A Busy Weekend

Hello,

We decided to make the most of the three-day weekend by doing lots of "firsts" with Belle.  The first thing on the agenda was to finally sleep train the little one.  She is nearly 6 months old, and has only slept through the night a handful of times.  I know much of this is my fault because whenever she cries I rush to soothe her by picking her up.  Belle will usually wake up once, sometimes twice, at night and I will feed her a bottle and rock her back to sleep.  We know she doesn't really need to eat in the middle of the night because she eats plenty during the day and her weight is on track for her age.  It was time to cut out the "dream feed" and get some sleep!  She has always slept in her bassinet and now her crib, so we didn't have to worry about her having a problem with being separated from us.  Sean was out of town all last week for work, so this was the best time to start.  To ease me into it, Sean decided to take baby duty the first night.  He slept in the guest room with the monitor so I could sleep uninterrupted.  Let me tell you, that is the first time I have slept soundly since she was born and it was glorious!  He said she woke up about an hour after he put her to sleep, but she only cried for 10 minutes and then fell asleep for the rest of the night.  We did the same routine all weekend long:  fed her evening meal of rice cereal and a bottle at around 8 p.m., read to her, sing her lullabies, rock her to sleep, and put her down for the night.  If she woke up and cried we did not go back in the room, and just listened until she fell back asleep.  The longest she would cry at one time was 10 minutes and she never seemed in distress.  Now that she is older we can tell what her cries mean.  When she cried it was more of a "Hey, I want attention cry" rather than a "I'm hungry", "I'm sick/hurt" cry.  I would say it was a success because for the past 4 nights she has slept through the night!  I'm not talking about a 4-5 hour stretch, I mean she has been sleeping 8+ hours at night, and one night she slept over 10 hours.  Since we've been getting more sleep we have the energy now to do more things like...

Take Belle to Pinnacle Mountain and walk on the Kingfisher Trail.  We're not brave enough to hike up the mountain with her just yet, but we definitely had a good time.  This was her first time going to a park because we normally just take her on walks around the neighborhood.  Our daughter loves being outside, and we realized that she doesn't get to see many trees since we live in one of those subdivsions that cut all the trees down to make for easier building.  When we took her out of the car, she instantly looked up and around at all the trees and couldn't stop the entire time we were there.  We used the stroller for the trail, and later put her in the Baby Bjorn.  She loves sitting in the carrier because she is eye-level and it faces outwards so she can see everything.  On the way back home we also had another "first."  My first time changing a poopy diaper on one of those hard plastic changing tables in the public restroom.  Apparently, Belle is accustomed to a cushy changing pad because she started crying as soon as I laid her down, and stopped as soon as I picked her back up!

We also took her swimming for the first time this weekend.  Sean and I figured she would love it because she has been splashing in her infant bathtub like crazy.  We took her to my aunt and uncle's pool, and as soon as we got her in the water she started crying.  The water was too cold for her, but after awhile she calmed down a little bit.  She started to splash, but when she got water in her eye she cried again!  We decided to try again later in the summer, hopefuly she will like it then.     

Sean and I enjoyed doing some new things with Belle because she is getting to an age that she can actually enjoy her surroundings.  I'm leaving for a wedding out of town this weekend and Sean is on baby duty!  I'm pretty sure she will be just fine, but I may not be :)  In a few weeks we are going to Petit Jean to stay in a cabin with some friends, and this will be Belle's first time to spend the night away from home.  Hopefully, she will do well!

P.S.:  We also found time to celebrate our anniversary by going to Brave New Restaurant without the baby and got our house ready for sale.  It goes on the market this week!  See what sleep can do for you :-)

I put her in a bonnet, can you blame me?

Looking cute in her new swimsuit!

5 Year Wedding Anniversary

Tomorrow is our 5 year wedding anniversary and I thought it would be fun to pay tribute to our little love story.  (P.S.: I stole this from a fellow blogger)  Enjoy!

 

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

 

-We have been dating since November 5, 2001 and we got married May 26, 2007.  So we've been together over 10 years and married for 5 years.

 

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

 

-Sean and I are high school sweethearts.  We met working as waiters at good ole' Colton's Steakhouse when we were seniors in high school.  He went to Bryant, I went to Benton, and they are rival schools!  He got me to like him by asking me to roll silverware with him.  I asked him on our first date though!

 

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry?

 

-5 wonderful years!

 

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

 

- We got married at Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs inside the glass chapel.  It was the most beautiful ceremony (in my opinion), and we had a small reception with just finger foods.  If I could go back and do it over again I would have dancing at my wedding, but we were on a law school budget!

 

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? 

 

-We call each other "baby", but now it is confusing since we have a baby of our own now :)  I also call him Seany and Sean Evan (b/c that's his middle name).  He really doesn't have any other nicknames for me.

