Wow - 4 moths old?

Happy girl!
We had some family portraits done in College Station with David's family.  This is the one we picked to purchase.  I liked it better than the one below because Paige is smiling.  But it wad down to these two.
Cute that she is looking at the camera, but I am a sucker for her sweet smile.  That won out in the end.


Goofy girl!

We had a white themed party at our house last weekend.  It was a blast! Speaking of that - Paige spent the night at her grandparents that night!!! It went very well.  I was upset when my dad drove her away, but champagne and club specials helped me out there and I ended up having a great night! We picked her up bright and early and I got plenty of snuggles in.
Fascinated with her hands.  They are always in her mouth.
Watching Entourage with daddy.  I hate that show.
Daycare center Michelle and I set up! Ha! We got to lay out and watch BH 90210 (the original - re runs on soap.net) outside while the babies played in their little stations we set up!
Napping babies at the pool

I love this girl.
My doll baby

I have a full-fledged four month old baby.  How is this possible?  She is still without a doubt the light of my life.  She constantly amazes me.  Here are the things my four month old is doing:

Rolling over both ways

Smiling and laughing non-stop

Putting everything - hands, feet, toys, her shirt - in her mouth

Speaking of feet, she just discovered them! Yesterday in fact! She likes to grab them and explore

She is doing much better with eating too.  She is now eating around 26-28 ounces a day, which is a drastic improvement from just a week ago.  I give her Mylecon at almost every feeding and I think that helps her.  I also have just accepted the fact that she is on her own schedule.  She absolutely will only eat when she wants to.  If that means she has 11 ounces during the day, then from the hours of 5-10:30, she wants to chug every 30 minutes, so be it.  I tried desperately to get her on that elusive 3 hours schedule like other babies, but it just isn't what Paige wants to do.  

We have had many more fun play dates with Ethan.  Ethan sets the bar for me on what Paige will be doing in 5 weeks.  He is a rolling machine! It makes me nervous that Paige will be doing that in the not-so-distant future.  We are entering the days of "wow - you really have to keep your eyes on them AT ALL TIMES!!"

We had dinner at Gerod and Callie's last night.  So much fun! Gerod is such a great dad and had Paige just cracking up.  It was so cute to watch.  Their 2 year old Gibson is so funny too.  At 8:30 on the dot, Gerod said, "night nigh!" And Gibson took of for his room and crawled in his little toddler bed and went right to sleep.  I'm not even kidding.  David and I talked about that the whole way home.  We were like - we have got to get Paige to do that! Ha!

We are about to enter football season, which I have mixed feelings about.  I love OU football, but I'm not sure I am ready to lose my husband every Saturday to drunken tailgate parties.  But I certainly don't have a choice in the matter, so I guess I need to just deal with it now so it doesn't ruin my fall.  Boomer!!!

Looking back

I was driving home from college station, TX on the one year anniversary of my transfer.  That was the 15th.  And now coming up on the one year anniversary of my first positive home pregnancy test! I am sure most people don't remember the day they peed on a stick...but I sure do! I'll never forget that whole day!

I took in the neighborhood of 15 tests over the course of the next few weeks.  Two a day at first, then I stopped for a while.  Then before my 6 week, 2 day ultrasound, I took another few.  I have all those early ultrasounds on my computer and almost put them here just now, but it makes me sad to look at them.  When we fist saw I was having twins, they both looked so great.  I honestly don't even know which one is Paige.  It is so strange to me that I could have two babies here right now! As time went on, the second baby didn't grow as fast as Paige, and finally at around 10 weeks, its heart stopped beating.  This sounds stupid, but sometimes I think that baby will come back to us someday.  I don't know.  Sometimes I believe that and sometimes I don't.

Goodness - this wasn't supposed to be a sad post! How could I be sad?

Paige likes to be turned around in her Bjorn!

My aunt's dog is much bigger than Spike and Beefy!
I love my exersaucer!

Getting ready to go swimming in Dallas!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It has been a year?!

If you don't like these sappy, looking-back type posts, then stay away for about a month!  One year ago today, I started stimming for IVF.  For those infertility lingo challenged among us, that means I started giving myself the daily injections that would grow eggs.  This was also the day of Miranda's bachelorette party...so I brought my Follistim pen and Lupron and needles downtown with me! Ha! I was so excited.  After a summer of waiting, testing, and sending payments in (uggh), I was finally starting!

I cleaned out my closet and kitchen pantries the other day, and happened to find my Follistim pen! I couldn't bring myself to throw it out, even though if I were to need IVF again they would send me another.  I guess I just want to make sure I never forget how much I wanted Paige and how hard I had to work to get her.

