What a blessing it is to be a mommy...

There is something about late night snuggles, middle of the night feedings, and early morning squeals and play times that I cherish. I know I can never get these precious moments back, so I treasure them deeply.  There is actually something beautiful about lack of sleep, drool in my hair, my body looking different than before, and a mother's indescribable worry that will simply never go away. I am beyond blessed to hold my daughter in the stillness of the night and the chaos throughout the day.  What a blessing it is to be a mommy...  

Months 1-4

Month 1-
We had lots of family and friends come visit our sweet Mila.  I learned how to operate with little or no sleep, the struggles and joys of breastfeeding, how to differentiate between a hungry cry and a tired one, and how to love in a way I've never known.  We celebrated her first Thanksgiving and man, are we thankful! 

 

Month 2-
We slowly but surely began to get the hang of things as we entered into month #2.  She had her first diaper rash, which turned into a yeast infection, she took her first road trip to Houston and on down to McAllen, she had her first visit from Santa, celebrated her first Christmas, had her first set of shots (OUCH), and began to show us her beautiful smile.  We love watching her grow!

Month 3-
This month was bittersweet.  I was trying to embrace every second with my sweetie, because I knew our time was limited as I would be returning to work soon.  I would randomly cry knowing I would soon miss her smiles, sneezes, cries, snuggles, etc.  The night before going back to work was hard; Josh held me as I cried and told him I didn't want to go to sleep because I knew in the morning I would have to leave her.  He assured me I would be so busy at work, the day would fly by.  Going back was tough, but my students, coworkers, and awesome principal made things easier, but boy, I sure missed my Mila.  On the day she turned 3 months, she laughed for the first time.  It was the most perfect and precious sound. 

 



Month 4-

I didn't realize it was possible to fall more and more in love with our sweet baby girl, but with each passing day, I do!!  She is laughing, grasping her toys, rolling from tummy to back, helping hold her pacifier (pucky) and bottle, gibber-jabbering, and squealing like a high pitched mouse.  The doctor said she's never heard a 4 month old talk so much (uh-oh, she's gonna be a talker like her mommy)!  She had her second round of shots and this time daddy was there to make things better.   Mila is petite, but strong and loves looking at herself in the mirror. 

 

 

Happily exhausted,

Hope



 

Daddy is Sexy!!

There is something so sweet and sexy about watching a man become a daddy.  I love seeing Josh tickle Mila, snuggle her, and give her scruffy beard kisses.  She lights up when he gets home from work.  He changes diapers, calms her when she cries, and reads her books.  It's so awesome to have a great partner and friend to help parent our sweet daughter.  He is a great husband and daddy!!  I love making these memories with him. 

Mommyhood!

I've always heard the saying, "being a mommy is both the best job and the hardest".  I never knew how true this statement was until I became a mom myself.  I cannot explain a love like the love for your child.  It's the best thing I have ever done.  I feel like I am doing what I'm truly meant to do.  Mila has changed my life in every possibly way.  I'm happy, exhausted, a nervous wreck, in love,  blessed, emotional,  hot mess, and forever changed in the best possible way.

Blessed Mommy,
Hope

Mila's Nursery

I love Mila's nursery.  It was hard to envision what I would do for the nursery because we did not know the gender.  I had two different ideas in mind...one very boyish and one very girlish.  I didn't want the nursery to look as if we didn't know the sex of the baby, so I decided to buy two of everything and return whatever we didn't use.  We had boy and girl curtains, rugs, bummers, skirts, sheets, paint colors etc.  At first, this was a bit overwhelming, but I love love love the outcome of Mila's room.  It's dainty, girly, and simple...nothing too pattern-y, just pops of color and perfect! 

Crib-Babies R' Us
Rocker-Buy Buy Baby
Dresser-McKinney Trades Day
Armoir/Book Case-My dad's old gun case that I revamped!
Rug-Target
Bedding-Restoration Hardware Baby
Gallery Wall-Most of the stuff is from Hobby Lobby!


Here are a few pictures!

Newborn Pictures

Once again, our fabulous photographer friend, Lauren Ammerman, did a wonderful job capturing precious moments of our family.  When Mila was 10 days old, Lauren came to our house and took Mila's newborn pictures.  They turned out great!!  Here are a few...

Jaundice and Foot Pricks

All babies are tested for Jaundice before they can be released to go home from the hospital.  The night before we were supposed to be released, the night nurse, Casey, came in about 11:30pm and said she tested Mila for Jaundice that night instead of the next morning because she was looking really yellow, which is a symptom.  When she tested her, her level came back at 13.5, which is high.   Casey suggested we give Mila formula every two hours in order to get her lots of fluids which can help the Jaundice clear up.  Every two hours, I would nurse her (this is to make sure my milk would come in, and she would bond with me), then we would feed her a formula bottle.  The next morning at 5:00am, Casey came in and said her level had gone down to 11.2, but it still wasn't low enough for her to go home.  

Mila would be placed under the UV rays (which looks similar to a tanning bed) for 24 hours to help push the Jaundice out of her system.  She had to wear a mask and lay under the UV rays bed all day and night unless she needed to eat or get her diaper changed.  The nurse referred to it as "going to Florida".  She got to put her sunglasses on and lay at the beach, but as a new mom, I felt like I was abandoning her because I couldn't hold her on her third day in the world.  She was already experiencing so many changes since coming out of the nice and cozy womb, and now she would be forced under lights, wearing a mask, and getting her feet pricked every few hours to test her levels.  It was awful.   I just wanted to hold my sweet baby girl all day and let her know how much I loved her.

The worst part of it all was when one of the nurses came in to prick her tiny little foot.  She didn't use the foot warmer (which helps the blood to flow faster and makes it a quicker process) claiming her foot should be warm enough because of the lights she was under.  This was not true.  It took the nurse 15 minutes to get two vials of blood and Mila was screaming the entire time.  The nurse didn't seem affected at all by my sweet daughter's pain, yet I was traumatized.  The other nurses that did pricked her feet used the foot warmer and Mila didn't make a sound.  

Mila's levels were going down throughout the day.  We were hopeful to get to go home the next morning.  At 10:00am the following day, the nurse came in and said they needed to monitor Mila throughout the day without being under the UV rays to make sure her levels didn't bounce back up.  At 3:00pm, they tested her levels for the final time. We were released about 6:30pm, and finally got to take our precious girl home.  We were beyond excited.