2 months old! (a little late)

My Anna Banana is 2 months old (and a week). We left for vacation on her 2 month day, so I didn't have a chance to post. She has grown and changed so much! Just when I think I couldn't adore her more, I do! :)



Here are her stats for birth, 1 month, and 2 months:

Birth Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz               1 Month: 8lbs 10oz            2 Months: 10lbs 12oz
Birth Length: 20 1/2 in                 1 Month: 21 3/4 in             2 Months: 23 in

She now talks and smiles and coos constantly when she is happy! She also is starting to laugh. We got the most adorable laugh from her on vacation!

We did figure out that she has reflux and is starting a medication to help her. Feeding her has become so difficult because of her reflux and she can get pretty fussy because of it, but aside from that she is such a happy and social baby!

She has now been in 8 states, including where she lives. We went on a vacation to New Hampshire and Vermont last week. We had such a nice time staying in a cabin and hiking, touring, etc together. She is such a good traveler and we had to get New England in her blood early! We made sure to come home stocked up on Patriots gear for her!

Here are a few pictures of my angel from vacation:

   



And one from today:

Humility

A year ago I was about to run my third half marathon and then my fourth half marathon in October. Two weeks after my fourth half marathon I found out I was pregnant... about 8 weeks pregnant, and due in July. I was in tip top shape at the time... I had just lost 62 lbs and was on my way to losing the last 15 I wanted to lose, I could easily run a half marathon, and had aspirations for a marathon in April. Boy did pregnancy put a halt to that! But I credit my amazing pregnancy to getting myself healthy.

Now, I say that because of this next part... when I started running again this week I was humbled, very fast. I hadn't struggled with running that much since I started, 62lbs+ heavier, and struggling to run a block. Thankfully this time I can run a bit over a mile. Boy is it humbling... especially after childbirth, where, instead of tight, strong legs, abs, and other parts, there are now droopy, floppy parts, skin, etc because there is no longer a baby keeping my skin tight, and you don't realize how much skin stretches to support that baby until that baby is no longer in there!

But I am doing it again and I will get where I was again sometime! The important thing is that I continue to do it to set an example for Anna Banana, because I want her to grow up with healthy parents who value exercise so that she can learn from us and learn to value exercise as well!

Everyone needs a little slap of humility once in a while to appreciate where they came from and where they are headed.

This little girl is worth every droop:

Moving Anna to her room and mention of a giveaway

We moved Anna into her own room two weeks ago yesterday. That was a ROUGH night for Mommy, but not so rough for Anna! Thank goodness for friends that stay up and chat with me until I am sleepy so that I am not up crying all night worrying that something will happen to my baby girl. I loved having her next to me and probably would have kept her there for a while, had she not grown out of the cradle she slept in. I would wake up to hear her grunting because she got stuck in her cradle like this:



And so I knew it was time to move her. I had to light a fire under my hubby's butt to convince him to hang the baby monitor for me so that I could at least see and hear her in her room. I am not thrilled with her baby monitor, but it at least has video and sound.

The Bragging Mommy is giving away a babymonitor that I would LOVE to have! So I am blogging and posting a link for you to see this monitor as well!

And so here is a picture of Anna in her room for her first night... after Mommy cried and prayed that she would be OK and many Mommy kisses. And we survived. And she actually sleeps better in her room than she did next to me. We've even had mornings where she's slept until 8:15!!! And that does make this mommy very happy!

One step forward...

Yesterday I went for my first run since I was around 15 weeks pregnant. My last run was a 4 mile race in the hills near our house and it was torture because of the way I was carrying. I stopped running in January and switched to walking for a while. I did walk a 5K in May at around 36 weeks pregnant, but other than that, no racing. I miss it a lot. I went out yesterday for a run and it felt great. It was only a little over a mile, but it still felt nice. I may have had 2 miles in me, but I don't want to push it too early. I will get there, maybe next week or the week after.

I miss the distance I used to run. I ran a half marathon when I was 6 weeks pregnant and a 10 miler at 8 weeks pregnant (although by that time the fatigue was starting to set in and I was still having a lot of the early pregnancy cramping, so it wasn't the best 10 miler). But I would trade the distance for my little girl ANY DAY! I am hoping to get back up to a half marathon next year, and a marathon at some point in my life, but I really don't know how to juggle being a mommy, teaching, and running a long distance. I'd like to push Anna in a running stroller when I run, and that will take some work for both of us to build up her time stamina in a stroller, but at the same time I will be building up my distance. We will see how it goes! Any advice is welcome!

