Amelia's First Halloween

I did not go all out this year with a costume as I knew she would be too tiny. I found a cute little lamb hat on Etsy and decided to order that. I also ordered a little white gown and decided to glue "wool" on her gown. I have been using a hot glue gun since I was a kid and have never had a serious burn...until now. It pains me just thinking about it! I burnt the dickens out of my left middle finger. It instantly bubbled and began to peel. But I managed to finish Amelia's little gown! Well, first lesson of motherhood...DON'T dress the kid until you are ready for the event!! I dressed her in her little gown, put her in her carseat and began loading the car to head over to mom and dad's. I came into the kitchen to load up her carseat when I heard it...she puked ALL OVER the gown and her carseat! What a mess! After we got all cleaned up (using caution with the boo-boo finger!) I then cried because I didn't have a costume for her! Deep down I knew it wouldn't matter because she was too young, but try telling my hormones that! I still cried anyway. After I pulled myself together, I found a little white outfit that worked just fine. It wasn't perfect, but we put her in the Bjorn so you could only the see hat anyway.

We had pizza at mom and dad's and then met up with the O'Sullivans and the Batsch's for some trick-or-treating. All the kids were adorable and the weather was great! Amelia slept in the Bjorn while we walked around. I am sure her 2nd Halloween will be more exciting.

Florida-Georgia 2011

I hate being caught in the middle

Florida-Georgia is a fun time and special to Matt and I as that is where we met. This year, we knew we could not participate like we usually do, but decided to head down to the stadium to walk around for a little while anyway. The weather was rainy and cold in the morning, but the weather channel said it would clear up, so we trusted them and headed downtown. The weather was beautiful! Florida-Georgia is not a place I would normally take little kids, but since Amelia had been having such rough nights, we thought getting out and getting some fresh air might do us all some good. First, we found our Monroe group! Matt's friends from Monroe tailgate in the same place every year. The ladies knew Mimi would be so jealous that they got to see Amelia, that they all took pics and texted them back home! We then headed over to RV city to see our Jacksonville friends! We went inside the RV to change and feed Amelia. We then tried out the Baby Bjorn for the first time. Amelia loved it and was very content being held that way. She napped in the Bjorn and slept like a log. After lunch we headed home to watch the game. Unfortunately...the DAWGS won! We will get them next year GATORS!

That night, Amelia did NOT fuss and slept great. That is when we figured out that all the fussing might be realted to reflux. Being upright in the Bjorn all day may have helped her symptoms. We upped her dose of Zantac and have been using the Bjorn more throughout the day.

So, Amelia got to experience her first FL/GA...which she basically slept through. Hopefully it will be a long time before she goes back!

Tailgating looks a little different this year!

Our Monroe girls!

Excited to see Tara and Jason

First time using the Bjorn!

7 weeks old

Time sure is flying by. I can't believe our little peanut is 7 weeks old already!! We are getting ready to celebrate her first Halloween...but more importantly in Mommy and Daddy's book...her first Florida/Georgia!! We have some cute "neutral" outfits for her to wear.

The past 2 weeks have been challenging. My milk production kept decreasing, making for a very frustrated baby and mommy. It caused a lot of tears for both of us and after much deliberation...and more tears...I stopped breastfeeding. I still have milk in the freezer, so she is still getting a small amount of breastmilk daily. We decided to use a soy formula as she had difficulty with gas when I would eat dairy. My brother and I both were on this same soy formula, Prosobee, which smells terrible!! But she is adjusting well...and now Daddy can help with some of the night time feedings once Mommy goes back to work.

Her new favorite thing is the vibrating/bouncy seat. It keeps her at a good angle, so we put her in it after eating to try to prevent some of her spitting up. It helps calm her down at times. She still loves taking a bath and sometimes has to get multiple baths a day!

