7 months...oops a little late! =)

Well, we're 7 months and counting now! We had a rough Thanksgiving with an upper respiratory virus (that she shared with the entire gorin family) So thankful we are healthy again!!! She is the sweetest little thing in the world (still). Trying to think what has changed since last month!! She absolutely LOVES the world of Puffs and MumMums. She can tear up a mum mum in a couple minutes. She has great hand/eye coordination. She can feed herself well (puffs/mummum), and has great coordination with toys. She wants to crawl SO badly, but hasn't started yet. She can defintely move herself around. Backwards, side to side, tipping from sitting to laying (gently), etc. She thinks the doggies are the greatest thing in the world still....LOVES bath time. She's started sitting upright in her baby tub, so its only a matter of time until we move her to the big girl tub!! She has started on some days only needing 2 naps, but some days still needs a 3rd one! She is very content playing by herself on the floor with toys, and can entertain herself for long periods of time. She talks to herself while she's playing and in the car. Almost mimicking our tone of voice. She loves to snuggle before bedtime, falling asleep with me on the couch sometimes at night for a little bit-sometimes I keep her longer on the couch than I should! haha =)
Here is her schedule:

Wake 7:30/8
Bottle/Solids: 2-3 oz fruit, 1/4 cup oats
Play
930ish Nap
11 Wake and nurse
11:30ish Lunch (2 fruits 2 veggies)
1:00ish Nap
3ish wake and nurse
This is when we'll go for a walk or run
4:30ish Dinner solids (3 veggies, 1/4 cup rice cereal)
630ish Bath
645/7 Nurse
7/7:30 Bed

We are having the BEST time. I just love spending every day with her, and couldn't imagine life otherwise. She's having a blast with all of the Christmas festivities. She LOVES any Christmas lights, bows, ribbons, etc. She was the star at John's work Christmas party. Everyone (including the big boss man) was passing her around and loving on her. She decided to bite the boss's nose! We visited Santa at Santa's village, and probably got the most positive Santa response from a 7 month old baby! haha She just gave him the pouty lip when he looked at her. Not too shabby! We are looking forward to spending time with my family over Christmas in Nashville! She will be 8 months by the time Christmas rolls around...amazing how time flies!

Someone's 6 months old!

Well, we had her 6 month check up yesterday, so there is a lot to report. But, before we talk about our sweet 6 month old, a lot has happened in the past few weeks.

This will be a month that we never forget. We lost a sweet sweet man in our lives-Papa Chip Lloyd. We visited them during our beach trip to Panama City, and were able to spend some wonderful time with him as he shot Sadie's 6 month pictures. We'll always cherish those memories made. The night that Papa Chip died (Friday), Sadie started getting a fever, which rose higher and higher as the days progressed. It reached 104.5 on Sunday, so we knew we needed to call the doctor back. The following Monday, we took her back to the doctor. They did some tests and determined she had the ecoli bacteria in her urinary tract and bladder. He shared with us that it wouldn't be wise for us to travel to Florida for Papa Chips memorial service. We were heartbroken, but we knew we needed to do what was best for Sadie. So, over that next week and a half, we watched her little fever go up and down, and she was pretty much glued to her momma. We are happy to be fever (and infection) free now! I was beginning to think she was suffering from separation anxiety or something because she never wanted to play by herself, and cried when anyone else held her! Thank goodness it was just her not feeling well! She's back to her normal (independent) self!
We enjoyed visiting with my family last weekend, and I was able to run my first 5k race since having Sadie! Whoo hoo! What an accomplishment (seriously!) Sadie enjoyed cheering everyone on with her MiMi, and sported the cutest little outfit that kept her warm (gift from Grandma Gorin)

We got a clean bill of health at the doctor yesterday, and got all of her shots (including the flu shot). We were expecting to have a rough night and day today...but so far, this little tyke acts like she didn't get any shots yesterday! The funniest part of yesterday for me was when God gave me a little blessing in that she didn't make ONE peep or cry during her catheter. Our last cath. was an awful experience, so I was dreading yesterday. Of course I prayed she wouldn't cry, but did I really expect for a little baby not to cry when they put a cath. in her? Of course I knew she'd cry. One of those times God reminded me to have a little more faith and EXPECTATION that he can and WILL answer even the smallest of requests.

So, here are our stats from the appointment: Height: 25.5 inches Weight 17lb 1.5 oz Head 17 in She's about 70th percentil in weight, and about 50 something in height.

