Taylor Joy - Three Months

Oh my goodness, this baby girl is growing like crazy right before our very eyes. Tonight I put her in her solly baby wrap after not having used it for a few days and I felt like she was already heavier. Which leads me to feeding... I have continued the mostly pumping and bottle feeding deal which I have to admit gets a bit exhausting some days. I have continued to make just enough for Taylor each day although there are some days where I am convinced we'll need to supplement. I feel like that day is quickly approaching. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my supply up. I have gotten a few tips from some friends that I am wanting to try out to see if that helps. 

Taylor usually eats between 4-5 ounces each feeding. In the morning she eats more often, about every 2 and a half hours. In the evening she stretches that out to 3 hours. 

After each feeding she continues to be our spittiest of all the babes. There is rarely a night that goes by where I don't smell like spit up or have permanent baby barf crusted on my shirt...but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 Taylor has been a great sleeper from the get go. She has been consistent about eating one last time before I go to bed (usually between 10 or 11) and then sleeps until around 3 - 4. She wakes up quickly to eat off of me and then goes back to bed until 6:30 or 7. 

This past week though she has thrown me for a bit of a loop. We have had a couple of nights where she was getting up much earlier and refused to eat off of me, forcing me to go downstairs to warm up a bottle and/or pump in the middle of the night, followed by fussiness and hours of being awake happily kicking her legs and whining for her pacifier. These nights have hit me hard. I was so adjusted to our little routine that I am feeling like I'm back in the newborn haze again.

Hoping we'll fall back into our routine again soon. 

 Probably my favorite milestone this month are the constant smiles and coos. I will do just about anything to get this girl smiling. My high pitched mommy voice game is strong! Ha. Taylor is so alert and seems to know which voice belongs to which family member. She loves to happily watch on as Donovan and Emmerson play (or argue) right next to her. 

 She is still spending much of her day in her Fisher Price Rocker. She naps so well in it and I tote her all around from room to room while I get things done. Otherwise you can find her on her play mat contentedly kicking her legs and admiring all of the little animal friends hanging up above her. 

 Taylor is loving her hands. Right now she seems to either have her fingers in her mouth, or her hands folded in a prayer position underneath her chin. 

Our sweet girl caught her first cold when she was 12 weeks old. It was short lived but she did have two days with a mild fever. Even so, she was still just her happy, smiley self. She is so easy going. This baby is always along for the ride, in and out of the car all day long and as happy as can be about it. 

My Taylor Joy, 

You have truly brought so much joy to your family this month. We spend so much of our days admiring you and your sweetest smiley face. It's hard to believe that I used to worry about how life would change with a new baby in it and now I could never imagine a day without you here. I am soaking up every second of this precious time I have with you. Your Daddy always laughs at how well I can interpret every little noise, cry, or whine that you make. I've gotten to know you pretty well these past three months my bitty girl. I love you so, so much little nugget. 

xoxo, 

Mommy

Monday

How about a little Emmerson Grace to start your week with? Grammie arrived last night to watch Emme for the week. This is her last week at home before starting daycare with Donovan next week. I'm so thankful for this time that she's had with her grandparents and her Auntie Linda. She's grown so much in these last 5 weeks since I started work. 

Grammie is off to the park with big brother this afternoon so I snuck upstairs with my little miss for a quick photo shoot. 

I am so happy to come home to this smiley face each day. Now if only I could press the pause button on her brother long enough to snap a few pictures. Something tells me that would be a tad bit more challenging. 2 and a half year olds have a mind of their own, you know? 

3 Months

Well my friends, another month has flown right by and our baby girl is now 3 months old! 

I don't have all that much new stuff to share about her except that she continues to be THE best little baby in the whole wide world. She is easy as can be and oh so sweet. 

 I was getting her ready to take her monthly photos this afternoon and I put on the 0-3 month onesie that she wore last month. I could barely pull it down past her belly button! She's definitely growing like crazy. The onesie she's wearing in these pictures is 3-6 months! This weekend I am planning on putting away lots of her 0-3 month outfits and hanging up some of her bigger clothes to add to the rotation. (Thanks for all of the great hand-me-downs Aunt Jill!)

 Our little miss has begun to settle into more of a routine. I give her a bath around 7:30 at night and then she eats off of me one more time before going to bed. She usually wakes up sometime between 2-3 in the morning to eat again and then wakes up around 7 to start the day. I feed her one more time before heading to work, or she takes a bottle shortly after I drop her off at my Mom and Dad's. Throughout the day I pack 3, 5 oz. bottles for her and she usually has one about every 3 hours. She naps in between and is now spending more of her day awake and happy to coo to whoever will engage in conversation with her. 

