DOUBLE DIGITS - I'm 10 weeks

Happy Halloween Everyone! I was looking at my mommy without any make-up, that's why I look so scared ;) I have a few Halloween outfits I will wear all weekend to celebrate!

Here I am with my Aunt Morgie, Zoe, and Finn. We were all visiting together and it made me so happy I smiled for the camera.

This past weekend I was so LUCKY b/c I got to spend the whole weekend with my Grandma Barb, we had so much fun together and I was so sad when she left but will be excited to go up to Pittsburgh soon to visit!

My Grandma Barb even gave me a bath which is one of my favorite things and then took this great picture of me after! Don't I look SOOOO cute????

My Mommy and Daddy were in a wedding last weekend and here is a picture from the event. They MISSED me sooooo much and rushed home Sunday to see me!

2 months old!

Little Juliet turned 2 months old yesterday and was greeted by a cold :( She had a runny nose and was congested but did not act sick at all, she smiled the day away and is feeling much better after having the dehumidifier run all night! It was so hard to see my baby sick even if she was a good sport about the whole thing but I guess this is the first of many times my heart will break for my baby :( John had a cold Friday night and passed it to me which I then passed to Juliet so the whole family was sick but we are all getting better and feeling good now.

Active weekend last weekend: We had an active weekend last weekend. Juliet got to visit with her godfather and uncle Brian. He was up for the weekend b/c we were running in the Baltimore Marathon Relay last Saturday. Our team did great and we all ran our parts in 9 to 10 minute miles. Not too bad for Brian's first race and my first race after having a baby! I was so proud of everyone.

This weekend: Is the first time I will be away from Juliet :( Both John and I are part of a bridal party in a wedding for our friends Dan and Ruth so we are going up to Harrisburg for the weekend to take part in the celebration and Juliet is spending quality time with her Gram-ma Barb. She is coming to our house and staying the weekend with Juliet and I know she will be in good hands but I'm going to miss her so much!!! It will be really hard for me to leave... Still don't know if I can do it but since I am in the wedding I kind of have to!

Juliet is getting more and more active during the day everyday and is doing great! She is the best and I have never been happier :)

8 weeks

Smiles!

Juliet having fun during Bath Time!

Juliet's 2 month doctor's visit: Juliet was 10 pounds 1 ounce at her doctor's visit today & 22 inches & her head was 14 3/4 inches... All of these measurements were in the 25th percentile. I asked my mom to check my baby book to see what I weighted around the same time and she said at 6 weeks I was 11 pounds and 23 inches! I was a chunk, ha ha! Little Juliet also got her first shot and only cried for a few seconds before she forgot all about it so I'm glad it didn't cause her too much pain :(

She is in her Crib (sort of!): for the last 5 days Juliet has been sleeping in her crib for at least most of the night, around 4 AM if I'm tired I take her into our room!!! She was sleeping 4 or 5 hour stretches when she was in our room but now with the switch she sleeps at most 3 hours at a time :( but I think in a few more days she will get used to her room and start to sleep longer (hopefully!) But at least I don't have to work right now so I just hope within 4 weeks she starts to sleep longer. Getting me up only once a night would be great!

She is so much fun: Since about 5 weeks she has started to smile and play for longer periods each day. Right now she will play and smile on her play mat for at least 45 minutes at a time. It so fun to watch her discover she can grab and hit her toys and the way she smiles at me when I talk to her. We love play time!

7 Weeks

My Mommy finally got a picture of me holding up my head!!! Look how strong I am everyone :)

One of Juliet's smiling pictures :) We are getting a ton of smiles now and each time it melts my heart. She is such an active and alert baby!!! So much so that she does not sleep as much as a newborn should (have to really work at making her nap!). It's great to see her so alert but hard not to get much sleep. But her cuteness makes up for my sleepiness.
Look how big she is getting, Quest the cat used to be soooo much bigger than Juliet now they are about the same length!