 

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

 

-Sean has a strong moral character that I admire and aspire to.  He is very funny and is always cracking me up.  Oh, and he is the best dad to Isabelle.

 

7. Tell us how he proposed?

 

-The proposal was a total surprise because he did it on the day of our 5 year dating anniversary.  I thought we were just celebrating that and didn't suspect a thing.  We were both in college at U of A, and that day we went to a Razorback football game with our friends.  In the middle of the game, he told me he had to go pick up his friend that broke down on the interstate.  I was pretty mad at the time because he basically ditched me at the game.  My friend, Maria, (she was in on the whole thing) kept me occupied that afternoon by taking me to the mall so I wouldn't go back to my apartment.  When I met back up with Sean for dinner that night he had us picked up in a limo and we went to see Miss Saigon at the Arts Center.  I was thinking, wow, he really went all out for our anniversary, I feel bad about not getting him a good gift!  Afterwards, he had the limo bring us back to my apartment and he had dinner waiting for me on the balcony from my favorite restaurant, Bordino's.  I started crying because everything looked so nice.  Sean got down on one knee and made the sweetest proposal.  The rest is history!

 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

 

-Flowers and teddy bear for sure!

 

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

 

-I would like to say I am a sunset dinner/beach girl, but in reality it is all movies and couch time.

 

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

 

-I would love to travel to Europe with him, that is our dream!

 

12. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

 

-Always communicate with your husband, even when it is unpleasant.  Never forget why you married each other!

 

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

 

-Our daughter is what love means to me, we always wanted to have our own family one day. 

 

Here's our wedding photo, just for fun.

 

5 Months Old

Our sweet girl turned 5 months old on 5/12/12 and I am always amazed at how fast she is growing up!  This month has been a big one for Belle because I feel like she is really a baby now instead of a newborn.  She doesn't like to be cradled in my arms anymore, always wants to sit up and look around, and likes to be entertained constantly.  We started reading books to her, and she loves to sit and turn the pages.  Sean even played his guitar for last night, and she squealed with delight every time he would play a higher note.  Remember how in the last post I mentioned the pediatrician recommended that she not start eating rice cereal until she was 6 months old?  Well, at about 4 1/2 months old I noticed that she was drinking a bottle, and then 2 hours later she would be hungry again.  She was especially hungry in the evening time, so I decided to try the rice cereal to see if it would help.  The first time we fed it to her she made a sour face and I thought I had made a mistake.  However, after only a week she began to get used to eating from a spoon, and now she opens her mouth wide and smiles when she is being fed!  The cereal is also helping her sleep better at night by keeping her full longer.  I have a feeling that when she turns 6 months old and can have regular baby food, that this girl is going to love eating.  Here's a recap of what's been going on with her lately:

-Belle, I'm not sure how much you weigh since we don't have a doctor's appointment this month, but I'm estimating you weigh 13 pounds and a few ounces.  You have definitely grown because lots of your 3-6 months clothes no longer fit!

-You are wearing 3-6 month and 6-9 month size clothes now.  You have moved up to size 2 diapers

-This month you learned how to roll over from your stomach to your back.  We can't wait for you to roll from your back to your stomach soon.  Tummy time is no longer a chore for you, and you enjoy holding yourself up and looking around!

-You sleep great in your crib, and usually only wake up once at night.  We have started putting you to bed earlier at about 9 p.m. and usually you only wake up for a bottle at about 1 or 2 a.m.  We are trying to cut out the nighttime bottle, but it is still hard for me to let you "cry it out." 

-We no longer swaddle you and you only use the sleep sack at night.  Your favorite place to take your daytime naps is in your swing.

-We are loving that we can entertain you now.  We read books to you, play music, watch T.V., and you even enjoy holding baby rattles and stuffed animals now.

-Belle, we realized that you LOVE being outside!  Whenever you are fussy we just take your outdoors and you are instantly happy.  It is so funny seeing you feel the breeze in your face :-)

-Bathtime is a whole new experience now.  You love it and even make a mess with your kicking and splashing of the water.  I have a feeling we are going to have to move you from the baby bathtub to the real bathtub sometime soon.

-You drink the regular Enfamil infant formula and take usually 7-8  6oz bottles a day.  You take about 2 tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with 5 tablespoons of formula twice a day.  We feed it to you once around lunchtime and once in the evening before bed.  You love to eat and always want more!  The only medicine you take now is gas drops and we are grateful.

Belle, these past 5 months have been the most joyful times in our lives.  I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day yesterday with you, and I can honestly say nothing is better!

5 months old, you look so big now!

Our little family

My little brother, Eric, going to his senior prom!  I can't believe he is graduating from high school.  He is going to the University of Arkansas in the Fall on a full academic scholarship, and we are so proud of him.

My first Mother's Day!  I feel so blessed to get to celebrate it now.