At the fireworks

Her head is getting a little big for these hats---they keep popping off her head! Thankfully I had her bonnet as a back up--thanks Mom! I look exhausted in the picture, but I think it's just because Josh caught me in a blink.

Loves her Mommy!

Juliette is getting to the point now where she really focuses on faces and will stare at you for a few moments before looking around again. She follows us now with her head- especially Josh when he moves behind her- she'll arch her neck to keep looking at him!

Fourth of July outfit

This is her Fourth of July outfit we were going to put on her for the fireworks, but figured by dark it would be too cold for it. Josh said she looked like a boy, so when she does wear it for Erin's party I'll have to put a cute headband on her :).

Another Awww

Do we have a cute kid or what???

Fireworks!

We went to the Spotsy fireworks tonight and had a great time. Juliette had fun being passed around from person to person and I got over my phobia of having to feed her in public. It made it easier that she needed to be fed when it was dark though :). I'll post a picture as soon as I can get it from the phone.

Fun day!

If every night could be like last night, I'd have five more kids! Juliette woke up to eat, went right back to sleep, woke up for a quick cuddle at four and then right back to sleep, and slept until almost 6. I actually felt kind of rested today and didn't feel like my eyes were going to pop out by 3 pm. We spent the day with the Clouds and it was so nice to be out of the house and still at ease. Usually I'm nervous and watching the clock for ner next feeding time and I didn't have to worry about that at all. Today is also her official "birthday"- she's a month old! It's gone by so fast! I can't wait to go up to PA next month and have everyone see her. All the people down here keepsaying how big she's gotten.

Josh doesn't see it, but I can tell she's gotten longer by how she fits on her nursing pillow :). Here's her at one month, well four weeks last Wednesday.

Yay!

Today was an exciting day. We went to Herkamp Park in downtown Fredericksburg for what looked like a mommy convention---more strollers in one place than I've ever seen and not many dads at all. They had music and food, but most people had brought their own picnic lunches and had blankets spread. It happens every Tuesday- next week we'll be more prepared with blankets and our own lunches. As you can see from the picture, Juliette really enjoyed herself :).

When we got back home, the letter I had been waiting for since last week finally arrived- my approval for taking next year off! I feel like a weight has been lifted and now I can enjoy being a mom.

Bye Bye Nana :(

Mom left today with Dad and we're all a little sad. Not because she did the housework while I got to take a nap or feed the baby, it was just nice having a mom again full time....haven't had that in a long time. Josh and I had been "weaning" ourselves off of her help at night, but it was nice to know that if we needed her, we could call her and she would take the baby. I'm just thankful Josh is off for the summer- we just took her for a long walk and she's sleeping- we didn't dare move her from her stroller so that's where her nap is happening. Now I get to take a shower while Josh watches her. After she wakes up and eats, we're going to head over to the opening of the new Wegman's in Central Park.

Had to laugh

So last night was just weird. The baby ate at 11 and then didn't get up until 3:30- well, I shouldn't say that. Josh MADE me get her up at 3:30 because her diaper hadn't been changed in a while. The idiot that I am didn't put my foot down---NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY!!!! He still doesn't beleive that if something is bothering her, she'll wake up on her own. Well, we got up, changed her, and I fed her. Usually, Miss Juliette will go right back to sleep after her night feedings and some rocking...not so much last night. She wanted to play....until after 6...am...But at least she was happy being up. We finally got her relaxed and back in the cradle and she started fussing. Next thing we knew we heard the tell tale noise of the shooting wet fart aka she pooped. Not only did she poop, it shot out of her diaper all over the cradle sheet. As soon as she got the poop out, she passed out with her arms above her head and was dead to the world. Of course we couldn't leave her like that sitting in her poop, so once again we had to get her up. As long as we were up, I fed her again and handed her over to Mom so Josh and I could get some shut eye. She's never done that little trick before of staying up happy for three hours. Josh and I just laughed when we realized that it was light outside. Today has been fairly quiet, but she's been awake a lot more...poor kid hates having pee touch her so everytime she would settle for a nap and pee, she would wake up hysterical, but then go back to sleep for a period of time. What can I say, every night is an adventure!!!

Just a few pictures

Thank you!!

Finally last night was a great night again. She actually slept in the evening from around 7 until 10:30, got up, ate, went back to sleep until a little after 1am, at, slept, and woke up at 5:30 to eat again. Then she was up and we played for a while before eating again at 8:30 and napping again. I really think that the culprit was the gas drops--they may have upset her stomach which would explain why she kept spitting up when we gave them to her and since I haven't give her the drops, she hasn't spit up. But I'm just glad she didn't scream the whole night- She's back to her usual happy baby self....content to be in someone's arms staring at their face.

Repeat performance

Last night she did the same thing only from around 11:45 until 1:15. Josh got her settled and to sleep and once again, she slept until after 4. And that was with the gas drops so I think we're going to stop giving her them---they don't seem to work when we thought they would. Tonight I'm trying something different if she does it again. I'm going to try feeding her when she screams--she might be going through a growth spurt or something and just want to feed at night more often. Dr. Sears says in his book that they may go through periods of cluster feeding where the baby will want to nurse more often to get the high calorie milk. I'll try anything.

