04 August 2013

Birth Announcement Time

Finally made Declan's birth announcements.  At least I managed to get them done before he was 2 months old. :-)


Stationery Card
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02 August 2013

Declan's 1 Month Update

So I am going to go about Declan’s monthly journal a little different simply because I think I need structure to help me remember what to write about now that I have two sweet little ones. J  I found this on another blog I follow and I am going to see how it works.

1 month pic in his going home outfit

Weight: 12lbs

Height: 23inches

Clothing: He can still wear his going home outfit which is a newborn, but it is Circo brand which tends to run big.  He is starting to push the limits of his 0-3 month onsies, but rompers and pants 0-3 still fit great.  I have a feeling he is going to be just as hard as his big sister with keeping up with clothing sizes, lol.

Diapers: We didn’t start using cloth diapers until he was almost out of the diapers they sent us home with from the hospital.  We decided ahead of time we would use those to simply adjust to life with 2, lol.  I finally got tired of leaks with the disposables (thankfully most of which were all over Ben) and switched to our newborn cloth as we phased out of the disposables.  We used a few newborn all-in-ones and pockets that were either free or gifts, 2 OS fuzzibunz and 2 OS rumparooz on the smallest setting, but the majority of our newborn stash consisted of osocozy prefolds and Thirsties covers.  These got us through just shy of 3 weeks and then I simply decided I was tired of dealing with prefolds (not hard, I just knew I had better to come with my bumgenius dipes J).  We tried the OS bumgenius diapers and they worked perfect since he was already 10+ lbs by then.  We have been using them ever since and haven’t had a leak yet! 

His first cloth diaper (Thirsties wrap with osocozy prefold)

Posing with big sister in his first bumgenius OS diaper

Eating: I am nursing him exclusively and plan to do so until at least 6 months and then we will take his cues for eating from there. He has been just like his sister and hasn’t been nursing as much as the typical newborn from the get-go.  At most he nursed 8 times a 24 hour period, but a typical day was more like 7 times.  He would rather sleep than eat most days, lol.  Thankfully he has been gaining weight (almost 3.5lbs since birth!) like a champ so I don’t have any worries about him getting enough. J  We let him pretty much set his own schedule, which the exception that I would wake him up to eat during the day to make sure he was getting enough and not getting his days and nights mixed up.  A typical feeding schedule was 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 12 or 1am, 4 or 5am, and then back up at 8am again.  One fun thing to note is that he already joins us for dinner most nights.  He chills in his bouncy seat while we eat. J

He may not want to eat very often, but he sure isn't starving, lol

Friendships: This is probably a silly one to talk about now, but since he has been born we have kept him home or outdoors so we haven’t really seen many people other than family.  He adores his big sister and in face she was the first person he smiled at (on July 3rd, 2weeks 1 day old).  He already adores her and the feeling is definitely mutual because she can’t some loving on him and telling him (and us) that she loves him.  They are going to be buddies I am sure!  I am sure he loves his Mommy and Daddy too, but that is a given. J

Tummy time with Mommy

Posing with big sister

This melts my heart

First bath together

Snuggles 

She is such a good big sister to him

Daddy snuggles

My loves

Mobility: He has excellent head control and loves to look around.  He has been close to rolling over his bottom half, but I think it’s going to take a while for the arms and head to join.  Since he is a big fan of tummy time, he doesn’t seem to mind just chilling out on his tummy so there isn’t much motivation for rolling.  He isn’t a huge fan of lying on his back, so I would imagine rolling from back to front will come later since he doesn’t get a lot of opportunity to chill that way. 

Super baby!

Sleeping: Like I said earlier, he loves his sleep, especially swaddled with hands by his face.  He typically gets between 14 and 16 hours of sleep total in a 24hour period (not including the cat naps I have to wake him up from when he is sleeping).  His average time awake is about 45 minutes to an hour and a half, most of which is filled with eating.  We try follow the eat-wake-sleep pattern (except at night) so he usually eats and then takes anywhere from a 45 minute to 2 hour nap. Sometimes he ends up with 2 cat naps between feedings instead of one long nap, but that’s by his choice so it works.  At night I was waking him up at 5 hours per doctor’s orders because that is what they recommend until 1 or 2 months old, but I honestly got tired of that so I began letting him go 6 closer to the end of the month.  So he typically does his long stretch after his 8pm feeding and then the next two cycles are anywhere from 3 to 4.5hours apart.  I am so thankful for another baby that likes to sleep at night and even more thankful that Declan likes naps more than his sister ever did!

