Few more pictures...

Here are a few pictures from my phone I wanted to share from Christmas also...

my loves, sleeping in on Christmas morning

This is not posed... this is how she was laying... so cute.

 

Uncle Trey making Elizabeth talk to him.

All time favorite picture.  So darn cute.

Playing on the floor after daycare Friday... such a happy baby.

Our first Christmas!

Well, we made it through our first Christmas with little Elizabeth!  She was such a joy on Christmas morning.  Elizabeth has really gotten into cooing and "talking" to us.  It is so cute and on Christmas morning she was just a ball full of fun.  Elizabeth received lots of presents from all her family and should be set until her first birthday!  We were all exhausted after running around to all the different Christmas' but everyone got to see her and we definitely ate good!  Now it is diet time!

Here are a few things Miss Elizabeth does right before she turns three months next week:

• she just started drinking 4oz... but still is a little stubborn sometimes.  When she is done, she is done!
• hates to be held too much (this was hard for people to understand over Christmas because everyone wanted to hold her).  Put her on the floor or bed and she is happy as can be!
• she also when you are holding her, she wants to face everyone... she is a nosy rosy!
• loves to listen to music and look at bright lights of her toys (if she starts crying in the truck, we just turn the music up and she quits crying... it is quite amazing!)
• she was up to 10lbs 14oz about a week and half ago when I took her to doctor... getting so big!
• it wont be long before she is rolling over... she will kick over and end up on her side but she has not gotten into finishing up the roll.
• she is a necklace grabber.  Tell me how she knows at three months, but she does and she will grab it everytime she sees it!

Everyone told us to make sure and cherish it because they grow up fast and until she came along we didn't really understand that statement.  We can't believe she has been in our life for three whole months already.  She has gotten so big and grows like a weed. Seems just like yesterday Greg and I were walking down the isle!

Here are a few pics from Christmas morning (except for the first two):

This was the first meeting with Santa... she was smiling at him but we didn't catch it on camera...

This was at Greg's work and she was too busy looking at everyone else.  It is funny how Santa doesn't know how to hold a baby... both times!

The greatest gift of all...

Laying on her new quilt from Grandma B.  She will get lots of use from it since she thinks she has to be down all the time!

This is her loot from Christmas morning at my mom's.  These are both gifts from us and my parents and brother.

After a morning bath, she was exhausted from playtime with all her new toys...

Merry Christmas! Love, the Leopolds

One big milestone!

So, our little munchkin has hit a big milestone on Dec 8/9th.  She finally slept through the night!  Can you believe it?  We thought this day would never come!  On Thursday I had some work done on my teeth and was off half a day... after I picked her up from daycare, we went through a usual routine and little miss went down around 9pm.  Of course about 1:30am without a peep from Miss Elizabeth, her daddy was hitting me in the ribs to check on her, asking me "Does she need to eat?", and being just a little worry wart.  He even got up and made a bottle!  I told him that I was not going to wake her up to eat but it smelled like she might have a dirty diaper so I decided to change her.  She even slept through the whole diaper change!  I put her back down and she slept until 6am... which is rare for me since we get up at 4:30am around our house.  It was a nice little Christmas blessing!  She has been doing so good with sleeping at night now even before this... she would only wake up once a night.  We did get a repeat of sleeping the whole night last night and this time her daddy wasn't waking me up at 1:30am!  Our whole family slept right through the night.

On Saturday, the Dallas Cowboys played.  Greg was so excited about the game so I decided to dress little miss up in her game day gear so she could watch the game with her daddy when he got home.  She was so cute even if she didn't really want to take these pictures!  I did manage to get a couple of good ones though.

Sunday after me and Elizabeth went to church, the Leopold family had their Christmas.  It was a nice get together except Elizabeth was a little grouchy pants.  I think her little tummy hurt since she hadn't went #2 in about two days... isn't it funny now that I am a mom I am worried about poop.  We went from having diarrhea to my poor baby taking little poops.  Such extremes! 

She also started at a Kids R Kids (daycare) today... it is difficult to change her up now but it was for the best.  Hopefully she will still get the time and attention like before.  I am really looking forward to her growing with this place and learning so much.    One really great thing about this new daycare is that I will be able to log on and look at the cameras in her room.  I can at least see that she is getting what she needs. 

