5 Months...or is it 7?

Surely there is a point when a new mom is unable to blame her forgetfulness and scatterbrained-ness and lateness on the fact that she is a new mom...but I don't think I'm there yet. Or, maybe I am, and I'm just all those things on my own. 

Erin turned 5 months old on Monday, 7.11. (I hope everyone enjoyed their free slurpee on that day...did you know that you can get a free slurpee from 7-11 every July 11th? What a deal!) We had a very fun afternoon, and got to hang out with 4 kids who are so special to me. I used to see them almost every day when I had the privilege of helping take care of them. They were 5, 3, and 1 when I met them...now they are 10, 8, 6 and 3...yes, one more was added to the clan. Watching them grow has given me a glimpse of what it will be like to watch Erin grow through the years...unbelievable and sweet all at the same time. I have turned into that woman who always has to make a comment about how much a child has grown...but it's really true! I see that already with Erin, and how quickly she's changing and growing. While it's so fun to watch as she learns new things daily, there's still something bittersweet about the fact that she'll never be so little again. 

These kiddos know me as Miss Leigh (or Miss Wee), and I love that they call our little girl Baby Erin. As soon as we got there on Monday, every one wanted to hold Baby Erin, play with her, or try to help me get her to sleep. They were all so sweet to her, and Erin loved being entertained by more than just me. When all the kids were having some quiet time, I took Erin's 5 month pictures. Here are the first ones I took...notice anything wrong?

 

If you figured out what was wrong, then you're ahead of me! It wasn't until I had enlisted the help of Avery and Gage to get her to smile that Avery said, "Miss Leigh? I thought you said it was her 5 month birthday today..."

Good point. 

After a quick adjustment, here are some more pics...

She's not sitting up on her own yet, but she's getting close!

Her eyes are still as blue as ever...

Of course we had to get one with the helpers...

And if you have a sibling you understand that fairness requires that everyone gets a turn. :)

I didn't get a picture with 2 of the kids this week with Erin, but couldn't leave them out! These 2 are from when Erin was just a few weeks old.

It's hard for me to believe I met this little one when she was just a newborn, and now she's holding our baby girl!

We love you, Baby Erin! The last month has gone by so fast...lots more pictures and thoughts to come. Adam and I continually thank the Lord for her, and can't wait to see what the next month will bring.

 

Happy Birthday, Adam!

Today my Love turned 30!! I loved getting to celebrate him all day today, and we get to celebrate even more tomorrow. I love living life with this man...

 

Happy Birthday, Baby! You are always my favorite.

 

4 Months!

Dear Erin,
You turned 4 months old last Saturday - 4 WHOLE MONTHS! I can't believe it. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "How could life be sweeter than today?" And then the next day is even better. You are such a sweet gift from the Lord to your dad and me, and we continually thank God for you. 

You have been busy this month. You got more shots this month, and you were so brave. While you did let the entire pediatrician's office know that you were not happy to get poked, you calmed down so much faster than the last time you got shots. You are growing strong and healthy, and I pray that your heart is growing closer to the Lord every day. Sometimes I read the Bible to you in the mornings, and it's easy to wonder if it's worth it. But I'm hoping to start the practice of it now, so that when you can understand what we're reading, it will already be a habit. And I'm confident that God's Word will make a difference in your life. (Isa 55:10-11, Heb 4:12)

Your dad and I marvel at the way you learn new things every day. It is so evident that Someone else is teaching you because I'm not the one who showed you how to grab your toes, or suck on your fingers to give you comfort when your binky can't be found, or start to make sounds when you hear other people talking, or smile when you see someone else smile, or cough or drool or all the other things you do that amaze me.

We celebrated your 4 month birthday in an EXTRA special way - Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Bethany and your cousin, Jesse, all came to see you! We had such a fun time with all of them - you are dearly loved, Miss Erin Grainne, and it's such a joy to be your momma.

Here's more of you at 4 months.

We took everybody to the Arboretum, where you took pics with Grandma and Grandpa...

 ...your Aunt B...

 

...your cousin, Jesse...

 

...and by yourself.

 

We took this a few weeks ago when we went with Mom...

