9 Months Old Already!

Like I expected October was a crazy busy month! I can't believe it is already November...where did the time go?
To start with I ran the Mud Factory 5K on the 6th, it was fantastic. Kelli and one of her friends ran too. I really had fun and it has helped me to make some new fitness goals :) Then we had Adam and Beth's wedding. Lilly was so good, they got as many compliments on the well behaved baby as they did on the beautiful day :p Then I was so inspired by the Mud Factory run that I signed up and ran the Merrel Down and Dirty 5K also, this time with my little-est sis, Britt.
I am happy to report that I also made some big changes to my diet and workout regimen and have lost ALL of my baby weight and then some! I really don't like running but I feel good about the progress I am making and I hope that I can really stick with it. It is important to me that Lilly sees me be responsible about my fitness and eating habits.

Lilly has had a big month also. She is eating a lot more food and is becoming very active. And, even more exciting, she is now sleeping in her crib! A lot of people have been asking me how long she was going to sleep with me, and the only answer I had was "until she was ready." I am happy that we waited so long, I know it is conventional to put babies in their own rooms around 3-4 months but it was just not best for us. October proved to be right. Lilly stopped sleeping well with me, she became impossible! So after about 2 weeks of trying different soothing methods I decided to cut her loose. It turned out to be the right move. To make the transition easier we started a new bedtime routine. Now James rocks her and puts her to bed before he leaves for work. I love that the two of them have something that is special between them. To be honest, I think it make James feel better, he was worried that she was not ready to sleep alone.
I think Lilly is trying to talk too. There is much debate over what she is trying to say though. She goes around saying "bah-bah-bah" which is odd because there is nothing in our lives that makes sense for. She doesn't take a bottle... I think she is trying to say mama, the "mmmm" sound is a very difficult sound to make but the vowel sound "-ah" would be correct. Of course, Britt, who we call "auntie B" thinks she is trying to say "Be"... I argue that she knows how to pronounce the "-e" sound so if that was what she was trying to say we would know.
She has also become quite the dare devil, she likes to climb on anything she can find. She can almost get off the couch by herself, especially if her feet are already pointed in the right direction. Lilly has also decided that shopping carts are made wrong, she prefers facing in the direction that it is being pushed, so no matter how diligent you are she always seems to find a way to turn herself around...
For Halloween, Lilly was a Ladybug. All of her local grandparents came over for dinner and to see how cute she was all dressed up. It went really well, she is very lucky to have such a big family that is close enough to come over for family time.
I have to say that I really am thankful for all of our family. We are blessed to have so many people in our lives that are willing to help us out. I really appreciate all of our parents and sisters who watch Lilly whenever we need. It is great that James and I get the opportunity to go out on dates and have adult time.
I feel like I could go on forever about Lilly right now, she changes so much in so many little ways, it is amazing to watch her grow and develop.
Like today, we got her snack cup, the ones that have flaps on the lids so you can stick your hand in and pull out the snack but they aren't loose enough to shake the contents out of...those ones. Lilly apparently doesn't like putting her hand in, so what did she figure out??? That she can pull up a couple of flaps with one had and use the other to shake it upside down so that the Puffs fall out! Yes, she is smart. And, yes, we are going to have our hands full :)

To Virginia and Back

Hi all,
 We have been back about a week but I still don't really have pictures to share (like always)... I will tell you all that we had a lot of fun and that traveling with Lilly was much easier than I thought. She did great on the planes. Unfortunately, although she was really good, she was really out of wack.
Lilly got her first head cold while we were in VA- green snot, fever over 100, the whole caboodle. She also had a really hard time with the time zone and never adjusted, so her sleep was all off. Oddly enough though, she was great. We shlepped her to Gettysburg and to Williamsburg, too!
James grandparents came down from New Hampshire to meet their newest great grand daughter and I don't think they were disappointed.

While we were there Lilly went from being a shy, " don't let mommy see" crawler to a full blown crawling adventurer! Now the only time she isn't moving is when she is asleep. She is also pulling herself up on EVERYTHING and sometimes letting go and keeping her balance. She is flying through milestones too quickly for me.

I think teeth are going to be making an appearance soon, as well. They seem to be taking a long time. I am sure this is normal and they aren't quite cutting through yet. But every couple of days they seem to bother her a bit.

