Change. It's a Good Thing.

You may have noticed there's not been much activity on the home front lately.

That's because I've been working on a new blog- new design, content, everything. It's finally up and running. So, if you'd like to continue following along with my life, please hop on over to the new address. It's where you'll find me from now on.

www.littlehouseinthepines.blogspot.com 

See you there!

{Maylin's Milestones} 3 Months Old

At three months old, Maylin:

~ weighs 10 lbs. 4 oz.
~ is 23 inches long
~ sleeps in the pack-n-play in the living room (adjacent to our bedroom)
~ wakes 1-2 times a night to nurse
~ turns to look when hearing some one's voice
~ can hold up her head with ease
~ coos and makes spit bubbles
~ has made the connection with my face and nursing. She will occasionally look at my face and smile while nursing.
~ sporadically bats at her dangling animals on her play mat
~ "wiggles" with happiness when recognizing Michael or me
~ is very social and wants to be in the same room as people
~ wears size 1 in diapers
~ wears sizes newborn, 0-3 months, and 3 months in clothing
~ still sleeps swaddled

{Recap} Weekend Getaway:: Avery Island and New Orleans

The summer Michael and I were married we committed to take one trip together each summer to commemorate our anniversary. Our first summer we went to Dallas. Our second summer we went to Denver. This year we chose to stay closer to home so that we could bring Maylin with us. I'm not sure that we'll take her on every future anniversary trip, but we were intrigued to see how well she would travel. So on Friday morning, we crammed our jeep with necessities for the weekend and drove out of town.

(Did I mention that "necessities" includes a pack-n-play, activity mat, nursing pillow, stroller, diaper bag, car seat, a bag for Maylin, a bag of snacks, an ice chest, and a suitcase for our clothes?? Yeah. Crammed.)

Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Stop 1: An hour away from our home so that I could feed Maylin

Her face says it all...

"What do you mean I pooped on my clothes, Ma?"

Hence, the sudden sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that maybe, just maybe, I didn't pack enough changes of clothes for her after all...

Stop 2: Avery Island, Home of Tabasco Pepper Sauce

We rolled into the parking lot just in time to catch the next tour around the Tabasco factory. We learned a lot about how the peppers are grown and how the hot sauce is made. We even got to peek at the bottles on the assembly line.

We also visited the Tabasco Store right beside the factory. There we sampled different favors of Tabasco Sauce, jalapeno ice cream, and raspberry chipotle ice cream.

Maylin was in excellent spirits the whole time. We were so impressed(and relieved!) at her stamina after being on the road for much of the day.

Friday night we ate at a renowned Cajun restaurant nearby and were in our hotel in our pajamas with Food Network on the t.v. by 8:30 PM. Funny how much our idea of vacation has changed now that we have a baby!

We spent a gorgeous morning on Saturday driving several hours through South Louisiana to get to New Orleans. The sky was sunny with huge cotton ball clouds, the road was lined with miles of sugarcane fields, and the road was wide with little traffic. I should've grabbed a picture of it, but I didn't think about it at the time. This actually became one of my favorite parts of our trip due to the peaceful drive (Maylin was asleep in the back!) and the opportunity to talk and laugh with Michael.

Stop 3: New Orleans

We arrived in the Big Easy around mid-day and sought out a place to lunch. We walked for a while, and took a few wrong turns, before settling on a seafood grill on the corner of Canal and Bourbon. The atmosphere was fairly family friendly. There were quite a few families with young children in the restaurant, and we were able to escape an afternoon shower while munching on swordfish tacos and oyster po-boys.
Maylin was hot and tired by this point.

After catching an afternoon nap back at the hotel (remember how I said our vacay has changed) we drove out to the ballpark to watch minor league New Orleans Zephyrs play.

We were fortunate to have seats on the second row behind the plate, but ended up leaving at the bottom of the sixth. Maylin by this time was just too hot and fussy for us to enjoy it much. Don't she and her daddy look cute though?

Back at the hotel we all had baths before bed. M snapped this picture of us right after I dried Maylin off. Girl loves her bath time. And when Maylin is happy, Mama is happy.

On Sunday before driving home we had an early morning stroll through vacated streets to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au laits. We escaped another shower while eating warm fried dough dusted with mounds of powdered sugar and sipping on hot milky coffee. Heaven.

While we loved our trip, we decided that next time we want to get away we'll pick one destination and stay there. Driving for several hours three days straight pretty much did all three of us in. Overall, we made wonderful memories for Maylin's first vacation. It was refreshing to get away for a weekend!

{Miss Maylin} Play Time

Let's talk about play time.

Now that Maylin is getting a little older she is becoming more aware of her surroundings. This has made play time much more interesting for both of us! Now that she can hold her head up and focus on patterns and pictures, I've been pulling down some of her toys for wake time. It is so fun to watch her eyes lock on a pattern. She will intently stare at it, as if she's trying to figure it out. I can almost see her little brain working!

 In an effort to not overstimulate her I've decided to introduce one toy and one book a week. This week I chose Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. I'm so glad I chose this one to start off because of the pictures. She is completely engaged at looking at them. I think she could stare at red bird and white dog for hours if only she could keep her head up that long!

