New Territory

Being a new mom comes with so many new responsibilities. Life as you know it changes and what was once a simple task becomes a difficult one. Seven months in to motherhood, I still feel like a new kid on the block. The hardest thing for me though has been balancing my mommyhood with my wife duties. 

After I had Isla, my daily thoughts… that were once focused on my husband, our home, my family, my friends, my free time…all changed and were consumed with BABY!  Being with Isla, keeping her happy, helping her as she develops and just spending time with her have been all I could think about. But I’ve learned, I have to create a happy medium. I have to ensure I am making my hubby feel loved too. I have to take some time for myself, my family and my friends. It’s a balancing act and no one said it was going to be easy, but I know as time goes by, I will find my rhythm.

Sweet Potatoes, Carrots & Peas, Oh my!

We started solids again this weekend. We started Isla on sweet potatoes a month ago, but her little tummy was not ready for big girl food just yet. She had a lot of trouble digesting it and a lot of tummy pain. Since she was about 3-4 weeks old, she’s struggled with gas pains. She was a little colicky in her earlier months. For several weeks, the only thing that would console her was daddy’s shoulder. Then we switched gripe water brands to Mommy’s Bliss and this really seemed to help.

Lately, we could tell she was very interested in eating. She watched us as we ate so attentively and started reaching for our bites. This weekend, we decided to try again. We tried carrots. We videoed it this time and it was hilarious. She would take a bite, scrunch up her little button nose and shake all over as if they were sour! They were really sweet. I tried them out after we pureed them just to make sure they were tasty. She ate maybe a teaspoon full on Saturday and Sunday. 

I have to say… I am not digging the dirty diapers that accompany solid foods! Haha.  She still had some stomach issues with the carrots so we’re going to take it slow with little bits each day this week. Next up on the palate, peas! Yum :)

Month by Month Growth Chart

Looking forward to adding on 7 Months after this weekend!

Letters to Isla Rae

Dear Isla,

Happy 7 months baby girl! I feel like you just turned 6 months. This month has really flown by!

You are bubblier than ever! Your personality has really started shining lately. You are very loving, giggly and have begun hanging on to me like a little monkey. I love your tight little squeezes. You also love to pat and rub me. When I’m carrying you, you’ll pat and rub my back. When we’re nursing, you’ll rub my arm. I love your gentle loves.

You are sitting up very well! You are also pushing yourself up on your hands and knees. Once you get yourself up, you’ll rock back and forth a time or two, but have yet to take off crawling forward. You do, however, scoot backwards. You started doing this on Christmas day.

You are still saying “dada” and “mama” whenever you feel like it. We started Baby Signing Time and try to do it with you every day. Your dada is still better at it than me so far, but I’m trying to catch up!

You started daycare this week. You have had a really great first week of daycare! The ladies at Nova love you! It was super hard for me to leave you that first day, but I know you are having so much fun with the other babies. There are 5 total in your class.

You have become more interested in toys this month. You love looking and chewing on books, moving things around with your little pointer finger and listening to your angel baby say a prayer. You love love love  your angel baby that your Mamaw gave you. Sometimes it’s the only thing that will get you to stop crying in the car. You are doing a lot better riding in the car seat than you used to, but our commute to your daycare is now only 5 minutes compared to the 35-40minutes you were riding.

You are laughing and squealing a lot and have become a lot more vocal in general.  I love to hear you laugh. It is my new favorite thing and you love to laugh at your momma!

At your 6 month check up, you weighed 18.4lbs (75-80%), was 26.5 inches long (75-80%) and your little peanut head measured in the 28^th%.  I weighed you the other day and you are more around 19lbs now. You are a very healthy baby and we thank HIM every day for blessing us with you!

You had a great first Christmas! We got to see all of your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. You enjoyed the presents and ripping of paper, bows and boxes. The Holidays become even more special once you have children! You have brought me so much joy.

I'm looking forward to seeing everything you will achieve in month 7!

Love you!

Momma

Firsts in 2013

2013 has already brought us a lot of ‘firsts.’   

On New Year ’s Day, Isla clapped her hands together for the first time and has done it several times since. I was sitting in the floor with her, bringing my hands together slowly so she could watch my motions and next thing I know she mimicked me and did the same thing. Her little claps don’t make much noise (yet), but it’s so sweet to watch her learning and growing. She is so smart! It amazes me how quickly she picks up on things.

She had her first full day of daycare yesterday. She did great! She only slept for 40 minutes total the whole day and had a major blowout (haha), but Miss. Vita said she was in a good mood all day. I love that I’m able to go feed her and spend time with her on my lunch break. We miss the Joneses very much, but it’s nice to no longer have a 2 hour daily commute.

She spent the day playing with the other babies and doing Itsy Bitsy Spider with Miss. Vita. That evening when we got home, I began singing Itsy Bitsy Spider to her and her little fingers came together to make the spider go up the spout! Did I mention how smart she is?!

So far everything is going wonderfully with the new daycare. While no one can ever replace her mommy, I am so pleased to have her with such loving and nurturing caretakers.So much to be thankful for already in 2013. Thank you God for the blessings!

Isla's 1st Christmas

I took a break from blogging over the last several weeks. It was so nice to have so much time with Isla, Joel and our families. Isla had such a great Christmas. 

For her first Christmas, we spent Christmas Eve with Gigi, Papa and the Bradbury family. She also went on her first Christmas crawl with the Carlisle’s, Bradbury’s and Locke’s. This was her very first Holiday party.

We headed up to the mountains late Christmas Eve and spent Christmas day with the Joneses. Joel read the Christmas story in Luke and Matthew on Christmas morning and we opened presents afterwards. She really got the hang of opening presents after the first couple. She loved the bows! The bow was the first thing she went for. She also loved the boxes too. They went straight to her mouth every time. 

We were blessed with so many wonderful gifts for Isla and are so appreciative to our families and to God for giving us the special time with one another. I realize how quickly the time goes by with each passing day with Isla. I had been looking forward to having a whole week off from work for so long and it went by so fast. It literally felt more like a day rather than a week and a half. Her six month of age is almost coming to an end.

Our sweet girl will be 7 months old on Friday. She is growing up too fast!