Since we got back James finished putting the floors down in the middle bedroom (one left!) and is finishing the kick plates on the stairs. The next month is going to be rather busy for us, so I hope he keeps up his productivity ;) My best friend is getting married on Oct 13 and his bachelor party is next weekend, then on the 6th of Oct we are running the Mud Factor 5K. I am really looking forward to October, it is my favorite month!

Hope you are all enjoying these last days of Summer, TTFN

My baby is 6 months old, Oh My!

I cannot believe how busy this summer has been and how much my little girl has grown! She now weighs 17.5 lbs that is 10.3 lbs more than she weighed at birth. She is also very tall, but in proportion, I think 27 inches. My little girl is not so little anymore.
She is also learning so many new things, I can't get over how quickly she picks up new skills and even more amazing how quickly she gets bored of them and moves on to the next. She has been sitting on her own since June but since then she has learned how to get herself off the floor to sitting, as well as scooting around on her tush, and crawling! She doesn't like to crawl for me but I have caught her in the act a couple times,lol. However when she is at my moms she crawls all over the place. Like I said, though, she has moved on to pulling herself up and is even beginning to use the couch (or whatever) as a guide so she can walk. While I am so excited to watch her learn all of these new things it makes me sad that she is flying through these milestones.
I know that some babies are beginning to talk but Lilly is not, which is ok with me! She does babble a lot and really likes to scream and growl.
Lilly is still nursing full time but we have begun to give her food. For the most part we are skipping purees and such. With the exception of rice cereal mixed with something yummi, in hopes that she will eat something for James while I am at work. I have given up on them using a bottle and have purchased a couple of sippy cups, she loves to drink water out of my glasses. This morning before I left for work she sat on the floor and drank some water from her cup while I folded laundry, yay!
Overall Lilly is doing great, we have started to move towards sleeping in her crib. I still love having her in bed with me so I am not in a rush but I do want her crib to be a comfortable place for her too. Especially as she has become more mobile and things in our lives are starting to change. I am working more and my mom and sisters will be moving in with us soon. With everything that is going on I really want Lilly to have a place that she knows is hers. And I want the people to watch her when I am at work to have a place to put her if need be.
I have to say that I still LOVE our cloth diapers and am so happy that we decided to go this route. I am also happy that people around me are considering using them too! Speaking of, I won't name any names but, I am super excited that I know several couples expecting babies next Spring!

I am not at home right now, so I don't have access to pictures that aren't already up on FB so I will end this with some things about Lilly!
- She loves to ride in the shopping cart at the grocery store
- Her favorite toys are an Eric Carle Ladybug and a Ball that was crocheted for her
-She thinks she is SO FUNNY!
-She scoots around the bed in her sleep
-She is not a huge fan of eating food but loves to nom on paper?!?!

TTFN

Happy Anniversary To Us and Birthday to James

James and I just celebrated our 3 yr anniversary! It was simple and sweet. My mom watched Lilly over night which gave James and myself the opportunity to go out to dinner, drinks, and breakfast.
It was great! For dinner we went to the Broiler Room and afterwards we stopped by Dive. It was a lot of fun to go have drinks, something I haven't done in quite a while, and James had never been to Dive. The next morning we went to Fox and Goose for breakfast (and James birthday) it is his favorite place.
This next week is going to be pretty busy I feel. James friends Graham and Katie are spending 4th of July with us as they pass through town. Then I am working an extra day (that is also a 12 hr shift). And then I am getting together with my sister the following Monday. Once upon a time that would have paled in comparison to my "regular" schedule but it seems like a lot these days, lol.
I am still loving all the time I get to spend with Lilly. Much to my surprise I am not bored staying home. probably because I do not do a lot of "staying." Lilly and I are always on the go. I am really lucky to have such an easy little girl.
I got my "camping" diapers last week and have been loving them. They are the old fashioned kind that you have to fold around the baby and secure with a clip, at first I thought they would be intimidating but I really like them. I am not sure that James could do it, but that's just because he (sometimes) seems to have a hard time with the ones that snap?!?!? Unfortunately, some things have come up at the Raley's James works at and I don't know if we are going to make the trip on the weekend of July 20 :(
In any case, I hope that all of you are having a great start to your summer's! Now for some pics :D

Lilly, Grammy, Auntie YaYa, cousin Alex

 

Lilly and Alex- what a big boy, he is1 month and 1 day younger!