 The toy we're playing with this week is a cloth, fold-out, elephant-shaped book that is manipulative. This was a gift from Ellie (Michael's mom) that she gave me a couple months before Maylin was born.

I hadn't intended on using this "toy" this week, but as I pulled it out the elephant's ear crinkled, which made a sound like wrapping paper. Maylin was on her mat at the time and she immediately looked up at the sound. I had intended to use something simpler, like a rattle, as a toy this week to practice tracking noises with her eyes, turning her head while on her tummy, etc. but when I saw how this one got her attention I decided to give it a try. Not only does she love the sound of the elephant's ear, she also loves the patterns and colors of the book. There's even a mirror on the inside, which is an added bonus. This girl already loves to look at herself!

This week is really the first time we've practiced the art of "playing" together, and I must admit it's quickly becoming my favorite part of our day. I'm trying to clench tightly to these moments and celebrate each new milestone that Maylin achieves.

These are the times I want to remember when I look back on being a young mother. I want to remember the simple joy of watching Maylin turn her head, focus on my face, respond to my voice. I want to cling to the thrill of seeing her roll over for the first time, which she did yesterday (albeit unintentionally!). I want to store away in the files of my heart exactly the feelings I have right now. Simple, contented joy.

{Maylin's Milestones} 2 Months Old

At two months old, Maylin:

~ weighs 8 lbs. 4 oz.
~ is 22 inches long
~ enjoys taking warm baths
~ wears newborn size in diapers and clothing
~ will grasp hair, necklace, shirt...anything small; still cannot hold an object in her hand
~ likes to hold shirt or hair while nursing or rocking
~ enjoys sitting in her car seat so that she is elevated and can see her surroundings
~ has dark blue eyes
~ holds head up for longer periods of time
~ will stand when held by her torso- she has very strong legs!
~ nurses on demand around the clock
~ still sleeps in Mom & Dad's room in her pack-n-play
~ has found her tongue and "plays" with it by sticking it out
~ will focus on your face and smile when spoken to
~ smiles for several seconds at a time
~ still sleeps swaddled

{Maylin's Milestones} 1 Month Old

Today starts a series to document Maylin's monthly development. I'm a bit behind on typing it up, but I've been keeping little notes here and there on my phone so that I could remember. Looking back at this picture makes me realize how much she's grown in just two months. She looks so teeny!

At One Month Old, Maylin:

~ weighs 6 lbs 8 oz

~ is 21 inches long

~ has had a few first smiles

~ has long eyelashes

~ has dark blue eyes

~ can hold head up for several seconds at a time

~ follows light and sound with her eyes

~ will straighten legs and stand when holding her up by her armpits

~ can roll from back to side

~ wakes every two to three hours to nurse at night

~ nurses every two hours during the day

~ wears size newborn in diapers and clothing

Months 2 & 3 coming up soon!

{Real Mom Life} Irrational Mama Fears

Apparently Maylin got all her screaming out the night before last because yesterday (after a long morning nap) she was blissfully happy. She cooed, and played on her mat, and smiled all day long. It was a day that I completely enjoyed being a mom.

THEN, last night Maylin slept from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM without waking up to nurse. That's seven hours, y'all. Seven!! She's never slept that long of a stretch before. I jolted awake at 3:38 AM, listening for her whimper and thinking that it was strange she hadn't called for me yet. Silence. I lay awake for a few minutes watching the red numbers on the clock slowly change, thinking that any second I would hear that little cry...but it never came.

That's when one of my Irrational Mama Fears kicked in. (I've blogged about my Irrational Pregnancy Fears when I was pregnant with Maylin, and my friend Judith did too. Little did I know that those Pregnancy Fears would morph into Mama Fears!) I have several, but one of my main ones is that Maylin will be a victim of SIDS. I'm terrified that I'll find her not breathing in her crib, even though I have strictly followed all the preventative steps since the very hour she was born.

So when those little red numbers turned to 4:00 AM, my sleepy thoughts went from, "I'm so glad I haven't had to get out of my warm bed yet," to "Oh my gosh, what if Maylin is dead??" There really is no happy medium to my thought life. I'm either nonchalant or freaking out. I lack that logical part of the brain that makes people so even-keeled.

I was faced with a choice: I could get up and go check on her to relieve my IMF at the risk of waking her up, OR I could just go back to sleep with the reasoning that she was just tired after playing all day. After debating a few more minutes I decided that I would go back to sleep, that she was probably completely fine, and that I should be grateful for an opportunity to snooze a little longer.

When Michael's alarm went off at 5:00 Maylin woke up, smiling, cooing, and kicking her feet to get free of her swaddle. She was completely fine. We snuggled back in bed while I nursed her, and I thought two things:

1) I am intentionally going to try to rid myself of these Irrational Mama Fears because I don't want to be consumed by them for the rest of Maylin's life. Not that I won't care for her or want the best for her, but I don't want to be debilitated by them. And honestly there will probably always be a part of my mind that is inclined to irrational worry, but "God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgement." I don't have to let my fears control my actions.

 2) It's amazing what a full night of uninterrupted sleep can do to your energy level and attitude! I didn't even need a strong cup of coffee this morning.

Here's to a bright and beautiful day!

Scripture reference: 2 Timothy 1:7 (HCSB)