1 Month Check-In

One month ago today, my sweet little baby girl made her way into the world.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying and all I keep hearing is "just you wait" and "it just keeps going faster."  I just want to freeze time and keep her this size forever.  This past month has been one of the greatest months of my life, Marissa brings such joy to my heart and I love her so much!  It's going to be really hard for me to go back to work.  At least I don't have to go back until the week of Thanksgiving...unless I find some way to make money from home.  Hmm...wishful thinking.


Here's Marissa's one month stats:

8.13 pounds, she weighed 6.6 pounds at her 4 day check up.  She is currently in the 38th percentile for her weight (she's petite, but 2 pounds is great, which means breastfeeding is successful so far).

She is currently 21.75 inches long, she was 19 inches at birth, so she has gained 2.75 inches in a month!  She is in the 76th percentile for her height, she's a tall girl. 

Her head circumference is 14.25, she was 13.25 at her 4 day check up.  She has a small head like her mom and dad and is in the 29th percentile. 

Now onto the important stuff....

I know I'm a little biased, but isn't she cute?

Our First Play Date (with commentary)

We had our first baby play date yesterday.  Okay, really it was more of a play date for the parents, but I think we all had a little fun.  =)

Jeremy and Mickey came over for dinner, we had baked spaghetti, salad and bread sticks. Hunter and Marissa got to meet again.  Hunter was checking out Marissa and was pretty curious about her.  It was so cute! 

Marissa: "Daddy, this is Hunter"

 Hunter: "Hi, Marissa!"

 Hunter: "Mr. Mudd, may I hold Marissa's hand?"

Danny: "Hey now boy, you better watch it!"

 Hunter: "You're a little baby, I'm a big boy now!"

 Hunter: "It's okay Marissa, no need to cry."

 Marissa: "Mom, you know I really don't want the finger right now..."

Hunter: "I'll take that finger, I like fingers!"

 Hunter: "Yeah, my bib doesn't lie, I drool."

 Hunter 5 months, Marissa 4 weeks

I think it is going to be so much fun watching these two grow up together.  We probably shouldn't tease them about being boyfriend and girlfriend, but they don't know what we're talking about yet, ha, ha.  It's nice that they are so close in age and it's nice having friends with kids.  They understand bath time, bed time routines and fussing while you are trying to carry on an adult conversation that doesn't consist of baby poop!  I had a lot of fun yesterday and hope to get together more often. 

Danny had a ball with Hunter.  He's at that age where he laughs, smiles and loves being bounced!  He's like the total workout gym.  After all the excitement of the day we got Marissa ready for bed and Danny and I relaxed on the couch together.  We both dozed off a few times and decided to get in bed early.  I think it was a little after 9:00, lol.  We are an old married couple now, but it was nice to snuggle in bed together on a Saturday night. 

Today we are going to watch the game, the Skins vs. the Rams.  Hopefully we've got this one in the bag!  Marissa is going to have to wear her Redskins onesie today.  Last week she didn't wear her onesie and we lost in overtime.  Danny got me an Orakpo jersey for my birthday, so I'll be sporting that today! =)

Change

Life is all about change, each day is a new day, no two ever the same.  Change can be for the best, the worst or indifferent.  Change can make you happy, make you sad, it can be a life altering event.

A lot has changed in the past few weeks, but there is much more change to come in the near future.

For starters, I'm obviously a mom now.  That in itself comes with a lot of change.  For me, this change was for the best and has made me have a whole new outlook on life.  There are things that are no longer of importance to me and there are new things (Marissa in particular) that my whole world revolves around now.  When I was pregnant I had some people tell me that I would regret getting pregnant "so young" and that I would be missing out on some of the best years of my life.  Well, I know it has only been a few weeks as a new mom, but I've partied since I was 15 years old.  I've gotten so drunk I've fallen down, passed out, got some great pictures along the way and had some crucial hang overs! 

My case in point...

 

 Don't Ask...

 

 Dance Party

 The Girls on my 23rd Birthday at Tim's

 

Bachelorette Party in OBX

Bar Dancing/Singing

 Shots in Mexico

Okay, I think you get the picture.  We were border line alcoholics, lol!  I've left out many, many incriminating pictures along the way...we'll save those for another day.  = )  But my point is that I've already had some great memories partying with friends, lavish vacations and hang overs that felt like they lasted a week.  I was ready for the next chapter in my life, which is why we decided to start a family.  I have to say, this chapter so far is better than any drunken night I've had!  But with this change, I think we will find that our friendships are going to change as well.  And it's no ones fault, we just aren't able to go partying like we could before, we have someone now that depends on us, for everything.  We hope to stay in touch with friends but we know that it will be more of a challenge now. 

