365 days: Page by Paige

December 7th, 2010

2010-12-08T15:48:00.000-06:00

Just taking a quick break from addressing Christmas cards to put up some more pictures of Paige. :)

I can't believe she's almost 9 months old. I feel like the past year has been such a blur. Not in a bad way, of course... but I'm seriously in denial that I'm about to start planning my little girl's 1st birthday. Everyday I wish I could just stop time and keep her this tiny forever! Okay okay, maybe not when she's teething or sick... but she's still a good sport even then.

Speaking of, Paige has her SECOND cold! The past month & a half have been rough on her. Two colds & two teeth all in 6 weeks. She's sleeping a little better now but still, when she wakes up and I go in to get her, my heart breaks when I see that her sheets are soaked through because of her runny nose. Even as I'm typing this, I can hear her coughing in there while she naps. She seems to handle it better than me & my husband (we caught it from her) so she's definitely her daddy's little fighter.

The good news though is that Paige started walking! It's still hard for her so she prefers to crawl but she tries to walk a LOT now! For about a month she would occasionally take a few steps alone but now she's determined. She'll take 4 steps, kind of realize she isn't holding on to anything, sit down, then get back up and take 4-5 more steps.

So here are the Christmas pictures I took of her. It was literally another 2 minute session since she was cranky so that's why her face is all grumpy... lol.

The one we ended up using.

LOVE the way she's sitting here (she posed like this all by herself) but she's got the 'I'm about to cry' face on.

Here she is walking around crying... but being the mean mommy I am, I just had to get a picture (even though she's out of focus).

December 4th, 2010

2010-12-04T20:03:00.000-06:00

I'm like a little kid, I love the first snow of the season! Well, technically it wasn't the very first; we had a little sprinkling earlier this week. But this was the first snow that sticks and layers the ground. We bundled Paige up & took her out for all of about 2 minutes. She's hilarious in her snow suit! In the house she acts like she can't move at all (reminds me of the kid in A Christmas Story) but then we got outside and she wanted to crawl around in it. Poor girl got her mittens all soaked so we brought her in to warm her up!

In other news, Paige's second tooth popped through already! Teething is definitely a rocky road but hopefully she'll get a little break before her top ones come in.

I love how if you look close in this picture, you can actually see the snowflakes falling!

November 25th, 2010

2010-11-26T11:29:00.000-06:00

It's been way too long since I updated!

Paige is growing like crazy. She's 8 and a half months now and so much fun! Here's what she has been up to...

Crawling! She has been crawling since she was 6 months (now I feel terrible, it's been that long since I updated!).
Also since 6 months, pulling up and cruising on EVERYTHING.
Can go up the stairs without help (although obviously I stand behind her just in case).
Can stand for long periods of time without assistance. She can even take a 3-4 steps on her own.
Her first tooth cut through last week. What a nightmare! The first night she didn't sleep at all. Poor girl. :(
Sometimes she sounds like she's trying to say "hi". She looks up at me and yells "HAAA!" and mimics me when I say it to her... but then again, she's becoming quite the babbler so who knows.
Refuses to eat purees anymore, which makes my life a lot easier. For Thanksgiving she ate steamed carrots, turkey (of course!), a croissant, mashed potatoes, and a bite of pickle. She definitely got the whole concept of pigging out at Thanksgiving because she ate almost as much as I did! haha. She'll eat anything now, she's not picky at all.
Getting so huge! She's well over 22 pounds (she hasn't been weighed since she was like 7 months). She wears 24 months in Gap clothes and 18 months in Carters. I'm going to have to shop in the toddler section soon!

So here's some pictures from Thanksgiving at her Nana's house (my MIL)

I love the crumbs on her face in this one!

In other baby related news, Paige finds out tomorrow if she's going to have a little brother or sister! We can't wait. :)

Day 81: September 23rd, 2010

2010-09-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

Another high chair picture... yawn. But Paige got to eat some pureed beef (yes it smells & looks as gross as it sounds. Just like cat food) & she L O V E D it. Couldn't get enough... she ate the whole jar & kept going "mmmmmmm!!!".

Out of focus eyes (I don't know WHAT I was doing here) but I love this one! lol

This one actually makes me feel a little nauseated since she's smiling with a mouthful of smelly food but I thought I'd include it anyways!

Day 80: September 22nd, 2010

2010-09-24T11:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have a lot to say about today & I only have one picture. :(

So I figured even though this is Paige's blog... I'd fill out one of those pregnancy surveys just to have something to say.

How far along? 8 weeks.
Total weight gain: None... I hope! I'm too scared to get on the scale.
Maternity clothes? Not yet.
Sleep: I'm exhausted. Between night feedings, getting up to go to the bathroom, & just being a terrible sleeper in general, I'm definitely feeling the need for a nap in the afternoons! Housework is slipping for sure.
Best moment this week: Looking forward to my first ultrasound (October 22nd)!
Movement: Nope.
Gender: I'm guessing boy but... I guessed boy with Paige & I was wrong!
Labor Signs: Hopefully none!
Belly Button in or out? Very in.
What I miss: Not feeling sick. Just like with Paige, I can feel my morning sickness about to kick in. & not having the nose of a bloodhound!
What I am looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat @ my first appointment.
Weekly Wisdom: Ha! I have none.
Milestones: Ummm... it's a stretch but how about over halfway through 1st tri?!

Day 79: September 21st, 2010

2010-09-24T11:09:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day for Paige!

I joined a local mommy group so she could make some baby friends and I could hopefully meet some people that I have more in common with (none of my irl friends have babies). I was a ~~lot~~ little nervous about showing up at this girls house but I made myself do it anyways. Everyone was nice enough but I just don't think it's the right group for me. First of all, their babies are all around 18 months - which is great but Paige can't really "play" with them so we felt left out and they tend to be a little rough with her. Secondly - and I know I'm going to come across as a bitch here - the moms were a lot older than me. I'm definitely not a very young mom (I'm 25) but they all seemed a little put off by me being there. There were about 7 moms there and 3 of them didn't say a word to me and whenever I tried to talk to a couple of the others there, they would find an excuse to walk off right away. I had high hopes so I was disappointed but maybe I'll try again once Paige can walk.

So after a brief nap, we had Paige's 6 month appointment! Stop reading now if you don't want to hear me brag. She weighed in at 19 1/2 lbs and 27.5 inches tall (although they said she's probably about an inch taller but she refused to lay down without contorting & wiggling for them to accurately measure her). Still in the 95%+ percentile so she's a big girl! We discussed her recent milestones and the pedi said she has the size & motor abilities of a 9 month old... which I have my doubts about but it's always nice to hear your kid is advanced.

She had her shots :( but was a great sport. She only cried during the actual shot & for about 10 seconds after each one. Within about 30 seconds she was just sucking on her paci and smiling. It just breaks my heart when she cries like that... & she always looks up into my eyes & reaches for me. I guess these are the little ways you know your baby loves you. :)

So I had Paige sitting in her crib while I put away a little laundry - & I look over at her & she has practically pulled herself to a standing position! She's getting better & better at it everyday.

Day 78: September 20th, 2010

2010-09-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

Paige is crazy about these little rice cakes called "Mum-Mums". She's already had 2 today so I made her pose for pictures with the 2nd round.

I love how her hair flips out behind her ears!!

Day 77: September 19th, 2010

2010-09-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

Paige has been on the swing before but I don't think she really "got" it. Today she did! She had so much fun... unfortunately these are the best of the worst pictures I took. Need to figure out settings for more actiony type shots.

holy limb & head chopping!

Day 76: September 18th, 2010

2010-09-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

I've gone way too long without updating... can I blame 1st tri exhaustion? :)

Day 75: September 17th, 2010

2010-09-18T07:06:00.001-05:00

My husband took off work today since he's traveling for work this weekend. :) Isn't he the sweetest? We took Paige for a little walk and it was her first time riding in the stroller without her infant carrier. She looooved it!! She spent half the ride sucking on the little bar/tray thing in front then the other half slapping it with her hands and babbling to the trees. I think she liked seeing our normal route from a different perspective. We wanted to push her in the swings at the park but when we got there, there was seriously a line for them! So we skipped it.

She looks so OLD in this one! Where did my little baby go?!

Hmmm, I think I need to figure out how to make the width of my blog wider.

Day 74: September 16th, 2010

2010-09-18T07:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight Paige got 2 things - a new toy and a sippy cup with juice. Which do you think was her favorite? The toy quickly got discarded but she played with the sippy cup, rolling all over our bed with it, for about 10 minutes. It made for some cute pictures. :)

She was getting cranky to go to bed here so I could just totally see her being like, "Mom, STOP!"

Day 73: September 15th, 2010

2010-09-16T12:19:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh!!! I take back every negative thing I ever said about Paige sleeping!! Of course I'll go ahead & jinx it all but she's been a total angel for the past 3 nights. Only waking up once at 2:30 overnight then taking a couple two HOUR long naps during the day! She's been eating like a little piggy too so I'm wondering if it's her 6 month growth spurt... but whatever it is, I'll take it! I just hope it says.

Yesterday she took a 3 hour 15 minute nap... I wish I could take a nap that long! I LOVE her rosy cheeks when she wakes up:

Then it was time for her dinner. She & Nic have recently become BFFs. He's the only dog who has realized you should lay near the high chair at feeding times because inevitably Paige will drip food onto the floor or send the spoonful of food flying when she slaps it out of my hand with her "king kong arms" (more about that tomorrow... I'll try to get a video!). She's been totally fascinated by the dogs lately (especially Nic) and spends the whole time just staring at them. So Nic has been getting braver and braver and finally has started coming over and licking the high chair - which makes Paige reach out to pet him - which means he gets to lick her puree covered hands. It is the CUTEST thing! Oh but of course then Paige sticks her fingers full of dog slobber into her mouth!

At this point we had to buckle her in so we could actually feed her. The rest are all of her straining to see the dogs, lol

The dogs were all play-fighting over a toy and she had this "what are you guys doing?!" look on her face

Day 72: September 14th, 2010

2010-09-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be a total Debbie Downer here and talk about something that makes me sad.

Paige hates my parents. I know she does. She has some seperation anxiety in general - but is very tolerant of letting others hold her for a little bit... except my parents. Literally as soon as they pick her up, she starts SCREAMING at the top of her lungs and crying actual tears (I never see her do this other than when they hold her). She won't stop until my husband or I take her back and seriously take her far enough away that she can't see them. Even if she's in a great mood it happens so I know it's not just an overtired or cranky thing.

