9 Months.

9 Months.

Presley is 9 months old as of Tuesday. I am not sure how it is only 3 months until our baby girl will be 1. She is such a blessing to all three of us.

  

She can be a handful, but she is so cute, girly, and sweet.

My favorite, favorite thing that Presley does right now is she babble sings. She doesn't just babble, it is like singing. It is higher pitch and the noises carry over. It is such a sweet, sweet sound. She does it mostly when she alone, for example, in the car or playing in the floor. It immediately makes us smile and I could listen to her do it forever.

 

At 9 months, Presley is...

 

• nursing about 5 times a day.
• eating cereal, vegetables, fruits, and a few table/finger foods
• wearing size 3 diapers.
• wearing 6-9 months, 9 months, and a few 12 months clothes. Most of the 12 months are still way too big, especially in the length.

• scoot crawling to get around. She can go room to room and basically anywhere she wants scooting. She often gets into the crawling position and makes one move, then just lays down or gets back to scooting.
• clapping, shaking her head no, dancing, and waving on demand.
• feeding herself puffs and a few other finger foods.
• saying Mama, Dada, No No, and Bubba.
• loves bath time.
• watching every single move her brother makes.
• recognizing more family members and even showing excitement when they come into a room. She has done this for me for a while, but now she is doing it to many more.
• reaching for whom or what she wants.
• knows what she wants and is not afraid to let you know. Someone  sitting near us comments on this nearly every church service. It is equally funny and annoying.
• wanting to pull up, but hasn't yet. She is constantly getting in "trouble" for trying to pull up on the end table. She knows not to, but the second no one is watching she makes a bee line for that table. It is a small ceramic/rod iron table and will topple over if she pulls on it. I think I am going to have to temporarily move it.
• getting into anything and everything!!!

 

9 months has gone way too fast, but we are really enjoying this stage. She and Brady are so funny together. He is really enjoying watching her learn and interact with him. He is not enjoying her taking his toys. Ha! Watching your babies grow is so bittersweet. I feel like Brady should be only 9 months old, but he is a big 4 year old with his own ideas and thoughts.

 

Here is the comparison.

 Brady's 9 month post is here.

This is me with Brady at 9 months. I don't feel like I look any older, but sometimes it smacks me in the face that I have actually aged some. This is one of those pictures. However, I have always looked a lot younger than I am, so in this picture I look 18 and now I look 23, right!?! Right! ;)

 

Happy 9 months sweet girl!

8 months

Presley is 8 months today!

 

It has really hit me hard this week how big she is getting. I feel like she has changed so much in the past couple weeks. I looked at Caleb the other day and said, "She is almost 8 months, in 4 months will be her birthday!" I really hadn't thought about how soon that is!!!

 

 

At 8 months Presley is...

 

• wearing 6-9 month clothes and a few 9 months stuff. She is short so a lot of things are super long on her. She makes up her length in her chunky thighs. Ha! I love those thighs!!!
• wearing size 3 diapers. I think she will be in them a while.
• nursing 5-6 times a day.
• sleeping from 7pm-5/6am. Occasionally she wakes up looking for her pacifier around 3-4am, but falls back to sleep quickly.
• saying da da, na na, ba ba, ga ga often. She says ma ma when she cries! Ha! Brady also did this. She looked at me yesterday, held up her hand to wave, and said, "Hi!". Not kidding! She did this one other time.
• scooting on her bottom to get what she wants and inch worm crawling backwards! She just recently really picked up on the moving thing and is getting better and better daily. I give her a couple weeks to really get going.
• grabbing EVERYTHING!!!! If she can get it, she will grab it.
• shaking her head no and nodding her head to music. Brady and I have a lot of fun with this.
• waving and clapping.
• screaming, "singing", babbling, yelling, and grunting constantly. She was SCREAMING "da da" in a really high pitch during worship service Sunday night. I had to take her out and walk the walk of shame with everyone church laughing the entire way out. It was so embarrassing.
• eating cereal and baby food. She has had a lot of fruits and vegetables. I have really enjoyed making her baby food.
• has one tooth!

