Wordless Wednesday: Our Valentine

My 24th Birthday...

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Last Monday I turned 24...old, I know =) Sunday we went to Cindy and Thomas' to celebrate with the family. Greg spent ALL day (literally, he started at midnight) making delicious BBQ on the Egg. Cindy completed the meal with sides and fixings and a super yummy banana pudding. Sunday also happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, so after dinner and dessert we took the party to the living room to watch football and open gifts. I got lots of goodies- cash, fabric and accessories, address labels and cards with all of us on it. As usual, we had a great time hanging out with everyone. We left around half time to put the tiny person to bed. Monday morning I woke up being serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by my sweet hubby =) I spent the day lounging in my pjs with my girl and just enjoying the day. That evening we had a great dinner together followed by a homemade coconut cake made by Greg. The recipe is his boss's grandmother's, and it was f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c! However, Greg does not like coconut at all, so I had an entire cake to myself haha! So sweet of him to make one for me!! After dinner I opened gifts and cards from my parents, grandmother, and Greg. From my parents and grandmother I received cash and k-cups!! From Greg and I got two pretty new sweater dresses AND a day at the spa for a massage and facial, which I will be cashing in on this Saturday and I could not be more excited! He is a sweet, sweet man!! It was the perfect birthday and I can't wait to see what 24 has in store, although 23 will be hard to beat!

A little tongue action...

Apparently, Caroline has discovered her tongue and enjoys sticking it out at us =)

Caroline gets serious...

Ignore my obnoxious voice and the kissy noisy, I was kissing her hand, which before I turned the camera on had her smiling like crazy...then the camera came on and it is all business. Serious or not, she's still the cutest thing I've ever seen. Spoken like a true momma =)

Cloth Diapering...

Before we even found out we were pregnant, I became interested in cloth diapering. I had seen these cute little fluffy butt babies on some of the blogs I was following and started my research into cloth diapers. After we found out we were pregnant, I looked more seriously into it and we thought it was something we wanted to try. So, when Caroline was around 6 weeks old we started our cloth diapering adventure =) So far we are LOVING it! The diapers are SO soft and look so cute on her (despite the giant butt it can give her sometimes haha). It has been WAY easier than I expected and truly no big deal at all. I thought I would hate adding extra laundry to routine, but honestly it barely makes a difference. I have a big enough stash to where I only have to wash every 2-3 days. We use a combination of pocket diapers (diapers that have inserts) and wraps with fitted diapers. We also have a couple of different brands- Fuzzi Bunz One Size (which makes up the majority of our stash), Fuzzi Bunz Perfect size (small), Bum Genius 4.0, Bum Genius 3.0 AIO, Thirsties Duo Wraps, Thirsties Duo Diaper, and Kissaluvs fitted diapers. So far my favorites in order are: FB Perfect size, Thirsties Duo wrap with a stay-dry duo insert, and the Thirsties Duo Diaper. I like these three the best because they are super trim (for cloth diapers) and fit her very well. However, I'm starting to like the Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz One Size a bit more the bigger that she is getting. Something else I added to our cloth routine are cloth wipes. I made some with leftover flannel I had from burp clothes. I mix my own wipes solution and keep it in a spray bottle beside the wipes, so I just spray one or two before a diaper change. This is SO much easier than disposable wipes, because you can simply toss the wipes in with the diapers, just like you would with a disposable. So far we use cloth about 99% of the time and only use disposable for doctor's appointments and I sometimes put her in one if I change her around 4/5am. Anyway, if you have any questions about it, just ask! It really is super easy and I HIGHLY recommend it. It saves SO much money (especially if you register for them), they're SO much softer on the baby, and it's WAY better for the environment.

Caroline in a Thirsties Duo Wrap Snap with an insert

Fuzzi Bunz One Size

Bum Genius 3.0 All-in-One

Thirsties Duo Diaper

Set-up on the changing table upstairs (just showing wipes)...we change mostly downstairs so that's where most of her diapers are kept

After a wash, a bunch of cute hanging diapers =)

2 months...

Caroline is 2 months old today!! This has been such a fun month!! She truly is changing everyday, but since about week 5 she has been smiling and cooing, and we cannot get enough!! It's probably sad how much we just sit around talking to her in ridiculous voices just to get one tiny smile from that sweet face! She is such a great baby! She generally only cries if she is tired or getting hungry. She is very much a schedule baby and getting much better at naps (which is SO nice)! This month we started cloth diapering (around week 6) and we LOVE it!! Seriously, I'm a bit obsessed with it, so feel free to ask any questions, although I'll probably do an entire post about it. She still does so great in the car and has been easy to take places (so far). We've been out to eat a few times with her and she has done wonderfully. We went to her two month check up today where she had to get her shots. I have DREADED this appointment and have slept terribly the past few nights thinking about it. After her first shot at her one month appointment, I knew I would need back-up this time around, so Greg worked from home so he could go with me this time. The shots were not as bad as I expected, she only cried for a few minutes and then slept for a while. However, this evening has been ROUGH. She is SO fussy and absolutely pitiful! It truly hurts our hearts!! We decided to put her to bed in our room tonight, so she is back in the bassinet for the night, hopefully that doesn't set us back any. She is a sweet, content baby and we are SO thrilled she is ours =)

Her current schedule:
6am: Eats (but I don't consider this to be her morning feed because she goes right back to sleep)
8:30-9am- Eats
9:30-10:30- play time (tummy time, stories, me obnoxiously singing lol)
10:30ish-11:30/12- nap (sometimes in crib, sometimes in swing)
around 12pm-Eats
12:30-1:30-play time/errands for us =)
1:30ish-2:30ish-nap
around 3- Eats
3:30-4:30- play time
5ish- nap
6pm- Eats
most of the time she stays awake until bath at 8pm, but sometimes she'll take a 30 min nap.
8:00-8:30- bath, story time with daddy
8:30- Eats
9pm-bedtime =)

She is still waking between 2-4am to eat, but is generally great about going right back to sleep.

What she loves: (not a lot has changed since last month for her loves...)

• Still loves being held
• Her swing(!)- she did not like the swing for a while, then all of a sudden at around week 7 she started loving it and now takes her longest naps in it!
• Being talked to and talking back =)
• Facing out in her Moby Wrap- she is too big now for the cradle hold, and she doesn't really like to be facing in, unless she is going to sleep.
• Being swaddled
  
• Still loves baths!
• Her fist! She has found her hands and they are constantly in her mouth (seriously, they are chapped by how much she sucks on her hands, she especially does this when she is falling asleep)
  

What she is not a fan of:

• her pacifier...which SUCKS! I REALLY have tried pushing the paci but she is just not liking it.
• Her carseat when it is not moving (but she's getting better about this)
• Tummy time- she h.a.t.e.s tummy time, but has a very strong neck and great head control, so I'm not worried about it.

Two Month Stats:

• Weight: 10 lb 7 oz (33%)
  
• Length: 23.5in (93%)
  
• Eating: every 3 hours, around 4ish ounces
• Sleeping: (see schedule)...Great!
  

Milestones:

• Cooing- started around week 5/6

Randoms:

• Baby acne is gone YAAAAAY!!!

More pics from this month:

This photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Wordless Wednesday: 8 weeks