Pizza and Ice Cream

I really love this guy....

{please disregard the mad looking little girl in the background}

He is my bff, my hubby and my baby's daddy.

Between part time jobs, full time jobs, transitioning to summertime events at church, and life in general we have not gotten to see much of each other lately and the coming week is going to be more of the same.  I'm trying to not be sad about it. Trying being the operative word  :)

But not tonight!  Tonight is....

+

And some good, old fashioned quality time.  So excited!!!

3 Months

Hey baby girl!  Can you believe that you are 3 months old today ?!  I mean....I kind of can't believe it.  I will probably say this every month, but this has been a big month for you!  You are learning so much and you have started to take notice of the world around you much more.  I know that is such a cliche thing to say, but seriously, you are starting to come alive and show us more of your preferences and personality. You are a happy girl (most of the time :))

Bathtime
Possibly my favorite development of the past month is that you started to enjoy your bath!  For the first few months of your life you cried HARD each time we gave you a bath, which made it quite possibly my least favorite thing to do all week, but you have most definetly changed your mind about bath time.  One day you hated baths and the next day you loved it.  I don't know what changed, but I like to think that you learned that you can trust me.  Now you smile and smile throughout the entire thing and it SO fun!

Play
You have also started "playing" a little more this month and showing me what kind of activities you like or don't like with your smiles or cries.  You really seem to enjoy laying in your play gym.  You kick like crazy and hit your toys and are very content looking around. You also rolled over from your back to your front while playing in there and I totally missed it!  I don't know how you did it and you haven't done it again (yet!), but I was very impressed.  According to my internet reasearch you aren't supposed to do that for another couple months.  You must just be a little baby prodigy. You also enjoy when I help you sit up or stand up and we discovered that you are enjoying music more.  You light up when I sing to you ("You are My Sunshine" is our song and you love your little pink toy that plays music.  When you fuss a bit going down for a nap I play a song for you and you give me shy smile and kick your legs up - it is so cute.  You are also trying find your thumb.  You suck and suck on your little fists and I try to help you get your thumb in your mouth, but you just are not quite there yet.

Sleep
You are still sleeping great at night.  You usually sleep from about 10pm until about 6am when we eat again and then go right back to sleep until about 9.  This morning we had our first loud thunderstorm and I wondered if it would scare you, but you slept through it.  This picture is a bit outdated - we don't swaddle you anymore because you like your arms free and stretched above your head.

Daddy
You love your daddy.  We smile at each other all day long, but something comes over you when you see your daddy.  You make more noises with him and just get a bit more excited when he is playing with you.  He is totally more fun than me, so I understand your excitement :)  You have a really wonderful daddy.  He started working a part time job this month, so he is very busy guy but he still makes lots of time for us and he misses you (and me!).  He always makes me hand you over to him when he gets home because he misses you so.

You are getting so big love.  I want to tell you to slow down, but I am excited to get to know you better as you show your personality more and become good friends with you.  You are such a great joy in my life.
Love,
Mommy

Stranger Danger??

So....I am reaching out to any more experienced mama's that may be reading this for some advice.  Give me your wisdom!

Our beautiful miss Amaia seems to be developing a bit of an affinity for me. Of course a part of me greatly enjoys this.  I can remember not that long ago feeling like I wasn't even sure that she knew who I was, but I am also a little worried that she is developing some separation anxiety.  Let me explain.  Over the past few weeks there have been several times that we have been visiting our parents and Amaia is totally fine and happy until I hand her over to one of her grandparents and she almost immediately starts crying.  The cry she uses is also a bit different than her normal cry.  It is high-pitched and shrill and it breaks my heart a bit.  I usually take her back and she calms down fairly quickly.  I didn't think she was even old enough for this yet!  She did this on Mother's Day and even Adam did not make her happy, only me.

I do stay at home with her so I am with her more than anyone else, but we are around other people a lot and both of her grandparents have babysat her many times before without this problem.  If separation anxiety is what is going on I would like to take a proactive approach before it gets more intense.  She is such a sweet girl and her grandparents love her so much that I want them to be able to enjoy her too.  Is this normal at 3 months old? Will she jut grow out of this?  Is there anything I can do to help her through it?  Help!! :)

The Cutest Girl I Know

 Mom!  Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up!

 Back in business!

