Scarlett :: 6 months!

I can't believe my bitty baby is half a year old. She gets more awesome each day!

Stats
Weight- 19 lbs 11 oz (90%)
Length- 28" (97%)

Eats
Scarlett mastered eating cereal during her 5th month. She eats cereal twice a day and in the morning usually has a fruit and in the evening has a veggie (if we have one ready to steam). She doesn't seem to dislike any foods so far which is good but we haven't given her that much variety yet. Her favorite so far would be cantaloupe in the mesh net thingy.

She still nurses a lot as well. When i'm present she eats about every 2 hours.. still. If you asked me why, i'd say it's for comfort. When i'm not around, I would guess it's more like every 3 hours or so. Breastfeeding has really started to drop the pounds for me, which is nice. I'm trying to ride that out as much as I can, while I can..

Sleeps
At the beginning of month 5, she was only waking up about once a night. We went on vacation and it messed everything up. She was getting better then I went to my parents and that messed everything up again. I think this has to do with her teething. She wakes up crying a lot. She could barely go to bed last night bc they must've been hurting her so much. The good news though is that she's napping for longer. We think this is because she's crawling and burning more energy.

Activities
Yep, she crawls now. She just started in her last week of month 5. She's been scooting/inch-worming a lot and now she full on crawls. We really have to supervise her now because if we leave the room, she'll be somewhere completely different. Luckily we don't have stairs in the vicinity but she is already trying to climb up on us, next is probably furniture. Slow down! She also sits really well now and can transition from crawling to sitting back to crawling with ease. She just cannot sit still!

Other
She loves swimming, maybe we'll sign up for the Y's baby swim class soon because this girl would crawl to water if she saw it. She's been doing great in the car recently, she learned to adapt while we were in TN and car riding was the thing to do. She gives hugs and kisses. She tried to climb up our bodies while hugging us. It's so neat to see her understand when we say come here and she crawls over. She laughs hysterically at her cousin, Makayla and smiles a lot in general. She's such a happy girl! She's just moving into 6-9 month clothing now (for the most part).. it's time to retire some onesies!

Parenthood is truly amazing. I loved the tiny infant stage because they were so cuddly, but this stage she's in right now is so fun. Especially since she can kind of understand things we say/do. I know things are only going to get even better and while we cannot wait for that, we also want time to slow down. We definitely enjoy and try to savor every moment we can!

10 Things :: V7

10 :: Blogging. I suck at finding time to do this. Yes. I. Do. I like blogging and I don't really have trouble finding things to write about it's just finding the time to do it. I'll work on it.. :)

9 :: Alex and I started watching Lost together on Netflix. It's interesting so far to say the least. I might have ruined it for myself by reading the wiki on it but it doesn't bother me.

8 :: I'm finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I hope this breastfeeding thing can help me shed even more pounds.. now if i could only stop drinking soda!

7 :: Look, I made it through the first three without mentioning Scarlett, I do have a life outside my baby! ;) She's awesome by the way, I'm currently trying to teach her how to go to sleep on her own (while I lay beside her) it's kind of inconsistent though. I also think she's teething, which means she wakes up crying for no reason sometimes. Ouchies.

6 :: We just returned from the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Post coming on this!

5 :: We're really enjoying our CSA this year so far. Alex has been making us some yummy dinners with our fresh organic veggies and the fruit share has been decent as well. Tomatoes are ripening.. this means unlimited salsa is on the way!

4 :: I've been following the bachelorette this season and next week we get to find out who wins. Team Jef for sure. Arie's family just doesn't seem like the right fit for Emily and Ricki. I hope she makes the right choice and it sticks.

3 :: We had a sushi making party with friends a couple weekends ago and it was de-licious! I wish I would've taken more pictures but maybe I will write a post on all the prep and planning that it took in case someone wants to do it on their own. Making sushi is surprisingly easy!

2 :: Somebody might be crawling now. I'll try to take a video to upload. It's good, but also.. not so good. A lot comes along with having a mobile baby and I was kind of hoping to keep her immobile for a little while longer. Oh well, there's no stopping this girl!

1 :: I have so many iphone pictures to put on here but surprisingly, I don't take as many as I used to. I'm not sure why this is and when I think about it, i usually end up snapping a ton at one time. We have been trying to use our regular camera though and I want to get a picture of all of our family members faces so that I can make her a faces book so she can learn everyone faces and names. This goes along with me wanting to make a digital scrapbook each year for her, I should probably start that now so I don't have to do it all at once, huh?

Scarlett :: 5 months!

Stats (approx)
Weight: 18 lbs (7 lb 7 oz at birth)
Length:  " (20.5" at birth)

Details
Eating: We started solids this month. Maybe I should rephrase.. we are trying to start solids. We're pretty inconsistent but so far she's tried sweet potatoes, avocado, steel cut oatmeal, asparagus, rice cereal and bananas. She's getting better and better at opening her mouth and letting us put the food in. She still nurses (or eats a bottle on days I work) about every 2-3 hours. Bottles seem to last her longer, i'm sure there are many reasons for that. Just this past weekend into this week she has been hungrier than usual, so she may be going through a growth spurt.

