Smile!

Today Drea seemed to have a case of cabin fever. She woke up cooing and laughing, and stayed in a fairly decent mood, but was bored with everything in the house. So I put on the wrap (she always smiles and laughs when she sees me pick it up) and we went for a long walk together this afternoon. Here are some photos I took when we came back in. I snapped the first photo when I realized she was holding her bottle all by herself; it's the first time she's done that for more than just a couple of seconds!
On Saturday we went to the YMCA with my mom and Drea's cousins. They had a healthy kids event with various booths and activities. I took Drea into the heated pool for the first time. She loves water, so I expected her to love a pool, and I wasn't disappointed. I just wish I had remembered to take the camera. She started laughing when she realized I was taking her into the water. She laughed and enjoyed kicking her legs and splashing her arms while we were in the water. Her swimming lessons start in May, and I am looking forward to going to them with her.

She's figured out how to grab my glasses and hair now, and yanks my glasses off almost every time I pick her up. She's also kicking her legs and attempting to roll over and sit up every time her diaper gets changed now. These things make life a teeny bit more difficult, but they show how fast she's growing up. I can't believe she's almost six month old already!


I've also uploaded some more videos lately

Here's Brian and Drea playing.



Drea noticed the tag on her playmat and was determined to get it.

Thankful

I have been really emotional since Drea arrived. OK - so I've been really emotional since I first found out I was pregnant. I don't know if I will ever be back to "normal" again or if this is just my new normal. Just beware - this post is pretty sappy.

I have been thinking a lot about how I felt during this time last year, and I can't believe how fast the whole pregnancy and Drea's first five months have flown by.

During the first trimester of my pregnancy I felt more anxiety than I have ever experienced in my life. Even when you consider my current insomnia and anxiety about SIDS since she's been born, it was worse during those three months. I spent almost every minute of the day worrying that I would have another miscarriage. I wanted to be a mommy very badly, and for years I had wondered if I could for various reasons, so after the first miscarriage I was afraid that I really might not be able to. I heard about people that had several miscarriages before finally having a baby, and I just didn't think I'd be able to go through that.

But it all turned out OK, and I never could have foreseen what my life would be like one year later. I keep looking at her sweet little face and thinking that I just can't believe that this adorable little girl is mine! My heart melts every day when she smiles at me. There have been times I was absolutely exhausted and wondering how I was going to get through the day, and that smile always makes me say "No matter what else happens today that was worth it!". Sometimes I look at her when she's laughing, squealing, sleeping, studying something new, or when she's in the middle of eating with carrots or peas smeared all over her face and clothes, and I feel so happy that I start to cry.

I will never be a perfect mother. This isn't possible. There will be problems for all of us, and I'm sure I will make mistakes. But I can promise this one thing: I will never take her for granted, and I'll never stop being thankful that she's here.

Pics for Katie......and some videos

I said in the last post that I wanted to practice wearing Drea in a back carry and Katie asked for pics. We haven't taken any of me yet, but today we tried it out when Brian took Drea outside for a few minutes and I grabbed the camera. It certainly wasn't perfect - we have some stuff to work on - but Drea loved it, and it was cute!

Here's a pic I decided to throw in just because. I took it sometime last week. She used to love her Bumbo seat, but she's getting tired of it now. She still can't sit unsupported, but she hates being confined in the Bumbo and tries to pop out of it. I thought I'd take a few pictures before she gets too big for it. She's getting big so fast!

Drea always enjoys watching water run from the faucet in the sink. The other night after dinner I let her play in the water for a couple of minutes. The kitchen was still a mess because I hadn't cleaned up from dinner yet, but I uploaded the videos anyway because I thought it was cute.





Drea has gotten a lot better at jumping in her Jumparoo. She's wild and sometimes gets a bit overstimulated, but she really loves jumping in it.

Out and About

Friday we went shopping at Commerce with my cousin Misti and her husband Doug. I hadn't really taken Drea out for a big shopping trip before, so I was worried how she would handle it, but she was great.

We ate lunch at Applebee's before shopping and she stayed in a relatively good mood. She usually doesn't like to sit still for that long without fussing, but she had lots of new things and people to watch. She was smiling and laughing and playing with the toys I brought along.

We bought a lot of Summer clothes for Drea, which was the point of the trip, along with some other things.

