Motherhood.

Being a working mom is tough. I have to admit, I have a very blessed life. I am able to have someone come into my home and take of my little one while I am working. That does not make me feel any less guilty by any means. I wish I could be at home with her each & every day, going on outings, and just watching her every move. I know I will miss alot of milestones/firsts... but I know that to provide for her financially I have to work.
Avery is such an easy going girl, which does make things pretty easy. But don't get me wrong, we all have our moments. Tiredness, stress, irritability- all these things are normal, & we just work through it. She is a wonderful night sleeper, but let me be honest, she does sleep in the bed with us. I know what your thinking, we are gonna regret this, but ya know, its what works for us at this moment, so thats why we do it. She enjoys it and so do we.. and one day we will get our bed back, even if that means when she's 4 years old. oh well!
We don't really have any sort of schedule. We feed when she's hungry, which is usually every 3-4 hours. But if she acts hungry after 2 1/2, by all means I will be glad to fix another bottle, no big deal. She sleeps when she gets tired- some days she takes a few hour long naps, other days she may only take one or two 15 minute naps. We do tummy time until she's had enough of that, read books, swing, sit outside when the weather is nice, and watch DisneyJr or the Baby Channel (yes, i let her watch tv..) I don't always give her a bath every day, but sometimes I do. I normally shoot for every other evening, she enjoys it so much and just loves to splash splash splash!
Life has its moments.. But as a mother, I'm learning that my life is now my child. Yes, I do remember that i have a husband too, and dogs. But life has certainly changed, and I am certainly blessed more than I know.

4 Months..

I can't hardly believe that we are already here..
Age: 4 Months (wow!!)
Weight: 12 lbs 6 1/2 ounces. I'm so excited! She is getting soo big, I love to see her grow and change each and every day.
Height: 24inches (always growing in length for sure) Tall and skinny girl (dr said she is in the 25th percentile) but he said she is just going right along as she has since the day she was born and looks really healthy
Hair/Eye color: Blondie! Daddy says her eyes are looking gray, but really they are just getting a lighter blue color
Likes: loves watching the Baby Channel, and anything on Disney Jr, she loves to talk talk talk to the tv as well. Loves bath time still, and playing "earthquake" on the bed..haha! she will just laugh and laugh.
Dislikes: she's still an easy going girl, there isn't much that makes her mad, except the hiccups..that will aggravate her- and still doesn't enjoy being burped!
Memorable Moments: Still hearing that giggle is the best thing! She is really starting to grunt alot- Daddy always thinks she is pooping, but nope! just making new noises, and starting to squeal sometimes too. She is really starting to keep an eye on the dogs now and watches them very intently!

The love I have for my child..

There is nothing in this world that I love more than my baby. No matter how much she cries, whines, throws a fit, is terribly restless, no matter what the circumstance may be, I still love her. I cannot become ill towards her, or treat her any different. No matter how tired I am, or how much I feel like I need some time to myself, she is my number one priority, and I come after that.She is just a baby, she can't help it, she can't tell me whats wrong..that my responsibility and job to figure it out! It hurts me and aggravates me to see people post all over facebook how their baby just won't sleep enough, or cries too much, poops to much, drools too much or whatever. Yes, we all complain about things.. but the baby should be the absolute LAST thing that causes strife in your life. What an absolute BLESSING and miracle of life we have been given.. and we choose to complain about it??
Often times, I do feel overwhelmed, but things can Wait! Who cares if there is 40 loads of laundry or if your husband is ready for dinner... HE can WAIT! (or fix dinner himself..haha) I'll sleep later, even it that means when they are 10 years old.. I'll eventually catch up on the sleep. When they get older, I will miss their innocent crying and whining. I will miss the feeling of holding them and rocking them for hours on end, just comforting them. I won't be able to do all this for long. So instead of complaining about it nonstop--enjoy it. Love them, don't complain about them.What if you don't have another baby or aren't able to? YOu will be kicking yourself for all the complaining you did. Just love them.. please. (and yes, I'm fully aware that you can love AND complain.) But whats the point, don't waste that time complaining on Facebook when you can be praising, playing, and loving your baby.
Thats all my ranting for today.. if you don't like it.. Oh well! I guess you can just complain about it! ha!