 

...and I got one of Jesse in the same spot. You're going to have be quick in order to keep up with him! He moves so fast, I was excited to get a couple good pictures of him all weekend!

 Later we met my mom and dad for lunch, and continued the celebration.

 

 

One of my favorite things about this month is to watch you smile, Erin. We learned that you love to smile at Grandma Nancy...

 

...your Aunt B...

 

...and of course, your daddy.

 

 Grandma Nancy brought you a special treat - one of your aunt Bethany's dresses from when she was your age. You are named for Bethany, and we love that you have blue eyes just like her. When we were in Oklahoma in April, I saw Bethany's 3 month pictures in this dress, and I couldn't believe how much you favor her. We had a fun time taking some pictures of you in the same dress. What an amazing heritage of women you have in your life, Erin!

 

 

 

I got a good picture of daddy with Jesse (Jesse's daddy couldn't come because of work - we missed you, Scott!)

 

Here's 2 of my favorites of you this month...

 

 

We love you, Miss Erin. Happy 4 months!

Dates for Everyone

Something I appreciate about Adam is how he has continued to date me, even after we got married. His pursuit of me hasn't stopped, and that makes me feel so cherished and honored as his wife. He has done a great job of planning dates for us since Erin was born...which is a bit more complicated now because we have to find someone to watch our sweet Peanut. Even before we got married, we both said that we always wanted to prioritize time with each other, putting our marriage as our most important relationship, except for each of our relationships with Christ. 

We've had so many fun dates since we met, and one of my favorite ones was the first time Adam took me golfing with him. Adam loves to golf, and he's really good. I recently asked him how often he played when he was single and he said, "Oh, a lot. Probably a couple times a week if I could."  I know that he has been intentional in not playing as often since we started dating and got married so that he can spend more time at home with us. This makes me feel SO loved, and I'm excited for him when he does go play with friends. 

But I love how Adam has invited to me to join him playing golf, too - I hope that it's always something we can do together to continue to develop our friendship. He never complains that I go slower, hit more balls into the water, and sometimes need help carrying my clubs. He is encouraging to me when all I want to do is cuss and quit after shooting a 10+ on one hole, and models a healthy, competitive attitude. I love getting to go play with him.

We hadn't golfed since Erin was born, so when some sweet friends offered to watch her so we could go on a date, we spent the evening playing nine holes. Here are some pics...
We left Erin with her friend Mr. Tribb (see more pics on Tribb's mom's blog, here)

 We headed to the golf course...

 

...where Adam dominated with perfect form.

 

And finished the evening with In-n-Out burgers, fries and shakes. Delicious!

 

I can't wait to go out on a date with my husband again. Thanks, Thomas', for watching Erin! She loved hanging out with all of you!

Me vs. The Grocery Store

When did getting groceries become such an ordeal? 02.11.2011. 

The Grocery Store has become much more of a challenge to me than it ever has been before. We're trying to cut down our grocery bill after going down to one income, so there's the world of couponing (which I didn't realize is actually a verb as well as a noun) and price matching to navigate through on my way to the best deal possible. But that wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of getting through an entire trip with a newborn.

For the first 3 months of her life, I had pretty much given up trying to get to the store. At first, I was ambitious (i.e. naive) and thought I could do anything with Erin that I had done before. Wrong. One time, she was screaming on the diaper aisle and I had to pull her out of her car seat and carry her through the rest of the trip. The check out girl asked me if she was spoiled. No, she's just 2 months old, and we need milk at our house, so here we are. 

I've nursed her multiple times in the parking lot of the grocery store because I misjudged how long the trip would take. I have worried about the precariousness of the car seat sitting in the top of the grocery cart and the well-meaning, fellow grocery customers who want to touch and hold our baby. A few times, we've been on the way to the store, and I turn around because Erin won't stop screaming, and I have too much anxiety to see if she'll calm down. And there have been dozens of days we don't even make it out the door of the apartment. 

If not for my sweet husband, some wonderful family and friends who watch her so I can get to the store, we'd be a pretty hungry household over here. Multiple times I have wondered if I would ever be a mom who takes her kids to the store. It seemed impossible. But, over the last few weeks, we have actually had a couple successful trips, just the 2 of us, so I've been cautiously hopeful.

