Sunday Morning....

A glimpse into my Sunday morning....

- 6 hours of straight sleep given to me from Leah
- Pumpkin Coffee from Dunkin Donuts
- Leah and Mark taking a nap together
- a long hot shower for me
- Cool fall morning
- A much needed Church visit
- Meal planning

Ahh kind of my perfect morning! Here's to hoping the rest of the day is just as perfect...(wishful thinking as schoolwork is looming over my head)

I want to make Carmel Apple Cider for when we carve our pumpkins tonight..looks yummy!

And if that doesn't make you feel all warm inside..this will...

and if that didn't then you have no heart... :)

Cousin Time...

Leah got to spend some QT with her cousins Alex, Evan and Drew this weekend. The boys were great with her! Evan walked up to me and said " She is bootyful(beautiful)!" Melted my heart! Then Alex said " She has a small head!" I don't know what it is about these boys but I just love them so much! I kept thinking about all the time I got to spend with them before Leah was born...how lucky I am to have such a fun relationship with my nephews! Enjoy the videos!

Leah- One Month

Age: One Month
Weight: 8lbs 9oz.
Length: 21 in
Size: Mainly newborn, starting to get tight
Teeth: N/A Hair: Still rocking all of her hair from birth. I don't feel like she has lost any! It gets very greasy and needs to be washed a lot.
Sleeping: Pretty much still hit or miss. Will sleep 3 hours usually during the day, occasional 4 hour stretch. Our longest night stretch has been 5 hours...only once :(
Eating: Still nursing well...she is a little oinker. Eats every 3 hours as well.
Movement: She is an active little thing! Always moving arms and legs, doesn't like to be sitting still. Head is getting stronger every day.
Milestones: First smile!!!
Favorite Toys: Likes this bear play mat we were given. It is super soft, she loves laying on it and looking at the ceiling fan.
Dislikes: Anything involved with her car seat, bouncy, swing, not being held
Words/sounds: She snorts...we think she sounds like a little goat!

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One Month for Mommy

I am working on Leah's one month post...just too lazy to upload pictures right now! So I am going to take a little time for myself. Life has changed so much in the past month, it is just crazy. My world has been rocked in every way. It's amazing how all of a sudden you have these motherly instincts, an ability to survive on little sleep, and so much love for your little baby. I just want Leah to be happy all the time and am doing everything in my power to make that happen...which is leading me to my other new discovery of motherhood...anxiety! OK we all know I was anxious person before having Leah, but whoa has it been TURNED ON. Some days my anxiety is getting the best of me...I am so worried something is wrong with Leah. I don't think my NICU background is helping in any of this either. I swear the pediatrician thought I was nut as i whipped out my notebook with an entire page of questions at her one month appointment and asked him things about nasal passages, rectums, and eye movement. (Insert crazy comment here) Every time she sneezes, spits up, has a booger, doesn't poop, has bad smelling gas...I feel this little panic inside, like I am missing something wrong with her. She is extremely gassy and fussy (mainly at night) so I am worried that maybe something in my diet (like dairy) is causing her gas issues. The pediatrician doesn't seem to think so, but I hate to see her miserable with gas. Then to throw  breastfeeding into the mix...ahh the stress. No one told me how hard breastfeeding would be. Maybe it isn't hard for others, but it is a lot of work! SO yes, I have a lot of worries and anxieties and you probably all are thinking I need some serious help, but I am told this is normal. I am working on trying to relax, having faith that she is okay and letting myself have a good cry every once in awhile. I'm working on embracing the moment, soaking in every moment of our days together realizing I will have to go back to work and she will grow up before I know it. Even though my little Leah is causing all this worry, she is also causing much happiness and lots of smiles.

It's also time for me to start thinking about taking care of myself physically again...I say thinking because I realize how out of shape my body is and I am dreading feeling miserable for a few weeks. BUT I need to start somewhere. So I am working on my workout plan :) And also maybe cutting back on the amount of treats I have been allowing myself :)

So there is my one month check in---I know it will only get better from here! Thanks for letting me vent and be honest!

Caught...

Leah just started smiling at us this week...I caught it on video today. Too cute to not share! Have I mentioned I love this little girl?!?!

A Fun Visit

This past weekend my sister Mary Beth and brother in law Brian came for a visit. They live in NJ and work for the secret service so they were unable to come for Leah's Birthday. We were not supposed to see each other until Thanksgiving, but I convinced Mary Beth she HAD to come see Leah while she is still this little peanut! So they made the trip and it was wonderful. Nothing like having your sister share in a special time in your life. They instantly fell in love with her and she got held all weekend (which is no different then any other day!) We had some good QT and took a trip the pumpkin patch to get Leah's first pumpkin. It was fun...Mark and I fought on the way there, Leah screamed half the trip, she had a blow out and needed a new outift BUT dangit we all got pumpkins! We also got to ask Mary Beth to Leah's Godmother in person which was extra special for me!

New Recipes

Since I have been breastfeeding all I have been doing is eating! I am always hungry and rarely satisfied! I am giving myself another week of shoving my face then it's back to the grind of eating a bit more healthy! Here are a few recipes I tried this week!

Chicken Tortilla Soup This was easy and delicious! We topped ours with a little sour cream and cheese...mmm!

A version of Cheesecake

This was easy and yummy. Not for the health conscious!

Buffalo Chicken Casserole

This was easy for a weeknight. It wasn't the best thing we have ever had, but it was alright. We tried to brainstorm how it could be better. I used ranch instead of blue cheese dressing. I would def use panko breadcrumbs as topping and I had to turn my broiler on to brown them. It had a slight kick to it because of the hot sauce, but not too spicy!

I have more recipes to try and I hope to get to a bunch of them while on maternity leave!

Whatever...

I ventured out this morning and took Leah to church. I know large crowds and newborns are not supposed to mix BUT she was covered the whole time and no one touched her. Hopefully we are safe with that. I always find it amazing that something in church will always hit home to whatever I am going through that week. As I sat there with my brand new baby and a million new anxieties I heard this...

Philippians 4: 6 - 9
	Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
	And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
	Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
	What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you. Just what I needed to hear...a gentle reminder of how to deal with all my new anxiety about Leah= PRAY! (and eat the occasional container of ice cream) Hope you can get something out of this beautiful reading.