11-12 Weeks

Feeling much more sane than the last time I posted. A few days ago I woke Jimmy up at 4 in the morning to ask him if he paid the water bill. Crazy!

I took Grace Louise back to the doctor on Monday morning. She has been having diarrhea on and off for weeks now. The doctor thinks that she is sensitive to dairy proteins that are coming through my breastmilk. We are awaiting test results. She has never had a fever and seems to feel fine in regards to that issue. It will be nice to get it resolved, though, and to have much fewer poopy diapers to change!!! Between that and the gobs and gobs of drool this little woman produces, you might not think she smells like a sweet little baby right now... unless you're her mom (or Daddy, BeBe, Pops, or Lala). Mmmmm- we love her to pieces!

13 weeks old now and I've accepted "3 months". Are they 3 months when they are 12 weeks or do you add three months to the date she was born? (If that's the case, then February 1st was her 3 month BDay!) I prefer to count in weeks; it doesn't sound so old! I must get pictures taken soon!

I really need to read up on the milestones that babies typically reach in each month so I know what to expect. I was so excited when GL rolled over (about two weeks ago) and then started to wonder if she should have done that before now. She's not too fond of tummy time, although she is starting to tolerate it more and more now that she can hold herself up a bit higher on her forearms. She loves to stand up, sit up, lay on her back and kick... heck, she loves it all! "Ninny" is probably going to be her first word- or momma. We'll see. She loves to eat ninny and opens up wide for kisses! Car rides are improving now that she grabs her toys and eats them... keeps herself entertained. She is "talking" so much right now- sounds like a raspy little monster half the time and an angel the rest. It is so neat to hear her voice. I wonder if she will have a squeaky little voice like me. As my wonderful husband informed me, I sound like a "nasally hillbilly". Great.

And, of course, my favorite time with her is still morning. She gets in the bed with us after her 1st feeding of the day (around 6-7am) and goes right back to sleep. She's clearly showing affection more with her hands- grabbing my face and snuggling close to mommy on the pillow. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Oh yes, did I mention she is about 13 1/2 pounds, almost 25 inches long?!?! Big girl.

Cousin love.

Ready for church!

"Hey, I've got an idea!"

This was the first day she grabbed her taggie book and put it straight in her mouth.

My camera was close by!

"I have feet!"

"Look at all I can do!"

This is her serious face. She loves her little bear in her bouncer. Last night she almost bounced right out of there! Daddy had to strap her in.

Her last bath in the sink-tub. Too big!

Plus, now she likes to splash!

Hangin' out with Uncle Chris and trying to figure out what in the world that creature is!

Rolling over for the first time (well, maybe second).

Finally made it to the Bumbo seat.

Yes, my child is watching TV... and she likes it.

She's trying to tell Daddy which channel she likes best ;-)

"Oh my goodness! A talking cow!"

Starting to recognize the dogs- and reaching for them.

Her new aquarium from Aggie.

A new Moby position- facing out and lovin' it!

3 months old!

Every little girl wants a pony, right?! Lala bought her this talking, sleeping, snoring horsey and she loves it!

Blogspot, Blogspot. Oh where have you been?

I had my first (or second) meltdown as a mother this evening. I have been entirely too busy lately and am frustrated at myself for it! I took on some extra classes with UOP and have been swamped with taxes. My house feels like it is caving in on me... why can't it just clean itself?? My sweet, precious baby girl has a stuffy nose, is teething, and has undiagnosed diarrhea. Poor thing. My car needs work and so does my body. Welcome to motherhood, right?

I really don't believe motherhood has to be that way, though (at least not most of the time!). I have simply fallen in a hole (and I think I hit my head on the way down). I've overextended myself and underplanned. I've underestimated how much time, patience, and attention the job of mothering requires, alone. I'm quickly learning how much I can handle without compromising time and attention for my daughter. She's my first (and best) job... everything else can wait. For this little bit of wisdom, I thank every parent in this world who has humbly admitted their regret for not taking more time with their family.

A great al anon principle- "You can't be good for any one else, if you aren't good to yourself". Resolution #2: steal a few moments alone each day to do something I enjoy. Preserve my identity. I'm not even going to begin to claim understanding, much less answers, on how this works for mothers. I do know, though, that I haven't practiced yoga or blogged, things I really enjoy, for over two weeks. Breastfeeding can make this tricky, but not impossible. (By the way, does anyone have any liquid gold... I mean breastmilk, for sale? I hate pumping.) Denying myself simple pleasures and time away doesn't make me a better mom. Grace Louise needs a mommy not a martyr.

My time is up. I gave myself one hour to do whatever I wanted. Not enough time to post pictures. I'll catch up on that Wednesday. Grace Louise is amazing and growing so fast. I have captured adorable pics of her in the past few weeks and can't wait to share them! Until then...

Big Day!

I've never done this parenting thing before, so I have been completely shocked at how Grace Louise is growing so quickly- not in size (though she is certainly doing that like a weed!), but in motor and language skills. It seems like in the past two days, she has really advanced. Maybe she's having a growth spurt? I'm almost convinced that the diarrhea is from teething; she can't keep her little hands out of her mouth and has now earned the nickname, "momma's little slobber-bucket". Bibs- really handy now. I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but my brother, Chris, cut his first tooth at 12 weeks and had 16 teeth on his first birthday! NOT normal, I know. Could this be genetic... gosh, I hope not! Nevertheless, she is working on something in that mouth.

Her smiles are enormous; she loves to show off those gums. It's hard to capture them on camera, though. I must be sneaky sneaky, otherwise she's more interested in the camera than anything else. She's also got quite a serious face, too. I keep telling her to stop before she gets wrinkles. Pat-A-Cake, followed by the crazy "Yay" is pretty much a sure way to get a giggle. She's getting more and more generous with her voice, giving laughs and "talking" up a storm. "Mama" will be first!

