3 Months...

Yesterday Caroline turned 3 months old! Where oh where is the time going?! She is changing every day and we are loving seeing her sweet personality shine more and more. She is still such a content, laid back baby. She is very smiley and talkative and we just LOVE to hear her sweet little voice. However, lately she's really gotten into squealing, so that sweet voice can get quite loud =) This has been a really fun month, however we went through a rough patch with sleeping for about two weeks that was about to drive me nuts. She has always been a pretty great sleeper, at about 11 weeks, she started waking more at night, then at 12 weeks she went three nights waking every.single.hour and sometimes TWICE! It was lame for sure lol! I ended up taking her to the doctor, because that just wasn't like her and it turns out 1) she's teething- which I had a clue from all the drool and the hand chewing and 2) Her acid reflux has gotten worse, so when we were laying her down at night, it was just sitting in her chest and burning her esophagus..poor baby! So, she was prescribed Zantac, and we have her back sleeping in her Rock n' Play Sleeper because it is elevated (the doctor said put her to sleep in her carseat, but she hates it when it is not moving, so I knew that wouldn't work), but for the past few nights she is back to sleeping wonderfully. She is getting much better at tummy time and not crying immediately after you put her down, so that's a plus! She is just a sweet, sweet girl and we are loving every second with her!

(Just for memory sake...)
Her schedule:
7:30- Awake and First Feeding
Play time
9ish-10:30/11- Nap
10:30/11- Feeding
Play time/Errands
12:30/1-2ish- Nap
2ish- Feeding
Play time
3:30/4-5ish- Nap
5/5:30- Feeding
Play time
7:15ish- Bath and story
7:30- Last feeding
Asleep by 8
Wakes generally once before 7:30, somewhere between 3-5am.

3 Month Stats:
At her doctor's appointment last week, they just checked weight but not height-
11lb 13 oz- still a tiny girl =)

Milestones-

• We've gotten a few giggles starting around 12 weeks
• She has started reaching for toys on her play mat
• Blowing raspberries constantly!

Randoms for this month:

• She is in love with her daddy! I work so hard all day to get smiles and coos, but the second he walks in the room, she lights up and is all smiles and has tons to say to him!
  
• She takes her longest naps in her swing, and I'm fine with that for now.
• She still loves being swaddled
  
• We've completely given up on the pacifier
• She is still wearing some 0-3 month clothes, but most are 3 months. 6 month clothes fit for length but are way to big in the waist.
• Probably cries a total of 30 minutes a day, and that right before naps.
• Is great at holding on to her toys
• Katie babysat for the first time this month and Caroline was put to bed by someone other than me for the first time. It went great!
  
• Goes through about 5-6 bibs a day between drool and spit-up
• Does not like to be held like a baby (cradled carry), and prefers to be forward facing
• Still likes to have her back patted when being put to sleep
• She likes being sung to, and generally falls asleep to "Jesus Loves Me" or "Amazing Grace"
• Loves to "dance" with her daddy =)
• One of my favorite things is getting her up in the morning. She usually wakes around 7:15, but I let her talk to herself for a few minutes before going in. When I go in to say good morning, she is ALL smiles and kicks her feet like crazy! I L.O.V.E. it!! What a wonderful way to start a day!
  

Favorite memories from this month (wish I would have done this with month 1 and 2):

• The Valentine's Day blow-out (See other post)
• Her eczema has gotten pretty bad, so Greg was helping out by adding baby oil to her bath one night. Well, he added quite a bit and she was SO slippery that she couldn't stay seated in the tub because she kept sliding everywhere, so Greg had to hold her up under her arms while I bathed her. We couldn't stop laughing at how funny we must have looked trying to bath this slippery baby!

Pictures from this month (all are on Facebook too)

Photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Two of my favorite videos from this month:

Baby "Must-Haves": 0-3 Months

I've seen a few friends post their favorite baby items for each age bracket and I've loved seeing what items are consistently on everyone's lists or which differ. After being a nanny for several years, I had a pretty good idea of what items I knew were a "necessity", which were a hit or miss, and which we could totally do without. Also, babies have their preferences, so I think it will be neat to look back to see all of Caroline's favorites and "must-haves" versus her sibling's. So, for the 0-3 month range, here are the items that we love...

1) Fisher Price Rock n' Play Sleeper : We LOVE this thing! We chose to use this instead of a bassinet because it took up less space, it's super portable which is so nice when we take it in and out of rooms or to the grandparents' houses, and it's elevated which is better for her acid reflux. She has slept great in this from day one. However, she had a harder time transitioning to the crib because she wasn't used to laying flat.

