Perfect timing or are we crazy?

Apparently Dan and I like to make big life changes all at the same time! At the end of March we are moving! Who cares if we just had a baby and spent months decorating her nursery? Who cares that we just re-did our bathrooms and just put in new carpet? We spent forever researching pediatricians and daycares and found the perfect places for our daughter near our home because we knew that we wouldn't move for at least another year. Life is so funny.

Our first home.

To sum up a long story, we are buying our dream home from our friends that are moving out of the state. Dan and I have loved their home from the moment we stepped into it six years ago. They probably felt really awkward when we would come over because we made such a big deal about how much we loved their home. Every house we have ever looked at we would compare to their home. They called us about a month ago and shared that they were moving and wanted to know if we were really serious about buying their home. Dan and I decided that if we didn't buy it now we would kick ourselves later.

So here we are with our two month old baby and we are moving! It's about 40 miles from our current house but not any further from Dan's office. We won't have to pay tolls anymore which we are SO happy about! With us both being in sales we drive a lot and living off of three toll roads we rake in the tolls everyday. Last year we spent $2500 just on tolls. We are so sad to see our friends move but we are really excited for our move into their home. And the bonus...we sold our current house in two days. Was this meant to be or what? We have six weeks to pack up our lives and move into our dream house on two acres in a town of not quite 3500 people. Our new house has a beautiful gazebo and even an enclosed sun room. This is a house we can grow into and it has TONS of storage. We can't wait!

Charlotte is really excited too.

2 Months!

We can't even believe that our little cutie is 2 months old! She continues to make us laugh everyday (especially when her eyes cross). I know I am so mean for taking a picture of her like that. This month she changed so much and I know that I am going to keep saying that every month!
Last week she has started to try to roll over. When she is laying on her back she kicks her long legs over and end up on her side. We are having to watch her closely just in case she makes the full roll! Charlotte has also started sleeping through the night! We know that this is not normal for most babies her age but we are so appreciative. We feed her around 9:30 or 10 every night and she will sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. I am starting to get used to this! I hadn't slept a full night since I was first pregnant! Charlotte has also started smiling but of course never when my camera is in her face. Hopefully this month I can get a good picture. I love her gummy grin. She has also found her voice. It sounds like she's yelling sometimes and we aren't sure if she is starting to fuss or just "talking" and most of the time it's her talking to us.One of my favorite things to do is listen to Dan talk to Charlotte first thing in the morning. I listen to them over the monitor and I hear her cooing and squeeling when he talks to her. The other morning I heard him ask her if she was dreaming about a brother or sister...not anytime soon! Right now her brother and sister are two furry friends.

Charlotte LOVES any type of music and if she is upset we turn on music and she calms down immediately. We have had to retire all of her newborn clothes and move up to 3-6 months. Her pants were starting to look like capris! She is still in the 90% for height so hopefully she will be long and lean like her Daddy!

We have a very happy baby and we love her so much!

Goodbye babyland, hello real world!

Last Wednesday was my first day back at work. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel going back to work after being off for almost 8 weeks. When people would ask if I was sad that I had to go back to work I would say that I was looking forward to it and then feel guilty for feeling that way. There goes that guilt thing again...So far being back at work has been good. It's taken me a few days to get back into it but I still think it will be good for me to work. Dan's mom is here right now taking care of Charlotte which is a good transition until we put her in daycare in a couple of months. Charlotte is happy, Dan and I are happy and that is all we can ask for. Here is our bright eyed beauty!

Newborn Pics!

When Charlotte was two weeks old we had her newborn pictures taken by the wonderful Kendra Pryor. She did our maternity pictures too back in November. We had to be there at 9:30 in the morning dressed and ready to go and with a newborn baby that was a task but we somehow made it on time. It was so fun taking pictures and Charlotte was an angel for the most part and did what she does best...sleep.In these last two pictures does Charlotte look like she is thinking "I just peed all over my parents"...it was definitely a morning we will remember!

Whoa, slow down.

I am normally a person that is on the go constantly. I can't sit still for long (unless it's during an episode of Real Housewives) and I'm constantly doing things. Having a baby has forced me to slow down big time. There are times when I'm trying to get a million things done and Charlotte is fussy and I sit to feed her. As she eats she just stares up at me and it's as if the world has stopped. At that moment I forget what I was working on that was interrupted and just enjoy the 20 minutes or so that I have to sit with her. The laundry can wait, the dishwasher can wait, and the phone calls can wait. What isn't going to stop is my little girl getting bigger and growing up. Sometimes I just need to put the brakes on and enjoy these little moments with Charlotte.

Guilt.

Being a parent is hard. It is so challenging and we are faced with having to make decisions every day from the moment you get pregnant. You give up your body for almost a year to carry this precious human being and then afterwards you give everything you have to take care of the baby that you now have in your arms. The love Dan and I have for Charlotte is nothing I have every felt before and we only want the best for her.

Since getting pregnant I was determined to attempt to breast feed. We took the class, talked to friends, read tons of information on it, bought the tools, etc. I was very determined to make it work but on the other hand I have said I am not against using formula. Dan and I were both formula fed babies and we turned out just fine. I feel that today there is a lot of pressure to breast feed. After having a baby everyone asks you about it. I don't mind talking about it, but I don't want to be pressured to do it. In the hospital they provide wonderful lactation consultants and they are even free of charge to see after you leave.

