Presley's first mini vacation!

Presley had her first out of town excursion last weekend to Panama City Beach. My parents own a timeshare there and we all went down for a quick get away. She was such a good girl! We went down to the beach late Saturday afternoon and she sat under a shade canopy in her bouncy seat and slept a little bit and then enjoyed the scenery! The next day, Presley and I stayed in the nice, cool condo when everyone else went down to the beach again. We both took a little cat nap! And then later on that afternoon we went to the kids pool and Presley sat in one of the chairs with her Papaw. Isn't she so cute sitting in her seat with her hat on like a big girl?

I really wanted to take her into the pool, but by the time we brought her down there, the water was too cold. I would like to take her to the beach again before the warm weather fades away, so we can dip her toes into the water! I think she's really going to like the beach in the Spring time, when she's older and can actually enjoy it.

We went out to eat at The Treasure Ship on Sunday night and our niece and nephews loved it! There was a pirate who came around and talked to them and made balloon animals. Presley really enjoyed it...she slept through the entire thing! Ha ha! We left on Monday to come back home. It was a short trip, and we really enjoyed ourselves, but I think we will save the big vacation get away for when Presley is a little bit older!

Presley at Three Months!

WOW! Look at this big girl! Look at that double chin! Ha ha! She is definitely getting some fat on her now. It's about time! I added the pictures of Presley at each month to the right side of the page for everyone to see her at different months and how she's grown. The picture labeled "Brand New" was one we took as soon as we got home from the hospital...so 2 days old technically.

Presley can now suck on her fists, reach out for things (and occasionally grab them!), blow some bubbles, drool like CRAZY, and coo/babble a bit. She has only laughed out loud a few times and it is just precious when she does it! I can't wait for her to start laughing and talking more...of course then we'll wish she has an "off" button to push! ;) She got weighed today and the grand total was.......11 lbs, 5 oz. That is 19 ounces gained in 17 days! YAY PRESLEY! I'm so proud of her! :)

We also went on our first "play date" today with a new friend named Piper. She's too cute and I think Miss Presley and Miss Piper are going to be great friends! Of course now their play dates consist of them sitting in their carseats sleeping and Mommies eating lunch and talking! But that will change soon enough! There will come a day, very soon, when I won't be able to contain Presley in one spot!

WiLd hAiR!

Presley definitely has her daddy's hair! LOL! It is slightly wavy when it's dry, but it gets super curly after a bath, as evidenced in the pictures above! It's turning a lighter color too! Maybe Miss Priss will have blonde hair like her Mama! ;)

And of course she's doing her favorite thing as of late...eating her fists!

Presley and her Moby!

i L.O.V.E. wearing my baby! And clearly Presley loves being worn! Ha ha! We went walking the other day and she completely fell asleep right in her Moby wrap. I just adore the picture of her all snuggled up to me! I cherish these moments, because I know that there will come a day when she will be too busy to be cuddled with and loved on. :(

playtime

Here are some pictures of today's playtime! Presley did not like it at first, but after Daddy got down with her and played too, she LOVED it! The gym was a hand me down from her cousin Kole, and she loved it when she played with it as a baby too. The first picture caught Presley on film doing her newest trick.....chewing her fists! She discovered them (I say them, but I mean her left hand mainly!) about 2 or 3 days ago and hasn't let up since! The last two pictures show off Presley's newest onesie! Isn't it adorable? We got it at my friend's store in Mississippi when we went to visit! Her store is just adorable and she's working on getting her stuff online, and here is her site: www.soverymary.com

details, details...

Since I have gotten many requests on the mommy message board I go to, I am posting about how I created the letters for Presley's name and the bird artwork.

NAME- I got 6 in. wooden circles from Walmart, back in their craft section. Each one was around $1, I think. I painted them light pink. Then I just printed out the letters from word on my computer, cut them out and traced them onto the wood. (You have to resize them to something crazy like 400-ish to make them big enough!) Then painted the actual letter white.