He even sleeps in the carrier, woohoo!

sleeping with Mamaw

Daddy's chest is the perfect bed

tuckered out on his way home from the waterfront

I was patting his back on the couch and next thing I know he passed out

First time wasn't a fluke....this is how we go out with Alethea in the evenings. :-)

Love this!

Occasionally he is okay with sleeping in the car....as long as it's moving

:-)

Do I have to wake up?

This is what he thinks of being woken up to eat, lol

Playtime: This is pretty basic at this point.  We try to give him tummy time at least one time a day.  It’s harder to get tummy time accomplished more than with an active toddler around so he ends up being carried around or put in the bouncy seat to chill for a few minutes while Alethea and I play or get things done around the house.  He loves to sit up in our laps or on the couch and be talked to, but he is still pretty stoic.  We only see smiles out of him periodically.  Alethea loves to play with him and pretend he is a baby doll (which we let happen to the extent that both parties are still enjoying it, lol).

tummy time

Playtime for Alethea or Declan?...

Baby joined him on the mat, lol

Teeth: None yet, thankfully!


Random: He was born with two toenails that we thought were going to be ingrown and we confirmed that they were at a follow up appointment.  Thankfully, they are slowly healing themselves.  His cord stump fell off 7 days after birth and so he had his first bath at 8 days old.

After his first sponge bath

looking so much like his sister

naked!

