Christmas Memories

We are back in the ATL, and it is a little bittersweet. I was glad to get back so we could get Rebecca back on a schedule, but I am sad that Christmas is over. We had so much fun in Mississippi. It is not often that my whole family is together. Rebecca loved being around her cousins, John, Carrie, and Mae. They were so good with her. Rebecca might not remember her first Christmas, but I will remember it as being a wonderful time. I have attached a lot of pictures from our trip. Hope you enjoy!

Nannie holding Carrie, John, and Rebecca. (Good thing Mae wasn't there yet. Where would she fit?)

Papa and Rebecca

Rebecca trying to flip from her front to her back. She is so close.

John and Rebecca talking.

Rebecca and her cousins in their Christmas pajamas.

Rebecca playing with her toys from Santa.

Laura and Greg; Carrie, Amy, Jay and John; Denise, Rob, Mae; Me, Rebecca and John

It seems like all of my friends have had a baby this year or are about to have a baby. Rebecca was able to meet a lot of her new friends while we were in Mississippi. This is Meg and William
Harris. William was born in early October.

This is Presley holding Keagan (River's 4 year old), me holding Will (Elizabeth's son born in August), Elizabeth holding Rebecca, and Rivers holding her daughter Avery (born in March). We missed seeing Presley's 2 girls. They were napping.

Rebecca looking cute as a button in her Christmas dress.

Over the river

...and through the woods, to Nannie's house went! It was more like through security, and up in the air. We made it to Mississippi for the holidays. Rebecca was an absolute angel on the plane. She got a little fussy when we took off, but she soon fell asleep. She slept the whole way to Memphis. Then she slept the whole way from Memphis to Cleveland. She is just the best baby.

She is getting over a cold. She woke up Saturday morning with a cough and icky in her nose. I have been a nervous wreck with her being sick, but she has been great. She just wants to cuddle and sleep more. I do not mind either of those. I think we will survive her first illness.

John will join us in Mississippi this coming weekend. All my sisters will be here, too. It is going to be a great Christmas. Check back after the holidays to hear and see about it.

Until then, Merry Christmas! Hope Santa is good to you all!

Simply the Best

It is hard to believe that Rebecca is 3 months old now. Sometimes I think that time has flown by; other times it seems to have gone by so slow. Whatever the case may be, it has been the best 3 months of my life.

Don't get me wrong...I have had my moments, even days, when I did not think I was going to make it through, but then I look at my Angel. She is such a miracle. How could any mother not love her baby? It is beyond me. I fall more in love with Rebecca every day.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love my sleep. I am not the happiest person in the morning. I might go as far to say that I am pretty grumpy when I wake up. Rebecca on the other hand is a delight in the morning. In fact, waking up to get her out of bed is now my favorite part of the day. You can see why for yourself.

Rebecca has been working on a lot of new tricks these past few weeks. She is trying to grab at things, she sometimes rolls from her back to her front, and she can sit in the Bumbo for a minute or two at a time. She carries on conversations with herself.

My favorite of her new tricks is how she now smiles back at me when I smile at her. She is simply the best!

T'was the Night Before Christmas?

Rebecca was so excited last night, she could not sleep. She woke up at 2:00 and talked to herself until 3:30 when she decided she was hungry. She finally went back to sleep, only to wake up 3 hours later to eat again. This is very unlike our little girl. She usually sleeps until 5:00, eats, and goes back to sleep until 8:30. (I know I am very lucky.) She must have know we were going to see the big man today. That's right, Rebecca met Santa Claus for the very first time. Rebecca loves Santa. She has a Santa night light in her bathroom. Every time we go in there and he is lit up, she stares at him and laughs. So she was super excited to meet the real Santa in person.

If Rebecca was this excited about going to meet Santa, I can only imagine how much sleep we are going to get the night before Christmas when Santa comes to visit her. After all, she has been a very good girl this year!

Finally!

After what seems like months and months of trying and trying, Rebecca FINALLY did it. She never gave up. She never quit. She accomplished her goal! She got her thumb in her mouth! And boy did she like it. As soon as she got it in there, she started sucking, her eyes rolled back, her lids closed, and she fell asleep.

We were a little worried about her fingers poking her eye out, but we were not about to disrupt her great fete. John and I are so proud of our baby girl!

Rebecca had a great first Thanksgiving with the Kimball family. She was an angel at our Thanksgiving feast. It was just the picture taking afterwards that made her mad.

Peek-a-boo!

This is a video of Rebecca playing peek-a-boo with herself in the mirror. I told you she was a ham.

I am going to work real hard at figuring out how to make a video that is right side up.

