1 month old today :)

Logan is one month old today!  Here are some pictures to mark the date!

Logan has discovered her tongue this last week and you'll rarely find her not sucking on it or playing with it :)

With her horse from Aunt Carolyn.

Peek a boo!

Today Logan is 1 month old!  While it sometimes it seems like the time has flown, others (like in the middle of the night) make it seem like it's been a long time since we were in that hospital room.  We fall more in love with her every second of every day.  Here are a few things our little doodlebug can do:

- She's working on her head control.  She can hold her own head up and look around for about a minute or two before needing some extra support.

- She's very alert when she's awake.  She looks around and can focus on things for several minutes at a time.

-She recognizes voices.  So far it seems like it's just me and Mike that she recognizes, however, if I turn on one of my dad's sermon's her eyes instantly go to the sound so I think she's starting to recognize his voice, as well.

-She is sleeping a longer stretch at night.  We usually go 2 hours (12:45am or 1:30am), then 3 or 4 hours (4:45am or 5:30am) before being woken up again in the morning.

- She's working on her million dollar smile.  We can see her eyes light up when she likes things and it looks like she's trying to smile but hasn't quite figured it out yet.  I'm sure that we'll be capturing that beautiful smile sometime soon.  

Mommyhood

Logan is almost 3 weeks old!  A lot of people say that the time has flown and they can't believe she's getting closer and closer to being a month old.  I can believe it!  I'm up with her during those long nights and the time has not flown for me (thank goodness)!  I am savoring every single moment I have with her.  I do not wish one second of her life away.  To those who count down the days until their child can sleep through the night, I say, enjoy this time of his/her life now...you'll never get them this little again, enjoy ALL of their life.  It's hard, I'll admit it-- when I'm up for the 3rd or 4th time with Logan on those rough nights, I know that it'll be easier when she's sleeping longer stretches, but I'm loving every single second I get with my baby girl-hard or not.

I love being a mommy.  I truly can say that God made me for this job.  There is NOTHING in this world I'd rather be doing at any given second than being a good wife and a good mom.  I live for those moments when I pick up Logan when she's crying and she instantly quiets down because she knows it's me.  I live for the moments when she's sleeping and I'm able to get the house picked up and stuff ready for Mike when he gets home from work.  I live for the moments when the three of us get to cuddle up together at night before Logan's bedtime and Mike and I get to show her how much we love her.  

A few things I've learned as a new mommy of a little girl:

1.  Sleep is INCREDIBLY valuable.  While I love my baby girl, and I love being with her, it's very hard to not sleep at night when everyone else is sleeping.  I will say that I do get more sleep  now than in my last 3 months of pregnancy, however, I was able to rest and relax a whole lot more when I was pregnant and I think that's the difference.  **To those about to be new mommy's- don't get offended when other mom's tell you to enjoy your sleep now.  As one of those who used to scoff when they would say things like that to me, it really is meant to be helpful and they are truly just trying to make sure that you enjoy every last second of "good sleep" you are able to get.  (By good sleep I mean sleep that is uninterrupted and deep.  :) )  I admit, I've now joined those mommy's who see preggos and tell them to enjoy their sleep!

2.  I have been "christened" by several baby boys in my days of babysitting/nannying and was looking forward to having a girl because I knew I wouldn't be sprayed.  I have now learned that while girls can't shoot straight up at your face, they can soak you anyway.  :)  It seems like no matter how long I wait for Logan to be done going to the bathroom, as soon as I open that diaper up, she pees on me.  I have finally started keeping a washcloth with me so that when I do open the diaper I can cover her before she gets the chance to make me change my clothing!

3.  I do 10 times more laundry now, and surprisingly, it's not because of the baby laundry.  I find that I go through more clothing now than I did before.  I have realized that none of my clothes are safe from disaster!  If Logan doesn't pee on my clothes, she poops on them...if she doesn't poop on them, she spits up on them...and if all of that doesn't happen then I leak milk all over myself.  I probably change 2 or 3 times a day.  I've gotten much better than when she was a brand new baby, though, and am able to protect myself a bit more now.

4.  Late night TV has taken on a whole new meaning for me.  When I was younger (about 11 years old), I dreaded bedtime and longed for the nights when I could stay up late and watch late night TV.  When I actually hit the age where my parents took my bedtime away, I LOVED staying up as late as I could to watch those shows.  After I got married and started working, I realized that those shows were just not that important anymore and if, by chance, I was up late enough to watch them, I knew the next day at work would be dreadful.  I now have re-kindled the flames with late night TV and know exactly what shows are on when I'll be up with little Logan and actually look forward to some of her feedings more than others because of what will be on TV!  

Logan Elizabeth Kayle

She is here!  Mike and I are having an incredible time getting used to having a new little life here with us and we are loving every second of it.  She is the sweetest baby and I can't imagine loving anything quite the way I love her.  It truly is a love that cannot be explained, it just happens when you see your sweet baby come into the world.  It's a love that continues to grow with each passing second I have her.  Mike and I are truly blessed and are so excited to start this new time in our lives.

Logan's birthday was a scheduled one.  After my 39 week appointment, my Dr. decided that he didn't like my elevated blood pressure and scheduled an induction.  We knew that we would be meeting our little girl on January 28, 2009.

I got up early that morning and ate a big breakfast, finished up our baby laundry and prayed without ceasing.  I was scared.  Induction was not in my grand plan.  I wanted a natural labor and this went against the grain.  But I knew that that God was in control.  We headed to the hospital and began induction prep at 7:15.  This took a long time.  We finally were finished with the prep at 8:45.  Thankfully, my body had been working hard for weeks and when I went into the hospital for my induction, I was already 4cm dilated.  No noticeable contractions, though, so the Dr. broke my water at 9 and then started me on pit.

I did well breathing through the contractions at first, but after about an hour and a half I began to get really hungry.  They wouldn't give me anything for the hunger, so I went ahead and caved for the epidural.  That was against my plan, too.  But while everything seemed to be going against what I wanted, God was in control.  The epidural allowed my body to relax and after an hour I had gone from 6cm to 10cm and was beginning to feel the urge to push.  The nurse was asked me to hold off and wait for the Dr. to be ready but when she saw how intense the urge was, she had me begin without him.  We did this for a little while and then the Dr. came, suited up and had me push out our little girl.  My labor lasted a total of 5 hours and 14 minutes.  

We named her Logan Elizabeth.  Logan because my dad's middle name is Logan and because we really liked the sound of the name.  It was also the only name out of hundreds that we both agreed on.  Elizabeth because it was my mom's middle name and also my own middle name.  

She is a precious gift and we are so thankful to have her in our lives, finally.