First official bath

Alethea was a big helper

all squeaky clean


07 July 2013

Declan's Birth Story: Unabridged/Unedited

            Just like his sister, Declan decided to make a late arrival into this world.  Thankfully for us, he decided to make us wait only 4 extra days to meet him since he arrived when I was 40 weeks, 4 days pregnant.  Although, according to the last ultrasound we had for him at 20 weeks, the 17th was his due date making him really only one day late.  The doctors were using the 13th as his due date though so that is what we went by since that would determine how long they would let us wait for him. J
            Our desire was to have Declan arrive naturally just as we had planned for with Alethea.  So this meant having a VBAC since I had to have a c-section due to Alethea’s position.  Our doctors were on board with that thankfully and so we planned accordingly.  The other factor that added some fun to the mix was the fact that I tested positively for group B strep so I was going to have to be on meds for a period of time before giving birth.  Despite all these factors, the plan was still to have a VBAC.
            However, as we have learned many times before, God sometimes has a better plan.  The Friday before his arrival, I had started having what I thought was extra discharge due to impending labor.  So, we were anxiously awaiting the contractions to arrive.  Saturday morning I started back labor and sporadic contractions that continued on into Sunday as well.  This is how labor started with Alethea so I knew we were in business before long. J  Sunday night I lost what I think was part of my mucus plug and lost more Monday morning.  Contractions got stronger through the night, but I was still able to get a decent night’s sleep.
Monday morning I went in to see the doctor and check on progress.  I didn’t really think there was any need to mention the extra discharge.  I did tell the doc that I had been having contractions, but at that point I hadn’t really been timing them at all.  I was measuring at 2cm dilated and about 75% effaced, which didn’t really surprise me even if I was hoping for more progress.  Just for fun, on the way home from the doctor I decided to count (not time) my contractions and I had 4 contractions in the 15 minute drive so things were looking like they were picking up. 
So I decided I might as well go for one last run, lol.  That’s when things got interesting.  I went for a 3.6 mile run and it felt great!  I was continuing to have contractions, even some that I had to slow down for. J  The only issue was that at this point, I was thinking that maybe the discharge I had been experiencing might have actually been amniotic fluid leak since I experienced it with every contraction on my run and by the end of the run, I felt like I had literally peed myself with the amount of fluid that had leaked.  Basically at this point, I knew we were going to the hospital that day, it was just a matter of when. 
When I got back to the house, I filled my mom in on what was going on and decided to take a shower and start actually timing contractions.  Just as I had suspected contractions were nice and strong and steady.  I started timing them at noon on Monday and for the next 4.5 hours and they were consistent at 1.5 to 2 minutes apart from start to start and 30 seconds to a minute long….and I was leaking with pretty much every contraction.  All signs were looking good for successful labor in my mind….except for the memory of contractions being like this with Alethea for hours and the fact that I was worried my amniotic fluid has started leaking.  So to pass the time, Alethea and I painted toe nails between contractions and then I went on several walks with Ben while Alethea napped since I couldn’t really relax at this point.
Even after timing for that long and them being consistent, I still wanted to call the doctor to see if I should come in.  It was pretty funny because they almost immediately said I need to come in to be checked.  I guess it should have been a little more obvious, lol.  So we sat down to eat the dinner I had made (pizza sloppy joes and green beans) before we headed to the hospital since we didn’t know how long of a haul we were in for.  I knew with Alethea I went 2 days without solid foods, so I wanted to at least go into the hospital well nourished, lol.
After dinner we said goodbye to Alethea and told her that hopefully she would be meeting “Baby D” the next time she saw us.  We arrived at the hospital and the same doctor I saw in the morning was on call at the hospital that evening (she also happened to be the same doctor that did my c-section with Alethea).  The nurse checked us in and we shared all the intake information and then the doctor came in to check me.  What do you know I was still at 2cm and still not fully effaced yet.  Then we proceeded to share our concerns that we thought I had been leaking amniotic fluid, but weren’t sure for how long.  So they ordered a test to find out for sure and about 10 minutes later we confirmed our concerns and I was leaking fluid; the clock was officially ticking and they were using Sunday night as the approximate start for the leak since that is when I saw the mucus plug.  To add to the bad news, we were informed that the doctor would not go along with a VBAC if I didn’t get an epidural.  This was not a part of the plan either.
At this point nerves were definitely kicking in.  There were lots of strikes against me so far: no progress, leaking fluid, having to have an epidural, and needing antibiotics since I was group B positive.  Then the doctor shared with us that the plan she was comfortable with was to go ahead and get the epidural going and a low dose of Pitocin to see if we could get things going.  We reluctantly went through with these steps and prayed that that Lord would allow us to have “baby D” via VBAC.  (Funny side note: it’s weird to be one of the few that has an epidural, but can still move their legs, despite not being able to feel pain in my entire lower half)
Unfortunately that wasn’t God’s plan.  When the doctor returned after almost 5 hours of Pitocin, I still was only at 3cm.  We discussed with the doctor how my contractions without Pitocin should have progressed labor and how with the Pitocin, they REALLY should have progressed it, but hadn’t.  She said the outlook was bleak, but that she would let us go another 4 hours to see if any major progress could be made, but it wasn’t looking good and we couldn’t wait much longer without progress because I was already at a very high risk for infection.  God is awesome and really gave me a peace at this point and we knew it was the best decision to go forward with a c-section.  Knowing I had labored for over 24hours with Alethea and still only made it to 8cm we felt like this labor was headed in the same direction and they were not going to let me go as long as they did with Alethea.  Plus we knew the fluid leak could have been since Friday and we didn’t want to risk any infection, so we opted for a c-section.  There were tears of disappointment, knowing this was pretty much my last chance at natural birth, but we knew it was the wise choice to make.
We let all of our family and friends know our decision so they could be praying for us and then we started the preparations for c-section.  It was a much different experience this time around because I was much more aware of what was going on.  With Alethea I had been awake for close to 48hrs so I was really groggy and barely staying awake for the process.  I don’t really remember much from her c-section.  So even though I didn’t get to have the natural birth experience I was hoping, I was still incredibly thankful to be mentally present for Declan’s birth.
Once they got me all set on the table, it wasn’t very long before I heard the first cries and I was so incredibly excited!  Whoever “baby D” was arrived at 12:15am on Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 (just barely able to share Mamaw’s birthday) and he/she had healthy lungs.  The words I heard from Ben next created mixed feelings and went something like this “it’s a boy….is that the cord around his neck?”  God is soooooo good!  He knew that it would be safest for Declan to be born via c-section so I know it was Him who allowed the fluid to leak and the inexplicable stall in my labor.  Thankfully the cord being around Declan’s neck ultimately caused no harm for him, but if I had labored longer or even successfully had a VBAC, that outcome could have been very different.  I am so thankful for His protection over our sweet baby boy and I know for sure that the peace I felt when making the decision was truly a gift of wisdom only God could have provided.
After all that excitement it was back to staring at the blue sheet again for a while as Ben was with the nurses getting Declan cleaned up/checked out.  He scored all 9s on his APGAR test so he was a healthy baby boy.  His birth weight was 8lbs 9oz, his length was 20.5inches, and his head measured 36cm.  He outweighed his sister by 10oz though they were the same length.  The next part was the coolest, and I am so glad that I was able to be aware of it and not just remember it from videos Ben took.  Ben brought our sweet little boy up by my face and I was able to snuggle his little face for a few minutes until they had to take him off to be warmed up while I was sewn up.  Thankfully Ben was able to be with him during that time.
Because I had tried to labor with an epidural, they used a different pain medication this time around.  I was not a fan of it at all because every time they dosed me, it made me feel light headed (not to mention that after the fact, it made me itch like crazy during recovery).  So after I started feeling what was going on and they dosed me a second time, I opted not to have them dose me again.  As a result, the last third or of the surgery I was actually feeling more than just pressure.  Thankfully, I still had the adrenaline rush of his birth that I didn’t really mind.  Plus, I was just chatting with the nurses and doctor about babies, breastfeeding, and whatever else we decided to talk about, lol.  It was a bit of a weird experience to be so relaxed while all kinds of craziness was happening on the other side of the blue curtain.

