Pictures, PIctures

So it has been a few weeks since I have posted so I apologize for those of you waiting for more pictures. I decided to upload quite a few since our little Libby is now 3 months old. Wow! Here are a few things that she has learned or likes to do:

*Right now Libby's new thing is her tongue. She loves it! She is usually found with it out or sucking on it or moving it around. It is fun to see her discover new things.

*She started a few weeks ago sucking on her hands and it's a love-hate relationship. She loves licking them but hates the taste. Her faces are priceless.

*She has recently found her hands and she loves to watch them. So lately she has been having both hands in fists above her head and she just watches them move. She kind of gets upset if she can't see them anymore and gets (we think) a little bugged that they move close to her face and her eyes go cross-eyed. It's hilarious to watch.

*She is doing great sleeping on her own. She now sleeps 9 hours, even though she literally thrashes through the night and throws her head around side to side, she still is sleeping. And recently this last weekend she has started sleeping in her own crib in her own room. I wanted to keep Libs in our room until she was sleeping through the night and now that she is sleeping through, she's in her own room. She is doing extremely well and Jedd and I seem to be loving it. Libby is a very loud sleeper including funny grunts and noises along with tossing and turning so we are getting more sleep too. She usually takes a bottle between 8 and 8:30 and then is in bed soon after. Then she doesn't wake up until 5:30 or so to eat. I have had to get her on this schedule due to me working so she can eat before she leaves to go to grandma's house at 6:00.

*Along with sleeping through the night Libby is taking great naps, even at the grandma's houses. She will usually take about a 3 hour nap usually around 10 or 11 and. Then a few 45 minute naps morning and afternoon, she does very well. Such a great sleeper.

*She likes going to the grandma's houses when I am at work during the week. However, she is like me and we think she likes and enjoys being home. She is definitely a home body, especially when she is tired and doesn't get her naps. She is starting to be a mommy's girl a little bit too which I kind of like.

*She does not like strangers holding her and usually doesn't do well in places that she doesn't know. If she is somewhere strange or with strange people, she usually just wants me to hold her. If not, she screams.

*Libby has started laughing/giggling this last week and it has been so much fun! She is ticklish on her collar bones, her rib cage and her thighs. I can usually get her to laugh for just enough time to grab the video camera and then she's done. Hopefully we can catch it one of these times because it is too cute and funny.

*She still loves to talk and be talked too. She gets excited and kicks her legs and flails her arms constantly. We call her our "squirmen wormen". She never sits still, yes even during her naps she tosses and turns.

*Libby absolutely LOVES polka dots. Her car seat cover has polka dots on the inside and if I'm not watching, I can usually catch her talking to the polka dots. It makes me laugh every time. And she has a lion toy that has polka dots on it too and both Jedd and I have caught her talking to her lion on different occasions. The other day I wore my blue and white polka dot shirt and she couldn't stop looking at it for about a half hour straight. She loves polka dots! It's a good thing her crib bumper pads are polka dots!

*She has started grabbing at things and toys and holding on to them. She usually snags a piece of my hair from time to time so that is always fun to pry it out of her fingers. But she has started liking her toys a little bit more and looking at them. Thank goodness Santa and grandma and grandpa were smart and gave her toys for Christmas!

*She still fake coughs and laughs a little to get our attention. In fact right now she is sitting in a bouncy chair and doing that exact thing as I am typing this. Then when we look over, she just smiles and kicks because she gets excited.

*Libby has had bad eczema lately and so we are trying to get it all figured out and taken care of. It's taken us a few weeks of solid eucerin cream and no soap to get rid of the dry skin. We are currently trying to see if she's allergic to milk and so she has been on soy formula. I don't think she's allergic to milk because nothing has changed from her skin for being on the formula for 2 weeks. So I guess we just wait for the weather to change and hopefully her skin will get better with the weather.

*Her eyelashes are coming in so long and beautiful. She gets this from her daddy, and I think she is going to love this when she gets older. If only her hair was that thick, she would be in heaven. Her her is still dark and getting so long, but it is so very very thin and fine.

*And last she has started rubbing her eyes when she gets tired. So not only can we tell she's tired because around her eyes gets red (like her momma) but she also starts rubbing them. It's too cute to see her do this.

