What I really really want =)

I follow this blog http://mrsforeste.blogspot.com/ she's giving away a $50 gift certificate to The Vintage Pearl. They have a lot of precious necklaces and bracelets and just girly stuff. I've been eyeballing a few things on this site since not too long after I found out I was pregnant. I've let Darren know that I'm interested in a few things so we'll see what he ends up buying.

Pageant

Well the pageant went great. It was so hot in there though! The AC had been turned off since Friday afternoon and they didn't turn it back on until Sunday morning AFTER we got there. Talk about a lot of unhappy kiddos!

Calleigh didn't place but she was in a hard group. She was in 7-12 month olds and she was the only one not walking. She was the only one under 9 or 10 months. She also slept while we were on stage! I tried everything I could to get her to wake up but no luck. Oh well I think she did great and I enjoyed myself even though I was so sweaty!

We didn't get any pictures taken for some reason. They didn't allow cameras in the building and they said they had a photog set up to take pics but I never seen her or was even told anything about where or when she'd come out. Oh well.

I'm very excited about this mothers day. I've always thought of myself as a mommy because I did have a baby even though he was stillborn. And I've been a stepmom for almost 5 years now. But this Mothers day is different. I actually have a baby here with me to celebrate it with. Darren is supposed to be off work so we might boil crawfish :)!!!!!!!!! That makes me happy. A fun relaxing day with the hubbs and our daughter. B & M are spending mothers day with their mom but B will be there with us Sunday night.

Excited for Sunday

I know there is some mixed opinions on baby pageants. Honestly they don't bother me. I've never been in one. I've had friends and family that do them and love them. Anyway I found a local pageant that I am putting Calleigh in on Sunday. It's a "Sunday Best" pageant, no pageant dresses allowed. Even for the older girls. Calleigh is going to wear the dress she wore for Easter pics. It's a very light light pink Feldman Brothers dress. I think it's going to be fun.

This post reminded me that I need to post her Easter pic. I still haven't even scanned it. I'll have to remember to do it later. She was absolutely darling =)

Been a while

It's been a while since my last post. I've been super busy at work and haven't really had time to post. A lot has been going on too. Calleigh is now almost crawling. She will get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth and even move her knees but she hasn't really figured it out yet. She went to her 6 month check up earlier this month. She was 28" long and was 18.5 lbs. She's getting so big. I look at her at night after she's fallen asleep and I could seriously cry over how much she's grown. Don't get me wrong, I'm so very happy that she's growing up and learning new things but man I really miss my little bitty baby.

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, just skimming through and one post on a blog really caught my eye. It's a link to Cora's story. Not sure if you've heard about her but she was a baby who only lived 5 days and died in her mommas arms while breastfeeding. She had CHD that went undetected at birth. In one of her mom's blog posts it says to hug your babies every day. That is a very good rule to live by. Not a day goes by that I don't shower Calleigh with love. Even on days where I have to work both jobs and only get about 30 minutes with her before I leave for my 2nd job.

I couldn't imagine losing a baby after 5 days. We lost our son before he was born and that's a tragedy in it's own. But to lose a baby after having met him/her is unthinkable.

Anyway I guess after all that all I really want to say is hug your babies, your children, and your loved ones. You never really know how much time you have with them.

Whew..1st night in crib=SUCCESS!!!

These posts are pretty spaced out. I need to make more time to blog about our little girl and the things we have going on in our lives. Where should I start???

My stepson B is in baseball now. He had his 1st practice Monday night and his 2nd will be tonight. They have 4 weeks before their first game and we're so excited! He's pretty good even though this is his first time playing. He said he prefers to play outfield but towards their first game their coach will assign positions based on how he thinks who plays which position better.

Calleigh is getting so big! She'll be 6 months this Sunday and man I think it's going to hit me hard. I already get sad thinking about it. She just keeps growing and I can't believe it. I'm so glad I soaked in all her newborn-ness (if that's a word). She slept in her crib last night for the first time. She did great. She slept all night. She actually didn't wake up until I dropped her off at my MIL's house.

I've enjoyed having her in our room right next to me. It was so much easier to grab her and put her in the bed with me for bottles in the early AM. And it was so much easier to hear her when she wakes up too. It'll take some getting used to but I believe this will be a smooth transition. I was thinking man I've waited 6 months already..she'll be in our room till she's 10!!! I'm glad that's not going to come true.

Other than that not much has been going on. We've been getting ready for spring break and Easter. I'll probably do some Easter basket shopping this weekend. And I believe Calleigh will be going to see the Easter bunny this weekend also. I gotta start brainstorming ideas for her basket. I know you can't do the whole candy thing but I was thinking some cute clothes, more bottles, toys, a sippy cup, and some hair bows. Not sure what else I'll throw in there. I guess whatever I find.

