Flashback Friday: Baby Pictures

I am linking up with my friend Emily's blog over at The Journey of Parenthood for Flashback Friday.

I recently found some old baby pictures and thought it would be good to see who y'all think Lillian resembles. Kevin and I still don't really see either one of us but I do think she has his eyes. Anytime anyone says she looks like Kevin, he says, "don't say that, she is going to be beautiful like her Mommy" of course I wouldn't mind if she looked like her Daddy, he's a handsome devil to me.

First we will do my pictures. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how old I am in any of these except two.

This was a preschool picture so probably 3 years old 

This was September of 1986 so I was about 16 months old 

I feel like Lillian may have my face shape and chubby cheeks

And here is my precious hubby's baby pictures. They aren't as clear because they are glued down in a scrapbook so I had to take pictures of them with my phone.

So what is the verdict? Is she more like Mommy or Daddy?

Party time

This last week we had quiet a few parties and celebrations going on. My birthday was Thursday May 2nd. We left for Atlanta on Friday so we could be at my nephew Brody's birthday on Saturday, and then we had a fiesta for Cinco de Mayo on Sunday with our old church bible class.

Kevin always gets me the best presents, whether big or small and he somehow always manages to surprise me. For my 28th Birthday he got me these B-E-A-Utiful rose pearl and diamond earrings.

The perfect gift because I only wear studs but have always been so cheap and bought crappy nickel or silver ones that always ended up turning my ears green. Kevin said I am a grown up with a baby so I should have nice adult earrings. He also got up when Lillian woke up early and brought her into the bed to snuggle with the birthday mommy.

He also brought me breakfast in bed (excuse the mess that is my morning hair)

I didn't want to worry about going out for dinner and taking Lillian so of course I chose Pizza for dinner. We always get the pizza box from Pizza Hut because it comes with pizza, cheese sticks(my favorite), and cinnamon sticks! We ended up not doing a cake that night since we had the cinnamon sticks but he surprised me with an ice cream cake on Friday night after we had dinner with his family in Georgia. I love ice cream cakes and would choose that over any other cake. It was a great birthday and Kevin always makes it so special for me because he knows I love to make a big deal about birthdays because that is YOUR day and no one else's (except Kevin who shares it with his twin).

Saturday was my nephew's, Brody, 4th birthday. We were so glad we were able to be there, it had been awhile since we saw him and our other nephew Bryson because every time we were home they were sick and we didn't want Lillian getting sick. Brody had a spider man birthday!

Spiderman shooting his web

 Two of his gifts were Iron Man and Captain America costumes. He was so sweet and let his little friend Caleb be Iron Man

 Me with the Birthday Boy

 Uncle Kevin and Brody being silly

Spiderman cake from Publix was so Delicious

Sunday was our fiesta! It was so wonderful to see all of our friends and of course they loved seeing Lillian. She was passed around like a hot potato. They had a pinata for the kids and we had tons of yummy Mexican food and needed a siesta after our fiesta.

Just a great weekend all around spending time with friends and family.

Lillian's Week 7

You hear moms say it all the time, "They grow up so fast" and that ain't no joke. (yes I realize ain't is not a real word) I cannot believe we have been blessed with Miss Lillian for 7 weeks already!

Sleeping: The first half of the week Lillian had trouble falling back asleep after she ate during the day unless I was holding her. Not even the swing would calm her but by the end of the week she was sleeping great both during the day and night. Her awake time has been extended she'll stay awake about an hour now including her feeding time which is about 25 minutes or so. Sometimes she will fall asleep sooner especially during the evening and first feeding in the morning. I am not as stressed if she wakes up early or doesn't fall asleep as quickly but we still stick to the schedule as much as possible because we know it is working.