So Funny!

Last night Rebecca started doing this thing where she scrunches up her face and squeals. She kept doing it over and over and over. I have never laughed so hard. I tried to get a video of her doing it this morning. This is the best I could do, and I could not figure out how to turn the video right side up. It is still pretty darn funny. I think Rebecca is going to be a little ham.

Got Drool?

What started out as a few cute bubbles has turned into a full fledged drool fest. Rebecca's drool faucet is constantly on these days. Doesn't she know that we are in the mist of a major drought in Georgia? The drool does not seem to bother Rebecca at all. She is such a happy girl. She has started to laugh out loud and squeal. It is so cute. I am going to try and get a video of it to post soon.

She also has a new favorite toy, her tummy time mirror. She will push up and look at her self for the longest time. Sometimes she even laughs. If I was that cute, I would stare at myself, too.

We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! We certainly will. We have a lot to be thankful for this year!

D-Day

Today is the day that I have dreaded since Rebecca was born...her 2 month check-up. That means shots. She had to get 4 to be exact. I have been a nervous wreck knowing that today was approaching. Rebecca has been doing great. This is a picture of her before we left for the doctors. Look how happy she is.

Dr. Knox said Rebecca is healthy and perfect. He said we are very lucky to have a 2 month old that will sleep 8 hours straight. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 6 oz. (Last month she was 10.9 lbs.) This puts her in the 95th percentile. She grew an inch; she is now 23 inches long. This is the 75-90%. We both survived the shots, and there were only a few tears. Rebecca is now resting in her favorite spot in the house, her swing.

John and I are so lucky to have such a sweet girl. It is hard to imagine life without her. We thank God everyday that she is healthy, and we pray that she stays that way.

Vacation

Sorry it has been so long since our last update, but we have been busy. Last Saturday we went to Chattanooga for the night. John and I had a party to go to, and we thought that this trip to Chattanooga would be good practice for our travels to Mississippi for Christmas. The trip to Chattanooga is only 2 hours, but we were quite nervous since our little girl usually cries in the car. However, she did great! She slept the whole way. As soon as we stopped at the hotel, though, she opened her eyes, realized she was in the car, and began to wail.

Here are some pictures of Rebecca's first stay in a hotel.

Rebecca did great on the ride home, too. She was even awake for half the trip, and she did not cry. She is really growing up. Hopefully the 7 hour trip to Mississippi will be just as good!

Trick or Treat?

Rebecca has one more trick to add to her bag. She can hold her head up oh so high when she is on her tummy. She has really gotten good at it. This morning she held her head up for at least a minute. Our next trick that we will work on is holding something in her hand. We are practicing, but she doesn't quite have a "grasp" on it yet. Ha!

BOO! Happy Halloween!

Bag of Tricks

Rebecca has three new tricks.

She can blow bubbles.

She can suck on her hand. At times she almost has her thumb in there. It won't be long.

My favorite trick is that she is sleeping longer at night. She has gone up to eight hours. She does not do this every night, but I will take it when it happens. I would like to thank the Swaddle Me blanket for this trick. The Swaddle Me is a sort of wrap that swaddles baby oh so tight. We did not use it for a while, because it just seemed cruel to wrap them up so. But other moms were raving about it in my Mommy and Me group. They were right. Rebecca sleeps so much sounder and she seems to really like being swaddled so tight. So for all you new mom's out there, I suggest the Swaddle Me blanket.

Visitors

We have had a lot of visitors this past week. Last Sunday, Daniel, Stephanie, and Ellen Searcy came up from Griffin, GA to visit. Ellen just turned 2 in July, and she is too cute! She really liked Rebecca until her mom held her. Ellen was also good at talking to Rebecca in Rebecca's kind of talking. Rebecca is very vocal. She makes all kinds of sounds. Sometimes it is just grunts, sometimes it sounds like a whale. Sometimes a horse, but most times she growls. We call this her monster voice. Rebecca was on the floor growling, and Ellen would growl right back at her. It was quite funny.

On Monday, Ellen and Julie Comeaux came to visit Rebecca. Julie was not too interested in Rebecca, but she loved her bouncy seat.

Nannie finally came back to Atlanta. She could not believe how much Rebecca has grown and changed in just two weeks. The reason Nannie came back to Atlanta so soon was to pick up Denise and Mae. They flew into Atlanta from Canada to see Rebecca and to go to Mississippi for a few weeks. Mae turned two in June. She is adorable and is talking up a storm. She was not too sure what to think about Rebecca. She would not get too close to her, so getting a picture was kind of hard. Mae hated when Rebecca cried, and she would say, "No baby Becca!" Hopefully she will warm up to her more when we see them again at Christmas.

