Josie is 2 Months Old!

The days seem to be flying by because here we are and our little girl is already two months old. Is there a pause button somewhere??? Josie is doing great and is so good natured! She never cries unless she is hungry or in need of a diaper change. She does scowl a lot, but I have decided that her big brother already annoys her.



{2 Months!}





{The Infamous "Scowl"}



Josie is taking her time growing which is nice. She is just now starting to grow out of her newborn clothes and is no longer in newborn diapers. She has been smiling a lot and starting to coo. There has been a couple times where I am pretty sure she actually laughed!


She loves it outside and isn't a big fan of lying down, she likes to see what's going on. She has been sporadic on her sleeping patterns though. When she first came home she was going 6-6.5 hours each night, then when it got hot it went to 3-4 hours. We are doing better again, but it fluctuates back and forth.




{2 Months!}



Today was Josie's two month appointment. After researching and talking about the vaccinations we decided to go ahead with them on a alternative schedule. We didn't like the idea of how many shots there are at once and the vaccine cocktail she was supposed to get so we opted out of a couple for now. I see both sides of the vaccine debate and I have no idea which is the best way to go. There is equal amounts of information out there and it doesn't make it easy to make a decision.

Talk about heart wrenching though! My poor baby girl looking at me through tears like I had betrayed her. It was tough, but we made it to the other side.




{First time down at the dock}


On a lighter note she weighs 10 lbs. 8 oz. and is 22 3/4 inches long. She has finally met my birth weight! She has good head control and is on target with everything else. The doctor doesn't think she has thrush now just a milk residue since it never got on the inside of her cheeks or roof of her mouth. At the last appointment we thought she had it, but decided to combat it naturally instead of giving her Nyastin. So I have been taking acidophilus and rubbing coconut oil on her tongue to help and it seems to be.

She is a joy to have around! I am loving every minute of it!

Encouragement for "One of Those Days"

Today was just an ordinary day. I was more tired than usual, but still managed to get some laundry done including changing our bedding. Wyatt actually took a nap. I even had a brief moment that I am pretty sure I fell asleep. Those are certainly rare, but appreciated. I was able to get our dinner started, finished, and ate without a hitch, a feat not usually accomplished without interruption.

Things were going smooth enough that I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to pump some breast milk for Friday. {I am helping with the Relief Sale in Fairview for a couple hours and my dad will be watching the kids.}Well, it was a good thought and I did mangage.

As soon as I was all hooked up Wyatt comes over.

"What's that???"

"A pump."

"What's it do???" {I should have known there would be questions}

"It pumps milk for Josie."

"Does it come from in here???" {Pointing at the pump}

"No." {I quickly redirected and he was back into his Thomas movie.}

Whew!

So, while this is going on Josie is getting fussy. It figures since I am pumping she would get hungry. So, I bounce her in her bouncer with my foot to distract her and hope that there is an off chance she will fall asleep.

Nope.

Wyatt comes over with the remote for the DVD player waving it in Josies face so I confiscated it. Great, now I have to control the TV too.

After sitting for a minute watching Thomas again, Wyatt decides he has to go #2. Of course, I am still pumping and now he will need some "assistance" in a few minutes.

Yep. "Mommy, I'm all donnnne!"

And that is the end of pumping.

{Sigh} The joys of motherhood!

Earlier today I heard Steven Curtis Chapmans song Do Everything on the radio. I love that song, it is so encouraging. It's a good reminder that no matter how repetitive and chaotic my day is in all things give God the glory. Praise, honor and thank Him in all things, in all circumstances, whether great or small, and even when the things we do are monotonous, chaotic, or seem insignificant. God sees it all and it puts a smile on his face!

So with that,

"Thank you Lord for giving me the strength, patience, and encouragment when I need it. Help me remember that everything I do, I do for You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Sewing Off the Cuff

So, over the weekend I found a dress that I just loved at Good Will. After trying it on I was unsure if I should get it since it was beyond my comfort zone length-wise. I ended up getting it thinking I could at least use it for a night gown. Well this morning I got to thinking that all I really had to do is add some length to it and I could wear it as I originally wanted to.

I looked into my scrap material pile {which is rather limited} and I found some pant legs I cut off some lounge pants that had a hole in them that matched the grey perfectly that was in the dress. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I gave it a try anyway.



 As it turns out, I pulled it off! I added about three inches to the length which brought it about an inch above my knee! It looks pretty good for an amatuer seamstress! And I can wear it like I wanted to!

Josie is One Month Old!

I have to say this month has just flown by! It doesn't seem possible that our sweet little girl is 4 weeks old today! She is doing great! We had our one month check up yesterday and she is now 7 lbs 8 oz and is 20.5 inches long! She is definitely on the small side with her growth. We had another blood test for her jaundice and it has come down more to 10.4. The pediatrician says it is due to breastfeeding. Not sure how that works, but he said it is within normal levels and should clear up in another month and will not harm her.



{Our little Josie, 1 Month Old}



{Look! She already knows how to count!}



{She looks just like me when I was a baby!}




She is sleeping consistantly between five and six and a half hours at night. She gets a diaper change, nurses, and then goes right back to sleep!  She still has a ton of hair and is still as wild as ever. {She is my little punk rocker!}

She is still way too little for the cloth diapers and I'm not sure when she will fit into them. We have found that Huggies diapers are not a good fit for us. Almost always they are garaunteed to leak everything.

She has broken out in new baby rash. Looks awful, poor girl, but she is still beautiful.  She has thrush too, but we are going to try putting coconut oil on her tongue instead of using a perscription to try to combat it naturally.

The last month I have had it pretty easy with meals thanks to some of the wonderful moms at MOPs. Last Friday was the first meal I had to make for our family in three weeks! I will be forever grateful to them for that! It definitely helped ease us into life with two kids. Less cooking equals less dishes and more time to devote to our kids. It has been great.

Monday night she had her first bottle given by her Papa! I helped out with VBS and pumped a bottle just in case since I would be gone for about two hours. My dad said she took it no problem! I had left him with two different bottles and four different nipples to try just in case and he didn't need them!

Overall she is doing wonderfully! We couldn't be happier with her! God gave us a great gift!

Eggs-periment

While doing one of Wyatt's daily devotions {Gotta Have God} we came across this neat experiment that we had to try. This experiment takes the shell off an egg and you are able to hold the inside of the egg! Pretty cool, huh?

What you will need:

1. An egg
2. Vinegar
3. A glass jar

Place the egg in a glass jar and cover it with vinegar. Leave for 48 hours. The end result will be an egg without a shell that you can hold and squeeze gently in your hands.

This is such a simple thing to do and a lot of fun. Just a fair warning: The egg can break if dropped. We didn't know how strong it was and Wyatt dropped his in the sink and it broke open. Needless to say, we had one unhappy boy after that. But it is so easy we can just do again!

Enjoy!