Nursing: Still going well, I continued to use the nipple shield until Sunday. This weekend we went out of town and I forgot my nipple shield so when we got back in town I pumped for a few minutes to draw out the nipple and had a bottle already pumped for the middle of the night feeding. I was going to go buy another nipple but I have been needing to come off of it anyways and Lillian has been doing so well. Monday instead of pumping every feeding I used a nipple shell about 15 minutes before I needed to feed her and that draws out the nipple. She fed the whole time on both nipples, Momma was so proud! She only eats for about 20 minutes now too. It definitely hurts more without the nipple shield though. Here is a picture of the nipple shield

  

and here is what the nipple shells look like. I use the Medela brand for both. 

Lillian has also started spitting up quite a bit more this last week too. We went through two burp cloths after one feeding. She dribbles it out here and there but she always has one moment when she spits up 3 times in a row and it seems like at least 2 ounces that comes out. She never seems hungry afterwards and still has a good amount of diapers so no need for concern right now I guess. 

Other things Lillian has been doing:

- Lillian had her first laugh on May 2nd , it was the best birthday gift for Mommy. We were sitting at the table eating dinner and talking to Lillian and she all of the sudden just belted out a laugh. Kevin and I both were like "did you just hear that!"

- We had our first "playgroup" today with some people at our church, its called the Little Lights Playgroup. They do a small service project then let the kids play. Lillian obviously just slept the whole time but it was nice for Mommy to be around other mommies.

- She has grown out of her newborn onesies  :(

- She is still in size 1 diapers, haven't had nearly as many leaks or blow outs this week.

More pictures because mommy got camera happy. 

Precious little feet with monkey toes like Mommy

Here she is sticking out her tongue which started happening a lot more this week

 Smiles

 Waving bye bye

Lillian's 6th week

In honor of Mommy's birthday this coming Thursday and Mother's Day on Sunday here is Lillian sporting her favorite onesie!

Week 6 was definitely a growth week, not sure if it was physical or developmental but we could tell by how she was feeding/sleeping something was going on.

Sleep: On Friday night she had difficulty falling asleep after I fed her at 10pm so I ended up feeding her for another 10 min around 11:00. She was fine after that so I put her in her crib and went to bed. About 5 min later she started fussing so I got up to make sure she didn't need to burp and soothed her then got back in bed. She got fussy again so my mom got up that time to sooth her. She ended up patting her while still in the crib for about 15 min and Lillian was out. I had told my mom she usually wakes at about 3 to eat so of course my mom woke up at 3 and 3:30 and 4 waiting to hear her fussing and she never did. My mom was worried she had stopped breathing but she was okay.  Lillian finally woke up at 5 am and my mom fed her the bottle. Lillian then woke up at 7:30 which is her normal morning feed. If that was her schedule for now on I'd be happy but the next night proved wrong. She woke up every 3 hours and then would take about 45 min. to fall asleep. Seemed like she would be calm so we'd put her in the crib and then 10 minutes later she would start crying again and crying out at night that long does not work for two sleepy parents. It was a rough night but we made it and it could have been worse. We are trying to be better about sticking to her schedule during the day and so far it has helped as she is back to waking up just once at night, hopefully it continues.

Nursing: we made a big step forward this week. Lillian latched onto one of my nipples without the nipple shield and fed the whole time. I was so proud, hoping we can eventually quit using it all together, it would make nursing a lot easier. Her schedule now since growth spurt is over is every 3 hours during the day to eat and the last feeding is at 9:30 instead of 10 and she sleeps until 3:00 and then starts her day again at 7 am. In another week or two we will try to get her to sleep longer through the night.

I got my sling in the mail finally. It was one of those things online where it's free and you just pay shipping, except shipping is like $12. Totally worth it though because I am such a wimp and have no arm muscles. I also got a diaper pod and some baby leg warmers for $6 more. I thought it was too small the first time I used it but then too big the second time so I'm still trying to figure out if I am using it correctly. You wouldn't think it would be rocket science.

I had also got the same deal on a car seat cover. I thought it was something I could have just easily made but for $12 I wouldn't have to purchase the fabric or worry about making it so I am happy with that purchase as well. I didn't take a picture but its a similar grey fabric with white pattern. I don't know why but I like stuff to match even if I don't use it together. Our pack n play, stroller, and high chair all match too.

