Abigail is 2 Months Old!!!

Our sweet baby girl is growing so fast!!! Yesterday, January 25th, Abigail turned 2 Months Old! I just had to take a few pictures!

"Look how big I'm getting!"

 Showing off her bow that Aunt Lisa gave her for Christmas. :-)

 Mommy and Daddy's sweet baby girl! She is so precious to us!

 Abigail's new favorite thing... Smiling super big!

She's now tired of having her picture taken! haha...

Play Time

I was so excited to see that Abigail finally figured out how to bat at her toy!

Tummy Time

SNOW DAYS!!!

 Abigail is about to head out for her first pictures in the snow. She's all bundled up in her snow suit.

 Our Family...

 Abigail wasn't too interested in looking at the camera. Haha...

 Daddy and his little girl...

 Mommy with her sweet baby girl...

 Sweet baby sugars...

"Alone Time"

In an effort to help Abigial understand that Mommy does not need to hold her ALL the time, I've started working to increase her "alone time" each day. Usually right after she wakes up she is the happiest so I've been letting her play in her swing or bouncy for a few minutes while I try to do things around our home. She usually doesn't last more than 5 or 10 minutes before getting fussy, but at least we're starting somewhere. :-)

Abigail is not super fond of the swing we were originally given, except for the toys on the side (and I think she may still be a little small for the swing) but some friends loaned us theirs last night. So this morning Abigail has been enjoying this new swing. It's fun because there are little animals that hang down from a mobile.

 Now this is the life!!

 What is that hanging above me?

 I think I like this!

This is still her all time favorite bouncy from Grammie and PopPop... she loves this toy the most!

Sweet Baby Smiles

Abigail starting really smiling the day after Christmas, when she was just starting her fifth week. Now, at seven and a half weeks, she can really show some cute grins. Enjoy!

Daddy Snuggles

Abigail Gets A Play Mat

Now that Abigail is starting to bat at little toys that hang from her swing, we decided to use a gift card we were given and buy her one of those floor play mats. She wasn't too sure in the beginning about it but I think she will learn to love it!

 Ooo... what's this???

 Kicking her feet...

 Mama talking to her about it...

Checking out her reflection...

Welcome 2011

In 2008, I moved away from my family and friends, following the Lord’s leading to live in Kentucky and attend school there. In 2009, I married the most wonderful man in the world. In 2010, Kyle and I welcomed our precious little daughter into the world, Abigail Grace. As we begin 2011, I can’t help but wonder what the Lord has planned for this year.

Becoming a Mommy has been one of the biggest blessings I’ve ever experienced! There are so many highs and so many lows; so many opportunities to trust the Lord and call upon His grace; so many opportunities that I am confronted by my own sin and need of Christ. Parenting is truly sanctifying!

It has been so much fun to watch Kyle become a Daddy and enjoy talking to, holding, rocking, and playing with Abigail. He is a wonderful Daddy and has been an invaluable help to me with her and around our home! Our relationship has grown deeper and been stretched so much as we learn together how to parent. I am so grateful that God has given me such a godly husband!

Our first two weeks home with Abigail we worked through her having acid reflux and screaming/crying when she would spit up. It was so hard to watch our baby cry in pain. We finally discovered the problem: butter. I have been dairy-free for about a year and a half due to my own allergies but have always been able to continue eating butter. Well, Abigail’s little system does not handle it well at all. We are so grateful to have found the main culprit!

Then, when Abigail was about three weeks old she started screaming every night around dinnertime or a little later in the evening. It has continued basically every evening since then. She is now seven weeks old. So for the last month we have spent basically every evening trying to soothe her, calm her, and keep her from crying more. I was pretty sure she had colic, however about a week or two ago we began to realize just how clingy she was and how her personality really plays into her moods at night. We began to notice that she hated to be rocked when fussy, wanted to be held most of the time while awake, and liked to see what was going on around her while being held… which means that she doesn’t like to be cuddled all the time but would rather face out. However, when she is happy, she loves to snuggle, be rocked, coo at us, and smile! Upon realizing a lot of this, we were able to adjust how we handled her at night and her crying, for the most part, is much less. (Of course, this is all contingent on whether or not she naps well during the day too! Ha!)

There have been so many nights, almost every night it seems, that Kyle and I just sit quietly looking at each other, listening to her scream, helpless to help her until she calms down. All we can do is try our best to soothe her and make her happy (plus lots of mylicon and gripe water!). We are so very grateful for the Lord’s sustaining strength and grace during this season of life! We look forward to Abigail moving past this season and being a happy baby every evening. 

In that regards, we are so excited at the progress Abigail has made and we really think now that her crying and screaming at night is mainly due to her fighting sleep and sometimes being overly tired. The last three nights we’ve worked to get her to bed about the same time each night and let her sleep in as long as she can in the morning to ensure as much sleep as possible. It’s worked great! I think we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. She is taking a nap in the early evenings now plus going to bed easier.

It is so much fun though to see her so happy and smiley in the mornings! She loves to stare at the fan in our room and smile because of it. She also loves to look at us and listen to us as we change her on her changing table (it seems to be her favorite place in the house!). She is beginning to coo in response to us now. So cute! As she grows more attentive, she is becoming more content to spend a few minutes in her swing, bouncy seat, or pack n play. Yay! This means I get a few minutes each day to get some things accomplished!

Well, here’s a brief update on our last seven weeks… more to come!

New Family Blog

After writing at my personal blog for a few years, I have decided that we now need a family blog. I may continue to post at my previous blog about food or recipes (depending on how much time being a Mommy gives me!) but I wanted a blog where we could post things about our family that friends and family members can read to keep in touch with us. At times it is hard for us and our families to live so far apart so I thought this blog might make the distance seem less.