I hot glued the ribbon to the back to hang them. I also put some hot glue on the bow to keep it from pulling out when I hung the letter up. The flower is just cut from foam and hot glued to the top of the nail, after we hung them to cover it up.

ARTWORK- I bought some blank canvases, also from Walmart's craft section. Then painted them which ever color I wanted. The birds are cut from scrapbook paper which I found at Michael's. I used spray adhesive to attach them to the canvases. Then I just added all the details with some puff paint and that's it!

Hope this helps everyone! I was so excited to have all of Presley's artwork be completely custom from her Mommy and Nana! They were all made out of LOVE!

NURSERY!

Well, after 11.5 weeks, Presley FINALLY has a completed nursery! The furniture didn't arrive until after she did. And since we did not know if Sweet Pea was a girl or boy, we didn't really have specific things picked out for the nursery. But when Presley made her debut and was in fact, a GIRL!, I decided to do a "bird/nature" theme. I had so much fun decorating her room for her! Every detail was meticulously planned for Presley! ALL of the artwork, except for the tree and the quote above her crib, was made by me and/or my Mom. We even did the letters for her name! I LOVE everything about this beautiful room!

2.2.2

Presley is 2 months, 2 weeks and 2 days old today! I thought that was so cool! Our baby is growing up so fast. She'll be a teenager before we know it!

Here are some pictures from today. She got some new bows and headbands to wear and she was super excited about it! Ha ha! Isn't she so cute? Ok so the angle on the flower pic is not that great....but it looks cute in person, I promise! ;)

Mr. Funny Face

Presley LOVES this crazy toy! It is one of her favorites! It is a hand-me-down toy from either Jaden or Kole, but she doesn't care...she loves as if it were her very own! The huge red nose squeeks as do the hearts and the stars jingle. They get her attention every time! She can be doing tummy time, which she very much does NOT enjoy, but she'll turn her head to see where all the noise is coming from! I call it Mr. Funny Face, but who knows what she'll end up calling it!

great benefits!

Ha ha! Isn't this so cute! I think it is absolutely true!

Last Mommy & Me group =(

Today was the last day Presley and I attended our Mommy & Me group. It's a group for well, mommies and babies!! We all get together and give advice, vent, cry, laugh, whatever we need to do! It was such a good thing for us to be able to go to and I wish we could continue to do so. But I start work next week and my schedule just won't allow us to go. So I'm pretty sad about it! Oh well, I have a few of the girls phone numbers, so maybe we can just keep in touch privately. Because the advice of a seasoned mother is INVALUABLE, I tell ya!!

I also posted the newest pictures of Miss Priss! We took them on Sunday after church. I think she is the most adorable baby on earth, but then again, I'm a little partial!

OH, I almost forgot! Presley always gets weighed at the group and today she weighed..........
10 lbs 2oz!! Yay Presley! 15 oz in 15 days....that's perfect weight gain!

absolutely new

"The moment a child is born,
the mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new."

I found this just a few minutes ago and it's funny because I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it's EXACTLY how I feel. I'm a completely new person since my precious daughter has walked into my life. I had always heard the cliche about not knowing until you become a mother. And it is SO true! Even when I was pregnant, I knew I loved my child, BUT now... when I think about not being able to see her, hold her, love her....I can't breathe.

Everything is different! Life has an all new meaning and purpose! Being a mother is honestly the most hard work I have ever done! But it is also the most rewarded I've ever felt in my life! I am so blessed that God has allowed me to be a mommy! And I thank Him everyday for my sweet baby girl!

I'm struggling with the fact that I have to go back to work in a week and a half. I know how blessed I am that my job only requires me to be away from her for 3 days...but I'm selfish and I don't want to be away from her at ALL! So, please if you will, PRAY for me about this...I will not be able to do it without God's help.

More reading time with Daddy!

Here are some more pictures I took of Presley and Daddy reading together last night. She LOVED this book!! (As evidenced by the last picture!)

Reading time with Daddy

Here is Jeremiah reading to Presley. I think she is 5 weeks or so in this picture. She looks so tiny here! She loves to be read books though. Which thrills me...because I love to read too, even kids books!

