100 Days

Paige is 100 days today! 

Where we live, it's very common to celebrate the baby's 100th day birthday. Usually the parents will throw a party for their baby. Well, we didn't throw a party for Paige-but we did sing her Happy Birthday and Daniel and I ate cookies. So everyone wins. 

Paige was extra cute today, talking and smiling and just hamming it up.

I'm growing my bangs out. And, also, this just in, apparently I look 12.

Paige hanging out with Daddy!

I think she's getting to be quite the little chunk! 

Happy 100 days Paige!

love

laura

Twins

Saturday I was making brownies, and needed an egg. I feel like the eggs here are smaller than the ones in the States. So when I went to get an egg from the fridge, I noticed one looked a lot bigger than normal. So I cracked the egg into the bowl and 2 yolks came out!!! Maybe this is common, but I have never seen this before! Daniel usually buys our eggs at the market, and he said he noticed they were bigger than usual. He had also found a couple that had 2 yolks. My first thought was, oh my gosh, twins!!!

This was Paige last night. She fell asleep in my arms, then we put her in the bouncer. So cute.

Speaking of twins......yesterday we were getting ready to head out and I put Paige in the dress that my sister and I wore when we were babies. When my mom first showed it to me, I  was convinced it was doll clothes and my mom was just confused. But the tag actually says 0-3 months, so I guess it's safe to say the dress is for real.

It has "I love Granny" embroidered on it. I wish I had a picture of when I was wearing it as a baby.

We tried to get her to smile, but it was almost time for her nap. Not that it mattered, with being away from home yesterday she missed two naps. But she did take a long afternoon nap that was lovely!

I just can't take the cuteness!!!! Seriously, the little ruffles and collar! agh, too much!

We didn't really do too much this weekend......Friday night Daniel taught english corner and Paige and I hung out, again with her falling asleep in the bouncer. Saturday, Daniel taught class in the morning and I watched an episode of Call the Midwife. That afternoon we ran errands and got ready for company we had for dinner. Yesterday we met with some friends, ate at McDonalds, then just rested most of the afternoon.

Speaking of McDonald's-I can't remember if I had already you this or not. But.....almost all the McDonald's here have a Mon-Fri lunch special where you can get any of their value meals for about $2.50. And I'm talking the regular meals-burger, fries and a drink. It's a steal! We get McDonald's about once a month or so. I know......BUT it's really the only good Western fast food here. So it always feels like a treat. And it's so cheap, it's hard to pass that up! 

Happy Memorial Day!

love

laura

It's Thursday

Not too much is going on here today.

Paige took a long 2+ hour nap this morning. Then decided sleeping is for the birds and took only two 30 minutes naps after that. Every morning nap she sleeps long and good. But lately the naps after that are really short. I know according to Babywise this is when she starts staying awake longer, but she's supposed to be still taking good naps. So I'm not sure what to do. It's hard to know that we are entering a new phase, but not really sure what that looks like exactly or how to know when we are 'there.'

The last two nights she's slept so well and not even made a peep or woken up to jibber jabber at all. I slept from 10:30-6:30 last night, and it was wonderful!!! 

I am loving how alert and aware Paige is becoming. She's starting to respond to the games we play with her, the noises we make, and is noticing everything around her. 

We are full on in cloth diapers now. I'll have to do a separate post on that. It's not too complicated, and I'm enjoying it. Especially the saving money part. I've been drying the diaper covers, because you can-but just read recently that it's better to air dry them so they'll last longer. Since I don't really want to be buying new ones when we have another little kiddo, I figured might as well.

We don't have any outside space, or a good place to line dry things. And our bedroom window is the best place for direct sunlight-so there ya go. They actually just take a few hours to dry-so it's not too bad. We have enough diapers now for her to wear them while we wash and dry the dirty ones. 

We tried going for a walk tonight, but it started to rain, so back inside we came. I want to run tomorrow but it's likely to be raining or pretty wet, so we'll see. 