Here are some of her latest milestones and interests:

*She is able to pick up her paci and put it back in her mouth (the week she turned 6 months)
*She sits up VERY well on her own to play with toys or friends, and rarely tumbles. When she tumbles, she could care less.
*She LOVES jumping in our jumparoo. A couple weeks ago was when she really got the hang of jumping like crazy! She would stay in that thing forever!
*She is starting to get the hang out of drinking water from her sippy cup. She can pick it up and "bite" the water out of it. Still working on tipping it back!
*She still loves watching and playing with the dogs. Now that she sits up, she really interacts with them.
*She has started to have her little hyper moments, where she'll roll all over me when we're skyping with family, make lots of noises "talking"
*She LOVES sitting in a highchair when we go out to eat, and the shopping cart when we're shopping! This is my NEW FAVORITE THING! She loves strolling around the store in the cart interacting with people, talking and smiling at them. She tries to turn her head backwards to see where we are going!
*She LOVES to giggle...she's ticklish on her feet, under her chin, and on her ribs. She CACKLES when you tickle her...
*Right now she's wearing 6 month clothes, and starting to wear 9 month. She's a long little thing! We recently moved up to size 3 diapers, and now all of her "business" stays in the diaper!

Speaking of her "business", we are happy to report that she has big girl doo doo. I know, TMI, but this is much easier to clean up, and many LESS outfits stained...HAHA! =)
Here is our schedule as of 6 months:

*7/7:30 Wake up and nurse (or take a pumped bottle of about 7 oz)
Then, we turn on our "Praise Baby" pandora station and eat solids!
1/4 of cereal, 2-3 oz fruit (we just started pear this week!)-Looking forward to starting oatmeal this next week
*PLAYTIME! (we love singing to our praise baby to start the morning)
*8:30/9:00 Morning Nap (about 1-1 1/2 hrs)
*10:30 Nurse (about 15-20 min), solids-3 oz of veggies or 2 oz veggies 1 oz fruit (so far we've had peas, sweet potatoes and pears-will start carrots and avacados this week!)

*PLAYTIME! (jumparoo, reading books, rolling around with the dogs) She has started "talking" whenever we're reading books, or when we have our music on. I'm starting to think she "gets it" We enjoy sitting outside and watching the dogs play, reading our books and Bible and listening to nature.
*12ish Afternoon Nap (1 1/2-2 hrs)
*1:30/2 Nurse (15-20 min)

Playtime/errands-I realized this week this is a great time to go out and visit or get some errands done. She's had enough sleep for the day, so she's happy and full of energy. She has started not needing to go back to sleep before John gets home. Usually she'd need a nap again around 3:30 or so, but now she can stay up! Fun!

*4:30 Nurse/Dinner solids
1/4 cup cereal, 2-3 oz veggies
*Daddy comes home from work! She smiles the biggest smile of the day when she sees him walk through the door!!! She even understands when the garage door starts to open, and I say "DADDYS HOME!" =)
*7:00 Bath
*7:15/7:30 Nurse
*7:45ish Bed!

She starts really winding down at 7 and there's hardly anything we can do to keep her awake! She knows it's almost bed time!

I am so thankful for such a fun loving, flexible, sweet natured baby! She is a baby FULL of joy, and just loves to watch people and be around people (especially kids). She is on a great schedule, loves her playtime, and is a great napper. I couldn't have prayed for a sweeter little girl who brings SUCH DELIGHT to my soul every day.

Skipping ahead to 5 months!!

Ok, so I've been such a slacker with blogging...I've been taking notes as things happen, but just haven't sat down to blog! So, instead of going back and trying to catch up, I'm going to skip ahead to where we are now! Then, one day I'll go back and document the 3rd and 4th month of her life! =)

She turned 5 months in late September...and boy has she changed into a big girl since her 4th month!!

The biggest news since she turned 5 months....WE HAVE TWO TEETH! She was suppppper fussy a few weeks back, so I thought it might be coming...we left her at the sweet Boyett's house so we could go to small group a couple of weeks ago...and she screamed THE.WHOLE.TIME. we were gone...Soon after that night...not one...but TWO teeth popped up on the bottom. Of course, just in time for her 6 month pictures with the Lloyds (at 5.5 m)...so, we didn't see too many smiles out of her that day-but being the incredible photographers that they are, and how pretty little Sadie is, I know every shot was a good one. =)

She's become a pro at rolling in all directions, using her feet to turn herself in circles...but not scooting just yet. She is SUPER aware of the world around her, especially when eating! I have to pretty much turn the lights down, the TV off, and not even talk while she's eating, or else she'll just look around, smile, and laugh. This started happening in her 4th month. She's getting sassy in her old age, and whenever we change her clothes or diaper loves to arch her back and scrunch her nose to let us know she doesn't approve!

