My Superhero...

Jack has become obsessed with Superheros!  He loves them, so dress up costumes were soon to follow!  We have Captain America and Batman.  He also has Spiderman PJ's and a matching mask!

 

 

 

 



Catching Up...

I'm going to spend the next 30 minutes trying to catch up on some items on my HUGE backlog of posts. 

WARNING: They will be primarily photo driven posts - I don't have time for words, people!  :-)

Upcoming Posts

I know, I'm adding more post topics and I haven't published any from the original list.  Forgive me, I'm tired! Soon, very soon!

I am seriously behind in my blogging! Work is crazy right now, Chris is traveling alot and it's summer!  :-)

Here are some upcoming blog posts though that are either already drafted and I need to add pictures or that are great ideas and aren't written yet!
1. My Superhero
2. Norah's 4 Month Update
3. Memorial Day Trip to OK
4. Two Engagements
5. Jack's 3rd Birthday and Check Up
6. Double Trouble in the Tub
7. Jack's First Slumber Party
8. Norah's 5 Month Update (Can you believe she turned 5 months last week?)
9. A Bow Addiction
10. New Home Tour - A Year Later
11. Independence Day!
12. Wisdom Teeth Extraction
13. Norah Thinks Jack is Funny!

14. Baptism (Chris actually went to church!)
15.  Norah's 6 Month Update
16. Momma Got  A New Ride!
17. Jack @ The County Fair

Now, I know you are all dying from the excitement of these potential posts BUT really this list is more for me to keep everything straight! Don't think these are all gonna happen in the near future either, but I'm working on it!  All with good intentions!  Life just gets in the way sometimes and it's much easier to post a picture to Facebook or Instagram then it is to type out a post and upload photos!

Follow me on Instagram @ darci_spear since I know you'd love to keep up with our daily lives in a more "real-time" fashion!

xoxo

Norah - Three Months

I apologize this post is so late.  I've had it drafted and took the pictures on her 3 month birthday, but it has taken me 3 weeks to upload the pictures onto my computer.  Mom fail, I know, but better late than never!  And just think this means you will get her 4 month update in just a couple weeks! :-)

Baby Girl is now THREE months old, time is definitely flying by quicker now that I'm back at work.  Her Two Months and One Month update seem like forever ago!  This is when routine is KEY for us and we all seem to be adjusting pretty well.  She is getting such a personality and still growing, growing, growing!  Norah had her second photo shoot this month and the pictures couldn't have turned out any better!  I am thrilled with them!

Jack has decided he LOVES Norah this month and it's so cute to see him try to entertain her and help her.  Peekaboo is his "go to" when he is trying to make her happy.  We were also baby-talking to her the other night and he found that pretty amusing.  He always tries to help when she gets fussy by putting her Button in her mouth, problem is sometimes she doesn't want it but Jack will persist and hold the button in her mouth even as she is shaking her head side to side trying to break away and spit it out!  It's pretty funny, he is finally catching on that she doesn't want it when she does that!  Tonya also says that Jack dotes on Norah alot during the day at daycare - always telling her when Norah wakes up or when Norah is fussing/crying, etc.  What a good big brother he is!

Eat - Norah has been eating 4 ounces 7 times a day.  She takes one middle of the night bottle still anywhere from 2-4am.  I really think we are almost to the point of dropping this bottle but as soon as I do she starts waking up at 2am versus sleeping consistently to 4am.  But it's really not too bad because most of the time she goes back to sleep rather quickly, most of the time.  Tonya and I were just discussing bumping up her bottles another half ounce to see how well she tolerates it - it's not that I don't think she could or would eat more, it's whether or not her tummy can handle that much and if it will cause her reflux to be worse.  We shall see.

Sleep - Norah is still sleeping pretty good at night.  She goes down and is usually in our room by 7:30pm asleep.  She is still sleeping in her Rock N Play sleeper next to the bed - boy I'm going to hate the day we have to transition her to her crib, but I'm avoiding that as long as possible.  She still gets a bottle usually from Chris anywhere between 10-11pm and then again anywhere from 2-4am then I usually get her up a little before 7am to eat and get ready to head to daycare!  Not a bad schedule.

