3 Months

Skylar,
Three months.
Three whole months.
One-fourth of the way through your first year of life. Three months I have gotten to kiss your face. I could not be more grateful! It's funny to me how when I was pregnant 3 months seemed like an eternity - literally....yet now it is the blink of an eye! I wish I could hit the slow motion button or better yet - pause! You have grown so much- and changed so much!
Your personality is starting to come out now - and boy are your daddy and I in for it! You.are.so.stubborn. Maybe I should use the word determined? You know what you want, and that's the end of the story. You don't give up either.
This month you have definitely developed a preference for mommy (can't say this upsets me too much) but it sure does hurt other people's feelings - and makes it really hard for me not to feel guilty leaving you! We left you to go to dinner one night, and you cried for 3 straight hours with the exception of the short nap you took....wouldn't take your bottle or paci and wouldn't settle at all....yet as soon as I held you you were perfectly calm and content - took your bottle and went right to sleep.....giiiirrrrll you gotta make some new friends! I don't mind one bit though that for now you like me best - I know one day I won't be nearly as cool as the other friends you want to play with so I'm going to enjoy every second I have being your favorite! One day I'm sure I will show you this and say "See!! You used to think I was your BFF!"
You are such a good sleeper! 11 hours or more on average every night! You get a bath around 7 and are in bed by 8. - you sleep until 7sometimes 8 and only sometimes do you wake up and want your diaper changed in the middle of the night....I am happy to change it for you because you always go right back to sleep! You are happy so much of the time - cooing and grinning - your smile lights up a room! Your daddy is LITERALLY putty in your hands - when he comes home from work and says "hey sweet girl" and you flash him a gummy grin - I can actually see him melt. He adores you - which makes me fall even more in love with him! Daddy went on a business trip this month - his first nights away from you and I really thought he was going to be sick when he said goodbye to you - I sent him tons of pictures everyday but he missed you so badly - he kept saying - I just don't know what to do without my girls - he was so happy to hold you when he got home and you were all smiles for him! :) You have laughed a few times this month - but it is such a small little giggle - one day I know you are going to belly laugh and I just can't wait! Your grin is almost too big for your face and I am fully expecting a guffaw to join that smile of yours! You gurgle, coo, oohh and ahhh - especially when you are getting your diaper changed or laying on your back being talked too. You are starting to enjoy your toys more - and are very observant of your hands. You actually stare at them as them move and you can almost see the wheels in your brain turning if we put new textures up to you so you can feel them - it so awesome to see you learning! You have started grabbing for things but haven't gotten full control yet. You kick your feel and wiggle all around when you are excited -especially when you hear the bath water running! We will lay you on the bath mat while the water runs and you just talk and smile and kick and punch at the air just dying to get in! As long as the water is super warm you love it! You are filling out your 3 month clothes now - but your torso is so long that some of your shirts are already too short! You are still petite - I'm guessing 11 or 12 pounds - but seem to get longer by the day -I have a feeling you will be taller than me. We started putting you in size 2 diapers even though you are nowhere near grown out of size 1 - just so you don't feel as wet as soon as you tinkle one little sprinkle. It has definitely helped you go a little longer than 10 minutes in between changes while you are awake! You are adjusting to church nursery really well - even though the first few weeks there were a good bit of tears. I am so thankful that you are already being prayed with and taught about Jesus. I am so excited to see how you are growing and learning every day - it really is flying by. I am so very thankful to be your mom, Skylar. You have brought your dad and me so much joy. I can't wait to see what this next month holds. Everyday I wake up and I am even more in love with you than the day before. You are my sunshine!
I love you, Mommy

Ten Things They Didn't Tell Me

***DISCLAIMER***
In NO WAY WHATSOEVER is this post meant to be read as complaining! Being a mom is the best thing that ever happened to me! This is simply me trying to look back at all the things I didnt expect during the first month or so that totally took me by surprise and find the humor in them! :)

Ten things they didn't tell me about having a baby.......

10. No one told me about the wonderful underpants the hospital would give me to wear after childbirth. 10 whole feet of gauzy goodness guaranteed to make you think granny panties are sexy.

9. They told me I would feel instantly skinny again right after I had her, what they didn't tell me was that this is merely a FEELING. A feeling that is instantly removed by trying on my pre pregnancy pants only to find that the ones that I COULD get buttoned left me with a muffin top big enough to make Otis Spunkmeyer jealous.

8. No one told me how big my boobs were going to get. Okay, maybe they did - but I just didn't think by "big" they meant literally I would have boobs from my navel to my neck.

7. No one told me that for the first two weeks (at least) that I would wake up in an absolute delirious panic thinking I had fallen asleep in bed while feeding my child and that I had somehow lost her under the covers or smothered her, only to find it had only been 15 minutes since I put her back in her own bed.

6. I was not warned that my life would be lived in 4 hour increments. That there is officially a "window" of opportunity and if you miss the window you will pay dearly.

5. No one told me that if I let that first tear fall, you know, the one that had been stinging the back of my throat since I saw her face....let that one little sucker out- and prepare to cry for a month. No really. At least a month. And no I'm not sad, or mad, or happy or glad...I'm just exhausted. Flipping. Tired. And probably hungry.

4. They said breast-feeding would hurt - they did not say that you would rather scoop your own eyeballs out with plastic spoons for fun than to have that sweet baby latch on. Will I ever wear a shirt or bra again without cringing?

3. No one warned me that when I randomly heard the song "burning ring of fire" all I would be able to think about was "Holy Pete, is this song about dilating and a baby crowning....cause it sure sounds like a natural labor"....

2. No one told me that after childbirth every time I sneeze, laugh, cough, run or Heck, just sit in the wrong position - I run the risk of peeing my pants.

1. No one warned me that with all this other junk going on...while I could hardly stand the thought of
...shall we say....."getting my groove on".....my husband would remind me approximately 4 times per day just how many days, hours and minutes were left until my 6 week post baby appointment and what that meant...... seriously....
does he not know what turned his wife into this giant leaky, overly sensitive weepy milk machine?



Top ten things they didn't tell me.....breast feeding edition....

10. Your boobs are going to hurt.
9. They are gonna hurt for days.
8. They are gonna hurt even worse than the "burning ring of fire" for even longer than just days...
7. You will want to walk around with no bra and you will not care that there is a lovely little milk trail following you around the house on the floor
6. Four hours never passes as quickly as it does when your nipples feel like they will fall off if that baby gets ahold of them again.
5. Did I mention that it hurts...a lot....
4. Removal of your breasts completely by chainsaw with no numbing medication would feel like a massage compared to the first week of breastfeeding...
3. You will probably never run again with just one sports bra ....ever....
2. Your husband - who unfortunately has never seen such spectacles protruding from your chest....may or may not be left with just a nub if he attempts to touch these new boobs.
1. You will never look at your boobs the same again. In the words of a wise friend of mine " these are milk trucks, my friend, not fun bags. "