Because It's Been A Few Days

I took a couple of pics today, basically because I found this outfit in her drawer (completely forgot about its existence) and thought it was so cute that I wanted to remember forever how cute she looked in it! :)

Karys had her first nursery experience today. I'm working with a group of 3's and up for our church's MOPS group and today was the first meeting. Ryan had to be at work before I was going to be back, so Karys came with me. From what I hear, she was great! :) Apparently she spent most of the morning in a swing, perfectly content (which is great, because at home it's usually 20 min. maximum!). We got a little off our normal schedule, but I think we're back on now and things should be great for the rest of the night. I was just so happy to know she did so well. This Sunday she is definitely going to the church nursery! :) I'm ready to be able to pay attention in church again, and take my notes during the sermon.

Oh yeah, she'll officially be 6 weeks tomorrow. At first time felt like it was dragging slightly, but now that we've pretty much got things figured out I can't believe we're already to the 6 week mark! I just love this sweet little baby so much!! :)

Here You Go...

Karys and I were upstairs playing in her room and she was being so cute that I started taking some pictures. So here she is, at officially 5 weeks + 1 day old. :)


I swear I was starting to see some real smiles today. I think she looks kinda "smiley" in this picture. :)


Wassup, people? ;) (I think that's what she's saying with this expression. :)


This next picture is especially for my friend, Alison. Alison made this blanket for Karys and brought it to the hospital the day she was born. It's hard to see in the picture, but at the top of the blanket she stitched Karys's birthdate and each of the black circles is made out of different material, to provide Karys with different textures to explore. Too awesome, huh? :)

And it was extra cute to put her next to her name. Check out that 22-inch-long body!

I also used my digital camera today to make a short video of her. This is like my first time videoing EVER, so hope you enjoy :)

What A Big Girl! :)

(I haven't taken any new pictures yet, so here's the up-close picture of the one I posted last week.)

As of Saturday, I am now the mother of a one-month-old baby. And as of yesterday, she is now 5 weeks old. She went for her one-month well check-up at the doctor's office today. I have been saying for the last couple of weeks that I thought when we went back to the doctor we were going to be told that she weighed nine pounds. I was right, plus some! She was 9 lbs. 6 oz. which puts her in the 45th percentile for weight (at her 2 week check up, she was in the 19th percentile at 7 lbs. 6 oz.). If anyone is reading this and doesn't understand the whole "percentile" thing, it means that for weight, she weighs more than 45% of babies her age. For length, she was 22 inches long (up from 20 3/4 last time), which puts her in the 75th percentile (up from the 66th percentile). Her head circumference today was 14 1/2 inches, which doesn't really mean a whole lot to me except that the doctor said that it was normal for her size. Everything still seems to be going well. We were told that in this month she will start to smile (actually on purpose, instead of these half-grins when she's falling asleep!) and possibly even laugh. I can't wait for that! She'll also start to track us with her eyes when we are up walking around the room. Lots to look forward to! :)

All in A Day's Work

Karys and I were upstairs in her room this morning where I was taking the sheet off her bed because she'd spit up a little in the night. I put her on this pillow/rug while I worked at removing the bedding. In about 5 minutes time, this is what she was doing:Apparently laying on a fluffy pillow rug is tiring work! :)

Karys's Message for the Day

And this picture is great because it shows what she does with her tongue all day!! :)
(Oh, and the back of the outfit has a little heart that says inside of it "and daddy loves me too.")

The Gift of A Happy Baby

I haven't taken any new pictures since my last post, so I'll just put up one of my favorites. This one was up on the screen at church during her dedication. :)

Today I have experienced a completely different baby...in a good way. My wonderful friend, Kristen, saved my sanity by loaning me her copy of the book, On Becoming Babywise. I have heard of this book for the last several years from many different people who said that following the principles outlined in the book led to their young babies sleeping through the night. However, I had not had a chance to purchase and read the book. Kristen brought it over to me last Thursday and I started reading immediately. I started really implementing the principles on Saturday. The biggest change for me was putting her in her crib when she showed signs of being tired and needing a nap and then leaving her there, crying or not. One of her naps really didn't qualify as a nap because it was lots of crying, with me returning at 15 minute intervals to pat her back or rock her again. But I stuck to the schedule and did not quit the naptime just because she was crying. Yesterday there was less crying during naps, as I'm sure she was starting to catch on to what was going on. Today, naps have been wonderful!! She only cried during one of them and I recognized it as a need for a new diaper so I went in immediately to fix the problem and she was fine after that. I have been able to accomplish so much more today without having to hold a crying or sleeping baby. And Karys has been happier as well. During her awake times she is happy and content. One of her awake times we spent in her room, unpackaging more toys!! :) I didn't realize one of the perks of mommyhood was getting to play with all the toys! ;) So basically I write all of this to say: THANK YOU, KRISTEN!! :)

If You Can't Tell...

I played around on Scrapblog now that I actually have a baby to take pictures of and created a new header! :) (Yeah, I tend to get tired of the same ol', same ol' and just like to change things up a bit!...Maybe I need help with contentment? ;)