Things Sadie Loves...
*She loves the dogs...she'd watch them all day! She loves to pet Pepper and grab handfuls of fur...and Pepper doesn't seem to mind at all!
*Bubbles.....I need to do a separate post for our beach trip, but her favorite thing at the beach was the bubbles in the fish tank! She could stare at those things for hours!
*Her bunny...she cuddles her bunny lovey at every nap and nighttime. This was a gift from a sweet couple from our old church in Atlanta...so sweet to think of them each time she naps...sometimes it ends up covering her whole face as she sleeps...I used to freak out, but I realized SHE CAN BREATHE! haha
*Sleeping on her belly...this was a development in the middle of the 4th month I think...if she's super tired when we lay her down, she'll sleep on her back...but if she tosses and turns...she usually ends up face down on the mattress...and sleeps like a rock
*Her V-tech farm toy from her Mi Mi...this thing can do a MILLION different things...and somehow she finds a way to make it do all kinds of things on her own..thank you mi mi for hours of entertainment!
* Lately, her sounds have gone from her cute little screams (that started last month), to "b" "d", "y" (we're really trying to work on "mmmm" "MOOOMMMMYY")
*Being thrown up in the air (who doesn't like this!?)
*Being tickled...
*The TV...we don't watch tv all the time, I promise...but if that TV is on, her neck will turn to watch it...she's been like that since she was a tiny tike...
*Singing...any song that you sing to her, she loves! We turn our internet radio on in the kitchen to either the Passion station, or the toddler station...and sing like crazy fools (or more like I sing like a crazy fool) and she thinks it's the best thing ever!
*Church-we put her in the nursery a couple of months ago for the first time...and she usually ends up falling to sleep...but I'm sure there's some hard playing going on before that!

I just started putting her in the jumparoo-she's still trying to discover that it can bounce...and we are borrowing a jenny jump up from the sweet Lloyds, and so far she loves that too! Believe it or not, she still fits in her infant swing and loves it! I love that it has a feature to sit them up instead of always laying back-love a good swing!


We started cereal last week...yes...AT THE BEACH! She was just so ready, and when she's so ready, it doesn't matter if you're on vacation, you start solids! So, we started giving her rice cereal at one meal for a few days. Started with 1 T, then worked up to 3. Then, we worked up to 2 meals for a few days at 3 T. Now, we're doing 2 meals, and she eats between 3-4 T per meal. She eats like she's been eating off a spoon her whole life. She pounds her left arm on the high chair tray as she eats-not out of frustration, but just like she's in her groove and so happy. ha!

Right now, our schedule looks like this:

Wakes (between 7-7:30)
7:30 drinks about 8 oz
playtime
8:30 Nap (sometimes this nap is in the stroller on a run, other times in the crib-if it's in the stroller it's about a 45 min nap...otherwise it could be until it's time to eat or around 10)
10:30 Nurse, feed cereal
Play time
12ish Nap(this is usually her longest nap of the day-anywhere from 1 1/2 hrs-2 1/2 if we've been out in the mornin)
1:30/2 Nurse
Playtime
3ish Nap (this is usually not very long-if she has a bad nap here...then she will be whiny to take a catnap around dinner, so I try to get at least an hour or so out of her!)
4:30/5 Nurse/cereal
Daddy's home! HIP HIP HOORAAAY
7:00/7:15 Bath
7:30 Nurse
8:00 Bed
This has been her schedule since about 4 months too. nothing has changed much since then, except that her longer afternoon nap, has gotten longer as she's gotten older. She will usually take one long nap during the day. If we've been at Bible study or play time with friends in the morning, I can usually count on her to have an at least 2 hr nap in the afternoon.

Well that was the longest blog post ever...but boy does it feel good to finally document some of my child's life! haha

Month 2 (weeks 5-8)

Well, during this time in Sadie's life, she was getting adjusted (as were we) to life with severe reflux. ha! By week 5, I think the medicine began to control it a lot better. Daddy was at work, and we began to settle into a routine at home!