I think I might have an idea why she does it (they smoke in their house & cars so they both always smell like smoke, and it's not subtle either) but I don't know how you tell someone that. I know they thought she does it for everyone else too but they're kind of seeing now that she doesn't and I know they kind of "blame" her (can't think of a better word) for it. I can't mention it either, they're both really sensitive and embarrassed about it so if I brought it up I know they'd get defensive. So I don't know what to do... I guess just hope that Paige gets over it.

Day 71: September 13th, 2010

2010-09-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

It's unbelievable to me that Paige is 6 months old today. Wow - half a year has never gone by so fast. I'm starting to get a little emotional so I'll just do a little list. :)

- Not sure about height & weight but I'll know next week. probably closing in on 20 lbs and 29 inches!
- Wears 12 months in most stuff. 18 months in pants.
- Has been sitting unassisted since about 4 months. Rolling both ways since 5 months.
- Is DYING to crawl & pull herself up to stand. She tries sooo hard! It's all she wants to do. She can scoot around on the floor & definitely has the legs part of crawling down - but she wants to stay on her elbows rather than push up to her hands haha.
- Starting to get bored of her toys. She likes the more interactive stuff where you can press buttons and pull things to get them to make noise more than just holding a stuffed animal.
- Sits in high chairs in restaurants. Just about too big for her infant car seat.
- Is getting much more friendly & interactive with people. At restaurants, she's looking (okay sometimes staring) at everyone. Doesn't seem to mind being held by other people as long as she's not overtired. She still doesn't like my parents but I think that's a whole different issue altogether.
- Sleeping is like 2 steps forward, 1 step back. She's usually up twice now (which is better than 10-15 times for sure)... always at 12:25 am and 4:25 am. Not sure why but it's always those exact times which makes me think it's just habit rather than real hunger. I miss her just waking up the once at 3:30-4 am like she did from 1 week to 5 months old!
- Naps are much better - she's down to 2-3 naps a day and is awake for longer periods, which I like. We've retired the swing & swaddle for good so she always sleeps in her crib. Getting better about being put down drowsy & awake but still would rather fall asleep in our bed while she drinks and get moved to her crib as she sleeps.
- Sits in the bath instead of laying in the baby tub.
- Started sucking her thumb!

That's all I can think of. She's becoming such a big girl!!

Day 70: September 12th, 2010

2010-09-14T07:23:00.000-05:00

On her way to the crib at nap time:

We went to dinner with family today so Paige got all dressed up in her khakis and sweater vest... I love it :)

Trying to touch the camera! lol

Day 69: September 11th, 2010

2010-09-14T07:18:00.000-05:00

Day 68: September 10th, 2010

2010-09-14T07:16:00.000-05:00

It's our last day in Wisconsin and we were walking down to the dock to take some last pictures when we heard a bear about 30 feet away growling at us. Soooo obviously we didn't continue, we just took some by the woods instead.

Day 67: September 9th, 2010

2010-09-14T07:10:00.000-05:00

More geocaching... except when we got to the location, someone had stolen the cache. :(

Paige loves to ride on daddy's shoulders. She bounces up & down like she does in her high chair and slaps his head lol.

She's starting to pull up to stand. She's SO close. She occasionally can get her feet under her and do it.

She kept trying to suck on my water bottle - it was hilarious! She was doing this for like 10 minutes.

Day 66: September 8th, 2010

2010-09-14T07:02:00.000-05:00

The cabin had the worst lighting ever. So I haven't adjusted WB on these yet.

Paige really liked being out on the water...

Lately she's been giving hugs & kisses. Usually daddy gets the hugs & mommy gets the kisses (aka Paige sucks on my chin & cheeks). Here she is going in for a hug.

Day 65: September 7th, 2010

2010-09-14T06:54:00.000-05:00

Today we went geocaching. I've never been before but it was so much fun! We didn't use a GPS or my iphone app, you can print out the directions from the web site and read the description there to figure out where the treasure is. Most weren't that bad of a walk, only like a mile or two. We had a really good time!

I make Phil wear Paige because I tell him I'm already carrying one of his children... lol I'm such a jerk. He doesn't mind wearing her though.

The "cache" we found... it was under this scrap of metal.

You can kind of see the bag with the log and the treasures in it in this picture.

Day 64: September 6th, 2010

2010-09-14T06:48:00.000-05:00

This zoo was so much fun! They had animals out roaming all over (mostly goats, pigs, turtles/tortoises/whatever those guys are called, & deer) then they had a bunch of animals that they would take out of the cages for you to hold like hedgehogs, porcupines, prairie dogs, skunks, etc. You could pet a bunch of the animals (like the zebras who I actually bribed over to me with some of the treats they you at the zoo) and they even let you give the bears some drink out of what looks like a beer bottle... so weird! As you can see from the pictures, Paige made a little goat friend... he kept trying to eat our brand new stroller!!

Day 63: September 5th, 2010

2010-09-14T06:38:00.000-05:00

These are SOOC but I'm excited to play with some of them!

Day 62: September 4th, 2010

2010-09-14T06:28:00.000-05:00

It feels so good to be home! Our vacation was great. Paige was amazing (other than waking up at 3 am and refusing to go back to bed for half the vacation). So to save time, I'll just post the pictures for each day without elaborating on what we did.

Doesn't Paige look exhausted after the 6 hour drive? lol

Day 61: September 3rd, 2010

2010-09-03T19:34:00.000-05:00

Whew!! Tonight we leave at 2 am for our vacation. I won't really have access to a computer to update my blog while I'm gone but I'll have millions of pictures to post when I get back. :) Today was INSANE getting ready to go. Who knew vacationing with a 5 month old required so much extra packing?

So anyways, I know this shot is out of focus but I'm her mommy and I love it anyways. This is her shy smile!

I love when she does this - sticks her finger though the hole of the pacifier while she sucks on it!

Ready to go! That ridiculously huge bag she's sitting on? Mine. The tiny one next to it? Hers... lol

See you all in a week!!!

Day 60: September 2nd, 2010

2010-09-03T06:22:00.000-05:00

Today was my first doctor's appointment - well, more like a nurse's appointment. We got all that boring stuff out of the way (family history, what you can/can't do while pregnant, bloodwork). Paige was so sweet considering we were there for an hour & a half! She started to lose it during the bloodwork so all the nurses and I were trying to make her laugh which was a nice distraction since I HATE getting shots! The good news is the assistant that pulled my blood this time did an awesome job - no bruising or soreness. Unlike the one time I had a nurse take 2 vials of blood and left my arm with the darkest bruises I've ever seen!!

Sometimes when we hold Paige, she grabs on so tight and hugs back. When she does this, we call her a koala bear. :) Like this!

Day 59: September 1st, 2010

2010-09-03T06:17:00.000-05:00

I call this Paige's sad face. She wasn't really sad (the opposite actually) but doesn't she look like a puppy with her tail between her legs?

Paige has started doing this thing with her tongue and blowing spit bubbles (or food everywhere if she's eating). It's hilarious but such a mess!

She LOVES grabbing/touching our faces and now she's just getting into grabbing my hair. She doesn't pull it or anything, she just likes to touch it or hold it between her fingers. Speaking of hair, isn't hers getting so long in front?

Day 58: August 31st, 2010

2010-09-01T06:14:00.000-05:00

It makes me so sad to pack up all Paige's little baby stuff and put it away! Today we stuck Paige's swing, bouncy seat, activity gym, and a bunch of clothes (some of them 12 month!) in our attic. I can't believe how big this girl is! One of the guys at the wedding said his 15 month old daughter is not quite as big as Paige. Right now she wears at least 18 months in pants. A few of her 9 month and 12 month onesies still fit but she's starting to grow into the 18 month ones. She was wearing an 18 month shirt yesterday and it wasn't even baggy! My little girl is growing up so fast. :)

Also just want to say thank you everyone for your well wishes for my pregnancy! That is so sweet of you all to comment. :)

Here's Paige, just chilling in her boots and her hairbow in the makeshift play room (until we can convert our family room into one). I switched my Tamron lens out for my 35mm and primes definitely are harder for me, especially since I'm terrible at focus recompose.

She's getting so good at standing!

Day 57: August 30th, 2010

2010-08-31T07:50:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'm a bitch, maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, I don't know. But I just need to vent for a second!

Let me preface this by saying how glad I am that Paige has all 4 grandparents in her life and how happy I am that they obviously love this kid sooo much. I grew up with only 1 grandparent, my grandma, and I always wish I had gotten to meet my other grandparents. I know my parents and my husband's parents love being grandparents to Paige and I think that's so cute.

BUT sometimes my MIL can go a little overboard and get annoying sometimes. I know it's just out of pure love & excitement but still. For example, when I was pregnant with Paige and we all would go out to dinner, if anyone in public asked me how far along I was or when the baby was due, my MIL would cut me off and answer for me. She'd be all "the baby is due March 17 and we're so excited!"... which - okay, great, I'm glad you're excited - but it's my baby and it's kind of my time here. You had 2 kids that you got to do the whole pregnancy talk with strangers with and now it's my turn. My husband mentioned to her at one point that maybe she could let me answer and she totally denied ever having done it (all 7 or so times).

That's not the end of it though. So tonight we all went out to dinner with some of her family that is in town for the wedding. This was their first time really meeting Paige and they were so excited they just couldn't stop taking pictures or asking me about her - it was adorable. They just genuinely wanted to know everything about her and Paige was a great sport, letting them pass her around, smiling for pictures, just being her normal self. :) Which was nice for them to see because at the wedding they pretty much only got to see sleepy Paige or cranky Paige - haha anyways I digress. So whenever someone directed a question at me, my MIL would literally interrupt me and answer, even if she didn't know the answer. It was DRIVING ME CRAZY. One of the aunts says to me, "does Paige really pay attention when you read to her?" and I started to say how she loves to look at the pictures and help me turn the pages but my MIL completely started talking over me, cut me off, about how much Paige loves to read. She doesn't even KNOW though - she's only read Paige 2 books ever!!!! Grrrrr. It was such a frustrating night. I don't have many mommy friends and my friends don't really care about babies that much so I don't get to talk about Paige a lot because I don't want to be "that girl", you know? This was my one chance to really talk about her with people who wanted to hear and my MIL ruined it for me.

Yeah yeah I know, just excitement. But still, it sucks.

Then I see this face and it makes it all better. :)

Then the dogs came in the room so she was very interested in seeing them. She loves the dogs now!

On the way to dinner... double rainbow!