About an hour later, I was reunited with Ben and our sweet little boy, Declan Timothy Hill.  I was able to nurse him shortly after that (he was a pro from the start, just like his sister) and, at that point, it didn’t matter how he arrived.  All that mattered was that he was here, he was healthy, and we were now a happy family of four!  I won’t be able to have any other births in any form other than a c-section and, though this is not my dream, it is my reality.  However, I know that God’s plan was for me to have Declan (and his sister Alethea) via c-section and should He bless us with more children, they will be born perfectly (and cone-head free, lol) in the same way.  God is good and we are so thankful to have our sweet little boy no matter how he made his grand entrance. J

Getting all cleaned

Perfect!

Alethea was his first big sister and she was in love right away!

First family photo....mostly a success :-)



13 June 2013

40 weeks and still counting

How Far Along: 
40 weeks

Due Date: 
Long gone, so obviously wrong.  Although the most recent ultrasound dated the baby due on the 17th, so I guess that could be right

Weight gain: 
Officially up 19.4lbs which is 4.8lbs more than I was with Alethea. J

Bump Picture: 

Baby Development:  
It's hard to say for sure how big Baby D will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (about the size of a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His/her skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. 

Symptoms:
Much of the same symptoms with kicks down below that send nerve pains down my legs.  Contractions occurring sporadically still, but nothing crazy.

Currently craving: 
I think if anything I have been craving fresh veggies and I think that may be partly due to the fact that I know once I stop cooking for myself for a while when Baby D gets here, I won’t get as much of that. 

Currently Avoiding: 
Nothing

Belly button status: 
Overall it is still in, but there are is a portion of it that actually sticks out.  It’s a bit funny to look at.

Movement:
Baby D is still moving a lot and kicking me a lot down below (good times).  Also seems to be doing a lot of stretching which involves long slow protrusions outward.

Name:
We have both a boy and a girl name officially decided.  If it’s a boy the initials will be DTH and if it’s a girl the initials will be DBH. J

Any appointments?: 
I have had several and it is official that Baby D does not want us to guess gender based on heart rate since it has ranged from 129bpm to 168bpm.  Overall though it seems to stick in the mid 140s which is lower than Alethea’s 150s.  I also found out this month that I am Group B strep positive so I will have to have an azithromycin medication during labor to keep Baby D safe from infection.  This is definitely not ideal for natural labor, but I know God will provide. J  They checked me at my last two appointments and so far there has been minimal progress.  My last check showed just shy of 2cm dialated and 60% effaced, but every time they say “holy cow that baby is low!” so Baby D is definitely locked and loaded, lol.

Any baby related purchases?:
Nope, we don’t really need anything else that we know of yet, so we are just waiting.  The one thing I did buy was Baby D’s baby book and we started filling in the pre-birth stuff for that.

