4 months old today

Logan is 4 months old today! It's crazy to think that 4 months ago tonight we were sitting in the hospital watching the Cav's game and tonight we're sitting here watching them in the playoffs from our own bed. Yes, that is indeed what Logan has chosen to do for her 4 month old birthday (or it was chosen for her...however you want to look at it), watching LeBron (or Bron Bron as she so fondly refers to him :) ) play the Magic.

So, sweet girl...you are FOUR months old! What are some things you are doing this month?

- You have become quite the roller. You can roll quickly from your tummy to your back but you are still very hesitant to try to roll back to tummy. We'll get there soon!

- I'd love to say that you are sleeping better....but it just depends on the night. Last night you almost gave me a full night but two nights ago you were up every 2 hours, so like I said, depends on the night.

- You have figured out how to use your hands. You are grabbing at EVERYTHING. You love love love to bat at the toy that hangs from your carseat and you get the CUTEST little accomplished look when you do it.

- You are kicking your legs like crazy. When you get excited you kick them like you're on a bike. Sometimes it hits mommy or daddy and we realize just how strong your little legs are.

- You love to TALK TALK TALK. This is actually a very recent development (within the last two days). You seem to have something to say about everything. It's much more than the cooing, you're actually trying to communicate something to us. You'll look at us as you do it and expect us to answer back--if only we knew what you were saying! (it's adorable all the same)

- You laugh out loud! Last month your giggles were more of a sucking in air sound. They definitely have come out this month. Random things make you laugh and usually those things will make you laugh for hours at a time but if tried again at a different sitting they don't work at all. We are really working hard to find something that will always make you laugh so we can video it. It's super entertaining.

- You are definitely our little blessing and we love you more with every passing second. We can't imagine life without you.

Ok, here are the comparison pictures!!

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

Has it been a week already?

Another week down, TWO MORE to go! Only 8 more days of school :) I've been doing a countdown to summer with my kids in class to help teach them subtraction and the whole counting backwards skill and when we went into single digits this week one of them stood up and loudly declared:

"WAIT! So that means only NINE more days until you're not my teacher?! I think we need to start counting up tomorrow." :) Gotta love the mind of a first grader.

Speaking of, let me give you another quick conversation I had this week with a little girl. To preface this, since I got back from my maternity leave I had to talk to the kids about building each other up as opposed to tearing each other down--while I was gone they had taken to insulting each other to the point that they'd go home crying. We've been going over nice phrases to say to each other and when we need to keep our words to ourselves, etc, etc. So I've started a rule in the classroom: every time someone says something mean to someone else, they MUST come up with two nice things to say to them (usually the first nice thing is sorry, though some of my more creative kids actually do come up with two complements). Anyway, a few days ago I had a sweet little boy come up to me in throws of tears telling me that the little girl who sits next to him had just called him a dirty dog. UGH. Here's how the conversation went (names are changed to protect the kids):

Sammy: "Mrs. Kayle, Jamie just called me a dirty dog." sob sob.

Me: "Jamie, did you call Sammy a dirty dog?"

Jamie: "Yes, I did."

Me: "Does that build Sammy up?"

Jamie: "No"

Me: "Ok, well since you tore him down you need to build him back up."

Jamie: *stands deep in concentration and then begins to get tearful* "I'm really sorry Sammy. Next time I will call you a clean dog."

I did have to get up and walk out of the room to laugh with another teacher. I will miss little moments like this when I'm at home.

Ok...back to the subject of this blog. :) Can't get away from her too long. Just a few things from the week. Logan has started kicking her legs very vigorously this week. We're getting ready for mobility (though it will probably be several months). She has started routinely flipping from her tummy to her back. She has a hard time going back to tummy, though. We're working on that! Here she is in one of my favorite onesies (you can't see the whole thing but it says: "Mommy and I think that daddy is charming." Way true.)

And again.
For those of you who know my family, you know that we are die hard Alabama fans. Actually of us only my mom and I didn't attend the University. Carolyn brought home this cute little onesie with a houndstooth elephant on it so I had to make a bow to go with it. :) She wore it to my cousins' birthday party where she could show it off.
The last one is from this morning on the way to church. My childhood friend, Val, bought her this really cute dress that I've been crazy dying to put on her but it didn't fit until this week so here it is! It's got little yellow ducks on the border and is simply adorable. (Sorry for the picture quality, my camera batteries died and instead of running out to get new ones we've been using the iphone).

