Highlights of 2013

Reed and I were both glad to say goodbye to 2012. It was a hard year. Reed's younger brother passed away and we suffered our second miscarriage after months of trying. We welcomed 2013 and it didn't disappoint. We had a lot of fun this year and a lot of big, happy things happened.

I started the year off taking a spontaneous weekend trip to Albuquerque to see friends. We shopped, ate some good food, and hung out! I also flew by myself for the first time and I handled it like a seasoned traveler!

For my birthday we took a trip to New York City! I fulfilled a life long dream and we had an amazing time. I have wanted to go to NYC since I was little. Whenever we would go on a family vacation, I always asked if we could go to New York. It was freezing and snowed a little. My kind of weather! It took me a little bit to warm up. I was a little grumpy the first day as we walked around. I didn't put on enough layers because I didn't want to be too hot. After about half an hour I adjusted and loved the weather. It felt so nice. One night we walked around to try and find something for dinner. It started snowing and it was so much fun to walk around in the snow.

The weekend after we returned from New York, we found out we were pregnant. I called Reed and rambled on for about 10 minutes about how we shouldn't get excited, or get our hopes up, that it wasn't a big deal, and I was just telling him because I had to, but I didn't want to get excited. I repeated those things over and over, then I told him I took a test and it was positive. 

In May we found out we were expecting a baby girl!

Reed took a couple days off of work in July and we went to San Diego for his Aunt's wedding. While we were there we hit the beach and the San Diego Zoo. San Diego is one of our favorite places to visit. It was a nice last vacation as a family of two!

Sadie dominated the rest of the year.

She was born in October and the months have flown by!

This picture was taken before we left the hospital. She's so tiny here!

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving together.

And our first Christmas.

Christmas morning, Sadie and I had a chance to hang out while we waited for Reed to wake up so we could open presents. I took the time to think about how thankful I am for our little girl. It's funny how much can happen in one year. God truly blessed us and I don't take His gift for granted. I know Sadie won't remember this holiday, but I'll treasure it forever. 

Two Months

Dear Sadie,

Another month has flown by. You're growing so fast! You weighed 10 pounds at the doctor last Friday. You're such a big girl! You're officially out of newborn clothes which makes me a little sad.

You still sleep a lot. 

When you are awake you want to see what's going on. You don't like to be sitting, we always have to be moving when we're holding you. 

I live to see you smile. You have such a beautiful smile. You're pretty serious though! You look like you're solving a long division problem most of the time because you're busy taking everything in. 

Your strength continues to amaze us. You are so strong! You lift your head up and look around all the time. 

Your favorite thing in the world is to be naked! As soon as we unsnap your diaper, you kick your legs like crazy. Sometimes when you're fussy, I put you on the changing pad, take off your diaper, and let you move around! It settles you down. 

Your second favorite thing is the ceiling fan. You smile at that more than anything. If you're crying it will stop you in your tracks until you remember you were crying and start all over again!

I love your little toes. I wish there was a way to keep them this size forever.

We're getting the hang of breastfeeding. We have these moments in the middle of the night where you pull yourself off and look up at me and smile. I know I shouldn't encourage you at 3 A.M., but those moments are my favorite. 

You're starting to talk and you have the cutest little voice. You found the mirror on your swing and will talk your own ear off. 

Your dad and I often stare at you and talk about what a blessing you are. You bring us such joy and happiness.

Who knew we would talk about poop so much?

You still eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day, but are starting to go closer to 7 to 8 hours at night and then another 3 to 4 hour stretch. You must have had another growth spurt because two times last week you slept from 5 P.M. to 2 A.M.

You still have a love/hate relationship with your car seat, but you are starting to like baths more. They're not your favorite thing, but you don't cry anymore. You don't like having your clothes taken off or put on. You don't want to be messed with!

We love you so much Sadie baby. You are the sweetest little thing!

Love, Mom

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas!

Thanksgiving Week

On Thanksgiving I asked my sister if she would take a few photos because I have a lot of pictures of Reed with Sadie and me with Sadie, but only a few of the three of us together. Unfortunately, someone was a sassy pants and didn't like getting their picture taken, like father like daughter.