 

She is such a joy. She brings a new element to our life. She can be full of drama, but she can be so sweet and snuggly as well.  We all think the world of her. We love watching her grow and develop. She has the best laugh and sweetest smile.

 

She is the perfect addition to our lives.

 

Here is her monthly comparison!

This is a picture of Brady at 8 months. I can not get over how much Presley and Brady resemble each other! It just shocked me a little. I know they look a lot, but wow! I had to share!

Brady's 8 month post is here.

Brady and Presley side by side at 8 months. 

7 Months

Presley is 7 months.

 

Each day we grow more and more in love with our sweet girl. She is silly, dramatic, sensitive, sweet, loving, and so much fun!

She has developed quite the personality!

She makes the girliest noises. We all love it!

 

We get so tickled at her. She does this hard breathing out of her nose when she is mad, done with something, or irritated. She big belly laughs at her daddy and brother. She watches every move Brady or  I make.

 

At 7 months Presley is...

 

• wearing size 3 diapers.
• wearing size 6 months clothes and a few 6-9 months clothes.
• laughing and "talking" all the time.
• saying "dada". She can mixes a lot of sounds. I could have sworn she said "duck" at church the other day. Noah heard her also, because he looked at me and said, "she can talk!"
• nursing 4-5 times a day and eating baby food and/or cereal twice a day. She has had rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, green peas, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, avocado, carrots, a little banana, and prunes. (The prunes are only if needed for bathroom purposes, you get the idea.) We are sticking with mostly cereal and veggies for right now.
• taking one long nap and 1-2 short naps per day.
• waving and patting. She is getting better and better about doing it on demand.
• scooting A LITTLE on her tummy. It isn't a full scoot or a crawl, but she can maneuver herself just enough to get a toy or object just out of her reach. I DO NOT CONSIDER HER MOBILE. It is minimal, but it is a start. I give her a couple more months to be into everything!
• picking up puffs and other small objects with her thumb and finger. She doesn't put the puffs in  her mouth, she usually drops them in the floor.
• loves her brother.
• recognizing family members and friends.
• doing very well in Bible class.
• sleeping from 7:30-8pm until 5-7am. Occasionally I hear her in between, but she soothes herself back to sleep or I go give her the paci.
• loving paci and blankey!  

She is really changing and becoming acting more like an older baby with each day. We are all enjoying her more and more each day.

Here she is on her birthday and each month up until now.  I love how you can see her thighs grow. Girl has some big thighs! They are perfect for tickling and kissing! ;)

 

Here is Brady and Presley side by side at 7 months. They look a lot alike to me. I also see the differences. Brady weighed a little less and was a little longer at this age. They definitely look like brother and sister to me!

 

We love every second with our sweet girl. She has been such a blessing to our family. Brady adores her and HATES to hear her upset. It is so very sweet. I have a feeling the next few months will fly bye and we will be celebrating a birthday before we know it. Ahhh!

Sometimes I just look at Caleb and say, "Can you believe we have TWO awesome kids?". Sometimes I feel so blessed, my heart could burst.

 

Happy 7 months, Pres!!!

4 Months

 Presley is 4 months old today. She is really beginning to have an individual personality. She is acting more and more like a tiny person, rather than a newborn. She is interacting with us so much.

My parents got this hat for her in California last week. I know I am biased, but she is so cute. I just can't stand it. She looks so much like Brady, it is crazy!!!

Today is also Poppi's birthday! We have some fun family time planned for this weekend.

 Love those big, chunky legs.

At 4 months Presley is...

• nursing every 3-4 hours, about 6 times a day. I don't always keep up, just feed her when she shows signs of hunger. When I go back and count it is about 6 times most days.
• taking one bottle at night before bath and bed, about 4-6 oz. of breast milk.
• sleeping from 9pm - 6am consistently. She occasionally sleeps until 7. One day she slept until 8!!! Sometimes it is a little earlier.
• occasionally she wakes up in the night. I hear her moving around, but she usually falls back to sleep on her own. :)

This picture is so funny to me. She is like, I don't want to do this every month!