Oh what a night!

Holy crap! Before I write this I want everyone to know that I love my baby...wouldn't go back to life without her...but, OMG, last night I could understand why some people would want to leave their baby on someone's doorstep! She screamed from 11pm until about 1:15 am only to stop for the 20 minutes she had my boob in her mouth at 11:15. We gave Mom the night off so we walked her, rocked her, stuck her paci in her mouth, changed her, everything we could. I was on the verge of tears quite a few times. Josh didn't like that the gas drops made her spit up a little bit and wouldn't let me give them to her at night, so that was part of the culprit. Josh would get her settled for a few minutes, then she would start screaming her head off and not looking very cute at all. When we helld her we couldn't hear what each other was saying. I think Josh got jealous because at one point he handed her to me and she shut right up...hey she knows her mommy. Finally around 1 she let out a massive fart and pooped. We thought that would stop it--we were wrong. She kept screaming and I sat with her on the recliner, patted her back, she belched, and then went limp---little booger slept for three hours after that. Poor kid had a gas bubble. Needless to say tonight I am giving her the gas drops and Josh can kiss my butt.

Bath Time!!

Juliette did better than we thought she would with her first real bath. She was fine until she realized she was very wet, then she started screaming. But, as usual, my actress of a daughter stopped screaming as soon as she was being held and was dry.

Dr visit

Juliette went back to the doctor for another weight check today and we are back up to birth weight- nine pounds! She put on 6 ounces in a week and the doctor was very happy with that and said she is right on target. I can also start giving her the gas drops with each feeding so that at night she settles back down easier than she does now--yay hope it works! So now we don't have to go back to the pediatrician for another three weeks. Her belly button is looking kind of normal and will most likely be an outie.

I did something today that I swore I would never do. I was feeding the baby and noticed a smudge of dried milk on her cheek, licked my finger, and wiped it off before I even realized what I was doing. I guess that means I'm officially a mom!!

awww

This is what we have come to call her oooh face. She does it when she seems to be interested in what she's looking at.

Better night

Last night was much better than Tuesday night. We all got a good stretch of sleep in between feedings- I feel like a dairy. It doesn't help that Mom keeps calling me Mannings- I think the only people who would understand that are Mar and Trina- but anyway, we were both feeling good this morning and I took the baby to RE LEE to see her daddy and all the teachers who have been begging me to bring her in. So now I'm wiped out, but the baby will need to eat soon and I'm waiting for that before I take a nap.

Doing better

It took a few days and a lot of patience, but Juliette and I are finally meshing with feeding times. She's learned to chill and I've learned to recognize her signs of being hungry before she starts freaking out. I haven't had to give her a bottle in two days. I feel a lot better about being out with her now knowing that she will latch on and I won't have to find somewhere to plug in my pump. nice image huh? :). Josh and I had a come to Jesus meeting tonight about him freaking out that she sleeps too much and charting how much she pees...he's a little anal about her pee, but runs out of the room when she poops! He was worried she wasn't taking in enough milk, but if you saw her wet diapers, you'd know all it well. Plus she is a VERY noisy eater and you can her her slurping and swallowing. She's so cute after she eats---she's like a little drunk person and falls asleep for 3-4 hours. It's 10 pm now so hopefully she won't wake up until 1 or 2...fingers crossed as I hit the sack. Today was the first day that I wasn't dead on my feet so I'll probably be asleep in about 5 minutes!

How cute is she???

Don't you just want to eat her cheeks? This is what I have to think about when she's screaming between 2 and 4 am.

Plus we finally got a shot of the three of us. Check me out!! Yeah, I'm on my stomach!!!

Home at last!

Wow...what a week! I got to the hospital last Tuesday night and am finally home with the baby. So now what do we do with her?? :) This has been the most emotional week of my life with a different doctor telling us different things about her jaundice levels, heart, bowels, etc it was a challenge to stay calm and not scream at them. Finally yesterday we got a doctor who didn't want to mess around anymore and put her in an isolet with the heavy duty photo therapy to bring her jaundice levels down and let me supplement breast milk with formula. The other doctors kept warning me about that insisting breast was best, but meanwhile my daughter is losing weight rapidly and not getting nutrients because she can't suck hard enough. So she put on three ounces in one day and all is well. As soon as the jaundice goes away and she gets more active (of course she sleeps all day and is up all night) I'll go back to breast feeding- meanwhile I'm pumping and giving her a bottle--no harm no foul. It's just in a different package :). Her heart is fine- the other two doctors who saw her said they didn't notice anything wrong, but we will follow up with the cardiologist in a month. Bowels turned out fine and are working quite well...no one has ever cheered more for a poop than Josh my mom, and myself. Check out Josh's facebook for a picture! Here are some more pictures for your viewing enjoyment. I still can't believe I got this out of me!!! Josh is totally in love with his daughter. The other picture is our midwife Terri who delivered her.