The other new challenge in our lives is 5-8pm. For some, this is Happy Hour, for us...it is not (but sometimes does include a cocktail!). Amelia is not very happy during these hours. Sometimes she doesn't want to eat and not much consoles her. We took turns rocking her and walking around the house. Finally we decided to load her up in the car and go for a ride. It worked great! We rode around the beach and picked up some take-out. She slept great in the car, awoke when we got home for her bottle and then went back to sleep. The next night, we put her in the car again. It calmed her down, but she awoke when we got home. It took a little while, but she settled again. Matt said we are not going to make a habit of this! Yeah right Daddy!!! I don't care how much gas costs...a sleeping baby is priceless. I am sure this is just a phase and we will figure it out. Crockpot dinners are coming in handy as we never know exactly when we are going to eat!

She is so alert and loves looking at objects. She really talks a lot when we lay her on her changing table and watches the flowers and butterflies that dangle above. We have videotaped her a few times. Love hearing her coos!

Aren't I too cute?!?!

Declan and Amelia

Today Nicole came over with the boys. It has been a while since we have seen them, so I was excited. We took Liam, Declan, and Amelia on a 2.5 mile walk. We got to exercise and catch up all at the same time. It was neat to see Declan and Amelia side by side. Declan will go for his 2 month visit next week and Amelia the week after. Can't wait to hear what their weights are and compare.

1 day shy of 8 weeks and 7 weeks!

Got Liam to look at the camera...briefly!

Meghan's Bridal Shower

We are so excited for the wedding of our friends Jon and Meghan. They are getting married in St. Augustine on November 12, 2011. This will be of first trip as a family.

Stacie, Rosa, and I got together to throw Meghan a "Linens & Lace" bridal shower. Matt thought I was nuts throwing a shower with a 6 week old baby, but we have been planning this for a while. I volunteered to do a lot of the stuff that could be done while I was still pregnant, like the invitations, etc. I actually enlisted the help of Matt's cousins, Eric and Amanda, who designed the adorable invitations. We did a pink and black theme and served cocktails and desserts. The decorations turned out really cute.

For a fun element, we decided to play one game...with a twist. Instead of just emailing a list of questions to Jon to answer about Meghan, we decided to video tape him answering them! Jon is quite entertaining, so we thought this would add a fun element to the shower. Matt, Brandon, and Steve interviewed and taped Jon at Steve's house. By the end of the video, Jon had no shirt on and was sitting on the swingset! It was very entertaining and we think Meghan really liked it! The guys had fun making the video as well.

3 weeks to go! We can't wait for the wedding!

Yummy desserts

Stacie made adorable tutus for the martini glasses!

We had framed pictures of Jon & Meghan around the house and on the mantel

The BEAUTIFUL bride!

Got spit-up?!?!

Pumpkin Patch

For years I have driven by pumpkin patches and couldn't wait for the day I could visit one with my little pumpkin! Well, today that finally came true! Isle of Faith UMC by our house has an adorable little pumpkin patch. We thought this would be a good place for one of Amelia's first outings. We had to plan our trip for a time we knew she would be awake. She usually naps from 12-2, then eats, so we planned to go this afternoon. The weather was perfect! I dressed her up in the halloween gown I sewed while I was pregnant. I couldn't wait to put it on her. She looked so adorable! We asked my mom to join us and off we were! It was a short outing, but we got some cute pictures, and of course, a pumpkin! This year we chose a different looking pumpkin that is white and orange. I look forward to going back next year and letting Amelia pick out the pumpkin.


Our Little Pumpkin



Our unique looking pumpkin



With Gigi



So much to blog...so little time!

Since I am so behind on blogging, I am going to start blogging the current stuff or it will be Christmas before you read about our trip to the pumpkin patch! Then I will try to catch up on blogging Amelia's first month!

Imagine that...I don't have a ton of time on my hands to blog!

Aunt Lynda, Aunt Di, and Sean visit

This weekend we had a lot of guests visit. Everyone was so excited to meet Amelia. First, we had my Aunt Lynda, Aunt Di, and cousin Sean. Sean is 8 and was SOOO excited to hold Amelia. He even helped me give her a bottle. The first night, we were able to do a lot of visiting and mom cooked a great meal.  But the second night, Amelia was gassy and fussy and our visit was cut short. Nonetheless, we got some cute pictures and hope to see them all again soon. Miss you already.