This was the first time I've really used my stroller before, and she seemed to like being in it. I ended up taking her out and putting her in the wrap for the last two stores we went in when she started getting tired and a little fussy. She went to sleep and ended up napping on the way home.

Brian and I had fun, but we were tired by the time we got home.

On Saturday morning my mom asked me if I would like to go to the walking trail at the Health Campus with her and the kids, so I packed up the stroller again and drove over. I've been going to the gym every day and working out, but I decided this would be a fun way to get some exercise and see Mama and the kids at the same time. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice walk. Drea ended up napping in the stroller for most of it. I took the wrap in case she got tired of the stroller and ended up using it to carry Lydia - who's two - when she got tired of walking. I put her on my back and she loved it!

I need to practice until I get good enough at a back carry to feel comfortable carrying Drea that way. It really didn't bother me at all to carry Litty Bitty and she's a bit bigger than what I'm used to. Drea is going to be too big to carry comfortably in the front soon and she really doesn't like it when I try to put her on my hip. I got my mom to help me put her on my back after we finished walking and she seemed to like it, but I didn't really have the wrap tight enough to suit me. We'll work on it.

We spent most of the afternoon at my parents' house with the kids. Drea and I went home around supper time, and I fed her, bathed her, and handed her over to Daddy so he could get her to sleep.

I've had a lot of fun the last few days, but having fun can make you tired!

I felt like this:

Drea's First Visit to a Park

Yesterday Brian, Drea, and I met up with Mama, Austin, Trinity, and Lydia at a local park. We put Drea in a swing for the first time. We stuffed a blanket in the swing since she's still too little to swing in it alone, but it wasn't enough. Luckily I had my wrap with me and with the blanket it held her in snug enough. She loved it.
I have never seen her sit in the same place that long without getting bored and throwing a fit. She loved looking around at all the other children playing while she was swinging. She stayed in it for thirty minutes. I looked away to see what the other kids were doing, and when I looked back she had fallen asleep.
So we got her out and let her sit with her Nana for a while.
She loved being outside; I'm so glad the Spring weather is here and we can get out now and have fun.

Here's video I took right after we put her in the swing:

First Easter

After we got home from church I took some photos of Drea and her Easter basket. I went back and forth over whether to bother with anything since she doesn't know the difference, but since she enjoys toys now I decided it would be fun to buy a few teether toys and such and put them in a basket for her.
She really liked it, and ended up reaching over and grabbing some of the toys out and shoving them in her mouth (a definite sign of a 5 month old's approval).
My family came over and we all had a big Easter lunch. We hid eggs afterward that I dyed with the older kids yesterday and I also bought some plastic eggs with candy inside for them to hunt.
We all went outside and watched the kids hunt eggs, and then my mom and I put Drea in a stroller and walked around a bit while everyone else played with water balloons. Drea is always fascinated by her cousins, and loves to watch them run around and play.

I added all the Easter photos I took today to the album I posted with Drea's earlier Easter photos: http://s211.photobucket.com/albums/bb107/CReader1/Easter%202010/

Growing in a Hurry

Every few days we find out that Drea has learned how to do something new overnight. Just in the last two weeks she's starting doing a lot of new things.

She has discovered her feet and plays with them all the time now.

She's figured out what we are doing when we eat and drink, and wants to join in. I have occasionally given her a teeny bit of baby food, but we haven't really started feeding solids in earnest because she's not six months yet.

She's seeing and noticing new things. For example, she's finally noticed the animal pictures on her play mat and tries to pick them up off the floor.

Whenever she's on the floor and isn't playing with her feet she rolls over onto her stomach and tries to crawl. She's figured out how to get her bottom up in the air and try to scoot. I think she'd already be scooting if we had carpet and she could get some traction!

She's so frustrated lately because she wants to move on her own. She actually rolled from tummy to back once (she's gotten good at back to tummy), but has stopped trying that because she wants to try and crawl instead. But I think any day now she might figure out how to roll around. My niece Lydia used to roll across the house to get around when she was this size, so nothing would surprise me.

She's getting big so fast; she's in 6 to 9 months outfits now. It seems like we just brought her home, but she'll be five months old tomorrow.

I've actually been sleeping a little bit better lately. I've started going back to the gym and trying to eat healthy again as well. I've gained back all but 39 pounds of the weight I lost a couple of years ago. I'm determined to lose again. I have to be healthy and energetic so I can chase this little maniac around the house once she starts moving around!