Five Months!

Miss Campbell is now five months old! I feel like I say this every time, but I can't get over how fast she's growing, learning, and developing. It's seriously amazing. It seems like every day she's doing something new. It's so exciting to be her mom! :)

Campbell Adair

Five Months

19lbs., 1oz and 26 1/4" long

Sleep: Campbell is ready for bed by 8pm pretty much every night. We've got a good routine going now. She gets a good bath and hairwashing every other night. On alternate nights she just kind of gets a wipe down. I don't want to dry her skin out. After bathtime or the wipe down, she gets her "sleepy lotion" which is the Johnson & Johnson bedtime lotion. (That stuff is amazing!) Then, either David or I read Campbell her bedtime story. After storytime, Campbell and I settle into the glider for one last nursing session before bed. She usually falls asleep while I'm nursing her, then once she's good and asleep, I transfer her to the Pack 'N Play. Yes, she's been in the Pack 'N Play in our room since we brought her home from the hospital. But tonight, we've put her in her crib. I know it'll be harder on me than her. I am fully aware that it's completely irrational, but I feel horrible about putting her in the crib tonight.

Eating Habits: Campbell is still exclusively breastfed. She's still eating about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I'm still nursing her at Ms. Gayle's right before I leave, then I go feed her at lunchtime. In addition to those feedings, she generally takes about 8 ounces while I'm gone.
I'm struggling with deciding whether or not I should offer her some rice cereal. I know that babies really only need breastmilk for their first 6 months, but she's beginning to show an interest in our food. Tonight, as David and I were eating pizza, every time I would bring my slice of pizza to my mouth. Campbell leaned forward with her mouth open. I think the little girl is letting me know that she's ready for more. I really am interested in doing baby-led weaning, where you skip the purees and mashed up stuff altogether and move straight to finger foods. I have a book on order from Amazon, and it should be here Monday. I'm looking forward to reading through it, and maybe it will help me to decide on the cereal thing.

New Discoveries: She's now able to touch the floor from her jumperoo, so she's in heaven. She'll jump for 20 or 30 minutes. She doesn't really play with the toys on the jumperoo as much as she just enjoys the jumping. She's got to have strong legs!

Accomplishments: Last month, her favorite thing was to be pulled to sitting. This month, she's decided that sitting isn't enough...after she's pulled to sitting, she wants to be pulled to standing. She's also blowing raspberries all the time, and she's giving us laughs much  more regularly.

Places She's Gone: Campbell went on her first hayride and experienced her first bonfire this month! We had a great time, and you can see pictures of that adventure here.

New Friends: Campbell has one new friend this month...Carson Chrystine Dailey! Our friends, Jason and Carrie, welcomed their third little girl into the world at the end of October, and last weekend, Campbell got to meet her. I know they'll have tons of fun playing together in the future!

New Babbles: Campbell seems like she "talks" in fits and starts. A few weeks ago, she was babbling nonstop. Just tonight David I were commenting on the fact that she hasn't been talking quite as much lately. Instead, she's been blowing raspberries. I wonder if it's because the blowing raspberries is a new skill, and she's just fascinated by it? Maybe once the new wears off of it, she'll go back to talking more.

Campbell's First Bonfire

Even though it's officially fall, it seems that Mother Nature hasn't gotten the memo...in Kentucky at least. We've had a string of unseasonably warm days this November. On Sunday afternoon, Campbell and I headed to Mom and Chet's house after church for a family bonfire. Poor David had to miss out because a guy was coming to pick up the bull. Boo!

We generally spend Sunday afternoons with Mom, Chet, my sister Allison, and my brother-in-law Larry. Mom and Chet fix lunch for us, and then we laze around for the afternoon. We're usually watching TV (football this time of year), playing on our iPhones, or looking at Facebook. We chit chat the whole time, but we've always got something electronic in front of us. This past Sunday it was so nice to be outside enjoying God's magnificent creation...and each other's company. Here are some pictures from a (practically) perfect bonfire!

Me and Campbell on our way up to the picnic site. I still call it a hayride, even though there's no hay in sight. Campbell doesn't know the difference!  

 Aunt Allison, Uncle Larry, and my parents' dog, Lucy.

