Monday, December 21, 2009

Reaching for the Stars

First of all, let me state that my little girl is getting so big! I went and had her weighed today at Baby Beloved and she's 13 lbs 10 oz. She gained almost 2 lbs in a month. You go girl!!! She sure loves mommy's milk! Now if only I can get her to take a bottle so that I can go to the T.S.O. concert on January 2nd... Any suggestions? I've tried 2 different types of bottles, Dr. Browns and one I special ordered online that's shaped like a woman's chest. I don't mind that Autumn won't take a bottle, except when I want to go out on occasions such as this one coming up. Especially since the concert is during a time when she power nurses the most. She refuses to take a pacifier too (which I don't mind) but it definitely doesn't help the situation very much.

Autumn is absolutely obsessed with her hands now. She's constantly bringing them up to her face and sucking on them, a lot. I'm constantly wipping her face off from all the slobber she wipes all over. She's really starting to reach out for toys and grabs them with her hands. I gave her a hard rattle once and she grabbed it right away and very quickly brought it to her face. LOL. Definitely gave her quite the scare. She definitely does not fancy that toy any more :-)

So the last post I state that I wasn't going to go over loading on toys for Christmas.... HAHA. I don't know what I was thinking at that time. Everytime I go out I get her a new toy or book. It's so much fun shopping for her even though she won't even remember it, let alone be able to open the gifts herself. But I'm still so very excited!

We had our first Christmas get-together with the VanSpronsen family (Jordan's mom's family) on Sunday. Autumn did pretty good. She won't take a nap in an unfamiliar place, so she took a short nap on me. She did let a few people hold her without getting upset, but she had to make sure she could see me at all times. She got a cute little stuffed squirrel from her Great-Grandma VanSpronsen that I hope Jade doesn't confuse for her own toy. That's another thing I've been dealing with. Jade's so used to having her own squeeky toys to play with, but now Autumn's toys are starting to squeek and make noise and Jade doesn't know what to do. It's hilarious! She'll sniff it and gentlely try to bite it and look at me to make sure it's okay with me first. Such a polite dog.

Autumn had her 3 month pictures taken this past Saturday by Kyle Bultman. She did such an amazing job and looked so pretty in front of the Christmas tree. Kyle had the pictures back to me that night and I was able to order Christmas cards. Yes, I know I'm a little late. But better late than never. Even got Jade to pose so nice next to Autumn. Had to bribe her with a toy I got her for Christmas, but I quickly put it away after we were done with the pictures.

I currently can't add any pictures today because my mom's laptop went down the drain and I can't add any pictures on my dad's laptop for now. I'll post double next time!!!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Shhh...


I find it hard these days to actually sit down and update my blog. I apologize for my followers who like to keep up on little Autumn's life. My little girl demands so much of my time right now. Not that I'm complaining or anything! :-) I really do enjoy spending every waking moment with her. She's just growing up so fast and I especially don't want to miss a thing. I am starting to give her some alone play time. That usually lasts about 15 minutes, two or three times a day. She really enjoys the new play mat Jordan and I got for her. I wasn't planning on getting one because Jordan's mom is getting her an exersaucer for Christmas, but I've noticed that she's getting bored with her toys on her bouncy seat (already). So time for something new and exciting!

Autumn's been checking out her hands a lot lately. Really studying them!! I love it when she's sitting on my lap and starts feeling me with her hands. It's so cute! I love her little hands and feet :-) Especially since she doesn't have my ugly toes. Haha. I saw her grab for a toy once, but it hasn't happened since. She does swipe at the toys a lot and likes to watch them move. She also loves to sit in her swing now and generally will fall asleep in it (which I don't mind).

I've slowly began to accept that Autumn is a cat napper. It is difficult if I want to get stuff done because she just loves to have face-to-face time with me. So now I find that I just have to tackle 1 chore at a time each day. I try not to carry her around with me because I go up and down the stairs a lot and that makes me nervous (since I'm extremely clumsy). Autumn probably would take a longer nap if she slept on me, but I don't want her to get used to the idea of sleeping on somebody. That just has bad news written all over it. Although, I don't mind a few cuddle sessions every once in a while. I just love how Autumn will just melt right into me when I lay her on my chest. Sigh! I know this won't last forever once she starts moving around. So I cherish every moment I have with her being this little!