 

Grammy got Lilly and Jumperoo!

 

Look at that face! (hers) She is so expressive

 

My mom and her brother (Great Uncle Opa) with their grand babies...aww

What's New with Lilu

I feel like so much has changed in the last two weeks since I wrote! Let's start with how big Lilly has gotten...at her 4 month check up on June 12 she weighed 14.5 lbs. Putting her in the 75 percentile for her age. I am very happy about this :)
Lilly has also learned how to sit by herself, ie. you put her on the floor in the seated position and she doesn't fall over. She is working on crawling still. Now she can push all the way up with her arms or pull her knees underneath her, just not at the same time. I see scooting around the floor in our near future. Also, she has begun giggling! As of yesterday she had a 1 giggle a day quota that she refused to surpass, but before I left for work she laughed at me so maybe she has decided that only once a day isn't enough.
So maybe not that much has changed... but things are going really well. I love being her mom. I am so blessed to have the help that my mom and James give me.
Speaking of James, Friday will be our 3 year anniversary! I don't think we are going to do anything too big this year. Dinner and a night at home alone, maybe a movie. We are hoping to take a big 5 year trip in lieu of our honeymoon. Something like a trip to Europe or a Cruise in the Mediterranean. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

I guess we skipped month 3...sorry!

So Lilly is almost 4 months old and I can't believe how quickly time is flying. She is so amazing and it is great to be her mommy. Things are still going very well; she has conquered her fear of the bottle, is working through her frustration with stoplights, and is working on crawling. Lily began rolling over a while ago, the first time being when she was about 2 weeks old and revisiting it again in April. But recently she has been doing it all the time and now gets stuck on her tummy. She has figured out how to push with her legs, scooting around the floor on her face, lol! Also, she seems to understand that her arms need to help so she pulls on what ever she is laying on... She hasn't put together that she has to stay in the push up position to make the whole thing work, but she will get there soon I think.

People keep asking how big she is but she hasn't had an appointment since April so my best guess right now is about 13.5 lbs, I know...she is really small. Nonetheless, I can't believe how big she is getting.

Life has been super busy lately with me working split days and James ever erratic schedule days just seem to turn into weeks. Lilly is so lucky to have so much family so close! My mom and sisters watch her while I am at work and Auntie Kelli comes by weekly for visits. My little sister, Brittanni, is great with her and so is Ryan- my moms best friends 20 yr old son. I can't even say how much I appreciate their help, it is nice to know that if I need to do something that requires all of my attention that I have so much help.

Before I get to the pictures I just have to add that Lilly got to spend some time with her cousins Scarlett and Susie as well as with Kourtney (Scarlett's BFF) this last week. It was so much fun to see all of them together at the different stages of babyhood- Kourtney is 18 mos and S&S are 1(ish). It will be great when they are a little bit older to have so many cousins all the same age. Tomorrow we are going to meet my friend Victoria's new baby boy, Wyatt. And next week my cousin Christina will be coming out with Alex who is 5 weeks younger than Lilly. And speaking of cousins... Lilly also has a cousin that is 10 months old who she got to play with last month at my dad's house, Madeline. So many babies!

She makes so many hilarious faces

and has learned how to stick her tongue out 

I love her big "I'm so funny smile"

and she is learning how to laugh!

And she has found her feet :)

She got big and I went to work!

Lilly is already 2 months old, actually 9 weeks. James had her all day yesterday while I was at work. I wish it would have gone better but he had to take her for shots and that didn't make for a good day :( The doc seemed to be happy with Lilly's weight gain, she is up to the 35 percentile from the 5 since Feb 27.
In the last month Lilly has become very fun. She smiles and makes faces, is getting better control of her hands and arms, and one morning was fascinated with her feet (just one, she seems to have forgotten about them now). She is very strong too. She holds her head up pretty well, supports her weight standing, and scoots around the floor with her legs. Lilly is continuing to be a good sleeper and eater but HATES tummy time! I think she is gonna be "type A".
I thought going back to work was going to be worse, I was sad when I left but the day went by fine. For now I am working 2 days a week but if they need me to go to 4 days I am more comfortable with it than   I thought. I am still trying to decide if I want to go to Grad school and what exactly to study, hopefully I will make up my mind soon!
James is pretty sure he is going to apply to Sac State for the Spring 13 semester to study Civil Engineering. But for now is enjoying taking family leave time and only working part time at Raley's and having more time with Lilly.