 Not long after we got to the picnic site, Mom and Campbell took off for a little adventure along the edge of the woods. They played pat-a-cake and I'm pretty sure Mom told her what a good little girl I always was. :)

 Campbell is so lucky to have such a wonderful Granny!

 They look like they're having a good time, don't they?

 Allison and Larry went on a 4-wheeler ride around the farm. Allison loves driving the 4-wheeler. Poor Larry had more than a littel cow manure on his clothes when they got back.

 Campbell enjoyed spending time with Pop Pop...even though she had to be in just the right humor.

 Campbell and Aunt Allison had lots of fun, too. And Aunt Allison got her first diaper-changing experience.

 Campbell was so sleepy for the first part of the bonfire, but just wouldn't take a nap. There was way too much excitement going on for that! I was finally able to nurse her to sleep and she got a nice little nap. The sun was in her face, but I used a handy-dandy paper plate as a sun shade.

 And what bonfire is complete without s'mores?! Uncle Larry has perfected his technique and made some beautiful s'mores.

And as much as these two played in the fire, it's a wonder they didn't pee the bed that night!

Four Months!

It's been way over a month since I last posted, but as with most things around here, blogging has just kind of fallen by the wayside since I went back to work. It's really hard to find balance. Harder than I thought it would be.
Anyway, my sweet baby girl turned 4 months old over 2 weeks ago. I thought I'd better update before she turns 5 months old! She's wearing 6 - 9 month clothes, and she can fit into a few 12 month things. Yikes! I can't believe how much she's growing.
Sleep: Campbell is ready for bed a lot earlier now...usually by 8:30 at the latest. She's still a good sleeper, waking only once a night to eat. Every now and then, she sleeps all night long.

Eating Habits: Campbell still doesn't have much of a pattern at Ms. Gayle's yet. She's been taking about 8 ounces over the course of the day. I usually am able to feed her on my lunch break. At home, she's eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

New Discoveries: Some of my coworkers gave Campbell a taggie blanket, and she absolutely LOVES it. She is fascinated by the ribbons.

Accomplishments: She's finally given me a few real laughs! She can also grab things and hold onto them, and she's sitting with support. She's got awesome head control.

Places She's Gone: Campbell had a big month! She went to her very first football game at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. She did great...she slept through the vast majority of it. She also got to go with us to Lake Cumberland for a few days. I had to be there for three days in late September for meetings, and she and David were able to go with me. He watched her while I was in meetings.

New Friends: It was a big month for friends, too! Campbell finally got to meet her friend, Kate Sexton! They had such a good time playing at Kate's house. I hope they'll have many more play dates in the future. She also met a lot of my coworkers at Lake Cumberland. We also went to David's work picnic and she met some of his coworkers' children who are similar ages: Briley and Remington.

New Babbles: Campbell still loves to talk, and she's still loud! She's blowing bubbles and raspberries now.

The Difference a Year Makes...

Wow...it's just amazing the difference 365 days can make. One year ago today, my life was different. It was definitely a bittersweet day. One year ago today, after dreading this day for weeks, I woke up to the due date we were given for our first baby, the one we lost at around 10 weeks. The day had loomed over me like a huge, dark cloud, and it had finally arrived. David and I woke up and started to get ready to go to my Dad's retirement party, and I decided to take a pregnancy test. I knew that it was going to be negative, as they all had been for the previous four or five months. I figured that the day was already terrible enough, and I'd rather get all of the crappiness (is that a word?) out of the way at once. You can imagine my surprise when I got this:
I really, really didn't believe that I was pregnant. In fact, this is only one of the many pregnancy tests I took over the course of the week until I got in at my OB's office. I just knew that one of the days, it would tell me that I wasn't pregnant anymore. It seems like a lifetime ago that I got that test. I will always, always be thankful that I got this news on what I expected to be one of the worst days of my life. September 18, 2010 was still a tough day, even with this good news, because I couldn't help but think about what might have been.
For the last few days, as I realized September 18 was approaching, I've been thinking a lot about that little life that was with us for 10 weeks. I can't say that I've been sad, exactly...I can't really describe the emotion I've felt. I'll always wonder what that baby would have been like. Was it a boy or a girl? Would it have looked like me or David? There are so many what ifs, and they'd slowly kill me, if I let them. Over the last year, I've decided that I don't need to know why we lost our first baby. For a long time, I didn't feel like I had a "right" to grieve that loss, but now I realize that that child is a part of my story, and I loved (and still do love) him or her, and I have every right to feel grief over losing him or her. It's no longer a grief, exactly...I guess you'd just say it's a rememberance accompanied by a little bit of longing.
Today, one year later, God has blessed us with this sweet, sweet girl:
She is truly the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me. It's strange to know that if we hadn't lost our first baby, that this precious girl wouldn't be here...and I can't imagine a life without her. Perhaps our first baby gave me a glimpse at the amount of love I could have for another tiny person.
Any way I look at it, on this night one year later, I know, without a doubt, that I am blessed beyond measure.

