Purple Dress & Pretty Girl

Today Summer wanted to play dress up, so I found this pretty purple dress, and a pretty purple headband, and a nice green background, and TADA, a pretty little girl! I am still having so much fun being a mom, it seems so easy, I really thought it was going to be a lot harder. I am getting enough sleep, my body is back to normal, I feel ... well I am really sore, picking her up is strengthening my back and my arms, but otherwise my body feels great. She is napping right now, finally, she has been up since 8:00 am, almost 4 hours, and it is probably time for her to eat, so I should go find myself something to eat before she wakes up and wants to eat herself.

6 Weeks Today

We made it, Summer is 6 weeks old today, where has the time gone. Summer is still doing great, she is starting to chunk up a little bit. I was holding her earlier, and she had her eyes closed, and I noticed her long beautiful eye lashes. I swear those were not there just a day ago! She is also still losing some of the hair on her head, I guess her "real" hair needs room. Her hair color also looks reddish brown, I am not sure where that would be coming from. Her eyes still look blue, but they could change. Today I put a pair of purple pants on her, they are still a little too big, but they sure are cute! I love looking through her clothes to see if something new will fit. I need to go get some baby size hangars, next time I am at the store, because 1) she has some really nice dresses that should be hung up and 2) there is not enough room in her dresser for all of the clothes. It must be nice having so many clothes, most of which are too big.
Speaking of too big, I tried on my work pants, and luckily they fit again. I washed them today, so I am ready for work next week. I am excited about going back to work, I just hope I am really busy and don't have time to miss Summer that much. I think on Monday I will make Kris take some pictures of Summer and I, I will finally look decent, I will have my hair fixed, I will put on make-up and have on nice clothes. I guess it has been nice 6 week break, I have really enjoyed it, but I don't think I could stay home for much longer.

the Reflection

The pregnancy: My pregnancy was a challenge in the beginning, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I became deathly ill. I ended up missing about a month of work, and for the first 20 weeks I lived on unisom and B6 to help me cope. For the last 20 weeks, I switched my unisom and B6 for tums! At around 15 weeks my morning sickness really went away, and I had a great time for the rest of the pregnancy up until I hit the final month, and they discovered my blood pressure was high, and the baby was breach. I started going to the hospital twice a week for monitoring in the end, and it was a pain. Towards the very end, the last weeks, I had trouble walking and breathing, it definitely was a lot harder to make it to work and get around. Now that it is over, and I have had Summer, I just might do it again some day.

The birth: I knew I would more than likely have a c-section because Summer was breach, and I was scheduled to go in on the 24th, they were first going to attempt to turn her again, and if they were successful, I would be induced, if not, I would have a c-section. On the 13th, my water naturally broke, so my c-section ended up being an emergency. I am actually glad it happened this way, I did not have time to worry about what was going to happen.

The recovery: I have to admit, having a c-section (even an emergency) was a lot easier than I thought, and probably a lot easier than a natural delivery. I had a spinal block (and it did not hurt) and I really did not have any pain afterwards. I was on percocet the next day, then switched to motrin, and that was all I needed. I delivered on a Friday, and on Monday I was walking around Target shopping with my mom. It took some time to recovery physically, near the end of the pregnancy I was so out of shape, that just walking short distances made me out of breath, but if I ever do it again, I will definitely not fear a c-section.

Your new body: I have lost all of my pregnancy weight, all 26 pounds. I have a nice scar across my lower abdomen, but my swim suit covers and it really doesn't look bad, it is healing nicely. I did not get stretch marks on my stomach, I did get them on my *** (uh I hope they go away) and I still have the nice brown line on my stomach, I hope that goes away too. My belly button looks a little funky now, but it may look better with time. I was able to put my belly ring back in with no problem. Overall I got lucky how my body handled the pregnancy and looks, my stomach is not as firm as it was, but with a little work, I can probably get it back into shape (if I find time!)

Your baby: I am so lucky, Summer is one of those easy going babies. I don't know why I got to be so lucky, but she never really cries, and I can put her down to sleep and she can be awake and eventually get herself to sleep. When she wakes up from a nap, she will give us a few yells to let us know she is hungry, and once she was in her swing and she must have had a bad dream because she just started crying, but otherwise, she is really great, and the whole experience has been a lot easier than my husband and I expected.

Regrets: Breast feeding did not work out for me, Summer was a "lazy" baby and all she wanted to do for the first 24 hours was sleep, so she didn't latch, I became frustrated and didn't think she was getting enough food, then I started pumping, but never got more than an ounce, so I gave into formula, I do feel bad, and wish it would have been easier, but once again, if I ever do this again, I will know more about what to do, and I will definitely try again.

The future: Right now I am going to go back to work in a week, daddy retired from the military and is going to stay home with Summer. We plan on staying in Vegas unless we have financial difficulties or the crime gets worse, if it does we will sell our house and make a lot of $$$ and move to a small town probably in Texas closer to family. I hope Summer has a wonderful life, she is so loved, she can grow up and do whatever she wants.

Super Cute!