Day 56: August 29th, 2010

2010-08-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

We thought we'd get a chance to relax & unwind from the past 2 days today but when we woke up, we realized we have a ton of stuff to do before our vacation next weekend! We got it all out of the way with early then spent the rest of the day playing with Paige and some much needed relaxation. :) I'm also very excited for my first doctor's appointment on Thursday! It's just with the nurse but it will get me all set up to get my 1st tri bloodwork done and schedule my first ultrasound so the sooner I get in there, the better.

Wearing Paige out before bed... so much fun!

Day 55: August 28th, 2010

2010-08-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

I am soooo proud of Paige!!! She was amazing today. We were gone from 10 am until about 11:30 pm. She was a total angel and we sat through the whole ceremony (I made sure to change her before people got there today lol)! She started getting a little cranky during pictures and stuff then slept all the way to the hotel. There was 4.5 hour break between the ceremony and reception so I wasn't sure how it was going to go - either she'd nap in my MIL's hotel room and be in a good mood for the rest of the night, or she would refuse to sleep in the hotel's crib and be a grump for the rest of the night.

Unfortunately she chose option B. :( But she wasn't that bad. You know like when kids get soooo overtired they can't let themselves calm down and rest? That was Paige. She was so tired but was screaming/laughing and just wanted to climb all over everything and play. I tried everything but the kid wouldn't nap! Go figure, as soon as we got to the cocktail hour of the reception with a REALLY really loud band, she conks out for 30 minutes. It was so loud we had to yell to hear each other but Paige apparently preferred that to her nice, quiet hotel room.

She was great up until her daddy's speech (he was the Best Man). That's pretty much where the whole night started falling apart and we still had 3 hours to go. She screamed and cried through about half of that and it was really a test on my patience. Not because she was crying - I just felt so bad for her really. But because something about a screaming, crying, upset baby tells older (50+) women to come over and call her name out, wave their hands at her, and grab her hands to try and play. Eventually she ended up crying herself to sleep :( poor little girl. She refused to eat or even nurse all day too so I was really heartbroken for her. We're recovering from it though! And the day seemed to go perfectly for the bride & groom so that's always good.

Once again, I didn't really get any pictures except for right before the ceremony. :(

Day 54: August 27th, 2010

2010-08-30T10:23:00.000-05:00

Today was the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was all downtown Chicago so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to grab tons of photos (especially of Paige with relatives who live on the west coast) but seriously all I got was this one before the rehearsal started!! It was so hectic and it was too much between meeting up with people, taking care of Paige alone, trying to fend off relatives while she was overstimulated and trying to sleep, helping set up, and pulling my camera out of the bag.

It was SUCH a long day for Paige (3 hour commute downtown then 2 hours for the rehearsal then 4 hours for the dinner) but tomorrow will be even worse. About 5 minutes before the rehearsal started I decided I should try to change Paige then I could feed her during the rehearsal and hopefully she'd play quietly throughout it. So I took her to the changing station and she just started screaming at the top of her lungs. Like would not stop. So I tried giving her a pacifier and she quieted down long enough for me to get off her diaper then she started up even louder!! I was trying so hard to keep her quiet because A.) she was the only baby there and I didn't want people getting annoyed and B.) this was all in the church with about 70 people there (my husband's family is big on inviting people to the rehearsal) and it was totally quiet except for Paige. Nothing made her happy - she just didn't want to get changed!! So I had to change her while HOLDING her which was not easy! Afterwards I took her outside and fed her which helped her calm down a lot. She sat through the last half of the rehearsal really nicely but around 8 pm at the dinner she just lost it and had a meltdown. We ended up leaving early (every one else stayed out til about midnight or 1 am) so I am stressing big time about tomorrow.

Day 53: August 26th, 2010

2010-08-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

Yay, Paige is finally starting to get closer to sleeping through the night again! For the past couple nights, she's only woken up once or twice. Usually the first time she just makes noises to herself then falls back asleep after 5 minutes. The second time she won't stop until she gets fed and changed but still, that's better than getting up at least 10 times a night!

She's so adorable when she wakes up that I can't help but take pictures of her. Usually she's funny and giggly but today she was really quiet and sweet.

I know I've talked about how she just loves getting into trouble. We have blinds in the house, unfortunately curtains aren't in the budget right now since we have to completely rip out and break down flooring, repaint, install new molding, and redecorate 3 rooms within the next 6 months. Paige loves getting into pretty much anything so she's now discovered that she can grab the cords next to her high chair. As you can see, she's thrilled with herself.

Mad that Mommy turned her away so she couldn't reach them:

& just being silly!

Day 53: August 25th, 2010

2010-08-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's happening - on May 6th, 2011 Paige is going to be a big sister! I know the picture is very faint but it's very easy to see irl.

I realized that I was 11 dpo this morning and I had some internet cheapies left over from when we were TTC Paige, so I figured I might as well test. I truly didn't expect anything. I did some housework and forgot about the test for a little bit. Then I realized I forgot to check the results so I did and lo and behold, there was a really really faint line. It still didn't register with me though because I've had so many false positives and evap lines on the cheap tests. So I gave it plenty of time to dry (I know it says you can't read the results after 10 minutes but it doesn't even finish drying in that time frame) and went back and there was still a tiny line. I e-mailed my husband (because I canNOT keep a secret) and he told me to go out and buy some real pregnancy tests.

So I rushed Paige off to Target, bought the tests (I'm pretty sure the cashier was giving me the side eye), got home & tested right away. I tried to walk away but I couldn't handle it, I had to know right away. I watched the dye as it went over the test line and held my breath. At first, I thought I saw nothing but then not even 10 seconds later this small pink line appeared! I called my husband and we freaked out quietly to each other. We're so thrilled that we're going to have 2 under 2! Paige will only be 14 months old when I deliver. Scary but so exciting all at the same time!

I guess I should have seen it coming a little. All week I've had terrible headaches (I never get headaches) and I've been super emotional (also very rare for me). We decided not to tell family until our first ultrasound (~11 weeks), possibly even our gender ultrasound (16 weeks) because last time, my MIL got a little crazy on us.

So here's the soon-to-be big sister!

For so long she would only eat solids from me. No idea why! Recently she started letting my husband feed her too which is good news. I really love feeding her though, I love how she bounces around all excited to eat then opens her mouth and takes huge bites!

Paige has a love affair with our TV remotes. She even has her favorite ones and has learned she can use this one to turn the TV on by chewing in the right places lol. The pajamas she's wearing are the ones I got at the Gap. So soft and adorable, I wish they made them in my size!!

Day 52: August 24th, 2010

2010-08-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

Today was some last minute shopping for the wedding and our vacation. I didn't have any shoes or necklaces to match my dress so I got those at Kohls, then met my mom over at Baby Gap. I could go crazy in Baby Gap. It's just my style and I'm in love with everything there. I only HAD to get one thing (a wide brim hat for Paige for vacation) and this one was perfect because it was exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't find one anywhere else. But of course I walked out with over $120 in clothes (oh and the hat was on sale for only $2.99 so I really had no excuse).

Anyways, here's the hat in action!

Not sure what's up with her face here but I love the bokeh on this one!

I like how you can kind of see her eye through the blur of her crib slats on this one!

Day 51: August 23rd, 2010

2010-08-24T08:28:00.000-05:00

I love the age Paige is at! It's so much fun watching her interact with the world around her. I'm guessing in a few months when she's mobile she's going to be a lot more trouble! I can already see it in that she tries to get her little hands on everything in her reach (and has really started working at getting stuff out of her reach too).

In other good news, she rolled over yesterday from belly to back for the first time! She did it about 5-6 times and I even got it on video for her daddy. She was so funny about it too. I heard her talking to herself after her nap so I went in to get her. I usually talk to her and make her giggle while she lays on her tummy for a few minutes before getting her out of the crib after naps. I figure she could use the tummy time. ;) Today while I was talking to her, she just rolled over like she's been doing it forever. Maybe she has at night and I just don't know it...!

I let my camera battery die so I don't really have anything too exciting, just our every day stuff. Can I just say how much I love that little curl her hair is forming right behind her ear?

Day 50: August 22nd, 2010

2010-08-23T13:58:00.000-05:00

Why do Sundays always go by so fast?

Day 49: August 21st, 2010

2010-08-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how big my baby is getting!! Today I went out to buy her some new pajamas because her 9 month ones are like, stretched to the limit and I just noticed last night her toes have to curl a little to fit. So I went to Target and they didn't have any footie pajamas. Blah! I went to Kohl's instead and they had some but she is now out of the little baby size area and into this weird halfway between baby & toddler area. A lot of the clothes in the cute tiny baby area only go up to 9 months and then the toddler area seemed to start around 18-24 months so I found like, one rack of 12 month clothes.

And as I picked out her pajamas, I kept thinking how big they looked. I figured they would be too big for now but they would probably look fine in a month or two. But as I put one on her tonight... nope, they fit perfectly. I just can't believe how fast the time flies. :(

Here she is in some new pajamas, obviously ready for bed.

Today I had Paige model her clothes for next weekend. The rehearsal dinner dress is a little big & I'm not 100% on her accessories for it but they'll do! I am in love with her outfit for the wedding though!

I LOVE her headbands from Etsy seller fabflowerheadbands. Especially the cream one she made custom for me, I think it's gorgeous.

I also bought her brown shoes from Gracious May and they are omgbeautiful. I can't believe she hand makes them, that's how perfect they are. I can't say enough good things about them which is so bad for my bank account.

We walked across the street to the park today and we sat under this huge tree to take pictures. As I've mentioned before, Paige has a fascination with trees (which is what she's looking at in the two above pictures) and so right away she started grabbing at this nearby branch.

My poor husband was getting eaten by mosquitoes but he was such a good sport!

Day 48: August 20th, 2010

2010-08-21T20:26:00.000-05:00

Last time we went out of town for more than a few days, there was a fire in our house. And we were on our honeymoon in Maui and it was 4 am. It was very scary getting that call. I remember waking up to my husband's cell phone ringing and wondering who would be calling us A.) on our honeymoon and B.) at 4 am? I figured it was my mom - she calls me all the time just to "see if I'm okay". Plus she couldn't really grasp the concept of a huge time zone difference and refused to not call on my honeymoon. So we let it go to voicemail.

Then it rang again and my husband picked it up to check the number. It was our pet sitter and that's when we both started getting a little panicky. When he answered, I could hear her crying and the fire engine sirens in the background. Luckily, our dogs were all okay. They were upstairs, whimpering and freaking out when she got there. It was an electrical fire so nothing was too damaged, but it was a real pain to clean up. The carpet and walls were ruined and there was black soot over EVERYTHING downstairs!