Presley at Two months!

Here is our sweet girl getting bigger! (She was REALLY sleepy in this picture! ha ha!) She weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long at her 2 month checkup! Dr. P just told us to keep doing what we were doing as far as feedings go. She is still nursing and we are supplementing with the soy formula. But she is eating (mostly!) every 3 hours and then goes about 6 hours at night! GO PRESLEY! I love seeing her grow! It makes me feel like I am doing my job!

She also had to get shots at this checkup. It nearly killed me! Seriously! I have to give shots sometimes at work and it never phases me. BUT it is certainly different with your own child! I cried on the way to the Dr's office, just thinking about it. And I wanted to slap the nurse that did it to Presley, but I refrained myself. Jeremiah could never be the one to take her to a shot appointment, cause I'd be bailing him out of jail later on that day!

Her next appointment is her 4 month checkup, where again, she'll get shots. :(

Feeding issues

Presley has had so many issues with eating and gaining weight. She is just not an aggressive eater...meaning she would sleep ALL day long and not wake up to eat and be just fine. I was really worried at the beginning about this, because I have never known an infant that did not like to wake up and eat. But thinking back to my last trimester, she slept a lot in my belly. I would have to poke at her sometimes to make sure she was still alive in there. No kidding! I guess babies really do show their personalities in the womb!

Anyway she lost quite a bit of weight at the beginning of her little life, but gained her birth weight back by her 2 week checkup. Dr. P, her pediatrician, was ok with this and just wanted to see Presley at her normal 2 month checkup. But mother's intuition told me she was still too little when she was 4 weeks. So we went and saw our lactation consultant (the lady who had been helping me with breastfeeding). She had only gained ONE ounce in a WEEK. Bad, bad, bad! Breastfed babies are supposed to gain 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce per DAY. Needless to say that earned us a trip to see Dr. P.

Dr. P wanted me to start supplementing with some formula to see if Presley could gain weight. By her eating the formula we could rule out whether or not the issue was with her not getting enough "hindmilk" (which is the fatty part of breastmilk, with all the calories, that comes at the end of the feeding) versus it being a medical issue of why she couldn't gain weight. Thank the Lord above that there was/is nothing medically wrong with Presley! She just isn't a vigorous enough eater to get enough hindmilk at each feeding.

So now we are still supplementing with soy formula about every other feed. She lets us know when she is not done eating and needs a bottle by screaming her head off after nursing! She also doesn't nurse well in the middle of the night. She is so sleepy (wonder where she gets that from?!) that she won't wake up to eat. So...we decided to just give her a bottle those times too. That has helped a lot. I still have to wake up to pump out the breastmilk that she doesn't eat, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make! :) Overall, this is working because she was 7 lbs 12 oz at 6 weeks and 8 lbs 9 oz at 7 weeks. I'm anxious to see how much she'll weigh on Monday at her 2 month checkup!

4th post as a Mommy

I know I'm a slacker...but in all fairness I have an 8 week old that just loves me sooo much that she can't stand to be without me for one second! So I have to oblige and surrender to her will! Ha ha! =) I can't believe that Presley is this old already. Most days I feel like I should still be pregnant. I really enjoyed being pregnant and honestly do miss it sometimes. I miss Presley kicking me at 2 am and waking me up hiccuping out of control!! But those days are over now...at least for a while! Hopefully our next little one won't make his or her debut for 2 or so years!

I think Jeremiah and I are adjusting quite nicely to life with the three of us. Some days it's harder than others, but we take it moment by moment those days. By the grace of God we have made it through some rough times and we are enduring those times still today, but having a beautiful, healthy baby girl more than makes up for the rough patches! We are so blessed and we know it and thank God every day!

Presley at One Month!