• still struggling to roll all the way over. It is so sad and funny to watch. I keep videoing because I think she will do it, but she just falls right back over. I have to hold Brady back from just giving her a little push over. She is so so so close!
• still loving Mommy, but is warming up to others. She has had some tummy discomfort, which I think was a big part of her clingyness and screaming fits. I have avoided ALL caffeine and onions, peppers, garlic, and other strong spices for about 3 weeks as much as possible. She seems to be doing so much better!
• watching Brady's EVERY move!!!! She can not take her eyes off of him. It is so sweet. He is really sweet to her most of the time as well.
• taking 2-3 long naps most days. Every now and then she adds a few short naps in instead or in addition to.
• loving bath time! At 6-7 pm every night she starts grunting and whining until you put her in the bath. It is so funny.
• wearing a few 3 month clothes, but mostly 3-6 months and a couple 6 month things. Most of the 6 months stuff is still so big!
• wearing size 2 diapers. I think we will be in them for a while.
• cooing, squealing, laughing, smiling, and "talking" every chance she gets.
• drooling and gnawing on everything. I wouldn't be surprised if a little toothy showed up soon, but realize it could be a few more months.
• grasping things in her hand and bringing it to her mouth. It isn't really a smooth process, but she can do it.  She loves to grab my hair.
• doing crunches when laying on her back.
• screams with delight or to get your attention. It is funny, but a little annoying. :)
• trying to sit up unsupported. She topples over a little, but she is trying.
• bearing weight on legs and holding head up very well.
• blowing raspberries on occasion.
• turns towards Mommy's voice in a room and follows me with her eyes. She does this to others to, but more consistently with me.

I love this picture below, because I was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to her with hand motions. She looked at me and attempted to move her hand too! She hasn't ever done that before. I was so happy I had a picture of it.

She is getting more and more fun each day. We all are so crazy about her. Brady loves her so much and talks so sweet to her. Things like, "you are talky talky today", "its ok little girlie", "here is bunny, you love bunny", and "are you hungry?, don't cry mommy is coming" are some of my favorite things I have overheard him say to her.

She looks so different to me this month. Usually I don't see a lot of change from month to month in the pictures.

We drag her around everywhere and she is hanging in there like a champ. She has her meltdowns and she is really attached to me, but overall she does really good for everything we put her through. The next few months are only going to get crazier, so I hope she is ready for it. I know the next few months will fly by due to the crazy and holidays, so I am trying to savor each moment with her and her brother.

 I remember this moment with Brady so clearly! It seems like it was just yesterday! He was so fun around this age.  I think they look a lot alike!! What do y'all think?

 Brady's 4 month post is here. (I started cereal at 4 months with Brady and could with Presley. She has had so much trouble with her tummy and is sleeping/nursing so well, I am planning to wait closer to 6 months. She stays satisfied with the milk. Physically she is ready. She watches everything we put in our mouths, so I might not make it all the way to 6 months.)

I couldn't get a good picture of both of them today. It is getting harder and harder each month.

Happy 4 Months Presley!!!

We love you sweet girl!!!

2 Month Check Up

Presley and I went to her 2 month well child check up this morning! Brady stayed with Caleb's dad. He didn't want any part of going to the Dr. office, even if it wasn't for him. Ha Ha!

naked and happy.

Presley was in a great mood when we got there. She smiled and cooed at the nurse and Dr. She didn't cry at all when they measure, weighed, and looked her over. Last month, she screamed the entire time! We had a sweet little conversation before the vaccines came. Poor girl had know idea what was coming.

I haven't been looking forward to this appointment. I do fine with the shots. I know it is a part of life, the pain is temporary, and it is good for their overall health. I never cried or got upset about/with any of Brady's shots. BUT, girl can cry! When she gets upset, she gets UPSET!!! She cries so loud. It is crazy that someone that tiny can make that much noise. All that to say, I just knew she would wail and scream with the shots and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to calm her down.

waiting on the Dr.

Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Oh she screamed and it took several minutes to get her under control, but not near as bad as I thought. In fact I think it was harder to calm her after last months appointment and she didn't get a single shot. Silly girl.

She is currently sleeping away!!!