Alethea: 
She loves to talk about Baby D and how she is going to be a “big sisser”.  It all depends on the day as to whether she is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister though.  She loves to hug my belly and has been known to say that Baby D needs to come out and play now.  I am so excited to see her with her new baby brother/sister because she is going to be awesome!

Exercise:

I am still running 3-4 days a week (only 3 for week 39 and 40 due to time) and usually 3.5 miles or so each time.  There were a few runs here and there that I struggled with cramping and had to walk, but in the last 2 weeks I have had several runs that I was able to run all but the hills.  The only way I think this is possible is because I have been running the whole time through.  It’s been a sanity keeper and I am so thankful for it!


04 June 2013

May and 27 Month Update

                I feel like I keep saying this every month lately, but May was literally a whirlwind of a month.  This month we celebrated 6 years of marriage, my 3rd Mother’s Day, and my 28th birthday.  Plus we also enjoyed a wonderful weekend in NC with a group of good friends, whose hubbies all work with Ben and we will be parting ways with very soon.  Oh and my parents came to visit for a week in there as well to help celebrate my birthday.  Though it has been a whirlwind, and a bit exhausting at times, it has been a wonderful month full of lots of quality family time.
                Three of the big events this month all took place during the same month.  My last trip before Baby D’s arrival was a fun-filled trip to Franklin, NC from May 10th to 12th and May 12th is our anniversary and also happened to be Mother’s Day this year too.  Being pregnant, and not having a lot of motivation to plan anything beyond the trip, we decided to use the trip as our celebration of both our anniversary and Mother’s Day.  It was a quick trip, but it was a blast to spend it with friends.  We carpooled with our good friends the Reeps which made for a wonderful trip and then had a blast spending time with the rest of the couples once we got there.  We spent two nights in a cabin in the mountains and had a blast making meals together, hiking, playing games, and they even surprised us with a little baby sprinkle for Baby D.  So much fun!  Then on our way home we visited the Biltmore Mansion with the Reeps and enjoyed another fun and great conversation-filled car trip home.

Pretty waterfall

up on the mountain

Prego ladies conquering the mountain

Family photo up top

Hiking is hard work

Biltmore

                My parents actually arrived in the wee hours of the morning on the 13th, so we enjoyed a little less than a week with them as soon as we returned from NC.  They made a somewhat last minute decision to come down and spend time with us for my birthday.  God was definitely behind that happening and we didn’t even realize it at the time.  Not only were they here for my birthday, but Ben ended up having a third nose surgery the day before so they were here to be a huge support in that.  I am not sure how I would have managed taking care of Alethea and helping Ben to recover from surgery without them here.  Being 36 weeks pregnant, having the extra support probably kept me from having a nervous breakdown, lol.

Magnadoodling with Papaw

Reading with Mamaw

Running from the waves

And then laying down in them, lol

                For my birthday (actually the day prior since my parents left the morning of my bday), I decided that I wanted to keep it pretty simple and opted not to have an actual cake because I just didn’t want to have that much sugar in my house to finish up, lol. (especially since my parents had brought my favorite Amish whoopee pies and banana bread that I had already been indulging in J)  My self-planned birthday celebrations ended up involving a solo run, followed by a trip to the farmers market to get our normal goodies as well as some of my favorite homemade cookies (my first treat of the day).  After that we went to a beautiful nature park I had heard raves about called Cypress Gardens.  It definitely lived up to its hype and we enjoyed a beautiful walk around the swamplands, checked out the butterfly house (Alethea’s favorite), and saw a bunch of fish, reptiles and amphibians.  We came home so Alethea could nap and then headed over to Mellow Mushroom to enjoy some yummy pizza, followed by my final indulgence of Coldstone Creamery ice cream.  Yum! 

Cypress Gardens

My little butterfly

Mamaw got her ice cream of her own

Family ice cream for Mommy's bday

blue face :-)