I'm actually very surprised that I'm not going over board on Christmas gifts for Autumn this year. I think it's because my mom and grandma have been having WAY too much fun for buying her gifts. So I'm gonna just let them go crazy right now! Cheaper for me ;-) I'm definitely looking forward to Christmas morning though! It'll be a lot of fun this year, even though Autumn won't remember it!

Last, but not least, I don't remember if I mentioned this or not. Autumn's been starting to talk and coo a lot these days. Especially in the morning. She's really quiet, it's so cute. Her soft little voice. She also turns her head a lot, away from the person, when she smiles. So I have a feeling she might be shy. We will see. Please enjoy some pictures taken the other day (now that the camera batteries are charged again).



Autumn love her new little play mat with the froggie that sings!



It's kind of blurry, but she's been bringing her hands up to her face a lot these days!



Autumn talking to herself :-)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

My Baby Can Talk!


How many of you are frustrated that you can't understand what your baby or toddler wants because they can't talk very well? I can't relate (yet), but I've seen it in other kids. American Sign Language is a great way to teach your young one simple words in order to better understand what they want or need. Jen is giving away this great series, My Baby Can Talk, on her blog Leah's Little Life. All you have to do is become a follower to her blog (click on her blog name here on this page). Leave a comment on why you would LOVE this series, along with your email address so she can contact you. Enter daily for more chances to win!!! Winner will be selected at random on Monday, December 7th at 12pm. GOOD LUCK!!!!




My Baby Can Talk is a series of award winning DVDs and board books that teaches babies and parents to communicate at an early age, reducing frustration and creating a special bond that is so important for healthy child development. Babies are able to communicate at a much earlier age than they are able to speak. Research has shown that babies who use sign language tend to speak sooner with larger vocabularies, show an increase in IQ scores and engage in more sophisticated play.
Honored more than twenty national parenting awards including Parents Choice and reviewed and endorsed by child psychologists, professionals in the media as well as early childhood educators; My Baby Can Talk inspires preverbal communication using sign language as well as first spoken words. The My Baby Can Talk DVD series is the first program featuring preverbal babies signing all the words presented. Set to inspiring classical music, My Baby Can Talk videos feature beautiful real world images, delightful puppet shows, colorful toys in motion and babies communicating with simple gestures.
The My Baby Can Talk board books are truly unique in subject and format with no equal available on the market today. Each page comes alive with the word, a vibrant real world image and a delightful poem for parents to share with their babies. In addition, an illustration of the sign and a formal sign description is offered for parents to learn and teach to their little ones. These books are designed to inspire babies to learn to sign, learn to speak and begin to recognize the written word. One of the greatest human needs is to be understood and we are committed to fulfilling this need for preverbal babies.

Friday, November 27, 2009

My little flower girl.

Tis the season full of cold weather, snow pants, mittens and beanies! It's something I'm not used to thinking about... Autumn doesn't have enough (or any) hair to keep her little head warm with winter knocking on our doorsteps. I recently became addicted to Etsy and thanks to Cindy, I don't have to worry about that anymore. Autumn recently received a beanie from Cindy's esty shop, Lemon Drop Baby. She specializes in headbands, bows, flowers and beanies. This beanie not only keeps Autumn's head warm, it's super cute with the over sized flower! Now Autumn can enjoy the winter in style. Daddy's not a huge fan of the flower, but he loves the beanie :-) Thank you Cindy for the beautiful beanie and flower. Autumn loves it!

It matched Autumn's Thanksgiving outfit so well!


My beautiful baby girl!


Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn had her first holiday ever yesterday! We went to my aunt's house in Fremont for the Davis get-together. Autumn did better than I expected... I thought she was going to be super overwhelmed and scream the whole time, but she didn't. She slept the whole way there (over an hour drive) and slept the whole way back. She didn't get a good nap while we were there, so she was a little fussy. She didn't mind being passed around a little bit, as long as she wasn't looking at them. LOL. She had to have mommy in her view at ALL times! But also she didn't get to bed til about 1 am this morning. UGH! Power nursing up until then. She did, however, sleep until after 9 am. So I'm not complaining about that one bit ;-)

I know, it'll be no time before Autumn's rolling over! She's starting to push off with her right foot (while she's on her back) and has half of her butt off the ground. Such a big girl! I know they roll from their tummy to their back first, but it's just amazing to watch her exercise herself like that.
We had our Christmas pictures taken this past Sunday. I can't wait to show you guys pictures. I'll post them on here as soon as I get them. I've been so busy doing hair lately, I haven't had much time to sit down and relax for myself. It's nice to have the whole day to myself today!

I hope ya'll had a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Monday, November 16, 2009

No pain, No gain

Autumn had her 2 month check up today along with her first round of vaccines. I knew going into the appointment that I was going to cry watching Autumn be in pain, but it still hit me pretty hard watching her go from "Ooo, that didn't feel good", to extremely beet red, to screaming and tears! It took me about 5 minutes to calm her down and eventually she nursed. I welled up with tears when she got the shots, but as soon as the nurse left, my own fountain got turned on. So sad to see your baby in pain and hurting :-( But it's for the best and she'll never remember it anyways.

On a better note... My big girl weighs 11 lbs 15 oz and is 23 1/4 inches long. She's growing so fast! Her pediatrician is absolutely amazed by how advanced Autumn is with brain development. She already doing things that they were expecting until her 4 month checkup (like observing her hands and following me at greater distances). The doctor looks forward to Autumn's checkups because she just loves watching her grow up. She even commented on how much hair Autumn has grown back already :-) That's my girl! Grow mommy some hair. LOL.

Autumn also had a photo shoot last week with Wendy Ingraham and I can't wait to get those pictures back. I will post them on here as soon as I can.

I will also note that I'm very proud of my baby girl for sleeping 8 hours the past 2 nights. She's been going to bed super late though (after 11pm) so I'm trying something out by not putting her back to sleep right away after 8 am (cuz I like to sleep til 10 am) and that way she's more tired at night. It's worked 1 night so far. We'll see if my theory really works.

I also recently ordered Autumn's Thanksgiving outfit that I've had my eye on for quite some time. It's from baby Gap and I absolutely LOVE that store! Too bad it's so darn expensive. So I'm gonna try not to buy that much stuff from there (especially since she'll outgrow it so fast). But leave it to special occasions that I'll buy her cute things from there. I also got her Christmas outfit from there too. So cute! Can't wait to show you pictures!!!

But for now, please enjoy a picture of Autumn that just makes my heart melt!




Friday, November 13, 2009

Cloth Bum

I absolutely love my bumgenius diapers! Since a huge difference from my gdiapers to these. It hold a lot more in, I don't have to worry about getting poop on my hands when I remove the insert. LOL. And I'm patiently waiting for my cloth wipes to come in the mail too. Can't wait to start using those. Right now I just use Pampers, but I accidentally throw them in the diaper pail and they don't wash very nicely. Yuck! Also, I'm not a huge fan of putting alcohol on her little bum :-( I wouldn't do it do myself, so why should I do it to her? I did have a little accident with Autumn SOAKING herself once... But she was wearing her daytime insert and took a longer nap than expected... Silly girl. So she just got another bath ;-) I'm planning on ordering some different diapers right now for night time, but I'm not 100% sure on what I'm getting yet. Enjoy Autumn little cloth bum ;-)

She's starting to look at her hands.


Love the cloth bum :-) My favorite!


Happy girl!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

7 weeks

I haven't posted in a while because not much has changed. Autumn's starting to talk her little heart out and it just makes my day every time! I love our morning little chats and hope they continue through the rest of her life! The past few nights have been a struggle for me because she was waking up every 3 hours to eat when she easily could sleep 6 hours not too long before that. But I think her growth spurt was lasting a bit longer than we expected because last night she slept 7 hours and then 4 after that! Do you think I got that much sleep? NO! After 3 hours, I was up every hour to make sure she was ok. HAHA. I just wasn't used to it after the previous nights. Hopefully she sleeps that long again and I am able to sleep as well.

