Week 6

Lots of exciting news this week! Aiden has OFFICIALLY rolled over!!! So exciting! We have been doing lots of tummy time lately and she has been very determined to get moving and she is well on her way :-)
She has also been making lots of funny faces. She is pursing her lips, raising her eyebrows and giving us real smiles! It is so wonderful to smile at her and to see her smile back at us. I just love my baby!! It is super sweet- as if she wasn't already cute enough... she even laughs in her sleep. I just love it! It even makes up for her screaming in the middle of the night.
On that note- she is sleeping so much better these days. She actually slept for five hours straight last night. Yippee!
Music is definitely helping the sleep and it is quite obvious that she is a music loving child. My parents have a toy that plays music when you hit is on something. My dad smacked it on his hand to get it playing and Aidie's eyes popped open so wide and she smiled so big. It was so sweet. It totally made my dad's day!
I'm so excited about tomorrow. We have decided to take a trip to the Newport Aquarium. Should be very fun... or a catastrophe. Either way... we should have good pictures and great memories.

Week 5

Aiden is a whopping five weeks old today! Yet another weekly milestone. I think it's safe to say, and I hope I'm not jinxing myself, that Aiden is starting to developing a sleeping routine. It has been wonderful over the past few days. She has been going down at about 11-12pm and getting up about six hours later, staying up for 1 1/2 hours and going back down for at least another couple of hours. It has been really great. We are finally starting to get some solid sleep. I didn't think this day would EVER come! She has also started taking a nap every day when Dan leaves for work at 2:30, usually for a couple of hours. It has been giving me so much time to get things done. I unpacked more and made muffins the other day. In fact, I'm doing laundry right now and there aren't any dishes for me to do! I might even try vacuuming tomorrow when Dan is home! It's weird the things that excite me these days.
As we have now reached the five week marker, my check up is only one week away. Hopefully the doctor will give me the A-OK to get back to normal life. It would be so nice to be able to start an exercise regime. One look at my flabby tummy and it makes me want to do a billion sit-ups. Being on "rest" has just been weird. Even though I haven't been banned from going out of the house on errands, I'm not supposed to do anything that could considered strenuous (maybe because of the stitches? I don't know... Dr. Cook is always very vague). I definitely feel fine and think it is definitely time to be to get up and get cracking on shaping up!
Anyway... my little girl is sleeping. So I'm going to try to fix myself some lunch :-)

I did say that I would post photos from Faythe's shower and the meeting of cousin Ella. So, here they are :-)Wide awake and so interested in cousin Faythe. I LOVE this picture!!!


Meeting cousin Ella. Ella was so interested in Aiden. It was adorable to watch :-)


Snuggling up in cousin Sara's lap


Happy shower Faythe!


Showing off with Daddy before the shower

Update: Aiden slept six straight hours last night! Progress? I hope so!!! Wish us luck/ keep us in your prayers/etc. that it will keep up. I've had so much energy! I unpacked five more boxes today, washed dishes, and made muffins. Yay for sleep! I hope we have another good night so we can make it to church tomorrow.

She's 1 Month Old!!!

I can't believe that my little girl is a month old already! So much has happened in such a short time, and, yet, I feel that we just got home from the hospital yesterday. She is already doing so much.
-She is holding her head up so well these days that we hardly need to support her anymore.
-She has also just grown out of her first newborn romper (only in length, not girth- she's still a skinny little thing!).
-She is talking up a storm! She babbles to herself in the car and before we get out of bed to get her when she wakes up and pretty much any other time she isn't crying or have a pacifier in her mouth. Speaking of which is another blessing: I was so against giving her a pacifier because, as a nursery caregiver, I know how difficult of a habit it can be to break. Although we have been giving her a paci for two weeks now, she isn't really attached to it. She spits it out when she's had enough and refuses it when she doesn't want it. We laugh about her having a love affair with her paci, but I guess we should just call it a casual fling- as she just uses it for when she wants it and then throws it away.
-We haven't been able to get her to roll over again, but she has come close a couple of times. She is good about getting onto her side, but getting the rest of the way to the tummy takes some leg coordination that she hasn't quite mastered. But she'll be there soon. She is SO strong!
After two terrible sleeps these past two nights, we finally had a VERY GOOD one. I got my first solid 6hours of sleep since I napped at my parents house when she was just a couple of weeks old. It was amazing! Of course after she woke up that's how she wanted to stay. So I only got about 30min more sleep after that... oh well. At least we're progressing.
On another note- my class officers have scheduled an unofficial class reunion for this June to celebrate 5 years out and to reminisce and all that jazz. I can't believe that we have been out of high school for five years. Wow! Time really flies. I'm sure the next five will be even faster, seeing as we have someone to keep our hands full nowadays.
Hopefully, I'll be able to get Faythe's shower pictures up soon. I got some really good ones. I'm so excited! I can't wait for the wedding. Only two more weeks!!!