I can honestly say that breast feeding is one of the hardest things I have ever done. First of all, your milk doesn't come in for a few days. Charlotte was born on Thursday and my milk didn't come in until Monday night. Man that was painful. Prior to your milk coming in you still have to attempt to nurse your baby to help the process. That was even more difficult. When you are trying to feed your baby and there is hardly anything to feed them and they are screaming because they are hungry. Talk about testing your patience. Once my milk came in I produced so much more than Charlotte needed. It was incredibly painful and I thought that's just what breast feeding felt like. I couldn't even get my shirts on by myself because it hurt so bad. After meeting with a consultant I learned that I was over producing so I would have to nurse Charlotte and then pump to avoid infections that I kept getting. When Dan was home it was fine, but after he went back to work it was really hard to do both nursing and pumping every three hours. But if I didn't pump, I would get clogged ducts. The past couple of weeks I have really struggled with what to do. I have so many friends that have breast fed their babies for 6+ months and were very successful at it and enjoyed it and here I am at the 6 week mark so discouraged. You always hear that "breast is best" and they lead you to believe that if you don't breast feed your baby will be sick all the time especially if they are in daycare.

After meeting with our pediatrician and talking it to death with Dan and me shedding many tears we decided it would be best to stop. I had to think about my health as well as Charlotte's. I was beginning to dread feeding time and when you feed 7-8 times a day that's a lot of time you are unhappy. I have a lot of "liquid gold" saved up in the freezer so Charlotte will continue to get breast milk for a while which makes me happy. I can honestly say that I gave it my best shot and at the end of the day it didn't work for Charlotte and I for the long run. I am proud of myself for going for almost 6 weeks but I still feel majorly guilty. I guess only time will tell if she will get sick often. I know that this is the first of many tough decisions we are going to have to make for Charlotte. I guess it's all part of being a parent.

This little angel obviously doesn't care either way. Isn't she just the cutest?

Newborn Essentials...from my point of view

There are some things that I have learned I can't live without over the past month. When we were preparing for Charlotte we were given and purchased all these things and we didn't know what we would actually use.

My Diaper Bag. I was on the look out for the perfect diaper bag during my pregnancy. On our Baby Moon I bought one at Rosie Pope. Best. Bag. Ever. It holds everything I need and doesn't look like a diaper bag.

My iPhone. We use our phone for everything whether it's setting a timer or googling something. We couldn't live without our phones right now.

The Breast Friend. If you are going to nurse, this is the pillow to use. It's awesome.

The Swaddleme blanket. It looks like a baby straight jacket and you might feel sorry for the baby inside, but I can't help think that this is why Charlotte is sleeping so well. She goes to sleep as soon as we wrap her up at night. We only put her in it at night, but she loves it and we love sleep. Her legs are so long that we might have to figure out something else soon, but right now this works for us.

The Nosefrida. Don't knock this until you try it. I made fun of it when I read about it and then I had a baby with a stuffy nose and used it. AMAZING. Everyone with a baby needs it. It's not gross, it has a filter and it works.

Aiden and Anais blankets. These are breathable blankets that are great for swaddling and everything else. They are huge and so soft. We love these.

My husband. He's been so amazing with our little girl. She falls asleep every time he holds her and in his arms is her favorite place. We are a team and he changes just as many diapers as I do and we get up together every night. I couldn't do this without him.

1 Month!

This little munchkin is 1 month old today! It's much harder to photograph a newborn than you think. It's much easier when she is sleeping so that's my fault for trying to get her with her eyes open which is much more these days! We are still loving every minute with her.

3 weeks!

I cannot believe that Charlotte has been with us for 22 days now. She's such an angel and we are having so much fun with her. She is still a great sleeper giving us 5-6 hours some nights which is much appreciated. Other nights she wakes up every 3-4 hours to eat. People keep telling us that she will change, but so far she's been the same little angel that we brought home. We had her 2 week check up last week and we are the proud parents of healthy baby! Charlotte slept through the entire thing. The doctor actually wrote "perfect" in the comments. We already knew that :) She is in the 50% for weight and 90% for height! We have a tall skinny baby on our hands! Check out these feet!

We have ventured out of our house several times and Charlotte has slept through all of them, shocking I know. Dan had to go back to work this week which was really hard. I have been spoiled having him home since Charlotte was born. Everything seemed so easy when he was here because we did everything together. Tuesday when he went back to work I had to figure out how to take care of Charlotte by myself. The week got better and today Charlotte and I took our first shopping trip together. She is too long for her newborn clothes, so I have been looking for two piece outfits to fit her long skinny legs. During the day I'm trying to let her nap in her crib and she doesn't seem to know the difference. We like her sleeping in our room at night but I would like to try and move her to her room when I go back to work.

We are so crazy in love with Charlotte and are excited to spend this weekend together.

Charlotte's Second Week and her first Christmas!

I cannot believe that our little girl is already two weeks old! The past two weeks have flown by so fast! It seems like we have had her forever. Dan and I don't know what we did with all of our free time before. Now we are constantly doing laundry and taking care of Charlotte and so far she's an easy baby. The past few days she has started to wake up a little and not sleep 95% of the time. I read that newborns sleep around 16 hours a day and no way Charlotte slept that little. She would wake to eat and that's about it. She has had her eyes open for a few hours the past couple of days. She just looks around makes her little noises. This week she even had two nights where she slept for over five hours. Dan and I woke up in a panic thinking that something was wrong and she was just sound asleep. Right now she is sleeping in our room in a pack and play at the end of our bed. We swaddle her tight and she goes sound to sleep. Thank goodness for a good swaddle blanket!

We have had lots of visitors since Charlotte's birth day. Dan's parents came in from Colorado the day after she was born and stayed for a few days. My mom lives here and has been over about every other day just to get her Charlotte fix. My brother came in from California last week and my Dad and Kim came up the day after Christmas. It has been really nice seeing all of our family this holiday. We have had a lot of friends come by and meet Charlotte and many of them have been so kind to bring us dinner. We are getting spoiled! We are so thankful to have so many people around us that love us and love our daughter.

Christmas day was so fun and we can't wait until next year when Charlotte will be older and maybe actually awake!