Health - We did have our first illness this month. Norah developed a super stuffy nose - no cough, no fever and the drainage was always clear/white. I let her fight it off for 10 days on her own, but after 10 days and no improvement I took her in to see Dr. Mijares. She wanted to give her a few more days to try to kick it and said to bring her back the start of the following week if she wasn't better. Norah overall didn't seem too bothered by the stuffiness except when trying to sleep or when I had to repeatedly use the suction bulb. The next week came and she wasn't any better, so back we went and at that point her oxygen level was 95, still fine but "normal" is 98 or 99. Since babies don't know how to breathe through their mouths she was fighting to breathe through her little nose and just wasn't getting as much oxygen. She also didn't gain any weight in the 6 days between visits and even lost 3 ounces. Dr. decided it was time for antibiotics - 14 days worth of antibiotics in fact and Norah just took her last dose yesterday! She didn't have any reaction to the medicine other than the fact that it tore her belly apart. She takes a probiotic every day which helps with gas and keeping her bowels moving, but it just wasn't quite enough once the antibiotics wiped out all the good bacteria in her belly so she was much gassier than normal, mostly at night, so I'm hoping she will be back on track here in the next few days.  She is also still taking Prevacid twice a day and it seems to be working well for her for now so we will stick with it and maybe try to wean down to once a day around 6 months or so.

Play - Norah has really become more interested in playing this past month and usually can entertain herself for about 20-30 minute sessions (more if the toy has lights AND sounds).  She loves being more upright, I'm guessing so she can see everything.  She loves her play mat though and the mobile on her RNP.  She hasn't fully reached out and grabbed a toy, but she bats her arms around until she catches one and then will hang on to it for a minute or so and let it go and then start batting around again until she finds something else.  She is getting close though! Norah also loves to play in her baths!  Jack and Norah started taking baths together this month so Norah is in the big tub and she just loves kicking her legs and floating on her Pomfitis bath pillow!  It's so cute!

Learn - Norah started giggling/laughing this month which is her biggest achievement.  She still hates tummy time so she isn't even close to rolling over.  She is pushing up higher though on her arms (when forced to do tummy time) and her head control is great.  She can sit in an assisted postion for a long time too, she just needs help balancing around her mid section!  She also noticed her reflection in a mirror this month, of course she doesn't know it's her but she will often stare, smile and make faces at the mirror on her play mat!

Grow - At 12 weeks old Norah weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 inches long!  She is in 3 month clothes, but some seem to be getting a little snug.  She is also now in size 2 diapers, BIG GIRL!

Norah and Lenny!

12 Weeks

This is late and is only for my documentation - Norah weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 inches long at 12 weeks.

Online Viewing - 3 Month Pictures

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=48091

Here is the link to Norah's 3 Month Pictures. 

Find her name under "Recent Photos" - you might have to hit the "More" option.

The password is "Jane"

Enjoy!  I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

xoxo

3 Month Sneak Peek

She just keeps getting prettier (maybe I'm biased though?)!  I'll post the online link and password hopefully tomorrow once Jayme gets them all done.  She posted this Sneak Peek on Facebook yesterday and I about died!  L.O.V.E.

10 weeks

Norah saw the doctor on her 10 week birthday (we thought she had an ear infection - she didn't) and she weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and was 22.5 inches long!  Big Girl!

Beautiful Baby Girl

We had Norah Jane's newborn photos taken at 2 weeks old.  Here are just a few of my favorites!

Norah - Two Months

Sweet Norah Jane

Norah Jane turned 2 months old on this past Friday and she is growing like a weed! Her One Month update is here. She is starting to be little Miss Personality, but is also quick to let you know when she has had enough! Norah started daycare on 3/26/12 and the first night was rough, she got way off schedule and ended up being awake from about 1am to 4am! Momma got about 3.5 hours of sleep that night! Yuck! Thankfully, she seems to be adjusting well and we haven't had another night like the first one! We had her 2 month check up with Dr. Mijares yesterday which means she got her first round of vaccinations - 3 shots and one oral vaccine. Needless to say Norah was not a fan. The appointment ran late so she was already ready for a nap and screamed while the nurse checked her out, screamed while the doctor checked her out, then I got her to sleep, then the nurse came back with the shots and the screaming started again. Thankfully she calmed down rather quickly and spent the majority of the day sleeping up on my chest. She did have a couple meltdowns, but recovered quickly and this morning was all smiles!

Jack keeps becoming more and more interested in Norah, slowly but surely. Last night the cutest conversation happened. I was sitting with Norah in the chair, Chris was sitting on the couch and I was telling Jack that Daddy needed to give him his bath early because Momma had to go to work (Bunco - I tell him I'm going to work because he never gets mad or whines for me to stay).

Jack - "No, my Daddy mean!"

Me - "That's not nice Jack, don't you love your Daddy?"