Our little munchkin loves to smile and laugh and talk to us now... here she is before her bath.  We were telling her how much she was going to love being clean and she was going to smell so good... she loved it!  We just love her so much!

2 months old!

This is a little belated but my baby girl turned two months old on 12/5/11!  I can't believe how fast time is going by.  She is trying really hard to hold her head up and is doing so great.  She will hold it up for a while but she still is a little uneasy.  I can't wait for her to be big enough to at least sit up.  She has been smiling now for a while but just this week she has really gotten into cooing and laughing.   My heart just melts every time I see her! 

On that Monday the 5th, Elizabeth had her two month well child checkup and she had to get shots... my poor baby screamed bloody murder!  As a mom, that is something you don't want to experience is your child in pain and it broke my heart to see that.  She had already been feeling bad from a cold she had since Thanksgiving so I decided that I would spend the day with her and love on her.  The next morning we woke up and I took her to daycare... I picked her up that evening and my poor baby developed diarrhea... now on top of a cold, she had diarrhea! Needless to say, it has been a rough December so far... It is now the 15th and Elizabeth is doing so much better.  She still has a little congested nose but she sounds better and is happier now that she feels better.  Hopefully we can keep this cold away from her.  I was seriously thinking of skipping out on Christmas activities just because I don't want her to get sick but then again, I love showing her off.  Hopefully she will be OK!

Here is a picture of her at two months!

We also had family pictures taken for Christmas... I will have to post as soon as I get them loaded. 

Learning something new!

So, I have left my camera cord at my mom's and have not been to EC in a few weeks so I couldn't update with any pictures.  Well... that has now changed... I have learned how to send my pictures from my phone to my blog so I can update quickly with my phone with pictures! YEAH for me!

Here is Elizabeth blowing kisses to me...

Day with Dad

So, on Wednesday Greg kept her all day because of her being sick... here are the pictures I got throughout the day at work...

Off to the doctor to see if anything is wrong with me!

 The trip wore me out so I took a nap...

 Daddy reading to me...

 checking out my handsome daddy!

 playing in the bouncer...

 tummy time!

 laughing at daddy... he is one funny man!

Greg is such a wonderful dad and there are not too many dads out there I know that would stay home all day with a two month old!  He said he thinks he got special treatment at the doctor's office too because not too many dads bring two month old's in without the mommy!  He was ready for a break by the time I got home but he did a great job.  We both love him so much!

Do you believe in signs?

This week has been one of the worst weeks ever... my baby girl is sick, work is really stressful, and to top it off today, my pants broke when I got to work!

I got dressed this morning with little enthusiasm because nothing at work seemed to be going right this week.  Of course I was out on Monday because I took Elizabeth to the doctor, which put me even further behind than I truly needed.  I worked 12 1/2 hours on Tuesday and 13 hours on Wednesday and needless to say, I was not looking forward to coming into work this morning.  So, I got us rolling and Elizabeth dropped off at daycare.  As I was driving to work, I told myself that today was the deadline and that I won't have to worry about this again until next month so be patient and all will work out.  I got to work, logged in, started working and everything seemed to be going fine... I even decided that I would go get breakfast downstairs to make me feel better this morning.  Then I felt it... the cold air... on my leg.  The pants I wore today zip up on the side and when I looked down, the whole zipper was open on the side of my hip.  I go to the bathroom and try and try and try to get the zipper to fix itself.  Nothing.  I then have to suck up my pride and ask someone to help me... again, nothing.  With tears rolling down my face, I finally broke the zipper completely.  What was I going to do?  I couldn't leave because today is the deadline and I will be very busy all day and plus it is 6:30am there is tons of traffic (I work in the Galleria area)... there are no stores open yet... WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?!  What a day!  A temporary fix with safety pins and a trip to a clothing store during lunch and hopefully this day will get better!

