Leila's first Christmas

Our new holiday traditions are just emerging and were as fabulous as ever!

Christmas Eve was spent at the Haley's with our San Diego "family". We opened our stockings, exchanged gifts, ate a delicious dinner, and played games.

Jimmy and Leila watching a holiday movie



Leila was spoiled rotten with clothes and toys. ;) She enjoyed looking around at all the chaos while sitting on Adam and Courtney. Her favorite gift is a little plush cow rattle from the Haleys. She loves the contrast of black and white!


On Christmas day Jeff, Leila, and I stayed home. After our photo shoot (and Jeff cleaned the oven from the bacon disaster two nights ago) Aunt Valerie and Poppy came over for brunch, drinks, and more presents.

Photo shoot...

Too much Christmas


Our new stockings from Baba


Leila opened a recordable book from Poppy and a red stuffed lobster from her Grandee in Maine.


Both Jeff and I grew up getting a new ornament each year. We love having our childhood ornaments on our tree. It brings back so many memories each Christmas as we hang each one. We want Leila to have the sames experience when she is older.

All of our first ornaments


Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Eve

This year (Aunt) Valerie came over again for pre-Christmas festivities. We successfully wrapped gifts, baked goodies, drank wine, and managed to start a grease fire in the oven while cooking bacon. (Last year we attempted to make Bacon Jam for our men and burnt it to a charcoal-looking crisp!)

Leila had a great time watching us (ok, mostly Val) wrap presents and Valerie had a great time trying for a Christmas miracle...Leila's first laugh.

No laughing YET! But we did get a ton of cute pictures!





My favorite of the day...smiling at Mommy:)

Time for a poop post

Why is Leila smiling? Oh yeah, because she is sitting in her poop chair! There is something about this chair or her lounging position that makes her poop. Whatever makes her happy!!

Naptime

"V-A-L, that's my favorite name." This is all we heard Leila saying after her day with Aunt Val and Stefan!

Chillin'

Leila loves the lights and sounds coming from the television. Yes, I know, no T.V. for babies (or even young children for that matter)! But she seems so happy...

Top Baby Girl Names of 2010

Leila made the list this year at number 21!

Photo shoot

Leila loves the camera. Well, at least she is really use to it!

I am obsessed with taking her picture in all her cute outfits especially since I know she is outgrowing them quickly.

She is finally wearing size 0-3 or 3 month clothing at 10 weeks old although some Newborn onesies still fit her.

Hooray! This gives us sooo many more options. Today I put her in a dress to hang out around the house and go for a walk to Staples. I mean, one of us has to look our best when UPS or FedEx comes to the door;)




Leila's weekend look...

Pictures by Poppy

Skip has taken TONS of pictures of Leila over the past 10 weeks. Here are a few of my faves...

GO Bears!!! (9 weeks)


Candid on Thanksgiving (2 months old)

Loving Uncle Jay's faces on Thanksgiving


First time babysitting (7 weeks)

...SUCCESS!


Oldies but goodies

Thankful Thanksgiving

This year has brought us so much to be thankful for!

Our healthy baby girl...


Friends and family that love her as much as we do...





And of course...smiles!

Two Months Old!!

Leila is two months old!

She is already two months old...
She is only two months old...

She had her shots on Monday at her two-month doctor appointment and screamed her head off. I couldn't pretend to be brave for her. I cannot handle shots or blood being drawn from me, let alone my little baby!

Luckily Jeff was able to hold her arms and watch the nurse give her the three shots. Jeff said it seemed like the nurse went all the way down to the bone! The shots made her very fussy on Monday and Tuesday. But she's back to her old self today:)

Leila was put on Prilosec for reflux...silent reflux (even though she is not silent about it at all;)

The medicine tastes TERRIBLE. The pharmacist just crushed up pills and added them to a liquid. Well I bet there is more to it than that, but that's what it tastes like.

She would not swallow her doses on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. The nurse on call gave me one last tip to try. Hoping this allows her to sleep better at night. Fingers and toes crossed!