                For Ben this has been a month full of waiting it seems.  He was getting leads here and there with jobs, but nothing too exciting and he was anxiously awaiting news of the hiring freeze being dropped at the company he was really interested in working for.  Finally in the last week of the month things seemed to be heating up and he had an interview at a new place local to Louisville as well as the company that had finally dropped its freeze.  All of this led into more interviews to come so hopefully June’s update will have more info on that.  We also had a slight scare with his orders potentially being moved up to June 30th being his end date in the Navy (too early for us), but thankfully he got the official orders changed as of the final day of the month and he does not have to be done until August 31st.  Yay for being able to officially breathe a bit easier!  And, as I mentioned before, he had his third and final nose surgery so hopefully everything is all fixed and, with the help of allergy meds, he will actually be able to breath like normal.
                There isn’t too much exciting to add for me this month.  I finished off the month at 38 weeks pregnant and in the last few weeks of the month the third trimester fatigue finally set in.  Pregnancy has been good to me thankfully, but my body is showing signs of being ready for Baby D to be here and we are definitely anxiously awaiting his/her arrival!  One neat way I have seen God working this month, and in the months leading up, is that He has really allowed Ben and me to be at peace with so many unknowns.  We don’t know when Baby D is going to arrive, we don’t know what job Ben is going to have by the end of this summer, we don’t know where we will be living at the end of July, and we have no idea when we will actually be making our transition to this new life we have been praying so hard for.  Even despite all of that, we are at peace trusting in Him (not something I even thought possible for me).  I also had fun participating in a virtual marathon where I had to run 26.2 miles during the month of May, however it only took me 7 runs to complete (less than 2 weeks).  

My "marathon" completion photo...Alethea is not a fan

                As for Alethea, I am going to try to remember what the month of May was filled with for her but we will see how well the pregnant brain works on that, lol.  Alethea turned 27 months old this month (I can’t believe how fast her 3rd year is already starting to fly by).  I measured her stats again (not sure when I will stop, lol) and she is up to 38 inches tall and 30lbs 12.8oz.  I guess this month was a chunking month with just a little height growth involve. J  I think she may have even gotten a bit more hair this month too.  We have had many people , some we know and others we don’t, say they like her haircut and we always have to just laugh and inform them that she has still yet to have enough to cut, lol.

Who says you can't climb in a skirt, lol.

                This month has marked a lot of awareness of Baby D.  She seems to be grasping the concept of a baby coming more and more.  The process of setting up things for Baby D has seemed to help with that.  When we were setting up the pack n’ play in our room Alethea kept talking about how she was going to sing to Baby D and when we ask her what she is going to sing, she always says “I sing ‘So Big’ to Baby D!”.  She also has scolded baby several times for “kicking” Mommy when I have told Ben that Baby D just kicked me, lol.  Ben also installed Baby D’s car seat and made a big deal about how Alethea was going to get to sit next to Baby D.  So now every time she gets in the car she says something along the lines of “Baby D sit next to me so shop?!”.  I think she is going to love being a big sister and I am so excited to introduce her to her new baby brother/sister next month!

She always wants to pose after I take my bump shots

Out on our Alethea Day adventure....trying to make sure to be intentional 
about special things for her before Baby D arrives

                As each month goes by, she seems to be developing her language skills more and more.  Most of what she says is in full sentences these days and most people are able to understand a majority of what she says.  It has been really fun to see this develop more and more each day and to be able to truly carry on conversations with our sweet little girl.  The only downfall is that, as a result of her trying to learn, she is constantly repeating things and asking questions so we don’t get a lot of quiet time around here when she is awake.  This month has marked a big push in the presence of possessive speech and she loves to say “I love my Daddy/Mommy” or “I go church play with my friends?”, etc.  It’s so neat to see how speech develops without any formal training beyond simply talking to her and repeating what she says to confirm we understand.

A rare quiet time in the car as a result of lots of playing and skipping nap on Memorial Day

                One issue we have run into this month is Alethea’s desire to be the focal point in the room when Ben and I are trying to talk.  It seems that as soon as we start talking to one another or one of us is trying to make a phone call, she starts to talk a ton and try to get our attention which makes it really hard.  She has become a fan of saying “no talk” when we are talking to anyone other than her at times.  As a result, we are trying to teach her how to say excuse me when she wants to say something.  It started out with her saying “cuse you”, but now she is actually saying “cuse me” pretty regularly and is okay with us addressing her with an “I will talk with you when I finish…” type statement.  This has been a lifesaver at times, though she still has her moments.

                I feel like there is much more that could be said about her development this month, but the words aren’t coming.  So this is our update for now, and next month will involve just as much of a whirlwind I am sure!

She cracks me up!

Swimming with Daddy

Splash!

Swimming to Daddy

She loves her new floaties