So, I took this as a sign.  Some might say this was just a wardrobe malfunction, but I see it as I am too darn fat!  I have been really self-conscious of the way I look lately.  (Having a baby does nothing for a woman's body!)  This is my sign to start losing weight.  Even though I didn't gain weight (the scale #) with the baby, my body proportions have changed... nothing fits right, and I hate the way I look in the mirror.  So, I am starting my New Year's resolution early... lose weight!  Isn't this what everyone says every year!?!  I need a good looking body and for my clothes to fit not only for myself but for the sanity of my husband that has to listen to cry and complain about it.  So let the fun begin...

Back to Work

The piercing ring of the alarm woke me at a very early 4:30am on Tuesday morning.  The second best thing about being on maternity leave was not hearing that sound each morning.  I stumbled around what would eventually become our morning routine, and managed to get Elizabeth and myself ready with time to spare!  I got up, got dressed, got her bottle ready and warming, changed her into her clothes, and feed her.  How that all happened without Greg even making a stir is beyond me!  Then it was actually time for me to leave her with someone that I had just met a week ago... :(  One hundred kisses, a few hugs and off to work I went.
During the car ride, I was feeling excited, but that feeling quickly turned into guilt.  How dare I feel anything but sadness when I had just left my baby for the first time?  I put my emotions in check and turned on the radio to hear the familiar voices of my favorite morning show.  I had my diet coke and breakfast next to me, I remembered what it was like to spend time alone and be still. It almost felt like relaxation. Uh oh, here I was feeling something other than sadness again.  I was truly enjoying myself, and I wasn’t sure it was okay. Did this make me a bad mom?  Away from my newborn for ten minutes, and I’m not feeling a bit of despair.  I didn’t have much time to think about it. I had arrived at work.

I pulled into the parking lot, grabbed my baggage (lunch, purse, baby photos) and headed to my office.  I was early as always because I get there at 6:30am, and most people hadn’t arrived yet. This gave me the opportunity to unpack my bags and catch up on email.  The director sent me a picture of Elizabeth playing in the bouncer, she looked so happy... I choked back tears, then my coworkers began to arrive.  Within five minutes, there was a crowd of ladies oohing and aahing over photos of my little angel.  Everyone was so accommodating and seemed truly interested in hearing about her progress and growth.  It’s a good thing because I would have told them even if they hadn’t asked!  I didn’t feel sad at all; talking about Elizabeth was the best therapy.  I checked in with my supervisor and was asked to work on something that would keep me very busy over the next week.  It was just the distraction I needed.  Throughout the day, friendly faces stopped in to welcome me back and, of course, see pictures.  My day flew by, and before I could blink, it was time to go home.

During the car ride to get Elizabeth, I was able to reflect on my day and find perspective.  I loved my job and was happy to be back. I had to admit; it was nice having something to focus on besides the baby.  I was still struggling with the guilt, but doesn’t that come along with parenthood?  If it weren’t work, it would be something else.  When I arrived at the daycare that evening, I was greeted with a smile.  It seemed she remembered me, and I could tell she didn’t seem un-happy.  Her teacher gave me a rundown of her day, but I didn’t hear a word.  I was just ready to get home to snuggle with my baby! 

Lets talk about routine... before Elizabeth everything I did was pretty routine.  How in the world do you get a child to adapt to your routine... I mean come on, sleep at 9pm, wake up at 4:30am (except on weekends of course!), eat and be merry!  Not that hard right... WRONG!  Elizabeth has taught me that there is no night or day that will be the same.  I am sure as she gets older that she will get into a grove (at least that is what everyone tells me).  With the help from Greg in the evenings, it has been a good transition back to work.  I hope and pray it will continue to improve and my little angel will adapt to mommy's schedule! 

I love everything about my little angel but as I sit here and try and think of all the little things she does, it is just too hard.  I wish I had a better memory!  I struggle from time to time with the idea that I am not doing something right or that I am a bad mom but Greg always tries to bring back to reality.  Life is good and we could have it worse!  Well, we will update again soon and hopefully will have a few pictures!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanksgiving

Well, our little Elizabeth has made it through her first real holiday.  Of course she got sick from being around so many people and probably being held by way too many people.  I am still struggling with people touching her... just random people... now that she has been sick twice, I might just spend the Christmas season locked in our house!  In all seriousness, we had a great Thanksgiving and it really makes you step back and think about what you have.  I know I am the worst when it comes time to think about what I don't have and what I wish I had... Lord knows I would love to lose about 50 pounds!... but then I look at the miracle of life that God has given us and the many blessings along the way.  So, yes, we are paying two mortgages, but that just means we are blessed with jobs, I wish I could be naturally skinny but at least I have my health... the list can go on and on but the bottom line is, we just need to be thankful. 

