I hope everyone had a nice relaxing Memorial Day! We sure did! On Friday we loaded Izzy up and took her camping at Wyandotte Woods Campground in Corydon, Indiana with my parents. We weren't sure how it would go, so we only planned on staying Friday and Saturday night. However, it went so well that we stayed until Monday. We took lots of pictures to memorialize our weekend. Here is a little picture blog of the weekend.

There aren't very many pictures of just me and Isabella out there, partially because I'm usually the one behind the camera but mostly because I refuse to let Jeff take pictures of me in my many states of disarray :) But the other day I got Izzy all ready to go out during the day and she was so cute in her hoodie and overalls that I had to take a picture. Then she kept smiling at me so I tried to get some of both of us with her smiling. Below are the results of my efforts...I think they're pretty cute...please try to ignore my double chin, I'm working on it!

We also gave Izzy a bath last night and she really enjoyed it once she got warmed up! Here are some pics for you!

Isabella is PERFECT :) I took her for her one month appointment today and was so proud of her! She fussed a little when I had to take all her clothes off (but hey, who doesn't fuss when they have to take all their clothes off in public?), but other than that, she was great. The whole time the pediatrician was completing her examination, Izzy watched her with her big blue eyes :) Isabella now weighs 11 pounds 2.6 ounces and is 23 inches long--she is in the 97th percentile for both height and weight. I asked the doctor everything I could think of and she assured me that everything is perfectly normal. One month is the "height" of a baby's fussy time and is also a growth spurt so her fussiness and eating habits are normal and should pass. Her conclusion was that Izzy is perfect and a ver good-natured baby--I'm so proud!!

Come speak to my daughter? There are some things that we're not seeing eye to eye on, and I think maybe it would be more effective if someone else raised these issues with her:

1. Food. It is neither socially acceptable nor proper to eat ALL THE TIME. One should at least wait 2 hours before meals, especially if one is too small and flimsy to prepare her own meals. For the past few days our dear Isabella has wanted to eat multiple times within a 2-hour period. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I should just walk around the house all day with her in that sling with my shirt off. Come on, Little One! Perhaps we're going through a growth spurt (it's about that time). If that's the case (and we'll all pray that it is), please honey, grow fast. Edited to Add: We only made it 40 minutes between the last feedings. Ugh.

2. Sleep. Duration and Location. I know that we bragged on Izzy for a few weeks because she was stocking up on meals before bedtime and was then sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches. We, or rather I, got spoiled. She has abandoned this practice for the aforementioned frequent feedings throughout the night. I am unequivocally tired. Tired to the point that I wake up shaking with a headache in the morning. I know, I should sleep with her during the day. I try, I really do, but it just isn't happening. This brings us to the discussion of location. At first, Miss Izzy was tired and happy to sleep anywhere. Lately she no longer has any interest in sleeping in her basinnette. She only wants to sleep ON me or NEXT to me. While this sounds cute and endearing, it really means that I don't sleep between feedings because I'm too scared that I'm going to roll over on her and smother her. If I put her in the bassinette, she fusses until she gets worked up to screaming level...I don't sleep through that either. In addition, because she's so young, everythin I've read says she's too young to "cry it out." It seems at this point, babies need to know that when they have a need, someone will try to meet it (even if we have no earthly idea what it is). It's really a no-win situation for me, but let me reiterate. I'm tired.

That's about it. Not a bad list of topics. First come first serve. We'll work through the list of volunteers until someone can get through to her and I see a marked improvement.

Happy Saturday!

Hey everyone! First, I want to say that I LOVE reading the comments that you all leave for us. It makes it "worth it" in a way to know that people are reading our blog :) However, a lot of you leave comments without signing into Google, which is completely fine, but if you do so, make sure to sign your comments so we know who you are! Unless, of course, you want to remain incognito...and if that's the case, that's okay too...every blog needs a little mystery...

This week our poor little Isabella has developed a bad (in our expert opinions) case of baby acne. It's so sad looking, little bumps all over her pretty little face :( The week before last she had perfect porcelain-esque skin and now this. Jeff and I are both very bothered by it. According to all authorities, the acne is caused by hormones (mine, thank you very much) that she received during birth that signaled to her skin that it was supposed to start "working," i.e. making oil. Also, it is completely painless to her and doesn't seem to bother her a bit. She doesn't have a fever, eats better than ever, doesn't cry more than often, and doesn't try to scratch it. So...we just have to wait for it to clear up. Jeff is worried because some authorities on the subject indicate that it can last for 6 months--EEK! I keep saying that it's not going to last that long...I really don't think it will...probably just a couple of weeks. Selfishly, we really want it to clear up because she turns one month today and we want to get pictures taken of her. It's probably better to wait a couple of weeks anyway so she's a little more awake for the photo session :)

Today marks Isabella's first month birthday!! Rest assured that we won't commemorate her birthday every month this first year...just maybe the first couple of months. This also marks the first day that I'm off work and not getting paid. Ugh. I got up and went to the office this morning to gather some work to do at home. I'm ready to start doing some work, but the thought of it is a little overwhelming. I don't have much time during the day that Izzy is sleeping, considering that there are other things to do...like get a shower! Now I'm going to try to squeeze in hours of work during the day too? I'll do my best! I know that I could also do work when Jeff gets home in the evening, but this theory is not without fault. Taking care of a baby and myself all day is a job in and of itself. Now I'll also do work work while she's sleeping during the day. That at least equates to a full-time job during the day. If I hand her off to Jeff when he gets home and keep working, then it's like having a full-time day job and a second job in the evening. Now, add in the fact that she get's "fussy" (see previous post) during the evening hours, and my presence is often required, this makes the evening work almost impossible. I know this probably sounds like complaining, and I don't want to complain about working because I'm looking forward to doing some work and with daycare looming on the horizon we need the money. I'm merely pointing out why this seems like such a daunting task for me. I'll do my best!

At the recommendation of one of Jeff's friends who just had a baby, I purchased a baby sling carrier the other day. You carry it criss-crossed against your body and it has a pouch that the baby lays in. It's very much like a kangaroo pouch! Babies seem to really like it. The choice to try one with Izzy wasn't difficult. We have a "front" carrier for her, but she's a little small for it since she can't hold her head up yet. Carrying her in her carseat is really not an option for decent distances--she and the carseat are just too heavy! And just think, we have the lightest carseat on the market! Our girl's just a "two-hander"! We still need more practice getting Izzy into the sling...our attempt yesterday resulted in screaming...but we'll get it. It worked well on the first try and we think she liked it...what do you think?