Time for a Post

Only three more weeks until my posts will probably be a bit more frequent!!! That's right, three weeks (1 full week, two short weeks...13 days...78ish hours...) until I'm DONE DONE DONE with work! Woohooo! I think I mentioned this in the past post but last week I told my boss that I wasn't returning so that was a huge weight off of my shoulders. She was very supportive and excited that I'd be able to stay home with Logan. I've been VERY busy with work the last several weeks. The end of the year brings a lot of paperwork so when I get home I am completely and utterly exhausted and all I want to do is spend time with my husband and baby so I don't get a whole lot of anything done. In fact, this week I was so tired that I'm doing a weeks worth of laundry today (UGH! Not sure I'll let that happen again). Those of you who know me know how tired I really must have been to let a mess pile up for that long--usually I go nuts every couple days and I HAVE to get the laundry done (kitchen clean, floors swept/mopped, etc.). Neat freak much? Absolutely.

So, what have we been up to this week? Well, Logan has been with Carolyn this week (and will be until I'm done with school) and I'm so happy to announce that she's officially back on the schedule I had her on when I was at home (with a little bit of modification...come on people, she is about a month older :) ). She's taking two great naps during the day and then going to bed sometime in the 8:30-9pm time frame at night. Her feedings are on a nice schedule and she's finally back to nursing without a struggle after several weeks of having to really work at it (Praise the Lord, didn't know if that one was ever going to end!). So, it's been nice to come home to a sleeping baby and have her wake up happy and alert for me. I get about an hour of downtime when I get home before she wakes up, which is really nice, especially if Mike is home since our time alone is very little these days, it gives us a chance to really catch up on life.

Like I said before, I've been working hard to finish out the year. Packing things up in the classroom, figuring out which teachers want my stuff (since I don't have use for it at home right now) and just getting ready to say my goodbyes there. Mike has been working a lot and subbing some to make some extra cash as we prepare for the move in July. Still haven't heard from seminary but we've decided we'll probably head to Tallahassee if the answer from them is no. We know that area well, have good connections, and know the cost of living is a lot less and that we'd still be able to pull of me staying at home there.

I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to being back home with the baby. I feel like I lose so much time with her being at work all day. I come home sometimes and she looks so much more grown up than when I left her. I've also faced the problem of being so tired when I come home from work that I just don't feel like I get solid quality time with her. I just get a general feeling of guilt when I leave. God is really blessing us by allowing me to be at home with her (oops...almost said them and then realized I only have ONE! No...I am most definitely NOT pregnant again--need a little more time) I've been very convicted about it and feel like we can make it on what Mike makes at work (not in Miami) and so the only reason I'd continue to work is to keep a higher standard of living and that just is not a reason to work. I need to be at home raising my family. I told a co-worker of mine this week that I'd live in a little shack and grow my own food and be completely content if I was at home working as mom and wife. :)

**Stepping down from my soap box**

Remember this little creation? I made it for Logan about a month after she was born and she just drowned in the thing. It's been hanging from one of the arms of the changing table decorating the room while we waited for her to fill it out.

Well, she fills it out now! Mike is at a workshop today so Lo and I spent the morning playing and as we passed the changing table she grabbed hold of the tutu and so I decided to put it on her and see how much she's grown.
You can't see her little legs because as soon as the tutu was on she curled them up under it. She's been very interested in her feet and she couldn't really figure out why she couldn't see them. She kept trying to lift them above the tutu but just couldn't quite make it.

We went to my school's spring dance show this week and Logan was just completely enamored with the little ballerinas that danced first. She kept trying leaning forward to get a better look and she just cooed the entire time! I think we have a little ballerina in the making!

I'll leave you with another cute Lo picture. Do I have to have a reason? :) Until next time!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ok, so it's officially my first Mother's Day. I have waited and prayed for this day for years (probably since my early teens). Now, last year at this time I had just found out I was pregnant. I was excited, but cautious, it was all very surreal. I prayed that I'd make it to today and have a sweet baby in my arms--and I do! (well, right now she's sleeping in her bassinet...but you get what I mean)

So, the day started pretty early--actually very early (2am, 4am, 6am) because my baby is going through a growth spurt and she's up every 2 hours to snack. It was a nice reminder that I am indeed a mommy today and will be for the rest of my life. We finally decided to get up around 9 and Mike had Logan give me a sweet card. (p.s. did I mention that I have the BEST hubby?!) We got dressed and got ready to head to church when I noticed a nice pool of drool and spit up on my shirt, which normally would make me gag, but today I wore it proud, again, being reminded that I AM A MOMMY! We had a nice time at church, Lo actually made it about 40 minutes before losing it and needing to be taken out.