2) Moby Wrap: This was literally our lifesaver the first couple of weeks when Caroline wanted to be held 24/7. She's too big for the cradle carry now, so I occasionally put her in the "kangaroo" hold where she is facing me, but for the most part I have her forward facing in it now, which she loves. Once she is a little bit bigger, we'll be switching over to our Ergo carrier, but we are loving this one for now!
3) Boppy Pillow: This is probably my most used item. I use it at every feeding and to prop Caroline up on the couch, bed, or floor when we're playing with her. Love it!
4) Fisher Price Papasan Swing: At first, Caroline was not a fan. In fact, we were even looking into swapping it out for a Mamaroo, until one day she decided she would take a 2 hour nap in it and from then on she has loved it. Seriously, this swing has been a godsend and we are so thankful that Katie was sweet enough to let us borrow it! It eats through batteries though, but considering she takes two of her longer naps in it a day, I'll buy however many batteries I need to to keep this thing swinging!
5) Thirsties All-in-One Cloth Diaper: If you cloth diaper, these are a MUST! I LOVE them! They are new and Greg ordered one for Caroline a few weeks ago and it quickly became my favorite diaper, so we have since bought four more. They are super trim, super absorbent, and super easy (just like a disposable...no inserts, no stuffing, no liners, etc...just a diaper). Seriously, if I could have my entire stash be these, I would. LOVE them!
6) Halo Sleepsack Swaddle: Our girl loves to be swaddled! I love these because she likes to bend her elbows and keep her hands close to her face when she sleeps, and with other swaddlers (like the miracle blanket) she can't do that. I also like that the ones we have are either minky or fleece, which I feel like keep her nice and warm at night.
7) Snap-n-Go Stroller: I love this stroller! It is super lightweight and so convenient to just pop out of the trunk and snap her carseat in and just run into a store. It's not super bulky like some of the travel system strollers can be, but it still has a decent amount cargo space that can hold the diaper bag or whatever.
8) Recliner or Glider: We chose a comfy recliner and I LOVE IT! A nice comfortable chair is definitely a must, especially if you plan on breastfeeding, because you will be spending a LOT of time in that chair! It was also really nice to have while I was pregnant and couldn't get comfortable in bed, I would sleep in it instead. I love our recliner and appreciate Greg's parents getting it for us!
9) Sound machine: This is definitely a top 'must have' for us! Caroline loves her some white noise and between her sound machine and her humidifier, it sounds like an airport in her room! However, heaven forbid we set it on 'timer mode' and it turn off while she is sleeping, because she will definitely wake up and let you know that there is a problem. We chose the one we did specifically because it can me left on all night.
10) Bibs: Lots and lots and lots of bibs. I suppose this is one of those baby specific items, but Caroline spits up big time and has also started drooling a ton, so we generally go through about 5-6 bibs a day. I prefer ones that snap instead of velcro, but really anything is fine right now because she obviously can't pull them off yet.
Well, there ya have it. Ten things that we've found to be most useful over these past three months. Can't wait for the next three when we can start adding in some fun toys and food stuff to the mix =)

Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day is generally kept pretty simple in our house because 1) It comes right after our birthdays which are 2 weeks apart and only a month after Christmas and 2) We celebrate our love for each other on a regular basis =) However, this Valentine's Day was made special by celebrating with a true symbol of our love, our sweet girl! We woke up and gave each other a small gift, I got a card and candy and I gave Greg the ABC's of US, which was an idea I found on Pinterest. It was fun thinking of all of my favorite memories to write down! It definitely made me realize how truly blessed we are. After Greg went to work, I went into rush mode to finish the other gift I had planned for him, which involved getting Caroline's pictures taken and sent to Walgreen's before we left to meet him in Duluth for lunch. Let' just say, the morning should have been a warning of how the rest of our day would go. She was NOT in the mood for a photo shoot and cried through half of it, so out of 60+ pics, I have ZERO of her smiling! Oh well, I took what i had and had them printed. Next up, was a morning nap. Well, apparently Caroline had other plans for her morning, so she did not sleep as I had planned and desperately hoped for since we were meeting Greg for lunch. After spending close to an hour trying to get her to sleep, I gave up and realized I had 15 minutes to get ready before we had to leave. I got ready and dressed her in her Valentine's outfit that I made for her, and we were out the door in 20 minutes...shower and everything (though my hair was put up wet). Luckily, she slept in the car on the way to Greg's work. Soooo, we get there and as I pull into the parking lot, I hear an explosion in the back seat. I didn't think too much of it, just hoped she was finished by the time I changed her. I parked and gave her a minute. I then took her out of her carseat and to my horror, found a HUGE mess!! She had blown through her diaper, which went all the way up her back, soaking through the pink turtleneck I went to 5 stores to find AND the outfit I made. All I could do was laugh and call Greg and say "we're here, just bring me some scissors." Yes. I had to CUT her outfit off of her. I chose to do this because it was EVERYWHERE and if I would have taken the outfit off over her head or dragged it down to her feet, we would have been in even more trouble. So, that was the end of the outfit. I was just SO glad I got in the pictures I wanted. Luckily, she had a spare sleeper in her diaper bag, so she had something to wear to lunch. What a morning! We had a great lunch together and she was super at the restaurant! The rest of the day was spent loving on Caroline and napping and waiting for Greg to get home from work. Once he got home we gave each other our other gifts, I gave him the picture frame with her in it, and he gave me Junior's cheesecake ordered from NYC (where we got engaged). SO yummy! We also gave Caroline her Valentine's Sing-a-ma-Jig and the book "On the Night You Were Born". We had a delicious dinner of steak and twice baked potatoes and then just a quiet evening of the three of us =) I do enjoy spending an entire day devoted to the ones I loves most!!

This is blurry because they were dancing, but this girl LOVES her daddy =)
The outfit that is no more...

Wordless Wednesday: Our Valentine

My 24th Birthday...

Personalize a picture slideshow

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 =)