Today, I decided to try to run a few quick errands with Erin, one of which was the grocery store for just a handful of things. She did great during the trip and I was so proud of her. We came out to the parking lot, and I walked up the aisles looking for our car. Not that row, not that row, not that row...was it really this far? I turned around to check the rows we had already passed, and that's when I saw this:

A poor soul had left their trunk open when they went into the store. How embarassing. Oh dear, (not the word that initially came to my mind, I confess)...that's our car. And that's our open trunk with our stroller, our new car seat that we don't have room to store in our apartment, and several other pieces of baby equipment that would be fairly pricey to replace. I couldn't believe it. 

How did that happen?

I could only laugh, take a picture, and thank the Lord for kind people in the Central Market parking lot who didn't take any of our stuff. 

Score: Grocery stores, 78, Me, 0.

Bonus: Check out this blog for a fun post about Erin's playdate with her friend, Tribb! http://getonthethomastrain.blogspot.com/2011/06/tribbs-first-official-playdate.html

Swimming!

We took Erin swimming for the first time this weekend. She doesn't particularly like baths, and we didn't know what she would think of the water. I think the next picture sums up the day pretty well...lots of smiles from us, lots of screams from Erin.

 

I'll admit - it was nearly an all-day affair. I left in the morning to go buy baby sunscreen, adult sunscreen and a float for Erin, all to add to her swimsuit, hat, and swim diapers that we already had at home. When I got home, we started with the sunscreen and diaper...

...added her very cute swimsuit and sunglasses, and off we went!

 

Here she is right when we put her in the water...

 

It seems like she's just saying, "Guys, why am I doing this?? I don't like it." She did settle down eventually, but we never saw a smile while she was in the water. 

Sweet pic with her daddy...

 

And a fun family picture to end the day.

 

I hope she wasn't too traumatized by the whole experience. We think that by the end of the summer, she'll be loving the water as much as us!  

Bows

I'm not much of a bow person myself, and so I didnt expect to put many bows on my baby girl. But then the sweet nurses at BUMC put our little Peanut in the most precious hat I'd ever seen. 

As Erin has grown, her hair has not.And I learned an important rule about identifying babies as boys or girls. No longer does pink = girl and blue = boy. It seems instead that bald+any color of clothes/car seat/blanket = boy. But, I didn't go out and buy any bows - instead I would awkardly correct folks who assume she's a boy. It really doesn't bother me, but it does make for some awkward interactions.

But on our trip to OK, we needed some help. I had dressed Erin in the cutest little OSU tshirt and jeans for our first family 5K, a Memorial Run on OSU's campus in Stillwater. Erin looked adorable...but I'll admit it was hard to tell she was a she. Aunt Yvette to the rescue - the result? See below:

 

I mean, cute, right? I was hooked on the idea of bows, but wasn't sure where to look. Aunt Noni saved the day this time and took me to a local shop in Enid where she promptly chose the biggest, brightest, feathery bow to bedazzle her niece. Awesome...who wouldn't love a bow the size of her head??

 

But unfortunately, we had to leave my stylish sisters-in-law in OK. Since our trip, I had tried to put a bow on Erin maybe three times. We ran into some problems...

#1: I bought 3 bows in colors I like...brown, black and peach. 90% of E's wardrobe right now is pink. Hmmm.

#2: Dallas+May=hot, hot, hot. The headbands that the bows attach to were a little sweaty on her head.

#3: I am not very accessory-conscious, and would simply forego any bow attchment beacuse it was too much trouble.

So I tried again today because she does have a cute little brown dress for the summer, and we were heading out for a walk with our friend, Mandi. Erin didn't fight the bow at all, and she did look pretty cute. I put her in her swing when we came home, hoping she'd fall asleep, but the light was so bright in our living room she wasn't having any of that. I went to the kitchen for a few minutes, and while I was gone, she stopped fussing and fell asleep.

When I came back over, I realized another benefit of this whole bow/headband craze.

 

Don't worry...I moved it up off her eyes after I took the picture. ;)

Anybody know where to find some cute bows for a bald little baby girl?