The first thing I did was call my parents and ask my dad if he could go check on the dogs. I wanted them to see someone familiar and I wanted him to tell me if they seemed stressed or if they looked sick from all the smoke. My parents and my husband's mom were very sweet to go over and check on them for the next few days and clean up for us. SO thankful that my parents spent an entire day cleaning up because 2 days after we got home, we had an at-home reception (since we got married in Hawaii) to throw.

Wow - what a long background that was to get into what I really wanted to say - so anyways we're going on our first longish vacation since then in 2 weeks and I have to hire a new pet sitter. It's so hard trusting someone with your fur babies and in your house when you aren't around, you know? Today I interviewed one and she seems nice (albeit a little... weird) and our dogs love her. She's actually even cheaper than our last pet sitter even after adding an additional visit a day which is so great! Hopefully nothing crazy like last time will happen!!

On to pictures... THIS is why I need to strap her in every time now, even if it's just 10 seconds and I'm within 3 feet and not even turning my back on her! She actually reaches down and puts her hands on the ground now! Crazy girl.

Total mom shot, I love when she has a pacifier and then she smiles and the pacifier falls out because she smiles so big. So here's that in the making.

Then finally, taking her bottle before bed. She was actually so asleep during it that I was able to put her down and grab a picture while my husband fed her.

Day 47: August 19th, 2010

2010-08-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh! I am so sleep deprived! I feel like I'm undergoing some sort of sleep deprivation torture. I'm not sure what the problem is - hungry? unswaddled? wants her pacifier? 4 month wakeful? but I'm just exhausted. Paige has been going to bed like usual, around 7:30. Then she wakes up between 9:30-11 and wants to eat. She's actually completely asleep through all of this - so we change her and feed her and that's not a big deal since we're usually still up anyways. After this, she sleeps really well until 1 am. Then the fun starts! She's up at least every 30 minutes (but not really UP, because like I said she's asleep during all this) and wants to get fed 2-3 times until 5 am. Sometimes around 5 am she wakes up but usually she just eats then will quiet down and sleep til 7-8 am. So I'm not really sure what to think of all this! Does it count as sleeping through the night if she is technically asleep during it? :)

Anyways, Paige discovered today that she can play peek a boo through the bumper in her crib. The focus is so off in some of these - not sure what happened. Shaky hands!

Despite her crankiness at night, she has been in such a fun and cute mood all day. Giggling at everything! Being very vocal, etc. She's usually so quiet.

Paige loves playing airplane!

Day 46: August 18th, 2010

2010-08-18T19:38:00.000-05:00

Paige was such a little ham today during lunch. She was ALL smiles and bouncing up and down! I actually took a video of some of it, but I'll edit that and post it later.

Paige's "uh oh" face! She dumped an entire bowl of papaya all over the dining room table, the floor, her high chair, the dog, herself, and me. Of course my first reaction was to take a picture of it though!

We probably spent 3 hours today with me stacking up her cups and her knocking them down.

Day 45: August 17th, 2010

2010-08-17T17:33:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when Paige wakes up, she's so cute I can't help but run and grab my camera. She's in such a great mood after her naps and nothing beats those smiles and giggles. I'm sure this will change when she's a teenager so gotta enjoy it now!

Giving Mommy kisses with her messy banana face!

Day 44: August 16th, 2010

2010-08-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

I didn't even pick up my camera today so I thought it would be fun to post some of the pictures I've taken on my iPhone instead!

The first time I ever held Paige. I cropped myself out because after 17 hours of labor, over 20 hours at the hospital, and a c-section I was not looking my best.

Even as a newborn, she was always so awake & aware.

And here's my favorite picture of Paige & me together, taken on Mother's Day.

Day 43: August 15th, 2010

2010-08-16T18:48:00.000-05:00

This weekend went by so fast!

Paige has a new found love for being on her tummy. She exclusively sleeps on her stomach now and loves sprawling out in her crib. It's so cute! She's sleeping much better too - she still wakes up about 2-3 times a night but she seems to sleep much sounder. I'm so glad we got rid of the swaddle. She has also learned that the crib isn't the only place she can roll over. Now she tries to do it on the floor, bed, changing table, and in the bath. She is such trouble!

My husband is so good with her!

Day 42: August 14th, 2010

2010-08-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

Only 3 more weeks until we go on vacation!!! But first I have to survive my brother in law's wedding.

Anyways, today's pictures are really bad because I bounced my flash at a weird angle. I tried to fix them up a little but hello pinlights!

The blocks she's playing with - I saw them before she was even born at Target & I wanted them bad! But I wasn't about to pay $12 for 4 blocks so I waited and waited until they went on sale. One day I went in and they were totally gone! I was kicking myself forever for not buying them. Today I went to TJ Maxx and I saw them there for $7! I pretty much dove into the stand full of toys to grab them (ask my husband if you don't believe me) and I was pretty giddy.

Day 41: August 13th, 2010

2010-08-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

Paige is 5 months old today. I can't believe it. I don't know where the time has gone. I remember holding her as a newborn, thinking I didn't want her to get any older because she was just so perfect. And now, I love the age she's at. I love that I can see her thinking and figuring things out. I love that I can see a little feistiness in her personality and that I can already tell once she's mobile that she'll be TROUBLE! Really though, I don't want her to get older! People keep telling me, "don't worry, I know babies aren't any fun but I promise it gets better". I don't know what could be better than this. So, in honor of Paige's 5 month birthday, here are 5 things I just love about her.

1.) She's always exploring her surroundings. Constantly grabbing whatever's in reach so she can hold it or put it in her mouth. Lately she has been getting more adventurous and as I'm holding her, she'll dive down, hands extended to grab at whatever she sees. Thankfully I haven't dropped her yet!
2.) How easy she is to "read". She always knows what she wants. She doesn't cry just to cry. If she's crying, it's always because she has something specific in mind. When she has her toys out, she will choose a specific one she wants to play with and she will tirelessly work towards getting it and won't give up.
3.) She's a little shopper. She never, ever cries while we're shopping. As a newborn, I always worried about taking her out and wondered when she would have a meltdown and how I would deal with it. To this day, she's never had one. She sits quietly and just watches her surroundings, taking it all in. Even when she obviously is over it, she'll sit patiently while mommy tries on one more dress.
4.) She loves the dogs! She tries to pet them and grab their fur. They love her to death too and are so patient with her. Nic will lay outside her playroom door until I let him in, so he can lay and watch her as she plays. And once she sees Nic, her face lights up and she smiles so big.
5.) Her routine. She's got everything down to a 15 minute window (even pooping). Her daddy and I are so OCD about lists, planning, scheduling. She loves her schedule so much that we don't have to cue anything for her. She sleeps at the same time, wakes up at the same time, eats at the same time, plays, changes, etc etc.

Paige, your smile is magic. If I'm frustrated or sad and I see that silly little grin, I can't help but smile too. It makes my day every single day. Your daddy and I are so proud of you and we love you to pieces!

Day 40: August 12th, 2010

2010-08-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

We have a new milestone! Paige has been thisclose to rolling over forever. Well, back to belly rolling over... not so much on the belly to back. Kind of a long story how it all happened:

Tonight we started our deswaddling process (aka going cold turkey). It was a looong night! From about 10 pm until 2 am she was up every 15 minutes, no joke. So around 11 pm she starts making some weird noises and it was my turn to go check on her. I come into the room and she is laying on her tummy - wide awake, smiling, and looking SO proud of herself! Of course I had to get a few pictures before she went back to bed.

I'm so glad it wasn't a fluke thing - last night she rolled over 3 times and already today she's rolled over 3 times as well. Hopefully she'll learn rolling back the other way soon too, I didn't mind it last night because she was so cute but I could see the whole crying to get flipped back over thing all night would get old!

In the mornings while I prepare her cereal (which takes all of like, 45 seconds?), I stick her in her bounce seat. I don't always strap her in since I'm within arms reach and it's seriously like less than a minute. This morning, as she's babbling away to herself, I turn around to say hi and I see her sitting in it like this. I'm going to have to start strapping her in because this is her new thing when I set her down for a sec! She scoots forward and sits upright on the edge, which makes mommy squirmy but she loves doing.

Sorry about the poor picture quality on those. I was trying to go fast because obviously, I was getting nervous!

Another really fast picture I had to take (although I wish I had time to back up & center her in it) - she grabs this blanket, sticks it in her mouth, and then holds her hands up in the air. I have no idea what goes on in babies heads! :)

She LOVES my little alarm clock

I can't believe she turns 5 months old tomorrow!

Day 39: August 11th, 2010

2010-08-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

Paige is a total clown today! She just keeps cracking me up.

Today at lunch, as I'm undoing her harness on the highchair and wiping her down, she grabs the wet towel from me and starts to suck on it (like she does with her washcloth in the bathtub) then takes her foot and just kicks it up on the tray. She sat there like that for like 10 minutes just relaxing and looking out the window!

Yeah, that is her finger up her nose. She doesn't normally do that!

Then as I'm typing up yesterdays post, I hear her behind me (she was falling asleep for a nap, I don't just put her in the swing to blog, I promise!) and turn around to see this. In the (almost) 5 months we've had the swing, she has never once tried to grab the mobile. Luckily I had the camera right next to me so I could snap a few pictures...

Day 38: August 10th, 2010

2010-08-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to think about sleep training now that Paige is getting closer to the appropriate age for it. Ever since she was a newborn, she was a good sleeper. I think they say sleeping through the night technically is like, 5-6 hours? And she's always done that, but my dream here is to get her back into sleeping 10-12 hours. When she sleeps like that, all 3 of us are more well-rested and happier.

I've read up on a few of the techniques. I know a lot of people have had success with cry it out but I think that kind of method only works with certain types of babies. I read some article about how for some babies, crying is a release of energy and it will help them calm down, so I can see how cry it out would work. But Paige gets so amped up when she cries that it's just not going to stop until she gets what she wants. I've tried letting her go for 5-7 minutes before, coming in to rub her tummy and shush her and let her know I'm there, but she just kept screaming until it got to the point where she was so worked up she had tears running down her face and she was silently screaming. It broke my heart to see her like that so I haven't tried again.

Last night I tried to let her fuss it out at 2 am. She was just softly whining in her crib so I gave it 3 minutes and she quieted down. About 15 minutes later, she started up again a little louder so I gave her the pacifier and she slept for about 30 more minutes. Then I wake up to the monitor as she is in there babbling and giggling to herself, which is too cute to be annoying even at 3 am so I went in there, changed her and fed her, and she slept until 7 (probably would have went longer but I woke her up by accident).