We have teeth!

Ms. Calleigh has two pretty little white nubs on her lower gum. One is poking through more than the other one but you can deffinately see both of them. So freaking presh by the way! I'll hafta snap a pic of them and post.

Oh and gosh I'm such a bad mom. Calleigh had her 4 month checkup last Friday. She was already 5 months and 5 days but obviously her pedi's office is just that busy. Anywho...onto her stats. She is weighing in at 17.4 lbs. Her length is 27". Now see I have a problem with her weight. She kept moving on the scale and the numbers were going up and down..the nurse was impatient so she wrote down a number that it paused on and told me to pick Calleigh up. Doc said she's in the 97% for her weight and 100% for height. That basically means only 3% of girls her age are heavier than her and she's in the heaviest weight for girls her age. But my baby isn't chunky...she's just really long.

Not much else has been going on. Calleigh's Godmother and my bestie is coming to stay this weekend. I'm super duper excited about that. She has only seen Calleigh a few times and never for a long period of time. She'll be here from Friday evening to late Sunday afternoon. I can't freaking wait!! I so need some girl time.

I miss living where we used to live. Even though we've been here for 4 years now...it's still not home and I still don't have any close friends. I might have one or two hopefuls but their younger and single..still in partying mode. Oh well..hopefully I'll make some gal pals sooner or later.

Family Pictures

Okay, this will be the last post of today I promise. I probably should hold out and post this later this week to give me something to post but I'm on a roll.

We took family pictures this past Saturday. We went to Sears. I was satisfied with them. Not overly impressed, just satisfied. They could of taken some more time to edit our pictures. A lot of them came out with shadows but I edited them in Picasa and they came out fine. I'll pick them up this Saturday. Anyway...I'll go ahead and post them.

Oh and btw, yes Calleigh's 5 month old pics were also taken this day. We killed 2 birds with one stone!

5 Months!!!

Wow...Calleigh is 5 months old now. Where has the time gone? Next month, she'll be half a year old. I can't believe it. She's doing so much now! She's also cutting her first little tooth. I felt it last night. I can't quite see it yet but I know it's there. I'm looking forward to that precious smile with little teeth in it.

As of right now, Calleigh is eating 3 solid meals a day. Breakfast consists of 3-4 tablespoons of rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with half a jar to a jar of a fruit and also about 2-3 ounces of formula. Lunch is a jar of veggie and/or a fruit. Sometimes my little pig is so hungry that one jar isn't enough. Dinner is always 2 jars of a veggie. And then after a bath and some snuggling, she's ready for a 4 ounce bottle of formula to put her to sleep.

I believe I already posted most of her accomplishments in a few posts below. But I'll recap...sitting up assisted, eating solids, grabbing for and holding toys, grinning, giggling, laughing, rolling over from back to belly and belly to back.

She goes to the doctor this Friday and I'm so curious as to how much she's grown. I'm thinking she'll be at least 20 lbs or over and at least 29 inches or longer. She's such a ham!

Sorry this is a little late

As promised, here are pics of the adorable Ms. Calleigh!

Calleigh is now 5 months old! She made 5 months this past Sunday. I will post her 5 month old pic in a separate post.

I'm such a bad blogger

But I actually blame it on my work computer. I went almost a whole month without internet access at work because of a virus. And I'm way too busy at home to even crack open the laptop. This will be a picture-less post because my camera is at home. I will try and remember to bring it tomorrow! I have a ton of new pics to post.

Calleigh is doing so much now. She's pretty good at sitting up now. She's still somewhat assisted though because she's still doing the tripod sit but she's getting better. She's started rolling from back to belly. She did it a while back but we didn't see it. She was laying on her playmat and the next thing we know she's on her belly and her feet were where her head was and her head where her feet were. Then about a week later I finally see her do it while I'm getting ready for work.

She's laughing so much now and always has a grin on her pretty little face. She is amazed by her feet and she tries to stick them in her mouth. She'll occasionally get a toe or two in there =) Her fingers stay in her mouth. She's getting pretty good at holding toys and reaching for them. Whatever toy she has in her hand, must be inspected by her mouth first.

She'll be 5 months old next week. I'm so not ready for this. I get so teary eyed thinking that just a few months ago she was just a newborn. Now she's so big and doing so many things...I wish I could pause time.

Calleigh has a baby cousin!

Well our cousin BJ and his wife Theresa had their baby girl Riley Augustine on 1/20/10 at 1:57 A.M. weighing in at 20 3/4 inches 8.15 pounds!!! A huge congratulations to them. I can't wait to meet her. We might go there this weekend or next weekend. They're not being released to go home until tomorrow morning and they don't know if they'll be up for visitors this weekend or not yet.