Sleep: Around 7 weeks, she began only waking up one time to feed in the middle of the night-around 3-4 am. This was a wonderful milestone to reach! By 3-4 am, I was feeling pretty rested! It's amazing how little sleep you can truly live on as a mom! She was able to go a 7-8 hr stretch between feedings at night. This meant, we could begin to put her to bed earlier instead of having a late night feeding at 10.

Sadie began to settle into a great nap routine also. She napped between each feeding. Most of the time, I would wake her to feed-which meant she would nap about 2 hrs. She liked to be awake no longer than an hour from the time she woke up, fed, etc. So, our play times were short.

She gave us her first smile around 5 weeks! By week 7, if we looked and were goofy at her, she would laugh at us! This is such a wonderful milestone to reach!

We made our first out to lunch outing with Randi, Michelle, and baby Brooks. Sadie slept most of the time! She went on her first jog with Daddy at 6 weeks. We put her belly down on her boppy, and she was really able to hold her head up well around 6-7 weeks old.

Around 5 weeks, we had a bad reflux flair up. Just as soon as we were under control, I think I ate some acidic fruit that bothered her.
Stats: 5 weeks she weighed 9 lb 9 oz. I'm not sure of her length...but I remember it was in the 90th percentile (about).

Month 1

Well, I will spare all of the details of how this sweet angel came into the world...but here are the highlights:
Went in to the doctor on April 26th because I was so uncomfortable...I was 4 1/2 cm and they said I could stay if I wanted...so called the fam to come in town, and planned on going in the next morning. We knew there would be bad weather, but we had no idea what we were in store for. After about 8 hrs of labor (with an epidural of course), and many miracles throughout the day (where it was just so plain and obvious Jesus was saying "I'm right here with ya!", Sadie decided it was time to make her appearance, and so did the tornadoes!
When I began to push, the power went out. The head nurse came in and said they'd have to unhook my epidural and move me to the hallway because a tornado was within a short distance from the hospital. To my rescue comes good ole Dr. Callison. She says, no we wont go int he hallway, this baby needs to be BORN now. She said it was to unsafe to prolong the labor, and a c-section was not an option (little Sadie for a while was thought to be facing the wrong way). So she did an ultrasound, saw she was turned the right way (miracle) and gave the go ahead to begin pushing again. With the help of Mr. Vaccuum, Sadie entered the world. Little did we know the entire city of Huntsville (and north alabama) was without power-and the chaos that was going on in the world around us. All we knew was that our angel had so perfectly come into the world! Now starts the "speed bumps" that came after her birth...from hardly any food at the hospital bc of the state of emergency, no air, no visitors allowed (including family)...it was a rough few days. We traveled to Nashville when we left the hospital so that we'd have air, power and FAMILY!!

The first month of Sadies life was a bit rough-as we found out she had pretty bad reflux-which had been making her scream day and night...for quite a few weeks. We had to just keep persevering knowing that she'd come out of it soon! We could not have done it without the help of sweet Mi Mi. She came to visit a few times in the first month to help take care of Sadie (and me). Thankfully, John had 3 weeks of vacation. By the time he went back to work, things were getting more under control.

By the time Sadie was 4-5 weeks old...she was too long for newborn clothes!! We went for a checkup on May 11th (two weeks old), and she was already 20 1/2 inches, head 14inches, and she was 7 lb 4 oz. here are some other stats I took notes on:

2 weeks old was when the worst crying from the reflux occurred..yuck
2 1/2 weeks-she went two 3 hr stretches at night, took two pretty good naps (break from screaming..haha)
2 weeks old-Mommy and daddy took a trip to Barnes and Noble and Zaxbys...she slept in the sling the whole time while we enjoyed walking around outside.
3 weeks-Daddy back to work
3 1/2 weeks she slept 4 hrs straight at night for the first time
3 1/2 weeks-Randi and her mom FORCED me out of the house, and treated me to a pedicure...Daddy stayed to babysit! =)
4 weeks old-Ultrasound of Sadie's belly to check for any other condition that might be causing the vomiting, spitting and gurgling...found nothing other than bad reflux!
By the end of this month, we were in a good routine of eating every 3 hrs, taking a nap, waking, and repeating. ha!
Here are some pictures from the first month.

Long time no post...

So, I haven't posted since BEFORE she was born...the first month of Sadie's life was such a blur, that of course I didn't have the time or energy to post. Then as each day went by, I kept thinking...I need to make a post on our blog, but just NEVER have gotten around to it. Here she is almost 4 months old, and HERE I AM! I plan on doing a post for each month that I've missed out on!