I know it's probably not the right time to try anything now since she's in her 4 month wakeful but if anyone has any tips or tricks I am open to anything!

Today's boring at home pictures. The weather has been so gross for the past month or so but it's been getting better lately, hopefully I'll be able to get more outdoor pictures! I hate being cooped up inside!

Patiently (ha!) waiting for lunch:

She loves getting her diaper changed. She's so cute I just wish I could video it to show how funny she is... but I won't, because that's creepy.

I think I've talked before about Paige's "I'm tired" cues. She lets out a single high pitched scream at the top of her lungs, grabs you in for a huge hug, and then buries her face in your neck and rubs it. Then she'll repeat as long as necessary until you swaddle her and put her in her crib. Once again, too cute to be annoying! Here she is, mid-scream and going in for the hug.

Day 37: August 9th, 2010

2010-08-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

When Paige was a newborn, I always felt a little silly reading to her. Half the time she wouldn't even stay awake through a whole book so I never thought it was really sinking in. As she got a little older, I'd say around 3 months or so, she started to really love our reading time. As I read to her, I would watch her as she'd check out the illustrations.

Now that she's getting more interactive, she tries to hold the book or turn the page (or eat the book, of course). She still loves the art too, and she'll sit for 30-45 minutes reading without fussing. Just totally focused on the book. My mother in law didn't believe me when I told her that books are Paige's favorite toys until she watched her last Sunday. At the end of the day, she said "I've never seen a baby that was so interested in books. I read her 3 books and she never got bored!" so I just had to get a few pictures of her with one of her books.

But first, check out this bedhead. I don't know what she does in that crib overnight to make it stand up like this! Oh yeah, and this picture was taken at 6 am so I'm sure it violates every photography rule in the book.

After getting ready for the day, still rockin' the bedhead.

My husband calls me and Paige his little bookworms, lol

Not sure what she's doing in these. She's earned herself the nickname "T-Rex" because she will adamantly fight against straightening out her arms like this. These pictures may be a first here... silly girl.

Day 36: August 8th, 2010

2010-08-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

I think Paige might be teething. :( She's typically a very happy (and quiet) baby and all through the second half of the day she was screaming and pulling on her ears. For now though, she's sleeping happily in her crib. I would give just about anything for her to sleep through the night again. Lately she's been getting up once around 2-3 and then again at 5:30. Mommy needs her sleep, Paige!

Her newest thing, she grabs the washcloth and starts sucking on it during her bath. I end up having to bring a 2nd so I can actually use one of them!

Day 35: August 7th, 2010

2010-08-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

Paige loves shopping. She's hilarious in stores, she just looks at everything, tries to touch stuff, holds my purchases for me... she could shop all day. So we went to Macys with my mom. I completely forgot to take a picture for today until I was getting Paige ready for bed. So here is my little troublemaker. She tries to get into anything she can reach, so when I'm changing her clothes (like below), she's always trying to get into the little basket with wipes & diaper cream. You can just see her thought process.

Here she's kind of like, "hey... I could probably reach that":

(As Daddy tries to hold her back, lol)

At this point she actually grabbed the basket and started pulling it towards her.

Day 34: August 6th, 2010

2010-08-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

So ready for the weekend! I saw this cute hat on clearance for 70% off and figured it would be cute for pictures. Then I accidentally shrunk it & dyed it pink in the wash but I think it worked anyways!

I had the windows open for some natural light and Paige was just transfixed by the trees. She loves the outdoors.

Day 33: August 5th, 2010

2010-08-05T20:14:00.000-05:00

I think all I need is a pumpkin to complete the cornucopia that was formerly known as my kitchen! Today I went grocery shopping and pretty much bought out their entire produce department. I'm making up a huge batch of purees for Paige this weekend since most weeks I end up in the grocery store 2-3 times for produce.

Of course, as I cut into a peach, I find that it's completely moldy in the inside. Yeah, eww. I toss it and pick up an apple. Yep, same thing. Neither were moldy on the outside at all - they looked amazing. They could have been featured in magazines they looked so good. I can't wait to find out how much of the $60 in veggies I bought are actually edible! It feels like Christmas here.


I know, I know. More Exersaucer pictures. It's the only time I actually get to put her down so I can pick up my camera. :)

Wii remotes count as solids... right?

Time for bed!

Paige LOVES being up on her dad's shoulders. She's such a little dare devil up there, always trying to bite his head, lean back to lay down, or pull up to stand!

Day 34: August 4th, 2010

2010-08-05T06:22:00.000-05:00

So our pug, Maddie, is like a lot of dogs. She likes to sniff other dogs "yard waste" (well, who am I kidding, she sniffs her own too). Actually, sometimes it goes beyond sniffing. I won't elaborate.

I never thought I would see the day my own daughter did this. I really wish I hadn't. I opened up Paige's diaper to find a particularly bad mess. As I was pulling the diaper off, she stuck her foot in it. It looked like avocado and Paige must have thought so too because right away she stuck it straight in her mouth. Now, that's bad but even worse... lately she has been blowing raspberries all the time. So yeah, poo went flying everywhere. The wall, the mirror, her changing pad, herself, me... I'm just glad she didn't ingest any of it. Obviously she went straight in the bath, everything in her room got sterilized, and I'm never giving her avocado again!

I can't believe this sweet little baby would do something like that!

She loves to pull the rings off one by one

Day 33: August 3rd, 2010

2010-08-05T06:17:00.000-05:00

I hate Tuesdays. I think they're the worst day of the week - because really, you expect Monday to suck. And Wednesday means you're halfway there. So to me, Tuesday = major slump day. I really didn't do much with photography and it was a rainy day and blahblahblah. But Paige always makes me smile, so here she is! :)

Paige loves mirrors... she's so vain :)

Paige has zero table manners. She loves to eat like this:

She fights us for the bowl!

Day 32: August 2nd, 2010

2010-08-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

Yuck, I haven't been feeling good at all today. I got the flu shot so I doubt it's that. Maybe some food poisoning?

Anyways, Paige must have sensed how terrible I feel because she's been such a mommy's girl all day. She's such a sweetheart!

Reaching for mommy...

We got this blanket as a present a few Christmas's ago and Paige LOVES it. She's always trying to grab the penguins on it. So I leave it on the bed for her to play with sometimes.

Not sure if other people can tell, but she's laughing in these pictures while we played peek a boo

She has some new "faces" she makes, the turtle face being one of them:

Called turtle face because her lips look like this:

She just cracks me up!

Day 31: August 1st, 2010

2010-08-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

Today is our big date! Haha. I love how having a baby makes going out bowling and to lunch alone with your husband such a huge deal. My mother-in-law is so excited to watch Paige. She's been bugging us to leave Paige with her overnight since Paige was a week old. Now that Paige isn't nursing as much anymore though, it makes it a lot easier to leave her with someone.

Of course, what would a date be without some drama? My MIL is one of those people that are notoriously late for everything. And not just like 5 minutes late. Sometimes she leaves us waiting for her at restaurants for an hour and a half. So of course after we confirm everything a billion times, she calls us last night...

MIL: "So you want me to come at 10:30 am, right?"
DH: "I thought we agreed 9:15?"
MIL: "No, the conversation I had was 10:30" (impossible as we wanted to catch a movie at 10 am)
DH: "Okay... well we could do 10:30 if that's what you want"
MIL: "No, it's fine. We can do 9:15"
DH: "Are you sure?"
MIL: "I'll just get up really early to go to church... at like 7 am... I'm going to be so tired"
DH: "10:30 is fine with us"
MIL: "No it's fine. We'll do 9:15 instead of 10:30 like you asked. I'm so tired. I'm going to be exhausted"

ahhh! passive aggressive!

Then she calls at 8:30 today. She always waits until the last minute, then calls and says she wants to change the time closer to what she wanted. So as the phone rings, I laugh and tell my husband I bet she's calling to change the time again.

MIL: "Did you want me to come at 9:45?"
DH: "Is that what you want to do instead of 9:15?"
MIL: "Well, I just got up. So I have to shower, eat breakfast, and walk the dogs"
DH: "So what time?"
MIL: "I can be there at 9:30"
DH: "Okay..."

Then she shows up at 10:00. And we don't get out the door until 10:30. And we miss the movie.

But I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate her help or that she ruined my day or whatever. I totally appreciate that she took her time to come watch Paige and it sounds like Paige behaved herself pretty well for her first time being babysat. I was actually surprised to hear how well she adjusted and I'm glad both of them had fun together. :) My husband and I always have a great time so we'll definitely be planning another date soon.

Here are some pictures of my little ladybug...

I love how serious she gets about her toys

While I was getting her ready for bed, I let her play with the toothbrush from her toiletries kit, lol

Day 30: July 31st, 2010

2010-08-03T09:04:00.000-05:00

Today was pretty laid back. We have a local "zoo" (it really only has like 10 different exhibits) that we visited today. Paige actually seemed to enjoy it and I was surprised to see her looking at the animals (or at least in their general direction). There were a bunch of other people there with DSLRs and I caught a couple of them trying to check out what I was up to. So here's a few pics from the zoo:

There were peacocks & other birds on the other side of the fence that she was staring at

Checking out the mountain lions

Then I realized most of the pictures I took today were of the animals (still have to edit those, the otters were so cute and total camera whores).

So I may have mentioned that we're going to a wedding at the end of the month. It's my brother-in-law's and lots of family is coming in from out of town that will meet Paige for the first time (plus my BIL & soon-to-be SIL live in town and has only seen Paige twice, ha). I thought I'd take a few pictures of her wedding clothes. I adore them but my mom just told me she hates them so now of course I'm second guessing my choices!!

Rehearsal dinner dress (from Macys). I still need to buy shoes for it (I was thinking of getting some from Gracious May) but I also have a little white cardigan for it.

Obviously I am a big fan of neutrals... :) This one is from Baby Gap & I bought it last fall RIGHT after Paige's gender ultrasound. I just love it. I even have little black tights & mary janes for it.

Still need to decide on hair accessories if I do end up using these dresses... aww I love having a little girl. :)

Day 29: July 30th, 2010

2010-07-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

So I know a lot of people wonder but are too nice to ask. Then there are others that come right out and tell me, "don't worry, she can still be cute even though she has that red bump on her head". I've had people ask me "what's wrong with her?"... nothing! The red mark is called a capillary hemangioma. It's just a birth mark that appears shortly after birth and grows until they are about a year old (or so says my pediatrician). Most disappear completely by the time they are 2 years old while about 95% disappear by the time they are school aged.

