3 Months!!

When did a few blinks allow THREE MONTHS to pass?!?  It shouldn't be allowed to pass so quickly!

My little girl!  8lbs 4.8oz, 20" long and her big head...and all of her has just kept growing!

She is now over 15 1/2lbs, over 24" and her head is still big.  She keeps getting more adorable!

Watching her learn and grow is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.  To see you baby smile on purpose after so many days and nights of reflexive smiles only brings tears of excitement.  Having her prefering Momma to whoever is holding her at the family function makes your heart silently soar.  Seeing her discover that kicking makes the bouncer bounce and watching the joy on her face is probably more fun than she has bouncing.  She sleeps through the night and Momma has gotten her ability to sleep through the night again finally!

Three months are not near as long as they used to be and that excites me as well as terrifies me.  I want every moment I can have to snuggle my baby girl.  I want to enjoy the time where she still can't move without me.  I also look forward to helping her learn crawling and then walking.  I want to see new tricks that she discovers like holding toys (and my most desired--controlling her own nuk!).

Her three month pictures were taken by a very talented friend who has just recently started up her photography business.  All the pictures in my brag post before this one were taken by Kala S.  You should all check out her Facebook Fan Page!  L.O.V. Photography stands for Language of Vision and I couldn't be prouder of her!

I would like to brag for a moment!

Here are some of those pictures that I promised you! These fabulous pictures were taken by a friend who, as you can see, has amazing amounts of talent. Enjoy!

My baby girl loves her time with Papa! She and he share storytime right before bed nearly every night. With how much she talks during the books you would think she was the one telling the stories!

 

 

Momma gets playtime too!  And in case you were worried for my welfare with this position....We escaped without a need for a new outfit or shower!

We have a horse-addicted GodMother for our girl.  The cute horse blanket she is currently saddled on was a gift she got at the hospital the day after she was born.  She loves how soft it is and Papa loves giving her horsey rides that don't risk her breaking his back yet...

And I will leave you with one final picture:

My Week...

I realize that I haven't been on lately and really, its been a rough week.

I currently feel like a tiny little girl who has no control over anything.  This week my family has suffered a blow to the core.  My mom is staying at a friend's house and says she needs to 'find herself'.  My papa is devestated.  He is lost, hurt, confused, cautious and terrified.  He didn't do anything.  Mom isn't seeing someone else.  They have led seperate lives with only us kids as the common denominator for many years now.  This has been both of their faults for not trying hard enough or working hard enough on their relationship.

I am 23.  I have my husband and baby girl.  I have my own house in a different town.  I can 'escape' this for a few minutes a day and just dive into my life.  It may not last long but I have that option.  I do have two younger siblings however.  They are both still in school and live at home.  How incredibly hard this has been on me, I can't imagine how much worse it must be to actually SEE it.  I've heard the hurt in voices but they have watched the tears.

I may feel like a little girl in this situation, but my mother-instincts are on full alert watching for the slightest provocation to protect my siblings.  It has been very civil so far because this is a difficult situation but one without a very obvious blame game.  IF it turns into less than civil and it begins to affect them, I will step in.  Right now, I'm there for everyone.  My mom, my papa, my sister, my brother, my grandma....they all talk to me (well, my brother doesn't talk about it but that is him).  I am an ear for all of them.  It is a burden that I carry and have done so my whole life.  It may not be fair, it certainly is not easy sometimes, but I thank God for my husband.  He has been so silently supportive to me.  He lets me break down, he holds me and loves me and without him, I honestly have no idea how I would be handling this.  We are strong together and no matter the outcome in my family, life goes on and we will go on together.

Next week we have a heart surgery for his father.  We will be with at the hospital to support his mom and to be there for his father.  I am looking forward to having some great news of how well the surgery went and something wonderful to be able to dwell on.

With the health problems of his dad, the health issues my mom has (gal bladder surgery scheduled for later this April), massive sinus colds and sore throats hitting all of us (Chris, myself and finally my poor little Alyssa) and then my parents' new situation...I have been in a pretty dark place.  Thank God for the candles that light my life everyday!

Pictures to come...

I just wanted to jump on quickly and let everyone know that today we had 3 month pictures taken by a very talented friend who offered to come over to our house for them.  I can hardly wait for her to get them to me although it will be a few days because she is a (supermom) mother of 3 boys and in school for photography (I believe photo-journalism).

As soon as I get them and am done oogling them I will pick a few and show off Alyssa!

(Oh, if you are counting, yes Alyssa turns 3 months next Tuesday.  We took them a week early because of schedules.  Is that against the rules?  haha)

Blog Giveaways

I've noticed some drama over commercialized blogging lately.  Well, I make no money off of this blog right now.  If I did, THAT WOULD BE COOL!  I desperately want to replace my part-time retail income so that I can spend those hours that I exchange for pay at home with my baby girl.  I would love nothing more than to spend my days with Alyssa and not have to feel guilty over money.