I was so sad when she outgrew this outfit, when we brought her home in it she we wondered if we needed smaller sizes.

Like daddy, like daughter

I calculated that I spent less than $400 on my Cloth stash and most of them will fit til she is potty trained, when I replace the handful of dipes that she will outgrow I will have spent less than $700...but disposables would cost about $2,000!

At Easter with Bekki and cousin Scarlett

Steve is in Heaven, baby time:)

Almost 1 Month Old!

So in a couple of days Lillian will be a whole month old! I can't believe it, this month has flown by. We have overcome her eating problem and she is steadily gaining weight, she has also gone through a couple of growth spurts but mostly maintained a regular sleep and eating pattern (one that includes sleeping 5-6 hours at night). We have enjoyed visitors and outings as well. Lillian is a great baby, we are very lucky!
James mom was here for a week, the visit was great but too short. James and I are trying to plan a trip out there in October.
For those of you who are wondering: Yes, we are sleeping just fine, and yes I hope that doesn't change; the dogs are doing just fine with Lily, Zoei is quite protective and has become less shy around visitors and Alex likes to sniff her things but stills keeps his distance from her ( and I think he was a bit disappointed she came back home with me yesterday after a long outing); and finally,we do Love our cloth diapers! even James, they are easy to use and no more gross than disposables.
So far things have gone exceedingly well. We love our little Lilu more than anything in the world. James is snuggling her right now giving me time to do some chores and have some me time :)

 

Daddy and his little girl sleeping

James Papa holding Lily for the first time

Chilling in her bassinet (which has been passed through my family for 25 yrs)

Auntie "B" (Britt) is very good with Lily (looks like I have a babysitter :P)

Grandma Heckman reading Dr. Seuss

Sleeping in her stroller, love how versatile it is, we use it a a bassinet downstairs!

Brittany (my co-worker) holding the "tiny human"

First pic of my Dad with Lily, (named after his mom) he was sick when she was born :(

More to come...if you want to come see us text me or FB me :)

Gribble is now Lillian and 10 days old!!!!

Wow, I can't believe that we have had our sweet baby girl for over a week now! She is fantastic; she sleeps well and doesn't fuss much. We are working on breast feeding but I think we are going to be successful :)

I guess I should start at the beginning... After setting an induction date for Monday Feb 13 I was pretty disappointed, thinking that I wouldn't go into labor on my own because I had been in "early labor" for weeks and making NO progress. Much to our surprise things started moving on Wednesday the 8, I ended up being admitted to Labor and Delivery for low amniotic fluid levels and they were going to begin the induction process. After admitting me and giving me a dose of the ripening meds they spent an hour, 4 sticks, 2 nurses and 2 anesthesiologists to get an IV run....this is tied for the worst part of the whole experience! Not much happened until 1:30 AM Thursday, I began having contractions and by 3:00 was starting to dilate.... contractions got a lot worse very quickly but because of the low fluid levels they weren't checking me. I ended up trying Phentonol and Nubain for pain relief before asking for the epidural, Yay for being drugged it definitely made me capable of dealing with the epi needle! The nurse told us to get some sleep because Thursday was going to be a long day, they anticipated hanging the Pitocin around 8:00 and me being in labor well into the afternoon... So at about 7:00 Nicole, James and myself fell asleep. Shortly after hanging the Pitocin (8:30) Gribble began going into distress, when they checked to see what was going on they found out that I was fully dilated and ready to push. What happened to "get some sleep nothings gonna happen till this afternoon"?!?!? They wanted me to labor a little while longer to get Gribble into the best position, but not too long. By 10:00 there was a circus of nurses in the room setting up and by 10:57, 7 pushes later, I had Lillian Louise Williams in my arms. (BTW she was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long)
After spending an extra day in the hospital because Lilly wasn't eating well we came home on Saturday. At her Doctors appointment the next day we learned that she had lost almost a pound and the doctor said we needed to stop working on breastfeeding and just focus on her eating. At the appointment the next day Dr. Huey was happily surprised to find Lilly had gained 4 oz, he had only expected 1-1.5 oz :) He told us that if she kept eating well that by this weekend we could go back to breast feeding and if necessary we could skip every other meal in order to make her eat from the "tap"...
Today we had a successful feeding session and I am very positive that she will figure it out :)
Before I move onto pics I must say that I appreciate all of the love an support from our friends and family :) Especially, Nicole who left took 2 days off work to be with me and James in the hospital, all of our parents and sisters for doting on us, my mom for being available a couple of times this week around 2 am, and my husband who (like I knew) is a great daddy and has been very helpful with Lilly.