Hotsling

I am going to start by saying that these photos are way out of order, as usual.  But here I go:

I am OBSESSED with my hotsling right now.  My mom got this for me when Paige was born, but I didn't like it.  I felt like she was too delicate and it didn't feel secure.  So I got the Bjorn, and I loved it, so I just used that.  However - I just wasn't using the hotsling right! I got the DVD out today that came with it (I was really bored haha) and figured out how it worked.  Well it is so cool! I am happy to have another way to wear Paige.  I still love the Bjorn and will probably stick with that out of the house, but this is great for home and things like going out to eat.  
Photo session
Tummy time made fun with our tummy pal! We love this! 
Paige is starting to kind of reach out for toys.  I say kind of because most of the time it is by accident that she bats at something or reaches for it...but that is how she will learn.
Fun play date with Ethan! We had two babies, two mommies, to purses, diaper bags, etc., two Bjorns, and a huge box of diapers loaded down in my car! We were loaded down!! 

My beautiful girl!
Paige loves the sling!

Proof that it is totally hands free!

Feeding is still going really well.  Life with my sweet bug is just going perfectly! We have really hit a great stride.  I know that things change all the time and I shouldn't get too used to it, as I hear month 4 brings some issues...

So I am going to really enjoy this "quiet" time!

Praise God!

Paige has been eating a million times better.  I can't even describe how much better things are going for us.  I switched to Similac Sensitive (the orange one).  I am using the ready to feed kind (so not powder).  She went from eating 18-20 ounces a day (and even that was awful to get her to do) to now eating 26-27.  And she doesn't fuss! The sensitive ready to feed kind is more expensive, but it is a small price to pay for a happy, good eater.  

Viva Las Vegas

First: pictures!!
Juicy outfit for the plane!

View from our pool

We had our own butler! It was nuts!! We would order dinner and he would set it up outside by the pool for us : )  Back to reality now...
Paige spent most of the time in her Bjorn.  She still loves it and I am obsessed with wearing her.  I love how calm she is in it and I know she loves being near me.
Paige's first ride on a horse! Got to love the decor in hotel rooms
Not funny for people with gambling addictions...but this cracks me up.  Paige is reading about "when the fun stops." 
My beauty queen.

Okay:  on to our feeding issues.  We still have them.  Paige hates to eat.  She fights and fights it.  You know how some babies get "tongue tied" with nursing?  Well Paige does that with the bottle as well.  She acts like she is being tortured.  She is a 3 month old who takes a maximum of 2 ounces at a time.  I have tried all kinds of things:  Gripe water, gas drops, changing formulas (I already quit breastfeeding because of this), but nothing proved to be a long-term solution to our issues.  Things would look up for a day or two, then we would go back to our same old routine.

I feel like we have made some progress as of today though (I know I have said this before, but I digress...).  I have been feeding Paige the Similac in the orange container.  One of the sensitive brands.  She has eaten wonderfully with very little fussing! And I haven't had to give her any gas drops!!! YAY!!! I'll pray that this continues.  

Vegas was a BLAST!! I'll save that for another day.  Having a three month old keeps my pretty busy!

Still sleeping?

I still love Spikers.  He doesn't get too much attention and I am pretty sure he thinks his name has been changed to "Go away!" or "You stink!" or maybe "Get!"

But this 106 degree summer is wearing the Spike and Beefy out.
Lovin' our Bumbo!
Tummy time! It is hard working holding all that hair up!
Taking a little breather after some tummy time.

It is 7:30 and Paige is still sleeping! I don't even want to get out of bed to get my morning Coke Zero (yes, I have one for breakfast) for fear of waking her! She went down at 10:30 and it is now 7:30! What a wonderful thing!

We are headed to Vegas with Paige in tow on Monday.  So she is continuing her tour of the western United States.  My dad is a big time gambler out there, so they try and get him to come all the time and offer him all kinds of comps.  The Mirage is so desperate for people to come, the offered him a private villa and a butler! Ha! I hope diaper changing and babysitting while mommy goes to the 21 club are in his job description!

Paige and Ethan visit the Belmont pool!

My little love 



Ethan likes the pool more than Paige does, since his mom is smart and got him a fun raft! I am going to try and find one for Paige.  I dipped her in the water for a while, but she spent most of the time asleep in her carrier.  Mommy got some much needed sun, though!