Secondly, one of the biggest changes that is soon to come, which also happens to be heavy on my heart is my best friend, Cierra, is moving to South Korea for a year.  Yeah, a YEAR!  She leaves in October.  I won't be able to just pick up the phone and say hey and catch up (not that I really have a lot of time on my hands to do such a thing these days) but still.  I will have to set up a Skype account so that we can stay in touch and we will have to schedule "dates" due to the time difference.  Plus, Marissa needs to know who her "Auntie C" is.  I'm so happy for her that she has decided to make this change, but I will miss her dearly.  She has always been the one friend that I can confide in and be myself, 100%.  

 

Change is good, change is inevitable.  We learn, we grow, we evolve with change.   Right now, I wouldn't change a thing in my life.  I have an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally, a daughter I adore and so much to be thankful for!

~*Happy Autumn*~

Today is the first day of fall, which means it's my birthday!  I love this time of year.  The leaves start to change colors, the air is crisp and clean, football, fall festivals, the smell of pumpkin spice fills the air!  What's not to love? 

This is my first birthday as a mother and as a birthday gift Marissa slept from 10:30 pm to 3:30 am.  Such a good little girl to her mommy!

We are relaxing on the couch this morning together, enjoying a cup of coffee in our jammie jams.  Since it's my birthday and all, I might splurge and make it a two cup morning.  :)

So Fresh & So Clean

After Marissa's cord fell off we were able to give her her first real bath!  And let me tell ya, babies are slippery when wet!  I think she enjoyed her bath, until Danny accidentally put cold water on her.  Oops!  That really woke her up.  I love the smell of fresh baby!  I haven't been wearing perfume lately so that she smells like a sweet baby like she should.  She has the rest of her life to smell like perfume.  :)

Look at that big belly!

Today we've been hanging out on the couch together.  Momma put away some laundry, ran the dish washer and vacuumed the bedrooms.  Marissa has been napping in the boppy on my lap while I blog.  I even caught her having a happy baby dream...

  

 

I wonder what she was dreaming about? 

I can't believe she is 3 weeks old today.  Where is the time going?  She has been such a joy.  Don't get me wrong, having a baby is hard, hard work...but soo, soo worth it!  I would do it a thousand times over.  I just wish she could stay this small forever.  I find myself just staring at her during the day.  Can't get enough of her sweetness.  

Wednesday is my birthday and we are meeting "Grammy and Grandpup" for dinner at the Olive Garden.  Yum-yum!  Can't wait!

Busy Bees

It's been a busy weekend for our little family of three.  Friday evening we had a newborn photo session with Samantha Smith.  It turns out that she works in the same building that Danny works in.  After she befriended me on Facebook to check out our little bundle of joy, I fell in love with her photography.  Within a week, we booked a newborn photo session with her to capture sweet pictures of Marissa.  She is growing so fast that I didn't want to wait any longer to get her pictures taken.  We quickly ran out of natural light on Friday since Autumn is almost upon us, so we had to continue our session on Sunday.

Well, Sunday came and Miss Marissa wasn't exactly the most perfect model, though you can't tell from these sneak peek photos of our session.  She did not want to sleep for anything!  I would feed her, get her to sleep, and as soon as we were ready to put her on the set she was wide eyed and bushy tailed!  So we, or should I say Samantha, was very, very patient with us.  She spent the majority of her day with us to ensure we got beautiful photos, and for that I am so grateful!

We had a few laughs during the session, too.  Sweet Marissa took her first poop on Daddy!  It wasn't just a little poop, either.  As gross as it was, the best I could do was laugh.  I kind of stood there in limbo trying to figure out if I should throw a towel under her bum or just let her finish on Daddy's shirt.  Danny wasn't exactly thrilled, but it was hard to hold back the laughter.  I think Samantha may have laughed just a little, too!  Marissa was sure to pay me back for laughing though.  As Danny went to change his clothes, she decided she wasn't finished and pooped on me as well.  She was just full of it!

Here's a few of the sneak peek photos.  I should get the rest of the photos in two weeks, the suspense is going to kill me!  I can't wait to see them.  My parents chipped in on the photo session as an early birthday present.  These photos will certainly be a birthday present I cherish for a lifetime!

 

 

 

 

Photos By: http://blog.samanthasmithphotography.com/ 

Fluffy Butt & Tummy Time

We started cloth diapering a little over a week ago and so far I love it.  It's a little more work than disposables but the benefits in the long run will outweigh the convenience factors by far!  For the most part, we are using the old school style diapers called pre-folds or flats and instead of diaper pins and "plastic pants" we use snappi's and thirsties diaper covers.  Once Marissa gets a little bigger we will switch to our pocket diapers.  

Snappi

Thirsties cover

Again, I've had numerous people doubt that I would be able to cloth diaper.  I've gotten comments like "that's gross" to "your house is going to stink" to "good luck with that" and my favorite..."that won't last a week."  Well, we've made it past a week, it's poop and I have to deal with poop whether I cloth diaper or not, my house doesn't smell like poop and breast fed poop is completely water soluble.   It amazes me how un-supportive and closed minded people can be.  I don't know if anyone has noticed but when I do something I give it my all, I'm very determined and if you tell me I can't do something, you can bet your ass I'm going to give you a good run for your money.  

