Jeanette - 7 months old

Jeanette was 7 months old on Saturday, but we had another busy weekend and I didn't get around to taking her photos till Sunday and posting her update until today!

Height: Almost 30 inches!  Girlfriend might be a tall girl!

Weight: 15lbs, 10oz which means she's only in the 50th percentile for weight.  She's tall and skinny, isn't that every girls dream?!?

Clothes/Diapers: She is still mostly in 6 month clothes, but has lots of 3 month shorts that still fit her.  I don't know if shorts run big but only one pair of 6 month shorts fit her.  She's still in a size 2 diaper and I imagine she will be for awhile.  The only big clothing thing is that she wears 12 month footie pj's because she's so long!  I bought some 18 month pj's over the weekend and Andrew could not believe how long they were.  I know it might be awhile before she's in that size but I figured if they were on sale I was going to buy them!

Sleep: Jeanette now goes to be around 8:30 and wakes up at 7.  Some days she takes a good morning and afternoon nap and other days, just an afternoon nap.  There have been times when she just doesn't take a long nap and those days are hard.  I try really hard to keep her on a schedule and she usually does well during the week but the weekends are hard.  I think we are still trying to adjust to adjusting to her schedule as well.

Feedings:  Jeanette takes a 6oz bottle about every 4 hours.  Right now she takes 3-4 bottles a day.  She has oatmeal in the afternoon which we are now making with three ounces of formula because she loves to eat!  She also gets a veggie/fruit mixed with her rice cereal around 7pm.  So far we have tried squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, green beans and apples.  She loves the orange veggies but I try not to feed her too many of those in a row because I know it can make them turn orange (which I did when I was a baby).

Worst Moment(s):  Jeanette got sick for the first time ever this month, fever, projectile vomiting and lots of crying/not sleeping.  It was so hard to see her that sick, but I did everything I could to try to make her feel better.  Thankfully after a few days, she was over it and back to her old self.  I did take her to the doctor because her fever got to 102 and I was scared that she would get dehydrated.  He said that she was just fine and of course she acted like she wasn't even sick when we went.  First time mom moment :)

At the doctors office.

Best Moment(s): Jeanette started babbling this month and the first one she really started doing was mamama which of course made me really happy.  She also is now saying bababa and mamama.  Its so sweet to watch her chit chat and she really watches your mouth when you talk to her now and tries to imitate the sounds.  Her 6 month photos were also another favorite (I will share them once we get them).  She was so well behaved and so adorable!  She's also up on all fours and rocking now, which is CRAZY!  I don't know how much longer it will be before she figures out how to crawl.

A little photo collage of some of her new talents.

Development:  Jeanette is babbling, trying really hard to sit up on her own, up on all fours, trying to hold her own bottle, passing toys from one hand to the other, chewing on everything, carefully observing her surroundings and really developing a cute little personality.  She's so sweet and so much fun!!!!!

Jeanette Likes: Bath time used to be something that Jeanette hated, but now she LOVES it!  She loves when I put her in the tub and she splashes her feet in the water, sometimes getting my head a little wet.  I bought her some little bath play cups, but of course all she does is suck and chew on them.  She also loves her Sophie Giraffe and her Oball.  The dog and the cat are also good for entertainment.  

Jeanette Dislikes: Trying to learn how to crawl must be quite frustrating.  I snapped this look of sadness last weekend.  She was so frustrated that she couldn't get moving and a few seconds later, collapsed and cried.  Poor little thing!  She also does not like having to wait for the next bite of food, she tries to wait patiently but it never works! 

It is so amazing to see how much Jeanette has changed over the last seven months!  I don't really think of her as being this tiny, fragile baby anymore.  She has the sweetest little personality and she makes everyone she meets smile!  She's starting to get more hair too as you can see in the photos below.  It's blonde, but not super light and sometimes in the sun it looks a little bit red.  I wanted a red headed baby so bad, so maybe she will be a strawberry blonde :) 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Last week was totally nuts!  I was so busy at work and fell so far behind at home.  I had a week full of meetings at work and worked for 12 hours on Tuesday.  On Thursday night, we had Jeanette's 6 month photos taken.  Even though she's closer to 7 months now, we had to cancel our last two sessions due to the weather and Andrew being sick.  We had amazing weather and Jeanette was posing like a baby model!

Thank you to Erica Pitcock Photography for this sneak peek!  We can't wait
to see the rest!

Friday night we headed down to our local street fair.  We didn't make it to the state fair or one of our other favorite fairs this summer, being sick in the summer is a big downer!  Jeanette as always was great and enjoyed walking around with us.  She really wanted a bite of my elephant ear and was so mad that she couldn't have any.  Next year I'm sure she will be able to enjoy some fair food with us :)

Saturday we spent the morning running errands, cleaning the house and visiting with my grandma and her sister.  I was glad that for once we didn't have any concrete plans so it was nice to get caught up on things at home.