Well Calleigh makes 4 months next Thursday and I think we'll be trying cereal soon. We'll see how it goes. I had a dream last night that she was feeding herself some type of orange baby food and it was all over her....can't wait to actually get something like that on camera and on our camcorder.

Well nothing new to really update with. Calleigh is starting to giggle alot now and she always has a grin on her face when you look at her. She's been really fussy at night lately though. I'm not sure if it's teeth or if it's the fact that she doesn't nap at my mother-in-law's during the day.

My MIL is still really on my ass about feeding Calleigh cereal in a bottle. She's even told me that she's going to go buy baby food and cereal and oatmeal and just start feeding her that stuff herself!!! I told her I just wouldn't bring Calleigh over there if she was going to be like that. That's my fricken child and I want to be the one to feed her stuff like that first. That might sound stupid but that's something important to me. Especially if this is going to be our last baby like I'm thinking it's going to be. I've told her that nobody puts cereal in bottles anymore unless the pedi okays it for whatever reason. She claims that if mother's listened to pedi's all the time then our children would starve. I honestly can't stand having to give her reasons for how I want to do things. It really aggrivates me. Sometimes I just want to tell her to STFU and grab my baby and leave...

New Year and Updates

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Me and Darren were both off from Christmas eve until yesterday and man was it so nice! We really enjoyed our time off with our little girl. We ended up going to my parents and doing Christmas morning there. Then went to Darren's sisters house and then finally home. Calleigh got tons of gifts. One of my stepmoms favorite things that her and my dad bought Calleigh was a pink rocking horse. Yep...a 3 months old with a rocking horse...She won't be able to play with it for a while but man is it precious!

Calleigh made 3 months on 12/28 and we got her ears pierced on New Years Eve. We took her to the mall and then we went and ate lunch at Coyote Blues. She cried for a few minutes but a bottle made it all better.

I've been playing with her trying to get her to sit up by herself for the past week or so now and last night she sat up by herself for 5 minutes. She had her fists by her legs propping her up but she wasn't leaning down, she was sitting up and looking around. We were so proud of her!!


Okay here's some pics!



Holding her head up during tummy time on our bed




Grinning for her 3 month picture

Ears pierced!

Christmas night with her sister M and brother B

Smiling at mommy Christmas morning



And her sitting up last night!!!!

Dear Calleigh

My precious baby girl, you are getting so big! I can't believe you're already 2.5 months old! It seems like just yesterday we brought you home. You've taught me so much in the short time you've been here. Yes I've learned how to change a diaper, feed you, entertain you, bathe you, and I pretty much know what you need just by your cry now. But I've also learned that there is no such thing like a bond between a mother and her child. I know how it is to love with all of my heart because of you.

Last night after you fell asleep on my chest I sat there gazing at you. I know I should of gotten up and put you to bed but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's almost a nightly battle to lay you down when you look so peaceful and beautiful. It's the highlight of my night when you finally succumb to those sleepy eyes and you start to drift off...you usually give me this sleepy grin and you close those pretty eyes of yours and you drift off to sleep.

You've also learned so much too little girl. You light our hearts up with your beautiful smile. I know your so close to giggling, I can't wait to hear it! You are very good at holding your head up for long periods of time. That's no surprise there because you've been trying to hold that head of yours up since we were in the hospital. You've discovered your right fist and you like to gnaw on it. You rolled over for the first time on 12/6 and you've done it many many times since then.

I packed away your newborn size clothes last weekend and I'll be giving them to your new cousin that's on her way. It was sad but I kept a few things I couldn't part with. Your growing up too fast my babe. Please slow down so I can take advantage of you being this small because I know it won't last long.

Love you my sweet nugget!
Mommy.

Finally got it on video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MBXpTBb5NE

I finally got her on video rolling over. Click on the above link. Sorry about the quality. I recorded it from my cellphone.

Rollie Pollie

Calleigh rolled from her tummy to her back 3 times yesterday!! I wasn't able to catch any of these on video but I will try tonight. I'm so proud of her! She's getting so strong and my goodness it's scary how fast she's growing. She's already 10 weeks old!

Me and Darren did some Christmas shopping over the weekend. We're done with B and Calleigh. We still have to get M one more thing. And then we still have both sets of our parents and my younger brother to buy for. I don't think we're doing gifts for eachother this year. Over the past 4 or 5 months, Darren has bought me a new stainless steel fridge and oven, and a washer and drier set. He just bought himself a motorcycle last month so we're kinda strapped for gift cash. He claims he may buy me something because the stuff he bought "me" was really for the house but it doesn't matter to be honest with you.