A Wonderful First Mother's Day

If only Dan hadn't had to work... but he did get to come home early, which was a nice surprise. We went to church for the first time since Aiden was born. Needless to say she was a huge hit. Although this also means that people drove me crazy- not all, but some. Mostly everyone was very sweet, excited and complimentary. However, you will always get the occasional few that think seeing your baby means life is revolving around THEM seeing your baby. -BEGIN RANT- I'm sorry but if you can't see my baby's face, move so you can. She is sleeping or cuddling and doesn't need to moved for your convenience. LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU!!! Argh! Sorry for the rant at the beginning of what should be a nice post, but it really got on my nerves. Also, I appreciate advice when it is concerning something important- such as diaper brand recalls or recent child psychology reviews. However, please do not inform me of how I should and should not dress my child. I don't really care if you don't like head bands or think she should be wearing shoes or (__fill in blank__). She is my child. I can decide how she will be dressed without any help from anyone else. Now... if you notice she's lost a sock, that's fine. Please inform me. Otherwise, please get over yourself enough to realize that not everyone's tastes have to match your own! -END RANT-
Other than the causes of the rant, we had a good mother's day. We spent the early afternoon visiting Kathy and the rest of the day (after Dan went to work) was spent at my parents' house. We had my auntie Pam and my Grandmother King stop by. So Aiden got to see lots of people on our first mother's day.
I also got to take a short nap (happy Mother's Day to me!) and Dan bought me my favorite shampoo. This might initially sound like a very strange gift. However, my favorite shampoo is twice as expensive and any other kind and I never buy it for myself. So, as I've needed a little pampering and taking a shower has been my only mommy alone time as of late, it was an amazingly thoughtful gift. Thanks honey :-)

I don't think it counts, but it shows she's trying!

Aiden and I were laying on the bed yesterday and... well you'll never guess... she ROLLED OVER! I still can't believe it and we've been trying to get her to do it again, but we haven't been able to get her to do so. Dan and I were talking and we think the bed might have been slanted a bit (so it helped with the rolling). However, it definitely shows she is making big progress and is quite determined to get moving!!! So exciting! In other news, she is holding her head up so well these days. We don't hardly have to help her now. I can't believe that, on Monday, she will be four weeks old! My baby is growing up so fast!
Aiden enjoying her new boppy! She sleeps SO well in this thing!

Aiden saying hi to Stephanie!

Sound asleep :-)

Out for a walk at our new complex
Checking out a cute little clearing

Aiden Week 3

She LOVES the hooded blanket from Chris!
Diaper baby in the bouncy!

Aiden's doctor appointment went very well yesterday. We found out that she is up to 7lbs. 11oz (almost 1oz/day!) and she is now 19 3/4 inches long. So she is definitely growing! She has also finally had a poopy diaper. Yippee! We can all feel better about her digestion now. We have taken her off of the rice cereal and are now giving her a soy formula for fussy, gassy, spit-up prone babies. It seems to be helping. Although, my milk seems to be coming in better now. So hopefully it won't be long and we won't be supplementing at all! Overall, the Dr. Laughlin said she appears to be very healthy. We shouldn't be heading back to the doctor until her 2month check. I can't believe it. She'll be two months old before we know it!
This past week has been very exciting. Aiden has become very interested in lights. Whenever her eyes are open, she seems to be looking at a light fixture of some kind. How funny.
She is also determined to get moving... or so it would seem. Whenever we put her down for tummy time, she scoots herself across the play mat. She is so strong! She is also trying to roll over already. She is already rolling to her side and is rocking to get moved farther. We just haven't made it that far yet. Maybe in the next couple of weeks :-)
She is also holding up her head MUCH better. We don't have to hold up her head all of the time now. And she is staying awake for long periods of time- long in this frame of reference meaning 3hrs-ish. She has also been sleeping better. One four hour stretch and shorter ones after that. We are very thankful for better sleep. However, she has been sleeping a lot this evening... so we may have issues tonight... I guess we'll see.

Pictures

Well, I haven't had a chance to upload photos until now. ENJOY!!!Aiden with Auntie Ellen

Cainy giving Aiden kisses during tummy time

Tummy time is also sleepy time


Bright Eyes!

Great Uncle Bill with Aidie!

Great Aunt Terry, Great Grandma King and Caina with Aidie

Four generation photo (Great grandpa and grandma Champlin, Grammy King, Me and Aidie)

Aiden with Great uncle Herb and Great aunt J.J.

Aiden with Grandma Wisley

Relaxing outside at the Wisley homestead

Pretty bouquet with a pretty baby


Bouquets and fingers help calm crying babies during VERY long doctor appointments...

At Brown County having lunch

Very pretty tree!

Walking through Brown County- first outing!

This past week's weight check

I just wanted to get a post out to let everyone know that Aiden is finally up (almost) to her birth weight. She weighed in at 7lbs. 5oz. at this last doctor appointment and we are hopeful that she is now up and surpassing :-)
The doctor has us trying a new feeding regime with her. She is now only taking 10z. at most after nursing with a tsp. of rice cereal. It has REALLY been cutting down the spitting up. Thanks goodness! Now instead of multiple times a feeding, it's only once or twice a day! However, she hasn't had a poopy diaper since before we started this... so I'm getting a little worried that it's making her constipated. Poor thing :-(