I handed Sadie to my sister because I told her to dress nice so I could get some pictures of the two of them and didn't want to waste the opportunity. Guess who settled down as soon as she got into her Auntie's arms? I'm going to have to keep my eye on those two.

Thanksgiving morning my mom and sister came over for a brunch and then we went over to our friend's house for a traditional Thanksgiving feast.

My beautiful friend Tonya was in town so we did what girls do and got our shop on! We tried to convince Reed that Sadie needed her first coach purse. Yeah, that didn't happen!

While the three of us were out to lunch I breastfed in public for the first time. I usually do it in my car because it's easier. That whole hooter hider thing is a pain in the ass! If we didn't have an extra step involved to get a good latch I wouldn't use it.

We took Sadie to her first Christmas parade. She loved slept through it. Reed and I had fun. We look forward to doing more things like that when she's older and can enjoy them too. 

On our way to the parade the grinch made an appearance. She doesn't like stuff on her head,

but she looked so cute in the santa beanie I made her and it matched her outfit! 

What we've been up to lately

Time is flying by. I cannot believe that Sadie will be two months old in a little over a week. She certainly keeps me busy during the day so it doesn't leave me much time for blogging. I've been trying to enjoy every moment with her. She is the sweetest thing, but she's demanding! :) Generally, I like to have everything scheduled/planned out so I know what to expect. I figured once Sadie arrived we'd get into a routine and try to stick with it as much as we could. Since she's been born, it's kind of been the opposite. I let her call the shots and go with the flow. If I have stuff that needs to be done, I work around what she's doing and get it done when I can. She still sleeps a lot so there isn't much to put into a routine anyway. When I can, I try and follow the EASY routine (eat, activity, sleep, you). However, she usually falls asleep while I'm feeding her. I know there's a lot of stuff out there that says you're not suppose to nurse to sleep, but so far it hasn't caused us any issues. I don't think it makes sense to wake her up just to have her fall back asleep or keep her awake so she's fussy.

Our days fly by. She eats every two hours during the day, sometimes she goes three hours between feedings. It blows my mind how fast two hours go by. I'm lucky because she's always been a pretty fast eater, but before I know it, it's time to feed her again.

I don't want to jinx anything, but she's been sleeping pretty good at night. She usually eats between 8:00 and 9:00 P.M. and sleeps to 3:00 or 4:00 A.M. Reed changes her and brings her back to me to eat and then she sleeps until 6:00 A.M. or 7:00 A.M. I've tried waking her around 10:00 P.M. to feed her to get her longer stretch of sleep to last longer in the morning, but she still wakes up a few hours later. It isn't horrible so I'm just letting her do her thing for now. Once she starts staying more alert we will not be starting our day at 3:00 A.M. so we may have some sleep training in our future.

We started using her one size cloth diapers a few weeks ago. I LOVE them. There was a small part of me that was worried I wouldn't like using cloth. I read so many blogs and different opinions while researching cloth diapers. There were a handful of people who tried it and for different reasons didn't like it and switched to disposables. I've had a couple small leaks, but both times she was in her diaper for longer than usual. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about using cloth diapers is that you touch poop. I touched waaaay more poop using disposables.

Christmas is about a week away. It's going to be special sharing it with our little Sadie girl. We're having family over on Christmas Eve morning for a brunch. We'll go to church in the afternoon and come home to open our stockings and eat yummy food. Christmas morning we'll see what Santa brought us, open our presents, and eat a nice breakfast. I'm very excited about starting traditions with the three of us!

Newborn Pictures

We had newborn pictures taken when Sadie was six days old. It's pretty crazy that she's almost two months old! Ah! She has changed so much from when these were taken. She looks so little, now she's our big girl with big ole cheeks and belly. Our photographer is so amazing. Sadie was a little sassafras and you can't tell looking at the pictures. Seriously, if you need any pictures. check her out.

