Photo Shoot

Here are some pictures I took of Miss Beth on her one month birthday (yesterday). I realized I didn't get any good shots of just her on her baptism day so I put the dress back on her and took a whole lot of pictures, and a few came out really great. The blue gown was her "party dress" that she wore at the housewarming party! These are DH's favorite pics.

Today Beth has slept a LOT. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt and I HOPE she sleeps well tonight since she's slept pretty much most of the day...

A video...

I'm testin this out...

Big smiles!

Today our Beth is 4 weeks old, and to go with her big girl age is her big girl smiles! Our little girl has smiled before, but they were all involuntary smiles... Today we got her to smile back at us! I was sweet talking her and smiling wide at her this afternoon, and she smiled back! And she did the same with her daddy when he got home from work... I grabbed the camera and got a few pictures.





She also got a swing yesterday, it's a Fisher Price Rainforest cradle swing. She hasn't really taken to it yet, but it's only been one day. Hopefully she'll learn to love it, or maybe it will help her fall asleep in the evening!

Baptism!

My family
Proud parents!
In her slip, getting ready!


Miss Bethany Grace was baptized on January 21 at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church. Her godparents were her Aunt Jenny and her Uncle Josh. She did sooooo well! She slept through the entire service, including when the holy water was poured over her head, and woke up at the very end- just in time for pictures! We had an after-party at our house with friends and family, and she slept through most of that as well, and didn't mind being passed on from guest to guest (although Mommy must admit she was a bit worried about germs!). The gown she was baptized in was the same gown that I, my sister, my mom and my uncles were baptized in, and the hat she wore was the same hat my grandmother was baptized in, so it was very special to us. All in all we had a great day, although we were VERY tired by the time everyone left. The excellent news is Bethany went to sleep around 10:15, and completely skipped over her usual fussy time in the evening! We hadn't been to sleep that early in a looooong time!

Thanks to everyone who came! It was really nice being able to see everyone, although at parties it's hard to spend one-on-one time with everyone, so I hope we can all follow through with our "let's get together soon!" plans!

Sling

Today we got our sling! Beth seems to enjoy it very much. We went to someone's house, were fitted and taught how to properly and safely use the pouch, and then we met DH for lunch and hit the mall. I shopped! I needed a few items for my newly-post partum body and a new pair of shoes with some Christmas money. (I've also discovered pregnancy didn't make my foot grow at all. How nice!) Here's a picture of Beth enjoying her sling. I believe she enjoyed it so much because she slept the entire time she was in it- I only had to take her off a few times to try on clothes and then popped her back in and she was asleep again. It's sooo nice to have two hands again!

The other picture is of her stuffing her first finger into her mouth...I guess she missed the memo that the nickname is "thumbsucker" and not "fingersucker". Cuteness.

3 weeks old!

Tak
Already! It's amazing how time is flying!

We've had some big milestones in the past few days. Well, big for us! First off, on Sunday, Beth attended mass with us (my first time to go since she was born) and she slept through the entire thing! It was very nice. Although it was still hard to pay attention since she's just so darn cute when she sleeps! Anyways, she was so good during mass that DH and I decided to go for Mexican food- an after-church tradition. She did very very well there, although she was awake. We had our first nursing in public experience, at which I think I did well but could have done better (there was no flashing!). We very much enjoyed the food, although I didn't get to cram as many chips in my mouth as I would have liked.

Yesterday something fantastic happened. Her umbilical cord stump fell off! That thing was getting so gross. I noticed some blood on her clothes and checked- it was hanging by a thread so I let it be. Then about 20 minutes later I noticed it wasn't there anymore... DH later found it on the floor in our bedroom! Soooo nasty.

2 weeks

Bethany had a good second week... Well, we're working on our third week now but I update when I can. :-) We had special visitors from New York- my best friend Julie and her husband, Zeke, came to town and stopped in to meet the newest family member! Of course, they thought she was the prettiest creature alive! We also visited our next door neighbors, who have a 2 month old, and Beth and he enjoyed not noticing each other since they're too little to care! It'll be fun when they're older and can play with each other though! She's also been having some rough nights- she really wakes up around 10 or 11 pm and gets very fussy and has a hard time nursing and calming down... Last night she and I were up till about 2 am. It's difficult when this happens but it's nice that she's back to her normal self in the morning and she and I can sleep until noon if we want! Beth has amazing neck control, I'm not sure if all 2.5 week olds can hold their necks up for as long as she can, but she really picks her head up and looks around when I have her laying on my chest! She really likes to look at our blinds- I read that it's the light contrast that interests her so much.

I'm feeling much better, a little tired of being home so much but that's hopefully about to change. I feel like my body is mostly healed, although some things will never be the same! I haven't stepped on a scale yet but I feel so tiny, I guess it's because I can lean over now and tie my own shoes! Next week Beth and I are going to meet someone and be fitted for some slings and a pouch, so once we get used to those then we're going to trek to the mall so I can buy some much-needed nursing clothes and meet DH at work to show off his little princess. :-) I'm thinking I should also buy a stroller at some point!

A week from tomorrow is Bethany's baptism. DH and I are preparing our house to have visitors over, today he did a bunch of yard work and at some point I'd like to hang stuff up on the walls in our house. Bethany will wear the same baptism dress that I wore and that my mother wore on her baptism (assuming she fits in it! Haven't tried it on yet...). Kind of neat, I think.

1 and 1/2 weeks old

One week old!
One day old!

Our girl is almost 2 weeks old, it's amazing how quickly time flies. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get online to update my blog, it's kind of hard to type with one hand while the other hand is holding the baby! In fact, all of my online time has pretty much been cut down to almost zero, so if it takes me time to respond to emails or Facebook messages, that's why!

Beth had her one week pediatrician appointment last Wednesday and she did great. She gained a whopping 13 ounces (usually they're down or still at their birth weight) and everything else looked good! You can really tell she's gained the weight- she's going to be a super chunk!

DH and I looooove just spending time looking at her. She's starting to lose her hair, but she's still b e a u t i f u l! She's such a good baby, too, her sleep schedule is a bit different than what DH and I are used to, but I'm quickly adjusting. :-)

I plan on posting pictures on this blog instead of starting a new blog, cause I just don't have time to set something new up. I hope everyone continues to check up on us and our beautiful girl!