Blessed...

Here it is Thanksgiving day!! It was a wonderful day. I have been looking forward to Thanksgiving Break since school started in August. I have been looking forward to spending time off from work with my baby girl. My oh my has she grown over the past 5 months. Here is a picture I took of Kaitlyn yesterday...

She is such a sweet and happy baby! Right now at 5 months old she weighs 16 lbs. She laughs and loves to play!! She also REACHES for everything!!
So mommyhood--what have I learned?? I learned that as soon as my baby was in my arms after she was born...all nerves went away and I knew exactly what to do as a new mommy. I learned that you will analyze EVERYTHING--how much your baby poops, what color their poop is, how much they've pooped, how much they've spit up, if other people are holding her right, if others are holding her bottle right, is she looking pale, is she losing weight, does she have a temp, ....and the list goes on!! ha. You know I always have heard how quickly time flies and how quickly babies/kids grow...but until you have one of your own do you really understand how each day your child grows SOOOoooo much!! I have learned how much I DREAD shots for her and how I would do anything to take that pain away for her.
I have also learned how much I DREAD cutting her fingernails and how quickly they grow!! I got her skin one time and she bled and it was AWFUL hearing her scream and cry knowing I did that! I have also learned that babies being sick and having a cold is NOT fun at ALL!! :( Kaitlyn has not run a fever yet...but has had her first cold for almost a week now. She's had a tough time sleeping at night and breathing through her nose. She just doesn't know what to do about it. It's so hard to see your baby get so frustrated in the middle of the night. I have learned I would do anything to make her happy!! I have also learned many different ways to get her to burp! ha. and how important it is to make sure she burps or she will not be a happy baby. I have learned to not judge other mommies! I have learned that even when your baby wakes you up in the middle of the night--you suddenly are not tired anymore and will kick into parent mode. I have become more interested in making Kaitlyn look pretty than myself! ha. I shop more for her clothes than my own. I have learned that advice people give may not work for your baby and you gotta find what works for you. I have learned that my husband is an amazing father and loves our baby girl so much. I have learned that I am very picky with who holds my baby and always make sure they have washed their hands especially now that Kaitlyn has experienced a cold ! ha.
OKAY...I could go on and on...but now I want to share some pics/videos...

Here is Kaitlyn so tired after visiting lots of family members. today...


this video was when Kaitlyn was 3 weeks old. Bill was at work and I was using my camera. I loved when she woke up because she stretched and made this cute noise. What was I thinking waking up a sleeping baby?? (another thing I learned--don't wake a sleeping baby!!) ha.






This was when Kaitlyn was 7 weeks old....It looks like Bill is shaking her around, but I promise the camera just made it look that way. ha. I was cracking up while doing this video because she was just so content and just let him do whatever he wanted with her. :)



Wow--she has changed SO much since these videos!!
I have several more videos of Kaitlyn in the bathtub and her first time eating infant rice cereal but it takes a long time to get these videos to load...so maybe later. I need to get a video of her laughing and squealing. When Kaitlyn was 4 months and 1 week old..we tried feeding her infant cereal with a spoon since her doctor recommended it. It didn't go as well as we hoped. It took a week of TRYING to feed her before she swallowed any. For that entire week each time we tried to feed her she cried and turned the other way and we made just a mess all over her! Then one day Bill made her laugh and put the spoon with cereal on it in her mouth and she ate some and realized she actually liked it! ha. Then for the next few days after that she would cry when it wasn't in her mouth and we couldn't get it in quick enough! Now when eating she sticks her tongue out really far for each bite. I can't help but laugh because she's just so darn cute!