One Month

Dear Sadie,

This month has gone by so fast! It seems like we were just leaving the hospital. You have changed so much and are growing so fast, but you still look a lot like your daddy. You had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. You inherited your dad's appetite and weigh 8 pounds 7 ounces. You've grown an inch since you were born. The doctor said you're one healthy baby and has no concerns! 

You pretty much slept through the first two weeks of life. I needed to wake you up for feedings. Now you're becoming more alert. You like being on your back on your play mat. You look around constantly. I'm always trying to figure out what you're looking at. 

You have a love/hate relationship with your car seat, baths, and getting changed. You love getting your hair washed and the sound of running water. 

We're working hard to make breastfeeding work. 

You are STRONG! We have to be careful when we're holding you because you move around so much. You can lift your head up and push yourself off our chests with your arms and legs. 

You had a growth spurt right around four weeks. You were a completely different baby!! You wanted to be fed every hour and had no problem voicing your displeasure. 

You like listening to music. The Lumineers station on Pandora is your favorite.

You eat every two to three hours during the day and every four to six hours during the night. 

We swaddle you before bed and you look like a little caterpillar. 

You make the funniest expressions while you're sleeping. They range from smiles, to raising one eyebrow, to looking like you're in pain. 

You're pretty easy for the most part. When you do get fussy, it doesn't take much to settle you down. You like it when dad beat boxes Mambo Number 5. 

We've made many trips to Target and Starbucks. As long as you're fed you do well being out. You like the stroller as long as we're moving. 

You were baptized this month. It was a very special day for us! 

We love you so much. You're the rainbow in our lives and you bring us so much joy. We can't believe how much you've changed already. These moments are so precious because you'll only be this little for so long!

Love, Mom

Cloth Diapers

We've started using cloth diapers and I'm in love! I had such a hard time with disposables. They were always leaking or blowing out. It was getting so frustrating. Sadie's umbilical cord fell off when she was 8 days old, but it still needed some additional time to heal. I tried using a cloth diaper, but it just irritated the area. On Monday evening her little scab fell off and we started using cloth on Tuesday.

So far it's gone really smoothly. She looks so cute in her diapers. We've gone out a couple times and changing her has been a breeze. I just throw the dirty diaper in a wet bag and toss it in my diaper bag. Easy! I was nervous about washing them because there's so many different routines. I wasn't sure which one would work for us, but I haven't had any issues yet.

It's only been a few days and I'm sure there will be a leak here or a blowout there, but so far I am so happy we decided to use cloth.

Sadie's Baptism

Sadie Mae was baptized last Sunday. It was a very special day for Reed and me. Our Pastor taught both of us in high school so that made it extra special that he baptized our little girl. Friends and family came to the service. It was nice of them to show their support! Afterwards, we went home and Reed cooked us a nice breakfast. It was his last day before he went back to work so we spent the rest of it hanging out at home.

Two Weeks

Sadie had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and it went great! She's packing on the weight, which makes this breastfeeding mom happy. She weighs 7 lbs 6 oz. The doctor said we have a perfectly, healthy baby girl on our hands. Yay! 

This week is Reed's first week back at work. So far it's gone pretty well. I miss him during the day. He works long hours so spending almost two weeks together was really nice. I'm thankful he has his job and for everything he does, but I like hanging out with him!

 I was a little worried about getting to her appointment on time. When Reed was home I would feed her and hand her off to him to change, get dressed, and put in the car seat while I finished getting ready. I wasn't sure I could do it all by myself. Luckily, everything went smoothly and we got to the doctor early. 

The days go by really fast. She feeds every two to four hours and then you add burping and changing of the diaper, it feels like all I do is feed her! I love it though. She's already changing so much so I try to soak in as much time with her as possible. These snuggles will only last so long.

One Week

Sadie is already a week old! To be honest, I had no idea until my friend texted me and said Happy One Week Sadie. Our first week has gone really well. For the most part Sadie is pretty chill, just don't mess with her when she's hungry. Reed and I are so in love and we're trying to enjoy our time together as a new family before he goes back to work. Hopefully Monday doesn't come too fast! I'll try and post more later. I just wanted to share some pictures and let you know that we're home safe and sound.