AND NOW FOR PICTURES: sorry there are a lot of them. Couldn't choose just a few to pick so I posted a lot of them.

This is Libs licking her fingers. Her faces are hilarious.

We have tried and tried and tried to capture Libby's smile on camera. This night we were more successful than we ever have been. Every single time I get out the camera to take a picture I get this stone face and the smile goes immediately away. Talk about frustrating! But here are a few of mostly smiles.

Going to church in our new outfit. Sadly Libby was too skinny to wear this for the longest time and when she finally fit into it, she was way too long. She only was able to wear it twice and then we had to put it away. But we got some fun picture anyway.

Last week we decided to let Libby just lay on our bed until she got tired and so two nights in a row this is how Jedd found both of us. I had fallen asleep and Libby was wide awake. I promise that when I finally closed my eyes, I "THOUGHT" Libby was asleep. I guess I was wrong both times.

New pajamas Great Grandma Downs gave Libby. (Again smiling except for when I brought the camera out to take a picture. Such a stinker!)

Libby's crazy hair one morning when she woke up. We call her our mad scientist, I just think it is hilarious!

And this was Sunday. I'll consider this her 3 month old picture. This was the first thing I bought when we found out we were having a girl and I have been dying to have her wear it. She finally was able to and it looked so dang cute on her! And if you can tell, I caught "almost" smiles in some pictures.

We just love our Libby Lynn. She brings so much joy and smiles to our lives that we wonder what we ever did without her. I just wish time would slow down a little bit, it seems to be going way way too fast.

Updates

2 months Old

Libby turned 2 months right before Christmas. Where has the time gone? I swear just the other day she was born and now look at her. We went in for her check-up and sadly had to get shots. We've decided that we aren't going to get shots anymore. (Ok just kidding, it was just really really hard to watch her scream like that, and I couldn't do anything about it. Poor girl. That night she was just crying like she never has before so I knew she was really sore.) But other than that, she seems to be doing really well. Here are her stats for those of you who want to know:

Height: 24 inches - 90 percentile (she was 20.5 when born)

Weight: 10 lbs 9 oz - 50 percentile (she was 7 lbs 14 oz when born)

(this smile melts my heart!)

Just some fun things about Libby:

*She sleeps 7-8 hours at night at a time. This makes it nice but it is a little hard since she wants to fall asleep at 7 or 8. That makes the 8 hours end at around 2 or 3 am. But up once a night, I can handle that!

*We have found that Libby has to have her naps or she is not a happy baby. Over the holidays her schedule was crazy and it made for many freak outs at family parties because she was so tired and her schedule was messed up. Mommy was the only one to be able to calm her down, and even then it took a long time.

*Libby is all smiles (when she gets her naps) and loves to be talked too. Her daddy can get her to smile the biggest and they always have talks at night. It is so cute to see her smile at Jedd, it melts my heart.

*Libby is so strong and can hold her head up 99% of the time. She has even started to try and pull herself up so she is sitting up and not laying down. She loves to be upright and doesn't really care to be laying down on anything. She wants to be up and seeing all the action and what is going on.

*Her hair seems to literally have a mind of it's own and even after getting it wet and combing it down, it still stands on end. But no way am I complaining. I think it's the cutest thing in the world!

*Libby has all of a sudden decided that she doesn't like her binky as much and loves to lick her hands. Even though she doesn't like the taste, she continues to lick her hand. It is so cute!

Christmas

This Christmas was probably one of the most fun Jedd and I have had so far...thanks to our Libby. We know she was too young for the real Christmas stuff but that didn't make it any less fun for us. Miss Libby seems to make everything better for us. This is a picture of our Libby on Christmas morning. Everybody says she looks like a present with this bow...she truly was our best Christmas present this year.

At my family Christmas party my mom gave Libs this sleeper and it was perfect to wear on her first Christmas.

And of course had to get pictures with mom and dad in front of the tree.

Blessing Day

The day after Christmas, Libby was blessed by her daddy. It made for the perfect holiday weekend (even though it was crazy nuts) and most of our families were able to make it for Libby's special day. Here are just a few pictures of the day. My wonderful talented mother made her dress and it couldn't have been more perfect. It was exactly what I wanted.