I had class today and it went really well. I lost a bit of language when we were in the States-but i'm trying to get it to all come back. With language there are good days and bad. Sometimes you feel great like you're really getting a hold of it, then sometimes someone tells you the simplest thing that you've heard a million times and you draw a blank.

anyone else out there learning a second or third language?

love

laura

A little slice of life

Sunday night we went out for dinner to a Western restaurant that a friend had given us a giftcard to. We've been to the restaurant many times, it's one of our faves! We put little Paigers in the Ergo carrier and off we went.
When it came time to eat, Daniel put Paige down in the chair next to him. I have never seen anything so adorable. Ever. I mean, how cute is little mini me sitting up in the big chair all cutesy????

I know, she looks thrilled right?!

In other news, last Friday morning Daniel went in to get Paige up and yelled for me to come really quick. I thought something was wrong. But for the first time ever while living in our city, the sky was clear enough to see this.

Those are mountains!!!! We have lived in this city off an on since 2008, and this is the first time we have ever seen them! I know the sky doesn't look that clear, but it is. We have friends who have lived here for close to 10 years and have never seen them. Snow capped mountains!!!! crazy.

We've been having amazing weather here. Usually our city is nothing but smog and gray skies for days on end. But this year we've had several sunny days and it's been wonderful. This is the view from our living room. We are on the 14th floor.

So my sister, the health nut, has gotten me eating chia seeds. It's all she ever talks about. I hear all the time what chia seeds can go in and how great they are. So I brought some chia seeds, flax seeds, and agave back from the states. Most mornings I eat oatmeal for breakfast. A few months ago I would do 1/2 oats, 1 cup milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a little bit of syrup (as in pancake syrup). 

Now I do this:

I still use 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup milk (need the calcium), flax seeds, chia seeds, agave, and a touch of cinnamon. It's actually pretty good! And I feel all good about myself eating seeds from who knows where. 

do you eat chia seeds? what do you put them in?

love

laura

My first real Mother's Day

It seems almost surreal that I celebrated my first real mother's day! I say real because I feel like i've celebrated for a few years now! My parents have actually sent me mother's day cards for a few years, even before kids were on our radar. I think I may have even gotten one before I was even married. Daniel has given me mother's day cards every year too. It might be strange, but I absolutely love it!

This year I was beyond excited to celebrate mother's day. Not just for me and Paige, but my own mom and my sister, Sarah. Becoming a mom has made me realize and be grateful on a whole new level what my mom has done for me. Because I know how much I love Paige. I know the out of control love i have for her when I hold her. i know how deep my love for Paige is, even though right now she has no clue. And it makes me think of my own mom. All of the sacrifices she has made for us over the years. Especially the ones when we were little, that were most likely not acknowledged. The endless laundry, cooking, diaper changing, etc.....I know my mom loved us with a selfless love. I'm slowly realizing how much she did for us when we were kids. It amazes me. I almost can't find the words to say. Because I know thank you isn't enough. I know my mom sacrificed herself for us. I long to have a love like that for my children. I daily see how selfish I am.

I love being a mom. I love the timing of it all. Sarah having a little girl just 11 weeks older than Paige has been one of the biggest blessings ever. I love that we talk all the time-comparing feedings, schedules, diapers, weight-loss, and everything in between. I am so grateful for Sarah and her experience as a mom. She has taught me so much, and I am better for her example in my life. 

So this Mother's Day I was thinking thru all of what it means to be a mom. And so grateful for the wonderful examples I've been given. I really can't do it justice or express how thankful I am for my own mom. I wish I could go back to my younger self and say 'hey, instead of getting mad at your mom, why don't you thank her for feeding you at 3 am?" ha

Here's a recap of my day!

I woke up to red roses and a card from Daniel. (and yes, I forgot to take a pic of the flowers, but they were beautiful!) Inside Daniel's card he told me he would be making dinner all week! There was a menu, and I got to choose what we ate each night. It was so nice to have the extra time-while he cooked, I was able to go out for a walk, or just read and relax for a bit. It was great! And we found a new recipe we liked too!

We got together with some friends that day, so I volunteered to make cupcakes. I wanted them to be fancy since it was Mother's Day. So I found this tutorial online and thought they came out pretty good. I didn't have the exact same tips, but it worked.

