Six Months Old (better late than never)

Oh, where do I begin???  I started this post a month ago... but didn't quite manage to finish it before my little lady turned seven months old!!  Without sounding like a Debbie Downer, the working mommy thing is kicking my butt.  The evenings are so busy, and when we finally get done with all the daily chores... it's time to get ready for bed.  So, unfortunately, my little blog falls to the wayside... but hopefully I will get better about it with time.  Fingers crossed!

Moving right along... our little princess is half way to a year old!?!   We went to see Dr. Wang on the day after Leighton's 1/2 birthday, and thankfully everything went well.  She was right on track with all of her stats and she handled her shots pretty well.  Dr. Wang said her bottom gums were swollen, so she told us that we may see some teeth within the next month (that Dr. Wang is really smart).  On the down side - Leighton had this pesky runny nose and cough that wouldn't go away.  I blamed it on the fact that she goes to daycare school, but Dr. Wang said that, since L has never had a fever with her symptoms, her runny nose and cough were likely due to ALLERGIES.  If you know us IRL, you probably know that Lyn has TERRIBLE allergies.  So, this news did not come as a shocker... but I was really hoping that L would manage to avoid the allergy gene.  We started giving her baby Zyrtec before bedtime, and it seems to be helping her a bit.

Dr. Wang also said to bump L up to two solid feedings a day, and then to three times a day shortly thereafter.  This should not have been a big deal at all, but it managed to cause me a lot of stress.  Since the added feeding would be in the morning, we would have to get her teachers to feed her at school.  We had to fill out a sheet of paper detailing her feeding/sleeping schedule since we were changing things up a bit.  This was quite a daunting task for me because I had been struggling with the whole "schedule" thing for quite some time.  Since we started her at school, her feeding times were pretty consistent, but her naps were still all over the place (although they were getting a little longer).  So, writing made-up nap times down on a piece of paper seemed kind of silly to me... but it upset me at the same time because I felt like every mom in the world had their baby on a schedule but me.  And it's kind of hard to get your baby on a schedule if you are not with them during the day.

On top of that... I was still trying to nurse L before I left for work in the mornings.  No matter what time she went down, she was waking up at 5:30.  I was concerned she wasn't getting enough sleep and I wondered if she was waking up out of habit rather than because she was really hungry.  So - I tried pushing back that feeding a little bit for a few days and she actually started sleeping later.  However, because she was having her first bottle later and because we were adding solid foods in the morning - we found that we had too many feedings in one day, so we cut her down from five milk feedings a day to four (and I increased the amount of milk in each bottle).  This, too, caused me grief because a mean nurse made me feel stupid when I called to ask if we were doing the right thing. 

During this time, I looked back at a few of my favorite mommy blogs to see what kind of schedules their babies were on at Leighton's age, and it helped me so much when I really needed it.  So, thank you Karen and Mindy for your monthly updates - they saved me!  Sorry for all the rambling, but this was a challenge for me and I am so thankful we finally got it worked out.  We have the whole feeding thing down now (just in time to change it up again), and I am happy to report that we are making progress in the nap department.
Finally... here are Leighton's six-month stats:

Weight: 14 lbs. 10 oz. (23%)
Height: 25 1/4 in. (32%)
Head circumference: 16.5 in. (37%)
As for the little one herself, she is just as sweet as ever and growing like a weed.  We are on the verge of some big milestones, so stay tuned for her seven-month post (which will hopefully come before she is eight months old)!

Who, me??

Aunt Natalie...

by Leighton (of course)

This is my Aunt Natalie...

She is really silly...

And she LOVES to give me kisses...

lots of kisses.

Aunt Natalie teaches art to children in Honduras.  Isn't that cool?  She came home for the summer, and I got to hang out with her for two whole months!

It was awesome!!

On Monday morning, Aunt Natalie had to go back to Honduras so she could teach more kids.  I woke up extra early to tell her goodbye...

And she gave me some more kisses.

When she told me that she would see me again in three months, I got really excited...

We love you, Aunt Natalie and we can't wait to see you again!