I sent an emergency text yesterday to Grace Louise's grandma's. She put one of the tags from her Taggie book in her mouth... all by herself! She has grabbed one of her toys before in the car and had it in her mouth, but I'm not sure it was purposeful. This incident was for real- oh yeah, going down in the baby book! She knows her hands are there and is starting to use them more. She's gaining more and more head/neck control and is as strong as can be in her little legs! Ya know, I'm not as sad as I thought I'd be watching her "grow up". Everything is so exciting; I'm proud mama.

"Doodlebug"

Time for a weigh-in! At 9.5 weeks she weighed 13.4lbs and was 24 inches long! We'll be going to see the pediatrician again this coming week since it seems Grace Louise had somewhat of a stomach yucky the past couple of days. She didn't seem to feel bad at all, and never ran a fever, but had mild diarrhea. I have been giving her pedialyte in addition to breast milk to prevent any dehydration. Looks like she's on the up and up, though, with normal diapers today. Thank God for a quick recovery!

Everyone loves to hold the princess!

Can you say hair bow??

What a sweet cousin... Quinten was lovin' all over this baby when we went for a visit last week. Giving kisses, holding her hand, and laying his head on her belly :-)

GL and I went to lunch with two of our best girls, my AMAZING doula, Megan and her sweet doll baby girl, Lydia (who, by the way, was dying to get in the moby with Grace Louise). She loves babies, just like her mom.

Grace Louise's role model, sporting an infant headband, adult sunglasses, and her "foofie".

What a ham!

Grace Louise is already learning to read :-)

Perhaps a glimpse of the joy I get to witness on the changing table. I don't know why, but this baby LOVES to be there! We've been working on a very important milestone lately- more giggling. She chuckled repeatedly on the table a few days ago while mommy made a goof of herself singing Pat-A-Cake. She likes when I say "Yay!" at the end, smile real big, and clap her hands. You would probably laugh too!

A late Christmas- opening presents from "CaCa" and Aunt Ginny.

"...Miss Suzy called the lady with the alligator purse"

Looking oh so fashionable in her bonnet and ug snow boots- a must have for this frozen Florida winter!

4 Generations of DeVanes

Grace Louise had a blast visiting Grandaddy earlier this week.

"I see you sneakin' around there with that camera!"

Back to Bok

Some of our gracious friends from church invited us to the last day of the Pinewood Estate Christmas tour at Bok Tower last weekend. I really wanted to go this year, but we decided against it because of the cost. So, it was a great surprise blessing when Richard and Ada called and invited us to join them! You won't see much of Grace Louise in these pics. (She was napping- again, thank God for the moby; it's like a portable bed!) This was Grace Louise's second trip to Bok Tower. She enjoyed it even more outside of the womb!

Oh yes, and we voted, of course, for Shelly Windham's room as the best this year!

Ringing in the New Year!

I haven't written the date yet, so 2010 hasn't really had a chance to sink in. I'm usually so introspective at the New Year (surprise, surprise), but I've been pleasantly distracted so far this year and haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts. I should take some time soon to reflect on the past year, as it has been a lot to take in. And I know this year is going to be even crazier! Crazy in a good way! So far, the only thing I've purposed is to go through this year "eyes wide open". I don't want to miss a thing. Maybe that is enough of a resolution!

We celebrated the New Year with family and friends and had a great time! New Years Eve we had dinner with the Fann crew and took the party animal to meet one of her best buds, Addison. Here they are just hanging out on the floor- Addi trying to get the strawberries off of Grace Louise's sleeper!

New Year's Day we went to Papa Hurst's for lunch and stayed to watch the Gators in the Sugar Bowl. Grace Louise finally got to wear her Gator cheerleading outfit (thanks, Miss Kristie!).

Can you guess who was the star of the show?

-She makes grown-ups talk like a bunch of babies ;-)

She was a sport, but didn't quite make it to game time!

Zzzzzzzz...

First Picnic

Mom and I took Triston and Grace Louise to Highlands Hammock last week for a picnic lunch. (It is a beautiful state park in Sebring if you've never been). We rented two bikes and mom and I switched off pushing the baby in the stroller. Triston's favorite part was seeing the alligator stalking the ibis while we were on the boardwalk. (very scary!) Grace Louise's favorite part was lunch ;-)

Blogapotamus

I've got so many great pictures of this little princess, it's hard to choose which ones to share! I'll begin with a few random pics and a quick update...

I'm guessing this chunk is about 13 pounds or so. I went through her clothes today and took all the outfits that are too small out of her closet. So sad! In terms of fashion, though, this is great- opening up many new options for her wardrobe. Clothes that I couldn't imagine her being big enough to fill are now fitting perfectly. I held a sleeper up to her (my favorite one that just made her look like a doll!)... too small. The outfit she only wore once... too small. The outfit that never got worn... too small. Geeze. It's true.

Baby Wise is working! My 9 week old breastfed baby is sleeping through the night, skipping both night time feedings... three nights in a row. Her last feeding is around 10:30 and she has been waking up to feed again around 8am. Yes, I'm proud, but who wouldn't be? We all prefer to wake up to daylight. Hopefully this is going to last. I'll keep you posted.

Giggles are just around the corner; I know it! A few days ago she started to chuckle, but only managed a one syllable grunt accompanied by a HUGE grin. (I'm her mom. I knew what she meant.) When she finally does let loose, I predict that it will be at the end of nursing or while she is on her changing table- her happiest moments.

We tried out the Bumbo today- not quite ready, but it won't be long!

"Na-na-na-na Boo Boo!"

Scary.

Daddy's favorite picture!