And because no post is complete without a picture of my leading lady, here is my new favorite picture (of my 8 week old!!!)...

It is September...

This is a month I usually look forward to. It is the month I married my husband. It is the start of fall. It is the start of football. School is back and in full swing. This year, however, it is bitter sweet. There are things I am really looking forward to... like our first vacation as a family of 3! Jeff has worked a lot since going back to work after Anna was born, and it will be so nice to have him to ourselves for a whole week!

This month, though, is also the last month I am home with Anna. I start back at school 1 month from today. So the end of this month we are starting to transition to daycare and I dread that week more than anything! But at least I have one month... and my munchkin just woke up, so I am going to go play!

On holding my baby

Let me tell you a little story... 6 years ago this month, a man and a woman were married. They were so happy together, and still are. They decided right away to bring a child into this world. After a year of trying, she had a positive pregnancy test, but it turned out to be a chemical pregnancy. They continued for 4 more years to try for a baby. These years had their ups and downs. They were still so happy together, but they were going through tests and treatments to try to make their dream of a child come true. There were many tears. Many Mother's Days and Father's Days passed with empty arms. They saw their friends have one, two, and even three babies during this time. Eventually they let their trying take a back burner and let running, traveling, and their jobs take over their lives. They were still happy together, but they decided to put off their trying for a few years, but there was still that empty sadness in their hearts. One day, during the first weekend of November 2012, she wasn't feeling right and decided to take a pregnancy test. SURPRISE! It was positive! After doctors told her she wouldn't be able to have a baby without the help of modern medicine, a miracle happened! After all these years their dreams were coming true. After 10 months of a beautiful pregnancy, their daughter was born and they couldn't be happier.

You see, that is my story above. After almost 6 years, I can finally hold my little miracle. And so I hold her any chance I get. I never, ever get tired of holding her because time moves so fast and she is already growing and changing before my very eyes. I love when people get to meet her and snuggle her and hold her, but when I am told (not by anyone specific, I promise! This is just an observation of my feelings over the last 8 weeks!) that I get to see her and hold her every day so they want to hold her for a long time, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I have to remind myself that they don't see her often and that they just love her and want to adore her. But I also know that a month from today, I will have even less time every day holding her, and that breaks my heart. And so, yes, even if someone is around that hasn't met her, I want to hold her. And if she is fussy while she is being held by someone else, it only makes me want to take her and help her stop fussing and make her happy. So yes, I am going to snuggle my baby and hold her, and smile at her, and talk to her, because I waited 6 years for this and nothing makes me happier than to hold her or see her daddy hold her. So be patient with me. It is hard for me to share my miracle, but I promise I am doing my best to remind myself that others want to get to know her and love on her to!

   

1 month old!

Birth Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz               Now: 8lbs 10oz
Birth Length: 20 1/2 in                   Now: 21 3/4 in

Anna is already 1 month old! Well, now 1 months and 5 days old. :) I can not believe how fast this month went and how much she has grown already. Here are a few more interesting things than what I wrote on her sign:
*She is still a peanut and wearing mostly newborn clothes, but is starting to grow out of the smaller newborn and can fit into a few 0-3 month things, barely.
*She is in size 1 diapers. We are going to be cloth diapering soon. She wasn't big enough to fit into the cloth diapers we had until now, but we have a ton of size 1's that we got at our showers and I still had to order a few more cloth diapers. She just moved into size 1's and we will be starting soon!
*She is also starting to be pleasant while she is awake. She loves to lay on her back and kick around and talk.
*She is starting to smile at me. :)
*She is also sleeping 4-6 hours at a time at night. YAY! :)
*She loves to ride in the car and in her stroller and she LOVES to look out the window.
*She eats 4oz in her bottle at a time.
*She will be moving to her crib soon. :(

We are loving being parents to this little girl. I think I still haven't gotten over that we have a girl, and it is so fun to go shopping for her. :)

Here are a few pics of our Anna Banana:

Daddy's shades are the way to go!


Smile!




Super Girl! I call this her super hero pose. :)