3 Months

My angel is 3 months old today. In the last few weeks she has taken an interest in her hands- she can't seem to keep them out of her mouth! In the last few days she has noticed her feet- and we catch her looking down at them and wiggling them. She is smiling and laughing more and more every day. Most days she even wakes up grinning! It is the sweetest face I've ever seen! She is also "talking" alot and sticking out her tongue and likes to mimic faces. Oh, AND she has discovered that she can squeal- HYSTERICAL! She is SUCH a sweet child and is only really unhappy when she is either really tired or really hungry. Otherwise, she's a pretty happy camper! We even sleep through the night most nights, sometimes we wake up for a feeding but usually are asleep again quickly. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful baby- she is my favorite thing :) I am looking forward to a fun-filled summer with her!

We had 3 months portraits done today with Rob at FLIP FLOP FOTO and the proofs should be up within the next few days- so check them out! Just click on "Lily" under Portraits. I can't wait to see them!

Before I was a Mom ~ HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom

A Perfect Ten

Lily turned 10 weeks old on May 1st. We had our two month well baby visit with Dr. Carter the day before. Lily was 10 pounds (21st%) and 21.5 inches (13th%). Looks like she's gonna be a shorty like her mom! ;)

Just hanging out with mom & dad outside.

"My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades."

She canNOT get enough of her hands lately! She usually has them in her mouth, but when she's working on her bottle I guess having them close is the next best thing.

YUM! Delicious fingers!

2 Months Old Already?

It's hard to believe our little girl is 2 months old already! How time flies when you're busy!

We love you sweet angel! You've put so much love and joy in our lives in just 2 months!

Our Easter with Lily

Sleeepy Bunny....

All that egg hunting makes a girl tired!

Dad, Mom, & Lily


Dad, Mom, & Bunny

Lily was SIX WEEKS OLD the day before Easter! We decided she was still too young and volatile to try to take her to church, so we went out to Kiesel Park to take some pictures with Lily and her grandparents.

Lily with John's parents, her Papa and Gigi.

Lily with my parents, her Poppy and Nanna.

The Easter Bunny brought all kinds of fun goodies!

"I was just hanging out in my swing on a lazy Easter afternoon when Mom and Dad whipped out the camera and started making silly faces! Then all of a sudden...."

"I gave them a HUGE gummy grin! A few, actually!" This was the first of many! What a perfectly sweet way to end our first Easter as a family of three.

Two's Company, and the third brings a CROWD!

Lily is SIX WEEKS OLD today! To say that life has been a little crazy the past few weeks would be a tremendous understatement. I never would have dreamed that it would take me over a month to post more than one set of pictures of her on the blog! For those of you who do have babies- stop laughing. You understand. You've been there. Days are filled with feedings, diaper changings, spit-up, consequent outfit changes, breast pumping, bottle washing, baby rocking, etc. until the baby finally goes to sleep for the night (ahem, a few consecutive hours at some point in the wee hours of the morning) And then you start over again the next day. The advice everyone gives you is "Sleep while the baby sleeps"- riiiight. When exactly do you want me to wash her bottles, her clothes, my clothes, mySELF, and somehow keep the house somewhat tidy for visitors? Uh-huh! That's what I thought.
Speaking of visitors- we have had lots of wonderful visits of friends and family since Lily was born! We have also been blessed with lots of kind people bringing us food! Thank you to Jacqueline who so thoughtfully set up a meal schedule online for us- I can't tell you how nice it was to not have to worry about dinner most nights with all of the aforementioned chaos.
I have also started back at work. Not full-time mind you. I am only working a few hours a day a few days a week to start. I am so blessed to have the flexibility to spend time with her and still get work in too. Alot of work I can do from home too, which is nice. Enough about ME! More about Lily!
She is a WONDERFUL baby. She is so sweet and LOVES to snuggle! She is quite a people-person and loves to be held. She is starting to notice things and people, which is a wonder to witness. She LOVES a bath but hates when it is over. She is eating every 3 hours (on the DOT) and growing well. Her first well-baby visit with her pediatrician was last Friday. She weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz.(50th percentile) and is 20.5 inches long (which is the same as she measured at birth, and is 25th percentile). She is also (fingers-crossed) starting to sleep a little better and a little longer at night.
Here are a few pictures from some of Lily's visitors...

