6 months old

Ok, Lauryn, you are growing up way too fast! Please slow down. Actually, if you could stay 6 months old forever, that would be awesome.

I am loving this age so much. She is so playful and smiley all the time, and has been trying to talk. So funny! And she is ALMOST crawling. This is such an awesome age.

Here is my 6-month old baby:

Poem for my Lauryn

Your pretty face,

Your perfect hands,

With lines that make a map,

To all the places you will go,

And all the people you will know.

Your big blue eyes,

Your button nose,

With soft breaths, in and out,

You're dreaming now,

And when you wake,

I will love you even more.

Your soft blond hair,

Barely there,

Your chubby arms and legs,

What I wouldn't give,

To make you live,

A life free of hurt and heartache.

New blog design

I was tired of the last blog design and didn't feel that it adequately portrayed my current situation, so, introducing my new blog design!

ABCs of me!

A fun post another blog I read had:

(A) Age: 25, but I will be 26 in a little over 1 month. Yikes! Closer to 30 than 20.

(B) Bed Size: King

(C) Chore You Hate: Doing the dishes!

(D) Dogs? Yes, two to be exact. Two crazy Jack Russells. Apparently the first one wasn't crazy enough, we had to get another.

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: It depends on the day of the week or if I am working. If it's a day I don't work, sleeping in is essential. But I guess if I had to generalize it, it would be seeing my baby's face :o)

(F) Favorite Color: Lavender.

(G) Gold or Silver? Silver

(H) Height: 5’4"

(I) Instruments You Play: None :o(

(J) Job Title: Registered Nurse, or if you want to be specific to my current job, Field Nurse (I work for a home health agency)

(K) Kids: Lauryn Irene who is 4 months old :o)

(L) Live: Florida

(M) Mom’s Name: Nancy

(N) Nicknames: Rachel Baby

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Yep, two of them: one for food poisoning in November of 2008 and one in October of 2010 for giving birth!

(P) Pet Peeves: I have so many, where to start, where to start, lol. I can't stand people who talk nonstop about something that the other person is clearly not interested in. I will just list that one for time-sake, lol.

(Q) Quote from a Movie: Marley & Me: "A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?"

(R) Right or Left Handed? Right.

(S) Siblings: Two older sisters, Erika (27) and Heather (30), and one older brother, Jeff (35)

(T) Time You Wake Up? Most days around 8:00am, but it could vary depending on the day of the week, plans for that day, and Lauryn.

(U) Underwear: I'm not sure what this one is asking... but yes, I wear underwear, lol. Certainly not the fanciest thing I wear. I wish I could afford to keep up with sexy underwear, but alas, I have had a baby, so that period of my life is over I think (sorry Jimmy!). Who wants to see a big, post-pregnancy butt in sexy underwear anyhow?

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Peas. YUCK!

(W) What Makes You Run Late: Laziness, and occasionally Lauryn. Also, my husband tends to make us run late every now and then because he stands in the shower and sings while enjoying the hot water instead of hurrying up and getting ready. (I love you Jimmy, lol)

(X) X-Rays You’ve Had Done: Oh lord, tons. I've had regular x-rays of bones that were thought to be broken. I've had CT scans (when I had food poisoning one year and they thought it was gallbladder) and of course ultrasounds when I was pregnant!

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Several things: deep dish pizza, herb chicken pasta (Jimmy's favorite), spaghetti, etc. etc.

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Any baby animal, I won't be picky :o) Although the anteaters are neat, too.

Pictures

13 weeks old:
14 weeks old:
16 weeks old:

And one random picture of me and Lauryn from when she was 11 weeks old:

I am a bad mommy! LATE 4 month letter :o)

I have been so busy, exhausted and stressed out due to work that I haven't even thought about my blog it forever. Lauryn is doing so super great, and is getting her 4-month check-up today with shots to boot :o(

Dear Lauryn,
WOW is all I have to say about how much you have changed over the past few weeks. You went from being a tiny infant to being a "real baby" as I call it. You flail your arms and kick your feet when you are excited. You smile all the time and "talk" to yourself or whoever will listen. You don't let me hold you like a baby anymore, you are only happy if I am holding you facing out so that you can see everything. You are so curious already, and I love that about you. You are SO energetic, too. Daddy and I bought you a jumperoo a week ago and you love it! Your toes just barely reach the floor, but that doesn't stop you from happily bouncing and wiggling all over the place. You also love to explore in the walker nanna and grandpa bought you for Christmas. I can hardly believe that at 4 months old you are so active and strong!

I still love waking you up in the morning (when I get a chance to) and seeing you all cute and swaddled. You look like a glow worm because you get both of your hands out and only your lower body is swaddled. Sometimes we even go in there and you have flipped positions in your crib! I think you will be crawling in less than 2 months.

It goes without saying that everyone who sees you loves you: even strangers at the mall who laugh and say how cute you are in your baby sunglasses in the front-carrier on your daddy!

I can't wait to see how you are going to change in the next month, but if I can make one request: don't grow up too fast!

Love always,
Mom

(Pictures to follow later)

12 Weeks Old

I love my baby girl SO much! Look how sweet she is :o)