I've had people ask me why we don't get it removed. I asked my pedi about it when it first showed up and she said that they don't like to intervene because typically, the scarring from the lasers will leave more noticeable damage then if we just let it involute on it's own. So we're just letting it do it's thing. It grew a lot between birth and 2 months, but hasn't changed since then. Here's one of Paige's newborn pictures, just to show the difference...

Paige at 5 days old. You can see a pinkish spot but it wasn't raised at all.

Photo, obviously, by Katie Ryan

Paige today! Playing with the remote control. Her new favorite toys are anything Mommy uses (remote, alarm clock, iphone, keyboard....)

In this picture, you can see how our dogs ruined our blinds by scratching at them from on our bed. Now a chunk of the blinds are missing on the right side and if we don't position them right, we look like the neighborhood peeping toms. I really need to buy curtains... sigh!

Paige just adores her daddy and is always touching, feeling, grabbing his face to keep him close to her. So sweet!

Day 28: July 29th, 2010

2010-07-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

Paige gets CRAZY in her Exersaucer. Like, huge eyes, screaming with excitement, jumping up and down frantically, grabbing onto things and shaking them as hard as she can kind of excited. And lately, she's been trying to chomp on the toys in it, except that she can't quite reach. So first I'll share some "crazy baby" pictures then the normal ones.

"Holy crap, Mom!!"

Actually, I think she was trying to get to the toy to eat it in that picture.

And some normal pictures, just so I don't make my baby look like a total spaz!

She's always doing weird stuff with her toes. Everyone always comments on it because she ALWAYS has her toes curled as tightly as possible - then she hooks the pinky toe underneath the one next to it (kinda like crossing your fingers).

Some other random shots...

Day 27: July 28th, 2010

2010-07-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

I'm in love with the little footie pajamas. My husband says they remind him of Christmas. Anyways, I just had to take a few pictures of Paige sitting on her own. She still can't roll over but she's getting close (she has the strongs for it, she just gets freaked out when she's about to roll and flips back the other way).

Getting all set up to sit...

"Mom look! I'm doin' it!"

Yeah, I really did need 3 pictures of virtually the same face doing the same thing!

My parents got her this toy and it's just CREEPY! Like it has teeth and it's mouth opens and it sings when you squeeze it. And it's face is really ugly too. So of course, Paige is in love with it.

Paige loves to stand. She can do it by herself as long as she's holding on to something. I wonder if she'll be one of those babies who skip crawling.

This is a classic Paige tired face. I just love when she gets sleepy. If you're holding her, she buries her face in your neck and rubs it on you.

Day 26: July 27th, 2010

2010-07-29T10:19:00.000-05:00

Paige is hilarious when she eats now. She says "mmmmmm!" as I feed her and tries to grab the spoon and kind of push the contents of it into her mouth. Her favs are definitely avocado, peaches, and now pears. Still hates apples and banana. Is this really my baby? lol. I don't think I've ever eaten avocado (I don't even eat guacamole) and I definitely don't like pears. Apples and bananas are two of my favorite fruits!

She's so cute with the dogs too. Whenever she sees Maddie, she reaches for her and giggles like crazy! I don't know why I never get any pictures of Cali, our third (well, technically our first) dog. I just realized every picture is of Nic and Maddie. So here's Cali, our princess.

Day 25: July 26th, 2010

2010-07-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

Ewww Monday! But only 6 more weeks until we go on vacation! That is, if we make it through my brother-in-laws wedding alive. :)

Paige loves her baby bjorn. I really don't use it enough, pretty much just to vacuum with her. I convinced my husband to try it out though!

Day 24: July 25th, 2010

2010-07-27T16:52:00.001-05:00

For the first time since Paige was born, my husband and I are going out on a "date" without her. It will be hard to leave my munchkin behind but with the whole not sleeping very well issue, mommy needs some time to restore her sanity. :)

Of course, it had to be very complicated figuring out a date that would work with my mother-in-law for her to babysit but finally the stars aligned & it all worked out. This Sunday is the day!

Paige going for a walk (taken with my new 35mm! squeee!). You wouldn't know it from these pictures but she actually despises her infant seat.

I just compared these images to themselves in PSE and they are definitely warmer and have a nice sunkissed "glow" to them in PSE. :( I guess I'll be looking into fixing that this weekend!

Day 23: July 24th, 2010

2010-07-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

Flickr is really messing with my image coloration & making them look weird all of a sudden. I'm not sure if it's my (uncalibrated) computer or what.

After Paige's bath we fixed her crazy hair into a little mohawk!

Day 22: July 23rd, 2010

2010-07-27T16:39:00.000-05:00

Eek, I'm getting behind again! I have a good excuse though. After an entire week of sleeping through the night, Paige decided being awake at night was much more fun. Yep, the 4 month sleep regression. It started slow. She went down to bed as usual then randomly started crying 30 minutes later. Diaper was clean, she was clearly tired, and she didn't want to eat. So we gave her the paci and she fell back asleep for the night. Except starting around 4 am, she would fuss. Just for 10 seconds or so. Every 2 minutes until 5 am. Like you know when it's bugging you but you're too tired to actually get up and do something about it? Well I passed that point and just got up and gave her the paci... and she fell back asleep until 8 am so I was convinced it was just some weird fluke.

But then last night, she was so tired as she was eating her squash that she started to fall asleep in her Bumbo... and it was only 6:30 pm. So we finished up, gave her a bottle, changed her for the night, swaddled her, & as soon as her head touched the mattress she was asleep. Until 8 pm. Then 8:30. And then 9. Then 9:30. Luckily after that she slept pretty well, until about 3. Then she started doing the fussy thing again every few minutes, but this time the pacifier didn't help. Nor did a diaper change, a feeding, or even the swing - our go to for emergency sleep situations. Oh, and she won't nap for more than 20 minutes now. She will clearly be very tired (rubbing her eyes, barely opening them) but just can't stay asleep. I don't know who this is harder for, her or us!

Anyways, pictures of Paige being cuddly:

Day 21: July 22nd, 2010

2010-07-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

I've been in a bit of a photography rut lately. My new lens (hopefully) comes tomorrow so maybe that will help. I feel like I keep making the same mistakes over and over so I get frustrated and then don't want to keep trying. Oh well, I need to keep in mind I will get better with practice and focusing on my problem areas. No matter what the quality, these pictures should make a nice album for Paige's first birthday. Anyways, sorry if that sounds like a rant, it's not meant to be one. I just want to get the best pictures I can so I'll always remember the little things I loved about her age. :)

Day 20: July 21st, 2010

2010-07-21T20:35:00.000-05:00

Phew, finally all caught up. Paige & I were boring and just chilled at home today. She's slept all the way through the night for the past THREE nights! Four times this week in total. I can already tell she won't tonight though. She is usually so good about her bedtime routine but she has spent the past hour & a half screaming (very unlike her). She JUST quieted down maybe 10 minutes ago so I'm hoping that at least she wore herself out for the night just like she's worn me down.

Somehow she managed to get her foot through one of her toys

Paige HATES tummy time. I try to get 15-20 minutes a day out of her but it's tough. I'm worried she'll never crawl or roll over because she just spends half the time burying her face into the floor crying.

Loving her avocado...

Wiping her face off when she's done, lol

Day 19: July 20th, 2010

2010-07-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

Sooo busy today I barely had time to take a picture. Paige, my mom, and I went shopping because I have a wedding coming up in August. I'm in love with Paige's outfits for the rehearsal dinner & wedding so I'll have to post those later. I still haven't found anything I loveloveLOVE yet but I did get a cute skirt from Macys.

Anyways, this is Paige's "figuring stuff out" face. She is such a serious baby most of the time. She really has to take everything in for awhile then make up her mind about it.

So drooly. I wonder when she'll start teething.

Day 18: July 19th, 2010

2010-07-21T18:48:00.000-05:00

Aww, poor Paigey got her 4 month shots today. She's such a trooper. We showed up to the doctors and she was in high spirits, especially considering we spent over 2 hours there 3 days ago. She was smiling, giggling, and squealing at everyone in the waiting room... for the whole 45 minutes we waited because they were behind. She was a good sport about it for the most part even though she was obviously exhausted. The last 5 minutes she was pretty fussy but fortunately they rushed us into a room to distract her.

I didn't realize I forgot to take a picture until we were putting Paige to bed so I just snapped a quick one of her boo-boos. Look at those chunky legs!

Day 17: July 18th, 2010

2010-07-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law came over to hang out with Paige - I told her I needed some pictures of her with Paige and she came over all dressed up for it, how cute is that?

Paige showing off her toes to Nana

Day 15: July 16th, 2010

2010-07-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

Blah, I've gotten so far behind! I was going to re-edit these in ACR to fix the white balance but I'll just post them as-is because I have a few days to catch up on.

Paige went to the doctor on Friday - not fun at all. We went in because her urine smelled very strongly of ammonia so they wanted to try to get her to pee in a bag so they could test her for a UTI. We were there for almost 2 hours between the nurse, doctor, & waiting on Paige to eat & do her business. Luckily the results came back negative. The doctor thinks we need to increase the amount of solids she eats and that should solve the problem. I'm just glad there's nothing wrong with her. The doctor I saw came in and gave me the "doctor face" and started talking about serious issues like her kidneys and her metabolism. Seems like she's doing awesome though, just a chunky little eater!

I wish I carried my camera around with me more often though. Paige met a boyfriend while we were sitting in the waiting room and they were hilarious together!! I had no idea babies flirted! haha

Just more playing around before bed pictures.

Had to show off Paige's bed head in that shot!

Day 16: July 17th, 2010

2010-07-18T06:56:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day for Paige and my husband. He's been a swimmer and water polo player all his life so it was a big deal for him to take Paige swimming for the first time. We were both really bummed when our pedi told us that community pools were a major no no for babies since we have one literally right across the street. :( But we trekked out to my parents house to use theirs today. Paige was definitely in a mood all day (refusing naps) so I wasn't expecting her to tolerate it but actually she seemed to enjoy herself. No smiles yet but she didn't cry or whine at all so I think (hope) she had a good time!

So many pictures...

Nic:

Maddie:

I just downloaded ACR and it's like my long lost sister. I don't know how I got by all this time without it. It makes the editing process sooo much easier! Especially on days like today where despite metering for the correct exposure, everything still comes out way overexposed because I left it on spot metering in full sun... whoops.

Day 14: July 15th, 2010

2010-07-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

I've talked a little about how Paige loves playing, cuddling, & wrestling with us before bedtime at night. So here's some shots of that! Not much to say, Paige has a doctors appointment for Friday that I'm stressing about. I'm sure she's fine but they want to run some tests to be sure.