Autumn finally gets to meet her Aunt Sissy today for the first time since she was born :-D Jordan's sister (Jessie) moved down to Florida before Autumn was due to go to college. But since things didn't work out, she's home and is coming over tonight. I'm so excited, I can't imagine how excited Jessie it!!! Definitely will post some pictures. But for now, enjoy some of the pics I took today!



I just love her double chin and cheeks!


Oooh, check out that hand! What is that? ;-)


Classic poop face! LOVE IT!


Thursday, November 5, 2009

Blondes have more fun!

Autumn's starting to grow hair on the top of her head again and it's coming in THICK and BLONDE!!!! So there goes my redhead theory. LOL. She's starting to talk more on a regular basis, especially when I'm changing her diapers. And she's finally sleeping (during the day) in her crib and not upstairs by me. Yeah, I'll admit, it drove me crazy at first. But now I'm enjoying it more.

I finally gave up on my gDiapers this weekend. They were a disaster with her leaking through them almost every changing and getting expensive with multiple sizes and the inserts. So I switched to bumgenius and I'm loving them like crazy already! I love the night-time insert that holds SOOO much that her little bum feels dry after a changing. And they're so gosh darn cute! I think I might have to steal Jen's post on Cloth Diapering 101 once I get things going. HAHA. Yes Jen, your blog post did make me switch and I'm so glad! I even love her oversized cloth bum :-) Also, this may sound crazy, but I absolutely love doing laundry, so washing cloth diapers doesn't bother me one bit.

Sorry, no pictures today :-( I'll take some once her cradle cap on her face goes away. Silly girl. LOL

Monday, November 2, 2009

Thumbs up!

This morning Autumn found her hands! She was laying down on my legs and brought her hand up to her mouth and starting sucking. Eventually her thumb found its way into her mouth and she sucked on that for a few seconds. It was so cute and I was so glad to get it on camera! She even did it again when I was changing her later (after she soaked through yet another diaper... UGH!)

Speaking of diapers. I'm really sick of my gdiapers. I thought they were such a neat idea with the whole biodegradable/disposable inserts. However, they don't hold that much for as much as my little girl pees! It seems like I have to change her outfit almost after every nap. Today was the worst, she completely soaked through the front and got wet half way up her belly. So, last week I had enough and ordered some cloth diapers from bumgenius. I've heard a lot of great things about this diapers! I didn't get them at first because when I checked the price, they seemed to expensive. However, getting the gdiapers, I'm almost spending as much as I would on disposable diapers. And I'm all about saving money! I also got the gdiapers for Jordan too. He was not a huge fan on cloth diapers, but he's only changed her diaper twice since she's been home from the hospital! And cloth diapers are less messy than the gdiapers (because you have to take out the insert and throw them away or flush them). So when I researched the bumgenius diapers again, I noticed that they came down in price (almost the same as the gdiaper shells) and you only have to pay 1 upfront cost. PERFECT! I don't mind washing diapers at all either, because I'm doing it anyways with the gdiaper shells, since she pees through them almost every diaper change. I should receive the bumgenius diapers either tomorrow or wednesday. So I will let you know what I think about them :-)

Also, Autumn's starting to talk/coo a lot more often and to a lot more people. She'll almost always give everyone a smile. Especially mommy and grandma :-) But my dad just came home for lunch and talked with Autumn while I was eating my lunch. It was so cute. Just melts my heart the way she's interacting with me and my family more often! I just love my baby girl!

Please enjoy some pictures from Autumn's new find today!


"Ooo, that's different!"


Next came the thumb...


And it found its way into her mouth :-)

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Little Pumpkin

My mom bought Autumn her first Halloween outfit. And as Jordan was checking out the outfit, he read that it was a 3 piece outfit and I only had 2 pieces. Sad! We got ripped off. Oh well, she still looked really cute :-) We're not a huge fan of Halloween here with my family. I did go trick-or-treating as a kid, but it was involved with my church. That's what we'll do with Autumn too. Celebrate more "fall" than Halloween. However, please enjoy our beautiful little baby girl!