Here goes nothin!

Sadie's room

Welcome to Sadie's nursery! This is the view when you walk in the door. We can't wait to meet her in...9 days...unless she decides otherwise!!

This is her crib. My wonderful husband applied the decal. I was so nervous that I had to leave the room...those things make me nervous!!

Here's an up close of one of my projects. Cute little birdie.
Dresser/changing table. I copied the idea of framing fabric above my shelves and changing table/dresser from the PB Kids catalog picture below. I love copying! =)

This last shot is of the wall across from the window. A friend found these canvases for me..they look great in the room! I framed a pretty diaper cover and booties that were a gift. They were just too pretty to put in a drawer!
Now, all we need is a baby to complete this nursery. Come on Sadie!! We're ready for you!

Almost 37 weeks!

So we've almost made it to the "full term" mark....time flies! Well, actually it feels like I've been pregnant forever! I'm so thankful that the Lord has given me a healthy pregnancy, and even this far along, I'm feeling great!
This is a picture right before we left for my 36 week doctor's appointment. We had a great appointment this past week and were able to have an ultrasound. Her estimated weight right now was 6 lb 9 oz-which I'm told is usually about a pound heavy when estimated by ultrasound, so she's probably just about to be 6 lb. They've projected her weight to be about 7 lb 9 oz, which really means she'll be in the high 6's. Everything is looking great...except she has decided to flip into the breech/transverse position! That stinker was head down two weeks ago! I guess she still has room in there to do her flips and turns! Praying she decides to go head down, or else we'll probably have a c-section at 39 weeks....which is in 2 weeks. AH!

I'm in crazy mommy mode around the house...making sure we're stocked up on everything and wanting every cabinet and drawer to be organized. We finally finished the nursery this past weekend, so that feels grrrreat! I know that this silence around the house will change in about two weeks...and we couldn't be more excited. Could we have an Easter baby? It looks like it! What a blessing!

For now, Pepper is enjoying the last weeks of being the princess of the house...Smokey doesn't have a clue either poor guy! I know they'll be great with little Sadie when she's here! They'll just have to get used to not being the babies of the house. ;)

Nursery Sneak Peak

So, the nursery isn't near completed, but we have bits and pieces completed. We are still waiting on our crib to come in! Once I finish up work this week, I have a feeling the nursery will come together in the next week or so.

We picked out the Pottery Barn kids Coco Dot Bedding, and painted the walls a really light tone of the turquoise that is in the bedding.

Thanks to some sweet friends, we took some PB kids curtains, and added some more fabric and trim to make them have a more custom look.

I've started some little crafts on my own for the nursery. I used some leftover fabric from some things I had made for her and painted some white frames from the Dollar General to make these little pictures to put on some ledges on the wall. I plan on making some larger shadow box frames to hang above the dresser. Props to Randi for the cute diaper cake from my shower yesterday!
Thanks to a sweet friend, we have these cute canvases for the room! They're actually all made of fabric, and work great for the room. Still need to hang them!!

I found this S at Hobby Lobby, but it was gold. So, with a fresh coat of paint, it will look super cute along with those shadow box frames above the changing table/dresser. Sweet Randi gave me this canvas tote for her diapers! It matches the bedding perfectly.

This is the dress sweet Sadie will wear coming home from the hospital! I was so excited to find it on clearance from "Remember Me." I could buy that entire collection of dresses! (But I won't...) Hopefully my next update will have the nursery COMPLETE...with pictures hung...and a CRIB! =)

Meet Sadie Caroline

Meet our little angel Sadie!
We're only about 7 weeks away from meeting her!! We couldn't be more excited and more grateful to the Lord for such a wonderful blessing. I am overwhelmed with what a miracle it truly is as she develops each day. When we saw these 4d pictures at 28 weeks, we were just amazed at the intricate detail of each part of her! We serve a wonderful Creator that is knitting this little blessing together each and every day.
I'll be finishing up work next week! I will miss my wonderful friends at school and my sweet class, but I look forward to some time off to finish preparations for this little one. We are thrilled that I will be home with Sadie once she arrives, and I look forward to that new chapter of our lives transitioning from the working world to being a stay at home mommy. We couldn't be happier! Continue to pray for these last weeks of development of this angel! She'll be here before we know it!

Here is my latest Sadie Bump picture. I'm 33 weeks this week!