3 Months

3 Months old already..Holy cow! Baby's looks are changing everyday, and talk about growing! Good Grief!
Age: 3 Months
Weight: haven't had her weighed since her 2 month check up, but its gotta be up to 10-11 lbs for sure!!
Height: 22 inches (always growing in length for sure) again, haven't been measured, but it seems like every day she is getting longer and longer!
Hair/Eye color: hair is still blonde/dirty blonde. Some people say it has a little reddish tint, so a little strawberry blonde as well. Eyes are beginning to lighten up from the dark blue, but are still blue for sure ( i hope they stay! )
Likes: loves to watch her mobile, she will just grin and grin (its just too bad you can't set that thing up on a timer, I just have to keep cranking it up over and over, ha!) loves bath time, and really splashing it up!!
Dislikes: she does not like it when she gets fed by daddy.. he likes to burp often and she gets a little irritated. But other than that she's a go with the flow kinda gal
Memorable Moments: Laughing (a real giggle) started this month! I work and work to get her to laugh and she finally did it! only like 3 times so far, but gee whiz its the cutest thing ever! She has previously rolled over but now is doing it like crazy.. LOVES tummy time, which is new as well! At first she struggled so much because her head is so big, haha, but now she will play for a long time on her belly. We also got a bumbo chair, and I just love it!!

Food! Fried chicken goodness!

The husband has been asking for fried chicken for a while now, and I can honestly say I'm not a big fan of it really. KFC is not one of my regular stops to say the least. So I researched recipes and he wanted me to try out Paula Deens. The recipe was simple, the only different thing I did was brine the chicken for a few hours. Wow! It was deeelicious!! The best! Wow again! Crunchy, juicy, and fully cooked! Ha! I'm so afraid of chicken and being undercooked and bloody-yep it's happened! But not this time! I was so proud of myself, and I enjoyed every bite! 

I used 4 drumsticks and 3 thighs, skin and bone in. Put in a big container and covered with water and added in about 1/4 cup of salt probably. Seems like a lot but there was a lot of water. Let that set in the fridge for a few hours. 

Whisk 3 eggs with 1 cup of franks pepper sauce 

Dip chicken in the mix

Then put 2 cups of self rising flour in a large dish and season with garlic salt and lots of pepper

Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess

Heat oil in a cast iron skillet ( I used my Dutch oven) to 350 degrees 

Put chicken in very carefully and cook for 15 minutes, turning every few minutes

Continue cooking in batches until all done

I put the chicken on a cooling rack and then put in a 190 degree oven to keep warm. 

Transitions...

Being a mom is rewarding, but definitely hard. I envisioned so many things, but they didn't always turn out exactly as I would have liked.
I was totally all for breastfeeding & when the baby got jaundice, she was so aggravated and did not want to. So I decided to pump. Gee whiz is that a LOT of work. At first, I was pumping every 2 hours. Whatever she needed, I had to provide. It was no big deal when the husband was here, but when he left to go back to work, there were many pumping sessions of the baby laying in my lap or her bed crying b/c I wasn't able to tend to her properly while i was hooked up. Going places was practically torture or rushed b/c I had to be home in order to pump, or I would definitely regret it (b/c of the pain of waiting). At first it wasn't bad b/c she couldn't eat all the milk that I was producing...but then her appetite started to pickup and I just couldn't get that much out.
So, I set a goal that I would pump until she was 6 months old. The task seemed very daunting..needless to say, after many talks and arguments with my husband... I have now stopped pumping. Baby is almost 3 months old, I know many people will be disappointed in me, but 3 months (almost) is better than 3 weeks, or 3 days. I have to know that I gave it my all, but I seriously feel as though I have made the right decision for my daughter. It seemed as though my breastmilk was truly just killing her stomach. If I could have changed my eating habits things might have gotten better, but I can honestly say, that I absolutely can NOT do that. Yes, I probably could make the change for a little while, but without a shadow of a doubt I would cheat and I can't stand the thought of hurting her one bit. So we have switched to formula. Even though I know some may not agree with this, I have to remember that I am her mother, and I have to stand up to my own decisions. the hubs and I have agreed on the decision, and that is what we are sticking to.
She is growing like a weed, and I think she will be just fine! I love her more than anything in this world.

2 Months

2 Months old already.. gee how time flies, before I know it she will be crawling and getting into the dog bowls! ha!
Age: 2 Months (as of Aug 4)
Weight: 9 lbs 1 oz.. FINALLY!!! I was so suprised when I took her to the doctor! it was very exciting to see her gain over a pound.
Height: 22 inches (always growing in length for sure)
Hair/Eye color: hair is still blonde/dirty blonde. Some people say it has a little reddish tint, so a little strawberry blonde as well. Eyes are still are dark blue.
Likes: Taking a bath, sitting in your swing- She is starting to focus on the TV some, and loves the Baby channel.
Dislikes: not a fan of having to wait on a bottle, but other than that there isn't much that really bothers her.
Memorable Moments: I was just so happy when I saw the number on the scale this time around at the doctor! It was definitely a shock and it was so encouraging! had to get her first shot this month- I thought she might take it like a champ, but I have never seen that look on her face, poor baby! But as soon as I picked her up, everything was fine, and she was out like a light the whole car ride home.