For the first six or so months after Chris and I got married people asked us all the time "How's married life?" Now that we are on to the new baby phase we are always asked some variation of "What has surprised you most" or "What didn't you expect" about being parents. It's funny how if I look back on the past 4.5 months I feel like I could have answered that question differently each week. Since each week is so different with a newborn the same question could be answered differently at each tiny stage. However, in all 4.5 months of parenthood, I'm finally seeing some trends. So, for those who have asked, would like to ask, ask more than once, and even for those who wouldn't have asked.....
What I didn't expect about being a Mom: 1. That I would fall in love with my husband all over again. Watching him with Chloe is AHHH-MAZING. 2. How much more I could respect, admire, love, and treasure my Mom in the weight of the realization of how much she loves me and all that she did for me in this same stage years ago. 3. That I would want to re-read the bible. I thought I understood scripture one way but I've only read it from the perspective of a daughter and as a PARENT it's like a new side of God's character has been revealed to me in a flash. 4. That I would LOVE breast feeding. All you hear is that it's so hard, it's such a sacrifice, you're a slave to your child and so on. I don't feel any of that. I LOVE it. 5. That I would leave the house with my hair looking worse than it did during my akward pre-teen years and I wouldn't even care. 6. That I never get sick of Chloe's smiles...especially the ones where her tounge sticks out at me a tad. 7. That spit-up, runny poop, and boogers really aren't so bad when they're your own child's. 8. That when I hold precious Chloe in my arms and rock her to sleep while listening to soft lullabies, I feel a depth of contentedness that is indescribable. 9. I've realized that I spent most of my life wanting for what's next...to grow up, to get my ears pierced, to get contact lenses, to get my license, to go to college, to be done with college, to travel to Europe, to fall in love, to get engaged, to get married, to have babies...and suddenly it's different! I want time to freeze...it's slipping by so fast and each precious moment with my family is so dear I just want it all to slow down! 10. That cloth diapering, baby wearing, yoga practicing, and baby food making isn't for granola's, it's my life.
In Chloe news, today was a big one! She's rolling over! It's so precious and she is so proud of herself. I'll get a video soon enough. She's also doing great with sleeping in her crib after a few grueling nights of making her cry it out she really does pretty well these days with going to sleep. During the sleep training I did learn that we have a pretty strong willed child on our hands. She would REFUSE to sleep for hours on end until she was exhausted. She wasn't napping either. During all of that Chris put her in the bumbo seat one day to hang a blind in her room, moments later he took this shot....little stinker! She also had a visit last week from her new friend Julliana (congrats Jen and Jonathon!) For the first time, Chloe was around a baby smaller than her! We're used to being a peanut but in this shot, Chloe is HUGE! Finally, my Mom came to spend sometime with us a few weeks ago and I snapped this sweet shot of her reading to Chloe. Chloe LOVES her Gigi's fun voices just like some other kids I know :).
Going back to the 4 month appointment our little cupcake is still a little cupcake. She was 12.5 pounds, 25 inches long. That rounds out at the 22% for weight and 55% for height. Also, her 4th month milestones include: grabbing and sucking on toes (especially in disposable diapers), talking up a storm, making lots of noises with her tongue, laughing here and there, sleeping in her own crib all night long, playing with toys, reaching for toys and mobiles, and curious about almost EVERYTHING...especially food but we're trying to hold off a few more weeks until after our Seattle trip. We still love her more every day and can't believe how fast the time is going. She met her Mimi (great-grandma) for the first time this weekend. I'll post seperately about that but she did great with meeting soooo many people and being passed around almost non-stop. She also was very curious about Mimi's bird, Jakey Bean. I'll post a picture below...neither of them had seen anything like each other before. It was so cute to watch them examine each other and babble to one another. As always, click the pics for a larger view. More posts coming soon...
We can't even believe we are posting her 4 month picture here! The time flew when we were newly weds (probably because we LOVE being married) and now, we feel like it's going by even faster. I sure hope I don't blink and wake up 30! Oh wait...that's my next birthday. :)
Anyway, we don't have her stats yet...we're headed to the Dr. this week and I'll post them once we get the update. However, I wanted to stick to our bear picture on her actual 4month date. We've outgrown the pink blanket (at least for laying on, she still loves feeling it!) and she really wanted to sit this time so we may move forward with sitting pictures from now on...we'll just have to see.
Here's our little...errrr slightly bigger cupcake on her 4 month birthday! (as always, click the pics for larger view)
Today is Cow Day at Chic-fil-a. In case you don't know what that means - it's Chic-fil-a's annual day of dress like a cow for free food. Since our fridge is currently down to breast milk and condiments I decided it was worth a free meal and since it would be in the great company of some dear friends...why not?!
First we headed to Tonia's house to "get cowed up" and take a few pictures. Tonia's daughter Jasmine was a cow for her first halloween so she was kind enough to let Chloe borrow her outfit for the adventure.
Then our "herd" headed to Chic-fil-a. As we were all getting out of our cars, I see this girl in the drive-thru line taking pictures of our crew with her i-phone. She rolled down the window and asked if she could tweet about us. Soooo funny!Once inside we all got free meals and the older kiddos got to play. It was AWESOME. Chic-fil-a really is my fast food fav!
Enjoy these pictures and as always, click for a larger view.
I can very clearly remember sitting down to type out our 4th of July recap from LAST year...and it seems like it was just yesterday. I remember a few things about last 4th of July: 1. We had our families in town - My parents and Chris's mom. 2. Being awake at 4:30 in the morning seemed to be a HUGE inconvenience. 3. It was the last margarita or any alcohol for that matter that I've had (we soon found out we were pregnant). 4. Chris spent hours on the grill perfectly smoking a pork loin and chicken for all to enjoy.
Let's compare that to this year: 1. Family to us now means Chris, Chloe and I. And we did have a family day for the 4th. 2. Being awake at 4:30 am is now life not inconvenience. 3. I've traded fun adult beverages for snow cones. 4. Hours for cooking? Ha? We roamed the booths at the 4th Celebration at the park we went to trying to support various boyscout troups and softball teams by purchasing odds and ends to make a "meal."
Would we trade it? NO WAY! We loved our new style 4th of July. We didn't see fireworks this year as we anticipated our "princess" wouldn't do well with new loud sounds but other than that, we had a pretty festive day. Here are a few recent pics including the one from our 4th celebration!
Last week/weekend Chris's sister, Charlotte, came to Austin for her debut visit with Chloe! She had not been to Austin since our wedding so we were super excited for her visit. We had lots of fun going to see the bats, swimming, playing the Wii, and just catching up. Sunday night Charlotte and Chris cooked an AMAZING meal. We had apple glazed pork chops, garlic and onion potato wedge casserole, carmalized green bean and bacon cassarole, and chocolate pie with meragne top for dessert. YUM! Chloe and I both enjoyed it :). Chloe really loved her time with Aunt Charlotte. Check out these pictures to recap our adventures - and as always, click the pic for a larger view (especially the bats!).
