Bursting With Happiness!

Today my dear friend Amanda and her sweet husband Josh welcomed a darling baby boy into the world! She shot me at text this morning at 5am saying she was at the hospital and then about an hour ago, I got the "It's a boy" text and photo. They named him Jett and he was 7lbs, 4oz and 21 inches long.

I just couldn't be happier; Amanda has been a close friend of mine since 7th grade. Since having Shelby I now fully understand the joy of a new baby and am just bursting with happiness for the two of them. What a lucky baby boy.

Love you Amanda!

My Sunshine

One of my favorite parts of the day is watching Shelby play on her "play yard." I put it by the window and she has a grand old time. She has really started to get a kick out of in the last week or so. Since the lighting is so great, I snapped some photos and took a quick video.

If this doesn't make you smile, I am pretty sure nothing will.

The many faces of my Little Miss:

People Watching

The other night Jack's mom took Shelby for 30 or 40 minutes while I buzzed around the kitchen cooking dinner. Shelby was in awe and had so much fun watching all the activity in the kitchen. It was just far too cute, so I had to snap a couple of photos.

This Sucks

My peanut is finally taking a pacifier - phew. Now, I'd imagine most parents wouldn't want to introduce something that they'll eventually have to take away, but she really needed it. Every day, without fail, when Shelby would get tired she would fuss and fuss and gnaw on her hands. She would try with all her tiny might to get that fist of hers into her mouth and, for obvious reasons,  would fail time and time again.  She has actually done this since she was a couple weeks old. The other alternative would be that she'd try to nurse, but not really need to eat, and then get sick.

In the past I had tried to give it to her, but she never really caught on and it would pop right out, often with force. She will take it now, but it still takes a few seconds for her to get the hang of it. I definitely don't give it to her all the time or when she cries, but right before her noon-ish nap and before she goes down for the night, she really needs it. I feel so bad that it has taken me this long to give it t get the hang of it.

Here she is peacefully snoozing in her "G-Ma's" arms with her pacifier.

Woombie

There have been many "firsts" around here in the last week or so. We've been fortunate to have company this week though, so I am a little behind in my blogging.....

This past week we transitioned Shelby out of her Pack n Play in our room, to her crib. With Day Care on the horizon, we thought this was one less thing we'd throw at her all at once.  We planned on doing it sooner, but with her being sick and then her shots, we thought keeping her close by was the prudent thing to do. She seems to do just fine in her crib, I didn't really doubt that she would. She has slept through the night (8 hrs) since about 5.5 weeks, so for her to derail now, would be odd.

She did pretty well the first couple nights, but then the third night I heard chaos on my monitor around 4am. With weary eyes I turned on the video portion only to catch her totally unswaddled, arms and legs thrashing about. It was actually kind of funny and I was certainly not expecting it. I went in her room, tried to rock her and re-swaddle her, but she wanted to eat....so we did that too.

After her snack, she was still kind of wiggly so I tried out my baby straightjacket, I mean Woombie:
*No, that's not Shelby in the photo.

My friend Emily (who has a super fancy, money generating blog: http://www.familylifeinlv.com/) suggested this product long ago. It was in one of those "if you buy one single baby product, buy this..." type conversations. So I did, but didn't give it a try until now.

All Woombie'd up, she slept like a dream the rest of the night. Fast forward 24 hours and we found ourselves in the same situation; the baby monitor going bananas, only to kind my baby kicking and wiggling like a roach on its back. Again, I Woombie'd her and back to baby sleepy land.

Last night I went ahead and zipped her into to glowworm costume from the get go and she slept through the night, like usual. I will probably be using the Woombie now, as it appears my Little Miss can now escape her swaddle in the night (she still does ok swaddled for naps).

Woombie - where do they come up with this stuff???

4th of July

We spent the 4th of the July with many of our close friends at the Familian's House. They have a stunning home in Henderson with one of the best views of Las Vegas that I have ever seen and no doubt, the best backyard! As the fireworks lit up the sky, they were visible in all parts of the valley; it was truly amazing. As a special treat Jack's parents are visiting, so they took part in the fun.

Shelby spit up on her original 4th of July outfit, so after a change we ended up being twins.
Our first family 4th of July photo:

I Can Do The Impossible

I really can. You know when someone gives you a house plant and says "Don't worry, this is impossible to kill." Well, guess what - I can kill it! I am arguably the WORST person at keeping plants, both indoor and out, alive. The funny thing is, I never forget about them - it's actually the opposite - I obsess about if I am watering them enough or too much. I am always amazed when people have had plants for 15+ years. That doesn't even seem possible in my book!

Jack recently decided we need more green in our house and bought a few house plants, including a window herb garden. So-far-so-good. It will be pretty fun if it actually yields herbs that I can cook with. We'll see.....