On a lighter note, Greg has had a shift change!  Yeah!  It is only temporary but now I have a little help in the evenings.  It will be hard for me and him when he has to go back to the old schedule in a few short weeks but we will live with the here and now and be thankful.  Elizabeth is growing and changing so much over the past couple of weeks that it is hard to remember everything she does.  I love that she is so lovable and laughable in the mornings and I hate the crying and grouchiness in the evenings.  She is getting her own personality and it will be fun to watch it grow over her lifetime.  Everyone is saying that she looks like Greg but we are still mixed on it.  I think she looks like a mixture of both of us.  We shall see!   

Our first cold

Well, we have had our first sickness for little Elizabeth.  Greg had been sick over the weekend with just a cold.  I was worried that he might get her sick but he is such a great help that it is hard to not be around her.  Well, my fears were realized.  I first started noticing Monday night when she cried it just sounded different.  On Wednesday, Greg suggested I take her in just to be sure.  The doctor confirmed the cold and told me that there was nothing that we could give her to make her better and we would just have to wait it out.  He did suggest putting a humidifier in her room and rubbing some vicks on her chest.  This has turned into a long week because of it.  She is more fussy and I can tell she doesn't feel good. She just wants to sleep a lot (except at night).  So, I we make it through our first sickness we also had some good news... Greg is getting a shift change.

Of course the shift change is only temporary but it is better than nothing.  It has been so hard to be with her all day and then have to deal with her fussiness all night.  We had about three good nights in a row where she slept until about 3 or 3:30, woke up, ate, and went back to sleep but then she got sick and that threw us off the good course.  I keep praying that she will get a routine and and start sleeping better but it will be nice to have Greg here during the evening to help out.  This is really true with the fact that I only have one more week at home... how sad!

Elizabeth is really starting to grow and learn.  She is now starting to reach for her play bar on her bouncy and the toy that I have hanging on her carrier.  We also have a little finger sucker on our hands... it is cute how she now knows that her fingers soothe her and she will put them in her mouth.  Now I am going to be worried with people touching her hands and then she puts them in her mouth... man parenting is fun! :)  We also started this week putting her in her big bed.  She does really good sleeping in the baby bed at my mom's house so it is time she sleeps in her room.  Of course it lasted one night and she got sick but we are putting her in there now.  We just need to find a home for our cat and then I can move back to my bedroom.  I am so worried about the cat at night when she is sleeping so he sleeps in our bedroom.  It will all come in time.

I will share a couple of pictures that I find really cute...

This was after her morning bottle... I put her back down with Greg so I could get some chores done!

This is at my mom's house... she was out like a light bulb in her crib... she also hates to be covered...

Showing us she doesn't need her paci, she has her fingers!

Baptism

We had Elizabeth baptized on Sunday, November 13th.  She looked so cute in her big dress and the day was full of family and friends welcoming her into the church.  We had already been going to church every Sunday so Elizabeth and I were used to going to church but she did great as usual.  I think she really loves the music that St. Philip's has (I think she likes music in general!).  Here are a few pics from the weekend...

Her Godparents, Chris and Brandie Matthews

One month

Our little Elizabeth turned one month on 11/5/11.  Since this fell on a Saturday, we had our one month check up on the following Monday.  Everything checked out great with her and she had already gained two pounds... she was 8lbs 5oz and was 21.5 inches long.  It amazes me how fast she grows.  We even had to put away all her newborn clothes.  At one month she is definitely a totally different baby.  Besides her sleep patterns still out of wack, she is awake and more alert.  She started following voices and she is really practicing holding that head up.  She definitely knows her mommy and is calmed when I pick her up.  Sometimes Greg gets mad that he can't do that but I have to explain I am with her all day, everyday.  She is definitely a blessing in our lives and even through the rough nights we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Night vs. Day