Sunday morning I headed to visit with my friend Amanda and her two boys.  Her youngest is two months younger than Jeanette and it's so fun to watch the kids "play" together.  All of my friends seem to be having boys and so far I'm the only one that has a girl who still lives around here.  

Jeanette is also trying really hard to crawl.  She's been getting up on all fours for a few weeks now so we knew this was coming, but now she gets really mad when she tries to move.  I imagine it won't be long before she is on the move.  I am also having a hard time believing that she will be 7 months old on Saturday!  

I'm excited for next weekend.  My brother is going to college and is having a big party on Saturday.  My parents have kindly volunteered to watch Jeanette for us on Saturday night so that we can enjoy the party.  It will be weird to not have her for the night, but I think it will be good for all of us!  I can't wait to celebrate with my brother.  We are so proud of him for deciding to change careers and I know he will do great in school!  

What did you do this weekend?  Do you have any plans for the rest of the summer? 

Will there be another one?

Since Jeanette was about a month old, Andrew has been talking about having another baby.  At first I thought he was kidding, but now that this has been going on for so long, I'm 100% sure he's being serious.  I don't think he wants me to get pregnant right now, but I think the idea crosses his mind frequently.

Just the other night he mentioned that he was at the hardware store picking up some items for work and saw a brother and sister playing together in an aisle.  He remarked about how they looked to be a year or two years apart and were having so much fun together.  "How could you not want another one?  Jeanette won't ever have anyone to play with, we just have to have another baby."

I will admit, I've been thinking a lot about having another baby too, well actually more like not having another baby.  I have one brother and I am the oldest.  Andrew is the baby and has an older sister and brother.  While I longed to be an only child, Andrew says he can't imagine growing up all by himself.  I think that comes from being the youngest and never knowing anything different.  I love being a mom but worry that I could not juggle another.  I worry about the additional cost of childcare, diapers and formula if I'm unable to breast feed.  I can't be a stay at home mom, sure it would be great, but we would be drowning, even if we lived on the bare essentials.  I also don't want to leave my job, call me selfish but I love having a career and being a mother.

I like the idea of focusing all of my time on Jeanette, that we would have this very close bond and that she wouldn't have to share me with anyone.  Maybe I'm being selfish and Andrew is being level headed but it is a lot to take in.  I also look forward to this time next year, when Jeanette is 18 months old and doesn't need a bottle every four hours.  I pray she will be walking and talking and starting to gain a tiny bit of independence.  I can't imagine being pregnant again this time next year.

Being pregnant wasn't nearly as difficult as I imagined.  The lack of sleep, aches and pains and general discomfort during that last month were not fun, but I was expecting all of that.  I was expecting my labor and delivery to be "normal" as well and it was not what I expected.  

Having an emergency c-section literally and figuratively scarred me.  

I kept it together on the outside, but inside I was really struggling.  I know Andrew tries to be understanding, but I don't think he can comprehend my disappointment.  He got to hold Jeanette before I did, hell my mom even held her before I did.  I couldn't get out of bed for 24 hours.  I didn't change my daughters first diaper, I didn't get to nurse her right after she was born, she was 8 hours old before I held her skin to skin and just thinking of all these things still makes me cry.

I don't know if I could go through another pregnancy, try for a VBAC and end up disappointed with another c-section and another agonizing wait to hold and nurse my baby.  I know that Jeanette will never remember those first hours, weeks, months or even years of her life but I will and I will always remember the sadness and disappointment.

So now I have to ask the all important question, how did you decide it was time to have another?  For those of you who only have one, how did you decide not to have another?  

stopping time

Watching this little girl sleeping on my chest is one of the sweetest parts of being a mother.

She's so very sweet with her eyes closed and those long eyelashes brushed onto her face.

Her little mouth twitches as she falls into a deeper sleep and she will occasionally snore.

I wish that I could freeze time for a few hours or a few days and just hold onto this amazing 6 month old girl and imagine what she's dreaming about.

Sure it's impossible to get anything done with a baby sleeping on your chest, but it's also wonderful.

My heart hurts to think that one day she won't be this tiny, that she won't be able to sleep on my chest.

She has grown so much in 6 months, she's doubled in weight and just keeps getting longer by the minute.

But she has always been a snuggle bug and to me, this is one of her finest traits.

I never want to forget these afternoons where the dishes didn't get cleaned in a timely fashion or dinner was late getting on the table because my baby girl wanted to sleep on my chest.