So peaceful when she naps...

Playing!

Day 13: July 14th, 2010

2010-07-14T19:08:00.001-05:00

It's very possible this post doesn't interest anyone but me, but I always like reading what kind of schedules people keep their babies on and how they balance that with keeping up the house. So I thought I would break down my days:

First, I'll type my cleaning schedule. I'm kind of OCD about it.

Mondays:
Living room - wipe down couch (messy dogs), piano, coffee table, dust frames & lamps
Bedrooms - dust fans, dressers, nightstands, clean up any messes we made over the weekend, disinfect Paige's changing pad
Vacuum
Mop hardwoods

Tuesdays:
Breakfast room - clean walls & molding (this is where our dogs go in & out of the house so they shake and get them all muddy), dust shelves
Entryway - dust console & frames, wipe down railings
Hallways - clean walls & molding, dust frames
Run errands

Wednesdays:
Kitchen - clean appliances, sink, wipe down countertops, handwash bottles, clean dog dishes really well, handwash any dishes or knives that need it
Dining room - clean walls & molding, wipe down table & chairs
Vacuum
Garbage day - empty garbage cans & clean the inside of them

Thursdays:
Office - go through / file paperwork or whatever is sitting out, wipe down desks & electronics, dust frames & shelves
Shower - clean out basin, walls, & doors
Grocery shopping

Fridays:
Bathrooms - wipe down mirrors, sinks, toilets, change out towels, restock toilet paper
Tidy up whatever rooms have gotten a little messy over the week
Vacuum
Mop

Everyday:
Dishes
Laundry (we need to do at least 2 loads - darks & diapers every day... ahhh)

I know that sounds like a lot, but once I got it to the point where it's not so much "cleaning" but more just maintenance, it really doesn't take me too long. Also, I refuse to do any housework while Paige is awake. I am a mommy first and foremost so this all takes a backseat to her needs. So this is what a typical weekday looks like for us:

3:30 - Paige wakes up & wants to be fed & changed
4:00 - We all go back to sleep (sometimes my husband stays up)
5:30 - We wake up for the day. My husband & I shower together (I hope my mom never finds this blog... she still thinks I'm a virgin) then get ready for the day
6:00 - Eat breakfast
6:30 - Paige wakes up to be fed & changed & play a little
7:30 - Paige takes a short nap. I start a load of laundry, load the dishwasher, and start tackling the first room of the day
8:00 - Paige wakes up to be fed & changed
8:30 - We play on her activity gym
9:00 - Paige wants to eat again
9:15 - We go down to her play room to play there. The last 10 minutes, we do some tummy time until Paige gets too frustrated, tired, & cranky
10:00 - Paige gets changed & fed (she eats like a little piggy in the mornings) then takes another short nap. I finish up in the first room and move onto the next
10:30 - Paige wakes up & gets changed. She'll usually eat a little bit
10:45 - We go for a walk, play in her Exersaucer, or play in her play room
11:15 - Paige gets fed & changed then swaddled for her long nap. While she naps, I do whatever chores are left over. I change out the laundry, unload the dishwasher, sometimes vacuum. I eat lunch
2:00 - Paige wakes up to be fed & changed
2:30 - We go outside and play or I give her a bath
3:00 - I vacuum, which is my one exception of housework during Paige time. She loves to be worn in the Bjorn and help me vacuum
3:30 - We lay in bed, cuddle, read, & relax
4:00 - Paige gets changed & fed
4:30 - My husband gets home so we start dinner
5:00 - Paige plays in her jumper while we eat
5:30 - We go for a walk or play in Paige's play room together
6:30 - Paige gets changed & fed. She's usually getting cranky by now so we mostly just hang out & cuddle with her until she's tired enough for bed
7:00 - She gets swaddled and is offered more milk... like the little piggy she is, she usually takes it :)
7:30 - She's in her crib asleep. My husband and I get our alone time for the day
10:00 - We go to bed

So here's a picture of Paige with my husband after a 4.5 hour nap today. Must be nice, right? She normally won't take the pacifier unless she's swaddled and going to sleep (and usually spits it out after 5 minutes) so I always think it's cute when she's sleepy and hangs onto it for awhile when she wakes up.

And here's her hair, getting curly & starting to grow over her ears. I love it.

Day 12: July 13th, 2010

2010-07-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

I wish I could be one of those people who wrote the letters to their babies when they get a month older but honestly, it would all just be the same. Just when you think you can't possibly love your baby any more, they do something new to surprise you and you fall in love all over again. Paige is officially 4 months old. She hasn't really changed much this month other than getting stronger, getting closer to other milestones, becoming more aware of her surroundings. But she's developing such a strong personality and I love it. She just started giggling like a real person. Before she would do this "HEH. HEH. HEH." that was more like a sigh than a laugh. I love when she giggles though, I try everything and anything to keep her going. Especially when it turns into these high pitch squeals... it makes me smile just thinking about it!

Anyways, this is Paige playing peek a boo in the mirror. She laughs and screams and grabs the mirror and puts her mouth all over it - too adorable. This all started when she was about 2 months old. I would sit her down on the changing pad and say "where's that peek a boo baby?" then stand her up and let her look at herself in the mirror and say "there she is!". It's still Paige's favorite game but now she's starting to get more interactive with the "peek a boo baby". Here she is, loving it!

& then a picture playing outside. I know a lot of people hate the "up the nose" shots but I love her eyes in this one.

Day 11: July 12th, 2010

2010-07-12T15:52:00.000-05:00

Paige is so cute in the mornings it's ridiculous! She's definitely a morning person just like my husband and me. I took these right after she woke up. She recently discovered her feet and she wants to play with them all the time, even when she's eating.

She eventually did get the sock off to nom on... so gross!

Day 10: July 11th, 2010

2010-07-12T15:43:00.000-05:00

Sundays are almost always "family days" around here. These are chaotic and stressful most of the time which is why we push them off until Sunday, so they don't ruin our weekend. Paige doesn't sleep very well for the next two nights and she's hard to calm down afterward.

First we had my parents over. I don't have many pictures of Paige with her grandparents so I got some of her with my dad. Lately whenever my parents come over, Paige starts crying harder than I've ever seen her cry. Not sure what's up with that - she does have some separation anxiety but not usually that bad. These were the 10 minutes that she was actually content. My mom brought her the visor and she was only happy when she got to chew/wear it.

Wish my aperture had been narrower. :( Then we went out to lunch for my brother-in-law's birthday. Drama. Luckily Paige slept through most of it, but we were treated to an hour long scream right before bed because she was so worn out!

Day 9: July 10th, 2010

2010-07-10T18:38:00.002-05:00

Not much to say today and I have to make it quick so today's post will be mostly pictures! There's nothing better than spending time with my husband and my baby outside on a nice day. It was cooling down and the sun was just starting to set so we played in the yard a little bit. I've been changing some settings around on my camera so I was just experimenting. I know they aren't great photography because of the hot spots but I love these pictures so much...

This is like my FAVORITE face that she makes when we play. I've been trying for weeks to get her to do it on camera and finally she did it!

Are you loving Paige's bald spot she's rubbing on the back of her head while she sleeps?

He is SUCH a good daddy!

She kept trying to get my shoes!

In other news, we're getting ready for a vacation! This is our first time traveling with a baby so we're not going far, about 5ish hours to northern Wisconsin. We're major league planners normally and with Paige on board, we're even crazier about it. I am such a list person and I got a little ridiculous today, writing lists of what we want to do, where we want to go, what to pack, what we need to buy down there. I have no idea how we're going to get everything inside my Accord... I'm SUCH an overpacker. I can never just pick out clothes ahead of time because I go by how I feel each day so I end up bringing 75% of my closet. I'll probably end up bringing all the clothes Paige owns... sigh! My poor husband!

Day 8: July 9th, 2010

2010-07-09T12:32:00.000-05:00

Paige’s birth story… part 1

I know, I know. I’m being obnoxious and dividing my birth story into multiple sections. But A.) I don’t know how much longer Paige is going to be napping and B.) there were some complications which led into my induction that I want to cover.

Paige had been a very quiet baby on the inside. I didn’t feel her kick until about 22 weeks despite her being in “prime location” for feeling kicks, according to my ultrasound tech. Around 33 weeks I noticed Paige wasn’t kicking very much at all – she was barely passing her kick count test. I mentioned it to my OB who said it was no big deal, just keep up with it and if she drops a lot then call.

At about 35 weeks, there was one day where I only felt her kick twice. And that was after I tried everything – juice, water, laying down, walking around, poking at my belly, laying on my side, etc. I called the OB on call and she advised me to go in to the hospital. Of course, it was on the day of the worst snow storm of the year and it took us an hour to drive to a hospital 15 minutes away… sigh. Anyways! I was on the monitor for several hours and she still didn’t move. I had a BPP (biophysical profile) and the ultrasound tech really had to grind into my stomach to get Paige moving. They gave me a few IVs, juice, had me change positions a lot, etc but she was just being lazy in there. I was also having some pretty heavy contractions on the monitor so they gave me meds to try to stop me from going into preterm labor. Eventually I got released since I had an OB appointment the next day anyways. They told me to make sure I got an NST (nonstress test) done the next Friday.

At my appointment, I was seeing one of the nurses since my OB was out of town. At the end of the appointment, she was like “well why don’t we just have you do the NST now so you don’t need to come back on Friday?”. Little did we know…

I got all hooked up and the right away the nurse was really concerned about Paige’s lack of movement. Apparently they are supposed to have 2 periods of raised heartrate for more than 20 seconds in a 20 minute period or something. Paige never had any. This could indicate a lack of oxygen and possibly cause brain damage so they sent me back to the hospital for more monitoring.

Long story short (haha right?), I ended up getting monitored 2-3 times a week until 39 weeks on top of getting weekly BPP ultrasounds to make sure she was okay in there. At my last BPP before my due date, I was excited to see Paige on screen because she woke up and moved around a little during the ultrasound. Towards the end of my pregnancy, it was rare to feel her move much at all. The ultrasound tech didn’t indicate any problems, just told us the usual, “please have a seat in the waiting room while I have our doctor verify that I got all the information we need”. Usually after sitting there for 5 minutes we are told everything’s fine and we can leave, but this time we started to get nervous after sitting there for 30 minutes with no response. About an hour after my BPP, the tech comes back and says “I have your on-call OB on the phone and she wants to talk to you”.