I used a regular cake mix and then made the Wilton buttercream recipe. 

I will definitely be making these again!

For dinner, I chose to go eat local. A little strange considering we eat it a lot, but i was craving it!

We ordered egg and tomato, beef with peppers and rice. It was SOOO good and exactly what I wanted!

Paige gave me a present too-she slept for over 2 hours that afternoon and I got to nap too! 

I had a wonderful mother's day and am so so thankful for Paige making me a mama!

love

laura

Paige at 3 Months

Wow! I'm sure I'll say this every month, but how in the world is she this old?!?!

3 Month Stats:

(I'm guessing since we don't have a check up this month)

Weight: Between 12 1/2-13 lbs. Today I felt like she weighed 20!

Length: 23 1/2 inches? She is really long!

Size Diaper: We are in cloth diapers!! But at night we use disposable and she wears a size Small in Pampers. The Pampers here don't come in number sizes like the states. Small is size 1 and 2 together. 

Size Clothes: Shockingly still 0-3 months. She has outgrown some of her onesies cos she is just too long. It was so sad to pack up some of her clothes already. 

I feel like everything I've read is that 3 months is a huge turning point. So far Paige hasn't had her 3 month growth spurt, and I'm dreading that day. Or at least hoping with every fiber of my being that it isn't anything like her last growth spurt. i'm not so secretly hoping that it goes by without me really noticing....ha.

I feel like this month especially Paige has changed so much. She looks so different to me, like she doesn't really look like a newborn anymore, but an actual baby. 

Paige eats during the day on average every 3 hours, sometimes less, sometimes more. Daniel gives her a bottle of expressed milk once a day. Sometimes she'll take it without a problem, and sometimes she makes Daniel really work for it! Overall, she is great eater! She tends to overeat most of the time, then spits it back up. Fun times. And lots of laundry. 

Look how tiny she looks here!!! Cutie!

Paige is a great sleeper!!! She goes down about 7:45pm, sleeps for about an hour-two, then I dreamfeed. She then sleeps for 10 straight hours! There are times that we are waking her up in the morning! She wakes up between 7-8 am, is awake for about 45-60 minutes, then goes back down for a good 2 hour nap.  

She takes 2 more good naps, about an hour on average. Then she catnaps for about 30 minutes before her last feeding at 7:15. She still sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, and will "talk" or fuss for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes she'll fall back to sleep.

In the past week, she has really started "talking!" She coos and jibber-jabbers all the time, it is so much fun! If I could figure out how to post videos here I would. We have so many videos of her just talking away. The other day she woke up at 5 am and "talked" to herself for almost an hour!

(look at that belly!!!)

I'm pretty sure Paige will be rolling over any day now. When we do tummy time she gets SO close!! Tonight neither of us would leave the room because we didn't want to miss the first time she rolls over. Seriously, any day now. 

She still loves to be on her activity mat. She can turn on the music now all by herself! She is also noticing the world around her-she will crane her neck all the way around to look at something. She will stare so intently at things that are new to her. It's so fun to see how alert she is and to watch her taking in new things. 

Last Friday night, we had our first playdate. Which means we watched several other kids play while Paige looked around and then eventually fell asleep. But we both are looking forward to more playdates in the future! Also, Daniel and I are hoping to leave her with a friend in the next few weeks so we can have a date! i'm really excited and looking forward to it. But a little nervous about her taking a bottle from someone else. 

This month has been so much fun watching Paige discover new things-(like her hands, and how far she can put them down her mouth before she chokes), seeing her get bigger, and just falling more in love with her everyday! I love hearing her "talk" and can't wait to see what she does this next month!

love

laura

It's all about her

But seriously, all of my pics nowadays are Paige. Which I don't mind at all-she makes me happy!

(this is when we were first trying to swaddle just no arms. that lasted about a day)

So when we last spoke, I mentioned we were about to stop the swaddle. Homegirl was getting out of it several times a night and my sleep is worth so much to me.