Carolyn and John are in town and we all made lunch today for mom and spent some of the afternoon with her. Mike and I left there around 2:30 and brought doodlebug home for a nap. She took a short nap and allowed me to clean a bit. Mike ordered dinner for us which we got to eat together (not in shifts, like we usually do) because Logan sat and sucked on her little fingers the whole time! It was incredible! We gave Lo a bath and now she's sleeping peacefully in her bassinet. Woohoo!! Here are some pictures celebrating the day:

Happy Mother's Day mommy! I'm keeping myself entertained and quiet with my own fist (which I swear can fit all the way in my mouth).
So excited that it's Mother's Day and I get to celebrate it with my sweet, sweet girl!
For Mother's Day I got a mommy/baby workout video. Here we are after we finished it.

And here is the beautiful girl who made me a mommy waking up from her nap. Love her!

Today I also remember the heartache I felt a little over a year ago after losing my first baby. A time when I thought I may never have a Mother's Day of my own. When thinking about that I also remember to pray for others who are hurting after lost babies or are hurting because they haven't yet been able to conceive the baby that they've dreamed of.

Happy Mother's Day!!

What Have I Done?

Ok, it's no secret...I l-o-v-e clothes. On any given day you can find me in Old Navy, Target, Gap, the list goes on, browsing for good deals and cute clothes. Well, this changed a bit when I had a baby girl. Instead of browsing for clothes for myself, I now look for good deals for my little girl. This has resulted in quite a large wardrobe for our baby girl (never have paid full price for any item). What's not to love about sweet baby clothes that are a good deal? :)

Anyway, onto the point of the story. Last night, Mike and I took Lo out to dinner and I went to pick out her outfit (took her with me to do it) and this was what resulted:

Mommy, I want to pick my outfit!

Which outfit do I want to wear tonight? :)

Yes, she did indeed grab the drawer as soon as we sat down to look and tried to pull herself up. I did end up helping her on the pull up part but she's standing nearly on her own here. So, what did Logan pick to wear?

Don't you love the jeans? We couldn't believe she fit into them! When we got them (at the shower) we thought she'd never fit into them and when we pulled them out last night we were sure that her little legs weren't long enough...lo and behold...they are long enough! They look really sweet on her, too.

I'm throwing in a few extra pictures because I just can't get enough of them. This is from today in another pair of jeans.

3 month old updates

Ok, little girl, you are now three months old! Here are some things you can do:

-Hold your head up high! When you are on your tummy you love to show us how high you can get your head, it is so sweet!

-Giggle, giggle, giggle. You love to laugh! It's really cute because you can't quite get it out, so your giggles just sound like you are sucking in air over and over again. It's the BEST sound!

- Sleep 6 hour stretches (on rare occasion). You usually just wake up once after about 4 hours for a snack but sometimes you'll give me six.

-Recognize yourself in the mirror. We got one for the car so that you can look at yourself while we drive and you make ALL KINDS of faces at yourself while you look. You'll also look for mirrors when you know they're around...you're just like your Tia Carolyn! (though, she'll tell you that you're just like me)

- You did this last month but you're learning more and more how to keep your bouncer going when it stops. You hold your foot up and just go up and down and up and down until the bouncer moves.

- You recognize mommy and daddy. You even have started to reach for mommy on occasion (which makes my heart just MELT)

- You've just started to want to roll over all the way. You kind of bobble from side to side until you can get yourself around. You've only made it all the way around once (last night) but I'm sure we're in for more, soon!

- You love love LOVE to suck your little fist. You try desperately to open it up and stick a finger in your mouth but it just doesn't work so well, you end up with almost the whole thing shoved in your mouth most of the time. In fact, you love it so much that you'll spit out your paci just to stick the fist in.

We love you, Lo!!!

1 month

2 months

3 months

Can you tell I've grown this month?!

I think she's looking more like a baby and less like a newborn this month. What do you think?