Jade jumped in for a few pictures.


Grandma steals Autumn for a few pictures!


Smiles for mommy!


Just after Jade gave her a face bath!


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tummy Time

I don't really do much tummy time with Autumn because she sleeps on her tummy everytime. But I figured I would give it a try today when she wasn't tired to see what she would do. Haha, it didn't last very long. She wiggled a little bit and then feel asleep :-) Silly girl. I wonder if she associates tummy time with sleepy time. Oh well, she gets plenty of exercise when she's waking up from a nap. Here's a picture from her "tummy time"...


On another note, Autumn just started holding up her head herself yesterday. Every now and then she'll let it drop, so I still keep my hands close by, but 99% of the time she's holding it up. Now she's starting to talk on a pretty regular basis too. She usually talks after I change her diaper. So I just let her sit there for a while and talk to herself. My dad got her up this morning and she talked to him for a while :-) Enjoy a few pictures from our talking session today.


Such a cutie!


Her fencing reflex (I was told that that reflex is to prevent the baby from rolling away from their mommy while they're sleeping...cuz way back when, babies slept next to their mommys).


She's getting so big! She's already outgrowing a lot of her clothes :-)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

5 weeks

My baby is 5 weeks old today. Last night was her first night in her own crib. She did pretty good. Woke up 30 min after I put her down, crying, so I picked her up and patted her to sleep and she slept again til she was hungry. She did fine the rest of the night, but I was a nervous wreck! So paranoid that I couldn't hear here through the monitor and making sure that she was still breathing. LOL. Silly mommy.

Autumn's also starting to talk to herself. Yesterday while I was changing her diaper, she starting cooing and ahhing to herself. It was so cute! But everytime we tried to record it, she stopped. Of course! It's amazing how fast she's growing. I find that I'm loving my little girl more and more everyday. Especially when I pick her up from a nap and she smiles right away. Sigh! Melts my heart!!!

Got my 6 week postpartum check up next week Friday. I'm curious to see how much baby weight I've lost and if I can start working out. Jordan and I are gonna try the P90X workout. I'm excited and ready to get back into my normal jeans. That's very frustrating right now. Still in my maternity pants, but they're too big! Definitely can't fit into my old jeans. Oh well, that's life.

Before I show off some pictures, I've got a funny story... The other night I was out doing a men's haircut and I left Autumn at home with my dad (quick haircut, didn't need to bring her along since she was sleeping). On my way home I texted my dad to see how she was doing and he texted back saying that she was starting to wiggle. A couple of minutes later my milk let down, making my "girls" all tingly. At that moment I picked up my phone and my dad texted me saying "MOMMYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" because Autumn was hungry and crying. It was amazing how in-tuned I am to my baby girl even though I was miles away! Made my day :-)

Now I hope you enjoy some pictures I took of Autumn on her 1 month birthday!


Posing next to her teddy bear that her great grandpa VanBall gave her!


Look at those long toes!



Got a half smile out of that one :-)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

4 weeks... and counting!

I can't believe my baby is 4 weeks old already!!! Tomorrow she'll technically be 1 month old. AWWWW! She's growing up so fast. Wednesday she had her 3 week check up. She weighed 9 lbs 13 oz, which is in the 80th percentile. Her height was also in the 80th percentile, but her head circumference was in the 85th percentile. Doctor says that Autumn is a "gold star" for gaining weight beautifully and staying within the same percentile for everything. My mom's convinced that she weighs 11 lbs by now. LOL. It's amazing to watch her grow up right before my eyes. She's starting to focus on things further away from my face. She even followed me around the room once when someone else was holding her! Doctor was truly impressed :-D It won't be long before she starts "talking". The other night she coo'd so loud that it scared her and even made her cry. SO CUTE! I love making her smile, but can never catch it on my camera. The flash blinds her too much. But please enjoy some pictures from her photo shoot by Theresa (who is absolutely amazing)!


It's crazy how red her hair looks in the sun!