Leila is a tiny little peanut still under 9 lbs. She weighs 8 lbs 14 oz (birth weight 6 lbs 8 oz) and is in the 9th percentile for weight. The doctor was not concerned and showed us that her growth is following the growth curve just fine.

She is a long lean one though! She "stands" at 22.75 inches tall (born at 21 inches tall). That puts her in the 68th percentile for height! Hmmmmmmm...where does she get this height?!?!

Happy two months Leila!!!

Happy Anniversary to us!

It's been one year since we tied the knot! November 21, 2009 was a beautiful and sunny fall day. Thank you to everyone that made the trek to San Diego to be a part of our special day. It was wonderful to be surrounded by close friends and family.

Here's to many more memories!

Five hour fluke?

Last night Leila slept for her first five hour stretch! When I was woken at 3:30 by her hunger cries I couldn't believe what time it was.

Leila had a busy day yesterday. It all started with the 3 mile hill walk with Aunt Val in the afternoon. I left her at Val's and quickly went home for a shower before the Bears game. When Jeff and I returned to Val and Stefan's apartment we found Stefan swinging Leila to sleep. He was told by Val that she should be napping.

Val was right. Leila usually can only last two hours awake before starting to yawn. Usually if the sleep window is missed she gets overtired (aka crabby...but who doesn't?!?) Leila wasn't having it. She was way to into looking around at her new surroundings and enjoying Val and Stefan.

Dinner, a Bears game, the Ergo, and more play time passed and Leila still wouldn't take a "real" nap. (Twenty minute cat-naps do not count!) At least she wasn't crying:)

We took her home after the game. By 10:30 she was finally asleep after being up eight hours.

She then slept five hours! Was this a fluke? Do I dare try to purposely skip her late afternoon/early evening nap again? At least I know she can do it.

Feeling rested and hopeful!

Tummy time with Aunt Val...

Leila meets Krissy

Leila and I hung out with two of my closest friends this weekend, Amy and Krissy. Both of them are pregnant with their first and due this spring:) Leila taught them a thing or two...
1. Shhhhhhhushing a baby works! It tires out the adults too;)
2. The Ergo carrier is a miracle. Leila sleeps in it guaranteed.
3. And when all else fails...swing the baby in the car seat.

Pictures

My favorite little burrito...


Leila loves the Ergo carrier from Super Aunt Dotty. I finally was brave enough to try it after finding she hated the other carrier I bought. She has fallen asleep in the Ergo two days in a row. Not gonna lie...the vacuum helped too;) (Pardon the dirty mirror. Must go clean it now!)


After bath time with Daddy...


Jeff can always seem to make her smile...

Six-week postpardum doctor visit

I've been anxious about my appointment for at least two weeks now. I have been feeling "normal" again and was ready for the green light to begin my workout routine. After gaining 50 lbs (yes 50!!!) while pregnant with ONLY a 6 lb 8 oz baby, I have a lot of work to get back my pre-Leila shape.

Appointment attempt #1 = FAIL. This failure reminds me...

I have learned many important life-lessons these these past 6 weeks! Here's just a few...

1. I am NOT in charge.

2. Do not ask me to do anything that involves a specific time. I will not be on time and refuse to stress about it...again.

3. I get just as clean with a 5 minute shower as I do a 10 minute one.

4. I can do almost anything holding a baby:)

Hitting the bottle

Leila is old enough to hit the bottle and it couldn't come soon enough. Jeff has been waiting for this time to relieve me of some of my duties. Saturday I left the house to have some "adult time" at Target with Val while Leila got her bottle (I heard this helps her take it easier). It was nice to have an hour or two to myself.


So how did she do...GREAT! She loved it and so did Jeff. So happy that it was so easy:)

Happy Halloween!

Leila's first Halloween was a success and we took about a million pictures to prove it:)


Sugar high!

Leila and Courtney bonding over cupcakes


Aunt Val and Leila with the Haley pumpkins


Private photo shoot pics