Today, John Tugman and Jamie Ratliff came over to watch the Tennessee game. Tennessee lost, but Rebecca looked super cute in her TN pajamas.

Rebecca is becoming more alert each day. We are still having good nights and bad nights, but mostly good. She slept for 6 hours straight one night. She is getting really good at pushing up and lifting her head when she is on her tummy. I will try to get a picture of her doing this, but she is too fast. She is amazing!

Undecided

I can not decided what to title this blog entry. The choices are 1 Month, Straight A's, or Chunky Monkey. Let me explain. Yesterday, Rebecca turned 1 month old. I can not believe that it has already been a month. Time is going by so fast. It seems like only yesterday we were at the hospital ready to take our little one home. Now we are home watching her change and grow each day. The following two pictures were taken on 9/11 and then 10/11.

We had her 1 month check up yesterday with Dr. Knox. (For those of you who do not know, the Run Away Bride is the receptionist at the pediatrician's office.) Dr. Knox said Rebecca is doing great. She has a bout of baby acne, but the doctor said it was normal and would go away in a month or two. He also said that she must love to eat because she is growing and growing. She is now 10 pounds and 9 ounces, (She was only 8.5 when she was born.) which is in the 90 percentile of babies her age. She has also grown taller; she is now 22 inches long which is also in the 90%. Her head circumference was also in 90%, so she got straight A's across the board. Mommy and Daddy are so proud. She is our little Chunky Monkey.

After a rough morning, Rebecca came home and slept all day long. I went in her room to check on her and found her like this. Oh my gosh! I could just eat her up. Look at the little rolls in her thighs.

I must run. My baby is hungry yet again!

Weekend Update

Rebecca has started a new trend. It goes like this...good night, bad night, good night, bad night. You get the idea. I only realized this trend Saturday, so after a good night on Thursday, I had no idea that Friday night would turn out so bad. Friday day went well. Rebecca woke up every 3 hours, ate, played, and went to sleep. Papa came over to see her before he left for the beach. I got a nap. John came home from work early. We ordered pizza and a movie. Rebecca started to cry. (I am not sure if she is going through a growth spurt or what, but it seems like in the late afternoon and at night, she wants to eat every hour and a half to two hours. Then in between feedings she cries unless you hold her and walk and bounce at the same time. If she happens to fall asleep while you are holding, walking, and bouncing, you can not put her down or she will wake up and you have to start all over again.) This went on until 12:00am. Finally I was able to put her in her crib and go get in bed. However, she was back up at 1:30 wanting to eat. Usually at night, she goes right back to bed after she eats, but not this night. At 2:30 I had had it. I normally do not like to wake John up at night since he has to get up for work, but since it was Saturday morning at this point, I did not feel bad handing Rebecca off to him. John worked his magic and got her back down about 3:00. She was back up at 5:00. You get the point. It was bad. To make things worse, this behavior went on all day yesterday.

Our friends, Mandy and Brad, came over yesterday afternoon to watch the Tennessee/Georgia game. They have a 3 month old, Ella; so I did not feel so bad having a screaming baby. They were actually laughing at John and I as we did the hold/walk/bounce. They said they went through the same thing with Ella. Now Ella is a doll. She just sat and watched the Volunteers. She swung in Rebecca's swing, she played on the floor. She did not make a sound the entire time they were over at our house. They are proof that things will improve. We will not be holding/walking/bouncing forever.

As for football, it was a very good day. Tennessee killed Georgia, which is always fun, especially if you live in the state of Georgia. After the TN/GA game, LSU played against Florida. Rebecca slept in my arms throughout the entire first half of the game. It was not a great first half; LSU was losing. At half time it was time to feed Rebecca, and after she ate, she fell fast asleep. John and I are no dummies, and while we really wanted to stay up and watch the rest of the game, we were exhausted. We knew we better get sleep while we could.

Rebecca slept until 1:30. When I heard her cry, I jumped straight up and grabbed her. Then we headed to the nearest TV to turn on ESPN. There on ESPN with the game day crew was Les Miles, LSU's coach, and Glenn Dorsey, a player. LSU fans were cheering in the back ground. If I had not had a hungry baby in my hand, I would have been cheering as well. LSU beat Florida! And to make things better, USC lost to Stanford. Now, LSU is the undisputed #1 team!