2 month stats...

weight: 11 # 10 oz       59th percentile
height:  22.5 inches     52nd percentile
head circumference: 14.96  43rd percentile

She got 3 shots and one oral vaccine. She loved the oral rotovirus vaccine. She just smacked those lips.

 She gained about 1.5 lbs and grew 1 inch since last month. She has significantly slowed her eating down so I didn't expect as large of a weight gain as the first month. Her head went from the 83rd percentile to the 43rd percentile, but Presley was screaming at the 1 month visit so I think she mis-measured at the one month visit. She was much more cooperative this visit.

Overall, she is doing great and right on track with everything! So blessed!

2 Months

Presley is 2 months old today!!!

  

I can't believe she is already 2 months old, but at the same time it seems like she has been apart of our family much longer.

 It is amazing how that happens so quickly.

 

We go to her 2 month well baby check up this week, so I will be sure to post about that visit after we go. My guess is she is about 12 lbs or so.

 

At 2 months Presley is...

 

 

• nursing every 3-4 hours consistently.

• sleeping through the night. She goes down around 9-10 pm and sleeps until 5:30-6:30 am. She usually falls right back to sleep when I feed her and sleeps until 8 am or so. Then she is happy, happy!!!
• wearing size 1 diapers. They fit really well right now, not too big or too loose.
• wearing mostly 3 months clothes. She can still wear a few 0-3 months stuff, but some is really snug. Most of the 3 month clothes have plenty of room. I am hoping she stays in the 3 months stuff for a while, because most of the 3-6 month stuff is colder weather clothes. :o
• smiling, cooing, aahing, and occasionally giving a little giggle. She is a happy baby most of the time.
• loving her mommy! She is pretty crazy about Brady, too. She follows Brady with her eyes constantly. She smiles so so big when Caleb gets home from work! Mommy is still her favorite. She is a Mommy's girl for sure.
• she has a pretty consistent eat, play, sleep schedule. She is best when we stick to it.
• she is such a snuggle baby. I like it, but I also would like a little break from time to time. She likes to snuggle with Mommy the most.
• she takes a long 3-4 hour nap most days and several smaller naps throughout the day.
• she is holding her head up really well. She is pretty strong.
• she loves her bath! She was having a rough time between 7-8 pm every night, so I started giving her a bath and nursing her(whether it was time or not) and she has quit crying and fussing at that time. She has actually started being really sweet around that time, then she falls asleep in her crib around 9 pm.

She has had a rough couple of days. I am not sure if she just got off her little eat, play, sleep schedule and just couldn't recover or if she is going through a little growth spurt. It may be a combination of both. Who knows? She seems to be doing better now, though.

We are all three crazy about her. Brady adores her and is so concerned about her. He says the sweetest things to her. He loves to help take care of her and calm her down. He also really enjoys helping with her bath.

Brady at 2 months! You can see his 2 month post here. I didn't do that great of a job documenting what all he was doing each month.

Can't wait to see what the next month holds, but hopefully it won't go by so quickly! ;)

A baby story- Presley Lynn

Of course, I planned to have a scheduled c-section on July 2nd at 7:30. I had a c-section with Brady and our local hospital and Dr.s have a repeat c-section policy. I considered changing Dr.s  and explored some other options to be able to deliver via VBAC. However, I really, really like my Doctor combined with a few other concerns and reasons decided to just stay with my Dr. and schedule the c-section. Brady's birth story is here if interested.

I will start at Saturday night for documentation sake. :) This will be long and is basically for my documentation only.

 Saturday June 30, 2012

My good friend Rebecca's wedding was scheduled for this night at 7:30 pm at her parents house. It was over 100* that day, but I didn't want to miss the wedding. We all attended the wedding. It was beautiful and I felt great while I was there, but I was sweating like crazy.

When we got in the car, it all started to hit me. I was exhausted and having a lot of tightness in my stomach. We spent the night at my mom's for convenience and because we were leaving Brady there the next night to go have Presley. By the time we go to their house, I was having tightness combined with cramping like pain and lots of pressure. I went to bed. I tossed, turned, moaned, and groaned for a while, Caleb got me some water and I moved to a more comfortable bed. I finally fell asleep.