As I am very new to the blogging world I don't know much about commercializing a blog but I sure do love the giveaways that seem to come with those blogs!  I am always on the lookout for good deals and fabulous products.  The newest giveaway I have discovered is on one of the blogs I follow.  The Deegan Daily is hosting a giveaway for a custom product.  Really, you need to look at both this blogger and the designer of the products.  They are both amazing women and very talented.  Take a look at the etsy shop of ShortyRed Designs and see just how awesome of a designer you'd be winning custom products from if you enter this giveaway!

Okay, you have your missions.  Now.....GO!

Happy Sunday ladies and gents!

There isn't much today except that I found the yummiest energy/snack bar EVER yesterday!  I urge you all to try them and before you get all worried about the cost of something you have never tried and aren't sure you will like....The products on the store have a 180day satisfaction guarantee.  Simply return what you didn't use (so likely 8 bars of the 9) and get a full refund.  I <3 these bars though!  You can find them at CK Shoppe in my favorite stores links.  They are called Chocolate Nut Rolls and are AMAZING!

Now I do feel like I must inform you, CK Shoppe is my husband's and my Amway business.  If you have family or you best friend that already sell Amway products, please support them.  As much as we would love your business, we do not want to 'steal' customers and certainly do not want to cause any problems between family and friends.

Periodically I will be posting about things that I have found and tried through our Amway business so feel free to ask me about products or else see who in your family may use/sell them also.  I am always trying new products and have already tried quite a few so if you begin browsing the site and have questions, comments, or concerns about anything, shoot me an e-mail.  Just address it to Katie or mention my blog (or you may get a response from Chris instead).  I will also post any un-advertised sales that we will personally be running from time to time for my readers/followers and respond via e-mail with whatever instructions are listed at the time.

For now, mommyhood calls!  Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!!

Addictions...

We all have our own...admit it!  I go through phases.  Right now?  Blogging...  When I was pregnant?  You couldn't pry me away from The Bump.  Facebook, oh yah, its even on my phone...  Beyond my computer?  My only addiction is really taking pictures of and snuggling my little girl.  When I pick up a book I read through it in a matter of hours (well, now it takes a couple days but hey, those pictures won't take themselves!).  Now don't try to pretend you are innocent of it all... Even my wonderful husband who makes fun of all my computer addictions has his own.

He has found a site that provides him days of amusement.  Maybe you are nerd enough to have seen this one as well?  Stumble Upon.....The site that when you click "Stumble" it will randomly select a featured site for you to play on.  You can narrow the stumbling to games, jokes, news, etc.  You customize what you want to pop up and there you go.  Who needs google anyhow?

Somedays we sit on the couch together each with our own laptops.  If I look over at his screen, inevitably he is bouncing between school assignments, bank statements, and some game he "stumbled" across.  I find it hilarious that he ever made fun of my 'bumping'.  At least that was an exchange of information....Okay, really it was a drama that I couldn't tear my eyes away from.  Truly the draw of any soap opera and TB is 24/7 people!

So what are your addictions?  What website can you hardly go a day without checking?  An hour?  Do you incessantly hit refresh?

Kozy Kids Diapers

I had to update everyone now that we have been using them for a few days now.  I really like these diapers!  She was pooping like crazy yesterday (3 dirty diapers compared to 1 in a day normally).  I was super impressed by how that brand held up to the mess.  Normally on days where she has more than 2 dirty diapers we usually have at least one of them being a blowout in Pampers.  I thought this was just normal and that I'd have to live with it.  So far I am thrilled with the limited outfits change required!

Well, off to work....Everyone have a wonderful day!!

Remember that Swing?

Proof that naps are a wonderful thing!!

My happy, rested baby wishes you all a wonderful afternoon!

The Mighty Swing

I bow to the great and mighty swing!

Fischer Price

Starting Monday, March 8th, Alyssa began sleeping through the night.  I will forever be thrilled with the ease and success that this happened with.  I still wake up in the middle of the night, habit I suppose...This really isn't a problem though because I am pretty good at falling back asleep.  What actually is so hard about this new schedule she has is that naps are essentially non-existant.  No, seriously!  She fights naps SO HARD!  This past week and half her naps have consisted of less than 20 minutes each.  This has made for a rather cranky afternoon little lady.

Yesterday, after about a month of bouncer preference we brought the swing back out.  A miracle happened....a nap, and not just a nap!  A blissful whole HOUR-long nap!!!  Momma had a happy, rested baby girl again.  Of course this caused some panic for me; she slept during the day...surely one hour wouldn't mess up her STTN right??