Home Sweet Home

In case you haven't noticed, we have been on the go quite a bit lately, so we were LONG overdue for a nice weekend at home.  Lyn was originally supposed to fish in a tournament last weekend, so I asked my parents if they would come keep Leighton and I company.  As you might have guessed, they were happy to oblige.  Lyn and his dad decided not to fish the tournament, so we ended up having daddy home with us after all!  Friday evening, my parents and sister arrived and the Flessners came over before we headed to Pappasito's for dinner.  I didn't get any pictures of the group, but I managed to get a few of the munchkin in her new festive dress from Aunt Ann.

Big girl...

 Who, me?

You didn't think mommy would let me leave without a bow, did you?

On Saturday, we woke up and made banana pancakes for breakfast, ate yummy leftovers for lunch, and I tried my hand at making homemade baby food.  It really helped having my mom and sister there for moral support, but we ended up some sweet potatoes, avocado, apples, pears, and bananas for Miss Leighton.  She sampled a few things here and there and seemed pretty excited about incorporating fruits and veggies into her pretty boring diet.  A few shots of the product of our labor...

Later that afternoon, we took a field trip to a local water garden/nursery.  We were ready to get out of the house, and little punky was ready to sport her cool pink shades...

 I know I am biased, but I think she's pretty stinkin' cute...

Having fun...

Saturday evening, the gentlemen enjoyed refreshing beverages in the garage...

and watched the little one preparing to crawl...

While we women folk worked in the kitchen preparing dinner.  That evening, Leighton tried some sweet potatoes with her oatmeal...

... and we feasted on a little baked ziti, salad, and heavenly garlic bread...

(don't know why that one wants to go vertical)

Can't forget this...

Punky figured out that the best way to stay up WAY past your bedtime is to entertain everyone... so we also enjoyed this during our dinner...

(that was the best part).

It was a great day!  My parents and Nat left early Sunday morning for a week in New Mexico (lucky dogs).  Our little fam got up, went to church, and enjoyed a nice lazy Sunday afternoon at home.  I even curled up with the little one and took a nap!  Heaven.  All was well until Sunday evening when Leighton broke out into hives.  Not sure what caused it, but after a trip to the doctor, a little Benadryl, and some time at home with Grandma Goldman... I am happy to report our little one is hive free.  All and all, it was a great weekend.  Believe it or not... I think we may actually have a repeat performance this weekend.  Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays...

Birthday parties are the new weddings.  Last weekend we went down to Port O' Connor for three birthday parties!  Friday night we celebrated my mother-in-law's 65th birthday with a surprise party!  Ann and co. did such a great job of keeping a secret and pulling off a great surprise!

Here we are waiting for them to arrive...

Greeting the birthday girl...

Here she is with her siblings...

And a few party details...

1. The sweets

2. The appetizers

3. The main course

4. The photo board

4. The cutest grandbaby in her new party dress

5. And a group shot...

It was a great party!  Happy 65th birthday Grandma!!

Saturday morning we took the long hike across the street to the Front Beach to celebrate Camden's first birthday!  Here is Camo with his mama (my cousin, Jenny)...

With Sita...

Resting with Leighton...

 Notice the pacis in...

And then they were out...

Nap #2 of the day...

Proof that she is my child...

Another sweepy party guest...

My sweet girl SITTING UP...

Playing ball with Camden...

And a few shots of the 1-year-old himself...

Check out those eyelashes...

 Is he beautiful or what??

Last, but not least, we celebrated Miss Jolene's 1st birthday Saturday afternoon.  Here is Jolene greeting Leighton Friday evening.

Unfortunately, our camera was charging during Jolene's party, but it included a lot more eating and drinking at my in-law's house.  We had such a great weekend!  It was so nice to catch up with family and friends and celebrate some pretty special people.  I'll leave you with a few pictures of Miss Leighton and her Grandma on Sunday.    



Check out her new smile...

She had us rolling!  Precious baby...

Believe it or not, we are actually STAYING HOME this weekend.  Crazy, I know.  I am SO looking forward to soaking up as much of my sweet baby as I can!  Hope you all have a great weekend too!