Jacqueline, Baby William, and Candice came to visit Lily and bring us dinner one day! We swapped babies for this picture. We had fun introducing them! William & Lily were due the same day, but William beat her here! He was born Jan. 12th- 5 weeks and 4 days before Lily. It was fun to see them both!Our friends Neal & Lauren came to visit from Montgomery too! (Ok, so we pretty much forced Neal to hold her for the photo.)Of course, Haley and Isabella. Ginger, Kenlie, and Maddie came to surprise us too! I could just cry that we didn't take any pictures while they were here!Of course GRANDPARENTS on many occasions, but I guess they don't technically count as visitors... Above are her Nanna and Poppy (my parents) and below are her Gigi and Papa (John's parents)Lily has TWO uncles- Danny, my brother and Sam, John's brother. Below are Danny and his girlfriend, Annette visiting Lily.

Oh, Uncle Sam! You've been waiting a VERY long time for that title! :)

Lily's Great-Grandmother, Mimi (my dad's mother) came to visit in the hospital.

Our friends, Seth and Elizabeth visiting at the hospital. We sure wish they would give Lily a little friend!

My cousin Evan and her ADORABLE baby York came to visit us for lunch at Chappy's. We had a great time!

York wanted to touch her SO BADLY!

Meet NaNaw, Lily's other Great-Grandmother (she actually has 3!) She came all the way from Hope, Arkansas to meet her! We will be celebrating NaNaw's 90th birthday next month!

All of the Arkansas visitors and Sherry (Gigi). NaNaw & Gigi standing behind John's Aunt Debbe who drove NaNaw and cousin Elizabeth who is in Vet school at LSU. We are so glad Elizabeth was able to drive up and meet Lily too!That's all for now, folks. The next post will be more pictures of LILY!

Baby Lily is here!

Miss Lily certainly took her sweet little time getting here... Her due date was Feb. 17th, and at my doctor's visit that day I was begging to be induced! I was getting larger and more uncomfortable with each passing day. Dr. Marino's next day on call was Saturday, Feb. 20th, so we decided on 7:00 that morning!

Here's the Reader's Digest version of our incredible day:

We arrived at the hospital at 6:45, which you understand if you know my oh-so-prompt husband. We started the pitocin at around 8:15, had an epidural around 1:00ish, and broke the water around 2:00ish. Somehow between 5:30 and 6:00 I went from being 6cm to 9cm... things were finally happening! At 6:30 it was TIME to push! I knew it! I told the nurses to find the doctor and FAST so my poor baby wouldn't plop right out onto the floor. But my doctor couldn't come! Just so happens, he was in an emergency C-section in the O.R. down the hall! Somehow there were 4 women in labor and ready to deliver all within a couple of hours of each other and I was lucky enough to be one of them. The anesthesiologist was sent to my room to up my dose... after which I was totally numb! Total relief! Dr. Marino finished up with the emergency case after what seemed like days and made his way to our LDR suite. After pushing for almost 2 HOURS our little miss priss made her debut!

Feb. 20, 2010 ~ 8:18pm ~ 7 lbs. 13 oz. ~ 20 1/2 inches

Our First Photo as a Family of Three!

The night nurses in the nursery made bows for the little girls' hats! So cute!

Sweet Cheeks!

I have a ton of pictures from her first couple of weeks at home, which I'll post soon. I just wanted to get a few up from the birth! I can't believe it took me so long to finally sit down and get this up! Coming Soon... Lily meets her furry siblings & visits from friends & family