Community Group Retreat

We had such a great time with our dear friends this past weekend on our community group retreat. It was supposed to be sans kiddos, but since Lucy and Case are still nursing, they both came to join in on the fun! They both did great!

On Saturday, we went out on Lake Whitney on a boat (Lucy's first boat ride!). I had to get her some sunglasses for the occasion...she actually didn't try to take them off!

Of course, the only pics I got were on the boat....

We had a great time, though!

4 months old!

 A year ago today I found out I was going to be a Mommy! I still remember that morning so very clearly- going to Walmart early that morning to get the test, coming home to take it, since Mike was working at home that day, and what a shock it was to see "pregnant" on the stick, to even begin to imagine what life was going to be like with a baby, and to wonder if I was ready for such a big change. Well, one year later to the date, our sweet Lucy is 4 months old!!

What a wonderful blessing she is and how thankful I am that she is here! Here's what we've been up to lately:

Smiling and cooing! She has the best smile and is happy most of the time. She also loves to grow and has gone through several growth spurts lately, especially when she learned new tricks, like rolling...

Learning how to sleep- let's just say we need a little more work in this department. She goes to bed between 7:30-8:30 pm, I dream feed her around 10:30pm and then she wakes up around 2:00 am to feed, then goes back to sleep until about 7:00 am. She takes 2-3, 45-minute naps a day (not a great napper). We're in a quandry regarding whether or not it's time for her to sleep train and eliminate the 2:00 am night feed. Neither Mom or Dad is super excited about sleep-training and crying-it-out, but we'll see... We have done some sleep training for the times she would wake up in the middle of the night when it wasn't time to eat- she would cry for about 5 minutes, then go back to sleep, for the most part.

We spend most weekends in the pool- here she is with Oma (she looks chunkier in this pic than I really feel like she is). Lucy does great with swimming/being in the pool for about 30-45 minutes, then she is done. :) Better than at the beginning of the summer! (And it doesn't hurt that the pool water feels like bath water because it's been so stinking hot!)

Rolling!! She learned how to roll from her back to her tummy, which she constantly does when on her blanket. It used to scare her at night when she'd roll over, and I did find her stuck in between her crib rails several times (scary for Mom!!), but she's getting used to falling back to sleep on her tummy.
She's already pushing with her feet when she's on her belly and Mike tried to teach her to crawl this past weekend. I truly believe she will be crawling by the time she is 6 months old! She is constantly moving, kicking her legs, trying to scoot, rolling....very busy girl!

 She still continues to do great at childcare twice a week while I'm at work. She is also a great little side-kick when shopping and running errands. We go on Monday to the pediatrician for our four-month visit, so we'll get her official stats (and her 4-month shots!).

How to talk to little girls

Very interesting post I found on a friend's Facebook post....

Read it.

Very challenging, as it's easy to make cute comments about how cute that little girl is, how pretty her dress is, how nice her hair looks...all true statements, no doubt.

But to ask what she is reading, how her summer vacation was, what she likes best about school, etc...to not put the focus on the external but on the internal. Reminds me of 1 Peter 3:3-5 .

Playing...

I love to play with my Lucy girl!

Peek-a-boo with Sophie the giraffe

Tummy time on the bed

So cute!

Lucy found her feet!

A few of my favorite things...

I'll start the blog with something that is not my favorite- THE HEAT!! I am SO OVER this heat. If you ask anyone who knows me well, knows that summer is my least favorite time of the year. Even more so this year with this ridiculous heat. I mean, seriously- I got really depressed over the 10-day weather forecast that showed the highs at 105 for the next 10 days. Depressing.

So, to beat the heat, these are some of my new favorites in my freezer. Just enough ice cream and chocolate to hit the spot and only 90 calories and very yummy! Snickers are the best... :)

If my water wasn't in one of these babies, I would have a difficult time drinking enough water like I should. Mike calls them the adult sippy cups because you suck the top to get water out and they don't spill. Fabulous. I'm on my second sippy cup because I wore the first one out right before Lucy was born.

 These don't have anything to do with the heat, but they are one of my favorite things- Lucy spits up quite a bit and could use a bath about twice a day. But, I don't have time for two baths (and my back would not appreciate bending over like that twice a day!), so these are the greatest! Fabulous for cleaning around her neck, where all that milk accumulates (gross!). And they smell good. :)

And, last but not least, where would I be without a little Starbucks? I usually go for lattes, but with this heat, the thought of a hot drink made me a little ill. So, in comes my new fave, a tall, coffee frappuccino light, sans whip. Oh, so fabulous and so cold. Great for an afternoon pick-me-up (and cheaper than a latte!).

Mad skills

That's right...projectile liquid poop explosion that landed all the way into the wipes box, even dripping down the changing table onto the carpet.
Needless to say, we had an early morning bath.

3 months old!

My sweet Lucy is 3 months old today! How can that be? They say time flies when they are little, and although I remember the first three months pretty clearly, it has certainly gone by fast!

Here's what we've been up to lately:

-practicing our exercises so that we can lift our legs, head and neck well! This pic was mid-shot of her reaching for her feet/toes, which she just started doing the past couple of days

- hanging out with our families- here's Lucy with Aunt Lane!

- celebrating Lucy's first Fourth of July! No fireworks this year, just hanging out with friends by the pool and family at night.

Crazy to think that last Fourth of July was spent in NYC in the Harbor on a boat watching the fireworks and little Lucy was no where in the picture. :)

Lucy LOVES to sleep on people. It's where she takes her best naps. Here she is sleeping on Aunt Liz

Most weekends are spent by the pool with friends. Lucy does pretty well in the water, but also takes great naps in her bouncy seat in the shade. Do you see a trend? Great naps don't occur in her crib.

Other fun facts about my sweet girl:

- I am finding that she is a pretty chill/relaxed little girl. She's pretty easy-going, except when she is hungry or tired. She goes with the flow, does great while running errands, can nap in the car seat, in my arms, on the couch, etc (just not in her crib!).

- She loves her pacifier, but she is also likes to suck on her hands and will chow down on them like there's no tomorrow

- She's a champ with childcare- I started back to work part-time this past week, and she has done GREAT! I think it was harder on me than it was with her.

- Lately, she has been waking up about once a night to eat and usually goes back to sleep pretty easily after eating.

- We're still on a 3-4 hour schedule (eats every 3 hours or so, then plays and then cat-naps)

- She has amazing neck strength and head control, can push up on her tummy to 90 degrees and has rolled from her tummy to back several times

- She has the best smile and loves to smile and coo- I feel like she's going to burst out in laughter any day now!

- She loves bathtime! (Just like her mommy!)

- She is now into having a massive blow-out diaper about every 5-6 days, with nothing (poop-wise) in between. I have been assured by our pedi that this is normal for breast-feeding babies.... I had to go and buy Tide stain stuff and Oxyclean stain sticks just for these occasions.

She is such a sweet little girl and I can't believe she's 1/4 of a year old already!!