Sleeping: She consistently wakes up only once a night now. Rarely, she'll wake up twice. Sometimes she rutches around and I just put her pacifier back in and she goes back to sleep. I'm going to start experimenting with this at the 3/4am hour when she wakes up to see if that will help. She is still a cat napper but throws a curve ball and sleeps for an hour or more sometimes. Last week she gave me a 2 hour nap! I did NOT know what to do with myself.. so I watched the Bachelorette and now of course I have to continue to keep up with it.

Activity/Skills:She is rolling around like crazy. If we put her favorite toys out of her reach she will make her way there by rolling/scooting until she gets to it. Mover and a shaker, this girl! She is starting to push up on her hands and knees in the 'ready to crawl' position, this just happened in the last couple of days. She also has just started to sit up unassisted (with supervision) for longer periods of time. I guess 5 month's is a good age to check off a bunch of milestones?

Other: Scarlett went swimming for the first time in Richmond, VA at the neighborhood pool. She loved it! My timing was a little off because after about 10 minutes in the water she was sleepy so she took a nap, then we did a little more swimming then she was hungry, then we did a little more swimming! She sure loves splashing around! Not to mention her swim suits are the cutest! She's enjoyed swimming pools a couple more times this past month and I swear it's like a giant bath tub to her, she loves it!

We do wish she would grow some hair but it's coming in slowly. She also has a party going on in the back (aka a mullet of sorts).

This month she has started laughing at different things. She loves to watch her cousin, Makayla, dance and sing and play peek-a-boo. Animals (cats/dogs) also crack her up. She has a couple tickle spots on her tummy that I get at in the morning and she still loves being outside and taking baths. She doesn't have too many dislikes at this point, at least not off the top of my head.

It's hard to believe she's already 5 months old. Seems like only yesterday.....

Recipe :: Pineapple Infused Vodka

From time to time, mostly when we find a really great pineapple, do we think about making pineapple infused vodka. It's so easy and the final product is just delicious. Perfect for any summer drink! I've taken some snaps of the steps to show you how easy it can be to infuse vodka with whatever your little heart desires!

Things to note:
1. Obviously keep the empty vodka bottle
2. Between step 5 and 6 you need to wait one week
3. Feel free to use anything other than pineapple. The next thing I want to try is swedish fish!

Road Trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE

We had a great time last weekend at Rehoboth Beach, DE with Matt, Brittney and Harper!

The girls did great and got along really well, lol. It's the beginning of a lasting friendship! They loved the beach and lucky for us, neither of them put sand in their mouths!

The beach shade worked out very well once I got it together and facing the right direction! It's definitely going to come in handy for all future trips we take that involve being in the sun!

Looking forward to next year!

Rehoboth Beach on Dwellable

Road Trip to Richmond

Two weekends ago over Memorial Day, we took Scarlett's first road trip to Chesterfield, VA to visit Alex's family! We had a great time catching up with them and meeting Scarlett for the first time! If only we could've stayed longer!

We traveled Thursday night so that Scarlett could sleep in the car and she did a great job! We arrived in Chesterfield around 1:00 in the morning after about 5 hours in the car. She greeted Alex's aunt and uncle who were waiting up for us and soon after we set up the pack and play and hit the sack. She slept very well while we were there other than one night where she had some congestion. (Smaller babies go through the first couple months of their life only breathing through their nose, so if it gets stuffed up at all it's hard for her to breath right, so I spent a bunch of time suctioning! lol).

Friday we went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens where Alex's aunt and uncle got married. It was beautiful! What an awesome place to tie the knot! They had a butterfly exhibit which was awesome to see. So many butterflies just fluttering around. Alex got some great pictures of them! It was pretty hot that day but Scarlett did well covered in sun-screen. We picked Alex's cousin, Ellie up from school after the gardens and headed back to their house. His cousin Sam and Uncle were already home and Nick and Laurel arrived soon after. We had a yummy dinner of bbq chicken, the best pasta salad ever and yummy asparagus (and more). Then we had ice cream for dessert!! Soon it was time to put Scarlett to bed and I followed soon after her as I was pretty pooped from the short night of sleep the night before.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early, we headed to Laura's volleyball games for the day and then headed to Ellie's soccer game. When we got back to the house we had some time to kill so Scarlett and I went with Carl to the neighborhood pool while some of the others played tennis. I didn't get any pictures of this unfortunately but she had a blast! We were joined later by Ellie, Alex's Aunt and Uncle (Phil and Joan) and Laurel. Sometimes I wish I had a photographer following me around to document things I don't have time to document. After the pool we headed back and dinner was almost ready. We had the most delicious steaks I've ever tasted, a really yummy ravioli baked dish, more veggies followed by the best snickerdoodle cookies and some chocolate chip cookies for dessert! Hit the hay pretty early again, around 10pm.