Three Months!

My sweet girl is three months old now! We weighed and measured her yesterday morning...she weighs 16.5 pounds and is 25 inches long. What a big, big girl! The vast majority of the clothes we've got right now are 0-3 months, and they're pretty much too small. Well, anything smaller than 3 months is out of the question, and the 3 month stuff is tight! She's got a few 6 month things, and those are quite comfortable for now. I just can't believe how big she's gotten! Here's what she looks like right now:

Sleep: When she sleeps, she's such a good sleeper. She just isn't much on napping. She'll nap forever if we're holding her or she's laying on our chests, but a nap in the crib, cradle, or pack 'n play is very rare. Her final bedtime at night is between 10 and 10:30, and from there, she'll sleep until around 3am. If I can catch her around that time and she's stirring, but not completely awake, she'll go right back down after I feed her and stay asleep until 5:30 or 6:00. If she's already awake, it's a struggle to get her back to sleep. David usually ends up going to the couch with her to sleep until I get ready for work, then I take her and he goes back to bed. It works okay, but I'm looking forward to both of us being able to sleep in the same bed all night again.
Eating Habits: When we're both at home, Campbell eats about every 2 1/2 hours, just like clockwork. The babysitter's is a different story. I think she tries to wait for me. Most days, she'll just take one bottle (if I'm able to go feed her during my lunch break). If I can't nurse her at lunch she'll take two bottles...generally a total of 7oz for the day (during the time she's at the sitter's).
New Discoveries: She's becoming so much more aware of the world around her, and it's so much fun to watch! We have a set of 3 rattley bugs that attach to her car seat handle, and she's just mesmerized by them. When I'm grocery shopping, she "talks" to the bugs the whole time! She also went swimming on the hottest day of the year! She did great...I really thought she'd scream the whole time, but she was completely content and relaxed the whole time.
Accomplishments: During tummy time, she raises her chest up while she's supported by her arms. She loves to look at books while she's doing tummy time! She's also really started to enjoy standing on our laps while we hold her. Her very favorite activity now is to be pulled to sitting from her back. She holds her head level with her body the whole time, and just smiles and laughs! She also loves to look at herself in the mirror. A couple of weeks ago, I was nursing her in the dressing room at Target, and we couldn't get anything done because she was talking to herself in the mirror!
Places She's Gone: We had a play date at the park with the Dailey's and the Chilton's. We took her to David's great aunt's funeral in Charlestown, Indiana, and she did great. She hardly made a peep during the entire service (granted, she was asleep for a lot of it, but still...). She's also gone to the airport twice...to pick up her Orr grandparents, and to drop off her Granny and Pop Pop.
New Friends: Ms. Gayle, her babysitter. She's been going to Ms. Gayle's house for 6 days now and I guess it's going well. I still hate taking her to the sitter, and honestly, I hope sometime it works out that I can stay home with her. I just don't have a whole lot of peace about this whole leaving her with a sitter thing. Everyone says it gets better...we'll see.
New Babbles: Campbell "talks" all the time! She doesn't have an inside voice, and she especially enjoys talking during church. She's been saying "guh," "ah-goo," and "ah-ooh" for awhile now.

Babies Don't Keep

I have exactly nine days left until I go back to work. Nine more short days where my only task is to be a mother to my baby girl. In nine days, I have to give over at least 40 hours a week of her life over to another person's care. I may have the opportunity to do some work from home, but even then, I will be distracted from caring for her. So, for the next nine days, this is my mantra:

Babies Don't Keep

Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga, and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow

But children grow up, as I've learned from my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs! Dust, go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

Two Months!