(The Cherry family)

(Libby with her mommy)

(Grandma and Grandpa Downs)

(Grandma and Grandpa Cherry)

All in all, it has been a crazy couple weeks but it has been fun. I am just so glad the holidays are over and we can get back to a normal schedule. I have found that the holidays are not my most favorite with kids because schedules get all messed up with parties. Next year I'll try and plan better around sleeping time and not let Libs miss her naps.

Now the tears begin because starting Tuesday January 4th, I go back to work and the grandmas babysit Libby 2 or 3 times a week. What am I going to do without my baby? I have already started tearing up just thinking about not being with her 24 hours a day. Wish me luck because I'm going to need all the help I can get to make it through these first couple days without my baby.

Life As A Mom

Life as a mom is so great. I mean look at this face? She is seriously the cutest thing I think I have ever seen. (Don't judge me for being prideful, every mom feels this way about their own child!)

Life as a mom has it moments though. Some things I have learned are the following:

#1: I have wanted to get my hair cut for quite a while now and finally was able to go last night. However, a half hour after I left, my husband calls me with a "screaming at the top of her lungs" baby. Lesson learned?? Never leave my sweet angel at bed time. Or else you will have two very frazzled people to calm down when you get home. My husband was so great with Libby but I guess she just wanted her mommy for na-night time.

#2: Finding time to workout is almost impossible unless I want a screaming baby. Ok that probably wouldn't happen, but I feel guilty for making her stay in her rocking chair as long as she does. Libby has to stay in that thing when I do anything and working out would just add to the time spent in that darn chair. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I feel guilty. My husband works over 50 hours a week; he is gone from 6:00 a.m to 6:30 pm. Finding time to work out is hard. After Libby falls asleep between 7:00-8:00 pm, and I finally get some time with my hubby after he gets off work, I am completely exhausted and the last thing I want to do is go down in the basement and workout on the elliptical for any amount of time. Lesson learned?? Maybe I should have been waking up early before the hubby leaves to work out because I am so ready to get rid of these extra baby pounds I put on while pregnant. Fitting into pre-pregnancy jeans is my enemy right now!

#3: Thinking about leaving my baby for any amount of time is not so fun. I have to go back to work in 3 weeks and the thought of me not taking care of my baby 24 hours a day is kind of hard to swallow. I hold her all the time, and so I admit she is spoiled rotten. Lesson learned?? Next baby probably shouldn't be held quite as much and should be taught at a younger age to fall asleep by herself instead of me always rocking her to sleep. WHATEVER! WHO AM I KIDDING? I don't care that my baby is spoiled and loves me to rock her to sleep. I'll be honest, I probably will do the same thing with our next one.......WAY WAY WAY down the road.

#4: I love the clothes and fun things I bought for Libs. But trying them on in a short amount of time makes for one onry baby. Lesson learned?? Playing dress up is not so fun when you have a baby who hates getting her clothes taken off or having them put on. But look at this cute outfit. Who am I kidding, look at this cute baby!!

#5: My husband is so great with our little one. The other day she was so tired and this is what I found on the couch when I came back from doing a few things around the house. Lesson learned?? I don't always have to be with Libby 24 hours a day. Sometimes "daddy time" is needed.

Yes, life as a mom is so great! And learning along the way is part of the parenting process. I guess I am a lucky girl to be able to experience it with such a great husband and such a great baby. I couldn't ask for anything more!

7 Weeks

Ok I know I post a lot about what our Libby does but I want to remember all of it so this is kind of just for me. She changes so much from week to week that it just amazes us what she learns and starts doing. So I have decided to post AGAIN things Libby does or has learned at 7 weeks of age.

*She has started to fake cough to get our attention. She sits in her little rocking chair when I am getting ready in the mornings and usually fake coughs at least a dozen times to get my attention from start to finish. It's so funny to watch. Sometimes she coos to get my attention too.

*She kicks her legs violently when she gets excited about something. She loves to look at our ceiling fan in out bedroom while laying on our bed and smiles and talks to the fan quite a bit. She kicks a ton when she is just laying there looking at it.