Back to the baby... she went right back down after the 1:30 feeding and slept until 5:45. It was a great night. And today, she has been great. She is back to her eat, play, sleep schedule. John and I are even thinking of taking her to Piedmont Park and to eat at Park Tavern. Hopefully things will go well. And hopefully Rebecca will break the trend of good night, bad night. Otherwise, tonight we are in for a "treat".

I have attached some pictures of Rebecca sleeping and playing. I have also attached a video of Tummy Time. Rebecca really likes it sometimes. She is great at kicking her legs and lifting up her head. She is getting so strong. In the picture of her sleeping in John's lap, notice how her hand is on his. How sweet is that?

Rebecca smiling!

TUMMY TIME!

birthdays and anniversaries

Yesterday was John's birthday! We had a great time celebrating. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant with John's parents, Amy, Sid, Lucy, and Caroline. Rebecca was an angel. John and I were very nervous about taking her to a restaurant again. Last Friday I was going a little stir crazy, so John and I packed up Rebecca and went to eat Thai food. Bad idea! Rebecca is not a fan of her car seat or going out in public! She cried all the way there, at the restaurant, and all the way home. Needless to say, experiencing that again was not top on my list. But I knew that with her Mimi, Papa, and Aunt Amy at the restaurant with us, we had lots of reinforcement. Of course, she slept the entire time. Why weren't we that lucky when we went out by ourselves?

Actually, we have been very lucky. At night, Rebecca is a very good sleeper. She wakes up every 3 to 4 hours to eat, but she usually goes right back down. However during the day, she only takes little cat naps. 30 minutes here, 15 minutes there. But come 4:00, she is out again until about 8:00. She even sleeps through her late afternoon feeding. About 8ish each night, she gets a little fussy, but usually we can get her fed and back to sleep by 10:30. This baby is totally throwing off our sleep habits. Anyone who knows John knows that he loves to go to bed early and wake up early. That is how he got the nickname Old Man Kimball. I, on the other hand, love to go to bed early, sleep late, and take a long nap each day. I guess you could just call me lazy. Well, not anymore.

Back to the birthday party... Rebecca missed it all. After the restaurant, we all came back to our house for cake and presents. Caroline and Lucy had a great time playing with a sleeping Rebecca. Fun was had by all!

Tomorrow is the 7th anniversary of John and my first date. This is not a day we celebrate, but it is easy to remember since it is two days after John's birthday. It is crazy to believe that we have been together 7 years. Time flies when you are in love and having fun!

I would like to end this post with a shout out to my friend, Meg. She is being induced this Friday. Meg and her husband, Ben, did not find out the sex of their baby. They also have not shared the baby's name. (See, it could have been worse for those who thought John and I were horrible not to share Rebecca's name.) Best of luck, Meg. I will be praying for you! I can't wait to hear about Baby Harris!

2 for 2

Well, we have been home from the hospital for 2 weeks now, and I think I am starting to get this baby thing down. Don't get me wrong, it's hard as all get out, but it is definitely getting easier. Plus, it doesn't hurt when you have Mimi and Nannie to help out. My mom is back in Mississippi now, and Mimi has been here during the day to help and let me get sleep. But she has been cutting back her hours each day. It has been nice to slowly easy into the role of mom and being on my own with Rebecca.

Rebecca is staying awake more between her feedings which is a lot of fun. She loves to walk outside. She loves to look out windows. She likes her Baby Einstein play mat. She hates tummy time. But her most favorite thing to do is to sit in her vibrating chair and watch the lights blink and listen to the music. Her eyes get so big. If she could smile and laugh, I know she would be doing so when she is in her chair.

The most exciting news is that she is now sleeping in her crib in her very own room. This was a big step for me. I loved having her sleep in her Moses Basket right by my bed. It was a comfort to be able to look over and see her breathing. However, Rebecca is the loudest sleeper I know. She has nothing on the snorers in my family (sorry Daddy). John and I were getting no sleep because "Squirmy" was making so much noise. So we decided to move her to her room two nights ago. The first night she went down about 10:30 and woke up at 2:00 and 6:00. She got a lot more sleep than I did because everytime I woke up I ran to her room to check on her. Last night, she went down about 11:00 and woke up at 2:30 and 5:00. Plus, she usually will go back to sleep after the early morning feeding until about 8 or 9. She loves her big bed (crib), and John and I are actually able to sleep. I did much better last night and actually got some sleep. Here is a picture of her sleeping in her crib.

I went to the doctor today so he could check my incision. Everything looks great and is healing nicely. He said I can slowly resume my normal activities. I can not wait to take a bubble bath!