39 WEEKS!

 For those of you who have been following along, thank you! Hopefully Gribble will have a name soon :)
We are almost there, just about a week until my due date. In reality that means Gribble could wait until Feb 15 to be born but I really hope not. I have been having very mild "early" contractions for a week now and I am very ready for the process to speed up. James and I are both very anxious to have our baby out here where we can hold and snuggle him/her.
Some of you know that I have been off work for just about two weeks. I am very lucy to be surrounded by people who are willing to help keep me occupied while I wait. The first week James and I kept very busy catching up around the house and this last week my friends Erin and Nicole have been kind enough to hang out:) I am also very lucky to have people around me that can give me advice and perspective about these last few weeks. I feel like it's taking forever! But they are right; I am trying to enjoy the last time in my life that I am not a parent, being newborn free, and still having me time.
On the other hand I am so looking forward to Gribble being here. Especially after I washed the newborn sized diapers! I cannot wait until I can use them!!!! I don't know if there is anything in particular that James is lookin forward to but he has been cleaning and organizing like a crazy person... I think he is Nesting ;)
James cousin Bekki did my maternity photo's last week and I can't wait to see them. She is also going to be kind and take our family photo's when the baby is a little bigger. And James mom  and Michael are coming out Feb 20, we can't wait.
That is pretty much all of the news I have for now. Cross your fingers for me, I am so ready for Gribble to be born!

Almost There!

I feel like a lot has happened in the last two weeks and I am really starting to look forward to the next 3! As of right now we have 23 days until me due date, too bad there is no garauntee about the baby being born on that day.
In the last week I have had two more showers, both of which were fantastic. I really want to say thank you agian to everyone who joined us :) Our friends were great and we had a fun, low key shower and got some super cool and useful things. Then my work threw us a shower and got us a swing and bouncy chair, which I am stoked about because they were 2 of 3 items that I was planning to buy if I didn't get them.
I also decided that I really love the idea of cloth diapers so much that I cannot wait until the baby is 10+ pounds to use them...So I got myself a half set of the New Born sized ones and we will use cloth and sposies until Gribble fits in the One Size's. I have to say that kellyscloset and jilliansdrawers have become two of my absolute favorite websites. I seem to check them everyday to see what they have in stock in thier "gently used" sections. When the baby is born we will see how big it is before finishing our New Born stash or adding to our bigger sizes, none the less I can't wait to be able to buy non-gender neutral!
I have one more shower this weekend. My sister, Mary, and stepmom, Shery, are hosting one for my family in GrassValley, it will be really nice to celebrate with them. Nicole is also coming, I am very blessed to have a BFF that is willing to give up nearly a whole month of days off to drive an hour (or more) to do these things with me :)
There is only one more thing on my list of "really wants" so Nicole and I will be doing some shopping/ exchanging after the shower tomorrow. Then all I need to do is wash clothes and organize the babies room.
It's a good thing we have basically everything we need. Last weekend I started to have pretty bad edema and at my Docs apt this week she warned me that my BP is getting kinda high. These are symptoms of Pre-Eclampsia and if my BP goes over the "high" mark they will probably induce me early. Luckily, I will be 37 weeks "full term" on Monday. My Doc also gave me strict orders to start my leave on Wednesday, Jan. 18. While, I had wanted to work until Feb I am happy that she gave me this restriction this week because I have definately reached the "I am ready to be done" place. I am still happy but getting more and more uncomfortable. Taking leave will give Gribble a better chance of baking at least until the first.
I will be back with more when and if our due date changes.