 We still have her sleeping in the co-sleeper next to our bed. With Donovan we had him in his own room at 8 weeks. He had never slept soundly when he was in our room, so we were happy to send him to his crib where he seemed less distracted and slept for longer spurts. Emmerson, on the other hand, sleeps through everything. We can have lights on, be folding laundry, and watching tv right next to her co-sleeper and it never seems to phase her. So for the my sake, I just keep her next to me so I can just scoop her up and feed her when she wakes around 3 in the morning. 

 As you can see in this picture, the hair loss is still in process. Ha! She has some major bald spots on the back of her head and I'm pretty sure she'll be sporting the Mr. Clean look in her 4 month pictures. Stay tuned for that one. She has some fine little blonde baby hair growing at the top of her forehead so I'm wondering if she'll eventually turn into a blondie like her brother. 

 Speaking of her brother, Emmerson is so smitten with him. She always has her eyes wide open when he's around. I think she's half interested and half terrified. Ha! He looooves to smother her as much as he can.

                   
 Last night Dustin snuck this quick picture with his phone. We were watching cartoons on the couch and I was holding Emme and I didn't even know Donovan was holding her hand underneath me. Dustin snapped the picture to show me. I thought it was so sweet. He always wants to be close by her. 

 Sweet Emmerson Grace,
We are more in love with you than ever! Each little time you smile at me or look at me with your big sparkly eyes I can't help but thank God for you. You are the BIGGEST blessing imaginable. We love you so much baby girl.
xoxo,
Mommy

And for your viewing pleasure, our little chatter box:

Untitled from Meghan Hein on Vimeo.

Too cute to choose just one...

I am so in love with this boy and all of his sweet facial expressions. I swear he gets cuter by the minute.

He keeps growing and changing before our eyes...

Donovan is now 14 weeks old. The weeks are getting harder to keep track of and more often than not I forget what week we're on and round it to 3 months. But my oh my is this little boy changing quickly. We don't have his 4 month appointment until mid-June... but I don't need a doctor's scale to tell me that this little monkey is getting heavy. I can feel it in my arms and back every single day.

Tummy time is becoming a little easier. He doesn't scream immediately when I turn him over like he used to. Now he seems to welcome the challenge. He grunts, laughs, smiles, and looks surprised at himself as he's laying on his tummy. He's getting closer to rolling over onto his back but he's not quite there yet. Yesterday morning when I went in to check on him in his crib he was laying on his side. So we know it's getting close.

Donovan wants to "chew" on EVERYTHING! He's always pulling my fingers up to his mouth or any little toy that I hand him and especially his own hands. Everything goes to his mouth and subsequently TONS of drool comes out. He soaks everything he wears with his drool. I keep thinking he might be teething soon, but nothing yet.

His sleep has been a little less predictable, but I can't complain. At night he'll always have a 6-8 hour stretch after we put him down. This morning at 5, I woke up to him laughing on the monitor. He was babbling and squealing so I went in the nursery to go check on him. He had turned a 180 degree turn, both hands out of the swaddle flapping up and down and laughing so loud. When I put my head over the crib he squealed and covered his face with his hands! I fed him and he must've thought it was the middle of the day because this boy wanted to play. He cooed, and laughed, and smiled and pretty much wanted to do anything but go back to sleep.

He has moments of fussiness. This week he cried a lot more than he had been in previous weeks. We're not sure what brings it on. But most of the time he's so much fun. We are loving this stage as it seems to be getting a little easier and he's becoming so much more responsive.

Further proof that my baby's getting too big too fast...

First bath at home

bath time last night

loving the chub!

3 Months Old!!!

Our sweet baby boy turned 3 months old yesterday.

Just taking his monthly picture was so much different this time around. He never stopped moving. His little feet move a mile a minute now. And I had to wipe his face between every shot because the drool was never ending.

Donovan makes us laugh all the time. He smiles at everything. His laughs are a little less frequent but soooo adorable. His Daddy gives him the giggles almost every night before bath time. I love listening to the two of them in the nursery together. I can't wait until the laughs are as easy to come by as the smiles. It just melts my heart.

Donovan loves to suck on his hands. (Both at the same time if he can manage to) He locks his eyes on the t.v. when he's sitting in our laps or he loves watching Molly move around the room.

He looks so proud of himself when he "dances" and kicks his feet really fast. We haven't been quite as successful with tummy time but we're working on it.

With each passing month, week, and even day I love being his mom more. It is truly the greatest gift I've ever been blessed with.