Sunday, July 1, 2012
We got up and went to worship service. The AC was acting up and it was so HOT inside the building. It was another 100* day, so I sweaty and swollen during the entire service. I was absolutely miserable! Our class is down stairs and I told Caleb it was at least 50* cooler down there. I made it through class fine. We went out to eat with the whole family for Mom's birthday after church. Caleb and I decided we would go home for good until going to the hospital in the morning. Of course, Brady stayed at my parents. We spent the entire day on the couch and in the ac. Caleb also had a bad headache, so we took it pretty easy. I wasn't feeling great, but I was 39 weeks pregnant so it was expected.

Monday, July 2, 2012
Caleb and I got up a little before 4 am. We had to be at the hospital at 5 am. We showered, finished packing, loaded the car and headed that way. I made sure to put my make-up on and straighten my hair before.  It only takes about 10 minutes to get there from our house. We checked in and they quickly got me hooked up to monitors and an iv. As soon as they started monitoring me, it was clear I was having tons of contractions, some were very painful. I was miserable. I could not get comfortable and felt terrible. I told Caleb this was it, I am never ever doing this again. (I may or may have not said this with Brady as well around this point and well you know that wasn't true.) I was completely hooked up and ready to go by 5:30am, but my c-section wasn't until 7:30 am. I had to allow the iv and other things to settle before I was really ready. Mine and Caleb's family showed up between 6:45 and 7 am. I spoke to everyone and hugged Brady before they set up camp in the waiting area. A little after 7 the anesthesiologist showed up and had me sign some papers. Shortly after my Dr. showed up and talked me through some things. The first thing she ask was if I was feeling all the contractions, to which I replied yes. She said well than it is good we scheduled you today, because she was coming anyway. Ha Ha! By 7:15 am I was being wheeled into surgery. We arrived to the operating room at 7:20 am. At 7:37 they began the c-section and by 7:47 am they lowered the curtain to show me our sweet, chunky, Brady look-alike. Mine and Caleb's first words to each other were at the same time, "she looks just like Brady"! I was feeling nauseous right before she was born, so they put meds in my iv and put that paper under my nose to keep me from getting sick. They told me I was blood pressure sensitive, this makes so much sense and was good info for me to know. That is whole other issue though.

Back to it, Caleb went with Presley. He cut the cord and carried her to the nursery to be weighed and monitored, but not before a few pics with mommy. The Dr. told me to rest while they finished up with the c-section. I closed my eyes and listened. At one point, they called the nursery to find out her weight. Everyone in the room made guesses before someone announced 8 lbs. I informed them that was Brady's exact weight. It was no time and I was being wheeled back to the Labor and Delivery room.

I am a little foggy on some of the details at this point. I have no idea what time it was! I know the nurse got me settled and at some point Caleb showed back up. I also remember the nursery nurse bringing me Presley. Again, I have no clue how long this all took. The nurse told me my postpartum room would be ready around 10:30 am, so that gives you some idea. I nursed Presley and she did wonderfully! Then the influx of people started rolling in. Caleb tried to monitor it so it wouldn't be so crowded. The L and D room was pretty small and the next c-section was being prepped in the same room with curtains drawn. Awkward.

Some time before 11 am, I was rolled down to Postpartum and set up in my room. Presley was taken to the nursery for a bath and returned to my room approximately 1 hour later. My postpartum room was much bigger and a lot more comfortable. Visitors rolled in one after another to meet and love on our sweet girl. I was in and out of it due to the surgery, iv, and various meds. I was just so tired, I couldn't always keep my eyes open. Apparently, it was pretty comical at times.

Everything went smooth and I am recovering. This time has been more difficult. I know my Dr removed any scar tissue she came across while she was in there, so I contribute that to some of it. Presley is perfect! I am crazy about her, we all are. She is so beautiful. I am humbled and feel so blessed to have two healthy, beautiful children. I am so thankful for both our sweet kiddos. I am also so thankful for all the sweet friends and family that love our family so well. We had tons of visitors welcome Presley into our family.

We are truly blessed in so many ways.