I'm really looking forward to our Christmas holidays. We're off from work from 12/24-1/3. That means I get 11 whole days to spend time with my family =)

My BIG girl!

Today was Calleigh's 2 months well-baby checkup. She weighs in at a whopping 12.5 lbs and is 25 inches long. Whoa little girl..you need to slow down! At birth she weighed 7 lbs 13 oz so she has almost doubled her weight in just 2 months. She's grown 3 1/4 inches! I guess with a 6' 2" dad, and a 5' 8" mom, you have no choice but to be tall. Both her weight and her height is above average for her age but her doctor isn't worried because they balance eachother out.
She got 3 shots today and an oral med for stomach flue. One of her shots had 6 different things in it and the other 2 shots only had one in each. When they poked her with the first needle, her eyes got HUGE and she stuck that lip out and then started screaming. I felt horrible!! She was back to normal thought after some cuddling and her noonie.

I went to my doctor yesterday afternoon. I've had a 3 week long period and it's going on the 4th week now. My doctor gave me a hormone pill to take for 2 weeks and some pain meds for the killer cramps I've been having. I only had about 4 weeks of PP bleeding, then a week and a half later I started this hellacious period and it has not stopped or let up or anything. Hopefully the end is near!!!

I thought this would get easier

I knew having Calleigh here wouldn't replace my feelings for Wyatt but I thought it would atleast make it easier. And yes she has healed pieces of my heart. The pieces that yearned for a baby to love and raise, but not the pieces that are broken over losing one. Wyatt was a complete surprise but he was one of the best. What I wouldn't give to have my little boy here with his little sister. I know he's here in spirit but it's not the same. I watch Darren's son B play with Calleigh and it tugs at my heart. Wyatt would of been such a great big brother. I know he would of helped mold her into such a perfect little lady. He'll always look after her and protect her and I should be happy that she has such a great guardian angel in Heaven. But I just can't help but wonder what it would be like to watch them both playing together though. Sometimes when she's smiling and staring off into space I think that he's talking to her. Call me crazy if you want, but that's what I believe.

Who dat!

I'm working at the restaraunt tonight so I won't be home for the Saints game tonight. Darren is cooking some kind of meat and gravy with his deer meet he took out. I'll also be missing out on my #1 Saints fan cheering dem Saints onto another victory...

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! Good food and good times. My dad's turkey was the shizzle as always. Everyone thought Calleigh was just the cutest thing. She was very good and didn't fuss at all. We didn't end up staying the night but me and Darren got up at 5am Friday morning and went shopping. We left Calleigh at home with our cousin Brittany. We got alot of good deals and didn't even have to fight anyone for them.
I put our tree up Friday evening and Calleigh absolutely loved it. I put her in her swing and she stared at the lights for a good 30 minutes just smiling. She isn't laughing yet but she's getting there. She's "talking" alot more now and I know that first laugh is right around the corner.
She made 2 months Saturday and man is she getting big!!! Her 2 months appointment is Weds and my poor baby is getting shots :(

Whining

Would it be selfish of me to say that I miss being pregnant and having Calleigh all to myself? While I love having her here and watching her grow every day, I totally miss feeling her kick and move around inside of me and knowing that she was all mine. I miss knowing that I didn't have to share her with Darren, his kids, our families & friends. It was kinda like our own personal bubble.

I HATED having to stay in the hospital 4 extra days but it was great in it's own way too. Even though she was here, I still had her all to myself. Darren and everyone would come to visit but Darren was busy at home getting her room ready (painting, putting together her crib, swing, PNP, dresser...) It was like we were in our own little cocoon.

I soaked in as much as I could of her while I was on maternity leave. I know our bond is strong but she spends so much of her day with other people and not me. That kills me. I know she knows who I am but I'm not there. I have to leave her 5 days out of the week and I feel so guilty. Out of a week day, I'm only with her for 6 hours or less before she's asleep for the night. I really wish we could afford me to stay home but unless Darren finds a job making double what he's making now, it's not doable.

It's nice to dream though isn't it?

On a better note, Calleigh is smiling and grinning so much now. She's not laughing yet but with the noises she's making whilie she's smiling you can tell she's close to laughing. I can't wait to hear her first little giggle. I hope it's while I'm with her and someone else isn't telling me how beautiful it is. She's officially out of NB size clothes. She's into 0-3 now. I felt sad packing up her NB size clothes but she'll soon have a new little cousin I can donate them too. Our cousin Theresa is pregnant and is due in January. She's also having a little girl and she'll get lots of hand-me-downs from Calleigh. We went to her baby shower last Saturday and it was alot of fun. She looked so happy and glowing.