Here Juliet is grabbing her "Friends" I call her toys and her mobile animals her friends because she will smile and stare at them for a long time. She is starting to "play" and can spend 30 minutes or more have fun on her activity mat. She can also hold her head up really well during tummy time but unfortantly Juliet does not like tummy time very much. But Juliet does LOVE her baths and smiles lots during bath time.

It's getting COLD out side so we are starting to bundle her in hats and gloves... Too bad most of her clothes are summer clothes, time to go shopping :)

6 weeks old

Pictures from our New Jersey Trip!

Big Girl Crib: I am trying to get Juliet to sleep in her crib now that she is 6 weeks (so big!) but it's not going so well... Right now she is in her Rock & Play sleeper that is next to our bed but I want her to be able to sleep in her room so I have been trying to put her down in her crib each night but she wakes up about 15 minutes after we put her down crying :( She sleeps fine next to our bed (at least a 4 or 5 hour at a time) I have also tried to put her down in her crib for naps but she wakes up the second I set her down in the crib and is very upset. She does love to fall asleep in my arms while we are dancing to music in her room but then my arms get tired and I want to put her down in a bed but so far it's not working! Hopefully she will get used to it and I will keep trying. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears :) PS. I have tried swaddling and she "breaks out" of her swaddle!

MY Doctors: I went for my post birth 6 week check up and the Midwife says I'm all healed from childbirth :) So I have the green light to do most all activities!

More Smiles :) Juliet has smiled from birth here and there but it seems like her smiles were pretty random, like she smiled as she was falling asleep or for no reason that I could tell. But this morning when she woke me up, I turned to her and said "Good Morning bright eyes!" and she gave me this big smile on her face like she was happy to see me, it made my heart melt!

Growing Pains: I think Juliet had a growth spurt earlier this week b/c all of sudden she is super long and I'm not sure when it happened. She is getting so big I can't wait to go to the doctors and she how much she weights and how long she is. She fits into 3 month sleepers already!!! I think she will grow up to be very tall and very athletic b/c she is so strong. She is holding her head up very well during tummy time and moving it from side to side.

Road Trip: Our first road trip with Juliet went really well :) We went to NJ to visit our friends Travis, Beth, and their new baby Annalise (she is three weeks old) It was also easy to go to someones house with a baby b/c if we forgot anything they had it for us! She was also good in the car, she would sleep for about two hours straight in the car before waking up and wanting food or attention (good thing we only had a car ride a little over two hours)

Little Juliet's Personality: I was reading this thing on babies personalities and I took a quiz (ha ha! I know I'm silly) but here are the results: (I think the full of energy part is b/c I told the quiz she fights sleep!!!)

What can you expect for your baby? She will be very popular. She will not have any problems making friends. She is fun, optimistic, and full of energy. She may not be the most organized person but she thinks well on her feet. She likes to see everyone get along and may meddle in other people's relationships in her attempt to keep the peace. She is outgoing and not afraid of meeting new people. In school, she is likely to be in the drama club, on a sports team, or involved in the yearbook committee. She enjoys gossiping and takes pride in the fact that people trust her to tell her their secrets. She likes to give out advice even though her advice is not always the best. Even though she is very popular, she is very insecure. She likes to be praised by others and will seek out people that give her attention. She will likely pursue a career working with people. She would be miserable if she had to work in a cubicle with nobody to talk to. She may be indecisive when picking a career. She may try more than one job before she settles on one she likes. Career choices may include waiter, journalist, teacher, nurse/health professional, flight attendant, or sales representative.

I'm 5 weeks old :)

Like my red hat?

Juliet playing with Quest the Cat
Big Stretch!

Hey Everyone! It's pretty crazy that Juliet has been in our life for 5 weeks b/c it feels like she has always been here. Life sure does change once you have a baby, and people are right... It's the hardest job you will ever LOVE!