This morning I gave Summer a bath, put lotion on her, and put her in a new outfit, put on a hat, took her into her room and sat her in a chair, added her stuffed animals and .... SUPER CUTE! I can't believe how fun she is, and I am really surprised how good she is. Kris and I are really lucky to have such an easy going baby. In fact, last night she slept from 1:30 to 5:30, then didn't wake up again until 8:30, so we had a lot of sleep, which makes for extremely happy parents. She is really awake a lot more during the day, and is really doing good at keeping her head up, and she is also starting to extend her legs and scoot when we keep our hand in the way. I have a feeling she will be crawling sooner than later.
Yesterday we went to Babies R Us and I picked up a nursery rhyme book. I really can't believe how many I didn't remember, or had wrong. I have read it to her a few times, but I can't wait until she starts looking at the pictures with me. She is such a great baby :o)

Foot and Hand Prints

Things are going great, have I mentioned yet how lucky we are, because Summer is such a good baby! She still does not cry unless she is hungry, and we usually know when she is hungry and get the bottle before she gets fussy. When she does cry, it is so cute, her nose is so little she starts snorting, and we start laughing.

Summer turned 1 month yesterday, and we took her to get her "professional" pictures taken. She was asleep, but we were able to wake her up. She did really good, she wasn't fussy, but she didn't look where she was suppose to look, she kept looking up at the bright lights. She really loves looking at the lights (windows, bulbs, etc). We got some really cute pictures, her fancy dress and black patent shoes, her diaper shot, and a couple other outfits. They should be ready in about two weeks, I can't wait! Yesterday we also found Summer's first freckle or mole, on her abdomen, a little brown dot, very cute! Neither of us have a mark in that area, so I guess hers is unique to her. I was wondering when she would start getting moles or freckles, since I have a zillion and Kris has a few.

Summer went swimming in a pool for the first time this past Saturday at the Springstons. They keep the water nice and warm, over 90, and Summer loved the water. She didn't enjoy the bright sun so her eyes were closed most of the time, and we kept her under an umbrella, but she loved the water and just relaxed as I drug her through the water. They don't make the little swimmers in her size, so we put it on over her diaper (double protection right) as as she was getting out, we took the swimmer off and then her diaper, and her diaper was full of poop!!!! but luckily none got in the pool, shew!

Today we tried to get Summer's hand and foot print for her baby book. Let me repeat that, we tried. It was not easy and it did not turn out well, in fact, it looks like she has a huge hand! We were laughing so hard trying to get her to keep her hand outstretched, I had tears running down my face. We are going to try again with some ink instead of this paint stuff, and wait until she is asleep so maybe she won't be moving so much. Here is what it looked like.

One month old already, time is passing so fast. Summer has tummy time each day, she is doing a great job picking up her head, she was standing for short periods today (while Kris was holding her up), she is eating about 4 ounces every 3-4 hours, she has limited her dirty diapers to one a day, instead of one after each feeding, she is definitely awake a lot more than before, all morning, in fact she is awake most of the day, maybe taking one or two naps. She doesn't bother either of us, she fits right in to our life, she lays on the bed while we watch tv, or she sits in our lap while we play eq, she is so calm and easy to take care of, we really got lucky! Here is a picture of her from yesterday, I had to get some face shots for her monthly picture frames, and this was one I took while she was hanging out in her rocker next to me on the computer.

More Videos!

Here is another cute video, Summer getting a bath this morning, she is 4 weeks old today. Monday, she will be one month, and we are taking her to get photos. I have to pack several outfits ahhhh! Having a little girl is so much fun, she is still a great baby, and I still feel really lucky. I cannot believe it has been 4 weeks already, time flies when you are having fun! Right now Summer is sleeping in her swing, she was up about 5 hours this morning, so she is definitely more alert lately. Tomorrow we are going over the Springstons, and it will be the first time she will go swimming in a pool! They keep the pool temp set to around 90, so it will be nice.

Funny Face Video

Enjoy!

Eyes Wide Open

It has been over 3 weeks, and Summer is doing awesome, still the great baby I keep bragging about. I realized I didn't post many pictures of her beautiful eyes, so here is a picture. Right now her eyes are blue-ish but who knows what they will end up being. Kris, MeMe and I met some people at In and Out Burger today and took Summer, and of course she was great, she slept the entire time. She is such a joy to be around, I can't help but looking at her all the time. MeMe gave her a bath today and put her hair in a "mohawk" and it was so cute! This mommy thing is great, I love being a mom to a baby girl!

Loving It All

Summer is three weeks old today, and I am still in love with her, and being a mom. I am amazed to discover a new secret in life, something that many people already knew, but I would never see until I had my own baby, the secret of a new love. My emotions have always been guarded and hidden, but when I had Summer, something in me was unleashed, and I find myself overwhelmed with feelings of love that I could have never imagined. I can now look at other mothers and understand something that I never could have known, the deep emotional love a mother can have for her child. When I look at Summer, it amazes me to know she is mine, she is depending on me to take care of her in every way, and as scary as it is, I have become a protective mother, ready to do anything for my child. The harsh reality is, she will eventually grow up and leave me. I look at the relationship I have with my own mother, and I now understand how my mom can love me as much as she does. I also feel sad for my mom, because I grew up and left her, and it must have been really hard for her, and yet I never looked back when I left.