Other happenings this week: I got my first real smile this week from Lillian and it wasn't due to gas!! She was just sitting in her bouncy seat cooing so I started talking to her and she had this huge grin on her face when we locked eyes. Greatest feeling in the world! With the growth spurt this last week we have noticed a few other things:

-Lillian is a lot more aware of things and more alert.
-She loves looking at the lights.
-She will follow an object once you put it in front of her.
-she talks/coos more
-Still spitting up after each feeding, but not as much
- We did have one green poopy diaper this week and I read a couple of things that could cause it (too much foremilk, mommy diet specifically dairy, and some others I knew wouldn't pertain to us) but since it was only one I have not worried too much about it. But her poopy diapers have become fewer and far between which is nice but more loose. Again i read its normal for breastfed babies but will keep an eye out for any other issues and make sure she doesn't get dehydrated.
- Daddy has been good at making sure she gets her tummy time, although she hasn't been a fan of it lately.
- she still has a good amount of hair but i am noticing it thinning on the topsides of her head

Diapers

Don't worry this is not going to be a detailed description post on my daughter's dirty diapers. I basically had some thoughts and notes I have taken since becoming a parent and wanted to remember the knowledge and experiences for next time.

Lillian was born at 8lbs. 9 oz she lost about 7 ounces within the first week then gained back 16 ounces by her 1 month doctor's appointment. Her torso is long but she is so skinny so we started with newborn size diapers (i think they go up to 10lbs) for the first few weeks. Thanks to my mom (Nana) we have tons of diapers and wipes.

Sizes: On April 7th, Lillian was 2 1/2 weeks old, the inevitable happened, Lillian blew out her first diaper (newborn Pampers), of course it was in church and got all over her new dress. Later that day she decided to grace us with another blow out. At this point Kevin and I knew it had to be that the diapers were too small. We got home and opened a size 1 (Huggies) and it swallowed her tiny little booty and belly. We decided to use the rest of the opened newborn diapers and just make sure to change more often. Once we finally used all of those we tried a different size newborn (LUVS) because it said jumbo on it. I am still unsure if that description had anything to do with the size but they fit her much better and didn't leave red marks on her legs. About a week later those diapers got too small as well, luckily we only have about 5 left, but we went ahead and tried a size one again. This time we tried Pampers and they seem to fit her much better than the Huggies size 1s. Now at 5 weeks we love the Pampers Swaddlers. They have a color-changing wetness indicator and this netting layer so when she goes #2 it keeps her from having to sit in it and makes for easier diaper changes. 

Changing of Diapers: Speaking of diaper changes, Kevin is much better than me. I have been peed on a handful of times and daddy has maybe been peed on once. Apparently mommy doesn't learn her lesson easily. What would happen is I would take off her completely full diaper, close it up, wipe her and then open  the new diaper. Well between wiping and putting on the new diaper she would pee and it would go all over her outfit and the changing pad. This is really frustrating at 3:00 in the morning. Daddy shared his wisdom and advised to put a wipe against her leg or belly before taking off the dirty diaper and then take off the dirty one and put the new diaper beneath her before wiping (we think the coldness of the wipe is what causes her to pee). So far we have been incident free for about a week and a half!

Returning diapers: Since we still had unopened boxes of newborns we wanted to try and exchange them for a size up. We tried taking to Babies R US but they could only give us the sale price which was about half of the regular price since we didn't have a receipt. Someone had mentioned to me that Walmart will usually exchange diapers easily so I may have to try there even though I hate going to Walmart. If you have a package of diapers that were opened but baby grew out of them before they were gone, don't fret, you can always use them for gifts like a diaper cake or this:

Brands: I know that some people say certain brands are better for boys and certain ones are better for girls and then once they start getting mobile certain brands are better. I haven't had to buy any diapers yet but we love Pampers for now. Plus they have a points program called Gifts to Grow and some of the rewards are useful. Each package of diapers and wipes has a code for points and then each month there is a special code for additional points. Obviously by the first picture above we have lots of Huggies in the larger sizes to try out. What kind do you recommend? 