This weekend: John and I are going up to New Jersey to see our friends who have a two week old baby and Juliet's future friend. So it will be our first weekend trip with the baby... I'll let everyone know how it goes, I'm a little scared! ha ha.

Good days & Bad days: Juliet has days when she does not cry at all and days where she is very grumpy and it hard to figure out what she needs. But each week gets better as I start to learn more and more about her! She is awesome and as long as she does not have gas bubbles stuck in her or hungry she is a really happy baby.

Baby outings: I am starting to take Juliet to more places, like to the mall to meet friends and to places I have to go during the day like Target. I am starting to get used to her schedule but I worry about her crying and getting hungry while we are out :( so it's a little stressful but I'm getting better at it and anticipating her needs and bringing everything I will need while I'm out in case she needs changed or gets hungry. I truly believe taking a baby out it's an art form and something you have to get used to!

Vacation: We have booked our first vacation in St. Lucia after the baby!!! It will be the last week of May 2011 and I'm so excited. Thanks to Mommy Collins for giving us a timeshare and thanks to my parents for watching her while we are gone. We are excited to be able to get away together for a little adult time. I truly believe everyone needs a vacation at least once a year :)

One Month Old

Hey good looking!

Family Picture :)

Already a Steelers fan

Sleeping in her baby carrier

She is getting so big!

They are not kidding when they say time flies! I can not believe my little baby is one month old today :)

Sleep: I'll be honest, not getting much of it here! Juliet sleeps for a 4 or 5 hour stretch starting at 7 or 8pm and then wake up around midnight or 1AM. After that she is usually up ever 2 hours or less, so needless to say I'm a zombie most days. I'm am so happy she sleeping the 4 or 5 hours straight but it's hard to go to bed at 7 or 8 pm so I'm hoping soon she will start to do another long sleep after the first one so I can spend some time with John in the evening. But I hear it gets better and she is still so young and gets hungry at night. Plus I think her favorite thing in the world to do is eat! (plus it's lots of bonding time with her Mommy) Also now that she is older she likes to be awake and listen to me talk to her (she tries to talk back but I am not totally understanding her yet) so my little one sometimes will try to fight sleep and stay awake b/c she loves everything going around her which can get her overtired :( I love to play with her but know she needs lots of naps so I have tired to introduce a pacifier to help her sleep and I'll put her in my baby carrier sling and walk around with her (this usually works).

The things Juliet loves: As I just said her favorite thing to do is eat :) I think she would eat 24/7 if I was able to feed her that much but my body does need a break at some point. I am pretty confident she is gaining plenty of weight b/c she just outgrew all her newborn stuff and her diaper output also let's me know she is on track! She also loves the outdoors and going for walks in her stroller with me. She loves to look around when we are outside or the movement will put her into a peacefully sleep. Juliet is also starting to be able to look at objects and follow them so she is starting to really enjoy her play gym and mirror. It's so neat to see her change and be able to do more stuff.

Her Smile: I LOVE when Juliet smiles, it's about the cutest thing in the world!!! I hope I can get a picture of it soon and post it b/c I swear she has the most beautiful smile in the world. Oh and I think she laughed the other day which I hope she does again soon b/c it was really funny!

Our first night out: Last weekend John and I had our first night out without Juliet together since she got home. Nana Rona and Pop Pop Larry watched her last Saturday while we went to our Friends house for a small party. I was proud of myself that I was able to leave her without freaking out. My mom has lots more experience with babies than I do so I knew she would be in good hands, plus it was nice to have time with John and have some "me" time for a night. If you don't take care of yourself it's hard to take care of others.

Dance Class: So I was cleared to exercise by the doctors at 4 weeks so I am going to start slow but I am taking my first dance class tonight :) I have missed dance so much and have not taken a class in about a year so (speaking of "me" time) John will watch Juliet every Thursday night for an hour while I get out for a little bit and enjoy some fun exercise! Yea :)