My brother likes to call her a little jalapeƱo!



So sweet and innocent!


She's a very content baby.


She's starting to look more like mommy every day.


<3


One happy family!


Friday, October 9, 2009

3 weeks

I can't believe my baby is going to be 3 weeks old (tomorrow) already! It's absolutely amazing how much she's growing right before my eyes!

Autumn lost her cord, which is nice cuz now I can start using my gDiapers. She's starting to smile at everyone else in my family. She's been smiling at me since she was 2 days old (just like I did for my mom). But it's so cute to listen to my family giggle everytime she smiles at them.

Autumn's really into faces now. Really likes to study everyone's face, especially when you're talking to her. It won't be long before she starts "talking" back to us. She made a few cooing noises to me today, just made my heart melt! Another thing I'm curious about is her hair color. Some of her pictures she looks like she has red hair and her eyelashes look red too. I would LOVE to have a redhead :-) That's just one less child I have to do hair color too (LOL). I will NOT change Autumn's hair if she's a redhead. NEVER!!! ;-)

Breastfeeding is going amazing! I love it more and more everyday (not so much at night, LOL). Autumn wakes up about every 3 hours to eat. I'm trying to keep her awake and interested more during the day and not so much at night. She has her good nights and her "mommy won't stop crying cuz she's so tired" nights. But I think I found the trick last night. If she wants to stay awake during the night, I just put her in the bouncy seat and sit online for a while. That way I'm near her, but not engaging and encouraging her to stay awake. Last night she went to sleep within 30 minutes versus an hour and a half like other night. So we'll see if this works!

I hope you enjoy some pictures :-)


I like to call this her "HALLELUIA" pose :-)


Her first bath in her bathtub (not so sure about it).


Checking out mommy's face.


Daddy loves cuddling with his baby!



Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I love being a mommy!

I think this is by far the best thing ever. Being a mommy! Jordan and I are having so much fun with this. And I think we're being spoiled by little Autumn as well. She hardly cries, and when she does, it's next to nothing. It's been amazing knowing her "cues" as to when she's hungry, uncomfortable in her diaper or just wants to cuddle. The bond between Autumn and I is absolutely amazing! I can't believe that I could love something this much. My mom has been wonderful as well. Helping me out during the night. She works nights at the hospital here in town. So on her nights off, she's been putting Autumn to sleep upstairs in her pack n play while I sleep downstairs. So when it's time to feed, my mom gets me up, I feed her, give her back to my mom (if she doesn't fall asleep right away) and go back to bed. However, recently, Autumn's been really good about falling asleep right away. She's finally getting the idea to sleep during the night and awake during the day. She's amazing!!! Love my little girl :-)

Autumn had her first doctor's appointment last week Friday (yeah, I didn't update since then, I'm bad, I know). Doctor said she looks amazing. Everything looks good, especially since she had a huge bruise from the vacuum the doctor used during delivery. They were concerned that she was going to have jaundice, but nothing! Also, most babies lose up to 10% of their birth weight and the doctor's want the babies to gain their birth weight back by 2 weeks. Autumn exceeded that!!! She was born 7 lbs 10 oz. We left the hospital (2 days later) and she was 7 lbs 3 oz. But by Friday (4 days later) Autumn weighed 7 lbs 13 oz. WOO HOO!!! That a girl :-D She's definitely a great eater. Haven't had any complications with breastfeeding at all. Milk came in almost right away (2 days after she was born) and Autumn's been a breastfeeding machine!!! Next doctor's appointment is within 2 weeks. I promise I'll update sooner than I did this time.

Please enjoy some of the pictures from Autumn's first week at home!


My grandpa absolutely LOVES Autumn! He cries whenever he holds her :-)


Right after her first bath at home.


Once of her awake times in the middle of the night.


Autumn loves having her head rubbed!



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

My little angel :-)

Favorite picture of my little gift from heaven :-)


Precious little bundle of joy!


Can't believe how much she looks like her daddy!


Very tired mommy, but extremely happy parents!


Autumn Rae Baldwin
7 lbs 10 oz 21 inches
Born Sept 19th at 8:58pm