I'm a few days late with the two month post, but we've had other things that needed to get done (eating, playing, sleeping, etc.) first! It's so hard to believe that little Miss Priss is already two months old! Isn't she the cutest?
We've had a really good month. I'd say that in the time frame from 1 month to 2 months, we've settled into a pretty good routine. I think that now, I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on things and don't feel clueless nearly as much. I think David would disagree with me, but I don't think I'm as hypervigilant about everything as I was a month ago. Yes, I still check numerous times a day to make sure she's breathing, but I think that's pretty normal.
I'm amazed at how much Campbell has changed over the last month. She's so much more alert and active now, and she's really beginning to truly interact with us. She can smile socially now, and she coos like crazy! She says "ah-goo" and "oooh" and a few other sounds, too. When I hold an object about 6-8 inches above her and move it from side to side, she can follow it 180 degrees. When someone is holding her and she sees someone else in the room, she will follow them with her eyes. She holds her head up great, and doesn't like it if she can't see what's going on around her. She also able to put her hands together and get her hands in her mouth purposely. Finger chewing is one of her favorite passtimes! One of her favorite toys is her Baby Einstein floor gym. She loves that thing, and as I type this, she's very nearly worked her way in a circle around the mat by kicking her feet (and chewing her fingers the whole time). What a busy little girl!
She's growing like a weed! At her 2 month appointment, she weighed in at 12 lbs, 12 oz and was 24 1/4" long! What a big, big girl! I was dreading that appointment because I knew she'd be getting 2 shots and an oral vaccine. It wasn't just her reaction to the shots I was dreading, but also the possibility of fever afterwards. She did cry for a bit after the shots, but I nursed her as soon as they were done, and she calmed down quickly. She got two pink camoflage band-aids for her bravery. :) And, the best part of all was that she never ran a fever or got fussy. She's such a trooper! Now we don't have to go back to the doctor for 2 months, which will be nice.
It seems like every week I put away more and more clothes because they've gotten too little. Just this morning, I tried a few 6 month outfits on her to see how long it would be until they fit. Um...they fit NOW! Yikes! I really didn't think she'd be in them so soon! She's now wearing a size 2 diaper, and has been for several weeks. Saturday night we went to a surprise party for our friend Jessi, and when I was nursing Campbell in Jessi's daughter Olivia's room, I saw her diaper stacker. Olivia, who is nearly 2 is just wearing a size 3 diaper. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that. I mentioned it to Jessi and another friend, and they reassured me that all of their girls wore a size 3 diaper for a really long time. Let's hope so!
The only other news of note, I guess, is that I go back to work in about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm dreading it. Absolutely dreading it. We've found a private sitter for Campbell, and I feel good about having her stay with Miss Gail (who came to us highly recommended by several people), but it's hard. This whole idea of having her stay with someone who's not family is kind of strange to both David and I. David's mom stayed home from work after he was born, and my grandparents watched my sister and I when my parents were at work. We don't expect any of our parents to stay home and watch Campbell full-time, because she's our responsibility. I would just really like to be able to be with her. This may sound horrible, and before I say it, let me say that I love Campbell more than absolutely anything in the world. She is simply amazing, and I would never trade her for anything. But sometimes I find myself thinking that we shouldn't have had kids unless one of us could stay at home with her all the time. I know kids have gone to sitters for ages and ages and turn out fine, but I really feel like the best situation would be for me to be at home with her. I just want to protect her and make sure she gets the best care possible, and it's hard for me to think that someone else can do that. Unfortunately, that's not possible for us right now, so I'm going to try to make the best of it.
Right now, our days consist of eating, playing, sleeping, and trying to get a few things done around the house. It's been a big adjustment to not be able to get any job done from start to finish in one fell swoop, but I'm getting used to it. The house isn't as neat and tidy as it was BC (Before Campbell), but we manage. The way I see it, the dishes, the dust, and the laundry will be around forever, but I only have these 12 weeks with her one time, so that's were I'm going to focus my attention. So off I go to play with my sweet girl while the laundry lays around in the baskets!