*Libby hates to snuggle with us, she has since she was born. But she does love to lounge on us and usually just lays there sprawled out for quite a while just as content as can be.

*Yes Libby hates to snuggle with us, but just the last couple days she has decided that to sleep, her face needs to be snuggled against the blanket almost so she can't breathe. Don't know why all of a sudden this change, she has never done it before.

*Libby coos and smiles a whole lot more. She even smiles at other people, although she smiles the biggest for her mom and dad which we just love.

*She has started to laugh in her sleep now. It is hilarious to watch and I have the hardest time not laughing and waking her up because it is so cute. I can't wait until she starts doing that when she is awake.

*We are still having problems with her spitting up a ton, but she has decided to only spit up when we are not looking. Honestly, she spits up 99.9% of the time when I don't see it, I just see the after effects. It is great though if you catch the tail end of her spitting up because she has the biggest grin on her face almost like she is relieved to have that stuff out of her belly.

*Libby got a cold this last weekend and had a horrible cough and was really congested. We felt so bad for our little girl and wished we could take it away but there was nothing we could do. The doctor said that we could give her saline drops to help with the congestion, but that was pretty much all we do for her. Her cough and sore throat luckily only lasted a few days but her congestion is lasting a lot longer. At least she is starting to feel better.

*Libby's hair is so great. I just love when it stands straight up, I never try to comb it down. We call our Libs our little fuzz ball because she has so much hair and by the end of the day most of it is standing on end. This was last night's hair. Too funny.

*And probably the coolest thing ever is that when Libby is upset and family can't calm her down, Jedd or I take her and she calms right down for us. I think she has started to recognize when we hold her and it is so cool. In all my years of baby-sitting and nieces and nephews, I was never the one that could calm babies down when they were fussy. Now with my own daughter, I am that person and it's the best thing ever!

(Nerdy picture I know, but I don't get a ton of us just hanging out.)

New Pictures

Just a few pictures and updates on our Libby. I finally caught just a little smile on our Libs. She is so stubborn and won't hold a smile for longer than a second. So you can only imagine me trying to grab my camera when she smiles, but this is the best I have so far. It is just too bad because miss Libby smiles all the time and it is so adorable! She has even started cooing at me and it is so much fun.

This is our Libby getting ready to go to my sisters house. She is our little "gangster" with her baggy clothing. We just laugh every single time we stick her in her car seat and get this look. It is just too funny.

And just a few things that our Libs does since she is ALREADY 6 weeks old.

*She cries every single time I take her bottle out of her mouth when her she is done and her formula is gone. Sadly she only does this to me and Jedd thinks it's HILARIOUS. Me....not so much.

*She is still horrible to burp.

*She has started smiling and cooing at me on purpose and it is the best thing in the world!

*The other night Libby fell asleep at 8:00 pm and didn't wake up until 3:00 am. I was in heaven. Too bad it was short lived because the next night she was up 4 times.

*Libby loves her bath but still hates having all of her clothes off and being cold. She still hates lotion being put on her too, but she tolerates it.

*We are having a hard time with Libs spitting up all of her formula lately. She usually spits up everything we give her within an hour of being fed. The doctor thinks she has a little acid reflux but we are still in the process of trying to figure it out. But in the meantime she sure lets us know that she HATES her medicine to help the spitting up.

*Libby is so alert and loves to look around. (Especially right now at the Christmas tree when the lights are on.) She has even started kicking her legs WILDLY and it is so fun to watch her just kick away. Not so fun when you are trying to change her diaper.

*I took her into the doctor on Monday (just a few days over 5 weeks) to get a few things checked up on and she weighs 9 lbs 4 oz. She is growing!

Well that's about it for now. How in the world did we ever live without this little Libby in our lives? She is the best thing ever!

My Sweet Libby

My amazing sister-in-law, Holli, came to see Libby when she was 12 days old and while she was here, she snagged a few pictures of my baby. Holli is so talented and has taken pictures of every occasion I have had....bridals, engagements, wedding, and now baby. She is so sweet to do this for me and so of course I have to share what she took. I love them and I couldn't decide on just a few pictures, so I am putting most of them on here. Enjoy!

Thanks Holli! You have captured my sweet Libby so great! I just love these pictures!!