Jack - whining

Me - "You better go get your Daddy!"

Jack - laughing ran to Chris and hopped up on the couch

Me - "See you love your Daddy!"

Jack - "And MY Baby Norlah!"

So cute! The whole "My Daddy mean" thing is Jack's clever way of trying to get me to do everything for him so we've been working on that. Frustrating to say the least, but Chris and Jack have been spending more time together than ever before and Chris is really starting to grow on Jack. They "work" in the garage or in the yard. They play baseball and go "fishing" in the front yard. They wrestle in the living room and go hunting in "Daddy's Office." I love seeing their relationship develop because for so long Jack refused Chris and only wanted me for everything, so it's nice to see them interact and enjoy spending time together!

Okay, back to Norah - here is her 2 Month Update!

Eat - Norah is currently eating 3.5 ounces 7 times a day! That means only ONE middle of the night feeding! Yea! We had a bit of a hard time getting her volume increased because it seemed to make her reflux worse and she would have trouble napping during the day. We tried a couple times and just started slowing adding more bottles a day at 3.5 ounces versus 3 ounces and it just seemed to finally work out. I still think she could easily take more at each feeding, but she seems content and isn't wanting to be fed earlier than her 3 hour schedule so we are sticking with where we are for now. We will probably try to bump her again closer to her 3 month mark.

Sleep - Norah is sleeping much better at night than she was a month ago. She usually is half awake during her middle of the night feeding and goes right back down to bed. We started a bedtime routine around 7 weeks and it has seemed to really help. She takes her "bedtime" bottle between 6:30 and 7:00pm and is usually asleep by 7:30, maybe 8:00 at the latest. I feed her again before I go to bed at 10:00pm and then she sleeps until anywhere from 2:00-3:00am and eats, then back to bed until 6:30am. Sometimes she goes back to sleep for an hour or hour and a half after this feeding and sometimes she doesn't. She is still sleeping in her Rock N Play Sleeper beside our bed. The RNP is angled up at a 30 degree incline so it helps her not reflux at night and she seems to love it! I'm already dreading the day she outgrows it! We even have one at Tonya's that she takes all her naps in. Norah has started fighting her naps which is frustrating, but she usually gives in fairly easy, but lately I've been having to put her sleep by rocking or holding and patting or else she will stay awake forever!

Health - This month has gone rather smoothly, we did have to double her Prevacid dose around the 7 week mark and it's really seemed to help. I don't feel like she is refluxing as much as she was a month ago or even 2 weeks and I'm hoping that she might already be starting to grow out of it! Fingers crossed! Norah is still a Gassy Girl, but it doesn't seem to bother her much but my girl can let 'em rip for sure! Dr. Mijares said she looks great, I did ask her about whether we will or should do anything about the Ecogenic Focus that was seen on her heart in utero and she said that they typically don't unless there was an indication of a problem. She said her heart has sounded great and her heart rate is always strong, no indications of murmurs or anything like that so she doesn't feel we need to do anything unless something changes.

Play - Norah is starting to play, well as much as a two month old can. She is starting to tolerate her swing in small doses better and we tried out the Bumbo chair this month (that didn't last long because the pressure on her tummy made her spit up). She has decided she HATES tummy time so that's a challenge. Oddly enough though, she likes to lay on her back and just move and groove, moving her arms and legs like crazy, - odd because usually reflux babies hate being on their back, this gives me hope that transistioning from the RNP that is angled to her cradle or crib will go smoothly. Norah has started batting and swinging at toys on her playmat, it's funny to watch her get excited!

Learn - Norah has started recognizing my voice and will turn the direction it's coming from. She started really smiling around 4-5 weeks and will generally flash her pearly gums at just about anyone. She started cooing maybe a week or so later and has developed multiple sounds, screams, coos throughout the month! I think she is going to be a talker like her Momma! She also is very interested in faces, she loves to stare at you and just observe, mostly your mouth as you talk to her. Little Miss Piggy has also started recognizing her bottle and will promptly start smacking her lips when she sees it, it's kind of cute!

Grow - Norah weighed 11 pounds 3.5 ounces (75th percentile) and was 22 inches long (just over 50th percentile) at her 2 month check up. She outgrew her newborn clothes around 6 weeks and is already fitting very nicely into her 3 month clothes. She is also wearing size 1 diapers and seems to be outgrowing those quickly, too bad I just ordered and received a HUGE case of size 1 from diapers.com. :-(

Norah and Lenny - Month Two