Our bedtime routine began about a half hour late last night.  9:30pm Papa had a pj-dressed girl in his arm in the glider with a storybook.  She doesn't fall asleep from books but likes to 'discuss' them sometimes.  She lays down in her crib awake with her seahorse and nuk and was asleep by 10pm.  Surely she won't stay asleep tonight.  Momma--bite your tongue!!  7:55am!!!!!!!!!!

We now have STTN and a naptime that gives me a chance to do laundry or shower, or blog (whatever needs to be done first clearly).

Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!

Pink Elephants

I feel I should make a small post just to explain the title of my blog.  When we found out we were expecting a little girl the pink started rolling in (not the least of which from my own shopping bags--oops)!  Well, as I started putting clothes away I noticed that all my favorite outfits had an elephant on them and the most adorable Carter's pj's EVER were just waiting to keep my baby warm.  My husband was teasing me about the elephant obsession I was quickly developing.  It seemed that everything I was picking up off the shelves had an elephant on it somewhere.  Alyssa even has a stuffed keepsake elephant that we bought her and had personalized for her, and yes, it is pink!

I must admit that I do not have her dressed in elephants every single day, or even most days.  I simply refuse to choose her favorite animal for her so she is not going to be overwhelmed with elephants of any color but for now, I will continue to adore our pink elephants.

Because I'm now a Mommy Blogger....

You all deserve to meet the little girl that will be the main focus of most of the upcoming posts.

This Monkey-watching girl is Alyssa.  My sweet and adorable (you don't have to tell me but I always welcome compliments on my baby) little girl who was born on December 30th, 2009.  She was born 8lbs 4oz and 20" long.  For those who don't want to do the math, she is 2 1/2 months old.  She sleeps through the night starting about a week and a half ago (you may hate and envy me now) and is generally a happy baby.  Her smiles are coming more regularly and I had to share my treasure snapshots with you!  She loves talking and laughing at that monkey on her bouncer...he gets more smiles than Papa and I combined!  Yes I am very jealous of a plastic monkey chime.

Where to Start.....

Oh yah, diapers!  Did everyone know that babies use them?  Who knew that someone so cute would sit in their own messes until the diaper rash makes them scream?

I just want everyone to know now that I don't let my little girl sit in a wet diaper for hours on end...and yet she still gets diaper rash and her whimpers make me want to sob for her.

So back to the diapers themselves.  Alyssa is 2 1/2 months old and we have spent an INSANE amount of money on disposable diapers.  Honestly I rarely consider the monetary savings of cloth mostly because we have enough laundry as is!  (And I ABHOR laundry!!!!)  So we have tried most brands of disposables out there.  Huggies and Pampers (in various styles) have sent me off to find a less expensive but still good brand to work with.  We have a package of Luvs based on my mom's recommendation and have yet to break into it.  The only reason we haven't gotten to the Luvs yet is because we just got a package via UPS yesterday.  DIAPERS--->Holy Bulk Shopping!!

We decided to try diapers from a brand that none of you have heard of...Kozy Kids.  It is only available via independent business owners who have partnered with Amway Global (ask around, you probably know some of these people--if not, ask me and I will hook you up).  This means you have to buy it online or through these people specifically.  We are in day 2 of Kozy Kids and I must say I was nervous to try a brand that was so unknown.  I mean really!  If they were good, wouldn't everyone be screaming the brand from every blog and mommy coffee house from here to the South Pole??  Well people, I'm here to start the screaming!

Alyssa got diaper rash two days ago in her Pampers and no matter the amount of Desitin used to avoid the pain of a wet or dirty diaper it got worse.  I never knew a diaper rash could get so dry that it would crack and if you have never seen a tinsy bit of blood on your sweet baby's bum, it will tear holes in your heart and you will be changing their diaper every half hour (wet or not) in hopes of helping them feel better!  When the diapers came yesterday I was a bit anxious over my sweet daughter's rash and how these diapers would handle the wet and her skin contact.  She didn't notice a difference in diapers (I don't blame her, it isn't often that we notice differences in toliets either...).  I, however, noticed that this diaper seems pretty much on par with the Pampers that I had been working with for over a month.  My original plan was to put her back in Pampers overnight for fear of having to wash bedding at 3am.  The plan changed when Papa put her to bed.  She slept from 9:30pm to 7:15am, uninteruppted and woke happily talking to her Fischer Price Seahorse.  The diaper was full-wet but her bum was comfortable or she would have been crying (trust me).  We will continue testing these diapers over the next few weeks and will let you know if we have any setbacks but it looks like we can all start shouting from our blogs on this one!

The Beginning

Okay world...
First, everyone please forgive my first foray into the blogging world! I will TRY to keep things under control and not drive everyone else to crazytown. I have read blogs since late in my pregnancy when my addiction (The Bump) was sending me to blogs for background stories on all my favorite Bumpies. I have found some amazing women through TB and more through blogs. Hopefully my attempts at blogging won't be a total flop. So here we go!