Here is our sweet girl at one month old! I'm going to do this every month so we can see how she's growing! She still looks like she did as a newborn, but her face has changed drastically. In fact, I think she changes almost everyday. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz, up from her 6 lbs 8 oz birth weight. When we had a 2 week check up with Dr. P, her pediatrician, everything was fine. Her next "well-baby checkup" will be at 2 months, when she'll also have to get shots =( Poor baby, I'll probably cry at that checkup too!

updates, updates

So again I apologize for being a bad blogger! It's so hard to do anything else but take care of Presley right now. But I think I did a good job chronicling my pregnancy with her and I want to write about every day happenings so I can remember these precious things about her growing up. That being said, today was my 6 week postpartum checkup and my body is healing so well. My whole experience of having a child has been so blessed.

Presley is already growing up so fast...I can't believe she will be 7 weeks old on Thursday! She is smiling now. She started that about a week ago. I think she is going to be ticklish, because the easiest way to get her to smile is to brush around her mouth and nose with your finger, and she just lights up. This absolutely just melts my heart! I really need to get a picture of it!

I think she will start cooing any day now. When you talk to her, she has this serious look on her face and her mouth is tensed up like she is trying to get something out. It's so adorable to see! Hopefully when she starts "talking" I can get it on video. Most of the time when kids do something remarkable...you can't ever get them to do it again so you can capture it on film or video!!

Introducing PRESLEY GRACE

Presley Grace was born on Thursday June 18th, 2009 at 8:40 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and was 19.25 in long. Here is her birth story, well at least from her mommy's point of view...she might have a different story!

On Thursday we went to the OB's office for my weekly visit. My blood pressure was really high. When Dr. D checked me I was 4 cm dilated and my BP was so high that so she asked Jeremiah and I did we want to have a baby that day. I was a little shocked to say the least! To go from thinking it was going to be a regular day with a regular doctor visit, to all of a sudden having a baby that day was mind boggling!

I got over to L&D about 11 am. Jeremiah had to go home to get all of our bags. They started the Pitocin (the medication used to cause contractions) at 12:30 and by that time Jeremiah was back. I was already having some contractions earlier that week and even some that day, but nothing prepared me for the ones I was going to have on Pitocin! They were pretty strong, but the most difficult thing to endure was that they were so close together, I could barely rest from each one.

At 2 pm, Dr. D came in and broke my water. After that the contractions became impossible to deal with. The nurse said the reason for them getting so bad, was that there was no amniotic fluid now to help cushion the contractions. I got some IV pain medication, Fentanyl, sometime after that. It still wasn't helping AT ALL. The contractions were 2 min. apart, each one lasting one full minute and each one was excruciatingly more painful than the last. I mean I was nauseous, crying and shaking. I asked for an epidural and got one at 4 pm. The nurse checked me then and I was dilated to 5 cm. Not much progress from the morning.

My experience with the epidural could not have been better! I really got the best of both worlds. I couldn't feel my contractions, and my legs were numb, but I could still feel them a little bit. Since I was so comfortable then, my body was able to do the job it was meant to do. When the nurse came in and checked me at 6:30 pm I was 8 cm dilated and 100% thinned out. So the nurse said it wouldn't be too much longer and we'd have a baby here! She also said to let her know if I felt the urge to push. At 7:05 I felt the overwhelming need to push. In the birthing class, we were taught to "blow" through the urge to push, so we wouldn't actually push before we were supposed to. Well, we called for the nurse to come in but they were all in report because they were changing shifts. I think the night nurse finally came in at 7:30 and she checked me then. I was 10 cm!

They called Dr. D to come in so she could deliver our little Sweet Pea! Dr. D got to the hospital probably around 8:15-ish or so and Presley arrived at 8:40. Pushing was very tiring, but obviously so well worth it! Dr. D didn't announce the gender. She let us see for ourselves! She just held her up and we both looked at each other and said "It's a girl!" Then Jeremiah shouted it out for our family waiting in the hallway to hear! I was in shock that she was a she! I just thought it was going to be a boy the whole time...I guess partly because we always referred to her as a him!! Oh well, we won't ever tell her that!

Overall, our birth experience was awesome and blessed! I'm going to keep the blog in order to keep everyone posted on Presley's growing up! I'll try to keep it updated as much as possible. ;)