Where to buy: Like I said I haven't had to purchase any diapers yet but I do know one thing is never pay regular price. Diapers are always on sale somewhere and there are always coupons for them online or through your local grocery store. I have also been told that diapers.com has pretty good deals.

Lillian Week 5

Lillian is 5 weeks old today :( Daddy can't wait for her to be more active but Mommy wants her to stay little forever. Here is her week 5 picture. Thanks to Aunt Nina for my outfit!

 

I can tell she is growing and has become more alert and active. She gave me her first real smiles this week when i talked to her and I knew it wasn't just gas. And yes I do the cheesy baby talk but that's what babies like and i'll talk anyway I need to, to see that beautiful beaming smile! Daddy caught a picture of her reacting to my baby talk 

and here is a video of her smiling

 

Sleep: She is still sleeping well, about the same schedule she has been on. We are working on dropping her middle of the night feeding in these next few weeks. Right now she eats around 10-10:30ish depending on her schedule that day and then wakes up around 3.am to eat and then not again until 7 am. Its not bad for me and after her 7 am feeding we both just go back to sleep so even mommy is getting about 8-9 hrs of broken sleep. The last two days of her 5th week i have noticed she will wake herself up during her naps but falls right back to sleep within a minute or two. 

Nursing: We are making progress as far as latching without the nipple shield. She seems to only take on the left side right now but last night I only used the shield for about 3 minutes to draw out the nipple and then she continued to eat without it for about 10 minutes. This was big for us and Mommy is very proud. Lillian is still spitting up after each feeding. We decided maybe she was eating too much so instead of feeding for 15 minutes on each side i usually pull her off after about 12-13 minutes and that has seemed to help. She still spits up but its not as much. It was bad and Daddy nicknamed her Mount Vesuvius. We will be happy if she ever gets over the spit up. We go through about 4 burp cloths, 2 bibs, and 2-3 sets of clothes a day because she has spit up all over them. I am anxious to see how much she weighs at her next doctor's appointment because she does eat well and has good diapers.

One more last picture, I love when she yawns. It starts out with her making a O with her lips and then turns into this big yawn and makes me yawn every time. Just looking at this picture I have yawned twice. 

Nothing else really happened this week. Daddy did not have to work on Friday so we had a nice 3 day weekend enjoying our family and this awesome weather we have been having.

Lillian's week 4

Here is Lillian at 4 weeks old. She still seems small to me (not complaining i love how little she is) but is much more alert.

No real updates for this last week. Lillian continued to have difficulty falling asleep in her crib so Momma held her to fall asleep. She is also still spitting up after each feeding and having tummy issues. Hopefully it will get better soon. Lillian's "Nena" (Kevin's mom) bought her a swing and it arrived yesterday. She of course loves it. I put her in it today after a feeding and she did not make a sound. She did lay there for a good 30 minutes wide awake though so i felt bad just leaving her alone. That's when I decided to go in and play with her for a few minutes then I put her back in and she fell right to sleep. We are going to try and use it seldomly and not at night time so she doesn't get use to sleeping in the swing instead of her crib. I have been very thankful to have it though when Lillian is fussy because it has allowed me to get some stuff done without having to hear her pitiful heartbreaking cry. Here is Lillian enjoying her swing, she loves to watch the birdies fly around.

This was visitor week for Lillian, we LOVE having visitors. We are blessed to have friends and family that want to stop by and see Miss Lillian.

This is Mrs. Addie, we have known each other since we were born, our families attended church together.  

 This is Mrs. Erin she is mommy and daddy's good friend from Nashville and her husband Mr. Jordan is below, he is one of Daddy's best friends and Frisbee buddy. 

Daddy being sill of course. 

We also had some cousins come visit us and Mrs. Deborah from church come visit but mommy failed and forgot to take pictures. 

I'll leave you with this last picture of smiles from when we finally got outside and went walking around the neighborhood in the stroller.