Sunday morning we were up early again and headed off to Ellie's soccer game first followed by Laura's volleyball games. Going to volleyball tournaments really makes me miss playing that competitively. But I have a great time watching! After her games some of the group went to the mall and some of us went back to the house. We relaxed for a while until it was time to head to dinner. We went to MeKong which if you're ever in Richmond, check it out. Awesome thai food and a great beer selection. They had Leffe Brune (which is pretty hard to find) and I was pumped. Scarlett for one reason or another did not like the restaurant AT ALL so when the food came she was crying too much for me to feel comfortable having her in there, potentially ruining other peoples dining experience, so I went out to the car. She was completely fine once I got out there and we had fun laughing and playing for a while. Alex came out eventually and took over so I could go eat. They had really delicious food and I got to take some home for breakfast the next morning, yum!

Monday morning we got all packed up and ready to go. We timed our leaving with Scarlett's first nap, even though it didn't last very long. She was in and out of naps the whole way home and drank a couple bottles, most likely for comfort. It was a lot for her I think, having to stay in one position for so long. But she did well. It was heaven to be home when we arrived. We unpacked and Alex mowed the lawn. Then we spent time together as a little family. It's amazing how much I missed Scarlett sometimes while other people were holding her, even though I could see her, I still missed her. Hard to explain. But we had a great time! And we can't wait to see everyone again at the beach!!

Scarlett :: 4 months!

Can't believe this little one is 4 months old! It feels like she's been with us for way longer and yet, she's still just our little baby girl! She's changed so much since her birthday back on January 20th! We haven't had her official 4 month appointment yet, so these are approximates until then when I'll update this with the real stats.

Stats (approx)

Weight: 18 lbs (7 lb 5 oz at birth)
Length- 27" (20.5" at birth)

Update: Real Stats at 4.5 months old
Weight: 17 lbs 1 oz
Length: 25 3/4"

Details
Eating: She still eats every two hours during the day, about 4 oz or so at a time. And wakes up once or twice at night to eat. Not much has changed in this area. We're going to delay introducing solids to her for the time being. We will re-evaluate this at 5 months.

Sleeping: She is a little cat napper! When put down to nap, she won't sleep longer than 40 minutes but her norm is about 20. She does, however, sleep for over an hour if someone is holding her. This means she takes about 5-6 naps a day. She's relatively consistent. She always takes a morning nap about an hour or so after she wakes up followed by an early afternoon nap around 11 or 12, another afternoon nap around 2, another around 4 and then another around 6. She then goes to bed around 8pm. In month three until month four she had been waking up twice a night, maybe 3 or 4 times during that month she would only wake up once. Now that she's four months, she is starting to be more consistent with only waking once but I am still up another time to put her pacifier in so that she'll go back to sleep. But it's progress! Like I said, she goes to bed around 8pm and usually sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00am. She sleeps on her tummy like she has been for a couple months now, this helps her to not startle herself out of sleep but transferring her from arms to crib can be challenging!

Activity/Skills: Whew, she made some big leaps in month three. She started sitting in her bumbo and at first she was a little slouchy but now is a pro! She rolled over for the first time while I was in the shower but now consistently rolls from her back to her tummy. She hasn't mastered from tummy to back yet, but that's actually a good thing, I don't need her knowing how to roll all over her crib just yet! She props herself up well on her arms when doing tummy time and loves to grab at her toys and shove them into her mouth. Sometimes her aim is off but she keeps working at it! If we put her on one end of the activity mat with a toy she wants on the other end she will get there. She scoots and trys to get her knees under her body so I'm sure this is the beginning stages for crawling. She is a mover and a shaker! My parents gave us a little car that she can sit in and push around with her feet. She loves it! She scoots all around in that thing! She is definitely not a sit still for long kind of girl which will surely make her toddler years fun (and probably tiring). She likes to sit in our dining room and look out at the backyard and she likes to take walks around the backyard and around the neighborhood in her stroller! She is a very smiley little girl and she likes to laugh. She follows us around when she's sitting still and we're moving around the room. She definitely knows who her mommy and daddy are when she's in a group of people which melts our hearts. It feels like she's growing up so fast because she can do all of these new things in such a short amount of time! Soon, we will start teaching her baby sign language, which she won't be able to sign back right away but will know what they mean when we do them. Then once she perfects her fine motor skills, she'll be able to sign back at us! How cool is that!?

Other: Let's see, what else. She will get some shots at her upcoming appointment, and we're not really looking forward to those but we gotta do what we gotta do. I'm looking to buy a glider if anyone has one for sale? I used one this past weekend at Alex's Aunt's house in Richmond and it was awesome! Our rocking chair is good but it can't hurt to have both, right? :) We're headed to the beach soon for Scarlett's first beach trip and we already know she loves the bath so she'll love pools and swimming and hopefully the beach and the water! This summer is going to be a fun one!

Scarlett, you are a beautiful and fun little girl. We love you so much and it just keeps growing every day. You honestly don't know how much love your heart can hold until you have a child. Our hearts are practically bursting at the seams daily. We savor the little moments we have with you as a little family of three. You're the best thing we've ever done and we can't wait to guide you through life and see where it takes you! ♥