands that she sit on my lap with the rest of us.  Poor thing is not to be forgotten!

6:15 - Dinner hit the spot and we decide to play a game.  We are teaching them how to play Wits and Wagers Family Edition.  Robert and I end up tying for first place.  It's a fun game and easy to learn how to play.

7:30 - John and company must leave since tomorrow is a school day.  The area schools were out Monday for MLK Day, back to school Tuesday, out Wednesday and Thursday for snow, and back on Friday.  What a weird week!  Looking forward to next year when Sarah starts to show interest in playing in the snow.

7:40 - We have 20 minutes before Sarah's bedtime routine commences so we play on our bed for a bit.  We don't do this every night, but we do it at least a couple of nights a week.  Such sweet memories!  Tonight, I'm jealous that Sarah already thinks Robert is more fun than me.  I'm the boring one who is always around and she never gets a chance to miss.  Daddy is the fun one who pretends to body slam her onto the mattress.

8:00 - Ahh!  We've made it to the final bottle of the night.  Robert changea her diaper and puts her in her pajamas while I turn on the lamp, sound machine, monitor, and humidifier.  Tonight Robert gives her the bottle while I clean up the dishes from dinner.  I finish up at the same time as Robert and Sarah and go in to say good night and pray together.  Memaw and Pepaw got Sarah a cool new sleep sack type thing called a Zippadee-Zip, and tonight is Sarah's first night to use it.  She seems to like it, and it looks like it will keep her hands warmer which is usually a struggle.

8:15 - The Bean is asleep.  Mommy and Daddy time!

8:30 - Robert and I can finally talk about our day.  My recap is usually the same - details about Sarah's naps, diapers, activities, bottles, errands.  I feel lame for not having anything interesting to say.  Now that I stay at home I like to hear all of the details of Robert's day even more than ever before.  He's working on planning DNow which is in mid March.  Today he met with the leader of the band that will be doing the music.  He's another local youth pastor but has a combo position with music as well.  He's an SBU alumnus.  Robert and he really enjoyed getting to know each other better.  I interrogate about the opportunity to meet his wife who is also a stay at home mom to their two children.  Also, could we be best friends?

9:15 - Robert and I have started watching Friends on Netflix this week.  Man, styles sure have changed since the early 1990s.  I'm struggling to understand why people ever liked this show.  Don't shoot me.  I'm crocheting my little red beanie while we watch.  The local hospitals are collecting newborn and preemie beanies to distribute to all of the babies born in February.  The beanies will be crocheted or knitted from red yarn to raise awareness for congenital heart defects.  The project is called Little Hats, Big Hearts.  My mom told me about this project about two weeks ago.  I'm almost finished with my second hat.  The first was newborn, and this second hat will fit a premature baby.  I often feel like I can't do much to help the community since I have Sarah as my 24/7 job right now.  I know, taking care of Sarah is helping my community.  I get it.  So this crocheting project seemed like the perfect thing for me to do in the evenings while I can't leave the house.

10:05 - I have to read one more chapter of my book.  It's so good!  I used to read a ton while I pumped, but then once I stopped doing that I kind of stopped reading.  This feels so much better than just playing on my phone.  I need to remember that I like reading and do it more.

10:30 - I just can't make it any longer.  It's time for me to go to bed.  I say good night to Robert, and he says a prayer.  He heads out to the living room to watch That 70s Show.  Gag me.

11:30 - Ugh.  Why do I always drink a bunch of water right before bed.  I get up without my glasses on and fumble in the dark.  Whack.  Yep, Robert had closed the door to our bathroom and I just ran right into it.  Robert comes in and asks what is the matter.  Nothing.  Just broke every bone in my body due to walking in the dark and being blind.

5:49 - Sarah is crying.  Why?  Give it a minute.  She stopped.  Thank goodness.  Was it a bad dream?  What do babies dream about anyway?

7:45 - Mittens wakes us up.  Thanks for letting us sleep in today!  It's Friday which is our family's Saturday.  We made it through another week!

Random Whirlwind of Thoughts

I've done this a couple of other times before, but occasionally it's fun to just type about random stuff for a bit.  I don't feel like I have anything particularly interesting to write about, so a miscellaneous post it is.

I fell trying to check the mail today.  I hate being clumsy.  I just slipped right off of the curb and hit my hip and jammed and scrapped my toe.

Even when our house is clean we still have Sarah's huge accessories everywhere - bouncer, Bumbo, jumper, two activity mats, car seat, diaper bag.  She requires a lot of stuff!

Sarah's bed head is funny.

Carrying Sarah in her car seat no longer feels too heavy.  The combo weighs about 23 pounds, and I remember when the combo weighed about 12 pounds and feeling like I was carrying a giant dumbbell.  Also, a gallon of milk now feels like lifting a feather.

I like our new fireplace.

My nose is cold.

I love the show New Girl!  I was skeptical for a few years and never watched it but have become dedicated to watching it on Netflix.  It's so funny and entertaining!

I need a new book to read for the time during Sarah's afternoon nap where I don't want to do housework but also don't want to just play on my phone or computer.

It was disappointing that we hardly got any snow on Saturday.  I want to go sledding!

I'm ready for this stinking cold to go away.

Our backyard neighbor must have some sort of job where he gets home around 1:30 because every day his three dogs get let out then and bark for over an hour.  Super annoying.

Mittens rules the roost already and is the laziest cat in the history of feline-kind.

Thankful for previously prepared freezer meals.  Bakes spaghetti for dinner tonight!

Funny convo with my doctor today during annual physical - Me: Yeah you basically have to eat an entire loaf of whole wheat bread to get your daily supply of dietary fiber.  Dr: Yeah including the bag! :)

College football season ends tonight.  Thank goodness!

Does anybody else ever feel like why do I even both trying to keep my house straightened when it doesn't even last for a whole day?

I'm so thankful to have a garage now.  Carrying in groceries with Sarah is way easier, and i don't have to be  concerned about rain or snow.  Now that the garage is cleared out Robert can park in there too.  So nice!

Sarah is 5 months old.  It's been the fastest and slowest months over.  Fast when I think about just five months ago she was a little tiny baby who was either asleep or crying and didn't do much else, and now she can smile, laugh, sit with assistance, stand with assistance, play, hold things, etc.  Slow because days can seem monotonous, she can't talk to me, she completely relies on me to survive, and she's five whole years away from kindergarten.  Robert and I haven't even been married that long yet.

Speaking of being married, Robert and I are only a couple of months away from being married for four years, just two months away from six years since we started dating, and just a couple of days away from six years since becoming friends.  Mind blowing to think about all that has happened in six years.  Ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't gotten married when you did to who you did?  Robert thinks he wouldn't have gone to seminary and would live with a bunch of guys in an apartment.  I think that I still would have gone to grad school and probably would have lived with a roommate during grad school but then would live on my own.  I might have lived overseas for a year or two.  Definitely still would have gotten a cat. haha  But I would have missed out on so many things - living in NC and having Sarah being two of the biggest things.

Okay, there you go.  15 minutes of random.