Prayers for Amaia

If you do the math, I spend about 6 hours a day feeding Amaia.  Multiply that by 7 days a week and I spend almost the equivalent of a full time job sitting on the couch.   The time can become monotonous to say the least!  I have filled my time by listening to messages, listening to music, writing out to do lists, texting, talking on speaker phone and far too much TV watching!!  I often think about how much I want to protect her and make sure she knows how much she is loved by us and by God and how powerless I feel to make that happen.  But I realized this morning the great opportunity I have in our feeding time.  I may not be able to use my hands during that time, but I can certainly still work hard in my prayers for Amaia.  So anyone reading this feel free to keep me accountable!!  I want to start by spending at least one feeding per day praying through this list for Amaia:

• That God would draw her to himself at an early age
• That she would obey and respect authority
• She would be protected from the lies and schemes of satan
• She would know and love God's word
• She would glorify God in all circumstances
• She would be wise in the wisdom of the Lord
• She would have good friends and be a good friend to others
• She would have a godly spouse that would love her well
• She would be humble, caring about other people and knowing that everything good in her life is a gift from God
• Her life would be used for God's kingdom
• She would understand the message of the gospel and that grace and forgiveness would be a part of her everyday life
• She would have a gentle and quiet spirit
• She would not worry or be anxious, but that she would instead be a woman of prayer
• She would seek after God with her whole heart.  That she would seek to fill any emptiness in her life with a relationship with God
• She would be an encourager of others
• She would think biblically
• She would love the church
• She would be salt & light to those around her
• She would know that she is deeply loved by Adam and I and by God
• She would be honest with God, herself and others
• She would live with an eternal perspective
• She would know God more intimately and do greater works because of this 
• She would know that her beauty comes from within and that she would be secure in who God made her to be
• She would be a woman of great character: loyal, kind, patient, compassionate, a hard worker, humble

First Mother's Day!

Yesterday was my first mother's day as a mommy and oh my it was an eventful one!  It was a great day and a stressful day and a busy day!  Our day started out smooth and sweet.  I woke miss Amaia up at 6am for her first feeding of the day and then got Adam up.  I got a card from Adam and Amaia (Adam claims that she dictated to him :))  Adam also got me a plethora of beauty products to try out and I can't wait to do so!!
My sweet gifts:


Then we all got ready for church and headed out for the day and Amaia cried almost the entire way to church.  She is almost never fussy in the morning so I was sure that she had a dirty diaper.  I checked it as soon as we got there, but nothing.  Then she let out a good burp, but that that didn't improve her spirits either.  She was mostly calm and getting sleepy by the time we went on stage for her dedication and we almost made it through without any crying.  She did cry a bit towards on the end, but we got through it!  We went to sit down and she slept through the rest of the service.  She actually slept until a little after noon, over 3 hours since her last feeding.  I couldn't believe it!
Then we headed off to my parent's house for lunch with my wonderful mom (and dad and sis).  Amaia ate up and was okay for a little while, but then was very fussy and seemed very tired again.  She feel asleep in her carseat and we had some yummy chinese food and awesome rhubarb bread!
In the afternoon we fed Amaia a couple more times, took her temp (I was a nervous mom!), took a very short nap, got treats from Starbucks and went on a little walk and Amaia seemed in good spirits.  She did have a good poop during this time too, so I thought that was the problem.  False!
We did a little photo shoot too.  Proof that Amaia was happy at one point on Mother's day:

Happy Amaia = Happy Mommy

Can you believe that just 3 months ago this big girl was in my belly?!?!

We then traveled over to celebrate with Adam's mom and Amaia was almost immediately upset again.  She seemed to only be okay with me holding her (which she has never done before) and had a high pitched cry that I have never really heard before.  I was starting to really worry about my baby, but we did get her calmed down and she fell asleep for again.  We had an amazing dinner and then headed home again when Amaia woke up.  I fed her again when we got home, but she was even so upset that she wouldn't finish eating.  I was starting to get concerned about my baby girl.  She was more fussy most of the day than I can remember her being for a long time.  We got her settled down and she took another nap before another good feeding and bedtime. She slept very well last night and has seemed better for the most part today - yea!  If she was acting the same today I was going to take her into the doctor.  Adam said that maybe she was just testing my mothering abilities for my first mother's day :)  I have several theories...maybe she was overwhelmed by all the events of the day??....maybe she wasn't feeling well??....maybe she was too warm??....only Amaia knows!  All I know is that I am so blessed to be a mommy and wifey to such a wonderful little family.  I really do have more compassion and love for this little girl than my heart has ever felt before.

Life Snapshot: My girly girl

Tuesday Randoms

Amaia was like a new child yesterday.  She was extra smiley, didn't cry one bit going down for her afternoon naps and even went a big longer in between feedings.  She is growing up and it is SO FUN!

Today Amaia is the opposite.  She is crying a lot and not sleeping very long.  I can hear her stomach rumbling and I fear that the Thai food that upset my stomach yesterday has made its way to her.  Note to self: only order 0 starts from now on.  Amaia - if you are reading this 15 years into the future - mommy is sorry!

I feel sort of weird that our country is celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden.  I am torn I guess...between being glad that he is gone and feeling some sense of justice, but on the other hand I don't know if i can rejoice that even he is in hell now. It brought this verse to mind: Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? --Ezekial 18:23


I am so pumped that then sun is making more appearances lately.  I need to get outside and walk of the rest of these pounds!

If anyone is looking for another good and healthy recipe check out these asian lettuce wraps.  Adam aka. Mr. very high standards on the food front is a big fan (and so am I) so you know it is good!


Mother's day is this weekend and I am a mother now...weird!