Today is my niece Ava's first birthday!!!!! I can't believe it! When Ava was born, I was on birth control for IVF #1.  I was (selfishly) so upset when Hayley got pregnant.  David took me to Boulevard Steakhouse to make me feel better, but I cried the whole time! It wasn't fair! But when Ava was born, I didn't care about any of that.  I love her so much! She is so precious and a such a happy girl.  I can't wait to come back with pictures!

Have a great Sunday!

Picture time!

Mini photo-session #348
Paige loves her play mat! Her boyfriend right now is the octopus.  Last week it was the whale, but she only has eyes for her octopus right now.  Sometimes I feel bad for just laying her down in her mat, but she really loves it! I recommend the Baby Einstein Ocean Wonders play mat.
Love that beautiful booty : )
Happy girl!
Pose for mommy, Paige!!

Summer Lovin'

It is hot, hot, hot! I used to love it, but now it just means I should probably stay inside all day! I worry about Paige getting too hot (shocker...I worry about something) so I really don't even like to go outside and push her in the stroller.  I looked at the 10 day on weather dot com, and it is 103, 105, 99, 101, etc.  This is madness!

I need some ideas of fun things Paige and I can do that won't cause us to melt!

Reflections

Last 4th of July was so hard for me.  I will never forget that night.  We had a big party with all of our friends, a margarita machine...the works.  A bunch of girls were sitting out on the patio talking about babies.  Only three of the girls had kids, but for some reason, it was all anyone wanted to talk about.  Pregnancy, babies, how excited they were to have babies, how they were going to have them at such and such time, names, thoughts on returning to work, etc.  Everyone had opinions and things to say except me.  I just sat there thinking, what can I add to this conversation?  Well I just paid $25,000 and started birth control pills for a cycle of In Vitro Fertilization.  It wasn't anyone's fault, don't get me wrong.  I am not/was never upset with my friends for talking about this kind of stuff in front of me.  And it wasn't anything new - it seems like talk always migrated to babies when us girls were all together.  But for some reason, this night, it really got to me.

After too many margaritas, I found myself sobbing on the floor of my closet.  I didn't come out until almost everyone was gone.  This was truly a low point for me.  In just one year, I did IVF, became pregnant with twins, lost one of them, and had my sweet Paige.

Reminders like this are good.  When Paige is frustrating me and being difficult, I remember that this year I will spend the 4th holding my baby (in her cute Ralph Lauren 4th of July outfit!) instead of spending year #2 sobbing in my closet. 

Happy July!

Paige likes to lounge poolside
David is the best at feeding her.  I swear he was a mom in another lifetime.
Catching a ride from Dad after Jerad and Minda's rehearsal dinner.  More on that below.
Mom, what is your obsession with pink and brown polka dots?
My cute husband and me at Jerad and Minda's wedding.  I got the dress in Alaska of all places.  But it is now my new favorite! 
I love flowers.  My house is filled with florals and my third favorite thing about weddings is looking at the flowers. My first is cake and second is open bar.  However when there is no alcohol at a reception, I eat two pieces of cake and spend my time taking pictures of the flowers.  I LOVED their centerpieces! They used limes and berries with the roses.  So cool!

Getting a ride out of Mercy after our two month shots.  It was traumatic for me, but I think Paige got over it pretty quickly.  I was so glad David met us there, because I did not want to be the one holding her down.  I cried and cried! Paige let out several screams which broke my heart, but David got her calmed down pretty fast.  NOT looking forward to our 4 month shots!

Our besties, Brooke and Seth, came over last night and David's parents are coming in this weekend...so we are busy busy! 

I am thankful to my Dr. friend, Erin...thank you so much for talking to me last night! Background:  Paige has never been an eager eater.  Hence why I stopped breastfeeding.  It was just too difficult.  Lately, it has been awful.  She has been refusing to eat! The pediatrician was shocked when I told her how much Paige eats in a given day.  Not only does she not want to eat, but she screams bloody murder when you try to feed her! She would eat maybe 1 or 2 ounces before having a fit.  It has been so frustrating for me, as I spend my days just trying to get her to eat.  As you can probably guess, not eating during the day makes her not a great sleeper at night.  We had gotten used to Paige sleeping through the night, so it was very hard to get up and tend to her at 3 AM these last few nights.  And sleep deprivation makes frustration worse...

Well last night before bed, something just clicked, I guess.  Paige ate 5 ounces, went to sleep at 10:30, and woke up at 6:30! Praise God! And so far today she has finished all her bottles with ease.  I am hopeful this trend continues.  I swear, there is always something to worry about!