I can't believe it has been a month already since she has been here!  Week 3 and 4 were definitely a challenge for Mommy as Daddy went back to work nights.  Sometimes I feel like I don't have a minute to spare but this week things have really started to get into a routine.  My little angel definitely has her nights and days mixed up, but we are working on that.  It has been a lot harder than I thought when Greg went back to work nights.  Before he went back to work, Greg and I would take baby shifts and sleep in between.  We had gotten into a routine with that but then it all got tossed in the air when he went back to work.  Now I am home with Elizabeth all night and all day, I don't really have that relief.  So, to help a little, I have been staying in El Campo a few times and every weekend.  It is so nice to have my mom's help with her and she will let me go to sleep until around 11 or midnight. As much as I love the help, you do begin to miss the comfort of your own home.  Every time I think I have it down and I can handle it all by myself, I then think it would be so nice to just have someone to talk to in the evening to break up my day and I head to El Campo! I keep praying that maybe Greg's schedule will be changed for a while, but that is also up in the air.

These are pictures of her at three weeks... she is getting so big, so fast.

Greg and his friends cooked in the Nada cookoff the weekend before Halloween.  That was Elizabeth's first meeting with lots of family and friends.  It was nice to get out of the house and see people... we even made our first trip to church.  Now that she is a month old, we felt more comfortable taking her out in public.  She slept most of the day while we were out in Nada.  We were even very proud of Daddy and his team for winning second in sausage and second in chili.  I have to admit that the sausage that Greg and his friends made this year was really good but I think we were all so surprised that they won in sausage.  The chili was a new recipe that Greg used at a cookoff at work that he won so it was exciting for him to win again with that recipe.  We ended up staying in El Campo that night and woke up on Halloween so I could make it to a doctor's appointment.  She got to wear her cutie Halloween outfit all day and show it off!  At my doctor's appointment, he said my c-section is healing great and most days I forget that I even had a c-section.  From there we went to my work so I could show her off! After a long morning of running around (and a long weekend for that matter), I think we were both glad to be home.   I went ahead and decided to get some pictures of her in her outfit and good thing I did because Elizabeth gave us her first big blow out of her diaper... it was so good that it required a good bath!  Here are the pics I got!

I will post more later as my baby girl just woke up!  Happy Tuesday everyone!



Week 2

So maybe I should have done a little more reading about babies and what comes after pregnancy because man do I feel lost most days.  Our second week with Miss Elizabeth was definitely a learning curve.  Thursday was another trip to the doctor but this time it was for mommy.  Everything checked out with the incision from the c-section and I had lost a total of 22 pounds from the day I gave birth.  If you remember, I had only gained 7 pounds while pregnant so I have lost about fifteen pounds so far just from giving birth.  Yeah for me!  By Friday we were so exhausted both physically and mentally that we had decided that we would go to El Campo for the weekend to have a little extra help from my mom.  It was really nice having the few extra hours of sleep.  We would go to bed about 8pm and my mom would watch her until about 11 or so... three extra hours of sleep is definitely priceless!  We ended up staying until Monday morning before we headed home.  One thing that was different between our house and my mom's was that she had a recliner to sit in.  Greg insisted that we get a recliner for our living room so we could be more comfortable while we "camped out" with Elizabeth.  So, on the way back home Monday we stopped in at the La-Z-Boy store and got us a new recliner... and boy do we love it! 

As her second week came to an end, it was full of good nights and bad nights.  We are now trying to get as much information about babies and sleeping and everything else.  I know it will all work out in the end, but we are taking one day at a time and learning.  At her two week appointment today she weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was 19.5 inches long.  The doctor said she is in good health, just small for her age.  She is only in the 10th percentile.  She even had to have her little foot poked and she screamed of course!  Our little princess is growing and it is so hard to believe that two weeks has already past!  Stay tuned for more of our crazy, busy life!

Since her ugly cord fell off during her second week, we were able to give her the first real bath... she loved it (much to my surprise!)!

Mommy and Lizzy

Just relaxing at Granny's!

This was her Sunday game day outfit! 

Loving the new recliner!

Two weeks old!

Such a cutie at two weeks!