Ch, ch, ch, changes

I can not stand when someone comes to see Rebecca and says how much she has grown or how much she has changed. I especially hate when someone says "She's gotten so big!" It breaks my heart. She is not even two weeks old, and I am not ready to think about her growing up. I know that it is inevitable; it has to happen, but I do not have to like it. Time seems like it is going by too fast. I really try to enjoy every minute I have with my baby girl, even when it is two in the morning and I am dead tired. My favorite time with her is right after she has eaten. She puts her head on my chest and sleeps. It feels like heaven. I also love when she is nursing sometimes and she takes a break. She will pull her head away from me and look up towards my face. She can make the cutest faces, especially with her lips. In case you can not tell, I love being a mother. I tell Rebecca that I have waited for her for 27 years. I have wanted to be a mom since I was 3 years old.

This past weekend was pretty low key. Rebecca had her first real bath on Saturday. I love to take a bath. It is my favorite thing to do besides sleep. So, of course, I thought that Rebecca would love to take a bath as well. That could not be farther from the truth. As you can tell from the picture, she hated it.

After her bath we got her all dressed up to watch LSU football. LSU played against South Carolina. It was a great game. Nannie (my mom), John and I were really into it. Rebecca, on the other hand, could have cared less. At least she looked good.

As I stated in my last blog, Nannie has been in Atlanta since early September. She left today to head to Charleston to see my sister, Laura. It was really sad to see her go, but I know that it was time. Luckily, Mimi (John's mom) is going to come over during the day to help out. John and I will be on our own at night, but since the pediatrician told us to let Rebecca sleep at night until she wakes up, she has done really well. She still wakes up every 3 to 4 hours, but she goes right back to sleep after she eats. Let's all say a prayer that this continues.

Sleep?

It has been a week since we have been home from the hospital, I can can honestly say, there is no way I would have survived this week without our family. My mom, Nannie, has practically moved to Atlanta. She has been here since Sept. 3, and she is staying until Sept. 26, if not longer. She has been doing everything around here from cleaning, to cooking, to taking late night shifts, and everything in between. I am not sure how Rebecca, John, and I will survive once she travels back to Mississippi. Fortunately, we have John's parents here, Mimi and Papa R. They have been great making sure we do not run out of food. Plus, when my mom does leave, they are ready to take up the slack. I kind of think they are ready for Nannie to leave so they will have more of a reason to come by, even though we have told them they can come anytime to get their Rebecca fix. Here are a couple of pictures of Rebecca with her grandparents. My dad, Papa J, was here for the delivery, but because it is cotton picking time, he had to head back to MS early.

I have always heard that the first week home from the hospital was "special." Ain't that the truth! You never realize how much you love to sleep until you no longer get enough of it. And the funny thing is, is that no matter how tired I am, when I am able to get in bed, I can't go to sleep. Hopefully that will pass. Since Rebecca had slight Jaundice when she was born, we are having to wake her up every 3 hours to feed her. So by the time I wake her up, get her fed, change her diaper, and get her back to sleep, I am lucky if I have 2 hours until the next feeding. I am even more lucky if I am able to sleep at least an hour of those two hours. Needless to say, I am tired. But no matter how tired I am, if I hear my baby cry, I am by her side in a second. I guess that is just part of being a mom.

Today we had our first week doctors appointment. I was really nervous about this trip, but not because of the actual appointment. I was more anxious about the car ride to the clinic. Last Friday on our trip home from the hospital, Rebecca wailed the whole way home. By the time we got home, I was walling. But today she was an angel in the car. She just looked around the whole time, and then on the way home she slept. God answered my prayers. Here is a picture of Rebecca on the way home from the hospital.

The doctor's appointment went great. My baby, who came into this world at 8lbs. 5 oz., and left the hospital just one week ago at 7lbs. 12 0z, weighed in today at 8 lbs. 11 oz. That's right, in one week she gain almost a pound. Probably because we are feeding her every 3 hours. I am not just nursing her, we are having to supplement her with 1-2oz. of formula after every meal. She has what we call the Ambrose Stomach, which means she loves to eat and eat and eat. But because she has gained so much weight, the doctor told me that during the day we only have to feed her every 3-4 hours, and at night we feed her when she wakes up. i could have kissed the doctor when she said this. Tonight though, I am sure she will want to be feed every 2 hours just because she knows I could get some sleep. The doctor said that everything else looked fine. AND her umbilical cord finally fell off this morning, so we get to give her a bath tomorrow. I am still not sure if she is going to have an inny or and outty. I will keep you posted.

Well, this blog has kind of been all over the place. I am going to try to blog more often, since I am able to get around a little better now and hopefully get more sleet at night. I will end this entry with a few of my favorite pictures from the week.