Even though Danny would rather use disposables for the convenience, he knows how much I want to cloth diaper and he's jumped in with both feet and is on board!  He is becoming quite the pro at using the snappi (it takes a little practice putting a cloth diaper on a squirmy baby).  

Well, without further ado, here's Marissa's cute, pink fluffy butt!

BumGenius All In One (AIO) Size Small

We had family tummy time...

Mother Sadie 

Eli giving the side eye...

I can't believe Marissa is already 2 weeks old.  Before I know it I will be heading back to work and having to send Marissa off to the baby sitters.  So in the meantime, I'm going to soak up every day that I get to spend with her.  I'm just not ready to pass her off to anyone.  Plus, with exclusively breast feeding, I can physically only be away from her for 2 - 4 hours at a time before the next feeding (if I'm lucky).  Sure, I could pump and give her a bottle but I don't want to start down that path of bottles yet.  I haven't had to give her a bottle in over a week and there's no need to cause confusion when it's not necessary.  I'm not at my wits end, pulling my hair out, there's nowhere I need to be right now without her.  She's just a little baby and she doesn't need to be away from her momma just yet.  Call me over protective, but she's not going out of my site until I'm 100% ready.  And if that means she's 16 before her first sleep over, then so be it.  I kid, I kid...I won't be that parent. :-P

Between diaper changes, feeding and cuddle time, this post only took about 2 hours from start to finish.  I think I'm doing pretty good! 

It's Official...

Remember that little bet we made, mom?  You know...the one where you said if the Cowboys beat the Redskins then Marissa would have to be a Cowboys fan?  Uh huh...looks like you LOST!  Ha, ha, ha!  Marissa is officially a Redskins fan!  Now all she needs is a little cheerleader outfit. 

She was our good luck charm last night.  =)

Hanging with Daddy during the game.

Game Day!

Today is the opening game for the Redskins and they are playing the Cowgirls.  Marissa is all ready to cheer on her favorite team!

Proud Baby Wearer

For the first time today I successfully wore the Moby Wrap! I'm officially hooked! It is soooo comfortable, Marissa was a happy baby and I still had my hands free to do whatever I wanted.

Danny laughed because so many people were staring at me wondering what in the world I had on.  I even had someone ask me if there was a baby in there, ha, ha!  Still trying to convince Danny to wear the Moby...but in the meantime, here's me and the baby girl!

Success!

Today we had our first successful trip to town.  We decided that we needed to get out of the house and as a "push present" Danny decided that I should get a nice new fridge!  We went to several stores and after a diaper change in the car, trying to feed in the back seat of the Expedition and having a fussy baby on our hands, I was about to throw in the towel and head home.  But we decided since we were already in town we might as well hit Sears to see if they had any good deals on fridges.  Marissa was cranky and I thought about just sitting in the car while Danny picked out a fridge, but then it hit me...

Remember that cute pink and brown sling posted below?  That thing is a LIFE SAVER!  I put Marissa in it, gave the kid a boob, threw a blanket over me for some discretion and off we went refrigerator shopping!  Yep, I nursed in public for the first time today and it wasn't that bad.  I'm not even sure the sales person could tell.  She was quite content and nursed until she fell asleep.  Ah, sweet success! 

Giving birth gives you a whole new outlook on life.  When your baby is hungry, you are willing to do what it takes to make sure she is a happy, fed baby!  Don't get me wrong, I still like to keep some decency and I'm still modest as ever, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

It was a busy day!  We got home a little later than what we wanted but Danny fixed a yummy dinner of chicken fajitas while I fed, bathed, changed and got Marissa in her jammies.  I think we make a pretty good team! 

Time to kick back with my honey and relax before the next feeding.  I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch, but I think Danny and I are adjusting pretty well to this whole parenting thing!

Good night blogger world!

Quick Check In

We've been settling into parenthood the past week and everything is going really well. Other than being a little fussy at times, Marissa has been great. She's feeding really well and I think we've got breastfeeding down!  She lets us know when she is hungry, so hopefully her weight gain is going good.

The other day we tried out the moby wrap and my jelly bean sling.  I still need a little practice with the moby but the sling is great.  And no, it has not been recalled and it is totally safe if used properly.  I would not put my baby in something that has been recalled or unsafe, give me some credit!

Speaking of credit, my parents are so, so proud of Danny and I, which means a lot to me.  It's nice that they notice and are giving us credit for being good first time parents.  It seems like most people just want to tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing.  I've done a lot of research and I think we're doing great!  Danny and I have been working as a team and I think it pays off.

The dogs have been getting used to Marissa as well.  Sadie is very curious and Eli, well, he doesn't want much to do with her but he is starting to come around.  Here's a picture of the pups waiting at the door of the nursery for feeding time to be over.  They've been doing great and I am very, very proud of them!

Here's a picture today of Marissa and I.

Snuggle time with daddy!

We are on day two of cloth diapering...more details to come soon! :-P