So we transitioned to a sleep sack, which to me is basically no swaddle at all. It's basically just a good extra layer. The first day she didn't nap as well. That night we prayed HARD! We were so prepared to have a long night of constant waking and fussing. But she woke up twice during the night and very quickly put herself back to sleep. It was amazing! Each night gets better and better and I am very glad that we are done with the swaddle phase.

She still looks so tiny in her crib! She always sleeps with her arms out like that.

She's been sleeping a good 10 hours at night. We put her down at about 7:30ish, I wake her for a dream feed, and then she sleeps till about 7:30 or so. But, the last week we've been having to wake her up between 7:30 and 8. So I've been pushing the dream feed up each night by 15 minutes. And we've still had to wake her. So last night I bumped it up another 15 minutes-to 9 pm. She fed great and went back to sleep.

At 2:50am she was crying pretty hard. Much different than just a normal fuss. So we changed her diaper, consoled her, she just would not go back to sleep. She wasn't hungry, so I ended up rocking her. But she didn't even get the droopy eye or anything! She just let me rock her, while she just laid their all quiet and content. But awake! So we put her back in bed and she cried again. We let her cry for a few minutes then Daniel rocked her. Within minutes she was out...it was almost 4:30 by this time.

(her bottom looks all big and squishy here because she's wearing an outfit she's growing out of with a cloth diaper)

Then 5:30 came and she was up again! But this time it was her normal "talking" and she put herself back to sleep pretty quick.

Then at 6:45 she was up and crying. I figured she might be hungry, so I went to pick her up. She was definitely ready to eat!!! I have no idea what happened last night, but i'm hoping it was a fluke and she goes back to her regular schedule tonight. I keep waiting for the 3 month growth spurt. The last one was so hard. I thought after last night she might be starting it, but she's been eating and sleeping close to her regular schedule.

Of course this all happens right after I tell my sister how great Paige sleeps at night, and how she doesn't wake up at all. Paige 1, Parents 0. (it's probably more like Paige-567, Parents-1)

(this is how we spend our friday nights. we like to live on the edge)

Mother's Day post coming soon!

love

laura

What I've been up to

So back in the day...prePaige, I loved to run. I think I still do.

Right after I had my 6 week postpartum, Daniel and I went out for a run. I ran up until my 20th week while I was pregnant, and I really regret not keeping with it longer. My hope and plan for the next pregnancy is to run as long as I can.

Anyways....my first run back was HARD! Much harder than I thought it would be. I'm not sure how much of it was because I hadn't been exercising as much or because my incision from the surgery was still sore. But it was hard. We only ran 1 mile. 1 mile was my goal, I knew I wouldn't be able to pick up where I left off. It was a very slow mile, but a mile nonetheless.

Because of life just being busy, I haven't run since then, almost 4 weeks! I don't like to run here unless it's early in the morning. After about 8 am the roads are too crowded for my comfort. But with nursing, I can't get up first thing in the morning and run, not until I either pump or feed Paige. But Paige doesn't get up till about 7, so by the time I finish feeding her, it's almost too late.

Yesterday morning she woke up at 6:45 so I fed her and went out for a run. It was also a huge holiday here and most of the people weren't out and about. I ran 1.7 miles. Again, slowly, but it felt SO good. And yes i am sore today. Lamers. But I'm proud that i'm running again. I hope to be able to run twice a week. I've also been doing the Shred and some postpartum work out videos at home. 

Also, I saw on twitter lots of people talking about Call the Midwife. I got a lot of Itunes gift cards for Christmas, so I bought season 1 to give it a try. I really like it! After the first episode, I cried like a baby and wanted to hold Paige tight and never let her go. It is hard for me to watch. Maybe because I just had Paige, and it's about babies, but I'm so emotional when I watch. Not bad emotional, just extra sensitive. I cried at the birthing videos in our childbirth classes. Something about seeing a mom get handed her baby for the first time-GAH! it just gets to me!

I'm also starting back to language class next week. I'm going to be slowly easing myself into it. I'm pretty excited though...i've really missed studying and being able to communicate here. I'm going to be able to have my same teacher I've had before, and she's so great.

That's what I've been up to! what about you???

love

laura