At this point I’m freaking out. My OB is out of town so I talk to one of the other OBs in her practice. She tells me that my baby failed the movement portion of the BPP and we need to get in to the hospital right away for an induction. She says to stop by my house and take care of my pets, make whatever phone calls I need, and pack my hospital bag. During the conversation my husband kept making “what’s going on?” faces at me but all I could do was say “tonight”.

And of course, the next most logical thing came to my head. I told him “omg, the dogs were walking all over Paige’s room with muddy paws today! I need to go home and mop the floor!”. He started cracking up and but since I was in labor (well, kinda!) I got my way. We checked into the hospital that night and since I was 2-3 cm dilated and 60% effaced and having some pretty serious contractions, I got to skip the 12 hour cervadil procedure! Yay!

Paige’s emergency c-section portion of the birth story coming later…

Here she is, vintage Paige! These were taken with my P&S, I didn't get my DSLR until she was 2 months old.

Day 7: July 8th, 2010

2010-07-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

year ago today (right around this time in the evening too) was when we first found out I was pregnant with Paige. We had been trying for a year and I was so sure I wasn't pregnant. I was a little bummed because I got a baby shower invitation in the mail and I was thinking "that will never be me". My husband could tell I was sad and asked me what would make me feel better. I told him if I took a pregnancy test and it was positive and he said "then take one". So I did.

At that point, after a year of negative tests, I didn't even want to see the result. I asked me husband to check it for me and he declared it negative and threw it away. Obviously my curiosity got the better of me and like girls do, I had to see for myself. So what did I do? What any normal human would do... dug it out of the trash. It was sitting in a big pile of spaghetti sauce too so it was super glamorous. I asked him, "do you see a faint line on this one?" and he quickly looked at it and said "those cheap tests all look like they're positive. Take one of the digital tests". So I did and right away it popped up "pregnant"! We were seriously in shock. There are no words to describe how we felt. I know that after all this time, I was starting to believe we'd never have a baby. But fast forward to today and I feel so blessed that Paige was the baby we waited so long for. I know there are lots of others who have it much harder and wait much longer, but it was a struggle nonetheless.

So to celebrate her own conception, Paige slept like a champ! She has been boycotting naps lately so she went to bed early, around 7 pm, and slept all the way until 4:30 am. It was so refreshing to get that extra ~2 hours of sleep. I just had to creep into her room and take a picture of her sleeping! Keep in mind when I took this, the room was completely dark (thank you speedlite, you're amazing). I missed my focus though :( since she was stirring and I was trying to go fast.

Paige loves her swaddle. Even if she's overtired and screaming and crying, as soon as we break the swaddle out she starts smiling and giggling. She flails like crazy so we actually have to do the escape proof swaddle method. I know it looks crazy but she loves it, for real. She'd wake up 10 times a night if we didn't swaddle her like this. Oh, and yes, I am so dreading weaning her off the swaddle. :(

Anyways, more pictures for today:

Playing on her Bella (don't worry, her daddy was right next to her ready to grab her).

Paige's nursery pictures:

And that's only like half her clothes... god, she's so spoiled!

Day 6: July 7th, 2010

2010-07-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

I can't believe next week Paige will be 4 months old! People were always telling me that my baby will grow up so fast and obviously I knew it would happen, but almost 4 months later I just realized I don't have a newborn anymore... I feel like she's practically a toddler. I remember at Paige's 2 day appointment we ran into another couple. The girl asked me, "are you here for your 2 day appointment? We're here for our 2 month. It feels like just yesterday we were here at our 2 day". In my head I was like, yeah right. I won't feel like that because I'm going to spend all day every. single. day. enjoying every moment with my daughter and it's going to feel like forever. And now... I still haven't written my birth story. Or filled out Paige's baby book. I just sent out my birth announcements a couple weeks ago (oops!).

Anyways, today was an ordinary day. Paige has been having some nap issues in the crib so she was a little cranky.

Paige's new favorite toy - her toes! She's hilarious during diaper changes. She's always either grabbing her leg with both hands and pulling it up or sticking her hand in her diaper (which reminds me of a great story for another day).

Her lamb rattle. As you can see, everything goes straight into the mouth (there's a hint for the story I was just talking about).

I don't know why, but I just love this picture. Wish I got more of her head in the shot though. :(

And because we need a million more nomming pictures:

(Yeah I do realize the color is off in like every other picture. I only get about 10 minutes to edit pictures & post at night so I do what I can!)

Her sleepy face:

And finally, throwing a tantrum. She grabs onto whatever she can, buries & shakes her face in it, & SCREAMS. Unfortunately for her, it is sooo cute. She's so cuddly when she's upset.

Day 5: July 6th, 2010

2010-07-06T17:54:00.000-05:00

As you can see, Paige and Maddie finally decided to put aside their differences and become friends. Paige has always been a little scared of Maddie (who gets a little overzealous and has accidentally scratched Paige a few times), but lately she's been showing more and more interest in her. It started out with just watching the dogs from her bouncer as I fed them, but now whenever Maddie stops by to say hi, Paige reaches out to touch her. Maddie is beyond thrilled with this (sweetest dog ever!) and actually blurred out a few pictures because she was wagging her tail so hard!

So this is the before... poor Paige is crying because Maddie keeps licking Paige's nose.

And this is now...

Looking around for Maddie...

There she is!

(Ignore my unswept floor... these dogs shed beyond insanity)

(Notice how her socks are coming off her feet? She has such long feet!)

Paige spent almost an hour today in her jumper. She LOVES that thing - seriously, screaming with happiness the whole time and can't stop laughing... until I pick up the camera. For some reason, she won't smile for me on camera anymore! I have to try and trick her into it. Anyways she definitely got a leg workout in because she was pooped at the end. She kept trying to lay her head on the tray so I pulled her out and put her down for a nap.

Love those eyes! She refuses to look at me when I start taking pictures. :(

The musical mat for it. She gets some serious height!

Day 4: July 5th, 2010

2010-07-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

Lately I'm obsessed with capturing catchlights, so today's pictures will be showing those off. Catchlights are a photography term used to describe that sparkle or highlight you can catch in people's eyes in very good lighting. When you zoom in or look closely into the eyes, you can see everything they are looking at (even me taking the picture - hi!). Paige has amazing eyes for it:

She looks like such a chunk when she's laying down!

Looking up at the trees...

A little smile! Paige was having a tired day.

Love her expression here, she's such a teenager already!

My spiky hair baby... she just had a bath before these pictures! She loves playing with her ball.

You can check Paige's Flickr page for larger sizes of any image to check the catchlights in her eyes!

Day 3: July 4th, 2010

2010-07-05T13:16:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!!

It has felt like 4th of July for pretty much the past month or so in our neighborhood because our neighbors are well... trashy. They love their NASCAR, beer from a can, and fireworks. We consider it Paige's warm-up to the city's fireworks display (which she slept through). I was really hoping to bring my tripod and camera to get some nice slow shutter speed shots but Paige was too fussy to go early and get a good spot.

Other than that, it was a quiet day at home. Paige loves the trees in our yard so we take her outside to play if it's not too hot. Here she is riding on Daddy's shoulders with her greasy hair! I swear we bathe this kid... her hair is just out of control!

Day 2: July 3rd, 2010

2010-07-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

As you can see, Paige had her first taste of "real" food today: carrots! We all seem to think it was a success... especially the dogs who got the projectile share of the food.

Day 1: July 2nd, 2010

2010-07-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

Paige just finished up with her 3 month growth spurt. It was NOT fun for anyone in this house. Paige typically is very quiet and smiley but when she went through this growth spurt, we nickname her "little bear". Basically, she won't nap for more than 30 minutes despite being obviously tired, she eats constantly, she wakes up at least 3 times at night and refuses to go back to sleep after 3 am, and she fusses through everything we do (even her favorite games). Luckily her growth spurts only last 3-4 days.

Before the growth spurt, she was eating about 4 ounces every 3 to 3.5 hours. Sometimes she wouldn't even finish. Now, she eats 6-7 ounces every 3 hours - then wants more an hour later. I'm happy she is so hungry though because for the past couple weeks, her appetite dropped and we thought she was coming down with something. Anyways, now that she's eating around 40 ounces a day and has (approximately) doubled her birth weight, we got the okay to start her on solids.

First we tried rice cereal, which Paige totally gobbled up. She was grabbing at the mug and the spoon for more. Between bites, she was even trying to lick it off her bib! We definitely got a little messy but it was worth it because she loved it! She looks so serious in the pictures but I promise she was having fun (as were we).

Preface

2010-07-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

I know we're getting to this a little late since Paige is nearly 4 months old (!!!) now, but the first 3 months have been a total whirlwind and we decided we wanted to start this project to document how fast this kid grows. So to start off, let's talk about where Paige is at right now:

Crazy tall! She is off the charts for height and weight, but she is tall and super skinny (lucky girl).
Eating about 7 ounces every 3 hours. Today was her first day starting solids because our little piglet eats so much! More on this later.
Very sweet and playful - this girl almost never cries unless she is hungry or exhausted! She is still a little shy with anyone but Mommy or Daddy but she's warming up.
Can sit without support for short amounts of time, has total head control, can stand with minimal balance support for long periods, babbles, giggles and smiles, squealing with delight, and can reach for toys to "play" with them (usually putting them in her mouth).
Sleeps about 8 hours straight at night. She has a very strict self-imposed bedtime of 7:30 pm. Every day at 7 we start her bedtime routine and if she stays up even half an hour later, she gets cranky (very unusual for her). She sleeps until about 3 or 3:30 am then sleepily takes a feeding and diaper change and goes back to bed until about 7 am.
Hates her car seat with a passion! It's still difficult to take her anywhere. Once she's in her stroller or a shopping cart, she'll usually be a good sport until it's time to get back in the car.
Speaking of shopping, this girl loves it (just like her mommy). Inevitably we need to run out to Target for wipes or laundry detergent once a week and she loves looking around and smiling at people.
Loves her cloth diapers and has recently started to help me pull them up on herself. She has grown into her size 2's and wears 9 month clothes.
Favorite things to do are bounce and spin around in her jumper, play with her exersaucer, play with toys in her playroom, play "peekaboo baby" (this game definitely needs a post all of its own with pictures), go for walks, and play on her activity gym.
Favorite toys are her elephant lovey (blanket with a stuffed animal attached) for napping with or when she gets fussy. She also likes her O ball a lot and her links from her aunt Ashley.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. I'll do my best to update the blog everyday with pictures and new stuff Paige is doing. It seems like everyday she learns a new trick or hits a new milestone and we know one day we'll look back and be glad we did this!