November 28, 2009

Deep Thoughts by Halley Jane

Today was a banner day in the world of Halley. There was massive amounts of spit up. I cleaned up a projectile vomit from all over the floor. I had to change clothes (twice!) because of explosive diapers. Yet, I still find her adorable. Amazing, huh?

Here is the still pic of Halley deep in thought.....






Don't you just wonder what babies dream about?







And here is the (very dark) video we took in case the flash woke her up and startled her pose. Most of you probably won't find this very interesting....but some of you might. :)




Go Dawgs!!!

November 25, 2009

Sleeping 101

After lots of trial and error, we have finally figured out how Halley sleeps best. (Note: I did not say how to make her sleep as much as she should.)




Here's the problem. This is how Halley would sleep if we let her.






The issue is that her startle reflex is still in full swing and she winds up hitting herself in the face and thus waking herself up. Yes, sad and funny at the same time.



Solution one: The swaddle. Halley pretty much burns her daily calorie intake while trying to get out of her swaddle. We would wrap her tightly in just a regular blanket but she would kick out pretty quickly. We ended up buying an actual swaddle blanket which is just fancy talk for "a straight jacket for babies". Her feet can kick but her arms are pinned to her side. She pretends like she doesn't like being in it (aka screams bloody murder) but after a few minutes she settles down and sleeps peacefully.




This is Halley about to go to bed.



Solution 2: We finally started putting Halley in her crib to sleep rather than the bassinette. I was kind of sad about it because I wasn't ready for her to go into her crib yet but she sleeps much better there. Plus, that means I got to start sleeping in my bed again which is wonderful!



Solution 3: We busted out the sleep positioner so she can't wiggle all over the place. (So yes, her arms are pinned down and her body is in a brace. She is virtually immobile.)



Solution 4: Lots of LOUD white noise. Dr. Karp says that what babies hear in utero is the decibel equivalent of running a vacuum cleaner. (In case you're not familiar with The Happiest Baby on the Block, click http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/. The doctor seems a little cooky but it works. I'm not sure if the babies actually settle down because the legitimacy of his techniques or if they're just so annoyed by the loud shush-ing.)



Anyway, we're still having the problem where she wakes up 45 minutes into her nap. No idea why but you could set an alarm by her precision. If anyone has any brilliant ideas, please let us know. Right now Halley sleeps about 4 to 4 1/2 hours at night and wakes up twice to eat. During the day she's still on an eat-every-3-hours schedule but doesn't necessarily sleep between meals. Her pediatrician says that she should only have a total of one hour of wake time during the day but she's probably awake five or six times that. Hopefully she'll sleep better once we get the reflux issue resolved.

One Month Old

Here's Halley....already one month old! (I didn't quite get these uploaded in time but here they are nonetheless.)





























November 24, 2009

She's Official!

Look what we got in the mail this week!





We also went in for Halley's one month check up on Tuesday. She weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. (For those of you who didn't memorize Halley's stats, she's gained 1 lb and 11 oz and has grown 3/4 of an inch.) Dr. Bagnall said Halley is growing sufficiently but not "fantastically". One of the reasons for this is a reflux problem so Halley is on medication for the next 10 days. Apparently there is a reason for the fussiness and back-arching and kicks-to-my-stomach while she is eating. The doc says we will have a brand new, happy, less-fussy baby with in the next five or six days. We thought we had a good baby before so a better baby will just be icing on the cake!


Randy performed a wedding today for a good friend of mine. Here's our family photo op for the day! Halley was wonderful...didn't make a peep for the entire ceremony and Randy did a great job as always. As far as being thankful goes, those two are at the top of my list! Hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.








November 19, 2009

Cute Pics

Hi!

Sorry we've been absent for so long. I know some of you are wanting new pictures so here you go. I'll try to post a real update sometime this weekend. For now, here is some random cute-ness for your Friday!


Hanging out in my swing...finally getting big enough to fit in it!


What did you just say, Mom?!?!








Sportin' my new pink hoodie




Oh my goodness......




Cutest feet ever









This is how Halley likes to sleep
(more on that later)

November 11, 2009

Aunt Kathryn's Visit

Most of you read my sister Kathryn's blog anyway but just in case here's a recap of her trip to visit us in the Springs.

http://barefootkatie.blogspot.com/

I would post my own edition but since it's so well done and there are so many cute pictures AND I happen to be sleep-deprived we'll just take advantage of all of the hard work she already did.

Enjoy!

November 7, 2009

Week in Review

Sorry we've been a little absent this week! Randy went back to work so it's been just me and Halley. Good news is we survived! :) I don't have much exciting to write about but here are a few recent pictures.

Halley getting another bath...she's graduated to the whale tub.


Our little sleeping angel
Doesn't she just look precious? She's sporting a new pink hat from Grandmommy.

We discovered something new today....a bottle! This may be the answer to all my prayers.



And...Guess who's here to visit for the weekend?




I'm sure we'll have new pictures to post next week. It's a beautiful day in the Springs and we're off to the dog park to give Chico some much needed TLC.
Happy Saturday!